December 8, 2003.
Here is the latest rendition of the cage.
A few more coats of black paint and it will be ready to go into the car.
The only thing it will need to complete it is some padding...which brings me to the next picture.
Here is the stuff legends are made of. Finding this particular high density foam has been like searching for the holy grail. I know what you are thinking, why the heck is he using white foam? The answer is, I'm not. This was just a test sample given to me by the very helpful supplier. However the foam is available in several 'fashionable' colours. But, I don't care what they say, "black will always be the new black". Besides none of the other colours go with the car.
But I digress. On the right you will see a flat piece of foam that looks like I cut a body board up. This is how the foam comes. On the left you will see that the foam has been shaped into a tube. This process was quite straight forward. I simply boiled the foam in water for a few minutes. Rolled it up and put it into a PVC pipe. Cold water was then run on the pipe and the foam and, "Hey presto!", rolled foam. The only complication is that the lengths I need are up to three feet long when the roll above is barely four inches. Also the foam pictured is only 16mm thick where the stuff going on the cage is 20mm thick. Still I think it should be OK.
Things are still a bit rough around the edges. My thinking is that I will make up a fibreglass cover for the the gearstick housing and box rather than trying to make som horrible steel look passable.
The shift itself works OK, however the gate from side to side is quite narrow. Long term I think adapting a kombi shifter might sort this problem out. Also the narrow nature of the shift means the lock out for reverse on the beetle shifter is defunct.
The straigtened shift rod connects to a Hyundai Xcel steering shaft. This in turn to an adapter and then to the kombi box. The shiny block is an aluminium bush made up by Brian for the task. It stops the rod moving laterally.
It is quite close, however, there is not much room between the seats so space is at a premium.
December 22, 2003.
This plate's drying paint is all that stand between me and the final installation of the roll bars. It and another stop the bolts pulling throung the frame on the underside of the car. Now all I have to do is find some willing sucker to help me lift it in!
These plates also mark the end of an era.
R.I.P Little Drill!!
OK, so I'm getting a bit sentimental, but this drill has seen my best and worst hours of fabrication for SIXTEEN YEARS!
For five of those years it was the only power tool I owned and was a drill, sander, grinder and may other inappropriate devices when I didn't have anything else. It also has drilled many large holes through steel that would have made many a bigger drill curl up and die. The 18/32 inch holes in the plate you see above finally caused its demise. The gears and bearings were long since stuffed but battled on, however this time, it was all too much for the armature. I just pray that God treats you much more kindly than I have when you get to Drill Heaven. 'Spose that means I'm getting a new drill for Christmas......
December 23, 2003.
The roll cage is now in the car and the engine cage on the back. My mate Patto pitched in and helped me lift the roll cage in. We didn't even scratch the paint.....I hope! Liz was really impressed, apparently it looks more and more like a real car, whatever that means.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!
January 7, 2004.
Here is the promised pic of the cage in position. The others didn't come out so well. Its now all bolted down, and with M12 high tensile bolts connecting it to the under frame, it ain't goin nowhere! The bolt holes even sort of lined up... if you know what I mean.
The radiator and air intake/filter are in there final place as well. It looks quite good I think. However there are some concerns.
Firstly, the air intake has a few tight bends in it. I am hoping this will promote torque not just reduce power. We'll have to wait and see I suppose...
Secondly, the temperature switch for the fans seems to make the rubber radiator hose leak. Silicone is supposed to fix this. Gee I hope so...
On other fronts, the engine is actually starting again. For a time it would not do this. The ever enduring Brian helped me trace this to a clogged EFI pump. Luckily the pump wasn't completely stuffed. They are quite expensive.
The engine has been filled with coolent (after realising I hadn't blocked the heater hoses up, "Duh!") and run up to temperature quite happily with aid of a new thermostat.
I have also got the throttle linkage together and have a working throttle pedal. I was succesful at this on the second attempt after having a stuck throttle on the first. All I can say is, thank goodness for factory rev-limiters.
However, on later inspection the current position is too close to the brake. I think the whole set up will have to be re-thought and re-done. Something I am not looking forward to.
My current project is getting the brakes right. After having no pedal pressure to speak of, the problem (again with the help of Brian, and Hans Klaack) has been traced to the front driver-side caliper. This will have to be sorted before the axles and CVs go on.
Then it might be time for a test drive...... YEH!
January 14, 2004.
You might be asking yourself,
"Why is there a pic of Pete's left pinkie on his site, and why does it look like it has special strips on it?"
Good question. The next pic might help you complete the picture a bit.
You see, when a big knife like this slips and your hand gets in the way that's what happens.
Brian again came to the rescue. We set his circular saw up and cut the chamfer along the side of the rubber on a bench. As you can see it is quite neat. Oh, and we kept our fingers away from the saw....
On other fronts, work on the brakes continues. We now have semi-acceptable pedal pressure and the hope is that the brakes will bed in and it will improve with more bleeding. The brakes that is, not my finger.
While Andrew was up from Goulburn the other day, as well as being the brakes assistant, he also did some sanding on the front bull-bar. Once the rust is removed a bit more, it will be ready for a coat of paint and installation. However, things are a bit interesting at the moment. Next week is huge for reasons I can't go into yet and between the damage to my finger and other commitments, the buggy is going take the back seat time wise.
On the up side though, we finally had the internet installed today. So, I will be able to update and email daily, not weekly (or monthly).
January 21, 2004.
YAY, BACK EXPENSION!!! (expension: the word the kids across the road used for suspension, power-steering meant riding your bike "no hands".)
The back suspension is now completely installed and is higher than a hippy after Woodstock. Yay! There is now some serious ground clearance under the car. My only concern is whether I have over cranked the torsion bars too far for the CV's to handle.
Wes (V6 baja guy) reckons these spring-plates are over notched and the CV's won't handle the angle of the axle. I think he's probably right, unfortunately. After discussions with Brian, the decision was made to live with the mistake until later when I'll fit limiting straps or start again with new spring plates. Welding new metal into the spring steel is apparently not a good idea. Brian also has concerns about the notches and fears the corners might cause extra flexing and then failure but we'll see.
There is a lot of pre-load in the torsion bars. And I was right about using the earlier shorter ones over the type 3 wagon units. They suit the weight of the subaru motor much better and don't sag nearly as easily as the type 3 ones when bounced on. Also, I can fit 35 inch tyres on the back easily now.
However, the best thing is the amount of air under the rear of the car now. I know the suspension will settle a bit lower after some driving, but I think the current level is a great starting point. The tyres on the car are 205/60 R15s. Just imagine how high it will sit with 10.5 inch wide by 31 inch tall tyres.....COOL!!! Liz has concerns about being able to climb in, we'll fix that later. Maybe I'll put a ladder on the side, ha ha ha!!!!
Liz and I have a huge day tomorrow, pray it all goes well. Probably won't have a chance to touch the buggy for a while.
January 30, 2004.
Haven't touched the buggy 'til last night due to the birth of my beautiful new daughter, Eleanor (see my index page for more details). But things are moving along again. Wes was right about the torsion bars, #@%$! (Thanx Wes). I have now pulled the torsion bars apart for the 3rd time and am attempting to get an angle that is CV friendly. I am aiming for around 17degrees in the axles, but it is a bit hit and miss. The splines on the bars are about 5degrees each which makes the whole thing quite complicated. Hopefully this will be the last time. I've also been prepping the front bar for painting, but thats a bit secondary. My real priority is to get the car registered and drivable before we run out of time and money. If I get the torsion bars right, I can put the CVs and axles on and test-drive it, YAY!