Project Valtezza

[Guest Paddy1970]

Interesting, I suppose it's a case of things failing at the very limit and motorsport will certainly shake out a bug or two.

 

I have the same option of having all new custom shafts being made by the same firm, out of unobtainium no doubt, but very costly.

 

I think I'm going to suck it and see with them and go from there.

[Guest Paddy1970]

The weirdest thing just happened, bear in mind i've altered the length of my frame, mounted the engine/gearbox where i best think it needs to be, mounted the diff where i want it..... i sent my Altezza prop away to be made the correct length to suit my project which i was due to collect on Thursday.

 

Wandering through the workshop, i spotted a propshaft, from some obscure Toyota or Lexus i've accumulated over the last 20 years, it's the only propshaft i have here..... and thought that looks very close to what i need, would you believe i offered it up and it is an absolutely perfect fit into the gearbox, onto the diff and the perfect length!!!

 

I quickly rang the machine shop and asked them to cancel my prop order, luckily they hadn't started work on it, i don't think i will ever be luckier, what are the chances of finding a random prop that just fits on a custom built kit car?

 

If anyone wants 6 numbers for this weekends Lottery, i'm the man to ask.

[magh]

I think you may have just used up all your luck with that one well done!

[Guest Paddy1970]

You're not wrong, I can't expect anything to go right on the rest of the entire build after that.

[Guest Paddy1970]

So I've now hung the Altezza LSD, it's mounted on its original mounting rubbers so NVH should be minimal.

 

Coming to the end of the fabrication stage now.

 

 

[Guest Paddy1970]

Getting down to the finer fabrication jobs now before the complete teardown, which i'm really looking forward to as i'm tired of looking at this thing in bare steel and crap looking components, bring on the pretty stuff as quicky as possible!

 

Radiator mounted, this is the largest rad i could find that will fit into the nosecone area, i've fitted it at a 45* angle rather than flat in the original Hood, it's from a BMW E30 and the outlets point in the correct direction for me which is nice.

 

 

Also got my screen mountings done, i've made that screen from MG midget parts, very happy with it as it looks factory but different from the usual 7 screen.

 

Left rad hose, reason for doing this now, the solid pipe is bracketed to the chassis, so will get painted during final assembly, the front hose is from a Celica GT4 and the rear hose is from a Mk3 Mr2 that also has the take off for the header tank, both pipes just happen to be the right diameter and shape, those exhaust manifolds are temporary, i will be making all new stainless 3 into 1 items.

 

 

Handbrake is in, no cables for me, i'm going full hyrdaulic onto separate spot calipers. That's an MX5 lever modified onto a universal master cylinder, it's very compact and simple, no messing around with custom cables and all of the nonsense that comes with them.

 

 

Fuel tank bracketry will be done this weekend and at this point i think i can pretty much tear it all apart now, paint everything and begin final assembly.

[brumster]

I'm sure you're aware, but pay close attention to 09A.9 in the IVA manual. The interpretation has been debated, I'll leave you to make your own and discuss with the IVA inspector as and when. Might be worth a call to them first and just validate what their definition of "mechanical" is.

[Grim]

be a little careful with your radiator install - with radiators mounted with the fins horizontally like yours, the effective size of the rad is reduced. This is because there's nothing to prevent hot water just going through the top of the radiator, leaving a cold bottom, which doesn't add any cooling. I would be happier with a smaller (thicker if needs be) rad with vertically oriented fins, so that hot water is pumped top to bottom, through the whole area of the radiator.

 

Andy

[Guest Paddy1970]

Thanks Dan, i will double check, i'm fairly sure it's ok though, for example electronic handbrakes are not classed as "mechanical" but they don't have to go through IVA i guess.... i will check.

 

That's a fair point Andy and if i'm honest, not one i had considered so thank you for bringing it to my attention. I think i will wait until the engine is running, suck it and see how the cooling fairs, i have thermal imaging equipment i can use to see what is happening in the rad, worst case i will need to move the left upper rad outlet down to the bottm left corner.

Edited August 24, 2018 by Paddy1970

[brumster]

Thanks Dan, i will double check, i'm fairly sure it's ok though, for example electronic handbrakes are not classed as "mechanical" but they don't have to go through IVA i guess.... i will check.

 

Aye, it's open to interpretation. The original premise was that hydraulic systems are liable to leaks or fluid expansion and so can "bleed" the stored energy in them when applied, so were frowned upon. Certainly in motorsport, scrutineers have this as a hot topic and I know many stories of people denied starting an event on the basis they'd had their factory handbrake removed for a hydraulic.

 

I'm told these new electronic handbrakes have safeguards in them in the sense they are motor/cable driven with a ratchet actuation still, should something fail.

 

I know the debate between stored energy in a fluid line versus stored energy in a tensioned cable could be a lengthy one - I'm not offering any interpretation, just mentioning how I've known past discussions go good luck!

[Guest Paddy1970]

Petrol tank brackets made and bolted up, filler cap position mocked up too.

 

[Guest Paddy1970]

With a weekend at home to spare (the Valtezza is at the garage/work) i decided to facelift the Robin Hood dash, this is exactly what i am going to do on the Valtezza too.

 

I love Burr Walnut, it harks back to my love of old classics and gives any dashboard a touch of class about it, to be honest i hated the leather covered steel sheet that was there before.

 

So although not 100% finished, i've added a few more Smiths gauges, converted my defuct ETB speedo and tacho to modern (but retro looking) equivalents, i've also added a glovebox which wasn't there before. The wood i used for this was taken from an old wardbrobe door i bought from Ebay for pennies, i have the other door which will go into the Valtezza dash.

 

 

[Guest Paddy1970]

I keep saying the fabrication stage is nearly finished before the big tear down, but then i find another thing i need to fabricate and off we go again. I feel i am close to that point.

 

Fresh rubber on the JR19's, i went for a full sized spare rather than a thinner version, made the spare wheel carrier which will also carry the number plate holder/lighting, there is also a removeable frame behind the rear panel which will hold the 4x100 wheel mount, it needed to be removeable to get my fuel tank out in future.

 

So this is how she currently looks, like something dredged from the canal, i know it's only cosmetic but looking forward to the making things pretty stage.

 

 

 

She's got a fat ass, 70" from arch to arch.

 

[richyb66]

If you put your front indicators on the side of the nose cone they'll need to be on long stalks to get them within 400mm of the widest point of the car.

[Guest Paddy1970]

Roger that, i'm sure there's a ton of little things i will need to address.