User: Brian_S
Projects: 2
Posts: 25
Driven Wheels :
Rear Wheel Drive
Engine Position :
Front Longitudinal
Car Type :
Saloon
Built for:
Stage Rally (Tarmac)
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20/10/07 11:53:52
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After starting to mount the wilwood pedals, it became clear that where they wanted/needed to go meant that they interfered with the steering column A LOT
So, I faffed around for a while with cable ties and other such fixings to see if the pedals could be used along with the column. Although it was tight, I found something that seems pretty good to use (I had to dig the seat out again!) and provides a bit of clearance. I could still do with making something to rest my clutch foot on as it was aching shortly after I assumed the position.
My previous steering column mount never inspired me much, so I decided I might as well strip that out and get something new in there.
When I previously removed the pedal box to fit the pedals it seemed like the shell/cage could do with a dash bar, so I thought I might as well add it all at the same time.
Now the column is mounted, and I'm happy with it. I nabbed some of Animal's suspension bearings, but I'll replace them this week with some lower grade 1/2" 5/8UNF bearings from eBay as they don't need to be chrome moly and teflon lined just for mounting the column! Not unless I go back to the gym anyway!
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Perspex Windows
20/10/07 15:29:17
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Ages ago I started doing the perspex windows for the Manta, but I really didn't like how it came out, mainly because I wasn't using the standard Manta door window seals. The easiest way to make the windows though, is to use the standard seals, and side runners, including the part that holds the wing mirror:
The doors are mega-heavy to begin with, and could definitely do with some trimming to loose some weight. Fibreglass replacements are available, but (a) they don't have any upper frame, so you still have to make a frame for the perspex to use, and (b) by the time you've lightened a steel door, it ends up weighing close to the fibreglass ones that are available.
To hold the perspex to the correct shape to make it seal on the standard door window seal, you need to make a frame. This is sometimes bolted on (the works 400 Manta's for example). I decided to weld one on as it seems easier to me.
The perspex is simply cut with a jigsaw and a very fine toothed blade, the risk of the perspex cracking when cutting it is really only high when the weight of the perspex is trying to snap the last section of perspex that you haven't yet cut, so make sure you support the weight of the perspex you are cutting.
Once cut-out, the perspex is positioned in the door, and positions are marked for applying fixings. When you drill the holes for fixings, you need to make sure that you support the rear face of the perspex so that you don't shatter the rear of the plastic. The easiest way, is to drill the plastic on top of a bit of wood.
The rear windows were just cut to fit the hole in the rear quater. Some rubber edging was applied to the shell, and then the perspex screws to fixings on the shell. I haven't finished the rear quaters yet, they are not screwed onto the shell yet.
The rear window is large and must be thermo-formed. I am going to buy one instead of trying to make one. It's going to be almost impossible for me to do because we cannot thermo-form the plastic properly.
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Getting it ready to paint...
13/11/07 10:16:09
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Last weekend, Lee and I popped down to the bodyshop to order the paint for the Manta. So now that's on order, and being picked up this week it's time to get on with prepping the shell. The manta is back on the spit again and the underside is the first part to get all the crud removed.
With all the rubbish out of the way, the shell will be treated to some Kurust where appropriate, and then I have a good two pack etch primer to chuck at it, before some white paint hits it.
The outside of the shell will be orange, and the rest will be white. Oh, with some decent matte black spraying on a few bits.
Here is the manta back on the spit again, courtesy of Lee's phone :)
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Almost started painting!
21/11/07 6:04:52
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Well, the shell is now on the spit, surrounded by tarpaulins and basically ready to paint. The first task is to do the underside, then the engine bay, and inside. Finally, after all that practice the external paint can go on.
I've gone over al the bits that look a bit rusty with kurust, and hopefully that should keep things at bay. It's only a rally shell after all, and I'm not looking for it to last too long anyway. With the use if gets it's never going to rust away!
Hopefully I've got everything I need now. The devilbiss still looks too clean to use, but hey I've got to pop my spraying cherry at some point!
Roll on the weekend when I can start spraying stuff at the shell.
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Underneath is complete!
