Hello! 47 bodied project.

[Serge]

Spyder chassis and rear suspension setup.

Body looks great, not sure of the nostrils though. If you want wind up windows you will need new doors. Some one tried to convert my S1 doors to wind up windows and failed miserably. If you want to sell your doors incl windows etc, give me a shout. I might be interested.

Serge

[StrawberryCheesecake]

Hi Serge... thanks for the info. So the S1 had pop out rather than up/down windows then?

I was thinking of buying a project car for parts, so that could be a source of doors & windows, as well as lots of other parts I'll need. I might hang on to the set I've got as well though, as they're lighter if I decide to sprint it. I'll keep you in mind though if I decide to sell.

[jbcollier]

S1 - fixed, one piece, plexiglass, side windows

S1A & S1B - fixed, plexiglass, quarter lights with pop-out plexiglass, side window (also known as "fall-out")

S2, TC, Special - fixed glass quarter lights with electric, glass side windows (do not go all the way down, almost perfect laminar flow results in no air intake at speed)

47 - front hinged, rear opening, one-piece, plexiglass, side windows (at speed, these can suck engine fumes into the cab)

[BDA]

47 - front hinged, rear opening, one-piece, plexiglass, side windows (at speed, these can suck engine fumes into the cab)

Yeah, but it's light and you'll be light headed! A two-fer!! 

[StrawberryCheesecake]

Fumes eh... nice.

My dad's mate had an S2 I think. It had electric windows and my big brother managed to 'accidentally' close it on my head when I was looking out of the window. I need to fit electric windows in mine and return the favour sometime

[StrawberryCheesecake]

So I was digging through the boxes of bits, and pulled out one of the front uprights. They look fairly trick fabricated jobs, rather than stock ones. So I was wondering about what hubs I should add to these - triumph type for originality, or Ford for common wheels. Is it easier to get good quality bearings for one type than the other?

Is there an FAQ around on hub options and suitable wheels?

Bit of surface rust, but they should clean up fine. Does anyone know the source? Spyder / Banks?




More interesting bits... there's a great big ally radiator installed in the front end. Looks like a good bit of kit, but I was surprised that it's installed almost horizontally, which means either it needs ducting to get the air to flow under then up through it, or maybe it needs to be at a different angle to help the airflow.



Any thoughts? Maybe I should post this stuff in the technical section.

[StephenH]

Not going to comment on the uprights, other than they look like low volume fabricated assemblies.
The radiator looks like 'good idea but unfinished project' to me.
Needs some ducting/shrouds to get airflow through what looks like a seriously big radiator.
My S2 is reasonably warm and has a radiator half that area, although can't see how thick it is.
As a road car you are potentially dropping a heap of storage space with that radiator position and the exit via the bonnet.

[jbcollier]

Can't see why the uprights should be set up for front wheel drive.  Could they be for the rear?

The front compartment is pressurized so you only need to seal/duct the bonnet to the rad.  The magic of science will do the rest.

[blasterdad]

Any thoughts? Maybe I should post this stuff in the technical section.

You are in the right section, Technical articles is for how to do something, not how do I do something. 

[StrawberryCheesecake]

Can't see why the uprights should be set up for front wheel drive.  Could they be for the rear?

The front compartment is pressurized so you only need to seal/duct the bonnet to the rad.  The magic of science will do the rest.

You mean FWD because they don't have tapered bearing surfaces? I think they might be Spyder kit as it's a Spyder chassis, but I wondered if anyone knew them by sight. No pics on the website. They're definitely fronts as the tears are already fitted, and the fronts have steering arms too.

[StrawberryCheesecake]

Not going to comment on the uprights, other than they look like low volume fabricated assemblies.
The radiator looks like 'good idea but unfinished project' to me.
Needs some ducting/shrouds to get airflow through what looks like a seriously big radiator.
My S2 is reasonably warm and has a radiator half that area, although can't see how thick it is.
As a road car you are potentially dropping a heap of storage space with that radiator position and the exit via the bonnet.

Agree on the loss of space. I think I can probably live without a spare wheel, for all the mileage it will do.
Definitely low volume fabbed uprights

[jbcollier]

I mean FWD because of the huge hole and the bearings mounting in the upright rather than the hub, all standard for a drive hub.

[StrawberryCheesecake]

Yes I see what you mean. Looks like it needs a dummy stub axle fitted instead of a CV joint.

[EuropaTC]

I think they are Spyder products again. I'm not sure because I've never seen any in the metal, but they look like this page

http://www.spydercars.co.uk/lotus-elan-2-front-suspension/

It says they are for Ford hubs and someone's spent a lot of cash on those considering there's still quite a few bits to collect.

Brian

[StrawberryCheesecake]

Hi Brian

I was looking at the Spyder website this morning on the Europa page. I think you're right - once you 'tune out' all the bits that are bolted to them, they do look like them. I've got the front wishbones there too, but I think a lot of the connected bits are missing. Are original Europa and Elan front hubs the same (Triumph Herald?)

Before I go buying all the bits from Spyder I'll be digging around to see what sort of bearings, ball joints etc will make it work. I'm happy to pay for bespoke engineered bits, but things like brake discs, bearings and probably ball joints, will all be off the shelf items I'd think. Just a question of finding the right sizes.

I've done some digging on my brake calipers - the rears appear to be Honda items, although the ford specialist next to my barn showed me a pair of sierra ones which look pretty similar. Not checked the fronts yet, and about to go on holiday for a few days, so it will have to wait for a bit.

Interestingly, that same ford specialist has just sold a fibreglass Mk1 Escort shell to a man who's going to bolt it to a Europa chassis.