[Aussie V-Tec nut]

I saved a runner out of the Magna so I could easily adjust the seat in Raptor, and you can see where Tig-son welded in the cross member I made, after which I gave it a coat of rust proof paint.

You can see how this seat mounts in position, and I’ll make a carbon fibre version this weekend or the next.

I also lightened and painted the gearshift mechanism.


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[Aussie V-Tec nut]

Time to make myself a copy of this seat I made a fibreglass mould of a few years ago. It’ll be my first attempt at carbon fibre.

Not too difficult a material to work with. Has it’s own peculiarities, but easier and nowhere near as much mess as fibreglass. But it’s strong. When I came back after lunch to trim the job it’d glued itself to my makeshift table and really didn’t wanna part with it! I’ll leave it overnight to gain maximum strength, and flip it out of the mould tomorrow.

[Aussie V-Tec nut]

Here’s the finished product next to a fibreglass one I made a while ago. The results speak for themselves!

[Aussie V-Tec nut]

Here's my latest You Tube film showing this seat being made with techniques that can be used in any garage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U13Bb4rTGPs

[Raid3n]

That is pretty awesome

[Moejeff]

whoa... can't wait till this build is done

[Raid3n]

I know right?

[evo9_tiago]

this is freaking awesome!! can't wait for this build to hit the road

[Aussie V-Tec nut]

Mig man came over today and we tacked the driver’s cockpit together and fully welded the underside of the floor.


The front half of the frame isn’t as heavy as a few feared. Dave & I reckon it’s around 30kg. Compare that to how much heavier a VW floor pan would be. It feels incredibly strong thanks to all the triangulation, gussets and required bracing – even though it’s only tacked lightly at this stage.


Now I can sit in it and – more importantly – haul my backside out of it now it’s held together by more than masking tape! Talk about being inside a steel cocoon. I was also able to accurately work out the height I want the bar that holds the steering wheel to be, meaning I can cut several bars that relate to this point.

[Aussie V-Tec nut]

Tonight I cut the new stay between the front hoops, out of the larger steel required than what was in the frame I cannabalised. Then I started on the two bars that’ll go down from it’s ends to the front bullbar, resulting in a wedge shaped nose that I really like.


Test fitting revealed the Magna seat runners put the seat up a bit too high, so I’ve ditched having an adjustable seat and will weld in some 30mm angle that it can bolt straight onto. Playing around with the positioning of the gearstick it looks like I’ll have to relocate one of the small triangulation bars (tacked on either side of the steering wheel), to clear the gear knob. No worries. There’s enough re-enforcement there for a Dubai sky scraper!

This last pic shows how the front mount bar that runs under the engine will bolt up to the rear of the chassis, and probably where the gear shift cables will run.

[Aussie V-Tec nut]

I had the rack & pinion temporarily screwed up high on a raised timber block, but when I started looking at cutting the cross bar to hold it I realised it needed to be almost on the bottom of the chassis, for two reasons. The steering arms on my RX7 series 7 front uprights are on the bottom of those hubs, plus the chassis bottom rail is rising at that point under the Rhino nose. So a bit of decent angle welded just above the skid plate should be all that’s needed to hold the steering gear in place. The positioning of the rack front to back was determined by putting it’s ends a distance equal to the length of the steering arms.



The two new short uprights I added into the side of the front framing are the vertical line at which the front of the top and bottom front inner wishbones will be mounted. Having an upright at that point adds strength exactly where it’s really needed, and gives me some flexibility if I need to mount either pivot point off the main top or bottom chassis rails. The diagonal going back down from the top of it completes the new front end tie in.

[Aussie V-Tec nut]

Having the front frame tacked together has allowed me to start cutting the pieces that will hold the steering rack and column. Room had to be left around the rack ends to ensure the tie rods won’t hit the frame as the suspension rides up and down. Dave made a great suggestion from his speedway experience – put steel straps right around the rack body rather than just rely on the alloy brackets on it to hold it under the high stresses of racing. I intend heeding his advice. Meantime I screwed and taped the bars I cut in place.



When I tried the steering column that came with the rack I found it too long. I couldn’t shorten the rod between the rack and the column as this would have made the angles too sharp. Instead, I shortened the column itself, which came apart and lended itself to this reduction. I also had to cut off the factory mounting brackets for it and make new ones. Here’s all the pieces ready to go to my TIG welding son, but I might change the top of the shaft to a Honda one if Dave has a spare, as it is proving difficult to obtain a Boss steering wheel mounting kit for this Renault shaft.



This third pic shows how I’ve now mounted the seat without the Magna runners, and how I’ve been just able to squeeze in the factory gear changer with a bit of a nick & tuck.

[3fiftyZ]

this think looks like its going to be fun as hell cant wait to see it finished

[multiobd]

crazy... can't wait for the finish product!!

[Aussie V-Tec nut]

My video tutorial of making a winged roof out of carbon fibre & Kevlar for "Raptor"should be posted here next week.