The revival of 650143R, 1970 with TS.

[Richard48Y]

Thanks for the clue about MAC translation.
Makes it MUCH easier to peruse Mecaparts site.
They are not fond of Google translate and have asked that I just send messages in English.
I need to practice with the MAC translate.
So far it works pretty well for websites but not email I wish to send.

Finally got the Spydercars frame head paid for, had to switch CC as the first does not work well internationally.
It will be a relief to get it installed.

[dakazman]

  Rich, I feel your pain..
 I googled the translator. Running an apple phone most of the time and main computers running windows so I agree translations are tiresome.
 Both of us will be learning.
Dakazman

[Richard48Y]

Spydercars frame-head is in transit.
Seems Fed-Ex have the same issue getting items to move in the UK that they have here.
After three days I hope it is now on a plane across the Atlantic.

I did make some minor progress today as I got the chassis onto the build table.
Found my device for checking and duplicating angles too.

[GavinT]

That's a neat angle gauge though I'd kinda want to reference from either the top or bottom of the backbone.
Perhaps the gauge design doesn't really permit that?

[Richard48Y]

The flange on the end of the back-bone really sets the angle.
So long as I remove the old head carefully without damaging the right-angle bends I should be set.
Once I remove the front flap I will be able to set the back-bone directly onto the table for a more accurate check.
I will also take a measurement from a conventional protractor.
I am SO looking forward to beginning to reassemble parts!

[Richard48Y]

Cold snowy day so I fired up a couple of heaters and went to work.
I took a lot of pics to create a "How to" thread if there is interest.
The new Spydercars frame-head is finally in the US so should be here next week.
With the old head off there is access to the inside of the back-bone.
This operation confirmed that Lotus did not weld the lower edge of the back-bone to the frame-head.
I see why, there really is no good way to reach that area unless you cut the lower flap out of the way.
I am also surprised to find so few spot welds and no plug welds where they might have helped.
So grinding the edge of weld joints does a pretty good job of separating the pieces.

I am saving the old frame-head as a model for my effort to assemble a couple of stock type as spares for anyone needing them.
A couple of pics below.

Pic 1, choose your weapons.
The angle grinder with a thin blade cuts great but throws a lot of sparks.
The saw gets into the tight spots.

Pic 2, initial cuts which also provide saw access.

Pic 3, Lotus did not weld the bottom joint.

Pic 4, with the welds ground flush it becomes possible to pry the remains of the old frame-head away from the backbone.

Pic 5, I will do the final clean up once the new part arrives.

Pic 6, The remnant.

[GavinT]

Good pics, Richard.
I've salted a couple of them away for when someone notes their chassis has developed cracks at the lower junction. At that point, I'll have forgotten who actually took the pics, so feel free to chip me when that happens.

The T separation came out much cleaner than I would have expected, so well done you.
Gonna replace the heater pipes?


P.S. 28° C (82.4° F) and humid here. 

[Richard48Y]

I would like alloy tubes but shipping such bulky items is prohibitive.
It may be cheaper to buy the correct dies for my JD2 and bend my own.

[gideon]

Now is a good time to paint the inside of the backbone.

[Richard48Y]

Yesterday was a good day to remove the old frame-head, the new one arrived today. 
What did not arrive is any sort of instruction for installation. 
Pics on the Spyder site do not make anything clear either.
I will ask for some pics or drawings.
I will take the parts into my shop today and hope that it becomes obvious but would really prefer a drawing or pics.
I know some here have Spyder chassis, maybe a few pics can be shared.

The piece is very nice, there are no exposed lapped joints as the original had.
As an assembly of boxed sections it also looks a bit stronger and more rigid than the original.
I have not weighed it yet.
Pics once I get it into the shop and mocked up.

[TurboFource]

Instructions: Align it and weld it....sounds easy but harder in real life....

[Richard48Y]

The full assembly is not a single part and the shape differs from the old head.
Six pieces and offering them up to the backbone is not making correct assembly obvious.
It may be that I do not need all of the pieces as my backbone and flanges are in good shape?
I will try to figure it out, I have the old head as reference.

A lengthy web search turned up a lot of pics and video of Standard frame heads being replaced but none of the Spyder part onto an original backbone.
I did find a few of this head on the Spyder back-bone.

Pic 1, My new parts.

Pic 2, A Spydercars chassis. I cannot tell for certain from this angle if it is original or theirs.

Pic 3, A Spydercars chassis frame-head installed on their chassis.

[jbcollier]

Hmm, I think I would ask them.

[Richard48Y]

I have, waiting on their reply.
Matching the old with the new it seems clear that the bottom sits flush with the lower edge of the back-bone which makes sense.

But the upper and lower rear faces of the new head are not parallel to each other.
So when I set the lower flush with the end of the backbone the upper gets a gap. 
The new head is also a little thinner front to back than the old one.

I think I have figured out the trimming required for the upper mounting plate so I will be able to work on that right away.

I will try to print some of the chassis drawing to make measurements.

[BDA]

Ok, I’m not a welder so what you’re doing is WAY beyond me but it seems that this page (http://lotus-europa.com/manuals/s2work/diagrams/index.htm) should give you what you need and then I expect you’re already familiar with it so maybe I’m illuminating my ignorance. Just in case you missed it, you now have the link.

The one thing that seems to be missing is the angle of the ‘T’ to the backbone which I believe is 2 degrees.