28/11/07 4:36:46
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Yep, the underneath of the car is complete. Chucked on two coats of etch Zinc primer, and then four bottles of Gravi-Tex on top of that. The Gravi-Tex stuff was recommended and I have to say, it's great stuff. So now the underside is white, I'll need to get the inside and engine bay finished off in white, and then move on to the outer bits of the shell which will need to have a decent finish.
Want it to look good the first time it goes into a tree! ;-)
The devillbiss gun has been a star so far. I can't wait to see what sort of finish we can get from the gun on the orange bits!
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Painting the inside and engine bay
04/12/07 1:33:55
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It's nearly complete. I've primed the inside, engine bay and boot. Last night the last of the second coat of etch primer went on, although there are two bits that I'll have to mix and paint which I missed, before the white can go on.
I've been experimenting with the gun, and now have a better idea of how much paint I should be putting on. More than I had been putting on! This time I opened the gun up a lot more, and really chucked some paint on it, expecting a good run or two. But, to my partial disappointment, no runs - just a much better finish that I got on the first coat at the weekend. I even managed to cover the roof okay, which was extremely awkward inside the shell.
I'm glad to have experimented a bit, and now I'm just looking forward to getting some white paint covering all the bits that need to be white and then I can get on with getting the colour on the outside.
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Painting the shell Orange!
14/01/08 5:04:08
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Finally, it was time to put some real colour on the Manta. I had finished off the interior painting before Christmas, so everything but the outside of the shell was painted. Now it was time for the exciting part - putting the final colour on.
Apprehension was with me in the morning before Lee and I started prepping the car ready for the colour as I have never achieved good results with spraying, but then I've always spraying with cellulose out of a rattle can. I've never sprayed more than a wing before and I'd never touched two-pack before either.
Saturday, the car was masked up although it didn't hold that well, I can highly NOT recommend B&Q "Finest" masking tape (the blue type they sell). The shell was then primed with two coats of high build two pack primer. The primer went on pretty well, but as I found out whilst doing the white painting, primer is thicker than paint so it's a lot easier to apply.
We started again on Sunday fairly early and it was here when the nerves started to emerge - what if it runs everywhere, what if I !*#@ it up, etc., etc.
We started off with Lee flatting off the primer with some 500grit wet and dry, and I re-did the a lot of the masking off using standard masking tape from a local motor factors. Then we blew off the dust, wiped over with some panel-wipe and then finally went over it with a few tack cloths.
Then came the moment of truth, Lee mixed the paint and we poured it in the pot. Lee set-up the gun to get a good level of paint and a good fan and then started on the first panel to show me how fast to be moving the gun, and also showed me how to plan each panel before squeezing the trigger! After the first panel was done, the apprehension had gone. A bit of the Manta was orange and looked amazing. I couldn't wait to get stuck in on the rest of the shell. Lee handed me the gun and it felt great to spray the colour on whilst Lee guided me along. It was easy to see where you had sprayed on the first coat, orange onto light grey primer was a good contrast.
Lee did the first couple of coats of orange on the roof because I found it awkward enough spraying other bits of the shell without needing awkward, hard-to-reach panels to spray too, but he made me get up there and do the final coat.
The shell had three good coats of orange, and with every coat the finish just got better as the confidence of how much paint could go on without running built up, and the depth of the orange deepened.
The photos are the only things that can show the how well the finish is from the gun, I think the Devilbiss GTi is the best tool I've ever bought and I'm very glad I did. And the number of runs I managed to put in the paint? None!!
It's safe to say that Lee and I were like children on Christmas morning when we had finished spraying. I was dying to see the orange contrasting the interior. Most of the masking was done from inside, and after the final coat had gone tacky we just had to remove some of the masking to see what it looked like - Stunning!!
It's safe to say that without Lee's guidance you would most likely be looking at photo's of an orange floor and white Manta! lol. His help was awesome and now I can't wait to get on with painting the bolt-on panels...
...all this though, and I'll dent it on the first rally!
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Out of the booth
16/01/08 4:37:36
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We dropped the tarpaulin's last night and took the last of the masking off to see the whole shell. It's looking great!
Now that those bits are complete, I have to do the rest of the bolt-on panels in orange, and I also have to paint the cage and front bulkhead in a very matte black. I want to use Nextel (or an equivalent) so I'll have to see if I can get hold of some. Once the cage and bulkhead are painted, I can start bolting stuff in and doing the fuel and brake lines as well as the wiring. It shouldn't be too long before I am just concentrating on the engine build.
