Instead of spending the day in a cold garage, wired the dash on the kitchen table (as was done 12 years ago with Kimini's dash.) It's nearly done other than a couple forgotten switches and needing to tie off all the spare (white) wires. Of course the mate to the dash connector needs wiring, adding supply lines from the fuse box, and wiring various system parameters into the data logger. What's nice is most engine parameters are in the OBD-2 message packet, so the logger automatically reads this without needing any wires. The down side is that oil temp and oil pressure aren't measured, so I have to add sensors. What will be a bit of a time sink is calibrating the sensors, but so it goes.
Need to order a couple more switches and connectors, as a couple spares are needed. There also needs to be connectors at strategic places in the harness so the entire mess, including the fuse box, doesn't have to be pulled for survice.
Cut and drilled the dash, blue here due to the mark-up compound. The two empty holes are due to me forgetting two switches. The spreadsheets are done so it should be pretty straightforward to wire it but just in case, there are plenty of spare connector pins for the inevitable forgotten signals. All controls are visible with the steering wheel in place, and the controls to the right are up high due to the proximity of the shifter in first and third gear.
Haven't made a decision on the fenders. This may get put off until the tires are mounted, giving a better sense what the fenders do to the overall appearance of the car.
Working on the dash schematics. There's a lot of detail, switches, lights, flat-dash, logger, and picking what has to run through the single dash connector so it can easily be removed as a unit. Each wire has to be dealt with, either up-front when it's easy to make changes in a spreadsheet, or later when wires have to be cut...
Forgot to mention that the "guess the horsepower" contest ended the end of February; thank you to everyone who entered. The range of guesses is pretty spectacular... something like a 250 hp spread! Well, guess we'll all find out, right after I get past silly things like fenders, electrical, and paneling.
Turns out I had it easy with Kimini, as do Locost builders with their cars: being handed the basic shape, be it plans in their case, or a carbon shell in mine. With Kimini, I had the luxury of building a car to a shape conveniently defined by someone else. With Midlana, however, I get to deal with something new, something I'm unfamiliar with - styling.
I almost got away with it, too, more or less copying the Lotus Seven shape, but am changing things as I see fit (be careful what you ask for...), like the area immediately ahead of the rear fenders. I've seen how beat-up Lotus/Locost rear fenders get, pelted by sand and pebbles. The usual tactic is to either ignore the issue, or add stainless shield rock-deflectors. Of course, then the stainless shields get's beat-up, being - like the fender - directly facing the onslaught, sometimes bouncing stones into the car. Then there's the case of autocrossing the car, cutting close to cones with the front tires, only to have them smack the rear fender and possibly cracking it. (And yes, I know, "don't hit cones.")
Finally, because Midlana is mid-engine, cooling air is needed for the engine, oil-cooler, intercooler, and maybe brakes. Which brings me to now: how to integrate stone deflection, cone "nerf bars" and air-inlet vents into an aesthetically-acceptable shape. Of course, I knew going into this that side-vents are such a subjective issue that no two people agree on what looks best. For that reason, every builder's free to do what they want, and in fact there's a thread in the forum with potential builders voicing opinions on what looks good.
Shown here is half a day's effort of messing about with cardboard, scissors, and tape. There's several different attempts: different sizes, lengths, and shapes. I'm undecided for now; maybe by next weekend I'll either give it another go or just call one of these good enough and get on with things.
It finally hit me, standing back and looking at the rear fender - it's starting to look like a car, and a small car at that, even sitting half an inch higher than final ride-height.
Back to work tomorrow; everything on the floor was cleaned up to make room for my dear wife's car once again. It's just as well; it'll take some time to think about how to do the vents.
Drilled lots of holes, switching back-and-forth between the air/battery-powered drills when the compressor/battery needed a break. Added a couple diagonals across the forward floor. The thinking is that people will step into the seat first, then slide down into it. Getting out however, they'll likely put most or all of their weight on the floor. Since it's only 0.050" aluminum, additional support is needed; I hope the 0.75" stiffeners are enough... maybe should have gone with 1".
At the end of the day, the next panel to do was the one below the fuel tank, but to make sure it fits perfectly, the panel under the engine may as well be installed first. That means it's finally time to deal with the last undefined area of the design: the side air-inlets ahead of the rear wheels. The car will be sat back down, spaced off the table at its designed-to ground clearance. One rear suspension will be bolted on, one wheel, a fender (and maybe a panel riveted-on behind it.) Then, various paper patterns will be tested out to see if there's a mix of functionality and aesthetics that's acceptable. The trick's going to be to come up with a shape that's single-plane bends yet decent-looking. Good stuff!
