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Learning how to build Lotus Seven replicas...together!
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PostPosted: July 9, 2010, 9:41 am 
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Man, what a sweet looking build!!!!! Nice job wonder!!!!

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PostPosted: July 9, 2010, 9:52 am 
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Joined: December 18, 2007, 2:18 am
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Location: sydney australia
thanks Dan here is a link to my photobucket site http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x185/onetrackwonder/
and this is my build diary
http://www.ozclubbies.com.au/index.php? ... ost-build/
cheers Greg


Last edited by onetrackwonder on August 23, 2010, 6:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: July 21, 2010, 12:04 am 
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carguy123 wrote:
OK, I've looked high and low and can't find a compendium of list advice for the build table. Is there one that I'm just missing?
4' X 8' seems to be a common size but 5' x 10' is another number I've seen thrown out there. Which is best?
Are there any other tips or tricks any of you would like to share?
.


In the past we did repair bent-damaged formula ford frames for J.Russell Racing Drivers School in Quebec. So we used two 2x6x8 Ft. "C"beams supported by 2x2
angle iron triangulated legs. It may sound unreal.
but in our area (Montreal), steel used for the straight table was less expensive than sheet of 4x8 plywood,
( I mean two used 8 ft. long "C" beams.)
And since all is bolted (no welds) it can be dis-assembled and stored in tight corner of your working space.
Nowadays we use that 2x8 table to build replicas of Loti 7.
Here included are some pictures of the all metal table and projects
Ewhen


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PostPosted: July 21, 2010, 8:41 am 
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Location: Cave Creek, AZ
RacerDan's idea of the dolly with the pockets for the jackstands is a great idea but I have one small suggestion to make it even more ideal. Instead of the jack stands, use screw jacks, the type used to stabilize mobile homes. They're cheap, strong and lightweight and most importantly are infinitely adjustable, so that once you move your build somehwere new you can level it out.

If you want to make your heavy workbench adjustable use scaffold leveling screw jack; just extra thick all thread that fits snugly inside the scaffolding legs.

On my large work table I welded on large washers with 1" coarse threaded nuts welded onto to them, onto the bottom of each of the six legs. This gives me adjustability for the slope of my Patio-turned-shop and the inherent un-eveness of the concrete.

The legs are made out of 4"X4"X1/4" thickwall square pipe, top out of 1/4" plate supported by 4" channel, and the bottom cross braces are made out of 3" channel. I made the bottom braces high enough off the floor for me to slide my pallet jack underneath and pick up the whole table with 1500 pounds of car stuff on it easily and move it over to the garage door. I can then drop it there and pick it up with my forklift attachment on my skidsteer loader. Very handy.



Tom

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PostPosted: July 21, 2010, 10:05 am 
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Good idea on the screw jacks. Why didn't you think of that Al? :lol:

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PostPosted: July 21, 2010, 1:04 pm 
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Joined: October 19, 2009, 9:36 pm
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Location: meadview arizona
my build table is 194" long X 49" wide, two sheets of melamin joined together with biscuits and glued.

it is on a wooden frame with a lower shelf, it has adjustable trailer jockey wheels at each corner and six legs.

the top rails were planed flat prior to fixing the top.

this is what is wrong with my table,

the top is too wide, if you are building a 442, you need a table top 46" wide, the same as the chassis, or 42" if building a book width car, the frame of the table needs to be 3" narrower than the top to allow for easy clamping along the sides and it is easy to see if something has moved during welding if the chassis is flush with the table edge.
the same goes for the ends, a 11/2" overhang for clamping.
the hight of the table is open to choice, dependant upon your hight, my table is 42" high, i am 6 ft. tall and my table should have been shorter by about 6", but remember, i'm building a 442 chassis.
yes, there needs to be sufficent clearance under the lower shelf for the engine crane, i bought a new crane and it dosen't fit cos its taller than the old one, i would suggest 10" minimum clear space under the bottom shelf and it makes it easyer to sweep up.
a metal top would be nice with a 1" lip around the edge, i would prefer aluminum as weld splater doesn't stick.
on my first build i had a table that was 144" long, this helped with the back of the car, so would consider this to be ideal.

these are only suggestions, no garrentees are ment or implied.

