Help me build an aluminium racing toboggan....

[maser_spyder]

Mazda Baiter said:

Morris Minor poly bushes. iirc £1.50 each. Give the Morris Minor Centre a call.

0117 3003753

Morris Minor types look perfect, but need to check the diameter. Has to be 19mm ideally, which I think is quite small for suspension bushes?

Cheers!

[MorrisCRX]

I'm slightly concerned about the angle at which the billet meets the front tubes. bk kebab comes to mind. Top work though.

[Mazda Baiter]

maser_spyder said:

Mazda Baiter said:

Morris Minor poly bushes. iirc £1.50 each. Give the Morris Minor Centre a call.

0117 3003753

Morris Minor types look perfect, but need to check the diameter. Has to be 19mm ideally, which I think is quite small for suspension bushes?

Cheers!

They aren't big. Give them a call. Last time I spoke with them they were still in Bath, but there was a guy called John in the stores who is a really helpful chap. iirc there are only 3 types of bushes in the front suspension, the ones on the tie rod(2 either side), the ones that sit in the top of the trunnion on the upright(2 either side) and the ones that you want which are fitted everywhere else (more than 2 either side, but I can't remember exactly how many). I remember them being piss cheap, but they make the ride really hard in a minor. we stuck with the rubber ones which were about half the price.

Good luck.

[Mazda Baiter]

snowy slopes said:

Mazda Baiter said:

Morris Minor poly bushes. iirc £1.50 each. Give the Morris Minor Centre a call.

0117 3003753

MB knows about these things, just dont ask him to help as the toboggan might end up with a cosworth implant

Snow mobile anyone?

[maser_spyder]

MorrisCRX said:

I'm slightly concerned about the angle at which the billet meets the front tubes. bk kebab comes to mind. Top work though.

Yes, I thought that too, which is partly why I held fire on on welding.

Plan is to weld the suspension bracket on first, then cut a 90 degree angle in the trailing edge of the front support bars, and weld them under AND in front of the centre support. It's more work, but will give a better result I think. And less chance of 'penetration'.

Cheers for Morris suggestion, they are indeed very cheap, rubber ones are about 50p each, which would be perfect!

[Mazda Baiter]

maser_spyder said:

Cheers for Morris suggestion, they are indeed very cheap, rubber ones are about 50p each, which would be perfect!

If they are a bit tight when inserting, don't use normal grease. Try and get some proper rubber grease, if not, washing up liquid. Despite the suspension joints having grease nipples, multipurpose grease tends to make them disintegrate. Probably not an issue on the sledge, but it was a thinker on a car.

Edited to correct awful formatting on my part.

Edited by Mazda Baiter on Sunday 7th November 20:04

[harry010]

Mazda Baiter said:

[quote=maser_spyderCheers for Morris suggestion, they are indeed very cheap, rubber ones are about 50p each, which would be perfect!

If they are a bit tight when inserting, don't use normal grease. Try and get some proper rubber grease, if not, washing up liquid. Despite the suspension joints having grease nipples, multipurpose grease tends to make them disintegrate. Probably not an issue
on the sledge, but it was a thinker on a car.

OT but MB YHM

[snowy slopes]

Mazda Baiter said:

snowy slopes said:

Mazda Baiter said:

Morris Minor poly bushes. iirc £1.50 each. Give the Morris Minor Centre a call.

0117 3003753

MB knows about these things, just dont ask him to help as the toboggan might end up with a cosworth implant

Snow mobile anyone?

I would, to go with the cossie powered minor, but due to my contract coming to an end in the next couple of weeks, the only cossie i am likely to get is mrs slopes swimming one

[Mazda Baiter]

snowy slopes said:

the only cossie i am likely to get is mrs slopes swimming one

It might suit you.

[snowy slopes]

Mazda Baiter said:

snowy slopes said:

the only cossie i am likely to get is mrs slopes swimming one

It might suit you.

yeah it would, would show of my figure nicely i reckon

[WJH]

maser_spyder said:

MorrisCRX said:

I'm slightly concerned about the angle at which the billet meets the front tubes. bk kebab comes to mind. Top work though.

Yes, I thought that too, which is partly why I held fire on on welding.

Plan is to weld the suspension bracket on first, then cut a 90 degree angle in the trailing edge of the front support bars, and weld them under AND in front of the centre support. It's more work, but will give a better result I think. And less chance of 'penetration'.

Cheers for Morris suggestion, they are indeed very cheap, rubber ones are about 50p each, which would be perfect!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you won't be welding any alloy with that little dc inverter you've got there. As someone has already pointed out, you need an ac welder for aluminium and you're unlikely to get one for less that a couple of hundred quid no matter how used it is.
What you need is a mate in a fabrication shop who can do the welding as a homer for you.

Top plan though, and I like your design.

[maser_spyder]

WJH said:

maser_spyder said:

MorrisCRX said:

I'm slightly concerned about the angle at which the billet meets the front tubes. bk kebab comes to mind. Top work though.

