Attempting to build the fastest road legal Elan in the world
Discussion
Decided to go DBW with regard to throttle input. To that end I have fitted a Datsun 350Z peddle position sensor and replaced original throttle body with a 54mm Bosch electronic unit.
In order to get the intake air from the filter, which is located under where the offside headlamp used ot be, to the turbo I had to make a tube that squeezed between the radiator and inner wing. I made this out of fibreglass a few years ago before I discovered carbon. The weight of it has been bugging me for a while but I have only just gathered together enough confidence (and skill) to make a split mould. It came out OK, weighs 380gms less than the original and a coat of paint has hidden the weave.
In order to get the intake air from the filter, which is located under where the offside headlamp used ot be, to the turbo I had to make a tube that squeezed between the radiator and inner wing. I made this out of fibreglass a few years ago before I discovered carbon. The weight of it has been bugging me for a while but I have only just gathered together enough confidence (and skill) to make a split mould. It came out OK, weighs 380gms less than the original and a coat of paint has hidden the weave.
shalmaneser said:
Thought there might be something a bit clever under that cap. I'm sure you'll be fine!
Great project, best of luck with it!
:-) These are designed for this exact usage and are used on race cars (where accurate steering is somewhat useful), as well as for gear linkages so there should be no issues.Great project, best of luck with it!
wc98 said:
the attention to detail and fab work here is tremendous .appears to be a proper labour of love . really enjoying the thread.
Cheers. I an glad that this thread is of interest to some. I have had the car for over 40 years so it has been part of my life longer than I have known my wife. However, the car was the reason we met so she isn't too jealous. The only stipulation she made was that the build must allow her to be capable of driving it as well :-)
I broke the car at the 1985 Street Racer Championships and only started to rebuild it 12 years ago. However, what started out as a simple strip and rebuild sort of got out of hand. It is the last car that I will be building so I have made the least amount of compromises to acceleration that rules, money, safety and my skills allow.
Edited by stevebroad on Monday 24th July 00:27
An interesting day. Started off with removing the door lock from a soon to be scrapped caravan stored next door as it looked identical to our worn out motorhome one. Unfortunately, it wasn't the same.
I was due to meet David at DC Electronics at 2pm so left earlier so I could pop in to the caravan shop in Ulting, but their offerings were no good. Next stop was a quick chat with Geoff Page (my engine guru) prior to meeting David. Geoff said that my car will need to be taken to DCe's place so it can be properly gone over by David and Geoff so they can agree on what needs to be done.
We also decided we would add a G sensor, a steering angle sensor and damper potentiometers. However, we can do away with the speed sensor as we can use one of the wheel sensors.
Met David at 2pm and agreed to the car coming over at the end of August, actual date to be confirmed. I won't know the cost until it has been properly looked at :-(
Next stop was Life Racing in Basildon to drop off my F88 ECU so it can be upgraded to the latest spec. It should be ready in a couple of weeks.
When I got home Julia said that Chris from next door needed my urgent help with an adaptor. Went over to see him and what he wanted was to be able to fit a silencer to a sniper rifle and it had to be done tonight at it was off to the film set early tomorrow morning, so no pressure!
An hour later the silencer was fitted to the rifle :-) The adaptor isn't actually visible as it is double threaded and joins the silencer to an existing adaptor that had a thread matching that on the rifle barrel.
I was due to meet David at DC Electronics at 2pm so left earlier so I could pop in to the caravan shop in Ulting, but their offerings were no good. Next stop was a quick chat with Geoff Page (my engine guru) prior to meeting David. Geoff said that my car will need to be taken to DCe's place so it can be properly gone over by David and Geoff so they can agree on what needs to be done.
We also decided we would add a G sensor, a steering angle sensor and damper potentiometers. However, we can do away with the speed sensor as we can use one of the wheel sensors.
Met David at 2pm and agreed to the car coming over at the end of August, actual date to be confirmed. I won't know the cost until it has been properly looked at :-(
Next stop was Life Racing in Basildon to drop off my F88 ECU so it can be upgraded to the latest spec. It should be ready in a couple of weeks.
When I got home Julia said that Chris from next door needed my urgent help with an adaptor. Went over to see him and what he wanted was to be able to fit a silencer to a sniper rifle and it had to be done tonight at it was off to the film set early tomorrow morning, so no pressure!