I thought I had pretty much experienced everything that can happen when TIG-welding. I was welding some 1/8" material, which requires decent current. I was feeding the rod into the puddle and it stuck briefly, then sprang free, welding itself onto the tungsten. Thing is, I was leaning into the chassis at an awkward angle, so the other end of the rod was against a grounded chassis tube. So until I was able to get my foot off the pedal, there was about 100 amps flowing through the rod... that was in my gloved hand... boy did that get hot in a hurry! The thumb of the glove has a nice burned line across it - could have been my fingers.
Finished the welding, at least all the missed spots I could find - some of them are hard to spot. Anyhow, today marks the transition into the next phase, paneling the floor. For some reason, the local aluminum supplier doesn't stock 2024, which is what I really wanted, but since it isn't structural, I just went with what they had, 5052.
This place has the strangest pricing structure. If you want a 4 x 4 ft sheet of the stuff, no problem, they keep that size in-stock, cut down from 4 x 8 ft sheet. So I asked for an uncut sheet, figuring it would be slightly cheaper since they don't have to cut it. The surprise was that it's nearly twice as expensive per pound. I asked the counter guys about half a dozen different ways to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding what they were saying, and that they weren't misunderstanding me. Nope... sigh.
Fine, so instead of the floor using a 4 x 8 ft sheet, it's two 4 x 4 sheets. I'll have to figure out something for the side panels - those will need to be 8-ft. Sooo, anyhow, the first sheet's been cut and the first row of Clecos installed. I actually enjoy this part of construction, probably because the parts involved are once again larger in size :)
Also picked up a small sheet for the dash. Between wiring the dash, making the fuel tank tray, and drilling lots of rivet holes, I'm set for now.
More finish-welding. Normally, I pick up metal stock at lunch during workdays, since the metal supplier's closer to work than home, and more importantly, isn't consuming valuable work time. However, finish-welding will probably be done tomorrow or Saturday for sure, and I need material on-hand so there's no lull in progress. So, took some time off from the garage (have the week off) and picked up enough aluminum sheet to do the entire floor, plus steel for the fuel tank cradle - that's definitely enough to keep busy for a while.
Added a few more gussets and floor diagonals under the engine. Removed everything from the chassis so it can be rolled on its side or back. The chassis isn't complete; the idea is to finish everything near the floor that's been tacked-welded. The idea is to fully-weld everything so panels can be attached without concern about heat-distortion shifting the rivet holes.
There's still lots of tabs and brackets to weld on for the seats, fuel tank, coolant tanks, seat belts, etc. However, they don't require pumping a lot of heat into major tubes, so they can be done later if desired.
Odds and ends. Went ahead and - after placing the seat just right - welded on the quick release fitting. The steering is now complete; it feels good turning the wheel and watching the hubs turn. By eye there's some bumpsteer, though that's expected since the rack doesn't have its spacers yet, and is missing mounting bolts. Speaking of lack of hardware, with no nuts or spacers on the suspension bolts, everything is real sloppy, so for a change of pace, cutting, drilling, and welded stopped while all the needed bolts, washers and stop-nuts were totaled up and ordered. Getting AN hardware in there will go a long way toward a rattle-free suspension.
Welded in the last bearing cup, finishing all the A-arms, though they need a few more gussets. Right now I'm "suspensioned out" and ready for a change. That's the thing about building a car; it's like moving an enormous pile of boulders, rocks, pebbles, and sand. There's no point angsting over what exactly should be moved next because it all has to get done eventually.
Made a list for all the needed aluminum paneling. Kimini had a stainless floor, but because the stuff's not much fun to work with, I'm going with aluminum this time around. The main floor panel is 4' x 8', which will be interesting to get home since I have a small truck. Not sure I want to roll it up, but something will have to be done. Maybe curve it just enough to fit in, then tie it down; the concern is it's a big surface area and the wind might try ripping it out the bed...
Starting to think about tires. I did learn something from Kimini, where tires were the first thing purchased, and they sat in the garage for 10 years... not this time. Technically the car could be set down on its suspension right now, but there's not much point. The floor panel needs drilling, which means rolling the chassis over. In fact, before paneling, the chassis should be finish-welded so heat-distortion doesn't shift the rivet holes after they're drilled. And even after that, I don't really want the car sitting on the ground - it's too low to work on - so it'll be on jackstands for a while, but we're getting there.
I guess the thing to do next is add what few chassis tubes are needed, then completely weld the chassis. Better fill the argon tanks...
If anyone knows of a shop that can punch large louvers, let me know. I don't mean little weenie ones like on air-conditioning vents, I mean ones like 6" long, raised at least 1/2"... 3/4" would be even better.
Yesterday the right-side rocker arm was cut off and moved... grrr. Today, the steering rack arms were modified, extended to reach the outboard steering tie-rods. Pretty cool watching the suspension finally steer, and the steering's done except for pinning or welding the quick-disconnect steering hub. That may wait until the seat mounts are in.