Yes, I thought that too, which is partly why I held fire on on welding.

Plan is to weld the suspension bracket on first, then cut a 90 degree angle in the trailing edge of the front support bars, and weld them under AND in front of the centre support. It's more work, but will give a better result I think. And less chance of 'penetration'.

Cheers for Morris suggestion, they are indeed very cheap, rubber ones are about 50p each, which would be perfect!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you won't be welding any alloy with that little dc inverter you've got there. As someone has already pointed out, you need an ac welder for aluminium and you're unlikely to get one for less that a couple of hundred quid no matter how used it is.
What you need is a mate in a fabrication shop who can do the welding as a homer for you.

Top plan though, and I like your design.

Cheers, but I have an AC tig welder, have already done a chunk of the welding, and apart from my shoddy joints, it's not too bad!

[WJH]

maser_spyder said:

WJH said:

maser_spyder said:

MorrisCRX said:

I'm slightly concerned about the angle at which the billet meets the front tubes. bk kebab comes to mind. Top work though.

Yes, I thought that too, which is partly why I held fire on on welding.

Plan is to weld the suspension bracket on first, then cut a 90 degree angle in the trailing edge of the front support bars, and weld them under AND in front of the centre support. It's more work, but will give a better result I think. And less chance of 'penetration'.

Cheers for Morris suggestion, they are indeed very cheap, rubber ones are about 50p each, which would be perfect!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you won't be welding any alloy with that little dc inverter you've got there. As someone has already pointed out, you need an ac welder for aluminium and you're unlikely to get one for less that a couple of hundred quid no matter how used it is.
What you need is a mate in a fabrication shop who can do the welding as a homer for you.

Top plan though, and I like your design.

Cheers, but I have an AC tig welder, have already done a chunk of the welding, and apart from my shoddy joints, it's not too bad!

Does that little green unit have an AC high frequency capability? Things have certainly moved on since I was on the tools.

ETA

Is it one of these?

http://www.ramtools.co.uk/product.php/9/ct_312_mma...

Edited by WJH on Sunday 7th November 20:50

[Beefmeister]

Great thread. Have you been watching James May's Man Lab by any chance?

[Snoop Bagg]

13th said:

Should you want to impress in a "one I made earlier" type of way Porsche did make a really robust one. I ordered a couple but despie constant chasing and not ordering it in a non standard spec it didn't turn up until well after the season had finished and we stopped going to resort by train so I didn't go ahead.

Short sighted and I regret that now having read your post as I'm sure it was way less than £500 more the £200 mark; going to have to find them again now......

Ouch £333 a pop, for a sledge with imitation leather and black rucksack:



http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/201...

[maser_spyder]

Beefmeister said:

Great thread. Have you been watching James May's Man Lab by any chance?

Actually, this was all conceived long before that, but it is very appropriate!

I've had a second opinion on my 'hinge' design and we've worked out a better way.

To give the whole thing more strength, I'm going to weld a solid aluminium bar across the front of the runners.

Then, using a piece of large, thick, round tube, cut in half, with a block on either side to make a clamp. This will clamp over the solid bar, and be tightened with some machine screws.

It should make the whole thing stronger, and give the little bit of hinge required for the spring to work.

So, a 1" solid bar across the front runners, making it solid.

And a 1 1/2" tube (1/4" thick), cut in half to make a clamp that goes over the 1" bar. Add a couple of brackets to clamp it tightly back together again, and job done.

The hardest bit now is going to be bending the seat. I might end up welding it with angles rather than bending, but it would be a shame, I think bends would look much nicer.

More to follow once the materials show up!

[maser_spyder]

Right, time for another update, even though the materials still haven't arrived.... Due Monday, which rather buggers up my weekend somewhat!

Anyway, here's the latest updates, which isn't much I'm afraid.

I've made a couple of brackets for the suspension unit, that just need to be drilled. Bolts coming tomorrow, so that will be test assembled at the weekend.



My attempts at welding haven't been a total disaster. I know it's not the tidiest weld, but I've had about 4 hours practice in my entire life, so cut me some slack!

It should hold....



So now, this is the whole 'bottom half', pretty much ready for the front hinge rod to be welded on. Then it's a case of bending the seat, and welding on the cross section and front 'hinge', which will be interesting!



And finally, this is roughly where the suspension unit will fit, with the bracket ready to be welded to the seat cross member.



I've had a good bounce on it, and it seems pretty strong!

My one last job to do, is to fit a horizontal rod across the rear two struts, to stop them spreading under load. Once that's done, I'm ready for the top.

So, for an idiot, what is the opinion of the PH masses?

[911motorsport]

likey likey

[Bill]

I'm genuinely impressed. Obviously I'll laugh my tits off when you get a spring suppository if you're really lucky I'll post up a pic of the POS I knocked up last winter

[WorAl]

Bill said:

I'm genuinely impressed. Obviously I'll laugh my tits off when you get a spring suppository if you're really lucky I'll post up a pic of the POS I knocked up last winter

Ahhh go ahn go ahn go ahn