Well it has been a long time between updates and to be honest most of the progress has been checking, cutting, grinding, checking, measuring, reading, learning and so on.
So, originally I was working on a quick restoration and I have since learned another lesson on not presuming all was ok first. The front subframe was blasted and powder coated and rebuilt. When installing and checking alignment, the 50x50 box tube mounts were not straight and did not sit flush with the chassis mount. Also now the car had been lowered considerably the LCA angles were 'off'.
So, these were cut off , angle construction steel and braces made and welded on at nearly 50mm lower. This essentially lifted the steering rack and corrected the LCA angle and provided better clearance underneath. Will be cleaned up and re-coated once all alignment is confirmed right as I may bring forward a little for increased caster.
Next up was making a drop floor base that bolts in to where original mounts were for the adjustable pedal box. The floor has dropped by 105mm, plenty more foot room and the base has a 60degree angle at the back (not a squared off drop) to join the original floor underneath. For final fitting, this will be sealed and floor covering trimmed so all smooth under foot.
And finally on this update is the correction of the roll bar. This was originally mounted to the main chassis on brackets that were vertical, these were both mounted in the boot (for simplicity I would say).To me, this just looked wrong, it was to far back and to far to the center of the car as well as being to tall at nearly 16.5 inches above the body. Problem is that there is no other location to mount these as there is nothing else but empty space.
First up was to cut all the previous mounts off the rollbar, mounts and the leg mount as well but retain using the original bar which is a 12 inch centered 1.75 inch 3mm thick (bar and leg) and clean up to prepare for welding.
Now, I have been trying to use as much as possible any of the original mounts and material as I could from the original car in keeping with restoration and that it has been with the car for 35 years as well. So, with the outer rollbar mount I retained the original mount and mounting holes in the chassis, however made an extension that goes outward and forward. This was actually used with part of the subframe mount box tube cut off. This now comes up through the wheel well and there is plenty of clearance to the wheel and the mount securely boltsto the chassis in three locations and joints on three faces on the chassis. The inner mount was again retained with making an extension that goes forward, this has been braced and also bolts to the chassis using a mount that the body brace mounts to. So this actually slips over a chassis rail, bolted in two places and the side bolts to the perpendicular chassis rail. Overall it appears that this will be plenty strong and I never plan on testing this anyway.
The rear leg was changed to suit the new angles and the mount goes back to the chassis mount on the boot floor. This was in the original position and is a solid well made mount so there was no need to change this.
Now I know that the original cars did not have rollbar centered with the seat and steering wheel, however this is just how it worked with the mounts as the inner arch and boot (trunk) were in the way.
Hope that the pics makes sense of the about blurb.
Subframe new mount plate and brace.
Underneath front, the timber blocks are there to support chassis which sits evenly all round, sure it looks back yard, but it works with exactly 133mm clearance.
Drop floor plate.
Roll bar mount outer.
Rollbar mount inner.
Rear leg, not welded yet, mock up. This is sleaved at the top and will have a threaded bolt mount, more pics on this once finished.
This shows how much the bar was moved, and yes the holes will be filled and painted.
Roll bar now sits at 12.5 inch above body (measured at center) with a 10.5 degree lean back (rather than previous vertical). When seated my head will comfortably be below the rollbar.
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