Nose Support

[Guest keith ingram]

Apologies if this has all been discussed before but my searching didn't find it.

 

I just purchased a Sierra based S7 and leaving aside the stainbless steel chassis cracks I am concerned about the nose cone mounting. It appears to be simply 2 bolts at the front lower and the upper surface is simply held down by the lft off bonnet. This forces the lower edges of the fibre glass onto suspension components and nice semicircles of wear are appearing. What has been left off or do I need to fabricate a support for the trailing edge of the nose ?

 

Yes I know chassis cracks are serious, support plates and extra fillets are being welded and fastened on by a specialist sheet metal fabricator.

[IanS]

There is no correct way to mount the nose.

But there are plenty of wrong ones.

The nose is not structrual so it only needs a light mounting.

Having said that I am a believer in at least 3 point mounting and have used 4 in my car.

The nose as supplied has no indication of mounting and needs clearance round the suspension in some models.

 

So if I was in your place I would make 2 mounting brackets for the top of the nose and set these so that the bonnet lies correctly.

The existing mountings then could need adjusting.

Then holes would need cutting to allow for suspension movement.

 

These kits are cheep because it is left to the builder to do many of these finishing details. The early build manuals had only the basics. The videos (introduced November 96) also ignored many details.

[Mat-Moo]

The nose conde takes to weight or is of any importance. Has this car been on the road? becasue if it has then it has obviosuly survivied... having said that, I don't know if I would trust it! Not sure about the s7, but mine was only held by 2 bolts at the top (to keep it in place/shape) and then 5 along the bottom to a shaped plate that went to the main body (2 or 3mm). Where abouts are the chassis cracks?

 

BTW Welcome!

[Guest keith ingram]

The car has been and still is on the road. I was concerned that the nose was becoming damaged on the lower edges. Apologies for asking stupid questions but I am only now getting to grips with the basic philosophy of kit cars. I will have some suitable brackets designed and fabricated.

 

The tub is cracked in the engine bay on the flat section between the scuttle and the engine mounts. There are 5 cm tears both sides approx 3 cm forwards of the end of the foot wells. This plate although wide and substantial is a stress point and is subject to twisting stress from the engine as well as lenghtwise from suspension movement. I'm not a mechanical engineer but clearly the stainless is not substantial enough to handle these stresses. I run a gaming manufacturing company

( http://www.capital-gaming.com ) so I am fortunate in being able to tap in to specialist suppliers who would be capable of fabricating the whole thing from scratch. His guys are going to plate underneath and add suitable filleting to stiffen this area. He has all the equipment and experience needed to weld stainless. I'll let you know how he gets on.

[Mat-Moo]

Yes I think the 3a and Exmo SS chassis will also suffer form this (maybe 10k miles+ though).

 

So join the club and get a gamin night organised for us he he

[Guest stu205]

hey Keith

 

the 3A's nose cone is secured with about 5 bolts on each side!! but some one will come up with sone thin for a s7 for you im sure!

[Guest alan rowe]

my S7 has the 2 bolts underneath and 2 self tapper screws - one each side at the top restaining the nose to the top of the side panels - works very well (so far) and is nice and solid

 

Alan

[Jez Morton]

Hi,

the cracks where a known problem on the S7 RHSC sent out pieces of angle to all/most customers which where to be bolted against the front of the foot panels and through engine bay floor. My car developed cracks similar to yours, I fitted the angle as supplied plus some underneath along the return of the floor back past the foot well. Its also worth drilling the end of the crack to relieve stress and stop the cracks spreading.

 

Jez