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PollyMobiles Rebuild

wedged some rubber foam between the dash & windscreen

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went for a drive and although the creaking has gone, now there's a very obvious windy noise!? dafuq is it coming from?



stopped over to check the windy area, removed the rubber strips but saw the windscreen was moving, pushed the windscreen and WHATHEFUQ the new windscreen is literally peeling away from the frame ??

thought it was maybe the red oxide primer & acrylic paint not fully bonding but once I removed the scuttle panel and pushed the windscreen further out I could see the primer & spray paint layer are still intact but the PU sealant that the window guy applied hasn't fully cured or bonded properly to the painted frame, it's as if he applied that priming solvent chemical on the glass but forgot to brush it on the frame?

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I'm absolutely fuming angry, and just at 5:45pm friday adrian flux is shut till monday, I was suppose to meet a friend tomorrow and goto my pre-paid monday night trackday ? this just messes up my plans

Wasn't sure if it's uncured inside and whether tigerseal would bond to the uncured polyurethane? so I was gonna cancel/ignore the trackday, wait till monday to see if insurance will allow the defective install to be fixed free but I highly doubt it'll be free with it being fitted 10mths ago, and to fix this they'll prob need to fit a whole new one.

So I decided I'll try to carefully peel the screen off and re-tigerseal it back on and hopefully make it to the trackday ?

I also broke one of the action camera battery lid, it's a flimsy little lock

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so I printed a new one that'll hold a lot stronger

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Having messed around with windscreens a few times when cars have been rolled on races, it really really sucks....

I'd fill the gap with tiger seal for the trackday, then look at trying to fix it yourself after / get someone in if your fix doesn't work - be annoying to miss the trackday if you've prepped for it!

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
 
a few kg less makes a huge difference in everything about a small light car

jesus 500kg, that'll float off on a windy day ? that'll be nippy fun
Lost a wheel at the front in the process ?
im looking at building another trike from scratch, your 92hp from the 1.3 got me to thinking of using something I know works with a pattern for the engine bay.
will it be ok to message you for more information when I get started?
 
Having messed around with windscreens a few times when cars have been rolled on races, it really really sucks....

I'd fill the gap with tiger seal for the trackday, then look at trying to fix it yourself after / get someone in if your fix doesn't work - be annoying to miss the trackday if you've prepped for it!

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Micra Sports Club mobile app

yup it would suck if I already paid for it and it becomes too short of a notice to either reschedule/refund or get it refitted and end up missing it & lose out.

gonna remove I fix it best I can and make it on track
 
Lost a wheel at the front in the process ?
im looking at building another trike from scratch, your 92hp from the 1.3 got me to thinking of using something I know works with a pattern for the engine bay.
will it be ok to message you for more information when I get started?
sure feel free to ask
 
Before removing the windscreen, I had to detach the DAB antenna but it was very difficult without ruining it.
They're only a few quid online and tbh I hardly use it compared to bluetooth/usb so I just ripped it all out

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This is what's inside a DAB antennae

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I carefully pushed the windscreen off the frame bit by bit along the edge, it has a nice amount of flex without cracking which is helpful.

The sealant is fully cured & bonded to the glass part but the other side is barely cured against the frame and simply peeled off with abit of force leaving a nice negative imprint, which I'll use to apply just a thin layer of tigerseal for a good tight fit

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You can see the halfords grey primer, black paint, and the PU sealant is still tacky & uncured, even though I left it to dry overnight at the time I repaired this

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When I wiped brake cleaner over it, the acrylic grey primer, black paint & sealant was easily removed but not the red oxide paint.

I'm guessing the red oxide primer I hand brushed onto the bare steel wasn't actually fully cured overnight before I sprayed it over with grey primer & black paint, which initially dried normally cos it was exposed to air.

When the guy fitted the new windscreen, the activating primer liquid he applied to both glass and black painted frame helped bond & cure the PU sealant against those surfaces, which seemed fine at the time.

But over the next 10mths, the red oxide uncured paint underneath was still releasing it's solvent, which slowly seeped through the grey primer, black paint and trapped by the thick layer of sealant above.
With no air to evaporate to, the solvent just kept everything melted & gooey till it separated.

The area of the frame surrounding the sealant, which was also painted with red oxide, grey primer & black paint, has cured fully without this issue cos it was always exposed to the outside and allowed the solvent to evaporate.

