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Thanks all, it was quite an interesting session playing with the software, really want to spend some more time on it but only have a little laptop at home, so will need to try and find time at work to have a crack at it again. Ackerman should be fine as the arms are a set point so shouldn't make a difference which way they are facing. The rack will still have the same input. Every day is a school day however, so there is only one way to find out! - EDIT. It won't be fine at all, there is now a new plan! There was a little update on the Insane Creations 67 Mustang on Friday too, I've got a feeling my Coupe will be in his rear view mirror when they are on the road too! Got enough nitrous in that thing to get it to the moon let alone the engine capacity being twice that of mine standing at 8+ litres!
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Last Edit: Dec 24, 2015 10:20:09 GMT by Ralph.Wrecked.It: Engineering Error! Always learning!
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Oct 30, 2015 14:04:29 GMT
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So as it's Friday and that basically means the weekend has started but you are stuck in the office still... It was time to have a play... I want to make some little hinges for the doors on the Coupe. So, Started with a flat sketch: Then gave it some depth: Then make a block to scoop out from the solid: Which then leaves us this: Then repeat for the second side: Then a similar process for the smaller bracket: And the other side: Which leaves us something a little like this: Then add some bolt holes: Then realise they will foul on the rose joint on the smaller hinge. So add some chamfer to the holes to allow for use of countersunk bolts... So, getting all excited at this point I was then walking round the office chatting to someone about it and they said, why not throw that on to the 3D printer and check it for clearances? Well, why the bloody hell not! 1 hour 20 minutes later... Ta da!!!! Lots of flaws with it, but not bad for 1st ever self designed piece! Will have another stab at it next week and order some rose joints to play with.
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It sure is @quickrack1, hoping it will get a lot of road time once done compared to a more traditional rod. Little more support work out back: And then the spindles are put in the jig to see what it all looks like... A little problem: This puts the steering arms way too far forward which means the steering rack will be hanging out the front of the car! So, I am going to need to swap the hubs around which in turn will mean the callipers will be front mounted. No big deal, just something that needs to be thought about when the A-Arms are made.
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Oct 28, 2015 13:57:48 GMT
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Hi iain, Thanks for the kind words, the main roll hoop is all we really need in this, it's a road car after all. The main frame (smaller tube) is mainly to support the body and act as a bit of a skeleton to the car to stop any body flex and so on. This is going to be bonded in with fibreglass so a large amount of it won't be seen. If at any point the car feels unsafe when driving around, as the interior is being left fairly bare to start with, it shouldn't be too much of an issue to add in further points in the cage. At the moment the car is getting around 20 - 30 hours per week but this really goes up and down depending on other projects and builds in the workshop. I couldn't really add up how many hours exactly are in it as it's moved around a few times and the initial donor car strip down was down over a couple of weekends too... All in all, a rough guess would maybe put it at about 4ish solid weeks (full time) of work to get it to this point?
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Oct 28, 2015 12:50:50 GMT
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Thanks forkliftfred ! It's going to have quite a different stance to the typical hotrod, but then it's not exactly a typical hotrod! The day it gets on to 4 wheels is going to be a good day!
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Pedal box arrived! Horray! Looks great, well made piece of kit by Comp Brake Motorsport. Some more tube work has been going on and lots and lots of welding to try and get things firmed up ready for one of the major parts of the project... The front end! Some additional support for the rear cradle, once we know how much room we have for a fuel tank and other bits, more braces may be added. So, on to playing with the front end. I want the wheel track to be nice and square on this, so the track needs to be equal front and back. Some spacers are needed for the rear to bring them away from the body ever so slightly, then the fronts can be positioned perfectly. Couple of quick mock ups... Grille quickly clamped on to give a little perspective, also a jig made for the hubs, wheel height is shown here and you can see on the jig where the centre of the wheel will be in a final position. It will have a stretched wheel base over a stock 31 and even longer than a 32. It (hopefully) won't look as if the wheel base has been messed around with as the engine is so huge in the bay, everything looks fairly sensible so far!
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Woohoo! I really am glad that it's staying as is (albeit a few tweaks I'm sure!), I do like the 'General' cars, but always think a nicely done Charger is much better! Yours looks so tough already, it can only get better.
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Well... That was one crazy roller coaster of a read!
To extremes of car buying...
One, buy it blind, nice and easy, jobs a gooden (Fox).. And one epic battle with ups and downs all along the way (I think we all know which one this is).
All I will say, is I am glad that it's working out now, it looks bloody stunning in the latest pics you posted up, tough as hell. Are you serious about turning it in to a 'General'? or now you have hold of it you are going to keep it as it is and drive the wheels off it?
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Hey carlosfandango, thanks for the kind words. I certainly am keeping those wheels, not only because it will keep costs down but I also really like them, adds to the whole modern vs old school type thing I've got going on. Chances are they will be black when the car is on the road though... Or bronze... Hmmm I will decide once the body has been painted. Got a little while before we get that far though. The weekend was spent trimming some of the tube and measuring for rear shock mounts and a few other little brackets. No photos I'm afraid as I'm sure we all know what a measuring tape looks like
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Oct 25, 2015 17:02:48 GMT
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I'm hoping the pedal box has enough adjustment in it to get it feeling how I want it. Long way off trying it out, but it's another piece of the jigsaw ready and waiting!
