LocostUSA.com

November 8, 2015

Mocked the newly narrowed rear clip into place before final welding.. Tires still look awfully wide to me, but these are some pretty unnatural angles.. I'm hopeful that once tucked in and the car is on the ground, they'll look more appropriate..

Clip width seems good, elevation of the clip seems on.. I made some markings on the Volvo for height/center.. time to pull the clip back out and start welding stuff up..


--ccrunner

_________________
1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

1959 Berkeley (#2) SE328 (170 HP-DCT bike motor in a wee car..) "Slow Build Berkeley (ccrunner)"

That Volvo is getting sexier all the time. I like the big rubber on the back. It'll look fine when she's on the ground

_________________
Too much week, not enough weekend.

OOPS I did it again
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=17496

Blood Sweat and Beers
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15216

Looks great as usual.

Since you are going with more power and weight, you may want to address the issue with the hubs moving forward in the wheelwells under load with more powerful engines. The 2nd gen rx7 has a much better design for dealing with the torque and weight and comes with 5x4.5 bp but I can see you are already locked into the miata subframe.

The uca moves forward the most due to the narrow inner pivot base. Noncompliant bushes help but negatively affect the ability to align with the lca eccentrics. Adding radius rods works well, but the forward pivot must be at the right position so as not to push and pull on the control arms in their arc of motion. A rod for the uppers would be tough to do without butchery. Take a look at the 2nd gen rx7 design.

You might also consider boxing in the bottom of the subframe with a removable brace to support the lcas and that will also bolt into the Volvo frame forward of the subframe, similar to the factory piece on 94 and newer miatas.

_________________
Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS cheap viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
Frame LxcockpitWxengbayH
Lotus 7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12

Now THAT is a lot of bracing

Do you know Miatav8 how much torque/hp the car in the pic is making? I ask because of my car's final numbers..

The Volvo will end up at very close to Miata weight (2300/2400); hp at 300-ish; torque at 340-ish.. with a posi rear end..

I know I need to beef the rear subframe up a bit (I've already welded in the anchor points for the forward links <circled in yellow>), but you have me wondering about adding/needing the LCA links <circled in red>.. (The way I sit now, there's very little room at the UCA pivot points to do much)

I also like the plate that links the 4 LCA anchor points (aluminum?) as the unaltered Miata clip seems kind of 'spindly' in design..


--ccrunner

_________________
1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

1959 Berkeley (#2) SE328 (170 HP-DCT bike motor in a wee car..) "Slow Build Berkeley (ccrunner)"

Mid November, 2015

A few shots as I closed up the front and back sides of the clip where I had to remove material for clearance under the Volvo.. Next step it to go under the Volvo and fab in a pair of rails for this clip to attach to..


--ccrunner

_________________
1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

1959 Berkeley (#2) SE328 (170 HP-DCT bike motor in a wee car..) "Slow Build Berkeley (ccrunner)"

Funky Flywheel..

My engine's donor was an 09 Cobalt (LNF front wheel drive), and my tranny's donor was an 09 Saturn Sky Redline (LNF rear wheel drive).. I learned that the flywheels/clutches are different, and until the Saturn flywheel arrived, I had no idea just how different..

in a nutshell, the Saturn uses what is called a "Dual Mass Flywheel".. I have never seen such a thing.. it's very clever actually, and is designed to isolate drivetrain vibrations and shock.. I have no idea how effective such a design is, so I'll put it in as OEM calls for and see.. I think they've simply moved the springs off of the clutch disc itself and morphed them into the flywheel..

I know a lot of the more serious SKY/Solstice owners opt for a lightened flywheel (the stocker is pretty heavy), but I don't want to mess with such mods until I get the OEM configuration into use- I have a feeling the stock design will serve my needs (with a tune on the motor of course )


--ccrunner


*Saturn bits (RWD) on the left, Cobalt (FWD) on the right

_________________
1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

1959 Berkeley (#2) SE328 (170 HP-DCT bike motor in a wee car..) "Slow Build Berkeley (ccrunner)"

I don't know, the springs may not loosen up from heat, but it looks expensive to replace.

The irs brace car was similar output to what you are building but a bit heavier. I think it was aluminum plate. A thick plate of aluminum is still heavier than tubes with a diagonal across the middle, but I think he was looking for more ground clearance.

After bracing the bottom and fitting an adjustable brace off the lca, if there is an issue later on, consider a more solid mounting uca with sphericals or solid bushes that is adjustable for toe changes effected by the lca eccentrics.

_________________
Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS cheap viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
Frame LxcockpitWxengbayH
Lotus 7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12

November 22, 2015

The dead zone...

The Volvo originally had a live axle that needed a lot of room to move under the rear of the car.. Switching to IRS will leave a big void in the area above the 'new' subframe, and it got me to thinking...

I measured it out, and I can get isolate about .9 cubic feet.. I've always intended for this car to have a nice sound system, so this seems a good place to enclose the woofer (one 10" sub to start- should prove to be enough..).

I'm going to fab the dummy rails out of .095 2x2 square, and the end caps (area to close the arches) will be 12 gage and will aid in serving as upper spring mount anchor points.. the flat bottom area between the rails (bottom of the speaker enclosure) will be 18 gauge with a rib or tow tacked in to prevent flex/vibration.. Need to use seam sealer on all of the welds, then it gets 2 layers of Dynamat inside as metal is not the best material to make a a sub enclosure..

Should work well.. it's my intention to hide/disguise the stereo/speakers as much as possible, and getting the sub into this void saves me precious trunk space..


--ccrunner

_________________
1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

1959 Berkeley (#2) SE328 (170 HP-DCT bike motor in a wee car..) "Slow Build Berkeley (ccrunner)"

I love the look with the black steelies, but I'm a sucker for simple wheels. To my eyes they give an air of simplicity with some menace. It says " I spent my money on making thing handle and go fast, not fancy wheels" but I'm biased. Love this as much, if not more than the Honda. As a kid growing up watching " The Saint", I always wanted to be Simon Templer" .
Cheers,
Stewart.

Steel wheels certainly send strange signals. I put Saab steel wheels (which no one recognize) on my Alpine just to get away from the madding crowd of alloys. People think it is stock. Ha HA HA.

Bill

Plus these will fit on those wheels, right?

I've been quietly following along on this build, very cool. I have to agree about the steel wheels, they're a bit understated but still stand out from the crowd a bit. The Volvo is a the wrong era for dog dish hubcaps, but they look great on the right car too. Some baby moons would look good on the Volvo though I bet, as would a set of NASCAR style steel wheels.
Kristian

_________________
V6 in a book frame build. Now registered.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=7587
viewtopic.php?f=33&t=18172

Volvo used those on a few different models in the late 60s, including the P1800. I like the look of it with them.



I used to have an Amazon with them, so maybe I'm biased

That does look really good. I've always associated dog dish hubcaps with boxier cars.
Kristian

_________________
V6 in a book frame build. Now registered.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=7587
viewtopic.php?f=33&t=18172

I had A-H dog dishes on my FrankenSprite

_________________
Too much week, not enough weekend.

OOPS I did it again
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=17496

Blood Sweat and Beers
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15216