Chassis
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As work progresses, ideas change, sometimes you make a mistake or the design did not turn out what you might have anticipated. Well this is one of those moments.
I decided to go all the way and remove the floor pan. Here you see the almost complete box section chassis in place. The Jag IRS fitted, tie straps and radius rods fitted to prevent the axle from moving in positions it shouldn't. When the body was clamped into position and the axle stands removed the suspension lowered more than I anticipated. This has provided me with a small problem of the radius rod fouling with one of the rear chassis members. I will have to sort that one out somehow !!
The body has been aligned with the chassis. A problem has arose due to the front part of the chassis being too low. This was caused by supporting the body while the car was rolled back and fro and turning the front wheels from lock to lock to ensure the new front suspension was sitting OK on the new springs and shocks. This, however, caused the front to drop an extra 30mm too much. We live and learn in this hobby. I need to alter the front chassis by taking 30mm out of the front leg and re-welding back onto the main rail. This is not too bad just an inconvenience I could have done without. Here you can see that I have cut the legs off and the far one in the picture has been cleaned up ready but the right hand one still needs grinding back.
Here you see the front leg cut away from the main rail. The engine and box had to be removed to give me sufficient room to carry out this task.
Front part of chassis has now been fully welded back on. Reinforcement plate (3mm) has been welded over the joint for some extra strength.
Here you can see the template fitted over the box section. This is where I get a marker pen and mark the outline of the template onto the box section ready for cutting off.
Here you can see the box section (2"x2") ready to be cut after being marked up.Below the box section you can see a cardboard template. This was made from an old Cereal box. The card is just the right thickness to make for this type of template. Masking tape is used to hold it all together. By making this template all the outriggers will be the same and you do not have to measure every one out. It saves loads of time in the long run.
Now my welder is sorted out I have managed to part welded the outriggers from the chassis to the body. What I mean by part weld is the two top welds. The vertical and underneath welds will have to be done when I move the car over the pit.A coat of zinc primer is applied to stop any surface rust.
Some more photos of the chassis below. Some 3mm thick plates were welded over the upright joints to provide some extra stength. Also, a couple of brackets made to support the battery and earthing point.
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Chassis