The Zetec 'Ropacane

[dakazman]

  Chuck, I'm moving to TEXAS

 

   Is that equipment in that center or your shop?
 Dave

[Chuck Nukem]

Out of curiosity, since I know very little about casting, do those maroon runners flow metal to the bottom of the casting, or are they for letting air out as the metal fills the mold?

The maroon runners are wax. I am testing with and without. We will learn together The body of the intake was 3d printed with PLA. I dressed the print with wax to fill imperfections, and then I coat the pattern with a special ceramic slurry. The part gets sprinkled with sand. After doing that several times the part should be ready for burn out and the pour. There are more fun parts coming!

  Chuck, I'm moving to TEXAS

 

   Is that equipment in that center or your shop?
 Dave

Come on down!

I keep my machines at a friends shop Actually I have machines spread across several friend's shops... One day I will have my own place I hope

[Chuck Nukem]

More excitement here! I bought another broken toy!! Whist traveling around the state for work and perusing the classifieds in the hotel room I stumbled on a Bystronic PR6 60 6 axis CNC press brake. It has an issue which has rendered it inoperable, but I think (hope) it is fixable. It is a gamble taking on a 20 yr old piece of German electromechanical wizardry that may no longer be supported...but I could not resist....

It will live at my friend's shop several minutes from my house. He has a CNC fiber laser which can cut out sheet metal up to .500 thick. We now have a nice arrangement where his machine can cut it and mine can bend it! Hopefully my chassis woes will soon be a thing of the past

[BDA]

Really cool, Chuck! You do know that you don’t have to bend .5” sheet to make a frame, right? 

It’s looking more and more like you’re getting into the Europa building business! Regardless, I’m excited for you! 

[TurboFource]

Nice! Good luck on the repairs!

I think .500 thick would be plate not sheetmetal

[Chuck Nukem]

Nice! Good luck on the repairs!

I think .500 thick would be plate not sheetmetal

Anything less than 1" is sheet metal to a machinist 

[Chuck Nukem]

Really cool, Chuck! You do know that you don’t have to bend .5” sheet to make a frame, right? 

It’s looking more and more like you’re getting into the Europa building business! Regardless, I’m excited for you! 

Thanks!! Yes I think we are going to have some home grown Texas Lotus before too long! Almost every car I have needs a replacement chassis so this venture should pay for itself just on my needs alone!

Last summer I got a hoard of sheet metal from an aerospace auction and I have lots of 7000 series aluminum in the proper thicknesses to make an aluminum chassis.... I need to stop day dreaming and get this press working!

[BDA]

Aluminum frame! Very cool! Now all we would need after that is a carbon fiber body!

[Chuck Nukem]

Aluminum frame! Very cool! Now all we would need after that is a carbon fiber body!

You know it I wonder how light a Europa could be.... I think if you did a carbon body well you could ditch the chassis entirely and do it with honeycomb sections and bonded aluminum bulkheads for anchor points like a modern race car. That would be truly crazy...

[TurboFource]

We considered 7 series aluminum “ unweldable “ when I was in the Air Force. It cracked very easily.

[Chuck Nukem]

We considered 7 series aluminum “ unweldable “ when I was in the Air Force. It cracked very easily.

Yes you would have to glue and rivet it. I believe the Lotus 79 is made from an english analog of the 2000 series. It is terrifying how thin that tub is! The material is tricky to work with...It is brittle when it is in a T6 or T7 temper and prone to cracking. I believe the best practice is to fold everything at a lower T0 temper and then have the assembly heat treated.

[TurboFource]

I remember welding a stand out of 7075 T6 and the welds looked beautiful!
Every time you moved it you heard “tink” and had another cracked weld

[Chuck Nukem]

Progress! It stops!!! I got the rear disc set up on my S2 and everything seems good. I will try to get the windshield bonded in tonight so that I can take her for a drive tomorrow! I have a friend with a very similar and original type 65 S2. Hopefully we can get our cars together and do a back to back comparison

I moved the JPS back to the garage so that work can commence again....Time to start on the interior!!

In other Lotus news I am repainting the Eclat that I got last year so that has kept me somewhat sidetracked. I finished painting the window frames for the S2 and JPS so those are done now. I did a matte black to contrast against the gloss black.

Mom and I did the vinyl dash on the S2. I had to make about 5 different patterns until we got it just right. The fiberglass panel from banks needed some extensive modification as well. I am planning to do the dash out of leather in the TCS. I am leaning towards doing a full leather interior on this car.

[BDA]

Everything seems to be shaping up! Your blue S2 looks great! 

[SilverBeast]

All looking good. I like the blue. Is that the Twin Cam you gold leafed the stripes on? Good to see it still has the ashtray.