Well that teaches me a lesson for trying to bond onto uncured paint ?
(safe to say insurance/autowindscreen definately wouldn't of repaired this for free if I had waited till monday)

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I wirebrushed all the red oxide off the frame allowing tigerseal to bond & seal directly onto the metal

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Cleaned the gooey paint residue off the existing cured PU sealant, roughened the surface with sandpaper and smeared a thin layer of tigerseal on the strip and on the bare steel frame

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Carefully positioned the windscreen back on, pressed all along the edge so the tigersealed surfaces join up and held it in place with tape

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After a few hours, the thin layer of tigerseal cured very quickly :)
Gonna leave overnight to fully cure before testing it.

Think I'm finally gonna make it to the trackday ?(y)

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I always thought that old banger clunkers were supposed to shake rattle & roll & that was part of their charm?

My hearing was very acute when I was young & the easiest practical solution to motoring noises was ear plugs hearing protection.

A lot less hassle then trying to fix every little noise? :cool:

Ref; https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&client=firefox-b-d&sxsrf=ALeKk02Dp5AMt7lW57LGagIdgIw49TSnuw:1593685812469&ei=NLf9XvajHMvWgQbghoaQCQ&q=ear+plugs+hearing+protection+prices&oq=ear+plugs+hearing+protection+prices&gs_lcp=C
Still havn't learnt we enjoy tinkering here lol
 
fitted all the onboard cameras

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a minor detail I noticed.
when the windscreen wasn't full bonded to the chassis, the passenger door latch would slightly misalign whenever I jack up a corner cos it is twisting the body even with the X-brace.

after rebonding the windscreen, all the doors will close fine when jacked up.
just shows how the windscreen is integral to the chassis rigidity

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went to test the car and it's worked. the windscreen is solidly intact, no wind noise, and major rattles are gone (except for the front left corner of the dash) :D
the front left suspension camera is failing to record properly, really need to find a better replacement cameras.



the rattle in the dash is certainly this stupid loose metal strip along the front of the dash rattling closely to the bulkhead lip here

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rather than strip all the dash out again, I just carefully slid a piece of card inbetween it for now and fix it later in the week.

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catch can has caught 290ml of fluid after 1k miles

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all packed and ready for work and then track day tomorrow :cool:(y)
 
fitted all the onboard cameras

View attachment 70756View attachment 70757View attachment 70758View attachment 70759

a minor detail I noticed.
when the windscreen wasn't full bonded to the chassis, the passenger door latch would slightly misalign whenever I jack up a corner cos it is twisting the body even with the X-brace.

after rebonding the windscreen, all the doors will close fine when jacked up.
just shows how the windscreen is integral to the chassis rigidity

View attachment 70760

went to test the car and it's worked. the windscreen is solidly intact, no wind noise, and major rattles are gone (except for the front left corner of the dash) :D
the front left suspension camera is failing to record properly, really need to find a better replacement cameras.



the rattle in the dash is certainly this stupid loose metal strip along the front of the dash rattling closely to the bulkhead lip here

View attachment 70755

rather than strip all the dash out again, I just carefully slid a piece of card inbetween it for now and fix it later in the week.

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catch can has caught 290ml of fluid after 1k miles

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all packed and ready for work and then track day tomorrow :cool:(y)


Hi Polly .... just catching up with your blog after a little while 'off Micra' :) ..... tell us a bit about the catch can would you please and what you trying measure/fix ? Is this front window OSF? Cheers
 
Hi Polly .... just catching up with your blog after a little while 'off Micra' :) ..... tell us a bit about the catch can would you please and what you trying measure/fix ? Is this front window OSF? Cheers

Hi. one of the dual oil catch cans being cooled by the fresh air through the front grill is there to cool>condense>capture the vapours going from the crankcase to the PCV to the inlet mani during low load. the other can is capturing vapour from the engine cover to the turbo inlet or air inlet during high load.
reason for capturing the gunk is to stop it contaminating the turbo, inlet plumbing, valves & mixture cos excessive oil vapour affects octane rating. very important to eliminate it and reduce chances of hot spots & detonation when turbocharging near the engines limit.

front window? you talking about the front windscreen which was recently peeling off?
 
