Balu wrote:
Zac88GT, how can I contact you?
You can email me or PM me using the buttons at the bottom of any of my posts.
After finishing the front subframe I thought it would be a good idea to assemble everything and check for any interference, or alignment issues before I got too deep to easily correct it. I was shooting for 3-5* of static castor but with the eccentric adjusters in the neutral position the castor is closer to 8-10*. Moving the adjusters all the way to the minimum side I get about 1-2* and then I can adjust the camber by threading the upper ball joint in or out, so everything worked out there.
Attachment:
DSC01089.JPG
Attachment:
DSC01086.JPG
Once all the components were in place I checked the motion of everything and it looks great, except for the steering column. When I designed the steering rack mounts the shocks were in the ride height position, but with the suspension in full droop the universal joint for the steering column contacts the drivers side spring. This was rectified fairly easily as I just cut out the drivers side mount and rotated the rack about its axis so the pinion part fit deeper into the pocket I created for it. I welded everything back up and now it all works beautifully.
Attachment:
DSC01090.JPG
With the front finished I moved on to the rear subframe. I welded together the basic structure and then clamped the suspension assemblies on. There isn't as much adjustment for the rear alignment so it was a little more critical to get the tabs welded on in the right places. I used a laser level to project lines on to the garage door and build table to make sure the toe and camber were correct with the adjusters in the centered position.
Attachment:
DSC01056.JPG
I also started to get skeptical of the frame strength at the shock and rocker arm attachment locations as these are on fairly long, unsupported structures. I decided to do some reinforcing with an extra tube between the top and bottom rails just after the rocker arm mounts. This will help cancel the loads between the two points as one is up and the other down. I also added 12 gauge plating to the sides of the tube all the way up to this extra vertical tube. Additional tubes were added between the top main curved tube and the top rear subframe tube, as well as some extra bracing at the front and back of the rear subframe. The result is probably a little over built, but at least I'm confident and comfortable with the design now. One downside to the reinforcements was that it now interfered with the cross brace on the lower control arm as the suspension moved through its range of motion. To fix that I cut the brace out and welded it back in 1" further outboard.
Attachment:
DSC01062.JPG
Attachment:
DSC01060.JPG
After that was done I test fit the engine and started making some engine mounts. With the engine in the position I designed around, I found that some areas were pretty tight for clearance (~1/8"). There also may have been possible interference between the rear passenger side spring and the shifter mechanism. After looking at my model again I realized the shifter arm was an area that got missed with the laser scanner so I was not able to design around it. I ended up shifting the engine forward and down ~1/4" so now I have a minimum of 3/8" clearance everywhere. After the engine mounts I bolted up the sway bar and welded the mounts for it on to the removable rear brace.
Left engine mount
Attachment:
DSC01078.JPG
Right engine mount
Attachment:
DSC01080.JPG
Rear engine mount on removable brace with rear sway bar mounts
Attachment:
DSC01077.JPG
Attachment:
DSC01074.JPG
There will be a front mount as well but that will have to wait until the rest of the frame is built.
I also put on the new header from Vibrant after cutting off the flexible section and flange to start test fitting the exhaust. Because the engine was now 1/4" further forward, and the Vibrant header doesn't exactly follow the same path as the original exhaust, I had to notch and reinforce the front of the subframe to gain extra clearance. Then I cut and tacked the rest of the exhaust up so it's now ready for me to take to work and TIG. It's REALLY short so it might be a bit loud but it should sound pretty good. From the 2.5" collector there is maybe 8-10" of pipe and then it goes into a Vibrant 2.5" single inlet, dual 2.25" outlet muffler.
Attachment:
DSC01082.JPG
Attachment:
DSC01083.JPG