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Last edited by john hennessy on July 21, 2010, 1:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: July 21, 2010, 1:12 pm 
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Location: meadview arizona
the only other thing i would suggest is some way of adding to the front sides of the table to accomodate a support for the front suspension at ride hight that attaches to the front legs and is adjustable so you can even mount the wheels and tires to the chassis while its still clamped to the table.
this would also apply to the rear if you were going irs.

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PostPosted: July 21, 2010, 8:18 pm 
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RacerDan wrote:
Good idea on the screw jacks. Why didn't you think of that Al? :lol:

The screw jacks would work fine, my main idea behind the jack stand platform was to have an easy way to lower the car to the ground when it was all finished without it falling on me.

In my case I have collected about 8 sets of chassis stands over the last 30 years so it was free, if you were building from scratch and paying for the parts then what ever works cost wise is best.
As far as leveling goes I have enough scrap metal around the place to shim it to what ever height I want..

When I mounted my tail lights I shimmed the car so it was level then used my laser level to run a line across the back of the car, it made installing the tailights a breeze.
It s all good. :D

Al

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PostPosted: July 22, 2010, 12:33 pm 
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Ewhen wrote:
carguy123 wrote:
OK, I've looked high and low and can't find a compendium of list advice for the build table. Is there one that I'm just missing?
4' X 8' seems to be a common size but 5' x 10' is another number I've seen thrown out there. Which is best?
Are there any other tips or tricks any of you would like to share?
.


In the past we did repair bent-damaged formula ford frames for J.Russell Racing Drivers School in Quebec. So we used two 2x6x8 Ft. "C"beams supported by 2x2
angle iron triangulated legs. It may sound unreal.
but in our area (Montreal), steel used for the straight table was less expensive than sheet of 4x8 plywood,
( I mean two used 8 ft. long "C" beams.)
And since all is bolted (no welds) it can be dis-assembled and stored in tight corner of your working space.
Nowadays we use that 2x8 table to build replicas of Loti 7.
Here included are some pictures of the all metal table and projects
Ewhen


Wow, now that`s a nice table. I really like the idea of being bolted, since it can be dissamble and re assemble when you nedd to build or fix a chassis.
Thanks for sharing. I`d really like to have a close look at your table as I`m planning on building a new table for my new bact of chassis. I`m sure you I could use some of your advice and experience with the original style chassis.

Cheers,

Fred


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PostPosted: July 22, 2010, 7:21 pm 
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Location: Charleston, WV
Ewhen wrote:
<snip> And since all is bolted (no welds) it can be dis-assembled and stored in tight corner of your working space.
Nowadays we use that 2x8 table to build replicas of Loti 7.
Here included are some pictures of the all metal table and projects
Ewhen


So I see in that one photo you mention using all .090 thick tubing. I was just curious why you are using tubing nearly 30% thicker than most everyone else.
I'm not questioning the validity of that choice, I'm just curious to hear why. :cheers: I'm also curious about that soft-top in the pic you posted. Did you guys do that? What size chassis is that? Any plans for that soft top floating around?

Thanks for joining up and sorry for all the questions, looks like you are something of an "expert" on this seven building topic. :wink:

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PostPosted: July 22, 2010, 11:33 pm 
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Location: Montreal, Canada
Quote:
<Snip>. I really like the idea of being bolted, since it can be dissamble and re assemble when you nedd to build or fix a chassis.
Thanks for sharing. I`d really like to have a close look at your table as I`m planning on building a new table for my new bact of chassis. I`m sure you I could use some of your advice and experience with the original style chassis.

Cheers,

Fred


Hi Fred !
I'd be more than willing to share our humble experience in building original chassis, which is
proven in harsh torturous racing condition. The most
important are suspension pick-up points and exact
location of rack-nd'pinion of the donnor car. If you can provide dimensions for above, we could dessign
the original style around it.
As for the table ,here the fast sketch included
Btw. If you live around Montreal, the best place
is FXLange for new and used steel .
Cheers !
Eugene.


