My race project - The Proof

[gav]

Oops - missed off the rear suspension

[stevebroad]

Hi Gavin

Is the kitchen finished then, allowing you to work on the Elan?

Regards
Steve

[gino1]

Great Job Gavin...lot of work gone into this car.

Just thought you'd like to see how the '801 is coming along...Finally at ark Racing for the final build.. will post you more when the car is on four wheels..

Gino
Milano
italy

[gav]

Steve

Dont mention the kitchen - its turned out to me more expensive than the car....and there's still more to do..

Have you lost any more weight recently (the car - not you)

Gino

That loks fantastic.
I'm interested to see how the front works out - I may be after one yet.

More photos of both projects please

All the best
Gavin

[stevebroad]

Steve

Dont mention the kitchen - its turned out to me more expensive than the car....and there's still more to do..

Have you lost any more weight recently (the car - not you)

All the best
Gavin

Recently I trimmed the floor support attached to the tunnel, as it doesn't need to be so wide, and removed 700gms. The new carbon floors saved nearly 5kg.

Since the beginning of the year I have removed 13.5kg.

[gav]

It may not look it but I have made some progress since the last update.

Wishbones nearly there, just need to adjust them to get more camber adjustment which I may or may not need.
Engine and box out for propshaft then build starts properly.

Sadly not up to Gino's standard but I suspect our budgets may be different.

Anyone good with suspension geometry? - I'm trying to establish how much camber to apply to a combined road and race car. The tyres will take up to 2 degrees negative - and also whether camber needs to be the same front to rear. I have managed to centralise the tyre centres front to rear despite the fact that I am running 215s on the front and 245s on the rear.

Finally lookong for a set up expert ideally in the Herts area and would love to hear recommendations.

thanks
Gavin

[gav]

Inching closer -

Now sorted out the rear suspension and the wheels are now pointing in te right direction. Just concluding anti roll bars which is last point on suspension. Front next.

Last decision is location of fuel tank wich I am on with at the moment - that is the last of the main decisions then reform the front bodywork and bonnet, spray and final dry fix.

Had the dry sump tank made to fit the available space and plumbing. It has a heat shield (not shown) because it is close to the exhaust.

Look at the quality of the welding - fantastic - really pleased

Onwards......

[gino1]

Hi Gavin...looking really good and the quality of the build looks very skilled and professional ... keep us posted on your progress....still to finish our project ...will post you some pics...
Gino Milano
Italy

[Davidb]

Gav: Great workmanship--What class would this car run in?

[elanman999]

Gavin,
That's coming on really well.
Can you tell me what steering rack that is please? Also you seem to have a track rod extender one side and not the other, have I got that correct?
Keep up the good work.
Cheers
John

[gav]

Dave

The car was originally run in modsports and has been extended to Donnington GTs which had a looser set of regs. The engine should probably be wilder than a 2l cosworth BD but thats what Im using.
I'll start with hills and sprints and track days until Im used to it then I might have a pop at some of the looser regulated race events. I dont want to be taken out by someone else. If it's my fault Im OK with it but with a limited budget I cant afford to be wrapped up in someone else's racing accident.

John

The rack came from Spyders. I see that they have mixed reviews here but I've not had a problem with Sean or Andy - I find them very helpful and I dont have a problem with their products. They can give you a steer on the rack (sorry couldnt resist it).

Cheers
Gavin

[gav]

John

Meant to mention - the rack extensions were temporary - bit of an issue there because I am running ally AP 4 pot racing calipers. I bought the set up from someone else and then discovered that the vented disc rubs on the TCA ball joint rubber - so I got hold of a set of high tensile pins to replace the ball joint and will run rose joints instead.
I could have just drilled through the steering arms and used a long bolt but didn't want to take any more meat off the arm castings.
I have a pair of rack extenders being made at the moment that will use a LH thread rose joint onto the pin so that I can adjust by twisting the extender rather than removing and refitting each time. This will allow me to tinker with track quickly.
I still need to bump steer the set up but have just got a pair of new Stanpart uprights to replace the forty odd year old castings so will finally assemble the front end, then bump steer the rack, then set the tracking.
Because all of the wishbones are adjustable, I will need to set up the lengths and then check that the fronts and rears are in the correct plane against the centreline of the car.
Was thinking of paying a 4 wheel alignment garage a visit to do this. Do you know whether they can detect whether any of the wheels are off alignment from the centreline of the car?

Thanks
Gavin

[nmauduit]

Was thinking of paying a 4 wheel alignment garage a visit to do this. Do you know whether they can detect whether any of the wheels are off alignment from the centreline of the car?
Gavin

I find convenient to get the shop setting the geometry back to my specs after I mess with it : the way their setup works is by having a laser reflector attached to each wheel, the car being on a dedicated stand with a readout in front. I don't think there is any way to get a centreline reference (what would it be: chassis ? ) so setting the car straight on the stand would be recommended. From there, the setup get accurate angles all around and quickly (you may want to have the car properly loaded if you want to do with bump steer optimization).

geometry

[elanman999]

Gav,
Thanks for the rack info.
As nmauduit says I doubt that the centreline can be referenced, but I would have thought that the setup boys could tell you if the four wheels formed a rectangle or not. Obviously you need to allow for any difference in the track front to back. However any setup that is done by attaching reference points to the wheels means that it's only as good as the wheels and the play in the front wheels bearings. If you have new or good alloy wheels that should be OK. You can always check the wheels for runout first.

Cheers
John

[rgh0]

Hi John
As far as the wheels are concerned the centreline of the car is midway between a suitable reference point on the end of the wheel mounting face on the centreline of the axle.

The simple way to establish this and then align front and rear wheels to this reference is the string alignment method. This method was published by Lotus for the 26R as part of their documentation.

What toe in you need front as a starting point is relatively clear but however the rear is another question all together as Lotus themselves appear not to know what their specifications from the 60's for the rears actually mean. Changes in tyres and camber and wheel widths for developed cars just add to all the difficulty, meaning a good driver feel and lots of experimentation is needed to settle on whats right for your car

I have this string method as described for the 26R somewhere on my Laptop but cannot find it for the moment I am sure someone else has it !!! The method itself is general and you will find it if you google it.

cheers
Rohan