Lightweight

[peter_m7uk]

Not sure that you need to go as far as Nik, but he's certainly doing it thoroughly! There aren't many holes to drill in my opinion, as most holes are prepunched, but you do get flakes of ali round a freshly drilled hole that you can remove as you go along. I have been deburring the edges of panels before assembly, though, as there are numerous tags and rough edges. As for bonding, I've been using Evostik Nail&Seal, which bonds nonporous (ie metal) surfaces well and has a quoted tensile strength of 1.5 to 1.8MPa (in layman's terms, you'd have to pull 150-180kg to separate a 10sqcm area). Only £4.79 for a 300ml cartridge as well!

 

Pete

 

PS I did look at this temporary rivet system,

Cleko, but not sure what diameter.

I wonder if you only get 10 for your £25!

[Nigel Rogers]

Hi all,

 

Reference Cleko's/Skin Pins etc, I'd go with Skin Pins as they clamp up properly. Clekos are quicker to use but you need a pair of special pliers to insert and remove them. Problem is Skin Pins are expensive, visit www.prifast.co.uk and look up rivet clamps. You could probably manage with 1/8" dia and buy about 10 off.

 

The other way is to use nuts and bolts as temp fastners, providing you can access both sides.

 

Cheers

Nige

[Guest CaLviNx]

Hi

 

When you guys are ready to start bonding, you might want to try the same stuff that the windscreen guys use, a Polyurethane sealer/adhesive.

 

I am awaiting my lightweight to be ready for collection, and I am amassing my building equipment, and luckily I was discussing the bonding of the ali with my brother who runs his own windscreen business, he thought that the stuff they use to bond glass into cars might suit. He contacted the adhesive maker and they list it as a suitable structural bond on ali.

 

Soo I have managed to procure a free box of twelve 300ml cartridges of this black sticky stuff. I will report on its durability in future.

 

As for the possible "problem" of having to deburr drill holes, well you & (I for one) am building this thing for pleasure and the pleasure of taking my time getting it right, its no race, and making it safe too. So a little extra time making sure you get it right will be worth it in the end.

 

Regards

 

Mark

[Guest Guy]

am building this thing for pleasure

Well said Mark, I think you should print that out and stick it on the wall of your garage

[Guest TerryBarry]

I think you should print that out and stick it on the wall of your garage

 

Yes put it just above the point where you normally end up banging your head

[Guest nikscott]

Scotmac, I measured the transmission tunnel. Picture below, as you can see they are different lengths so I projected the short side forward and it measure 17" across tapering to the parrellel 6" after about 24 inches. If you need something more specific let me know

[Guest nikscott]

oops will try that again later - Scotmac in case the text doesnt show, the tranny tunnel is 17" wide at the front ( if you project the short side forward) & tapers to the 6" parrellel section after 24"

[Guest nikscott]

3rd time lucky

Edited November 5, 2005 by nikscott

[enforcer]

Looks like a futuristic twin coffin for the Krankies

[Guest ScotMac]

Nik, thanks alot for the measurements. That tunnel is actually quite large. I think a t5 will fit. The t5 is 9" wide at the bellhousing, and tapers back to about 6" (as i mentioned previously). I believe it tapers down to that 6" after a MAX of 14" inches, which is well w/in the 24 inches you mentioned (even if you meant the long side). In fact, the entire length of the t5 main body plus tail section is 24.7", and the input is shaft is 7.2", for a total of 32". Should fit.

 

BTW, a fully rebuilt to cobra standard t5 can be sourced from astroperformance.com for only $695. That is substantially cheaper than a comparable type9 (quaife, ...). You would then need a bellhousing. One for a duratec can be sourced from quad4rods for $495 (ask for John, who will do a plate to allow his bellhousing to be adapted to the v8 grade 91-93 mustang t5's). Note, astroperformance also ships free...tho i bet not all the way to the uk!!! ;-)

 

Also, getting back on topic, i found the following bonding materials site. Note, this is adhesive made to actually bond automotive body panels. ie, it is made for exactly what we need. In fact, it has pretty impressive specs. 18.6MPa and torsional impact resistance greater than 106 in/lb. The line of adhesives is called "Fusor" from (the) Lord, and the one i quoted the strengths for is the subtype called 112B/113B. It is the SLOW-set version of their automotive adhesives (we're not in a hurry, right?!?). Here is a link to the Fusor line:

 

http://www.lord.com/Default.aspx?tabid=1190

 

And here is the link to the specs for the 112B/113B (note the domain!!):

 

http://www.lordfulfillment.com/upload/DS3329.pdf

 

They may only be a wholesaler...i'll check and see where they can be actually purchased.

 

-sm

[Guest ScotMac]

Here is the cheapest retailer i could find for Lord Fusor:

 

http://www.smartshoppersinc.com/automotive...lord-fusor.html

 

Note, there also is a UK branch for Lord (no, not the anglican church!!):

 

United Kingdom

 

Manchester

European Headquarters

Building 8, Suite 7.01

Exchange Quay

Trafford Road

Manchester

M5 3EJ

England

Phone: +44 161 868 4660

Fax: +44 161 868 4670

 

Customer Service, Manufacturing, Sales

Stretford Motorway Estate

Barton Dock Road

Stretford Manchester

M32 OZH

England

Phone: +44 161 865 8048

Fax: +44 161 865 0096

[Guest CaLviNx]

Hi

 

Scotmac; If you read some of the adverts that robinhood release they DO advise that the lightweight chassis will accomodate the T5 gearbox with no problems.

 

And thanks for the info on the chassis adhesive. I might get a few tubes just to try, but being a tight Scotsman the fact I have obtained some FREE Polyurethane, between it and the fact I am lucky enough to have the equipment and mediocre skills to weld Ali, with everything being thrown at the chassis, it will hopefully stay together.

 

I did think of buying a westfield, but then that would have been like a large scale Tamiya IC kit and not as much fun. This way its grass roots building, and the sence of achievment putting this together will be just so good.

 

Regards

 

Mark

[Guest elwe]

Adhesive that strong sounds like a bad idea. You might want to take it apart sometime in the future.

 

The skirting board in my bedroom was stuck down with super strong adhesive by the previous owner. When I had to take it up to lay cable behind the floor gave way before the adhesive, and the floor is concrete!

[Guest ScotMac]

Gotta optimize for the normal case. ie, make sure that the chassis/body is open enough that you can work on everything (have to handle the differential issue), and the rest should be as locked in as possible, in order to optimize strength and rigidity. Optimizing for strength and rigidity will make it handle better, and you don't want aluminum to flex. Flexing aluminum is eventually BREAKING aluminum. They went this same process w/ bicycles. They had to change the tubes (to large ovalized) and welds to keep the frame from flexing/breaking.

 

Yes, it is a tradeoff, but for me the above direction is the way to go.

[Guest ScotMac]

Mark, i have seen that they say they support the type9 and the MT75, but where did you see that they support the t5?

 

OH, i get it. You mean the 4-cylinder t5 that is common in the UK? Interesting point. Tho that is a substantially inferior gearbox to the strengthened 91-93 cobra gearbox from astroperformance, i believe it IS similar dimensions!! Where did they say they support it???

 

BTW, here are some sites w/ good info on the t5's:

 

Dimensions (tho not really tunnel relevant, they do show some of the differences):

 

http://ddperformance.com/images/t5dia.jpg

 

History of the t5:

 

http://www.moderndriveline.com/Technical_Bits/t5_history.htm