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I will consider this. I don't want to get on the slippery slope of redesigning every little part I dont find 100% adequate to get on the road. I think the design is flawed but the guys in merry ol' England have not had any issues I know of yet with them. I'll focus on the big issues now, stuff that prevents motion.

See, I have a buddy that is a mini trucker and fellow engineer that has a problem. On his little Toyoda, once he was on airbags it was cool.... but then he wanted to do a V8 swap. Then 22's. At some point he realized he need to re-notch the frame....and that really cant be done. Soo.... he was looking at a custom backhalf. Well then he said scew it and is in the middle of a frame swap... the truck bac goes back on this week. It started as an engine swap!

Based on this, I just want to get it driving and then I'll work on other stuff probably until I sell it or die, lol.

Now for updates:

So, wow it has been forever since I've has a change to work on the car. Life get in the way i guess. But despite feeling like crap for the last two weeks (alergies..oak trees are in bloom) I got my butt in the garage saturday and worked on the brakes.




The fronts dont really come with directions per say, but they are pretty self explanatory. The only issue I had was the spacer washer for the Rally design parts was a little small; probably due to the difference between standard and metric. While I didn't have a drill to clearance the hole, weirdly enough I had the right tool.... a reamer. Reamed those suckers out and they fit like a champ.



Still need to flip the e-brake brackets, will do tomorrow.

Other: I beat on my bent wheel relentlessly with a dead blow hammer and a piece of wood. I think I got most of the bend out.... if the tire is dismounted the rest will be easy, but it may balance anyway.

In other news on of the jam nuts for the tie rod ends is frozen on. PB blaster failed. Next is the heat wrench. If that fails, me and Mr. dremel will spend some quality time cutting the nut off with the hope of not damaging the treads....much.

So nice to be working on it again in a CLEAN garage.

-Brad

_________________
If it has tits or tires it will cost you money.

Well, next big thing is almost done. got all the hard lines run. It was not as bad as i thought.



As previously mentioned, I used the lonacre kit. It said, in big red letters, THIS KIT SHOULD NOT BE USED ON RAD VEHICLES. Furthermore, the AN-3 flex lines declared that "FOR OFFROAD USE ONLY, NOT DOT APPROVED" My view on that is Stainless lines don't rust and if AN lines are good enough for racecars, the FAA, and the military I'll take my chances.

The kit came with nice metal brackets that you screw the adapters in. Some days, having a car made of round tube sucks. some creative work with the hammer, two drill bits, and a coat of primer and paint later I got this:


I also ordered new master cylinders from wilwood. Why would I do that?

1. The remote mount kits are 50 ish dollars.
2. There is an identical part that in every way is the same except that the resivor is cast into the MC.

Now I know room is a bit limited in the rocket nose but I really don't know why MEV went with the compact MC's that need a remote mount vs the ones that don't; they cost almost the same. I can for see that the clutch may need a remote mount but its gonna be close so i only got two for now. One could argue that it be nice to have the compact MC's fed by one reservoir. I disagree, if a leak develops its better to have the two circuits independent of one another.

pic of ones kit shipped with:


ones i ordered:


wilwood part number is 260-6579

I still have to tighten all the fittings and figure out how to secure the rear lines to the floor so they don't vibrate to pieces but all in all that is minor stuff. Honestly the rear may need to be redone to accommodate the fuel cell, something else i kinda forgot about :/

One more big step is completed though

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If it has tits or tires it will cost you money.

stick to the remote master cylinders... that way you can mount your reservoirs above the level of the brakes and you will not experience fluid drain back, as you will if you mount the reservoirs at the brake level..

edited in... doh, NOW I take a look at the picture.. and see you are using firewall mounted pedals with high mount masters.. sorry, I think you'll do just fine with the ones you ordered..

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Building a single seater middy BEC with GSXR 1000 power
build log: http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=5899

day job: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v723/turbolimac/portfolio/

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Maybe it's me but I can't see any provision at all for front caster adjustment, not a good thing in a middy as most are front setup sensitive.

As I see it, the Aarms and pivots are fixed and theres no fore-aft adjustment for the ball joints.

No jig in the world is that accurate.

