The Zetec 'Ropacane

[dakazman]

  Congratulations on your upcoming anniversary.   

     Man time flies, your work is amazing , and so are your tools. I think I'm to old for starting new projects but I'll read the article you posted.
   
   Hope to hear your baby soon.
Dakazman

[Chuck Nukem]

Happy Decade Anniversary (well, in a little while)!! 

Cool bits! I look forward to seeing them united with your babies!

Thanks BDA. The time flies! If I recall correctly it was March 2nd that I took that fateful drive to rescue this delightful little car in the previous owners driveway. I still remember the feelings of effervescent excitement as I first laid eyes on her!

I have driven the Elan about 7000 miles last year so hopefully I will be able to tell a difference in the reduced unsprung mass.

I am still working on the floating front rotor set up, but I have designed myself in to a bit of a corner regarding the upright. Thus far my journey has been to adapt modern braking technology to the Triumph components in a sensible way. I modify the original rotor to accept floating bobbins. The problem is that the floating bobbins protrude slightly past the rotor face. The best way I can figure to remedy this is to remove the brake caliper bracket entirely...to me this means machining a new upright out of aluminum. There are some benefits as I can make the brake mount an integral part of this piece. It would allow running a spherical bearing in place of the trunnion. I can also run a shim type camber adjustment on the upper ball joint which is par for modern single seater upright design. In theory this assembly would bolt up in place of the original triumph unit as it uses the same upper ball joint, and all geometry would be preserved. I have elected to keep the original wheel bearings and spindle since I have designed my aluminum hub to be backwards compatible if using fixed mounting for the rotor. (the floating bobbin part is the trouble spot), but this might be a compromise.... I am drifting far from "originality" even though I have gone to some lengths to keep the geometry identical. Modern single seaters use larger bearings which would certainly be possible to do at this stage. There is more fun to be had!

[Chuck Nukem]

  Congratulations on your upcoming anniversary.   

     Man time flies, your work is amazing , and so are your tools. I think I'm to old for starting new projects but I'll read the article you posted.
   
   Hope to hear your baby soon.
Dakazman

Thanks Dman! I hope to have some parts to show soon

Here is a better video to watch about casting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCgpVfB4exQ

It's never too late to start!

My grandfather on my dad's side was interested in sculpture and he used to make figures and patterns for lost wax that he would send to a foundry to have poured. If he were still around today I'm sure we would be having lots of fun!!

[Chuck Nukem]

Windshields are in! 6 are spoken for 3 are still available.

[Chuck Nukem]

More good news!

I am glad I live in Texas where there is a machining industry that occasionally offloads equipment so that people like me can play with these toys. I recently acquired a hydraulic broaching machine and a gear hobber! I conned a friend in to splitting them with me so I will be able to make new input/output shafts, and rear hubs among other things!!! 

I also got my drum of suspend a slurry for the lost wax casting. The company that sells it only deals in drums out of their TX distribution hub so I have 400 lbs worth... 

[BDA]

Pretty cool! It looks like you’re angling to become Chunky Nukem! 

[TurboFource]

Awesome!

[Bainford]

Cool beans, Chuck. Nice additions to the shop. You're the kind of guy I'd like living next door to me. 

[Chuck Nukem]

Thanks guys!

Quick question for those who have installed a windshield. Would you go Urethane or Butyl? Will urethane be a total pain to remove a windshield later?

[SwiftDB4]

I would only use butyl on a gasketed windshield. From both a strength and leakage potential urethane is the way to go. Removing urethane in the future is a little harder, but not much.

[Chuck Nukem]

Progress is moving ever slowly. The rear calipers are on! As soon as the rear hubs are repainted I will see how much offset I need to add to my rear hats to line everything up. The S2 needs less offset than the TCS which is nice. I'm not planning to run the parking brake on this car yet which also lets me get away with less offset.

Mom got a new sewing machine that can do leather and vinyl so we are going to tackle the dash. I am excited about this little project. On the S2 I am thinking about doing contrast blue stitching in on the French seam to match the Previous owners blue seat inserts.

The new monster 3d printer is working away! The first pattern for the Renault to dcoe45 intake is done so I will start dipping it in slurry soon.

I machine down the stock front rotor to be a two piece affair. I decided to experiment with machining J hook slots in my rotors. I got carried away and machined Paul Rego's logo in to a rotor for him

Hooray for 1000 posts!

Let's see what happens in the next few weeks!!

[BDA]

Great stuff, Chuck! I noticed you don’t seem to be doing a twin link rear suspension. Any reason?

[Chuck Nukem]

Thanks! I will do a twin link on the TCS which will have an NG3 and CV axles.

[Chuck Nukem]

The fun begins!

[Kendo]

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?