Attempting to build the fastest road legal Elan in the world

[sealtt]

Amazing thanks for sharing this

[stevebroad]

Door latch handle proof of concept. Once I have taken the slack out of the lock mechanism, it should be good to go. My original push button weighs 42gms, this lever weighs 7gms. Times 2 = 70gms saving All donations gratefully received.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs5282WWrck&fe...

[stevebroad]

Just in case anyone was of the opinion that making stuff out of prepreg carbon was an easy and straighforward task, here are the bits for my car's roof and the vaccuum bag it will all be placed in :-)

[rev-erend]

My mate does it all the time. Has huge cutting machine that is computer controller and cuts literally hundreds of sheets
into the same shape, then he pops it in the over (OK a huge autoclave).

I'd like to share pictures but not allowed to.

[stevebroad]

Took 5 hours but this video is only the first 2! Don't worry, it is only one minute long :-)

Two layers plus additional strip over joints and 6 layers around window openings.

Took a lot longer than anticipated so I will bag tomorrow and cook on Firday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07nWSvWNNR0&fe...

Completed.

[stevebroad]

Roof just out of the oven. Smooth finish and no pinholes. Pretty pleased with the result.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpL19DHCB58&fe...

[HughG]

stevebroad said:

Roof just out of the oven. Smooth finish and no pinholes. Pretty pleased with the result.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpL19DHCB58&fe...

The old soft top must have weighed 20x that!

[DAVID TURTLE]

StangGT said:

Wow. Just wow.

Lots of pics please!

[stevebroad]

[stevebroad]

Tried to source some M10 1.5 pitch aluminium bolts tonight, but the best price I could find was £5.30 each! Sod that, so I will be making them tomorrow. Can't do allen key heads so they will have to be standard hex heads. Need 8 so an hour or so to make, once set up. One advantage of making them myself is that I can build the spreader washer into them.

[F1natic]

You are a clever man, I am very impressed with your ideas. Thanks for the great updates, the you tube videos are great. Bookmarked.

[rev-erend]

Out of interest, how are you cooking the carbon?

[dave_s13]

This is great.

How do you insure a car like this though. God forbid you have a bump and need to replace one, or many of the bespoke carbon parts. How does the insurance calculate what the payout would be?

[stevebroad]

dave_s13 said:

This is great.

How do you insure a car like this though. God forbid you have a bump and need to replace one, or many of the bespoke carbon parts. How does the insurance calculate what the payout would be?

There are a couple of specialise modified caf insurance brokers. It was a couple of years ago when I last checked, but an agreed value for £75k and EVERY modification documented came out at just over £500 for a limited mileage policy which included me retaining ownership of the car in the event of an insurance write off. Didn't cover racing, obviously :-)

Damage repair would be subject to negotiation :-)

[stevebroad]

rev-erend said:

Out of interest, how are you cooking the carbon?

Using my home built curing oven. This is the mark 2 version. Mk 1 was heated using a series of 150w bulbs and controlled by a simple thermostatically controlled temperature controller. Mk 2 is heated by a domestic oven heating element and controlled by a PID controller that allows be to contol rate of temp climb (number of degrees a minute) and add dwell times at chosen temperatures. Once set it is automatic. I have added 6 independent temperature sensors so I can monitor that the oven is heating up evenly (there is a fan to assist in this).

Apologies for some of the photos being sideways, No ideas how to fix this.

Edited by stevebroad on Sunday 3rd May 15:31

[stevebroad]

F1natic said:

You are a clever man, I am very impressed with your ideas. Thanks for the great updates, the you tube videos are great. Bookmarked.

Thanks, but not really. Everything is simple if you break it down into small bits. However, being practical and having a Dad who was a mechanical engineer helps in the DNA department :-)

[stevebroad]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_zcrw6Q8YU&fe...

[lukeharding]

stevebroad said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_zcrw6Q8YU&fe...

The more I see this the more I like it, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing the finished car. I may have missed it in the thread (sorry if so), but are you keeping these wheels or swapping them out once the build is nearly complete?

[stevebroad]

lukeharding said:

The more I see this the more I like it, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing the finished car. I may have missed it in the thread (sorry if so), but are you keeping these wheels or swapping them out once the build is nearly complete?

Thanks and so am I!

These 17" wheels are just there to hold the corners up but the tyre diameter is very clsoe to the planned tyres. Wheels will be 15" billet 3-piece in a slot mag style 17" is too big for the size and age of the car.

[lukeharding]

stevebroad said:

Thanks and so am I!

These 17" wheels are just there to hold the corners up but the tyre diameter is very clsoe to the planned tyres. Wheels will be 15" billet 3-piece in a slot mag style 17" is too big for the size and age of the car.

Excellent! Good to hear you're going with a smaller wheel, I think it'll suit it perfectly. Your car doesn't have the usual delicate aesthetic of a standard elan but I reckon it'll look spot on. Builds like this are definitely inspiring for everyone else to try and create something in their own garage, and for them to teach themselves some new skills.