Sean
Junior Member
Posts: 66
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Post by Sean on May 1, 2016 23:14:32 GMT -5
I thought I would share my journey with this car. Bought as an unfinished project in Oct 15 from the South Island. Sight unseen. I know Cavet Emptor. Supposed to be 90% complete. Just add brake fluid, hook up the gear change & fuel tank and go. Yeah Right. Tui (NZ joke)
On getting the car & having a good look 90% complete was way off. Nowhere even close.
Nov 15; A lot of good stuff was there but on a look through a lot of bolts with no nuts, wrong size, perished brake lines , Shocks no good. etc. etc . etc. I had a few scrutineers look at it and the common theme was the roll bar was no good but the rest of it looked OK. The more I looked at it the more I saw that I wasn't happy with so a complete strip down was next. Once I got down to the suspension I could measure the alignment, pick up points etc. They were all over the place. Not happy as this will only be problems down the track.. So a complete strip down to the bare chassis.
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Sean
Junior Member
Posts: 66
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Post by Sean on May 1, 2016 23:16:51 GMT -5
Jan 16 The Strip
On measuring the chassis the cock pit was 100mm longer than the plans & the section to the pedals 50mm shorter. So the idea is to move the pedal box forward 50mm & Seat forward 100mm. I made up a jig to accurately locate the front suspension pick ups to the centre line of the car.
Feb 16 Pedal box moved & pick up point in.
Meanwhile I have been designing the roll bar in consultation with MANZ which I want to be demountable so I can chrome it. Also I made the decision to put in a front roll bar so I can run in categories other than Historic. Moving the pedal box & set also meant the steering had to be adjusted. Before it was welded through the bulkhead. Arrrrrrg.
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Sean
Junior Member
Posts: 66
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Post by Sean on May 1, 2016 23:53:56 GMT -5
April 16 Things are starting to go back together again. Got the approval for the roll bar designs.Then it was 2 days ringing from one end of the country to the other in both islands & finally found Harris Racing in Gleneden with 35mmØ bender, roller. So that is now under way. Now it is repositioning the gear change to suit the new seat position & steering wheel. The gear change was out of alignment slightly so I have used a 3/8 socket universal and a sleeve for the selector rod & stiffened up the selector arrangement at the rear of the car. Next is adjusting the steering column & universals to the rack. Attachments:
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Post by MiNiTiCi on May 3, 2016 3:14:00 GMT -5
Always advisable to strip down a newly purchased race or kit car - Like you I have found horror stories and botches by previous owners. One race car had a 1/2" drive socket inserted into the brake balance bar which stopped the pivot working.
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Sean
Junior Member
Posts: 66
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Post by Sean on May 3, 2016 23:21:09 GMT -5
Thanks for your comment. Nice to get some feed back.
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Post by flyingwillywombat on May 6, 2016 14:59:44 GMT -5
when I saw the first pictures I thought that looks nice , and it does , but as always once you start digging it can be amazing what you find...... Anyway good luck with the rebuild , following this with interest. All the best gary
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Post by carnut on Jun 3, 2016 21:11:39 GMT -5
Nice to see so many pics of your Terrapin. Keep us all posted on your progress. Can't wait to see the finished Car and hear about all the new mods. Cheers, Carnut
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Sean
Junior Member
Posts: 66
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Post by Sean on Jun 16, 2016 0:56:09 GMT -5
June 2016 Well slowly getting on with the wishbones/ suspension pick up points. I have the rear end done so now the front end. I made a template from a piece of plywood. This seems to be the way to go.
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Sean
Junior Member
Posts: 66
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Post by Sean on Jun 30, 2016 15:46:53 GMT -5
June 2016 Front end suspension now tacked up and set up on chassis to confirm new wishbone pick up point positions. A few anxious nights as the pick up points are quite different compared to each side. Rechecked string line and chassis measurements. The differences are in the actual chassis so the string line is the datum. A good example of what happens when the chassis fabrication is not accurate. Fingers crossed I have the string line in the right place. Also ordered the shocks from Protech. Thanks Geoff (Gimmeabeer) and Gray for their help.
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Post by golfpin on Jul 1, 2016 15:56:20 GMT -5
Great effort keep up the good work and all the best for the first entry Golfpin
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Sean
Junior Member
Posts: 66
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Post by Sean on Aug 2, 2016 4:31:00 GMT -5
July 2016 A few things completed this month. The roll bars welded & installed along with the removable backstays. While the car was away I had a look at the wheel hubs. All the wheel bearings had new grease in them but I decided to check them. Out of 8 I might use one of the bearings for a trailer. Same with the brake cylinders and brake shoes. They look like they had been in there since 1959. Two of the brake drums were over skimmed. Basically everything stuffed. So managed to find two OK drum in my stock, plus new wheel bearings, brake cylinders & shoes. The master cylinders were actually new and in near perfect condition. Yaah Gave the head the once over a clean up as that was original and pitted valve seats. I have a standard motor to start with so as long as it is a runner I'll be happy. The shocks arrived so made up the brackets and welded the wishbones in time for the car arriving back from getting the roll bar fitted. Now setting up for the shock brackets to the chassis. So some progress.
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Sean
Junior Member
Posts: 66
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Post by Sean on Aug 25, 2016 18:34:33 GMT -5
Aug 16 Where does the time go? This month was suspension related with everything tacked in place. Put the engine in to get a look at how the car might be with some weight in it. Realised my mistake so had redo the suspension brackets to the car. With engine in made up some steady bars. Put the steering rack in and found it was too short. The main body was correct for the measurements but the rod ends too short (standard). Lengthened these to the 10.25" (260mm). Seems to be right now it is in the car with room for adjustment. Next is looking at seat brackets, Harness mounts and all the other brackets required. I am surprised at how often things have to be set up, made, tacked in, taken out, put back in, double checked.
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Sean
Junior Member
Posts: 66
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Post by Sean on Feb 1, 2017 16:22:47 GMT -5
Jan 17 I have spent the last couple of months welding wishbones, brackets & chassis etc. It has been a learning curve. I MIG welded but this wasn't acceptable. So I had too start again & TIG weld. All good fun too learn a new skill. The wishbones have just come back from being checked over by our club scrutineer. So they are off the get cerma chromed. The chassis is getting checked over at the moment.
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Post by MBEngineering on Feb 2, 2017 7:35:19 GMT -5
HI sean
I see the front lowwer wishbone's have not had the safty update done to them, with the extra support tube running between the 2 joints, to fully triangulate the bottom wishbone, will you be running the car with no up-dates.
regards mike
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Sean
Junior Member
Posts: 66
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Post by Sean on Feb 2, 2017 16:23:56 GMT -5
Hi Mike Thanks for the comment. I wasn't aware of safety updates! Is there a record of them somewhere so I can incorporate them? Thanks Sean
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