[project] The Ultimate Track 205

[Cameron 16]

An exciting day today, as I have my very first batch of machined parts!

 

Mounting bosses for the rear suspension subframe made to my own specs, it's always a little bit of a nervous moment when you offer parts up for the first time but thankfully they fit perfectly. The front have an M10 thread and a shoulder at the base like the original studs do, the rears are just a simple hole to drop a bolt through.

 

 

Hollow, as I'm weight-conscious.

 

 

They fit in place perfectly!

 

 

I also made sure to leave enough excess thread on the studs to allow for the cage mounting points, this should allow plenty.

 

 

They'll be tucked up safe and sound in my drawer, ready for the tube order I'll place in the new year. I'll be building the measuring platform / false floor this weekend so I can start taking some accurate measurements, so far everything has been rough measuring off the concrete floor but that won't be good enough for positioning hardpoints and setting the ride height.

Edited December 9, 2011 by Cameron

[allye 530 3 Cars]

I simply cannot wait to see this unfold Cam! Its going to be truely epic

 

You seem to be smashing through it as well.

[Cameron 16]

I simply cannot wait to see this unfold Cam! Its going to be truely epic

 

You seem to be smashing through it as well.

 

Thanks! Me neither, I'm incredibly excited about building it, hence the progress! The only thing that will slow things down is the budget.

[wracing 19]

what material are they?

 

James

[allye 530 3 Cars]

The only thing that will slow things down is the budget.

 

I can imagine, this is a serious financial commitment to get it finished

[Rippthrough 98]

Will be when he see's the price of tube now compared to when he started the project

 

I just ordered a load of CDS + T45 and got a shock!

[Cameron 16]

Sure is! I have most of the costs laid out already and it's pretty frightening reading!

 

James - they're EN3B for ease of welding, I did originally specify EN14 but it was difficult to get hold of from their supplier. The subframes will be made from CDS tube.

 

Edit - just noticed your post.. how much has it gone up by?

Edited December 9, 2011 by Cameron

[Rippthrough 98]

Since the start of this thread? About 35-40%, maybe a touch more.

I've just paid half again over the same order this time last year anyway...

Edited December 10, 2011 by Rippthrough

[davenport 51]

hahahahahaha steel prices = escalating prices!! stainless and ally is the same....

 

as long as its good quality EN3B with low carbon you`ll be fine, but some of the cheap s*ite from the far east is dodgy.. EN14 is more suited for T45????

 

the machined parts look lovely.. gonna be nice to see things develop! i REALLY need to get my act together.. fingers crossed 2012 see`s a burst of motivation..

[Cameron 16]

Well I guess I should put my steel orders in pretty soon then!

 

I'm pretty confident that they'd use good quality steels, they're a good company that make a lot of parts for motorsport. Next lot of parts from them will be top hats, bearing housings (lots!) and the spindles for my rear uprights.

 

I made a start on the measuring platform today, lots and lots of measuring! I have a couple of pics but will probably do an update tomorrow as I'm feeling lazy now.

[Cameron 16]

So, the pics from yesterday - nothing too major to look at as most of my day was spent measuring, adjusting, and drawing lines on concrete.

 

The first thing I had to do was establish a rough centreline so I could get the platform square to the bodyshell and evenly spaced side to side. I made a couple of plumb lines using a bit of string and 3mm sheet steel, then hung them through the front subframe mounts, marked the ground and did the same with the rear beam front mounts. It's pretty straightforward to draw the centreline then.

 

 

Then from that I marked out the track width - 1.5m front and rear - and thought I'd stick a wheel down to see just how wide it would be compared to the body. It's a base model so they stick out a fair bit from the skinny rear arches, but nothing obscene. (The tyre is roughly 350mm out of position as it's on the ground, so looks a bit funny but you get the idea)

 

 

So then I set about getting the shell level on it's stands, it was good side-to-side but front-rear it was about 5-6mm out so I jacked up the rear and put some packers under the stands. I used a level to establish where the ground would be (top surface of level) to allow an 86mm ride height - I've set a minimum ground clearance (sus fully bottomed out) as 30mm to make sure it doesn't drag the chassis around on bumpy tracks. Once this was in place I used a long level to set the rear ground line. There'll be a 12mm thick flat floor on the underside of the body so this has also been accounted for.

