As the wing support frames are larger than before, they needed a bit of stiffening up. We have seen a number of wings effectively part company from cars over the years through them vibrating and then fracturing the supports. We used some steel tube and just tapped the bore. This made it much simpler and quicker to make.
It is now all starting to come together, thankfully. Previously I have posted up pictures of the planned louvers in the bodywork to help keep the cabin etc cooler. These were of course cardboard, but they have now been made from ally sheet, and the bodywork cut to suit. The body is still in development, and we are learning as we go with some of it, so ally things will sprout up from time to time. Once it is all sorted I will alter the moulds and get new panels made, but until it is finalised (ish) there is little point in that!
One major issue that came out of the test at Brands was that the rear of the car is quite flexible. To combat this some extra tubes have been welded in and some gussets made. One issue is that the rollhoop stays dont bolt to the suspension pick-up points. This means that all the loads just twists the rear of the chassis. However, I didnt want to remove the existing stays as I have no located the rear wing etc based on these locations, so removing them may just move the problem. the rear bars also didnt have any cross linking the two sides. Unfortunately the engine is in the way, hence moving it down, to get a full cross, so this is the easiest solution.
So, I finally got to spend some time on the car again this week. I cant really complain though as I spent last weekend on a hovercraft! After I finished off welding the engine cradle back together I wanted to put in back into the car and check things like the diff etc. Lucky I did as I have to cut and bend in some ‘wings’ to the top of the cradle for the diff mounts to get enough adjustement on the chain. I then painted it all up and it is now ready for going back into the car proper.
With the mods almost there at the front I turned my focus to the rear. In order to make the engine fit a little better, and hopefully help my lowering the CofG it was decided to lower the engine as far as could be achieved. Unfortunately this does not mean quite to the floor as the exhaust wouldnt fit, and I dont really want to get another made or mod this one, so it is about 20mm up from there, but still not too bad. This meant chopping up the engine frame a little so out with the angle grinder..
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