Project Double-stock HDi - On hold pending removal of thumb from arse

[lolsteve]

Is this what you're making the car into? haha
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2382/2145...5a.jpg?v=0

[Matt]

^^^

[Dum-Dum]

LOL steve thats epic

Poodle how much weight are these covers adding

[Poodle]

But yeah, i spend too much time on ecomodder lol.

The lip isn't thick enough to hold it i don't think, did have a look at that option. Besides i want it to be easily removable, can you imagine trying to change a wheel when the fairing's held in by five screws... :S

Sam that's a pretty good idea, might blag that haha!

In their current state i'd guess they weigh about 10kg each, but the final job will be less than 5. Figured there's no point investing lots in them until i know whether they work.

[samass]

Yep, I've put a fair amount of thought into these sort of things haha

[Poodle]

Just need to work out a bracket to hold the hinge... Main issues are the wheels being sat too far into the arches - doesn't leave me much room for extra metal work - and the fuel filler being right in the way on the drivers side.

[samass]

Hmm... How much do you like your paint? Of it was me I'd just weld a tab on flush to extent downwards to the rivet stuff to, not the neatest tho lol

[Poodle]

Come up with a solution that should work, as an ideas it's a bit rough around the edges, but going to try it and see.

Have been working on this in pretty much every spare moment, cracking on but still got a long way to go. Got a couple of things sorted during week - new front bumper with air dam, still some work to be done to it. Used old interior carpet for the extension as it's stiff enough that it should hold it's shape at speed, flexible enough i can clear the speed bumps on my road.:



Some time with a staple gun later:




Then bolted it all to the bumper, tada!:



Yeah, pikey as you like, but should do the job. It's a laguna splitter, so still needs some reshaping with the heat gun (missus' hair dryer - shhh!).

Box full of fibreglass goodies arrived on Friday, ready to make the mould:



Kept up the pace this weekend, main job was swapping the front doors over - i now have working windows again, thank fook lol. Made some progress with the fairings, have begun to cut the steel to the template and marked up the brackets i want:



On a side note, my dad has donated some perspex - just the right amount to do both rear windows as it happens! That will have to wait for now though, priority lies with the aero stuff until next weekend.

[Dum-Dum]

perspex windows will crack the first time to look at a pot hole, needs to be polycarbonate, the stuff is about 10 times stronger.

[samass]

Looking forward to seeing this and geeking out a bit over the aero mods!

[Poodle]

Aw thats sad, i just thought they would flex and ratte like hell, could cope with that lol. Dad made a windshield out of it for the bike, thats still going strong after two years... Mind you its only done about 3000 miles in that time lol.

Im quite excited, bring on the geek-out haha! I think im going to really struggle getting it done on time though.

[samass]

With the perspex, you could oversize the holes for the bolts in the window frame, then use a ton of sealant to allow them to move around, that might hold off the cracks...


schweet! Very interested to see your solutions, I have a fairly crazy idea in my head that *might* just work lol

[Poodle]

That might be a plan, got to be worth a try I reckon. Ive actually got some rubber grommets hanging about that should be about the right size.

Now you've got me intrigued.... Tbh if I had money to burn i'd just fit them up with some aero bonnet catches, much simpler and tidier.

[samass]

Yeah I'd say that might work, not losing out on anything anyway

if you want removability, Zeus clips might be an idea, bit they aren't that cheap, cheaper than aero catches tho. That's not what my idea is tho, I've had a thought about how to reduce the low pressure area behind the car

[Poodle]

Aye, may as well give it a go. Reckon a strengthening strut across each one will help too.

O Rly? Got a couple of plans myself on that score, more head-knocking required.

[samass]

Yeah deffo, bit of ally angle or something

ooh nice, I forsee some interesting conversations occurring haha

[Poodle]

I've completely failed to meet the target for these aero mods, thanks to certain... other demands on my free time - would probably be the nicest way to put it. I could have put, "because my sodding friends keep ruining my life", but i didn't haha! :p

Anyway, clutch started slipping today, ideal lol. Will see how it copes up in the lakes, but may be time to start speccing a replacement.

[Midnightclub]

Never know, it might bed back in again if your lucky

[Poodle]

Amazingly enough it seems to have done just that, slipped like fook all over the lakes then has been fine ever since. Happy days!