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That sir is one awesome looking beasty froggy! I'm sure that will be a right laugh to chuck around, I see a modern engined hotrod race coming on when they are both done! Thanks for the tips on the ECU, I will try and stick with what I have for now but if it starts to throw up some hurdles then I may need to investigate further. So, there have been some additions to the jungle gym inside the 31. These aren't for safety as such, we have the main roll hoops for that, this is more a frame for the body/floor and to generally stiffen things up a bit. A bar across the top to tie in to the door posts... And then some tube at the bottom of the doors for floor support and to also tie the body in when it's time to do that. Likely next will be rear coil over mounts and some little wheel spacers so we know where the rear end will sit once complete. Whilst it's still on the chassis jig, the plan is to move on to the front suspension after, this will be a fairly major part of the project so there may be a few sporadic updates on the way until we are happy with how it sits/looks/behaves. Once the front suspension is done, it will then be cut free of the jig and allowed to stand on it's own 4 feet... That is going to be one hell of a day. Many, many rolls of toilet paper will be required. In other news, there was a Flash Sale on eBay yesterday evening so I managed to pick up this with £50 off the price, result!
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That's an awesome build froggy ! Is it done yet or still in progress? Can't wait to see it in action. Yeah I should be able to get it running on the existing ECU, there is just tons and tons of wiring to chop out... In man hours alone it does make me wonder about going after-market... Is the MegaSquirt a coil on plug system? Usually the coil on plug systems work out a bit more expensive and I would like to keep that setup if possible.
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That event looked a little disjointed but look at those roads!!!! Awesome little course, 10 points for giving that a stab in the dark! Looked bloody hairy! Fantastic catch on the earlier run, that whips round pretty quick.
Excellent car, looking forward to seeing your next adventure with it!
Ralph
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Oct 20, 2015 14:07:29 GMT
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Ah awesome! That's very cool that you get to see the car through to the end of the build.
Keep up the good work!
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Oct 20, 2015 12:17:29 GMT
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Wow there is some cool stuff hiding in this workshop! I just read most of this build thread and I am a little confused as to what's going on... Has this car been sold but you are finishing it for someone now? What's the plan with the other motors hiding in the background?
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Hi mylittletony , That has been a thought, but the original plan was to use as many stock parts as possible for ease of maintenance and replacement parts, granted the headers will not likely need replacing.. The aim at the moment is to try and get the car on the road in the simplest form possible. Even writing that sounded silly in my head when looking at how the car sits at the moment. I want to make the car as usable as possible and keep the budget as small as possible... I really don't want to get near the end of the build and then not be able to finish it off due to funds. So get it on the road as simple as possible. Really basic interior, drive it about, see what I like, don't like. Then if money allows chip away at refining it. This is another reason why the blower is sitting firmly on the shelf for now.
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Thanks monoon I will take a look at those x5 headers and see how they lay. The headers I have VERY nearly just work so hopefully not too many mods! froggy ... Twin turbos in a 32... I am now looking for more info on this build. I'm not after massive power, I do have a Eaton M112 sat on the shelf staring at me, I've seen others use these on their M60B40 motors... Not sure yet. Someone also offered me a Pro Charger at not insane money at the weekend and that idea has been eating away at me too... But I think you are right, it will have to be an after-market ECU for sure if I go down the F/I route.
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I'm sure I read on here somewhere that these headers are twin walled and are even worse on the inside than they look. That'll also make them a pain in the to mod. Erm, WOW! I did not know that! Pro tip, thanks very much for the heads up, that would have been one hell of a surprise! BMW scum bags! Hmmm, well that is very interesting indeed. Hopefully if all I need to do is cut the flange and rotate it I won't run in to too many issues. Thanks for the info jonsey & claymore
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Oct 19, 2015 15:29:35 GMT
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Yeah the drivers side is horrific to look at without a steering column in there. Hopefully it will mask some of the bend when it's there. I can imagine that side doesn't flow very well at all haha That pic you posted legend, are they from an E34 motor or a later one? After-market stuff is really pricey on these motors... It's not even worth looking at a set of cams for them.
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Oct 19, 2015 15:11:47 GMT
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Thanks grenade ! legend, it's hard to find out much info about the headers on these motors (or maybe I have been looking in the wrong places) as most of the BMW lot have these engines in the appropriate vehicles, in which case the space in the engine bay is limited. There are very few after-market options and it seems the general consensus is that they flow quite well? I don't really know, so if you have some info on them I'd love to hear more! I'm not after massive power yet... Yet... The exhaust system is going to be fairly simple anyway so if after a little while on the road I decide to up the power then I will look at other options for exhaust. They aren't the most well supported engines for after-market tuning so any info will be great to have!
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