OK, the progress on some of our middie projects is well documented, but let's post brief updates to see where we are all at.......

Me..
I'm currently working on body work issues...mounting the body, hinging the rear end, scratching my head over the headlights and then moving towards painting the thing.....

Anyone else?

OK, I'll go next

I'm (hopefully) coming out of the end of 12 months of serious personal, health & financial problems for both me and my immediate family. It has honestly been the worst year of my life. However, one of the things that has kept me vertical has been the desire to get back to work on my car. Lack of finances has prevented any real work but I have been working on a finalised chassis layout (as attached below).

Our second annual national clubman roundup is on in a few weeks and I hope to return from that re-invigorated and ready to launch back into construction.


Chassis model 3 - incomplete

Next?

Dominic

[Edited on 10/10/2005 by TheGecko]

great stuff!
im still messing with my chassis. ive got me engine mounted now- still got the gearbox mount to sort out but i want to get the wishbones sorted first (if i can find a supplier that actually wants to sell me some) so i can be sure the box is in the right place.


engine mounted

[Edited on 10/10/05 by suparuss]

Nice idea for a thread Alan, sort of a roll call of all who are currently on here and planning / building middengined cars.

Okay, I've just finished getting together every single thing I need to run the engine.

Once I have got some damn builders, painters and plumbers out from underfoot (usual story, every thing that is supposed to take a week actually takes three), I can get back into the garage and bolt it all into the proto chassis, and actually start it!

The Guy who is converting the scanned body info into a set of templates for the buck has been told, today, that I want to start buck constuction this year yet!

Cheers

Fred WB

[Edited on 10/10/05 by Fred W B]

My turn,

The doors, passenger compartment, and engine cover of Kimini have been painted, only the nose remains. After that's done it needs a complete going-over to ensure everything's tight then it'll be on the road!

Of course "done" is relative as there's a million details, one being the fuel pumps some bonehead (me) mounted on the paneling; when inside the car they're rediculously loud - they have to move. Then there's the side and rear windows, but they can come later.

It's been a very long road.

[Edited on 10/10/05 by kb58]

Nothing much car related to report sadly.
2005 has been the busiest year I've ever had,which is a good thing I suppose.
By the end of the year I'll be living in the countryside with a huge garage.
2006 will be my year of the car! I've got most of the bits,all I need is the big bracket to hang them off!

Ian

Tubular art sounds better than bracket

I stand corrected.
All I need is the "tubular art" to hang the stuff from.
Happy?

Ian

Here I am, late to the party as usual...

It's been a long, hot, busy summer for me. Never mind that building the plug has been the hardest part of the entire project. x10.... Work, family and life in general have me by the short and curlies, the car (my girlfriend as my wife refers to it) is a distant third place right now.

Shaping and reshaping is completed. The car is on a rolling stand and I'm on my 2nd coat of Laminex (a hi-fill primer used for plug finishing) and expect to need 2 more coats with a whole bunch of sanding and such in between coats.



I'm actually seriously considering hiring a local company or person to finish the job for me since I can't seem to get more than 2 hours per week to work on it.

But aside from that, I am still making progress and I still enjoy the process. I dig it.

Are some of you guys building prototype cars for later production?

I'm really not looking forward to making the buck and moulds, seems a huge amount of work for a 1 off to me..... but I don't think there is any other option

quote:

---

Originally posted by andygtt
Are some of you guys building prototype cars for later production?

I'm really not looking forward to making the buck and moulds, seems a huge amount of work for a 1 off to me..... but I don't think there is any other option

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by andygtt
I'm really not looking forward to making the buck and moulds, seems a huge amount of work for a 1 off to me..... but I don't think there is any other option

---

New donor engine propped in chassis on blocks. Made rear suspension top mounts last night and will start work on the engine mounts tomorrow - have been delayed for a month by the decision to change donor cars!!!!!

Oh guys, am I itching to start building... Just bought a house with a double size garage (and conveniently my neighbour is a racing engineer ) now my head is in the books (chassis engineering, competition car suspension) building up my knowledge. Got a new CAD station and the first batch of prototyping tools.

quote:

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Originally posted by Fred W B
Nice idea for a thread Alan, sort of a roll call of all who are currently on here and planning / building middengined cars.......

---

Ja Alan. I remember a picture on your site of you in your shop that you titled something like
"loneliness of a scratch builder".
Helps to know somebody understands what we are doing!

Cheers

Fred WB

[Edited on 12/10/05 by Fred W B]

I have also updated my site with some more uptodate pics of the chassis.