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Rear Axle Trial Fitting
23/01/08 4:36:26
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I thought it best to trial fit the rear axle, as to get a rolling chassis I need to be ordering the wheels and tyres soon. The question I need answered is what offsets and widths can I run on the Manta without the wheels fouling the bodywork.
A guy at compomotive suggested a 0 offset 8" wheel would fill the rear arches which surprised me, so I decided it's best just to measure it myself rather than trust anyone at face value. I suspect that when I spoke to him, he thought it would have a 400 kit on, even though I had said it was a standard coupe bodyshell. A zero offset 8" rim is not going to fit the rear end well at all.
I mounted the axle, and set it straight, in the middle of the rear arches, and fitted a couple of Lee's wheels which are 7" with a high offset (I will check soon to see what offset) to see what interfered, and/or what I could get away with.
The top photo shows plenty of room between the outside arch and the wheel/tyre, and the bottom photo shows that there is plenty of room on the inside edge of the wheel/tyre and the chassis or suspension spring.
A couple of problems did arise from this fitting though. I had designed the link arms around the panhard rod, assuming that as standard, the normal road height would be with the panhard rod parallel to the floor - this would make the most sense. However, as can be seen in the top photo, the manta would suit gravel rallying only at this height.
The following photo shows how much room there is for the link arms to move before hitting the chassis rails. Not a lot of room. However, the same photo shows that the link arm can be moved down the axle 3-4" which should allow the axle to hit the bump stops without the link arms hitting the chassis. You live and learn I suppose. But it is interesting that I've only spotted this since everything has been painted!
Sorry for the poor quality photos, my camera had been subjected to a pint of Guiness, and the lens had not been properly cleaned.
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Painted the Nextel and Checked for wheel clearance
24/02/08 11:37:45
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Although it's been a month since my last update, I have in fact been getting on with a few bits. After looking everywhere for 3M Nextel paint, my dad managed to locate some for me, and a big thanks to him. I tried trimite for a suede effect paint, but they had a minimum order of 5ltrs, which at £35 a litre + hardener + thinners was a bit much for the small amount of painting I needed to do!
Many internet searches say that Nextel is no longer made, but that actually translates to 3M no longer manufacturing it. It is however still produced under licence from 3M by a German company called Mankiewicz. 3M originally designed nextel under contract for NASA for the space shuttle to coat their control desks. It is extremely mat and non-reflective which is ideal for the area surrounding the windscreen so I don't get blinded on sunny days.
3M is a two pack paint, and can be sprayed on. However, they recommend a 1.5-1.8mm tip. I used a 1.4mm tip, because that's what I had and I wanted to get this done ASAP as it was holding me back. It is extremely thick without thinners, and I put in as much thinners as I dared which really was quite a lot, but the gun still struggled. I struggled with it a lot, but in the end, the finish is fine for a rally car; near-black and non-reflective. Matt or Satin finishes from standard aerosol's come nowhere near as matt as nextel. Nextel is also very hard wearing, hence why I did the cage with it too.
I also did some actual measuring up to find out what tyre widths I need to run. The Kumho V70A tyre is available in 205/225/245 and 265 widths for a 16" rim. I need to use a 16" rim to be able get the wheels over the front brakes which will need to be pretty large. I am not using a brake servo and it will be doing tarmac events.
Having had a good measure up with a few fabricated bits of steel I worked out that I need to run 225 maximum at the rear, as 245's and 265's don't fit inside the arch no matter what the wheel offset could be.
With 225's at the rear, I will use 205's at the front. Kumho recommends an ideal wheel rim width to be 7.0" for each tyre (The front's having a section of 45 and the rears having a section of 50). So at least that means I can run the same wheels all round. I also need to run an offset of 45mm. I measured 40mm, but as there will be a brake disk between the half shaft and the wheel, 45mm seems a good bet.
So, I need to get:
Kumho V70A, 205/45R16 (Front)
Kumho V70A, 225/50R16 (Rear)
Braid Winrace 'A', 16x7"/ET45/PCD4x100
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