130 replies to this topic

[mshue]

Very nice engineering, looking forward to seeing more!

Will be interesting to see how Ash goes with his Fox - I hear it will be a weapon!

I'm in the process of changing my front brakes, similar to yours but I went with a brembo monoblock 4 spot with the Circo M207 pad - although I have to run at Mallala..

keep up the good work!

cheers,

Sam

Hey Sam,

Yeah, Ash's Fox should be a serious weapon. He's done his homework and really thought through the build. As you probably know, he's been around for a while too so he knows what he's doing... The guy can steer a car too so the combo of a well setup car with good power on tap and him behind the wheel will mean he'll be a force to be reckoned with...

Thanks for the feedback too... One of the reasons I started this thread was for motivation... I've kinda just chipped away at it and from time to time done nothing... The thread kinda puts me out there for motivation...

BTW people, I'm a taught-myself backyard hack. I don't have a trade behind me or any pieces of paper to say I have a clue, so it's err, me doing my thing. I have a bunch of tools etc and fortunately I know how to use some of them. So... Yeah, bear with me if I'm a bit red-neck...

Cheers,

Marcus

[mshue]

Looking great, a real credit to you Marcus. Are you going to move forward with the Mcdonald Bros front end or have you done/are you doing something different?

Hmm... The whole K-Frame thing is a quandary! As far as the McDonald's Big Mac is concerned, it's kinda a bit disappointing. I ordered it as a chromoly unit and went through in detail what the application was... Only to get delivered a not-chromoly unit.... We'll leave that compliant alone ... I've 3D CAD the k-frame and I can say that it is pre-RTS geometry, so it will need modifying if I do use it. I thought about going factory, but I've measured all of my K_Frames up and all of them measure up differently. I'm not sure if any or all have been involved in accidents, but I concluded that there must be some inherent weaknesses in their design, specifically around the forward chassis mounts (I haven't looked through the forum, but I don't doubt this would have been discussed elsewhere), so... I have a cunning plan!!!

If/when I have time, I'll work more on this cunning plan further and post it up. Hopefully it will work... If not, I'll modify the Big Mac and get on with the headers, oiling/sump set-up etc...

[mshue]

I picked up my fuel tank from welding yesterday (I can weld aluminium, but no where as near as awesome as Brad Stacy can)... Here's a teaser...

More on the tank later...

[mshue]

Note to self... Get a new hole saw, the one you have doesn't have all of its teeth and cuts a fu@ked hole!!!

Two of the four fuel tank mounts made. Can't believe how much time I blew hand finishing the holes!!!

[ozyozyozy]

I agree, if you have nothing to start with, the LS is a very attrative piece of gear.
Sounds like you may have been talking to mike miller?

That dailey stuff is hollywood.
Another good thing with dry sump, can set it up to pull crankcase vacuum, more power.

I know of a few guys using the LS, no dry sump and they have been fine.
Cam, head work, standard short motor, 450rwhp.

I am very keen to see the path you take with the front end.
Depending on class you choose to run.
Some classes will allow the use of a v8 supercar upright.

Those brake calliers are an awesome piece of gear, PFC make some really good equipment.

I mostly do targa, the silver 4 door.
Done a little wanneroo racing in another car.
Involved with a ve ute that has done some IP work.
Also currently building a car for IP for someone.

[neglectedtorana]

More great work Marcus, how do you find the time? And great skills especially if not your trade

Regarding the front end if what you got isnt what you asked for are they replacing it?

I recently had some parts made by them and in the process asked about some of the negative stuff I had read here and Ray said they can't fix stuff if people don't let them know, hope it works out easy

[mshue]

More great work Marcus, how do you find the time? And great skills especially if not your trade

Regarding the front end if what you got isnt what you asked for are they replacing it?

I recently had some parts made by them and in the process asked about some of the negative stuff I had read here and Ray said they can't fix stuff if people don't let them know, hope it works out easy

Time... Where do I find it... eBay... Nah... Good ole time. The most precious resource we have. Many of the things I make are done after the kids have gone to bed... So like 8.30pm onwards!! Funny, I've fallen asleep under the car a few times.
I mentioned before that I have a few tools and have half a clue how to use some them... I think that's one of the tricks. I can generally knock something together really quick, like making a fuel tank or exhaust etc just by having a clear plan, the right tools and a bit of know how.

The k-frame from McD's... Hmmm where to start without getting on a soap box and having a whinge... Let's just say, I spoke with Ray with my concerns and I got a stern, 'you've got what you've got' response, despite the email history. I asked what the materials were and he couldn't confirm. There wasn't any slinging match or arguments etc. I took what his 'response' was and figured I'm stuck with it.

I've bought other gear from them before I bought the k-frame and they haven't been up to scratch also. I called them about it and was told that they'd never had a problem before... So I felt really special!!! Fancy that. So, yeah... The concept that they can't fix something that they don't know about doesn't hold water from my experience. Needless to say, I don't have plans of 'investing' any more money with them. Am I pissed off about it... Yeah, I was at the time, but being pissed about it ain't gunna fix it...

[mshue]

I agree, if you have nothing to start with, the LS is a very attrative piece of gear.
Sounds like you may have been talking to mike miller?