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/andycanam/page4.html

to answer kimini, your on the right lines as I do have some body bits that will be used as a point of departure.... but my car is 6'6" wide so I don't have any choice but to DIY.

quote:

---

Originally posted by andygtt
I have also updated my site with some more uptodate pics of the chassis.

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/andycanam/page4.html

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Yeah Andy, that's looking very tidy. That is one impressive block! Any estimates for finished weight?

Thanks

I'm actually going to increase the sidewall quite a bit on the rear as they are 25 profile at the moment

The current target/estimate of weight is 1100kgs wet (85litre tank planned) which is same weight as an Ultima GTR with a heavy SBC...... The biggest variable on weight will be how light I can make the body.

quote:

---

Originally posted by andygtt
to answer kimini, your on the right lines as I do have some body bits that will be used as a point of departure.... but my car is 6'6" wide so I don't have any choice but to DIY.

---

Yep, from my experience it is much easier making a new plug from an existing (though heavily modified) body than completely from scratch.

...meh, don't know what's going on with the ole' car these days. Hope my old man hasn't buried it under too much crap.

I've finished my "ride height laser" and just about to figure out how to use that information to control the servos that's controling the valves in the suspension.

In other words, doing the electronics while sourcing parts ... and building a greenhouse for the wife

Cheers

Two of my cars have bitten the dust, but hopefully only temporarily. The fabricators in Alice Springs did the dirty on me and broke their side of the agreement which I suppose is a possibility when they're hundreds of kilometres away from me. They are ideally located in some of Australia's historic off-road racing territory, so it's a big disapointment.
I would still like to see the designs come to fruition as there's quite a bit of international interest in them, so I hope to get someone else to pick up the fabricating and testing of the two cars.
Meanwhile, another of my cars is being built and tested by a Canadian company, beginning next week. Although I have largely completed my involvement in the project, it's always good to follow the developments.
Unfortunately I don't get my hands dirty anymore so I have no interesting pics for show & tell.

Hay guys, its been 4 months, what the latest?

For me, since last update:

Engine runs
Gearshift linkage developed
Body drawing almost finished (for real this time)
Rear upright bits machined

Cheers

Fred WB

Latest for me:

Still working on the body, finishing up the bonnet/hood.
Still deciding about headlights so I moulded two headlight covers for pop-ups from out of the original front mould.
Working on wheel adapters for the rear I have Focus wheels I can use but the PCD (US- bolt circle) is different.

Slow progress, but at least it IS progress.

Alan

Me, I'm continuing shakedown testing. Nothing's fallen off, nothing's broken, but there have been a few teething pains. The rear tires rub so things need trimming. One contributor is the car has "settled" 1/4" or so. It's either the shocks or the springs, and I can't believe it's the springs. The rubber inner wheelwells are rubbing, but those need redoing anyway.

Performance:
0-60mph = 4.6, which could have been under 4sec had I not needed to shift at 58mph! 1/4 mile time is an informal 12.8sec.

Handling:
Suspension is very well mannered with no nasty bump steer or unusual tire wear. Of course I have yet to take the car on track, the first autocross is in a few weeks. I did go around a circular on-ramp pretty fast and was amazed. It was as if the car wasn't even trying, with me suddenly becoming aware how important side bolstering in the seat is.

The big unknown is what the back end will do at the limit. This is the first car I've driven where the limit is wayyy above what can be safely tested on the street. Once on track, I'll finally meet Design Judgment Day. Will it break away smoothly, easy to catch and control, or snap around fast, spinning like a top.

Steering:
Steering effort is very light, I definitely get the feeling there's not much weight up front. Steering is *very* quick, at low speeds it's not noticeable, but on the free way it keeps my attention. Instant lane changes are effortless.

Brakes:
After the brakes were dialed in, I went out to a deserted road, got up to speed, and really stood on the brakes. Let me explain the sensation. I get motion sickness as a passenger, when the driver/car does something unexpected. Getting on the brakes hard resulted in... something unexpected. It decelerated so hard it was as if the car was suspended vertically. It was a good thing I was wearing belts!

Also registered for a hot rod show... not that Kimini is exactly domestic, but it was built here! We'll see how it's received.

I think I said last time that I have 90% completed the chassis and was moving on to the body....... the chassis hasn't moved on much at all althoug I do have the engine/box in and all the wheels are on. All I have to do to get it fully rolling is weld the shock mounts to the chassis.

On the body I have done very little this year other than make small changes that take huge amounts of time to do... for instance I decided the whole think needed to go forward 1.5inch which involved a lot of work.
Absolutelly worth it though as its getting closer to what I have in my head.

Here is a sneak preview of were it is at the moment..



andygtt