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PostPosted: August 13, 2010, 5:10 am 
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Joined: July 20, 2009, 1:16 am
Posts: 226
Location: Sydney, Australia
Hi everyone,

here is where I will be documenting the build my Subaru EJ25 N/A powered, mid-engined, fibreglass bodied (eventually, hopefully) car. I have copied most of my posts from my original build diary at http://www.ozclubbies.com.au to here to make it more available. The ozclubbies forum is only viewable to registered members.

I started by buying a 2002 Impreza RS 2.5 from Pickles auctions. The car was $2,911.20 + $150 to tow it home.

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The car has done ~106,000k's and looks to be in very good condition. After bending the front out a bit I was even able to take it for a spin around the block! It made me seriously consider repairing it and just using it instead of building my own car, but I knew then I'd just be looking for ANOTHER donor car.

Running total: $3061.20

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Last edited by Beelzeboss on August 13, 2010, 5:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: August 13, 2010, 5:10 am 
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Joined: July 20, 2009, 1:16 am
Posts: 226
Location: Sydney, Australia
Over the next few weeks I spent time removing all parts which could be used or sold from the Subaru. So far I have sold $895.00 worth of parts, and from the looks of things I should be able to make back all the money spent on the donor car while keeping all the parts I need to build the car. I had to buy an engine hoist (2 tonne, ebay, $250, near new) to remove the engine and move the shell around.

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After giving the gearbox a bit of a clean.

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And the empty shell as it sits in the driveway at the moment, waiting for me to cut it up and get rid of it (does anyone have a 9" angle grinder I could borrow?)

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Running total: $2416.20

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PostPosted: August 13, 2010, 5:11 am 
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Joined: July 20, 2009, 1:16 am
Posts: 226
Location: Sydney, Australia
I spent a lot of time while dismantling the donor, measuring the parts and putting them into CAD. I also did a lot of reading on suspension design to come up with what I think (based on no real world experience whatsoever...) will work pretty well. I also designed the chassis in Solidworks during this time.

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Also bought some Camry upper ball joints

Running total: $2465.54

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Last edited by Beelzeboss on August 13, 2010, 5:20 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: August 13, 2010, 5:12 am 
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Joined: July 20, 2009, 1:16 am
Posts: 226
Location: Sydney, Australia
Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the build table. I pretty much copied dhempy's design. I bought two sheets of 19mm MDF from ebay ($27 for both) and 4 90mm wall studs ($39.70). That, together with some glue and screws made the build table.

I then splurged out and bought 45m of 25x25x1.6, 26m of 20x20x1.6, and 8m of 50x25.1.6 (I don't need 8m, but you get a 27% discount for buying a full length). O, I also bought some 1.6mm TIG filler rods.

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Running total: $2838.54

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PostPosted: August 13, 2010, 5:12 am 
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Joined: July 20, 2009, 1:16 am
Posts: 226
Location: Sydney, Australia
I did a bit more work on the frame. It took a long time to get the front box aligned correctly, as well as the two rear 30 degree pieces. Everything is within +- 1mm so far.

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Cheers,
Andrew

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PostPosted: August 13, 2010, 5:13 am 
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Location: Sydney, Australia
Got a bit more done after uni.

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PostPosted: August 13, 2010, 5:14 am 
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Joined: July 20, 2009, 1:16 am
Posts: 226
Location: Sydney, Australia
Hey everyone,

I've taken some more pics showing where I'm up to.

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I've also decided to use Yamaha R6 shock absorbers with pull-rods on the front, and push rods on the back. This will mean there will not be any tension load on the bottom ball joint of the Subaru upright. This system has been used to good effect on Steve Grabers "La Bala" car. To this end I've bought 3 (so far) R6 shocks from the states. For $55 each (average, shipped) I don't think you can get a better shock. Here's a pic of one of the ones I bought:

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They each have fast and slow compression adjustment, rebound, and preload adjustment.

Andrew

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Last edited by Beelzeboss on August 13, 2010, 6:52 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: August 13, 2010, 5:14 am 
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Joined: July 20, 2009, 1:16 am
Posts: 226
Location: Sydney, Australia
I have some new pics of the chassis. I was about to take a picture of the side but the camera ran out of batteries :angry:. I'll get some more pics tomorrow morning. Hopefully by the end of this weekend I'll have the chassis mostly finished. Unfortunately I need to buy the windscreen before I can brace the sides of the chassis. All the bracing needs to meet at the base of the front roll bar and I won't know where that is until I have the windscreen.

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Cheers,
Andrew

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PostPosted: August 13, 2010, 10:06 pm 
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Joined: July 17, 2009, 10:56 pm
Posts: 378
Just a warning with the build table using steel studs,I did the same thing and spaced them at 12" centers and they still deformed a little.For an even load they were fine but when I crawled up there and set my bike engine in place(only weighs 145lbs so a lift wasn't needed)it started to flatten the joists where I and the engine stood with a point load.
If I was to do another I would use something heavier.


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PostPosted: August 14, 2010, 3:31 am 
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Posts: 226
Location: Sydney, Australia
Thanks for that late apexer, I am going to fully weld the whole chassis before putting the engine in and attaching the suspension brackets. I'll make sure it's off the build table when doing the engine mounts.

Cheers,
Andrew

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PostPosted: August 14, 2010, 7:54 am 
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oi, oi, oi - Pretty wide there Andrew, any indication of what she'll look like skinned?


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PostPosted: August 14, 2010, 10:54 am 
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Nice job on the frame. I like the design around the cockpit, this should be very stiff.

If it looks too wide, maybe you don't need to skin in that outside, upper frame member. It will look like a "nerf" bar which oval track people use...

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PostPosted: August 15, 2010, 10:46 pm 
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Location: Sydney, Australia
Thanks cheapracer and horizenjob. I'm glad you said you like the chassis because I spent a long time designing it.

The whole car will be 1800mm (70.8") wide (from memory) once the fibreglass is on, and the chassis is 1750mm (68.9") wide. The measurement from outside to outside of the wheels is 1750mm (68.9"), so they will be completely inside the body. The wheelbase is 2650 (104.3"), and overall height with 125mm (4.9") ground clearance will be 1100mm (43.3").

I'm not 100% on what the skin will look like, but I'd like it to look a bit like a small LMP car. I really like the look of the Saker and the Radical, as well as Airframefixer's build on this site.
Saker:
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Radical:
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PostPosted: August 21, 2010, 8:32 pm 
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Location: Sydney, Australia
Not much progress in the last few weeks, I de-powered the steering rack and did a bit more on the rear of the frame. All thats left on the frame is the removeable brace at the rear, the bracing in the side pontoons and the roll cage.

Disassembled steering rack
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The main seal which I removed
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The pinion, I haven't modified this yet but it's easy to remove and change at a later date
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Better shots of the rear of the frame
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Cheers,
Andrew

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PostPosted: September 13, 2010, 8:55 am 
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I apologise in advance for the quality of these pics. Taken from a phone and VERY washed out, but they do show the current state of the chassis. Nearly there!

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