Chassis cleaning

With the pedalbox wandered to the floor, the brackets where the original pedals hung are not needed anymore. The cleaned chassis will allow an even surface underneath the steering column to fix a lot of things like the relay and fuse boxes, the ECU and others. This will add to the clean look I like to achieve when the new aluminium panels will be fitted. Removal ceremony with a lot of sparks...
Cheers.

Pedalbox bracket

It's a good feeling to start work. Ordering parts is great, dreaming of how it will look even better, but really working on it is best. And even better during Christmas holidays with my sons helping. After trial fitting the pedal box, we fabricated a bespoke bracket and MIG-welded it into the chassis (visible above the pedalbox). Those are not the only fixing points as the pedal forces have to be divided and spread.
Next task is grinding the whole chassis and painting it.
Cheers.

Unbent

 

Have a look at some pics of the repaired chassis sections (from top: front trapeze, backside of impact zone, lower wishbone mount). Two solid stands support it in a comfortable height to further work on. Next I will do some modifications. Brackets for the new pedal box will be welded in and maybe some more mountings for peripheral engine parts.
Cheers.

Luxembourg-Dartford-Luxembourg

3:00AM departure
7:45AM Calais P&O Ferry
8:15AM GB-time arrival in Dover
9:30AM Caterham@Dartford, parts ready to be picked, some more stuff added last minute
10:30 AM Christmas shopping in Maidstone
3:40 PM Dover
6:15 PM Calais (french time again)
9:45 PM back home
Parts collected in Dartford (GB) yesterday now followed by a day of rest. The rebuild will start next week with some more chassis mods, grinding and painting.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Restart

Back from the bench (or surgery in more human terms)! Not yet what you'd call a car, but a fair basis for a restart. Been born as a Westfield homologation car for Spain, built and assembled in Luxembourg, the last owner made it a pretty car with aluminium side panels rather than the plastic fantastic original body. This explains why it will wear a Caterham nose-cone and bonnet. To accomodate those parts, some mods have been made to the chassis and I will show them later on. This is done with the one and only goal: making it a prettier car, and not fooling anybody.
The ferry is booked for tomorrow morning. The Caterham parts are ready and waiting to be picked in Dartford (GB).
Cheers.

Steering 'n gearing

Some more stuff arrived today from Rallydesign (UK). The LHD (left hand drive) steering rack with quick ratio 2.4 turns, the gearlever relocation kit to have the gearlever 135mm moved backwards and a new gearlever to suit (items in pic are not scale). I also went to a hardware dealer and asked for aluminium panel prices. Never ever go to a DIY superstore, they just steal your money! 1mm x 2500mm x 1250mm for around 33.-€ taxes included. Now go to your local superstore and compare... Amazing!
Cheers.

Weight watchers

The chassis is ready, but the mechanic wanted to trial fit the wishbones before handing it over. This is quite a professional approach and I'm happy I chose this company to straighten my frame. Meanwhile, my order from Westfield came in with the wishbones, hubs, uprights and the lower column (plus some smaller parts like rod ends a.o.). I assembled one hub plus disc brake plus upright (wheel carrier) to compare it with the old one both in bolt pattern and weight. The saving is quite big with 1.8kg saved per side (9.8kg old vs 8.0kg new). The discs are vented and grooved and 22mm wide, but I will not save weight on this item and kept them. Together with the HiSpec brake calipers, this is a weight saving of 4.8kg per side (unsprung weight). I wonder how much more I will save with the wheels when converting to 13", and I will report!
Left is new and shiny except for the disc:

The wishbones being wide track, they extend the front track by 100mm (50mm per side). Therefore, the rod ends have to be extended as well. Those extensions come with the wide track kit. I'm not very happy with this bolt on solution, but forum members tell me there's no reason for that.

The steering rack brackets being old and a little rotten, I also ordered these nice aluminium brackets. Further examination showed a small crack in  the left side knuckle and therefore I will replace the whole rack. Brakes and steering are safety relevant items and I will not save money there!

Two orders on hold now, one at rallydesign for a new steering rack, gear lever extension and gearlever, the other one at Caterham for the nose-cone, bonnet and radiator. Caterham? You thought it was a Westfield? Yes! You're perfectly right... more on this later.

Cheers.