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PostPosted: November 4, 2010, 12:39 pm 
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I think it was on this thread that someone asked if the tail shaft of the S2000 tranny was removable. Here is a picture of a tranny that lost all it's fluid.


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PostPosted: November 9, 2010, 3:00 pm 
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I decided to fab up a rear transmission mount. I used the stock rubber mounts from the S2000 and came up with something which took entirely too long. The stock bracket was too wide and would not fit inside the transmission tunnel. I didn't have a clear plan before I started cutting steel and I ended up cutting part of it off and trying again. I used a combination of 1in square and 1in 1/8 angle steel.

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My plan is to leave the bracket bolted to the transmission when installing the engine and then sit it on the stud in the rubber mount. Even looking at it now, I see ways to make it lighter, stronger, and easier to build. Never the less, progress is being made. Now, if only I could find the other mount in the giant pile of donor parts....


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PostPosted: November 12, 2010, 3:02 pm 
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I decided to work on the rear suspension and this time, unlike the front, I chose the traditional mounting of the coilovers to the lower control arm. The S2000 rear lower arms require a shock with a forked end which unfortunately the QA1 Promo Stars don't have. So, a custom bracket was made. (I thought about cutting the end off the stock shock but will try to sell them later)

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Here's what I ended up with. The 3/16in thick steel disk was ground to shape on the drill press with an angle grinder. (Not ideal but is one way when you don't have a lathe) A 2in-1/8in wall square tube was used with the weld seam side cut out. Then it was widened 1/4in to fit over the control arm. The top disk was then plugged welded to the u bracket. A hole drill/taped to 9/16-18 for the coilover rod.

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The top mount will come off the main tube rail and the rear brace of the roll bar. Looks like I will be laying out the roll bar tubes next....


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PostPosted: November 12, 2010, 3:14 pm 
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I like what you're doing with this project, but I really like to see you lose the factory suspension cradle.


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PostPosted: November 15, 2010, 4:02 pm 
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jmcglynn wrote:
I like what you're doing with this project, but I really like to see you lose the factory suspension cradle.
I thought about losing the rear subframe early in the design phase but the time/effort vs benefit wasn't worth it to me, maybe when I build my next car....

Decided to mock up my rollbars and hopefully get them bent up soon. With those designed, I can work on the scuttle layout and the rear shock mounts. I want more protection than just a rear roll bar so I incorporated a front windshield bar that will will also be the mount for the windshield. It gives me a better since of safety when driving in deer infested back roads. I don't plan to race or do any wheel to wheel events, just possibly some autox's so I didn't design to any of those standards but looked through them for some general guidlines. My plan is to use all 1.5in x .095W DOM unless I am convinced other wise.

In the pics below, I am missing the diagonal brace in the rear hoop.
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I am thinking about adding a tube directly under the rear hoop where it connects to the top frame rail down to the lower frame rail. Another thing I am trying to decide is where to mount the belts, I guess I could always add a harness bar.

Opinions are welcome and let me know if anything looks totally out of place.


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PostPosted: November 15, 2010, 6:38 pm 
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The windscreen looks a little tall and upright. I played with the windscreen angle and height for a while before I settled on the design. I still like the angle/height. It's 40 degrees from vertical. I think the lower windscreen top works with the rake of the top main frame tube.

Can you lower the seat or angle it back another 5 or 10 degrees? That will lower your head.

I used a strong bar between the rear hoop legs (as well as the windscreen) for the belt anchor bar. It's part of the anti-SUV intrusion system.


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PostPosted: November 16, 2010, 11:20 am 
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Thanks for the input Jon. I will play around with laying the windshield back farther and possibly reclining the seats.

Just some notes to what I was thinking.
- The front bar was placed about level with the rear (now I realize it doesn't have to be to look good, probably better that it doesn't)
- The rear sits high for clearance above a helmeted head.
- The seat is a little high due to the seat sliders that are installed. Also, the high seat allows a little better view over the tall engine and hood. (need to check how much is actually needed)
- Another factor of where the front roll bar was placed was the diagonal bracing between the side rails. The more I recline the windshield, the farther the bar is pushed forward and away from the supports (if the top of the bar is held in the same relative position). The diagonal bracing can always be moved forward though, only tacked in place now.

I'll try and make some tweaks to all of these to lower the overall height. I think it'll be for the better.
Thanks again for the comments.

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PostPosted: December 14, 2010, 3:54 pm 
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I made a some changes in the last few weeks. I wasn't happy with where the diagonal braces met up with some of the interior cross tubes so all the diagonals were cut out and moved. Sometimes you have to take a few steps back to move forward. (ignore the windshield lay back angle, I haven't changed that yet, but will)

Before:
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After:
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In the last pic you notice I have the rear wheel installed. This is when I ran into my next problem, (or opportunity for creative thinking, depending on your attitude) I fitted the tire in the past but I guess I didn't have the wheel at ride height. So, to my suprise, when I raised the wheel to ride height, there was about 1/4in clearance between the tire and top frame tube. :oops: With any bump travel, it would be contacting. I pondered my options, spacers for the wheel, rims with different offsets, narrower tires but didn't really like any of those. So I made some clearance.