After a very long push, the suspension's done - almost. After the second rocker, push-rod, and A-arm were installed, turns out that the right rocker-arm pivot was welded in a bit too far inboard, so at full-droop the push-rod contacts the chassis - not acceptable. So next week it get's cut off and repositioned. Not a big deal in the overall scope of life, but another lesson in what happens when things are rushed. Or maybe it is that there's no one to blame...
The suspension has taken so long that not much thought's been given to what's next. The immediate list is: fix the mount, fully weld the chassis, and add a few gussets on various things (which ensures the drawings are - once again - out of date...)
I always make things out to be worse than they are, kind of like shaking my head at myself and wondering "what takes him so long?" Anyhow, things are moving along, because after the chassis if finish welded, it's time to start adding panels - or do the electrical. Probably makes more sense to do panels first so it's more obvious where tubes, cables, and hoses pass through, ensuring things don't get missed. Paneling will be a welcome change.
Time's running out to enter the "Guess the horsepower" contest and win a book - it closes the end of this month. If you have not registered yet, go to the Midlana forum and sign up, then go to the contest thread for full directions.
Where did January go? A lot more got done on vacation... not that I'm complaining.
The good news is that one push-rod setup is done. Turns out that the next shorter shock size could have been used. As it is, the setup has more droop than it needs, meaning the springs will rattle loose under full extension. Not really worth the money to correct at this point. The plans will use shorter shocks unless the extra travel's needed for softer springs... doubtful.
Again checked the wheel motion versus shock motion and it's still as close to 1:1 as can be measured. Right now most of the bolts are either the wrong length, aren't AN bolts, and don't have bushings holding the rod ends in the brackets. Needless to say, it rattles a bit.
Updating the drawings goes on; parts are changing faster than the drawing modifications are happening - the consequences of the first article. It only hurts once; after it's in the computer and in the book, I'll relax a little. That's not too hard with a dog who, exactly like a 5-yr old kid, comes in every five minutes wanting to play. We both get in trouble running around the house...
Cleaning up the chassis table does wonders for a positive mental attitude.
One rocker arm is done thought the support are not - what's shown here is not the real deal! Not much else to show other than this because of how much time goes into designing bits. Once it's complete and the first item produced, building more goes much faster. These use spherical bearings instead of rollers. Yes, it can be built in many different ways using many types of bearings/bushings, but the approach worked well for Kimini, so it's used again here.
Received the Grizzly metal-cutting blades... they're a massive 1" wide blade and too course a tooth pitch; it's all they had. Better blades have been ordered from elsewhere, as the 1" wide blades are no good for going round corners. (Great for small lumbermill, though!)
Like I mentioned on the forum, I admit I'm a little down about having to cut out pre-existing tubes, tubes that were "done." Mentally it's a drag because it's more that double the work, kind of like sliding down a hillside aways and having to claw myself back up. However, the silly issue pales in comparison with having your entire city collapse in an earthquake.
Spent the day figuring out the push-rod suspension, this time in metal. A few tubes have to be cut and a few more added, but it'll be okay.
However, the day wasn't very productive because sometimes I get "out of phase" with the project. When that happens, not much gets done, concentration isn't there, dumb things happen and mistakes are made. Today's big indication of that was smashing my finger good. Hurts like hell, too, and it's no fun typing. We'll see if I lose the nail. Anyhow, when things like this happen it's time to clean up and get out before something worse happens. No point tempting fate when there's a bandsaw with a very sharp blade nearby.
Since the hoist was on-hand to set the bandsaw on its stand, it was used to pull the engine. The chassis is complete enough that it can come off the table. Unfortunately, dismantling the table leaves the tubing (stored on a hanging rack below the table) with no home; guess it'll go in the rafters. The table is a beast, 2 x 6 lumber, two MDF surfaces, glued and screwed together, probably around 300 lbs. There's no way it's coming apart nicely - might need the chainsaw.
Anyhow, the chassis will sit on sawhorses, making access much easier, though things such as tipping the chassis over to get at the bottom become a bit dicey. How to proceed is a bit unclear:
1. Finish the chassis, cut and drill the panels, then finish the electrical, dash, brakes, clutch, reinstall the drivetrain, then drive down the road and back. Then, completely disassemble it for paint, repeating assembly once it's back.
Or:
2. Finish the chassis, cut and drill the panels, and go straight to paint. When it comes back, then finish the electrical, dash, brakes, clutch, reinstall the drivetrain, get it tuned, and be done.
At the moment, the second approach seems more efficient because the engine, wiring, brake, and clutch system are installed only once. With Kimini, the first approach was used, ensuring that every bracket and hole was in place. The second approach is faster and can be just as good, but there's a chance of missing a hole or bracket, meaning the painted chassis would have to be drilled or welded.
