2118 replies to this topic

[wot179]

Neat.

[TerrA LX]

Share the love heath, seeing you don't need them right now, send them to me, save shelf space, make another set when you need them later.

[wot179]

Join the rest of the world ya weirdos.
https://youtu.be/r7x-RGfd0Yk

[UCgazman]

[TerrA LX]

Not sure, but 20cm sound bigger than 8inches.

[Heath]

Spent a while yesterday bending some 50x3mm flat into a suitably sized tailshaft loop. Since I've never had any real education on forming metal - I don't even really know what tools are out there for making rolled shapes and shit haha. This took ages and like everything just involved vices, clamps and shaped objects that I could find. Hahaha


This tailshaft loop will be integrated into a brace that connects the two chassis rail extensions. This brace started off as 50x50x2mm SHS


Like everything on the car, trying to cut out dead material wherever possible.


Copied the shape of the gearbox crossmember to have some extra room for the exhaust.



Pretty refreshing to do a bit of TIG at the bench rather than leaning awkwardly into the car.


Definitely taking shape but nowhere near finished.

Edited by Heath, 26 July 2015 - 09:51 PM.

[Ice]

Bloody hell Heath you are onto it Torana today
Drag car tomorrow
i look forward to your future post mate

[Bigfella237]

I know you would've checked this out already H but do you reckon that hoop drops down far enough? I'd hate to see the rear suspension hanging on the drive shaft.

 

This pic isn't of a Torana but is something similar to the way I'd like to do it incorporating some structure for the upper trailing arm mount...

 

 post-8224-0-58467500-1343789784.jpg   53.21K   9 downloads

 

[76lxhatch]

Not to rain on your parade but your loop is a bit thin - anyone who requires a loop will generally want it at least 50x6mm. Nice to have a connection between the two rails though

[Heath]

The loop sits up close to the front uni so there isn't a whole lot of travel required, obviously it allows it to go from full bump to full droop, and has enough room for me to get the tailshaft out when it's at full droop. I wanted it to be tight so that if it lets go it can't build up much eccentric motion.

I read that ANDRA required 3mm steel around 360°. I think it will be quite strong once finished, and you won't be able to measure the thickness of the strap once it's in the car.

The photo you shared is awesome.

Edited by Heath, 27 July 2015 - 07:43 AM.

[wot179]

Looks great, mate.

[Bigfella237]

The loop sits up close to the front uni so there isn't a whole lot of travel required ~

 

Haha, yeah I actually woke up in the middle of the night and face-palmed myself having realised my mistake, when you said it connects the two chassis rail extensions I wrongly assumed it was going across further back, like between the lower trailing arm mounts... sorry, I should'a known you were on top of it!

 

I was wondering why you went to the trouble of contouring it the same shape as the trans x-member, now I know!

Edited by Bigfella237, 27 July 2015 - 01:36 PM.

[LXCHEV]

Love your work Heatho old mate

Is there no such thing as a plain Jane standard build thread these days?!! The build quality and custom mods are getting better all the time and the bar constantly getting raised, haha.

Keep the pics coming.

I want to rebuild my car. It's actually due for it

[rodomo]

full bump to full droop, and has enough room for me to get the tailshaft out when it's at full droop. I wanted it to be tight

I'm with ya! I was young once!

[Heath]

Little by little...

Love your work Heatho old mate

Is there no such thing as a plain Jane standard build thread these days?!! The build quality and custom mods are getting better all the time and the bar constantly getting raised, haha.

hahaha cheers Brett, means a lot. I know what you mean though. Everyone else has 10 pages worth of tricky rust repairs. Mine was pretty good rust-wise so I had to be a bit more creative with my time!

Edited by Heath, 27 July 2015 - 09:42 PM.

[ls2lxhatch]

Really nice work. Neat as.

Not sure where the 6mm came from? 6mm is extremely heavy. 3mm will be fine - as specced by ANDRA.

 

It is interesting that ANDRA specify a minimum of 50 mm x 3 mm yet CAMS specify a minimum of 30 x 5 mm for the 2015 Australian V8 Touring Car Series.

 

The NHRA specify a minimum of 2" x 0.25" which would explain why most of the universal loops are 2" x 0.25"  (50.8 mm x 6.35 mm).

 

The McDonald Bros loop is 75 mm x 5 mm.

[TerrA LX]

I'm with ya! I was young once!

If it's too tight tho you don't get enough penetration.

[Heath]

Some of you may have noticed that I haven't posted anything on this car in a fair while. Don't expect too much! Finished the chassis brace thing a little while ago. I'm not welding it into the car just yet, but the component itself was clamped down onto the bench and fully welded ready to be installed when I think it's a good time to do so.

Had to cut these little bits of the front seat strainer plates off, they will be welded into the cross-brace instead which will certainly be an increase in strength - not that they should need a whole lot.


Spent forever profile cutting some plates to attach the loop to the floor so that it's a continuous box section once welded.








I consider the weight increase significant at 4.5kg but I think I've made it about as efficiently as possible (could have been better if I could source thinner than 2mm square tube), and I am led to believe the structural difference will easily justify it.


So... what's next!?

Nothing, I've been having a break from the car for the last few weeks. Porsche, Chaser & Datsun are all getting overdue attention, and the Torana won't be touched again until the Cedric is blazing both rear tyres with the wastegate wide open and the screamer pipe destroying eardrums.

Edited by Heath, 23 August 2015 - 09:44 PM.