TVR Scott (Forum Supporter)
TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) Dork
8/30/20 12:47 p.m.

Awesome!!

gumby (Forum Supporter)
gumby (Forum Supporter) HalfDork
8/30/20 9:05 p.m.

I spy with my little eye, something nickle plated

Robbie (Forum Supporter)
Robbie (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
8/30/20 9:34 p.m.

In reply to gumby (Forum Supporter) :

Are you talking about brakes?

Today we connected up the rest of the braking system. We needed to make spacers for the front brake calipers. Here's where we started with scrap:

Then next here after transfer punching and cutting:

Then finally here:

Lots of happenings this weekend on the Datsun. Ian came in for a few days, and my wife took the majority of kid duty, so we were really able to knock out a lot of stuff. Goal was to have the car move under it's own power, but that didn't quite happen as we hit a few snags.

One snag was that one of the gussets I had Ian weld into the swingarm was in direct spacial interference with the shifter mechanism. So we had to cut that back out (doh). Another was that the engine was stumbling a hair on tip in, and throwing a FI light. We have diagnosed this back to a bad TPS sensor, so I'll get that replaced and am pretty confident that will fix it. Third was that 1" heater hose is not a common stock item at the retail parts stores, and we need that to finish the cooling system. And finally the brakes needed the spacers built for the new but uninstalled calipers that came with the formula chassis.

Between Ian and me, I bet we put in 25 hours this weekend (really only worked a couple today, yesterday was the big day). I believe that brings the total to 316.

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter)
AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
8/30/20 11:25 p.m.

Nice!

Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter)
Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
8/31/20 5:40 a.m.

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

I love your color choices. 

Robbie (Forum Supporter)
Robbie (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
9/1/20 12:44 p.m.
Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

I love your color choices. 

Thanks! What's funny is that I decided to just use up my "half used spray can" cabinet on this project. I had about 3 cans of matching red so that became the main frame, but if you look closely I was even using both white and gray primer on it. It feels great to empty out that cabinet.

Robbie (Forum Supporter)
Robbie (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
9/1/20 1:01 p.m.

Here's a photo dump coming in from Ian from the weekend. And I know youse guys like photos. 

Robbie (Forum Supporter)
Robbie (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
9/1/20 1:09 p.m.

Also, now I'm making lists. These things have to happen before I go about attaching the body:

RACEC4R
RACEC4R New Reader
9/1/20 1:35 p.m.

+ Alignment?

Maybe not before body, but since we had that front end apart, I bet it's gonna need some attention.

AxeHealey
AxeHealey Dork
9/1/20 1:52 p.m.

Inberkeleyingcredible.

nocones
nocones UltraDork
9/1/20 2:01 p.m.

This is amazing.  Great work.  Keep it going.  

 

I Chuckled when I realized that your UBJ is just a Rod end and is carrying spring loads (What size is it?).  I've been agonizing over UBJs for a while and your uprights which are used commonly for hundreds of miles on a F500 car at track events take the route I dismissed.    Can't really argue with success though.

cmcgregor (Forum Supporter)
cmcgregor (Forum Supporter) SuperDork
9/1/20 2:09 p.m.

Wow, I feel like this thing really turned a corner and became a car all of a sudden. Looks great! I love the harlequin look on the frame, too.

OjaiM5
OjaiM5 Reader
9/1/20 2:28 p.m.

This is getting really good. So excited to see progress 

Robbie (Forum Supporter)
Robbie (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
9/1/20 4:26 p.m.
RACEC4R said:

+ Alignment?

Maybe not before body, but since we had that front end apart, I bet it's gonna need some attention.

Added

Robbie (Forum Supporter)
Robbie (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
9/1/20 4:36 p.m.

In reply to nocones :

Hahaha. I guess I never really thought about it too hard. They are 3/4 inch, I think they are all right hand thread. Need to figure that out as I'd love to replace them preventatively. 3/4 of them turned pretty easy. The 4th was close to stuck, and I would hate to have to try and service it while not at home in the shop.

Robbie (Forum Supporter)
Robbie (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
9/2/20 9:04 a.m.

317 hours. Got started on the battery box this morning, should have it crossed off the list shortly.

Apparently I didn't take any before pictures, but I cut and bent some scrap metal. Just need to weld it together, drill holes in the mounting ears, and add a lick of paint. Also I need to decide how best to attach the little hold down on top.

Robbie (Forum Supporter)
Robbie (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
9/3/20 9:27 a.m.

318 hours.

Brings my total to 2 for this battery box. Take that stampie!

Welded, drilled, sharps removed, painted.

Check it off the list!

For those curious, here was where the scrap came from:

Patrick (Forum Supporter)
Patrick (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
9/3/20 10:35 a.m.

