Sand rail autocross/skid pad build (or, why my wife hates me)

Kinda sick today but Im running out of time so more work to get done. It was a day of stupid little things that needed done. I couldn't find the front bearing caps without the speedo cable hole so I just had to weld up the holes in a couple since I dont have a speedometer.

Installed the tie rods, adjustment will wait until there are some wheels to work with.

realized there were no tabs to mount the brake lines so I fabbed up a couple out of a piece of aluminium. I wanted to rivet them to the floor but I'll be damned if I can figure out where I left the rivet gun.

Installed the pedals.

And installed a hydraulic clutch slave cylinder.

Then I started running lines. I'm bending and flaring my own lines so I went to the flaps and got a roll of brake line and some 10mm ends. They didnt have enough ends so I was able to run the main lines for the clutch and the rear brakes the smaller lines at the corners will get done tomorrow, the parts place ordered me more fittings which will arrive in the morning.

The main lines in the rear.

Once I get the fittings tomorrow I can finish brake lines and then I need to make some mount tabs for the seat belts. The remainder of the to-do list is

Mount gas tank, run lines

Mount battery

Install engine

Wire (just an ignition circuit so pretty simple)

Exhaust

Install Oil Accumulator.

The list keeps getting shorter but just when I start feeling good about it I remember other things that need done :(

Well I was informed this morning on my way out the door to get the rest of my brake fittings that I had volunteered to help the wife's aunt move. How nice of me.

I did get the rest of the brake lines made and installed at least.

In reply to JThw8:

You mean Voluntold

I'm doing some of that type work right now. I keep making the mistake of doing a good job.

Feeling a bit like I've lost y'all but here's a post for the crickets :)

Been distracted lately because an "almost" opportunity to relocate south had me realizing how not ready to sell my house is and how many projects I've had on hold for years so I've been catching up in preparation to move someday.

Took a break from all the house stuff for some assembly today. Seems like it should be quick since it was together before paint but since much of it was in mock up there's still painting, drilling, welding. Like this steering column. U-joints needed welded in spots and drilled for a roll pin in one spot so it can come back apart, then painted and installed.

And this shift linkage, welded and pinned and more painting of course. (some day I will post color photos and you'll see the painting) Side note...how strong is a drill bit? I was drilling this out for the last pin and just as the bit was about to break through the other side it snapped. Its wedged in there solid but honestly a drill bit should be at least as strong as a tension pin right? I'll be starting a separate thread for that question :)

And a bit of a DOH moment, cautionary tale or whatever. You'll note that in today's photos only the drivers seat is installed whereas previously both were installed. Of course you can probably see why as working on that shift linkage with both seats installed was near impossible.

Plan ahead, look where things go, dont be like me.

Looks awesome, just read through the whole build.

Not playing to crickets, I read more than comment because I dont have much to add.

I'm still watching too!

What is the final verdict on the drillbit as a roll pin? II've done similar things myself and always kind of wonderd.

Dusterbd13 wrote: What is the final verdict on the drillbit as a roll pin? II've done similar things myself and always kind of wonderd.

There was enough space that I drilled out a new hole behind the drill bit and inserted a roll pin. So now it has a roll pin AND a drill bit holding it in place.

In tangentially related news, phone interview in the morning. Local gig so no relocation but if it pans out it could interfere with time off. On the upside it would get me out of the pharmaceutical world and into something at least somewhat related to automobiles (powder coating and other specialty coatings)

Spent the day cleaning the shop and helping a friend with some tasks on his car. But in the middle of cleaning I got a small amount of inspiration so I made up the hose for the accumulator and mounted the accumulator. Seems simple but if you've ever made up hoses with AN fittings you know its a bit of a challenge. Started messing with the motor a bit and noodling on things that still haven't quite been figured out.

Ok, better put a motor together for this thing if its ever going to get done.

First some new headgaskets.

And new seals on the pushrod tubes

Slide the head on. One of the nice design changes from T1 to T4 is the ability to install the pushrod tubes after the head is on. Trying to wrestle the head on while aligning the 4 tubes on a T1 was always a bit of a juggling act.

And the tubes slid into place

Early (1.8) rocker arms (top) vs late (2.0) rocker arms (bottom) they did away with the spring and put in a spacer and some smaller springs. Not sure why the design change but the 2.0 was pretty much the pinacle of the development so I used the 2.0 rockers

All back together.

Put some new seals in the oil cooler too.

A few years ago I bought a car, it had a case of oil filters in it. I dont remember what the car was but those filters have beein sitting on a shelf. Luckily they are the right ones for this motor, I finally get to use them. You can see the sandwich adapter for the oil accumulator under the filter.

I bought new points and condenser but when I opened up the distributor....well, damn this was a low mile motor.

Looking Good Jim! Hope you get it fired soon!!!

Me too, running out of time quickly. Been struggling with non car related things that are keeping me from getting things done though.

Looking great! Moar progress!

Moar? Ok...moar... Just about buttoned up here. I'm only running the top tin and really debated putting tin on at all, on Formula Vees we never ran it because we didnt run fans and wanted as much exposure to the open air as possible. With runs of 60 seconds there wont be much cooling from the T4 fan anyway but I figured the tops would direct the air a little better and honestly it just looks cleaner. I may trim off the "unused" sections on the edges as they are just hanging out in the air.

Feeling impending doom about finishing up. I've injured my back so I'm limited in what I can do and there's still a few fabrication projects that need to happen to finish up. I'll keep plugging away though :) Also seems my 2nd or is it 3rd now attempt at getting wheels is on perpetual backorder...sigh. Cancelled that order and waiting on a refund, talked to a supplier today who is positive he can have them in 2 days, more money of course but wheels aren't exactly falling out of trees around here it seems.

One pic has color showing.....

Can't wait to see this thing run!

wvumtnbkr wrote: One pic has color showing..... Can't wait to see this thing run!

I was waiting to see when someone noticed.

So with the feline marginally exited the duffel I present to you....The Lot Lizard

as you may be able to make out its not really a solid color but mottled to look more lizard like

I lize it!

Neat!

Finishing up fabrication tasks. Welded on some tabs to bolt the seat belts to (I thought I had bar wrap belts but it turns out they were bolt on) and an area to mount the fuel tank.

Here's how the fuel tank "shelf" goes together, there are mount straps which go around the tank and bolt through the mounts. Debating getting rid of the diamond plate shelf and just bolting directly to the mounts. I thought the plate would give it a more finished look but I think its just the opposite. Still it may be a place to mount the fuel pump, still working all that out. The tank is only 5 gallons but it looks huge in this tiny frame.

Really debated this tank location. Its where most rails mount it but I really wanted to move it up front. Once everything was together though there really wasn't a good spot for it that wouldn't be in the way of the steering keeping in mind the battery needs to go up there too.

Can you strap the tank on below the shelf? Would better suit the purpose of this vehicle.

NOHOME wrote: Can you strap the tank on below the shelf? Would better suit the purpose of this vehicle.

Hmm,not a bad idea. I'll either have to notch the sides of the supports (its angle iron) or just space the straps out so the tank clears but that would get it a bit lower which is good but not too low. I almost built the shelf off the lower bar but that would have been too low and would have been in the way of the oil accumulator and other parts if I needed to do any quick repairs. I'll definitely look into that, I think its a good plan.

I went out and poked at that idea and I think it will work nicely. I'll have to notch the supports but it should work nicely. Once its mounted I'll see if I want to put diamond plate or sheet aluminum (I have both) on the top or just leave it as is.

I strongly dislike the diamond plate you currently have there, so my vote is naked.