Manny's Clubman / Lotus 7 Replica / Locost Build

Rear guards

2012-01-29T22:44:00.000+11:00

Next major outlay were the rear guards.
I require 300+ mm rear guards to clear the tyres with my suspension setup, so after searching around I settled on a pair by Colin Lee which were made to order and were supplied in a sturdy, high quality finish.

Shocks and springs

2012-01-29T22:41:00.000+11:00

Next major purchase was a set of Protech shocks custom built with 14mm bush ends to match my donor suspension points.
The shocks are 14" open length alloy body single adjustable units and springs are 8" free length 1.9" id, 250lb rate for the front and 180lb for the rear.
The shocks and specs were courtesy of Greg at Redback Motorsport who I can highly recommend.

Nosecone

2012-01-29T22:33:00.000+11:00

Next major purchase was a nosecone to suit the wide chassis and tall engine combination.
After reviewing the currently available options and what other FMS builders have considered, I opted for a Peter Bezett nosecone as pictured which was well made and fitted as expected.

Radiator

2012-01-29T22:29:00.000+11:00

Next major purchase was a radiator.
Based on recommendations, I went with an eBay (auturbo) sourced 365x420x51 mm aluminum radiator designed originally for a Honda Civic EG EK 92-00 MT with an alloy shroud and electric cooling fan.

Pedals

2012-01-29T22:20:00.000+11:00

Next on the buy list were the floor mounted pedals.
I chose to use Wilwood for the hydraulic clutch and bias adjusted dual brake cast alloy pedal assemblies from Summit Racing.
I chose OBP for their beautifully engineered accelerator pedal assembly.
I've just used some disposable trailer spec hydraulic master cylinders for now for mockup but I'll be seeing Greg at Redback Motorsport for 3 x Wilwood master cylinders once I determine the ideal bore sizes.

Tailshaft

2012-01-29T22:13:00.000+11:00

Another of the outsourced items I had on my to do list was the tailshaft.
Simon at Driveline Services used my supplied sample as the basis to build a new tailshaft using the supplied ends and length but with new universal joints and tube as well as balancing the complete assembly. Fitment was perfect.

Instruments, Sender and Filler

2012-01-29T22:06:00.000+11:00

To match the integrated OEM sender unit, I contacted Airco Instruments who distribute VDO gauges in NSW.
They were able to supply and easily/cheaply calibrate a VDO Cockpit Vision series fuel gauge to read 15 ohms full, 55 ohms half and 107 ohms empty to match the sender.
They also supplied the matching VDO Cockpit Vision 100mm 200km/hr Speedo/Odo, 100mm 8K Tacho and 120 degree C Water Temp gauges.
Lastly, GJ Drivelines supplied me with a quality Newton A300 flanged, locking, unleaded flapped filler assembly.

Fuel tank

2012-01-29T21:50:00.000+11:00

I had a few large expense items holding up proceedings and I've been slack with photos and updates for some time so here are the latest updates.

First up is the fuel tank.
I sourced the OEM Toyota ZZE12x Corolla internal non return fuel pump/strainer/filter/regulator/sender assembly and mounting ring to design around.
The available rear chassis space was measured up and some scrap corflute from the local sign shop was sourced.
This was cut to size and the basic fuel tank shape was taped together. I then added some internal ribs for strength and baffling and orientated the fuel pump assembly for ideal operation. The volume has been calculated at approximnately 32 litres.
The corflute "tank" and pump hardware was handed over to Ross at Alloy Magic and he came back to me with the perfectly assembled and matching tank as pictured.

Seats

2010-05-16T16:06:00.001+10:00

Seat mounts with captive nuts have been fabricated and welded into place and the ADR approved Whitepointer seats upholsetered in marine grade vinyl have been bolted into position.

Handbrake cables

2010-05-16T16:02:00.002+10:00

The handbrake cables have been routed and mounting hardware welded in position

Tailshaft

2010-05-16T16:01:00.000+10:00

The tailshaft ends have been fitted to both the diff and gearbox and they have been joined with some tube to replicate the final tailshaft length.

The tailshaft finish and balance will be outsourced to specialists when all fabrication work has been completed.

Engine and transmission mounted in place

2010-05-16T15:58:00.000+10:00

The buck engine and transmission have been joined using the fabricated adapter and the assembly fitted to the frame on their respective mounts to allow further fabrication work to continue around them.

Steering column

2010-05-16T15:54:00.000+10:00

The AE86 Corolla steering column assembly was hung in position and then attachments were fabricated from round tube and the original donor bracket.
The assembly features a collapsible column for crash safety as well as an ABS housing featuring a tilt/height adjustment, an integrated lock/starter barrel, a blinker/headlight stalk, a hazzard switch and provison for a horn.

A more suitable aftermarket steering wheel will be added towards the end of the build.

Steering Rack

2010-05-16T15:44:00.001+10:00

A fair bit of progress in recent months but not many accompanying posts, so I'll try and catch up today.

I've settled on a mounting method for the rack based on the position it sat in the frame when copied from the JZZ30/JZA80 front crossmember jig.
I depowered the rack by removing all power steering seals and valves in the rack and pinion housings.
I have had to narrow the rack body about 100mm so that it fit inside the chassis but as the inner rack itself remains the same width, I don't foresee any ill effect on bump steer or geometry in general.
This solution will require that the rack and pinion engagement range be moved 50mm to the passenger side, so I'll have to get a machinist to machine additional meshing teeth and heat treat them as necessary.