Hey what are your rear calipers from? Are they from the focus, if so, if you wouldn't mind, what is the thickness of the rear rotors? I need calipers that have the parking brake cable from the front as yours are mounted and so far the only that will work with my project is 1987 MR2 rear calipers.

Project is coming together! Cheers!

evo

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My vq30 middy build http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=4082

91-96 Saturn S Series cars with ABS have rear calipers, and an included parking brake in the caliper.
Rotor thickness is: .420" on my car. Granted my rotors are slightly used, but never turned.

I bought seats. They barely fit, but they fit. They were expensive, ~500. They are ultrashield pro drag seats, with blue covers to be ordered cause race shop didn't have them. They are 18" wide.


I take pics, but in epic irony....
After waiting YEARS to get a camera mount for the car I finally did, so I bring it to the autox and try to video a run (with awesome spin recovery I might add) and its dead. D-E-A-D. some luck, huh?

So this week i get to mount SEATS!!!!

-Brad

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If it has tits or tires it will cost you money.

The UCA mounts have alot of space and you shim the a-arm with washers. not especially elegant, but it will work; gives about 3/8 of an inch adjustment.



.4 inches. I don't recommend using the focus SVT setup if you in the USA because all the regular foci came with drum brakes and the parts are desirable (therefore $$) for the swap. But in other parts of the world they almost all came with 4 wheel disks from what i understand.

_________________
If it has tits or tires it will cost you money.

been busy. Seats almost ready to go in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEXtlNrcXm0

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If it has tits or tires it will cost you money.

It has been quite awhile. Went on a bit of a sabbatical from this project; did some lemons racing, lots of life changes, fixed other [PooPoo] in my life. Now, its back to business and time to make [PooPoo] happen.

OK, been doing work, Son. First, clean up. Many projects have been started and finished in the garage besides the rocket and it was time for a cleanup.

before:

after:


now, to actual work. In order to avoid a fiery death I'm redoing the steering AGAIN. I was never really happy with it.

START. get shaft from england. 15mm, expensive, not compatible with anything.

Lucky for me, i have a buddy with a lathe and i know how to use it
center drill


chuck it up


turning shaft down to 9/16th or 14mm


finished


now for the focus end of things. Did you know....that shaft that goes to the column is not round? previous attempts have screwed the end up alot too.

so, make a hole in the center of it:


skipped alot of steps on the lathe again here, but here is the result:


also did alot of investigating about shifting the thing..... did you know mcmaster sells 6 ft push pull cables, and that the distance from the shifter to the trans is.....6ft

-Brad

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If it has tits or tires it will cost you money.

Your "buddy with a lathe" wouldn't happen to be JD by any chance?

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-Andrew
Build Log
Youtube

Nope, it's not me... Now, why would you think that???? Good lookin' lathe, though...

JDK

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JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

So, I got the steering welded up in its final incarnation. I'm going to pull it off again tonight to paint it and then we'll put that [PooPoo] to rest.

Steering feels smooth, very minimal wiggle, strong.




I'm going to get on my soapbox here for a minute. This has been a HUGE sticking point for me on this project. I think that in order to make the kit easier for the end user (esp us state side guys that can't get this stuff on this side of the pond) the parts and/or directions for interfacing the focus column to the rack more complete. I spent about an extra 100 bucks on parts and shipping from Europe. I was lucky to have access to machine tools or it would have been another several hundred dollars for machine work.

Here is a picture of the part that should be included or have instructions on how to make it:
It was pretty much all I had to go by from the build manual.

I know some time has passed since I got my kit and perhaps this has been improved, I just wanted to post my comments and impressions. Stuff like this is going to come up in any build.

So... the list... in order.

1. mount seats
2. do things necessary to start the engine.
3. ??????
4. Profit.

but seriously, after the engine runs and I bleed the brakes the damn thing can drive.

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If it has tits or tires it will cost you money.

I will tell my friend that. If you have any tips or sources for atlas parts he'll appreciate you very much.

-Brad

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If it has tits or tires it will cost you money.

Brad said:


Sorry, Brad, you were caught in the middle of a "Lime Green" joke. I don't know anything about Atlas lathes. I can give him some green paint...

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JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom