Too close for comfort...

I’m deep into revision for my last exam of the year at the end of the week but I have managed a few hours in the garage… all of which have been a bit concerning.

I’ve put the front suspension back together and have found two problems:

1. I’ve had Lenny turn my bolts too short – totally my fault; not the end of the world but annoying.
2. More worryingly, once it was all back together I found that the rocker actually clashed with the bracket that Steve had riveted to the chassis to support the body. I’ve always wondered if they should be on the outside if the chassis and this would appear to be the case. There was nothing about this ‘development’ in the manual so it’s not a great shock. The only way that I could attach the brackets on the outside of the chassis is if I removed the main tub – this is not going to happen so I’ll need to fabricate some different brackets. It’s incredible how tight things are around the front shocks. I’ve already mentioned that the lower mount are too close together; I now find that I have about 3-4mm only of clearance between rocker and chassis. I’ve leapt up and down on the front suspension and nothing touches with the aforementioned brackets removed but it’s a bit closer than I’d ideally like.

I’ve also had a quick look at the rear suspension and found that the springs touch the body in their current position. This means that I’ve got to space the wishbones and or dampers differently. Again, not the end of the world but an annoyance none the less, and another job for the list.
I have managed to complete something off the list. I bought some skateboard grip tape from an eBay seller and have since removed the pedals and applied it. You can also see in the photo my original and replacement accelerator pedals. I positioned the pivot too far to the right so wasn’t able to heel and toe. I contacted Grant at Optimum Balance Products who I guessed made the pedal box and commissioned a one-off replacement. Not surprisingly, he questioned what I needed a couple of times as it does look suitable for a club-foot. Still, it does the job nicely. Lenny’s done a great job on my new load spreading seat spacers. New (top) and old can be seen here:
I’ve also almost got the template for the boot cover spot-on. One more and I’ll have it done.
I have had a bit of encouraging news this week. Local MNR owners Ed and Jon (thoroughly nice blokes as it happens) took their car to Muzz Race to get the suspension set-up after I suggested that I would be taking mine there. It sounds like Steff did a great job which is the first bit of good news. The second is that their car weighed 486kgs with a fair amount of fuel on board. I’d expect their car to be quite a bit heavier than mine so I may yet get to 450ish kgs which would be fab!

Anyway, bed beckons – Ciao.

TC