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IMG_1748.JPG


It took some guts but I cut the main frame tube behind the bulkhead and rotated it 180deg. I got some inspiration from Exiges build, thanks! I think it will come out pretty good. The new method as shown has the wheel at max bump. If I find this still isn't enough, I can run some spacers or get rims with a slightly different offset. This is a lot more managable than my previous interference.

Attachment:
IMG_1766.JPG

Attachment:
IMG_1768.JPG


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PostPosted: December 14, 2010, 3:59 pm 
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Figure some room is needed for a fender between the tube and tire.

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PostPosted: December 15, 2010, 8:47 am 
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Kurt, fenders, ahh, yes, I need some room for those too. It seems you've done this before :wink:

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PostPosted: December 15, 2010, 12:49 pm 
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JL1,

Consider longitudal roll bars rather than lateral ones, can make much nicer shapes.


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PostPosted: April 19, 2011, 2:48 pm 
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Its been awhile but I am still here and pluggin away. Other priorities came up but hopefully more progress will be made soon. In the mean time I did get some things done. I couldn't decide what to do next but I convinced myself I was far enough along to go ahead and fully weld the chassis. I pulled all the bolt on parts off and got a chance to weigh my frame for the first time.
Attachment:
IMG_1775.JPG

As shown, it weighs 208lbs. I expect about another 40lbs of roll bars. The stock rear subframe weighs about 50lbs alone if I remember correctly. Not a feather weight but good enough for a weekend crusier.

To aid in welding, I made a rotisserie. I bolted on peices at both ends of the frame to hook to. At the front I lifted it with my chain hoist and at the rear I used my HF hydraulic press. I cut a 4x4 with a notch then pressed down on a piece of wood, then a steel plate with the tube in between the wood. This allowed me use the press and put tension on the the tube to keep the frame from rotating when it got out of balance. It worked suprisingly well.

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I managed to get all of the frame welded. Took my time and did a couple tubes on the top side, flipped the frame and did the opposite side trying to balance out the welds. By the time I was done, my welds were looking pretty good.


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PostPosted: April 19, 2011, 6:41 pm 
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JL1 wrote:
...As shown, it weighs 208lbs. I expect about another 40lbs of roll bars. The stock rear subframe weighs about 50lbs alone if I remember correctly. Not a feather weight but good enough for a weekend crusier....

I was a little disappointed when I weighed my frame, but realizing that it included an integral SCCA-type roll cage, yet was being compared to cars that didn't, so don't feel too bad. Figure you'll be in the high 200's by the time it's done.

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PostPosted: August 31, 2012, 9:58 am 
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It's been a while but I made some progress lately. I got my front hubs machined down to fit the stock rims, thanks Hempy! I bolted the uprights on in hopes of getting the front steering buttoned up.
Attachment:
IMG_1084.jpg


I am using Motive's custom uprights which use a bolt on steering arm that needed to be cut to length. Since I am using a front steer steering rack, to get decent ackerman, the steering arm pivot needed to be wider than the top pivot. This is when things started to get tricky. I couldn't place the steer arm pivot as wide as I wanted due to interference with the rim. I widdled away on the steer arm and managed to get something that I thought will work.
Attachment:
IMG_1085.jpg


I mounted the rim and have "just enough" clearance for the steer arm.
I then made some tie rod extensions out of some DOM tubing, two weld in adapters, and a couple left right rod ends. Things were looking good.
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IMG_1089.jpg


I mounted the rim again and this is when it went all bad. The tie rod extensions hit the rim after turning the wheel about 5 degrees :BH:
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I am now trying to weigh my options and need some help. I quickly mocked up a curved tie rod extension out of some plate to see exactly how much it would take to clear the rim. This is no way intended to ever be used.
Attachment:
IMG_1101A.jpg


Unfortunately, it will require a large bend as is, that's doesn't look good. My other option is to get rid of the front steer rack and go with a rear steer rack. This will allow the steer arm to pulled away from the rim to get better ackerman. I looked at this and don't think it will help enough. I think my best option is to go with a rear steer rack but weld on a new steer arm towards the midpoint of the upper and lower pivots of the upright. This will allow the most clearance from the rim. This will eliminate the nefty feature of changing camber without effecting toe settings but at this point that is something I can live with. The other downside is that I need to find a new steering rack. If I go this route, I will now need a rear steer rack with a length of about 23in plus or minus an inch or two.

So, anybody out there know of a rear steer rack thats about 23in between pivots? Ratio is not as important, I can make the steer arm length whatever length I need, within a certain range. I searched and found a couple possibilities.
Rear steering racks
- 90's civic, but couldn't find the length
- AE86 toyota, length?
- Dodge Omni, length?

Any help or suggestions are welcome!


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PostPosted: August 31, 2012, 11:06 am 
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Believe it or not, I have actually seen a race car with this setup to resolve exactly your issue (my drawing isn't quite to scale but you get the idea) ...

I might have a picture of it somewhere, I'll have a look later.


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Last edited by cheapracer on August 31, 2012, 11:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

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