 

 

The measuring platform is going to be down at floor level, as opposed to up near the "ground" height, as it's going to be easier to make that way but more importantly give better access to the underside of the car; whatever distance this plane is below the "ground" level I can add to the hardpoint coordinates. I made a start on the frame, which will be steel box and angle, then a wood surface laid on top that I can measure from. Got the basic outline done then decided it was a little too cold so gave up for the day.

 

Edited December 11, 2011 by Cameron

[stu8v 68 1 Cars]

Looking good

[qwerty 9]

What you need is a heater, that way you don't have to go it when it gets cold and you'll get it done sooner

 

making great progress, love it

[Cameron 16]

Yeah it's on my shopping list!

[welshpug 1,621]

any reason for making front and rear track the same? I don't know enough to explain it but most decent handling fwd cars are narrower at the rear, rwd the opposite.

 

saxo/106 is a good example, handle brilliantly out of the box, rivalling the 205 for fun, same track up front.

 

40mm narrower at the rear!

[Cameron 16]

No reason tbh, the track widths front-rear affects the handling balance but I can tune that with springs and / or adjustable ARB. 1.5m was just what I chose as it seemed like a sensible amount to widen the track, I haven't needed to change it yet so haven't bothered!

[Matt180 31]

How are you leveling the shell up? just the spirit level?. You could really do with a theodolite to get it spot on.

 

Great project, cant wait to see some space frame action

[Cameron 16]

Yeah a spirit level is the most accurate tool I have at my disposal, but if any surveyors out there fancy lending me their equipment I'll be most grateful!

 

I have a plan to make levelling the platform easier, I'm going to buy a few of these adjustable feet, then have one at each corner of the platform and one next to each stand, making 8 in total. I can then adjust the whole platform quite accurately rather than having to jack it up, measure it, and repeat over and over again.

[Matt180 31]

Yeah the feet are a good idea!. Its a shame you are so far away, you could have borrowed my kit.

[Cameron 16]

I should be ok with levels, they're *supposed* to be accurate to 0.1mm.. While I want it to be as accurate as possible +/- a couple of mm side-to-side will be barely noticeable. You should see what the production tolerances on road car ride heights are like!

 

I made a little progress today after a weekend of excess, slacking and generally not getting not a lot of sleep, fitting the first four adjustable feet to the chassis stands. I bought some little M12 threaded bosses off eBay last week, 25mm in length so they would weld to some inch box section nice and neatly. After a quick bit of profiling, cutting and welding I had them all sorted; made sure to fit the feet into the bosses before anything was welded to the stands as there wouldn't be space to get them in afterwards.

 

 

 

So I got my levels out and adjusted the feet so the shell was level, using the underside of the sills as a front-rear level and the strut tops and beam mounting points as the side-side levels. A bit of spannering later and..

 

 

 

Now that the shell is nice and level I'll get the frame for the platform level around it, then weld the whole lot together and lay some wood boards on top to measure from.

 

[EdCherry 34 1 Cars]

What prevents the frames rocking back and forwards now its supported just the adjustable feet? I know it sits on the shell but still...

[Cameron 16]

They're welded together in the centre.. the photo is quite dark so you can't really see but there's 2 bars going down the middle.

[pug_life 0]

Good work Camerooooon! Liking the progress, makes me think I should try get home and work on mine more!

[EdCherry 34 1 Cars]

Ahhh yes I see it now! silly me!

[Cameron 16]

Good work Camerooooon! Liking the progress, makes me think I should try get home and work on mine more!

 

Thankyou stranger! Are you still building up that mental golf / quattro thingie?

 

Ed - it should be a lot stronger once the rest of the frame is in place too.

Edited December 20, 2011 by Cameron