An hour later the silencer was fitted to the rifle :-) The adaptor isn't actually visible as it is double threaded and joins the silencer to an existing adaptor that had a thread matching that on the rifle barrel.
Edited by stevebroad on Wednesday 26th July 23:23
Edited by stevebroad on Thursday 27th July 23:36
ECU and PDM brackets finished, although it took me three attempts before I got the front part of the ECU bracket the right width. The holes are to allow ventilation to the ECU heat sink (Yeah, right) and the reduction in weight of 6gms is purely coincidental :-)
There are a lot of pin holes in the laquer but they are out of sight so they can stay. My carbon skills are just enough to produce strong and workable parts. I have yet to tackle exposed weave parts that will be on show as this takes more skill and patience than I currently possess.
These will be attached to the bulkhead using a flexible glue and rubber strips in order to reduce vibration.
There are a lot of pin holes in the laquer but they are out of sight so they can stay. My carbon skills are just enough to produce strong and workable parts. I have yet to tackle exposed weave parts that will be on show as this takes more skill and patience than I currently possess.
These will be attached to the bulkhead using a flexible glue and rubber strips in order to reduce vibration.
I had planned, originally, to secure the glove box door with velcro. However, this proved to be not very successful so I had a rethink. I thought about fittng a hinge (as can be seen on the bottom of the door) but decided that it would get in the way.
Then a freind mentioned the Rare Earth Neodymium Magnets he was using on his project (not car related). Hmmmmmmmm, I thought, so I bought some N52 Grade 20x 2mm Disc Rare Earth Neodymium Super Strong Industrial Magnets and used 15 to hold the door on.
10 you can see in the video plus 5 more inside the glove box behind the 5 that are visible.
Seems to work OK, test will be when car is used in anger.
https://youtu.be/PAsZHr3rdCo
Then a freind mentioned the Rare Earth Neodymium Magnets he was using on his project (not car related). Hmmmmmmmm, I thought, so I bought some N52 Grade 20x 2mm Disc Rare Earth Neodymium Super Strong Industrial Magnets and used 15 to hold the door on.
10 you can see in the video plus 5 more inside the glove box behind the 5 that are visible.
Seems to work OK, test will be when car is used in anger.
https://youtu.be/PAsZHr3rdCo
Battery, ECU and PDM brackets fitted. Needed some 6mm bighead bolts (to secure PDM and battery brackets) that I could glue to the bulkhead as I didn't want to drill through it. These seem to be around £18 for 5 and I needed 8. Lathe to the rescue once again. 30 minutes later 8 fixings made. These were glued to the bulkhead with a rubber spacer to reduce vibration.
ECU bracket simply glued on (again with a rubber spacer) The only modificaion I had to make was reducing the length on one of the clutch pipes as it came too close to the ECU bracket.
One more tick on the TODO list.
ECU bracket simply glued on (again with a rubber spacer) The only modificaion I had to make was reducing the length on one of the clutch pipes as it came too close to the ECU bracket.
One more tick on the TODO list.
andygtt said:
Steve, for the carbon stuff come round and I will give you some pointers, your pretty local to me.
I just finished making the entire side of my Capri in carbon.
I'm using the same ecu as you, just having a loom made now so I can fit it to the noble and write a baseline start map.
Sent you an email, Andy.I just finished making the entire side of my Capri in carbon.
I'm using the same ecu as you, just having a loom made now so I can fit it to the noble and write a baseline start map.
Smokin Donut said:
Great project, well done, the attention to detail is commendable. Bookmarked and can't wait to see how it turns out. Have you decided on a final colour?
Thanks. Well, I would like a dark grey to black satin fade, front to rear, with no joins, ie a seamless grey fade to black. So far I have been unable to find a wrap company that can guarantee no shade banding. Also, the car is wider (1.8m sill to sill with no panel joints) than the max wrap width available, AFAIK. Smokin Donut said:
I'm sure a good spray shop can transition the colours. I once saw an Audi TT that had yellow to orange to red blended so it was seamless, although I bet ti wasn't cheap!
Yeah, that's the problem with paint. I imagine a pattern wrap would cost a little more than a solid colour, but not a lot more. Could be wrong, though.Edited by stevebroad on Friday 1st September 08:16
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