Axle Fuel-ey

For the second time this year I made a late call not to travel to watch the RGB racing and instead headed for the workshop.  It may not be Beverley Hills (tenuous, I know) but it's better than working on the patio.

The first job was to finish the low pressure hard-pipe fuel lines.  I'd originally planned to use smart Christmas Tree-style fittings at both ends but this wasn't practical at the rear due to limited space.  The front end has worked well though.

One of these will supply fuel to the swirl pot and one will act as the over-flow taking fuel back to the main tank. Although this is only the low pressure part of the fuel system, I'm not happy having the flexible lines connected without some sort of barb or bead. After some research, I decided that Yorkshire-type fittings may provide the solution. These are pipe fittings that already have the necessary solder attached; pretty clever. They, not surprisingly, don't seem to make them to use as beads on kit cars so I had to improvise.  I therefore purchased a straight joining fitting and cut it in half.  After a bit of filing and sanding I slid them onto the cleaned up ends of the pipes and applied some heat - via a brilliant little torch that I own that was intended for browning crème brulees. I'm very happy with the result.

I'm slightly less happy with the wavy floor/  This was damaged when the spit arrangement that we had the chassis on collapsed at one end.  Once the rear panel goes on it should straighten it out a bit.  The fuel lines were the last thing that I needed to do before something genuinely meaningful happened; the axle is in!

I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't a little alarmed by the proximity of the differential to driver's side of the transmission tunnel but I think it will just be okay.  We'll find out at the first test no doubt.

You may have noticed that in the photograph two-up that there are a couple of odd looking thing at the back of the chassis.  These are the exquisitely machined end-fittings for the roll cage back-stays.  Have you seen something similar before?  If it's good enough for formula rep and 750MC board member Hoverd, it's good enough for me.

This uses a huge 5/8" shank rod end and a 1/2" bolt in double shear.  It's pretty damn strong.  Last job of the day was to fit my Christmas present from Kate - it's a Varley Red Top 25 battery.

That'll be something else to connect the cascade of wires too then.

Next?  Front axle and rolling hopefully.

TC

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Back in the saddle.

Writing the last blog post did serve to make me realise that I really should get on with it.  As a starter-for-ten I set myself a couple of simpler tasks to get things moving again.  First up was to add some heat mat to the passenger footwell.  The reason for this was not because I am concerned about the passenger's feet getting toasted by the exhaust heat.  The battery is to be located just the other side of the panel and hence I felt that I should do something to try to protect it.

The products used to do this came mostly from Car Builder Solutions.  The heat mat seemed to get good reviews and the appropriate adhesive was apparently their proprietary contact adhesive.  The sticky stuff was tested a few weeks ago when Kate stuck together two bits of foam on her way to making a foot stool.  At the time I got her to give the heat mat its base coat as per the instructions.  I should also state that Mrs C put her crafting skills to the use when cutting out the heat mat to the correct shape for me.  When I came to actually glue the matting to the car it was a case of applying the adhesive to both sides with a paintbrush and leaving it to dry for fifteen minutes.  When I returned to the mounting surfaces I was suprised to find that they were barely tacky to the touch; I thought I'd got something else wrong.  Reluctant to admit defeat I paired the matting with the aluminium panel.  It sticks.  It really sticks.  Some clever chemical reaction seemed to be under-way as the matting when quite clammy and cold.  Anyway, it's on and I'm halfway through finishing the edges with aluminium tape.

As you can see, there are four bolts that hold the battery mount in place but I can't think how I can practicably protect these.  The second job was to decide where to locate the master switch via it's rather expensive bracket.  I had to check the height of the bodywork as it is now the highest point on the car but all is well.  The cable run to the side of the car for marshal use is going to be very short and it'll still be okay for me to use - although I will have an ignition switch closer at hand.

 One big project completed (by Dave) is the build-up of the axle.  This was delivered back to me this week and I'll hopefully fit it this weekend - albeit with some old dampers on-loan from local RGBer Al Boulton while I wait for my Protech's to arrive.

The next big project is the roll cage; work is under-way.

So there we are - I'm back up and running.  Deadline? Pah!

TC

Motivation Narration

There's not much to say really.  I've just lost two weeks due to sheer apathy.  I simply haven't wanted to face the car (if it can really be called that yet.)  Everything seems to take at least twice - often four-times - as long as it should and frankly it doesn't feel like fun at the moment.

This is a bit of a problem as I've got it booked-in at http://www.conceptracing.co.uk/ to have all the tanks and some water pipes made in a fortnight so I need to postpone that.  It needs to be rolling really first and I need to add a bed to the trailer.

Progress has otherwise been limited to fitting the hub bearings and buying a few odds and sods, like this master switch bracket - which I shouldn't have bought as it's really not worth £50.

Even watching the excellent coverage on Motors TV of the RGB racing at Snetterton didn't prompt me to run out to the shed - it just feels so bloody far off still.

TC