Well day started with me putting the steering rack in the right place! Basicall involved moving it down the bracket a bit. You can see in this that the steering arm is now fairly in line with the bottom wishbone.


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Then after lunch.... the engine!

Started by preparing the engine hoist! My dad made it out of a few pieces of 2x2, some skirting board and a random piece of angle iron, but it seems plenty strong enough!


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Next, wheeled the engine into place and started to lift. I thought that having had the sump off for over a year there wouldnt be any oil left in it! So, bolted the sump back on and lifted it up..... and a massive pool of oil appeared! Visible in this picture!


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Up up up and lots of newspaper!


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Up up up and the car wheeled underneath.


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Down down down and into the bay!


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And roughly into position (will be a bit further to the o/s)


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And some other random pictures I took


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Enjoy!

Adam

Nice pictures.
As regarding your steering rack, it is more important that the steering knuckle (under the rubber bellows) intersect an imaginary line between the top and bottom wishbone chassis mount pivot points (steering straight ahead).
This will ensure that the rack travels in the same arc as the wishbones and prevent bump steer.
Being parrallel with either wishbone is not as important (although they may end up parrallel with one of the bones).
Once you have the correct position and your suspension is set, then go about adjusting the length of the track rod ends.

Regards Martin

I have to concur with Martin, If you jack the front up, remove the shocks, centre the steering then lift and drop the wheel hub assembly you will be horrified by the amount of bump steer.

Now is the time to shorten the rack tube by 3" and the rack itself by 4" to sort this out.

Regards Mark

Just out of curiousity, are you planning on putting any bars across the top of the engine bay? Just since you haven't got any at the mo.
Otherwise, looks good. Nice wheels too.

[Edited on 1/9/06 by DIY Si]

I will weld the bar in once the engine's in and I know what space I have to work with.

Wheels are 6x14" KN Jupiters off a caterham. Very rare but quite unpopular apparantly!

I had a feeling that'd be the answer! Is the chassis pretty standard or strenghtened ala cymtriks?

At this rate you'll be finished when you're about forty! Pick it up Phelps.

Well, most of its tig welded but other than that I think its fairly standard! The rear is stiffened massively by the IRS and roll bar, front is standard!

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Originally posted by gazza285
At this rate you'll be finished when you're about forty! Pick it up Phelps.

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Just curious to see who's going extra strong and who's using book chassis's, and what's considered "enough" for typical se7en use. Mainly because I'm was going extra extra strong but cheated and brought a car!

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Anything over 450kilos

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Originally posted by hicost
Looks like a good car in the making.

Just a quick one regarding weight, surprised to see a steel floor in a BEC.

I have been involved in discussions this week regarding BEC Dax cars running R1 Turbos.

Target weight 380 kilos!!!

Anything over 450kilos and you should be putting a CEC in it as the BEC is no longer providing any benefit.

So cut that floor out and put an ally one in.

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If it's 3mm, I would take it out! Probably weighs as much as you do!!! 2-3mm ally would do much better. Oh, and remember you won't actuall spend much time stood on it, so don't worry too much about it popping. I would suggest soem extra steel strips under the seat mounts though, especially for comp use.

Thats exactly what I was thinking! The guy who built most of the chassis had a bad experience in his previous locost with an ali floor where a stone went straight through it! I think 3mm steel is overkill though

[Edited on 1-9-06 by phelpsa]

Well make it 2mm then! I have no idea what mine is though. Probably 16 swg!

You were too quick off the mark. I typed ali when I meant steel

Whats the best way to bond on an ali floor?

Adam

i used to think 16g steel or 3mm ally was the norm, but then a few people piped up saying they had used 16g ally! Serious weight to be saved there.

My friend fortunately now owes me a sheet of kevlar carbon composite though, so thats my next floor sorted.

rivet and sikaflex.

vhb tape (Very High Bonding) ad rivets in the corners to stop it peeling up. 3M make some stuff, various sizes and roughly £25-30 a roll, but that'll do just about the whole car.

I think I will cut it out then and get some 16swg ali in there! There aren't usually many big stones to be kicked up at a hillclimb / trackday!

If the stone's big enough to go through the floor, you should be able to see it coming! Even if it does, the chassis rails should stop it doing much damage. Just avoid catching too much air.
Also, 16 swg ally should be roughly 1/6th the weight of the 3mm steel.

[Edited on 1/9/06 by DIY Si]

The aerial atom floor is basically a cradle for the seats and a thin fibreglass/composite 'cup'.
I have been in the latest TVR's with fibreglass floors.
Basically your floor is a rain sheild!!!!!

I notice your tie rod and rack are in a (almost?) straight line at full lock. In this situation it could happen that they flip over centre in bump which will lock up your steering - not a pleasant experience at speed!

This happened twice on my cobra when parking and once to a cobra on the track which led to a meeting with a wall. The easy solution is plates to limit the turning circle.

I'm not saying it will happen - just check it out on full lock and at all ride heights - turn the wheel to full lock and try to knock the tie rod over centre - if you can you have a problem.

A mate of mine was overtaking a skip wagon once, in his Caterham, when a brick fell out! Hit the road in front of him, luckily went under the front, smashed the sump in, then bounced up into the ally floor a couple of times. The second bounce came up right under his bench seat! He only had a bit of 3mm ally and a bit of 12mm ply between his knackers and the brick! The ally deformed but the ply took the impact!

I would have a steel floor if you intend sitting on it, or if you are having an ally floor then make sure there is a gap between your arse and the floor. Tritons seats have about 1" under them and I'm sure most of the other fibreglass ones do too!

Anyway Adam, get back in the garage and get that engine installed!

Mike

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Originally posted by Guinness

Anyway Adam, get back in the garage and get that engine installed!

Mike

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How about laying up some kevlar for the floor? that will stop stuff breaking through and attacking your nether regions.

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Originally posted by Hammerhead
How about laying up some kevlar for the floor? that will stop stuff breaking through and attacking your nether regions.

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I can get Ali cheap through school

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As of 7:00pm this evening the Suzuki GSXR1100 engine has been fitted! The mounts need welding up properly but that can be done tomorrow! I'll get a couple of pictures tomorrow aswell.

Adam

Well done mate.

What, you mean it's not finished yet?! Get on with it you lazy so-and-so.

Mounts are all welded up and painted. Got a couple of brackets to weld on and then..... chassis paint!