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PostPosted: July 23, 2010, 12:46 am 
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chetcpo wrote:
Ewhen wrote:
<snip>
So I see in that one photo you mention using all .090 thick tubing. I was just curious why you are using tubing nearly 30% thicker than most everyone else.
I'm not questioning the validity of that choice, I'm just curious to hear why. :cheers: I'm also curious about that soft-top in the pic you posted. Did you guys do that? What size chassis is that? Any plans for that soft top floating around?

Thanks for joining up and sorry for all the questions, looks like you are something of an "expert" on this seven building topic. :wink:


chetcpo wrote:
<snip>

So I see in that one photo you mention using all .090 thick tubing. I was just curious why you are using tubing nearly 30% thicker than most everyone else.
I'm not questioning the validity of that choice, I'm just curious to hear why. :cheers: I'm also curious about that soft-top in the pic you posted. Did you guys do that? What size chassis is that? Any plans for that soft top floating around? [quote/]

Thanks for joining up and sorry for all the questions, looks like you are something of an "expert" on this seven building topic. :wink:


Hi Chetcpo !
The reason we use 0.90 thou. instead of 0.62 thou.
(16 ga.) is our bad experience from twisty road racing.
The rack'nd pinion was ripping off the 16 ga. tubing.
around front bulkhead, there was metal fatigue
visible in other areas. I'd rather carry 20, 25 Lbs.
more on the frame, and use lighter material for
the rest of the project, like 0.40 thou aluminum
for body work and fenders , plus drilling non-critical
parts.

Here in Montreal "Duro" (company) cuts glass for
your windshield frame, makes rag tops etc.
Being "Low-cost" oriented i forced my dear wife
to sow the rag top on the car in picture.

Apparently McSorley never built any car, and Ron Champion could not be taken seriously with his 250 $. So we've been using (free) original Lotus Seven frame design, with little extra improvement in triangulation and front-rear bulkheads to accept geometry of the donor car. In other words, we try to build frame around existing and proven suspension, instead of reverse, and playing with unknown.
As for me being "expert" You must be kidding :-))))
Greets ! And thanks for your letter.
Eugene
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znw459mv ... re=related


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PostPosted: July 23, 2010, 1:00 pm 
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Thanks Ehwen !!!

Yup I`m in Montreal

Well I consider you an expert as you have built several of these things and you`ve raced them on the tracks. I think several of us would greatly love to able to learn from your experiences. I`ve only built two so far and I know I would do things really different next time around

I have to admitt that I have concerns as to chassis durability for hard abuse on the track. In my mind I always figures that the Chassis for a se7en would be expandable i.e. might need to be replace after a few seasons of racing, hence making a batch of chassis. It`s another reasont I love your table as it can be bolted up for the winter rebuilds

I haven't work on my car for the last 3 months due to some Garage renovations and some life changes, but I`ll be getting back at it to get it on the track ASAP.

here she is just before being put away in storage:
Image

Cheers,

Fred


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PostPosted: July 23, 2010, 1:23 pm 
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Ewhen, your car in your you tube formula C video is that a Terrapin built as a F3/4 ? If so I need to know more about that car !!!

cheers

Fred


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PostPosted: July 23, 2010, 6:51 pm 
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Jawfish wrote:
Thanks Ehwen !!!

Yup I`m in Montreal

Well I consider you an expert as you have built several of these things and you`ve raced them on the tracks. I think several of us would greatly love to able to learn from your experiences. I`ve only built two so far and I know I would do things really different next time around

I have to admitt that I have concerns as to chassis durability for hard abuse on the track. In my mind I always figures that the Chassis for a se7en would be expandable i.e. might need to be replace after a few seasons of racing, hence making a batch of chassis. It`s another reasont I love your table as it can be bolted up for the winter rebuilds

I haven't work on my car for the last 3 months due to some Garage renovations and some life changes, but I`ll be getting back at it to get it on the track ASAP.

here she is just before being put away in storage:
Image

Cheers,

Fred

Hi Fred !
Very nice racer you have, congrats, as for
frames, there's no need to change them if
you use a bit thicker tubing. I am not familiar with present rules, but in my time we had to add dead weight to our Loti Super 7 to comply with class "C" regs.
Ewhen


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