OK, I'm not dead. I had a LOT of work in the last couple months, and I got a hernia fixed as well. I am still on weight restriction, so very little work done on the little car. Although as I look back at the thread here, I do owe some updates, so here goes. . .
I finished the front suspension, at least until it comes to tuning time. What I got now will hold the front end off the ground and point it down the road. I may need to re-do the rockers later, although I believe that they are probably going to be good. I even got to most of the the front suspension parts painted before it came off cold here. I have then moved to the area behind the seat. I need to put a battery box, and a fuel tank in there, and separate that area from the passenger compartment with some sort of removable panel. I may even be able to do that with weight restrictions. (Anyone know what pressure you put on your abs cutting tube with an angle grinder?)
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BothFront.jpg
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LeftFront.jpg
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RightFront.jpg
I have also decided to use the radiator out of the donor Ford. It was a 1.3 liter, so it oughta be big enough. I mounted it behind the seat, so I am going to need to duct air in and a fan will be necessary. The OEM Ford Aspire radiator is aluminum with plastic tanks on the top and bottom. It mounted in rubber grommets on four plastic pegs sticking up and down coming from the plastic tanks. I lost 3 of the 4 rubber grommets, so I had to figure out mounts. I ended up using short pieces of exhaust tube, with sections of closed-cell foam in them around the plastic pegs. (The foam is pieces of water pipe insulation.) The top mounts aren't done completely, 'cuz I'm not sure what else is going to need to mount to the same area, so right now I just have a couple pieces of welding rod twisted around to hold the radiator in place.
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Radiator1.jpg
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Radiator2.jpg
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RadiatorOutlet.jpg
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RadiatorMount.jpg
I also got one of the rear hubs apart and cleaned up. I need to paint it I guess, and I have new bearings and seals for it. Which reminds me, I need to get the axles apart so that my friendly machinist can make up the axles I need from the parts I have.
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RearHub1.jpg
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RearHub2.jpg
I need to sort out a gas tank yet. I thought I might use an old propane tank, but that is heavy. A 5-gallon red plastic gas can like you use with your mower would be ideal size, but I don't know if I can mount the needed filler/outlet/inlet/float stuff in it. Does anyone have an idea for a good, (cheap) fuel tank in the 3-5 gallon range?
Anyway, I'll shut up. Everyone wants to see the pictures anyway, right?
TALON