well folks, i'm about to begin.
i've been working towards this for a couple years now and tomorow I will begin.
Picked up a fresh bottle of argon/co2 and 144 ft of 1x1 16 ga tubing today.
tomorow I build my frame table and begin layout.
here's the run down.
McSorley +4 chassis, 1x1 16ga tubing with ausi stiffening mods.
thunderbird IRS rear suspension with 8.8 posi diff (got it)
zetec on bike carbs (looking still)
all aluminum bodywork
Steve
-edit-
chassis is coming along, I've jigged it all up on my rotary frame table
this is what I was talking about in my other posts,
the table itself is 2 sheets of 3/4" mdf with a 2x4 grid sandwiched inbetween, it is incredibly strong, flat and heavy, and even hanging hanging by the ends there is no measurable deflection.
blocking id 1x2 mdf which is cut in approx 4-6" lengths and attached to the table with drywall screws.
it is so tight that I can flip the entire frame upside down on the table and it doesn't fall out.
this assembly is wonderfull for welding on, once you have the initial tack welds on and measure everything for square, turn it to a better angle for adding additional tacks, or finishing the weld.
PS if there is anyone in Alberta wanting to do a +4 drop me a line I'll loan you the table with all the jigging in place.
oh ya one more feature, since its on a rotissierre, you have two working surfaces, I have the jigging for the top of the chassis on one side, and the bottom on the other, I've kept the bottom portion jigged up while building the rest.
-new post-
I have a friend that is very skilled with the english wheel and general metal pounding.
If I can I want to make the nose, scuttle and fenders from all aluminium (note the correct British spelling)
I'm thinking this may be the easiest route since I'm building my own plan not a standard one.
Its a +4 based off the mcsorley "book" chassis that i've made some minor tweaks to so in the end I thin it'll be easier to do my own alu body work rather than trying to make the fibreglass parts fit my chassis.
this week I'm hoping to get the crossbracing finished and to begin design of the rear suspension setup.
I've run out of things to do, untill I get the dimentions for the trans tunnel
I started dissassembling the rear suspension, I got the complete subframe, so it was complete without all the bulkiness of the donor it came off of.
I was hoping to get the trans tunnel complete and the entire chassis welded before I began assembly of the rear, that way I can slide the whole chassis forward on the table and use the freed up area to lay out the rear end.
-update-
Busy busy busy.
well I took last night off, but have made up for it today.
I picked up a couple more lengths of tube, I probably won't need it all, but nice to know I won't run out.
Since I got the dimensions for the trans tunnel I've been working feaverishly on that.
the input for the diff is offset 1" to the pasengers side, So I figured I'd follow suit with the rest of the drivetrain, so the drivers side is 2" wider than the passengers side, makes for a little more room in the footwell and better balance.
I'll post some pictures when I've got a bit more done tomorow.
-update-
Well engine will arrive next week sometime, tranny is still somewhere between here and england (going for the MT75 since it will be the easiest bolt up and the price was right)
But it was a sunny day so I pulled the chassis out onto the driveway for some pics, these wer the ones that turned out the best
first pic is the chassis of course, I have some welds to dress yet, as well as a few more to make, and I'm thinking of adding some more triangulation to the tunnel.
second is a pic of my rear suspension pick up points, and the rear diff mount, cant see the front diff mount from this angle but its all come together nicely
-update-
well I'm still waiting on parts. all the suspension goodies were supposedly shipped out 2-3 day delivery over a week ago. and my engine that was supposed to be ready monday "might" be ready for pickup today.
and to top it all off, even if stuff does show up today, I have to work on Saturday to get a project finished.
-update-
couple pics of the engine, just some cleaning and paint. I intended to powdercoat the valve cover, but my equiptment is lent out to a friend. maybe I'll blast it and powdercoat later.
-update-
Im tired, I'll let you figure it out
-update-
Got my rear suspension completed (sans shocks and antiroll bar) and am pleased with the results. everything will be dissasembled and painted/powdercoated before its finished. But the design is plenty strong and will do well.
/update, july 20th 2007/
got the OK from the wife to buy the mt75 tranny, which should arrive in Vancouver sometime in the first half of august (not june like I was originally told) but I just need a stock zetec flywheel and clutch to bolt the sucker up. I am however worried that I'll have to modify the center tunnel to fit it, since I built it to fit a t5.
/update, Nov 27 2007/
Christmas came early. in the mail came some parts I drew up, and Glen (now my favorite member of this board) cut them out on a waterjet for me.
here we see bellhouse backing plate, in sheet metal and a couple weld in pieces for my bellhousing in 1/2" aluminum to finish the bellhousing modifications, as well as intake and exhaust manifold plates in 1/4" stainless (decided to do the intake in stainless instead of alu, cause I can easily weld it myself.) and rockers for my pushrod suspension, in 2 different ratios.
Needless to say I'm very excited and owe Glen bigtime.
/update, Dec 19 2007/
a little smoothing and polishing on the vlave cover (notitce the lack of FORD 16V AND Zetec logo's)
also got my plug cover in yesterday, I'm still trying to get a proper attachment method that will still snug down the valve cover in the spark plug valley, since the cover makes use of the four bolt locations for mounting. long bolts hold it in place for nowI may have to use a "sleeve" or a stack of nuts,
I dealy I'd like to use a allen head machine screw, but I couldn't find them long enough, I'll check a different supplier tomorow.