That dailey stuff is hollywood.
Another good thing with dry sump, can set it up to pull crankcase vacuum, more power.

I know of a few guys using the LS, no dry sump and they have been fine.
Cam, head work, standard short motor, 450rwhp.

I am very keen to see the path you take with the front end.
Depending on class you choose to run.
Some classes will allow the use of a v8 supercar upright.

Those brake calliers are an awesome piece of gear, PFC make some really good equipment.

I mostly do targa, the silver 4 door.
Done a little wanneroo racing in another car.
Involved with a ve ute that has done some IP work.
Also currently building a car for IP for someone.

Yeah, Mike Miller... Pretty sure that's the guy. I had a chat with him down at the Recent Bunbury Targa Sprint event... Red VH Commo???

My L98 managed 450hp at the treads on the Active Auto dyno when I had it in one of my other Hatchbacks, so yeah I figure it's a good place to start racing with... Just as you mentioned, heads, cam, exhaust and a tune.

Running Street Car Class... I read as much as I could in the CAM's doco's and spoke to Brad Cuss to clarify... From what I understand, I can run any double wishbone front suspension that is mounted/bolted to the chassis/body in the same locations and fixing methods as standard... Geometry, materials and style of frame, ie tubular etc, is free.... So yeah... I can run the McD's frame if I like... Or something like it.

[mshue]

Here's a couple of shots of the tank as it was being fabricated...


Fuel sender ring being machined


General layout of things;


The sump:


Sump pickup:


7 litre internal surge tank. Overflow it directed back to the lift pump sump:

[neglectedtorana]

Great attitude Marcus, just go make what you need.

Disappointed to hear the response from Ray and shame to think you are stuck with it, I would be bothered by that and looking at www.accc.gov.au

Keep up the good work and thanks for the inspiration

[orangeLJ]

Definitely another inspirational thread

Really nice work so far

[mshue]

Didn't manage to get in the shed during the week, but managed to get a few hours in today. Not much done, but better than nothing. The rest of the mounts for the drop tank done and marked up the tank for their location.... Ready for welding.

I'm not that well practiced at welding aluminium, but I had a crack anyway... Conclusion... Give it to Brad to weld...

I rolled up a new floor for the hatch area a few weeks back. Gave it a final trim up and I'm happy with it. The original floor had to go to allow for the Watts link. Having a flat floor (no recess for a spare tire) means that the shape of the tank was less complex and gave me a few more litres


Enjoy!!

Oh... For the geeks amongst us, here is a screen shot of the tank in Rhino CAD.

[ozyozyozy]

I am impressed hahaha.
Nice work👍🏽

[Heath]

Mate!!!

That is top notch. Love this.

[355LX]

That boot floor is a great piece of work (along with the rest of the build!). How do you roll the 2 wider sections in the floor, or were they bent with a pan brake?

[christolx]

wow what a build...love your work mate.  Great motivation, good to see another WA Hatch saved!

[mshue]

Hey guys. Glad you like it!

355LX... I did the floor using one of these:



It takes a bit of trial to get it right. First step is to get the right die sets, then calculate the amount of material each bead will take up. Write a bunch of notes:

Then run a sample piece to be sure I'm on the munie:


Then roll it up... Cut it to shape and size... Easy right??? Hahaha...

To run the wide bead I used a special half die that allows for just one half of the bead first, then roll the other half the correct distance from the first.

I don't think you can do up panel like this in a panbrake... I know I can't anyway... I recon you could in a magnabrake though...

Edited by mshue, 29 August 2016 - 07:12 PM.

[Bart]

Nice work

Did you roll the sheet first in the English wheel to counter the sheet bending from the bead roller?

[mshue]

Nice work


Did you roll the sheet first in the English wheel to counter the sheet bending from the bead roller?

Nah, no need for any wheeling. The sheet will gain crown if you wheel it and the preference is to have a flat floor and just have the beads provide the spines for strength.

[Bart]

No worries. Just sometimes the bead roller can bend the sheet.
But you didnt need to e wheel it so all good. I agree you dont want any crown so sometimes guys put crown in it the the bead roller can oppose it and straighten it. But bit more work unnecessarily in this case

[mshue]

No worries. Just sometimes the bead roller can bend the sheet.
But you didnt need to e wheel it so all good. I agree you dont want any crown so sometimes guys put crown in it the the bead roller can oppose it and straighten it. But bit more work unnecessarily in this case

Yeah, it will get some crown from the bead roller, but there is a trick that will stop almost all of the crown. If you lift the panel as it goes in and comes out of the dies then it will remain mostly flat. The ends will have a tiny bit of crown and that is massaged out with a block of wood and a mallet.

You can wheel it to prestretch it a little, but I've found that technique has left me with either not enough crown and it bows anyway or too much crown and its bow's the other way and quite a bit harder to massage out. So, yeah...

[355LX]

Marcus can I be cheeky and ask for a couple of pictures of your upper coilover mounts for the rear please? 

[mshue]

Marcus can I be cheeky and ask for a couple of pictures of your upper coilover mounts for the rear please?

Sure mate. Next time I'm in the shed I'll take a few pics. They're not rocket engineering at all, just a couple of bits of 6mm flat bar with a couple of holes.