Did something I should've done a long time ago. Just bought a generic new brake cable for an ATV or whatever and installed it as my clutch cable. It was $10.
Boom. Working prefect. Also actually probably half the weight of the combo of two motorcycle cables.
270 hours.
Looks really good.
I'm not super conversant in m/c stuff - you'll pull the brake lever for the clutch and then push the big handle front/back for gear changes, right?
Is that clutch pretty on/off? No real need to ease it in and out?
In reply to TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) :
Thanks! You are right, but that is the clutch lever from the bike (left hand). My thought was that people familiar with riding a motorcycle should have similar hand feel for the clutch on this car.
In terms of on and off, you can slip a mc clutch quite a bit. They are in the crank case oil, and most are like 16 plates or so. So they don't heat and glaze up quite like a car clutch. That said, mc engines don't have much in terms of a flywheel either, so it takes some slipping to get going smoothly.
When driven in anger, my goal is that the clutch will be used only for the launch and downshifts (and I may be able to get launch control enabled on the ecu). Upshifts will be handled by quickshifter - another ecu feature that kills the engine momentarily to allow the shift to happen without dipping the clutch. And downshifts don't have to be super smooth because without much flywheel, the car's roadspeed will quickly become the engine's speed without upsetting the chassis much.
Or at least thats how I hope it will all work.
In the (admittedly lighter) bike engined vehicles I've driven, downshifting without the clutch was actually almost as easy as upshifting- you just have to give it a little blip of the throttle as you push the shifter.
In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
How much does an fsae weigh?
Either way that's good news about downshifts. Added to the fact that a challenge environment doesn't call for a lot of downshifting (autox MIGHT need one or two, drag racing ideally needs none) and I'm not too worried about the downshifts.
In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :
Around 400-600 lbs with driver- they actually shift a little better than an F125 kart, so maybe the weight helps.
Another 2 or so hours in, up to 272.
Got the throttle cable working but it was binding too much for my liking even after significant lubing. Probably would have worked, but driveability is huge and smooth throttle control is one key to that. So I bought a generic yard tractor throttle cable for another $10 ish dollars. Had to modify both cable sheath ends, as well as the cable itself, but no problem.
Threaded this end so that it could be fastened to the throttle body bracket.
Cut and drilled and tapped this 45deg fitting from the cbr clutch line that I already hacked up so I could thread the throttle cable end into it, and also secure it nicely to the bracket. It keeps the cable out of the way of the pedal travel nicely.
This is the throttle body end of the cable. It was a hoop style fitting but the throttle body needs a barrel shape. Cut, squeezed, ground, and sanded into position.
Pedal end will be done with a screw type wire knarp. Since the throttle cable has much less working pull, it should be fine and will leave a little adjustment. Should be able to finish it up today and post a pic soon.
I should say that I used the 45deg fitting from the clutch cable mainly because it has the nice Teflon (or whatever they use) liner in it to prevent cable friction. The other throttle cable I have has no liner, and that is the issue with sticktion.
I've only put in about 1 hour over the last three mornings, but the controls are DONE!
Throttle works great and smooth. Pedal travel is perfect, throttle bodies hit full open at the same time the pedal bottoms due to return spring coil bind.
Clutch cable working nice and smooth, shifter cable working great as well.
I've still been chipping away slowly at the fuel tank.
Next up is reworking the mounting bracket for the fuel tank, radiator, and electronics. Will be really similar to the gsxr setup, but will need tweaks.
273 hours.
Been off of work this week, but between catching up on yard work, house work, son's first week of kindergarten (fully remote...) And a couple rounds of golf with my little brother, I have only done about 3 hours on the Datsun so far.
Tomorrow is gung ho however.
Also, I will say my garage was getting very dirty. So much so that I was actually starting to avoid working on the car. Therefore yesterday I spent about 4 hours cleaning and organizing. Feels a lot better now!
So onto the Datsun. I bought some of these bad dogs for my Dremel. Holy crap, awesome way to spend $10 on Amazon. Super recommended.
That allowed me to much more quickly get the fuel pump hole out to the right size. Same process as before, but different mount bracket.
And (hopefully) done. I need to wait for the red loctite to setup for 24 hours before I can check it for leaks. Also still need to shorten my studs, and get some nyloc nuts.
276 hours.
Also, I told my brother when showing him the car that I intended to have it ready to race in October.
He laughed
In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :
Those look like the exact same burrs I bought - I've found all kinds of uses for them! They cut aluminum like butter.
Gas tank has fuel in it right now testing for leaks.
Also, today as promised I spent a good amount of time and got the radiator mounted, as well as the fuel tank (needed to be relocated).
Start by welding a bolt to a tab. Then cut the ends off to make a post on a tab. (You will also need a tab with a threaded hole).
Next, hold the radiator in place,and weld the tabs to the frame.
This is exactly copying how the rad mounts on the bike. Slide one side onto a post, bolt the other side in place. Nice!
Finally, make a top mount. This was the first bit of not-already-in-budget scrap I've used. It was a piece of 1/8 aluminum, 1 inch wide. Used about 18 inches in length. I'll look up the price later. Still, I think it came out pretty good.
Rad mounted!
Next I had to move the gas tank up just about an inch. Done!
That was about 5 hours today. I nearly ran out of welding gas so I went to the airgas store to swap cylinders with the rest of my time today, since I know I will be doing a lot of welding tomorrow and this weekend.
281 hours.
Are those bits a little too coarse for using on steel? Also are they 1/8" shafts, or 1/4"?
In reply to 03Panther :
They fit a Dremel tool, so I'm not sure what the spec is. Seems more like 1/8 than 1/4 to me however. As far as cutting steel, they do it, but not as quickly as aluminum.
Big day today, worked all day and had some help from my brother and Ian.
A lot of work isn't pictured yet.
First I tore it all back down to final weld the swingarm engine mounts and I had to fix this rear crossmember once and for all. I tipped it over because welding above your head sucks.
Closeup
Nice (also in this pic are the extra metal I put in around the suspension mount holes, just for good measure):
Not pictured, but the swingarm engine mounts are now fully welded. Also they are gusseted. And supports are added to strengthen. I am very confident in it now.
Next the gas tank got finished up. It passed the leak test so now I just had to reassemble. But not before I went ahead and bent up the level float arm so it fits. It won't go all the way up, but I will go down. So hopefully even the fuel level gauge will be partially working.
Since we had the chassis torn down, we decided to carry it outside (easily fits through an entry door haha), and added some primer. I had a mix of grey and white laying around in spray cans.
Don't forget the bottom!
Then, this happened.
289 hours.
The red looks great!
I guess the drimel tools would be 1/8. I was just wondering if the agressive cut would "bounce" too much on steel. $10 is a good price.
Very nice!
Partial day update:
Love it!
This is rad. Can't wait to see the body on it.
Here was the photo when we broke for lunch:
Here's a closeup on the rear engine mount strengthening we did yesterday.
And here's where we ended the night!
Looking clean man!
In reply to wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) (Forum Supporter) :
Thanks!
This also happened last night, but we didn't have the video ready:
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