#shotsfired

Stampie (FS)
Stampie (FS) MegaDork
9/3/20 12:00 p.m.

In reply to Patrick (Forum Supporter) :

It's ok, anyone can make a battery box that heavy.  #speedholelife

Robbie (Forum Supporter)
Robbie (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
9/5/20 12:22 p.m.

In reply to Stampie (FS) :

Put yours on a scale!

I did another hour. I didn't add much lightness, but I did add a ton of functionality, and didn't have to add weight for these other pieces.

and then:

319 hours.

With the recently announced changes to the challenge, I think I'm ready to go all in on this for this year. There is a LOT of work still to be done. But I'm willing to try.

 

Robbie (Forum Supporter)
Robbie (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
9/9/20 9:01 a.m.

Been a little lax on posting pics. But got a ton done over the weekend and last two mornings!

First I was talking with my BIL about extending all the control and switch and gauge wires. He had some sage advice - "don't". I love this solution because it saves major time, some budget, and eliminates many considerable possible failure points that I could be adding accidentally. Plus, you can still reach the switches from the driver position. Grab clutch with left hand, right hand reaches over shoulder (like putting on a seatbelt) to hit start or kill or headlights. 

Took the same approach with the gauge cluster. I was able to use the rectifier bracket, and I will probably replace the zip ties with hose clamps. The rubber is from an old bike tire.

Still very functional!

Next I turned my attention to the ignition switch. Long ago, I had unbolted the keyed section, but I was tired of using a screwdriver to switch it on and off. So I made a plate out of the "dash" that was on the f440 when I recieved it. 

And I installed the switch - with an old used handle I had laying around. SWEET.

I also got to work mounting the coolant overflow. I think it would fit in the 'stock' location, but I was missing one bracket for that. Plus it would have been darn near inaccessible on the vehicle. So first I bolted the stock bottom bracket to the car. 

Next I welded in an upper support. NICE. 

Checked off some smaller items like regreasing the steering box. SMOOTH.

And I started on the cowl. I'm not sure I really need this, but I love the F1 or Indycar look of a huge scoop behind the driver's head.

Other items not pictured include:

  • Bled rear brakes
  • Tip over switch eliminated
  • Side stand switch eliminated (still can unplug for EFI dash debug mode - you get the 'blinks' for the fault code only when the side stand is down)
  • Fan wiring extended using wire removed from side stand switch and tested by jumping fan relay
  • Ground wires extended and attached
  • HESD - honda electronic steering damper - disassembled and binned, except for the solenoid which remains plugged into the harness. This keeps the ECU happy without any of the weight of the HESD. OK its only like 2 lbs but I'd still have to bolt it to something to stop it flopping around. 
  • Verified gas gauge works by manually lifting the float
  • Checked all fuses, replaced a 20 amp with the correct 10 amp - um, yikes! and added the missing spares to the correct spots in the fusebox. 
  • Figured out that the aftermarket LED taillight that came with the bike was blown out. And so was the front brake light switch. That also happened to be the circuit with the 20 amp fuse in the place of a 10 amp one. Hmmm, wonder what happened...
  • Verified wiring for TPS is good, so I have narrowed the EFI issue to the TPS. TPS is not 'replaceable' by itself, so the bad news is I need an entire new throttle bodies assembly. The good news is that working used units are only $40ish (WHAT!!!) on Ebay. Amazing. New TB ordered. 
  • Ordered 4 fresh new takeoffs in 19x7.5x10 r25b
  • Ordered 6 pt harness and roll bar padding and a bit of extra radiator hose and new heims for the front suspension and roll bar clamps and some nutserts

 

Also, called and reserved a trailer to rent for the week of the challenge. It's getting real y'all. 

nocones
nocones UltraDork
9/9/20 9:07 a.m.

your aluminum origami looks great!

 

I like your solution to clamping to the bars with zipties.  The gauge mount in particular looks really nice.

Robbie (Forum Supporter)
Robbie (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
9/9/20 9:29 a.m.

Also, forgot to add. I'm at about 332 hours now. 

Robbie (Forum Supporter)
Robbie (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
9/9/20 9:32 a.m.
nocones said:

your aluminum origami looks great!

 

I like your solution to clamping to the bars with zipties.  The gauge mount in particular looks really nice.

THANKS!

Also, I think I might be trying to bring this down to Rantoul either October 3 or 4 for a test day. Do you normally go to those autoxes? I was thinking of trying to get in contact with the organizers to see if I can work the event in exchange for some test and tune time.

Andy Neuman
Andy Neuman SuperDork
9/9/20 9:52 a.m.

Are we allowed to vote for challengers choice even if we don't show up? 

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