Ariel Atom 3.5 - back from the dead

[celger7]

avenger286 said:

Good luck with this and nice Clio v6 in the workshop also!

Thanks, yeah the Clio is pretty nice it is unmodified except for the horrible factory seats, we replaced them wirh Recaro Pole Positions, so much nicer to drive now.

It does need a bit of work because the first few owners neglected it

[celger7]

AndrewGP said:

That photo is shocking! It looks like the car caricature artwork you sometimes see

It was very badly bent

[Mark Stevens]

Great thread. The impact must of been huge to bend the chassis that badly.

[essayer]

Sideways into a tree?

[celger7]

essayer said:

Sideways into a tree?

Doubtful, it was never registered for road use, so not sure how it happened

[celger7]

Todays progress, hung the front suspension units, still have to fit the lights too, chucked a Alcon on to see what it would like it, and colour me impressed. The yellow and black really pops.

Behold!!!!!!













Will hang the rear suspension arms during the week and post more updates as we go.

[Church of Noise]

That is excellent, big boys toys !

Keep us posted!

[ChocolateFrog]

Atom's do not crash well, we've seen a couple on here that have folded pretty badly. I imagine it's because the chassis is all pre-bent so a crash just gives it a helping hand to fold.

I'd still have one and surely putting this one back on the road is the right decision. It must have been cheap to begin with if you bought it for the engine.

I don't know what values are like over there but here they're virtually depreciation proof.

[Krikkit]

ChocolateFrog said:

Atom's do not crash well, we've seen a couple on here that have folded pretty badly. I imagine it's because the chassis is all pre-bent so a crash just gives it a helping hand to fold.

I remember seeing one in a front impact and that was the same - the nose had literally just folded up.

I know it would harm the lightweight ethos, but I wonder if you could pump epoxy or something that'll set through the chassis tubes.

[firemunki]

I love Atoms but please tell me there is a thread on the Sunny.

I have such a soft spot for them, I had a 1.4 as my first car and always wanted one, still can't afford one 15= years down the line!

[wolfracesonic]

Krikkit said:

ChocolateFrog said:

Atom's do not crash well, we've seen a couple on here that have folded pretty badly. I imagine it's because the chassis is all pre-bent so a crash just gives it a helping hand to fold.

I remember seeing one in a front impact and that was the same - the nose had literally just folded up.

I know it would harm the lightweight ethos, but I wonder if you could pump epoxy or something that'll set through the chassis tubes.

I that true about them not faring well in crashes? Surprising as they basically look like a roll cage with an engine and wheels.

[Mark Benson]

wolfracesonic said:

Krikkit said:

ChocolateFrog said:

Atom's do not crash well, we've seen a couple on here that have folded pretty badly. I imagine it's because the chassis is all pre-bent so a crash just gives it a helping hand to fold.

I remember seeing one in a front impact and that was the same - the nose had literally just folded up.

I know it would harm the lightweight ethos, but I wonder if you could pump epoxy or something that'll set through the chassis tubes.

I that true about them not faring well in crashes? Surprising as they basically look like a roll cage with an engine and wheels.

I saw one crash at Eau Rouge, into the barrier on the ext of the corner - it was a heck of a mess.

The problem is, the structure you see is all you have - on a road car you have bodywork etc. to absorb some of the energy before the rollcage comes into play. Even a Seven has ally sheet riveted to the chassis which takes energy to break apart.

The Spa driver was unharmed though so it clearly offers a reasonable amount of protection - I suspect the chassis deforming is part of the crash protection itself.

OP - good idea for a project, you'll have a minter when it's done and be quids (or dollars) in too.

[celger7]

Good day all,

So there has been some more progress, rear suspension on, some lights fitted to check what works and what doesn't.

Body work is off to be painted and the wheels will be back from the sandblaster hopefully before the weekend so they can be painted too. Black is the name of the game.

We will cover the sides, anyone have any recommendations as to what to use? I've seen some Atoms with it and without, prefer to have it covered because it will be used in winter too, I know it doesn't provide much protection from the elements but every bit helps.

Had the silencer polished back to its original gleam and hopefully the exhaust manifold will be back from the coaters by the weekend so we can see if it starts! Still have to put in the water pipes etc too but we are getting there!

Will post more over the weekend

Some photos:

[celger7]

ChocolateFrog said:

Atom's do not crash well, we've seen a couple on here that have folded pretty badly. I imagine it's because the chassis is all pre-bent so a crash just gives it a helping hand to fold.

I'd still have one and surely putting this one back on the road is the right decision. It must have been cheap to begin with if you bought it for the engine.

I don't know what values are like over there but here they're virtually depreciation proof.

There aren't many of them in New Zealand and even fewer are road registered. It is quite the process to get something strange complied for road use. It will be worth a bit probably, but I am just happy that we could save it.

We have a SPF GT40 and the process which inluded a number of modifications took us 15 months, worth it though, it is the only road registered SPF GT40 in NZ as far as I know and the only MK1, the other two in NZ are both MK2's and neither are road registered.

We absolutely love cars, working on them or driving them, both bring great pleasure

[celger7]

firemunki said:

I love Atoms but please tell me there is a thread on the Sunny.

I have such a soft spot for them, I had a 1.4 as my first car and always wanted one, still can't afford one 15= years down the line!

I will have to start a thread on the Sunny too, when we found it, it had been freshly imported albeit 2 years before we found it, it just stood in a guy's carport for those two years. Paint faded but all there.

The bonus was that it had only done 27,000km, had a pod filter in place of the airbox, ligjtweight CP Hart wheels in white, a different steering wheel and lilely from new GAB shocks and a GAB strut brace plus a Momo steering wheel.

It is a series 2 and had a horrible steering wheel from new so I understand why it was replaced. I have since found a steering wheel out of a normal GTI Sunny/Pulsar which we put in but need the center GTIR emblem which I can't find anywhere.

We have also got the standard wheels for it. Inside is a timewarp, it is amazing, we have a R32 that is similar but with only 20,000km on it. Nissan people really but all cars are welcome.

Edited by celger7 on Wednesday 13th December 06:40

[Google [bot]]

celger7 said:

The bonus was that it had only done 27,000km,

we have a R32 that is similar but witb only 20,000km on it.

Is this not true of every jap import?

Lovely cars all of them Sir.

[celger7]

Google [bot] said:

Is this not true of every jap import?

Lovely cars all of them Sir.

Thanks mate

The older ones are getting harder to find now, R32 prices have sky rocketed the last few years!

[celger7]

Yet more progress!

While I am at work Dad is working full steam on the Atom.

Rotors have been skimmed, calipers fitted including the handbrake calipers, rotor centers painted with heat resistent black paint all looking good, getting the exhaust back tomorrow so will hopefully be able to start it this weekend maybe even do an oil change!

Also test fitting the mudguards, will be off to paint shortly too.



















Will post some more photos when there is more progress.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Looks like a great fun project but as other's have said I really wouldn't want to have a serious crash in one! Quite why they bend the chassis tubes is beyond me? Presumably it is meant to deform...

[shalmaneser]

You look like you know what you're doing but I'd personally want to keep any paint off the mating faces of those discs - might be heat resistant but will probably soften meaning your wheels will come loose once hot.

Great work on the build generally though!