Teesside Autodrome - Evening Trackday 06-07-2020

Due to the new Covid19 rules, the track stated that the gates open from 4pm and will be closed off approx 4:30 once everyone who's registered online has entered the paddock before briefing at 4:45pm

I normally finish work at 5pm but asked boss to finish at 4:30 tday.
It's been an unusually busy day at work delivering stuff to garages due to the relaxed lockdown in July and with a spike of orders all over Middlesbrough near 4:15 I was getting stressed at how late I'm gonna be.

Jamie from "Lets Torque Cars" was meeting me outside the venue gates, I told him to ask if the guy could hold the door till I get there bout 4:45 and guy said he'll hold it till 4:50 before briefing.

I got back to the shop at 4:35, jumped in my car and shot off to the track!
arrived at the track just in time, collected Jamie and unloaded my stuff in the pits. ?

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There was soo much stuff to prep/setup but there simply wasn't enough time before we had to goto briefing and begin the sighting lap.

I didn't have time to swap to the semi-slicks, the track started off as slightly moist and was curious how these normal tyres cope with the heat compared to the rubbish T1R's, so I decided to leave them on and set their pressure similar to the T1R to begin with.

I only had enough time to replace the camera AA batteries, lower the tyre pressures, stiffen the dampers and lock the seat belts. rush rush

Car setup / changes
Since my last trackday in march 2019 with the turbo Micra, the differences tday are:
  • 2.25" N/A exhaust
  • normal open-diff
  • normal GTIR disc & pad compound
  • stiffer 6/5kg front/rear spring rates
  • 2.0deg camber
  • 0.0deg toe
  • longer lower suspension arms & ball-joint extension to correct the geometry
  • stiffer upper strut brace
  • lighter solid bucket seat
  • deleted sunroof
  • total weight 825kg
The purpose of tday is to gather data about how she performs running N/A, lighter & stiffer compared to when she ran turbo,
and see how these Falken ZE310 eco tyres perform compared to the previous Toyo T1R.

#17:00 Warm up lap
15/30 dampers
60/40 brake bias
75% fuel
Falken ZE310 tyres
2.35/2.7bars cold pressure



Initial steering entry with 0deg toe feels sluggish, it needs more toe-out.
@1:10 check steering ain't loose, tyre feel
@1:27 trolley jack clunking in boot
@1:30 check steering is centered
@3:05 realising jack is in the boot

With the car warmed up, the new welded longer lower arms hasn't snapped, the rerouted throttle cable hasn't jammed, removed the trolley jack out the boot, fitted all the cameras with 8 new AA batteries for each run which is a PITA, checked the setup, 30min later we were finally ready for the first run with these Falken tyres.

#17:30 Run 1
Falken ZE310
2.35/2.70bar cold
2.70/2.90bar hot
15/30 damper
60/40% brake bias
dry warm track
75% fuel
Riding with Jamie



@1.22 cold rear tyres locking up
@1.47 braking too early at 100m, 3rd gear rpm through the 180 bend is too low for NA
@2.05 3rd gear rpm too low
@2.19 very bumpy hairpin
@2.23 locking rear wheel again
@2.35 moved brake bias forward
@3.25 less rear wheel lock up
@3.30 low speed understeer, lack of LSD traction at exit
@3.45 letting faster Clio pass
@3.50 2nd gear at 180 bend gives better corner exit rpm
@4.07 2nd gear at first bend helps turn-in & corner exit rpm
@4.50 braking later at 50m
@6.20 little flick to help turn-in at hairpin
@6.50 overtaking clio that's pitting-in
@7.20 allow caterham to pass

Lap Times:
1.03
1.02
1.02 allow clio pass
1.01
1.00
1.00

The Falken ZE310 tyres performed really well and surprised it hasn't degraded neither shredded it's rubber as badly as the T1R but began to slip more near the end of the run after 7mins, excellent tyre (y)

Time to swap over to the Federal semislicks, should've brought oven gloves to handle to toasty hot wheel nuts ? ?

