Attempting to build the world's quickest UK road legal Elan

[nalesutol]

This seat has now cost me money. I had to go to Home Depot to buy a couple of large cardboard boxes in order to make a box big enough to take the seat. Cost me $6! I have packed the cage foam I have also bought around it to add a little more protection. I think that I will have to declare this at Heathrow.




5 weeks is long enough for a holiday and I am looking forward to flying home, especially as we are travelling Business :-) Just as well as I need the extra baggage allowance in order to get the seat home.

Any car nuts visiting California and get anywhere near Los Angeles MUST visit the Petersen Automotive Museum and make sure you do the Vault Tour.

[nalesutol]

Seat boxed ready for next week's flight home. I think that I am going to have to go through the red channel at Heathrow as it will be obvious that this isn't a standard suitcase :-)

[georgeb]

Oct 23, 2016 3:33:16 GMT nalesutol said:

I think that I am going to have to go through the red channel at Heathrow as it will be obvious that this isn't a standard suitcase :-)

Rather you than me.

I got my very old and venerable Britool socket set into Malaysia and Singapore with no problem, but it caused a bit of a stink coming into the Philippines. Fortunately Madam was there with an appropriate amount of folding stuff to soothe the furrowed brows. Mind you, this is the same woman that got an entire roast suckling pig through Malaysia's (very Islamic) Customs at minimal cost.

Not sure you have that option at LHR?

[nalesutol]

Trying the folding stuff trick at Heathrow would get you into a whole lot of trouble :-)

Well, we are back home in one piece and no issues at Customs. We were going to go Red but a custom official stopped us before we entered to ask why we were going that way (I guess it was unusual). When we told him that we weren't sure whether we should declare an old car seat he said no. He then asked if we had anything worth over £400 and when we replied no he ushered us through Green.

Did a first dry fit of my 'new' driver's seat today. What does Prince Charming say when Cinderella puts on the glass slipper? Oh, yes......IT FITS!!

The seat I made (also in carbon), which is now relegated to the passenger side, doesn't look too out of place so I will use it.

Now I just need to make the seat brackets and decide whether to paint it black to match the passenger seat.

[Darkspeed]

Just put a Motor World sticker over the Reverie badge - will save you the weight of painting it black to make it looks less bling

[nalesutol]

Oct 28, 2016 23:14:10 GMT Darkspeed said:

Just put a Motor World sticker over the Reverie badge - will save you the weight of painting it black to make it looks less bling

:-)

Or one of mine :-)

[sonus]

Out of curiousity what is the cost difference in making the parts in carbon compared to wet layed up fibre glass?

My TVR Vixen bonnet is rather heavy and I am toying with the idea of having it remade in carbon fibre to save weight, but I am worried it'll cost an arm and a leg. Maybe even a kidney and some other body parts compared to buying on in fibreglass.

Is there any point in wet laying carbon fibre?

[nalesutol]

The cost is in the materials. 300gm Fibreglass is around £2/m2 and carbon fibre is £24, so 12 times as expensive but you would need less layers. Resin for carbon is also more expensive, £66 for 5l as opposed to £20 for fibreglass resin. For wet laying you should allow the same weight in resin as in fabric. ie 600gms of fabric requires 600gms of resin. So the material cost of a 1m2 two layer panel in 300gm glass would cost around £7 and in carbon it would be £56.

If vacuum bagging there is the additional cost of the consumables - vacuum bag, peel ply, release film and breather cloth. You can use a domestic vacuum cleaner to create the vacuum but for best results a pump designed for the job is advisable.

There is every point in wet laying carbon fibre. When I started that is how I made my door skins and roof.






They are not brilliant but with a little fettling (including a coating of resin) they will be OK.

The roof weighs just under 2 kg, compared to the 7kg original. However, if I made them again I would vacuum as it results in a stronger and lighter item.

