Cor blimey, I haven’t updated my build log in more than 120 days. Oo-er, people might think Ive abandoned the build?
No.
Definitely not.
I haven’t posted much because children. Blimey, they’re quite time consuming, aren’t they? ;c)
I’ve spent every odd evening over the winter that I could spare freezing my t**s off in the shed, slowly bolting things together in sub zero temperatures where it’s so cold that you don’t notice you’ve gashed your thumb open till you’ve painted the engine bay of your lovely white car a rather gruesome red….
And when I wasn’t outside, I’ve been playing with meccano and string, and basically reading the internet, at least as far as steering, handling and suspension goes.
It’s been to cold and wet to play with epoxy, so no woodwork has been done. The structure of the body has survived the winter really well, even including 6 weeks outside under a tarp in the back garden. The shaped bit of the scuttle is laminated Obeche blocks glued over the main stress bearing torsion box. Anyways, some of the laminates have delaminated. No biggie, but I need a hot day to fix it. From the outside all you can see is some lines in the finish that didn’t used to be there.
But basically I’ve been playing with nuts and bolts and files, making sure that every nut and bolt is the best one for the job, and the right length, and the right yaddah yaddah blah blah.
Almost every thread on the car is M8. So that’s a 13mm spanner I need to stick in the toolkit. Call it 2.
Some threads are M10x1.5. So that’s a pair of 17mm spanner.
Some threads are M10x1.25. That made me cross. And some of them are Left handed. Aaaaaaaargh.
Still the same size spanner though. So that’s ok.
I’ll also need some Allen keys of 6 different sizes.
And a flat blade and a Pz1 and PZ2 pair of pozidrive screwdrivers.
So that’s the toolkit sorted then. Should be able to squeeze all that into something suitable.
I’ve TOTALLY CHANGED the steering. For many many many reasons, mostly due to not being able to say;
persuade one piece of solid matter pass through another piece of solid matter, both of which need to exist at the same point in space at the same time.
Arse…
…
..
So it’s now rack n pinion. And I did have to drill some holes in the body to make it work in the end, rather than break physics just to build a cyclekart…
I’ve adjusted the wheelbase to 68” to take account of the club rules, whilst adjusting the spring mountings and shackles on the front end.
And I have of course, continued tinkering with my rear end.
:c)
The rear subframe is now about 90% complete. I need to take it all apart again at least once, drill 4 new holes and then stick it together at full race spec. It only takes about 10 minutes to remove the whole thing completely if you need to work on it. All you need is a bit of wood 5 inches high, 2 inches wide and 2 feet long, a trolley Jack, a PZ2 screwdriver, two 17 mm spanners and two 13 mm spanners. ;c)
The front subframe is now totally different, due to the change to rack n pinion. I need to remount the pedals,but I’m thinking of changing them to a different design that’s articulated from the top rather than the bottom. So more like a car.
I’m currently in the midst of a massive tidy up and clear out of the shed, and seem to have created another 120 cubic feet of space round the car which is nice. Almost enough space now to fit two ck’s in the garage. ;c) with any luck I’ll be able to reorganise the workshop end into something resembling a nice place to work. The lathes been broken for about 6 months, it needs a full dismantle and clean and rebuild, with a new motor mount. I haven’t seen the workbench top for 6 months either, so lots of tidying needed.
Anyways. Membership application and monies soon to be inbound, I’m planning to be finished for Brooklands. Tbh what with the tiny kids I’m unlikely to be able to attend too many other events, but Brooklands is a must. Pics to follow, once I’ve swept up the big pile of rubbish currently blocking the door… :c)
Cheers!
Rich