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#18:38 Run 2
Federal 595 RS-R
2.20/2.40bar cold
2.70/2.70bar hot
15/30 damper
67/33% brake bias
dry warm track
70% fuel
Riding with Jamie



@0.24 cold & old semi-slick rear tyres were a bit slippery
@1.34 cold semislick tyre wheel spinning
@4.52 left foot braking hard at 180 bend but 3rd gear rpm is too low
@5.41 move brake bias back to 60/40%
@7.24 braking after the bump crest reduces wheel lock up
@8.34 passing white integra
@9.19 stuck behind boxster
@10.22 loose glovebox
@11.34 black octavia wheel spinning
@11.55 black octavia taking a slow odd wide line?
@12.21 black octavia doesn't understand the "overtake on left" rule
@12.59 black octavia cornering very wide?
@13.41 loose glovebox
@14.01 black octavia cornering too wide and too deep
@14.31 again black octavia incorrectly indicating left to overtake ?
@14.47 loose glovebox again
@17.14 backing off from slow octavia
@17.59 resume catching the black octavia
@18.34 already caught up to octavia ?
@19.44 cool down

Lap Times:
1.03 allow pass
1.01 allow pass
0.59 allow pass

0.58
0.59
0.59
1.00 allow pass
1.00 traffic
1.03 traffic
1.01 traffic
1.03 traffic
1.03 traffic
1.02 traffic
1.02 traffic
1.01 traffic
1.03 traffic, back off octavia for space
1.03 back off from octavia
1.00 traffic


The standard GTIR front discs & pads were starting to get abit spongy when hot compared to the Black Diamond Predator FT pads

#19:25 Run 3
Federal 595 RS-R
2.70/2.70bar hot
15/30 damper
60/40% brake bias
dry warm track
60% fuel
Riding with Jamie



Notice the rear wheels no longer lift as much through the corners due to the corrected suspension geometry & stiffer springs

@3.43 abit too close to the apex
@4.39 braking later at 50m, cornering at 50mph
@5.38 brake much later at 45m
@5.53 beginning to go full throttle at 1st corner
@6.33 left foot brake at 50m, forgot to downshift ?
@7.49 throttle too early into the chicane
@8.46 3rd gear WOT through 1st corner is more stable
@9.43 sliding the rear after trail braking into chicane
@9.58 passing green jag
@10.23 naughty jag passing & braking on the right hand ?
@11.40 left foot braking understeer at chicane
@12.53 jag exiting too wide
@14.20 braking really late at 35m, pedal feel slightly soft, cornering at 55mph
@14.47 jag exit wide again ?
@15.03 passing Citreon
@16.23 passing Boxster
@16.38 passing MX5
@16.58 jag wanting to pass
@17.13 jag overtaking on right side ?
@21.13 tyres getting hot
@22.26 Clio going abit wide at chicane

Lap times:
0.58
0.59
0.58
0.58
0.59 allow pass
0.59 missed gear

0.58
0.57
0.58
1.00 jag undertake
0.57
0.58
0.57
0.58
0.59 traffic
0.59 traffic
1.01 traffic
0.58 traffic
0.59 traffic
0.59 traffic
0.59 traffic
0.59 traffic


Overall it's been a very successful evening testing Kassandras new setup,
she hasn't broken anything,
was quite economical on fuel,
Falken tyres were gr8,
solid bucket seats held me very firmly but the sides were bruising my thighs/knee and needs more cusioning,
but most of all me & Jamie had a lot of bloody fun thrashing through the corners ????

It took me a few days to fully recover from the exhaustion & aching whilst still going to work ?

Here's a quick summary of how the trackday evening went

 
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In her N/A form she did a lap time of 57.48s
Her very fastest lap was 53sec in 2016 with the turbo, no passengers and low fuel.

Now for a more accurate fair comparison of turbo vs NA, I needed to pick a trackday that had similar parameters to the recent lap.
The last time I had Jamie in the passenger seat, same semi slick tyres, same conditions, same fuel level, and the car was turboed would be from May 2018.



so the 2018 turbo micra did a 55.04sec lap
while the 2020 NA setup did 57.48sec
only just 2.5sec slower

what I find is although the NA & open-diff was slower than the turbo in the 1st half of the track full of straights (as expected),
it was actually slightly faster in the 2nd half involving long steady corners and chicanes, where the lower weight, stiffer suspension and better geometry helped improve cornering speeds :cool:

so with the weight & balance now improved, reinstalling the extra umpth of the turbo could theoretically improve her lap times better than ever
 
the other day while coming home from work, I noticed her belt would sometimes squeal :unsure:
turns out the vibration has rattled the alternator bracket bolt loose till the last few remaining threads took a chunk off the head and broke a ground wire ?