Chopped strand glass is easier to work into tight corners than carbon cloth, which is similar to glass cloth in that respect, ie a bit of a pain. This is where vacuum bagging helps a great deal.

The only other advantage of glass over carbon, apart from cost, is the curing time. Glass resin cures in minutes, carbon resin takes up to 30 hours.

[sonus]

Nov 2, 2016 22:32:40 GMT nalesutol said:

The cost is in the materials. 300gm Fibreglass is around £2/m2 and carbon fibre is £24, so 12 times as expensive but you would need less layers. Resin for carbon is also more expensive, £66 for 5l as opposed to £20 for fibreglass resin. For wet laying you should allow the same weight in resin as in fabric. ie 600gms of fabric requires 600gms of resin. So the material cost of a 1m2 two layer panel in 300gm glass would cost around £7 and in carbon it would be £56.

If vacuum bagging there is the additional cost of the consumables - vacuum bag, peel ply, release film and breather cloth. You can use a domestic vacuum cleaner to create the vacuum but for best results a pump designed for the job is advisable.

There is every point in wet laying carbon fibre. When I started that is how I made my door skins and roof.






They are not brilliant but with a little fettling (including a coating of resin) they will be OK.

The roof weighs just under 2 kg, compared to the 7kg original. However, if I made them again I would vacuum as it results in a stronger and lighter item.

Chopped strand glass is easier to work into tight corners than carbon cloth, which is similar to glass cloth in that respect, ie a bit of a pain. This is where vacuum bagging helps a great deal.

The only other advantage of glass over carbon, apart from cost, is the curing time. Glass resin cures in minutes, carbon resin takes up to 30 hours.

Thanks for the info, much appreciated

[nalesutol]

My pleasure :-)

[nalesutol]

Seat brackets arrived. They weigh 905gms each. However, I will be fixing the seat to the second to bottom slots so the top section will be cut off. Also, I need to remove some material between the frame fixing holes so they clear the seat bottom. I have ordered 16 M8 titanium bolts to fix it all together.

[sonus]

900grams a piece seems heavy to me. Are they steel? if so why not aluminum?

Some additional holes wouldn't be difficult either

[Darkspeed]

Litigation mitigation means that everything bought over the counter is now massively over engineered for the application.

[nalesutol]

Nov 11, 2016 9:27:18 GMT sonus said:

900grams a piece seems heavy to me. Are they steel? if so why not aluminum?

Some additional holes wouldn't be difficult either

They are aluminium, but 6mm thick. These need to be stiff so I will be wary about taking too much out. However, I will be surprised if they are not close to 500gms by the time I have finished with them. Using titanium bolts also helps :-)

[nalesutol]

Nov 11, 2016 10:33:46 GMT Darkspeed said:

Litigation mitigation means that everything bought over the counter is now massively over engineered for the application.

Agreed, but these have been designed to meet all the race regs and fit many seats so had to be pretty sturdy and quite tall. However, they have given me something to work with rather than having to start with a blank sheet of ally.

[820]

How do the Titanium bolts compare to steel bolts for strength, I was never sure if they should be used for mounting seats or heavy work.

[fer4l]

Can't you base mount them?

[nalesutol]

Nov 12, 2016 0:20:31 GMT 820 said:

How do the Titanium bolts compare to steel bolts for strength, I was never sure if they should be used for mounting seats or heavy work.

Are you happy to use 8.8 bolts?

[nalesutol]

Nov 12, 2016 0:50:51 GMT fer4l said:

Can't you base mount them?

What do you mean by base mount? The fixing bolts are in the side of the seat.

[fer4l]

Nov 12, 2016 17:51:28 GMT nalesutol said:

Nov 12, 2016 0:50:51 GMT fer4l said:

Can't you base mount them?

What do you mean by base mount? The fixing bolts are in the side of the seat.

Put it on the floor and bolt it down

Why perch it in mid air on nasty heavy levering flanges? Lower / lighter = better, surely?

Cheers

Matt