Then there's the fuel map. Disassembling the engine today revealed evidence that it's running very rich, the exhaust system contained a lot of raw fuel. Too much fuel washes oil off the cylinder walls, causing trouble with the rings. It seems wise to have the engine tuned before driving it, though this alone doesn't decide which approach to use. Still, at the moment, #2 is looking faster.
In other news, I asked my brother if he was ever going to finish painting his Stalker. He said that at the moment, there's no point. His rear fenders are badly sand-blasted by grit kicked up front the front tires. This pretty much seals what I'm going to do with Midlana's rear fender treatment, using the side vents as shields for the fiberglass fenders.
Mocked-up one push-rod front suspension with wood. One "feature" is that a portion of the rocker-arms will stick through the hood. Is it worth compromising the geometry (100% motion ratio) to force it below the hood? I'm thinking not, leaving it as-is. The mock-up confirms that the front shocks will be shorter than the rears.
Making the wood mockup required cutting up wood fairly accurately, and the new saw worked great. Metal is cut at around 200 feet/minute (fpm), where it runs eerily silent, while wood needs around 2800-3000 fpm. That's when an oscillation was noticed when passing through 1800 fpm or so, like the wheels are out of balance. Visually they run true, so who knows. While it doesn't really affect me for how I use the saw, it shouldn't be doing that. If I had to cut at that speed it wouldn't be unacceptable. We'll see what Grizzly says.
On the forum, membership continues to grow so it looks like it'll stick around. I tend to make daily posts in there as it's far easier than doing so here.
The Grizzly bandsaw arrived, so the day was spent cleaning off the goo they put on exposed metal, then assembled it. I give them high marks for quick shipping and for how it's put together, and 9/10 on their manual. It's clear and well-written, walking through assembly and setup, but they have a few logical-flow problems.
For example, the blade is carefully setup, yet the following steps, if needing adjustment, throws off all the work done earlier. Eh, I'm happy with it; the variable speed is sweet. Still waiting for the metal blades, coming from a different warehouse than the saw, so for now it's still a wood-cutting saw.
The spherical bearings showed up - sort of. It's a sore point with me, how companies take your money, say the stuff's on the way, and it isn't until you receive it do you find some of it's back-ordered. Specifically, it says, "Shipping direct from the manufacturer." Okay, so now the book will recommend buying directly from the manufacturer instead of this business that wasn't up front about being out of stock - what goes around comes around.
Over on the Locost forum, someone complained about my advice that reaming critical holes is a good thing. He said it isn't necessary, that drilling with a Unibit type drill is just fine. As proof, he showed pictures of the hole that he drilled. Huh, a picture, I'm convinced. I guess if it's pretty, it must be good, right? Incredibly, he either never measured it or didn't post what size it was.
Curious, I drilled three holes in some scrap material with the drill press, starting with 1/8" pilots, then 3/8", then 31/64". Then the first hole was finish-drilled to 1/2" with a drill bit; the second finished with a Unibit, and the third with a reamer, then measured with digital calipers.
Frankly, I'm impressed how close the 1/2" drill bit was, 0.502". The reamed hole was - not unexpectedly - 0.5005", but the big surprise was the hole Unibit hole... 0.508" - yes, you read that right. Perhaps if the Unibit was brand-new it would have been closer - perhaps not. Maybe my drill press is worn, but since the reamed hole was accurate, and the drill and Unibit were not, that's proof enough for me. So the next time says something's "fine" because of its appearance, be sure to do your own research.
Anyway... the good news is that the bandsaw's been ordered, from Grizzly :)
The end of a nice long vacation, and a lot was accomplished; here's a group photo of all the suspension arms. The inboard brackets have all been modified, and the rear shock mounts added. Getting this all done was something of a mental challenge - good to have achieved it. As said, next up is the front rocker setup. The only downside to all this is that I'm building a list of drawings that have to be modified or tossed and replaced - oh well.
My little weenie horizontal/vertical Harbor Freight bandsaw is dying. It had a long productive life, having cut all the steel for Kimini and much of Midlana. One big realization is that, having the non-abrasive chopsaw, I no longer use the chopsaw function of this bandsaw. I always use it upright with its tiny useless table, so the replacement bandsaw will be a vertical unit. I'm narrowing down the choices now :)
Happy New Year everyone, time for a new diary. As usual, previous entries are in the Old Diary section.
A long day but things are moving along. Gussets were added to the front-lower suspension arms, completing them, minus the second bearing cup (which arrives Monday.) Progress was slowed due to removing and modifying the rear-inboard suspension pivots - same has to be done for the rear. The remaining rear arms and left-rear shock mount need doing; should be able to get them tacked-up this weekend, a big accomplishment to have the suspension out of the way, mentally at least. Of course, with the bearings arriving Monday, it means next weekend will be spent on the front rocker-arms, so the suspension's still a work-in-progress.
There's a snoring, dreaming, barking, and running dog in my chair, consuming nearly all of it. I'm not complaining :)