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good thing there was enough threads to simply bolt it back on

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brought more oil to freshen the engine & gearbox

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gearbox plug has a few shards

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Changing over from a solid fibreglass Magnum bucket seat back into my cheap floppy ebay reclining sports seat, the amount the seat backing moves & flexes is really annoying now ?

I thought it was the back lash of the reclining mechanism

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So I unbolted the mechanism

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And fabricated this solid bracket to replace it

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And yet it still moves & flexes ?
 
Looking back at pics of the frame when I stripped an old seat apart in 2015, it turns out to be the thin poorly constructed tubular frame which is weak at where the recliner is bolted to and prone to flexing ?

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Next task is to make a new solid & lower subframe and weld the seat upright bracket straight onto the subframe
 
checking the OEM discs, they're still smooth with no scoring

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These Borg&Beck front OEM pads are soo much better than the previous Predator FT pads.
The cold temp bite and high temp brake force are pretty much the same (maybe very slightly softer when really hot) and yet after trackday abuse they stay intact & don't crumble away, unlike the Black Diamonds.

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the front OEM pads wear the same as the Black Diamonds

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the rear OEM pads wearing at their normal rate

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a work m8 brought this rubber trolley jack adapter for jacking up his new car but it was too large for his halfords trolley jack

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so I machined it smaller to fit within the cup head along with a dimple hole to clear the middle stub

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fits on my trolley jack which is kinda similar to his

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the flexing seat recliner & internal seat frame was really annoying so before I could further weld the solid recliner bracket onto the subframe, I needed to make a whole new subframe out of 8mm flat bar which will also place it lower.

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all the pieces tacked into place

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welded up

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and the seats bolted on

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it is soo much better and solid now ??
 
wheels were looking a bit orange so I spent the whole day buffing all 4 wheels and my poor fingers are sore now ??
can see the difference between the rusty filthy layer and the bright white powercoat underneath :cool:

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taking the dash out once again

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removed this loose rattling useless metal strip

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and trimmed the excess plastic

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that has FINALLY solved her rattling dash issue!
it's soo bliss to drive in peace with no more rattles ?
 
before going to the sunday car meet, I visited Jess & Courtney who has a cool very clean mini with a loose exhaust that kept slipping off.
1.5hrs later of fiddling I managed to clamp the exhaust header Y-piece a lot tighter so it doesn't rattle off and we headed out to Morton Park in Darlo

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arrived abit late at 8pm but the car park was still quite full, catchup with few m8s and spotting few more rides ?

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wednesday car meet in stockton.
Jem also gave me a ride in the austin mini for the first time ?

even though it's just a tiny 1L and there's a strong crankcase vapour odour leaking into the cabin, I was surprised how roomy it is inside although the dash was actually shifted forward an inch and the seats were slid back very close to the rear roll cage so there's zero back seats, it felt like whenever I removed my whole dash and there's loads of leg room :cool:

the engine may not have the umpth but it does have the very lightweight, nimble, fun handling. it's not the face tearing type of grip of Kassandra instead it's the jolly chuck'into'the'corner type of response.

the light car & firm suspension jolts all over every nook cranny of the british roads, and you sit really really low to the floor on these tiny 10" wheels DWARFED by huge modern cars, SUV, lorries all around us.
makes ya feel really small but brings a smile to ya face ?

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For cutting regular lengths of steel, I was sick of manually hacksawing thick steel (which is very exhausting but quiet at night)
or using the angle grinder cutting disc (which is very quick but quite noisy, leaves a lot of burr and messy),
plus both methods are inaccurate & inconsistent :rolleyes:

So I decided to treat myself and brought a Clarke CBS45MD metal bandsaw for £347 in machinemart.
It can cut horizontally for the usual lengths of steel bars/tubes but can also sit vertical as a table bandsaw.
This machine should help make things a lot easier, quieter, accurate, consistent & neater :cool:

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the motor assembly weighs bout the same as my engine block so getting it out the packaging was quite tricky

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assembling the flimsy base stand

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once the heavy thing was lifted on top and bolted together the frame was all ok. I'd prefer to weld a rigid tubular frame with castor wheels in future

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assembling the drive guards and inspecting the oil filled worm gearbox

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the pulleys and guide roller mechanisms were overhauled and realigned

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the tensioning pulley was imply a barely oiled plain bush bearing, I added extra engine oil to it

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the guide roller bearings had elliptical shafts, so I made a slight marking to keep track of it's position during adjustment

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after a whole afternoon of tweaking & realignment it was finally ready to test it

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it cuts really accurately & quickly every time, really impressed ?

