This is so awesome.
This is so awesome.
Really awesome work!
I love me some Europa.
RoddyMac17, I've noticed a trend with y'all north of the border....you, skinnyG, nohome, loosecannon.....are the mount rushmore of fabricators. Awesome work all of you!
I don't know if your Zetec came out of a car with an automatic or manual transmission but if you're planning on using the crank position sensor that reads the back of the flywheel, the little plastic part the holds the sensor is different from the auto to manual. Probably just the depth of the sensor to either the flywheel or flexplate.
Ross, The crank position sensor was the stumbling block in regards to the flywheel selection. The motor I have did come from a manual, so the positioning should be fine. Supposedly I could have used an earlier Escort flywheel and redrill it for any clutch I desired, but the Escort flywheel wouldn't have the notches on the backside for the crank sensor. Though, in switching to the ZX2 flywheel I might have to swap out the Focus sensor for the ZX2 one if the plastic bit you mentioned is different.
Also, it was pointed out to me that a Peugeot 905 V6 clutch disc will work with the Focus flywheel and pressure plate. Though I think finding one in North America will be impossible, and looking at the prices on Fleabay France, I'll be sticking with what I currently have.
Time for an update, two weeks ago I started on the sway bars for the car. Using the factory specs for a Lotus 47 as a guide, I chose to start with 5/8" sway bars. I'm using 5/8" DOM tubing with .120" wall thickness. After doing some interweb research, I decided to just go ahead with the DOM rather than 4130 or one of the higher strength alloys. Will it work, most likely for a while. I also machined up some mounts, clamps and drop links.
This past weekend I went to fit them, the rear was too long and the front required some wrangling into place, but it fits.
Since I last posted, I've ordered and received a clutch kit to match the ZX2 flywheel. It all seems to work just fine other that I have to machine up a spacer for the release bearing. Currently the bearing is about 13/16" away from the pressure plate fingers. Next weekend I'll make a trip to the metal shop to pick up some steel. Once I get the spacer installed I can sort out sizing the clutch slave cylinder and length of arm required on the clutch cross shaft (which will require some work as it will hit the chassis if I were to use a straight arm).
Fingers crossed I'll have another update next weekend.
Rod
I've been running solid mild steel sway bars on my Super 7 for close to 10 years. It'll be fine.
Great stuff. I have always loved these cars, but I'm too tall to fit in them.
SkinnyG, It was after reading the thread on the Locost board that i decided to go with mild steel, your comments on there swayed my decision.
Time for an update... Over the last two months or so I've finalized the clutch and sized the slave cylinder. I had to machine a spacer to adapt the Ford Escape/Escort bearing to the Renault bearing holder. The first attempt was too long but the second worked just fine:
Once I had that sorted, I sized the slave based on how far the lever had to travel and how far the master cylinder traveled. As it turns out, a $6 slave for a mid 80's Corolla fit the bill perfectly. I made up a bracket and bolted it to the bellhousing. The lever on the clutch shaft had to have a bend in it to clear the rear of the chassis:
Next up was measuring and ordering some flex hoses for the pedal box, and sorting out the accelerator cable. The hoses were custom made and nearly destroyed the budget for the car:
I've also spent some time sorting the exhaust system, re-making the gearbox mount and nearly sorted out the CV axle adapters. Now I just need to chat with my machinist friend about how to mate the VW flange with a Renault flange.
And I'll finish this post with the car slightly cleaner than it's been in the past few months:
I'll try to keep this thread updated more often.
Rod
Beautiful! The color really works.....
Blue seems to be a popular color!
Hope my paint-job comes out as nice as yours.
A long overdue update, back in June I made a stand to elevate the body to allow the chassis to be rolled out from under it. This has helped immensely with working on the mechanical bits:
I've also spent some time (and a small amount of money) fabricating the CV adapters. I ended up welding on some steel donuts rather than chopping up the VW bits. I welded the flanges on, faced them off in the lathe then handed them off to my machinist to have the holes drilled and tapped. I'm very pleased with the results:
This weekend I hope to sort out the shift cable brackets and maybe spend some time on the cooling system. Also, over the next while I'll re-link the photos (there's no way I'm going to pay Photobucket to host, so I'll have to go through each entry in the thread and replace the links).
Rod
You probably mentioned it already, but what transaxle are you using? I recently got a Renault 8 and am considering some craziness with getting rid of swing axles, going CVs, and fabbing some suspenion bits.
Ross,
The transaxle is an NG3 from a Renault Fuego. I'm sure if you could find another set of R8 halfshafts you could do the same as I have, machine off the tripod or what ever the R8 has, and weld on some plates or VW flanges.
What a beautiful frame!
It's almost a shame to have to hide this frame .......thanks for the update.
759NRNG said:It's almost a shame to have to hide this frame .......thanks for the update.
I agree. You can make a lexan body shell, right?
That is some nice work.
I love it when this thread turns back up. You did such beautiful work on it.
The delicacy of Loti has always fascinated me.
That said, and bearing in mind that my engineering education was in the electrical field, does this single sheer design for the upper link not defy convention?
Nohome,
It's probably not the strongest, but then again Lotus seem to have used the same design for most of it's single seaters:
Time for an update, dear old dad has allowed me to bring the chassis to his place (where I have all my tools and space to work). The goal was to have a running chassis by the end of this past long weekend. Long story short, it's not running. But, I did get a ton of work done, though when you step back and look at the result there isn't a lot to see. I now have all the cooling pipes sorted, a new rear body mount set up including a battery tray:
I've modified the shift cable brackets so that the cables don't share the same space as the inner CV joint:
And sorted the serpentine belt routing/alternator mount & adjuster:
The belt does clear the chassis on the alternator side by at least an inch, the photo is deceiving.
The little thing that took the most amount of time was sorting the remote oil filter adapter on the block, the hoses had to point somewhat rearward, but tightening the adapter enough to keep the oil in had the hoses pointing in every direction except where I wanted them. The oil filter adapter required some careful turning on the lathe which sorted that out, but it took nearly 6 hours to get right. I can say that the used Zetec (condition really unknown) does show 75 psi when cranking on the starter, so fingers crossed it will run.
Next weekend I hope to have the carbs mounted firmly on the manifold, the fuel pump plumbed in and the ignition computer wired up. I really want to make smoke....
So this happened:
There's still a ton of work to be done in regards to tuning, but for the time being I'm done with the motor. Next up is getting the rest of the mechanical bits fully sorted.
In reply to RoddyMac17 :
Awesome!!!
A video this awesome deserves to be embedded:
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