IRS Diff mounting

2010-01-17T20:50:00.003+11:00

The diff I have gone with is a common IRS 7.5 inch Toyota F series diff as found in MA61 Supras, RA65 Celicas and RT142 Coronas.
This diff family is available with an open centre, plate LSD and Torsen LSD in a multitude of ratios from 3.5 to 4.7:1
I used a combination of modified RT142 rear diff mounts and modified front cradle as well as a JZZ30 Soarer rear crossmember mount to securely isolate the diff from the chassis in a strong but serviceable manner.
Driveshafts will be hybrids with F series CVs on the diff side and JZZ30 CVs/axle mount on the hub side.

Ribbed Floor

2009-12-02T19:39:00.007+11:00

The floor used is as recommened by FMS, 1.6mm Zincaneal; it was folded with the reinforcing ribs as detailed in the FMS plans, tack welded in place and then back stitch welded to prevent buckling of the sheetmetal.
The rib ends were trimmed and bent at about 45 degrees and welded smooth to allow the floor to slide over anything it grounds on rather that abruptly stopping/catching on an exposed lip.
A low speed fan nearby minimised me inhaling any of the nasty fumes the zinc gives off which would otherwise make me pretty sick!

Onto the steering rack and/or diff next.

Front Suspension

2009-12-02T18:21:00.011+11:00

Donor front suspension as used on JZA80 Supra and JZZ30/UZZ30 Soarer

A jig was made of the donor Soarer/Supra front crossmembers.
Forward lower and upper front suspension mounts were fabricated froms scratch as the front OEM crossmember is made of alluminium and was not suitable to fit to the frame.
Rear lower front suspension mount was utilised from the steel OEM rearmost front lower crossmember.
The jig was them offered up to the frame and the fabricated mounts tack welded in the correct position.

Once tacked into position, round tube was utilised to reinforce these hard suspension points.

I'm pleased with my progress having taken less than 3 months to reach the stage of a rolling chassis - now to maintain the momentum...

IRS Rear suspension

2009-11-17T19:52:00.010+11:00

A few weeks of effort has gone into jigging up, then cutting up the donor Soarer IRS rear subframe followed by some careful alignment as it was tack welded into place in the chassis followed by lots of cutting and welding to get it secure in it's final position.

1ZZ FE engine to J160 gearbox adapter

2009-10-30T20:31:00.006+11:00

I've spent a busy few weeks fabricating the adapter between the engine and gearbox.
I started off with a 16mm 400x400mm alloy plate as well a 4mm 400x400 transparent polycarbonate template and milled out the 76mm centres to locate the crankshaft accurately as the reference.
I carefully drilled out each hole for the engine and gearbox bolts and dowells on the clear template and them transposed them on the alloy plate.
I had a pair of helicoils tapped/fitted in the plate for the starter motor bolts as I made provision for the starter to be bolted to the plate rather than the plate to the starter - this will allow future removal of the starter without having to remove the egine/gearbox and seperating the engine/gearbox just to be able to access the OEM bolts.
A lot of counter sinking holes and tracking down suitable bolts/nuts to hold the combination together.
After everything was test fitted, the plate was trimmed down and linished to the adapter ring as pictured.

Engine mounts and start on pedal and seat position

2009-10-11T17:23:00.007+11:00

Engine and bellhousing positions have been roughly set - would have been nice for the engine to sit a little further back and a little lower but this seems to be the best compromise for footwell packaging and sump longevity.

Note the ~12 degree lean of the 1ZZ as a result of the OEM sump/pickup design.

The 1ZZ has no provision for engine mounts when used in a north south position, so after much consideration I settled on the design below which attempts to spread the load over a number of different bolt mounting bosses on different planes.

I also made a start on fixing the seat mount position relative to the pedal position.

Seats are Whitepointer ADR compliant seats covered in marine grade vinyl running on MX5 rails.

Pedal box is a modified Arrow assembly.

Basic chassis construction complete

2009-09-26T19:04:00.006+10:00

Another big day on the MIG - I finished tack welding all the rear (C1) chassis together and I then started final welding the rest of the chassis moving around regularly to minimise distortion from excessive heat build up.

I ground back all the welds where sheetmetal needs to be attached in the future and sprayed primer in the weld areas to minimise surface rust whilst the chassis is worked on in coming months prior to the final painting.

Chassis construction continues

2009-09-24T22:40:00.007+10:00

A lot of measuring, cutting, bending and trimming on the weekend followed by a lot more welding.
Today some tack welding and assembling of the transmission tunnel (TT1), rear bulkhead (E1) and rear (C1) frames.

Chassis construction Begins

2009-09-12T16:25:00.010+10:00

After collecting parts for the best part of 12 months, the chassis build has finally started!

The chassis is based on a FMS chassis, check the link for a cool 3D rendering http://www.formulamotorsport.net/Models/L7R/index.html#

A layout of the major sub frames

Lots of careful measuring, cutting and dressing of material before the first tack weld.
Bottom (A1) and top (B1) frames have been tacked as individual assemblies and then joined with all the interconnecting pieces.
Lot's of welding to come...