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garage is slightly more cramped for space now trying to figure where to put this bandsaw ?
gonna have to store away the obsolete chop saw and table saw now
 
my camera support frame was simply screwed into these drilled holes on the thin steel section, which you see is now rounded :rolleyes:

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so I brought these metric rivet nuts on ebay. also got some Gtechniq C5 ceramic coating to hopefully protect my white wheels for longer

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I don't use these often enough to justify a special tool so I simply used some nuts & bolts to create a basic tool

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the 2 outer nuts keep the threaded bar & rivnut steady while the middle nut is turned to apply the tension

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it worked gr8

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I even tried to overtighten the bolt and it simply bent the sheet panel before the rivet began to spin, so the thread is definately strong enough

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a normal twist drill bit creates an awfully irratic triangular hole with sharp burr on the hidden opposite side, so instead I used a tapered reamer to enlarge the existing hole to 9mm and keep it round

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fitted all 4 rivet nuts and now I can bolt the frame very firmly to the chassis repeatedly (y)

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the flat base on these universal sport seats are uncomfortable, too high, unergonomic and makes me slide forward all the time :rolleyes:

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while I remove the black seat base to scoop the foam, I temporarily swapped over my old red seats which I've already scooped the foam base to the shape of my derriere cheeks ??

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the recliner bracket holes don't match up but at least it's bolted to the subframe below

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feel much better actually sitting in a bucket shape without sliding forward

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Paul, you really need one of these hand de-burring tools. great for de-burring a drilled hole in sheet metal enclosed section when you cant get access to the back to remove the bur for placing a Nutsert.....
Mine, which I've had for years.........
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And a video HERE showing one in use.....
And on the subject of sheet metal inserts, a set like this would be ideal for you.....

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the old top mount I made for the alternator is abit flimsy, puts a lot of bending stress on the head and tends to vibrate the allen bolt loose during trackdays

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so I began using my new bandsaw to make a new rigid bracket

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tacked

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welded

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much stronger & neater, that ain't going anywhere ??

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the old top mount I made for the alternator is abit flimsy, puts a lot of bending stress on the head and tends to vibrate the allen bolt loose during trackdays

View attachment 71494

so I began using my new bandsaw to make a new rigid bracket

View attachment 71495View attachment 71496

tacked

View attachment 71497

welded

View attachment 71498

much stronger & neater, that ain't going anywhere ??

View attachment 71499View attachment 71500
Right up my street Paul, built in the style of IKB:cool:. He would have been no good at building aeroplanes, but most of what he designed/built is still around as a testament to him..........
 
removed the black seat covers to access the foam base

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sculpted the foam to follow my bum shape ?

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using a lot of zip ties to reattach the cover & support rods to the steel frame

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it was a PITA to hook up all the zipties but it's finally back together

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reinstalled and yeah that feel much better now :cool:

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these cheap castor wheels I got off ebay for the bandsaw frame weren't swiveling freely :unsure:

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I found the ball bearing cup was too small so all the bearings were pushed against each other under load :rolleyes:
so I removed just 1 ball bearing, welded it back together and now it moves freely

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thinking of reusing this spare log manifold flange I got off Andy to make an equal length NA manifold

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chopped & flattened the flange

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the 38mm round hole is a lot bigger than the head ports and the turbulant step ain't ideal but I'll try fit a 38mm O.D tube inside it

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experimenting with the bandsaw to make pie-cuts, I marked a spare tube

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and cut a series of slots to allow it to bend in both axis before being welded together

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unfortunately this limits the bend radius by 1/2 and creates a huge amount of big gaps to fill.
so using a series of pie cuts won't be easy, I'll have to use the traditional way of joining sections of smooth mandrel bent pipes together into a manifold.
 
painted the alternator bracket black so it's not as distracting, plus the kenco oil cap

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since I made the roller bearing gear selector bushes, the angle of the gear stick always sat slightly too far forward cos the length of the rod/joint is longer

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so I shortened the selector rod

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and now it sits more centered in neutral and easier to reach

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