So yeah, the lakes trip... Eco-run idea went out the window the moment we got in convoy, too much fun to be missed sitting at 60 all day long. Made a vague effort on the way back, but it was done at ~70mph and half of it was spent in traffic or rain, so not ideal for establishing a base figure to beat. Got just over 60mpg in the end, which isn't awful i guess.

Have kept on with the various random constructions, as well as my quest to design some fixings. There are now scribbled drawings, grinding dust and oddly-shaped bits of metal littered about the conservatory, garage and, well, everywhere lol. Also been mucking about with chicken wire and papier mache to help create a final shape for the arches. First attempt failed so appallingly i'm not going to put pictures up lol. Will be having another go some time this week, so hopefully have one prototype sorted by the weekend.

Finished making the mould for the wheel covers today:


Now i've got to separate it from the die, should be fun, will get pics if i don't destroy it in the process... Was so pleased with what i've managed today i made myself a celebratory sandwich, this is how a blt with cheese should be made!:

---

EDIT:

Just noticed i've not put ant pictures of the whole car up for a while, so here's one (shamelessly stolen from pompeymark, who's done a much better job of taking the photo than i would have ever managed):

[Poodle]

The mould was dry when i went to check it an hour ago, so i cut the worst of the excess gsm off and separated the mould from the die. Couldn't find anything suitable for the job so did it very carefully with a, um, well, a hammer...

Surprisingly it came off easily and with no damage, pretty pleased with the result:

[Poodle]

The first attempt at using the mould appears to have gone well, although i'm not convinced the disc is sufficiently attached to the hubcap on the back of it, we'll see...



Next i tried to weld up the draft fairings, this didn't go so well. Turns out <1mm thick, partially galvanised, partially rusted to buggery steel isn't very easy for an amateur to weld with an old arc welder, who would have guessed?! Yeah, ended up with more holes than swiss cheese, so sacked that idea off for the time being. Have instead started making another pair of dies, currently having fun cutting up bits of stiff cardboard and gluing them together with pva. Spent a couple of hours in the sun building them up in the garden, neighbours must think i've finally lost it lol. Currently look like this:



A couple more layers and i'll start shaping the edges, then it'll be time to crack out the filler again. Fairly major set back though tbh, am going to struggle to sort these for PPCITP now.

On the bright side, i've finished cutting my extended wheel bolts to the right size, now the sexy track wheels can go on and i can get the proper spacing behind the steels. Just got to clean up the tips and threads and we'll be away.

[lolsteve]

Looking good, 60mpg is impressive though the noise in your car without the sound deadening is killer ,not sure how you coped all the way to the lakes

[Dum-Dum]

60mpg im so jealous, didn't even manage half that IIRC.

Oh and speaking of looking like you lost the plot im sitting on the train giggling to myself like a loon at your updates.

[Poodle]

Oh that bit was easy Steve, i just mtfu'd. :p Nah, wasn't too bad actually, camping kit seems to make excellent sound deadening.

Kind of disappointed by it myself tbh, considering i've passed the 70 mark before, but then again i suppose that's the difference between a 90bhp eco map and a 130bhp monster stage 1. Thinking i might scale it back to a basic 120 job tbh, the loss of economy is too great to justify on this project. Or fit an intercooler so i can burn the extra fuel, hmmm.....

Hahaha glad you're enjoying madness Dum!

[lolsteve]

Haha ya dick
About the intercooler, I did notice the mpg go up when I had mine fitted and also no smoke out the rear view when booting it up a hill with a car full of my life belongings so I'm guessing it burnt a lot cleaner.

[Midnightclub]

Another +1 for better MPG with a fmic

[Poodle]

Heh I know, right.

Fair enough, looks like i'll be finding myself an fmic fairly sharpish then!

[Just Sean]

might be getting a bigger one soon....

just need convincing its a good idea!

[Pompey306mark]

Nicely stolen pic. Happy to help.

Car is coming along well.

[Poodle]

Ah, well tbf the bigger one would look boss, i'll even give you a tenner for your crappy old one.

Yeah cheers Mark, I really am useless at taking pics of the car lol. There will be pics at some point in the next couple of weeks as i'll be cleaning it for the first time in two years!