So close and yet so far

Just an update on the work I've done. The chassis is coming along very fast, faster than I thought it would have, and all that remains to do on it is Weldon some of the plates for things like seatbelts and wishbone brackets and then ensure I have full welded all the joints as a large number of them are still spot welded or partially full welded. Never the less it looks, upon general inspection, pretty much complete but there is still so much to do.

Other things that are on order are the dials, I bought a set of 5 for £199, I will post photos when they arrive, and the four point safety harnesses. I would like to moan about the cost of the harnesses but I suppose of all of the things on the car, they should be seen as reassuring when tethered to a hefty price tag. Years 9-11 were a little disinterested by the prospect of calculating the speedo ratio so I ripped off the dashboard myself and conducted the appropriate calculations with the assistance of my old DT teacher (57.5, not his age but the rev of the speedo cable per 100 turns of one rear wheel).

The sierra has got to come off the road on Wednesday due to tax expiry and this triggers the next stage of the project which is the dismantling of the donor car. I may have to wait until I return from my holiday in Malia before I can begin to do this due to the aforementioned problems with garage space. I'll let you know what the result is. If my thoughts are confirmed however, it will mean that I may be left twiddling my thumbs for a week with nothing for me to get my teeth into. I may just have to do some sunbathing in some of the hottest days of the year thus far. Poor me...

Hmm, so much to say...

First things first, the seats have arrived and aside from being a little redder than I expected them to be, they are perfect. I am sitting in one while I write this post in fact. I chose not to have a head rest for two main reasons, the first being that the seats with headrests cost about £270 each whereas these ones "only" cost £145 each. The second being the fact that I felt these seats looked a little more classic and in keeping with the rest of the design idea I have for the cockpit as you will hopefully see as the car comes together.

The chassis is coming along swimmingly, far faster than I thought it would. The slowest part seems to be the fine cutting of the metal, which I am doing at home in the garden to the already vocalised dismay of the neighbours. The assembly and welding is quick although it is already provided me with a catalogue of inevitable minor injuries in the form of cuts and burns. I won't include pictures.

Tomorrow I will be attempting to measure the number of revolutions per mile in order to order a correctly calibrated speedo. The automobile society at my old school has a meeting tomorrow morning down at the garage so I might let years 9-11 loose on my donor car and see what results, I hope I will be able to drive it away afterwards. With it now being the weekend, I am also able to use the garage and the space around it so I may, in order to appease my easily vexed neighbours, take the opportunity to fine cut the remaining pieces of tube steel ready to weld up on Monday and Tuesday of next week.

Final little purchase that I thought I would include in today's blog post. In some of the spare moments that I had when I could not be bothered to cut and I did not have access to the workshop to weld, I headed to metrobreakers, my local vehicle scrap yard in order to get a new radiator as the one on the sierra will be too large for the nosecone of the new car.

The yard is actually quite fun to wonder around and see what could be used in your car, sooo many smashed up cars. As the book suggested I purchased one off a 2001 Renault Clio.

I also almost bought some new wheels for my car but I felt the expense could not be justified at this point. The radiator seems perfect for the job but did cost me £45 which I felt was a little dear for a piece of scrap but beggars can't be choosers and hopefully it will do the job.

Welding and Grinding Day 1

On Wednesday of this week I managed to get some time in the workshop at my old school so I could get going on the welding. The result of the one afternoons work is far better than I had hoped. I got a large amount done and what's more the parts I had cut were all the right lengths touch wood. My only complaint is that the English summer has hit in force and as fetching as my overalls are, they are also very warm. I can't write much now as I want to get back to the workshop but I will be writing again very soon and I will leave this post with some pics of my progress after day one of welding.

Visit to MK Engineering and a new Clutch!

I've made it home but not before heading up to Rotherham to collect a whole load of parts from Martin at MK engineering. I was ordering the fibreglass panels through him and I also decided to get him to make me some of the parts in the suspension area in order to save me from having to manufacture the jigs for them.

I headed off yesterday morning from Nottingham to Rotherham in the sierra; Jonny Silvester came along for the trip. After a much deserved, hangover curing, McD's we arrived at Martins at about 1 o'clock to see his very own self build parked up out front.

Upon wondering in we came across the parts that I ordered laid out ready to go, but martin insisted that he gave us a quick tour. He had an awesome setup with thousands of pounds worth of CNC equipment stowed away. It came as a surprise upon going into some of these buildings to come across the level of equipment he had. He also had a number of other cars that he was working on, all of which looked so intriguing; I really could have stayed there all day.

Next he gave me a look over his car and took me out for a spin in it. It was FAST! And with no windshield you really do notice it. It was also very noticeable how well it stuck to the road. He had a motorbike engine in this car meaning it was a far higher performance engine than I will have. So much fun though, it really made me want to start building.

Finally we packed up the parts that I had ordered and with a few more hints and tips about my particular build Jonny and I headed off, both agreeing that the visit was fun and Martin was a bit of a legend.

In other news after looking through the paperwork on the car we found that a new clutch had been fitted a year ago and it was still under guarantee. As my dad and I both thought that the clutch had felt a bit dodgy when pulling away in first, we took it into "Mr Clutch" to see to see what the prognosis was. The man there said that it did need replacing and in a surreal game of invoice/receipt top trumps he begrudgingly realised he was beaten and fitted the £130 brand new clutch for free. She now drives beautifully.

The next stage of the build is to start fine cutting the steel tube and welding the chassis or to start dismantling the car. Choosing which one to do first will depend on the nature of the workshop space that I get given first but as it stands I think I will be building the chassis, and that may start as early as the beginning of next week. Excitement! Keep reading, and for those of you from Nottingham, have a great Holiday!

Current Spend: £2,661.78

Money...

...get away. Get a good job with good pay and you're okay. All very well for Pink Floyd to say but as a student I don't have a good job, nor good pay, and money is running short. Going down the parts list stocking up I am seeing more and more holes in the budget. Stupid things like pricing for seats but not the slider that it sits on. However it's not too far out of control and with other projects under my belt it was not totally unexpected, so the project goes on. And with great spending comes great delivery. The latest batch of stuff ordered has come in and it's all so shiny.

I particularly liked the warning light display and its surround. I was going to have to buy each warning symbol independently to get some nice looking symbols but that would have cost me a fortune, I am happy with this compromise though.

This lot all came from Europaspares, website in the list. This place is great and although it does share one of my pet hates with a large number of these parts websites, the absence of the vat included in the price, they redeem themselves with a great range. As well of the parts that I have included images of I also ordered, after much umming and aaring, the brown vinyl seats which have a 14 day lead-in time as they have to be made. I'll leave what they look like as a surprise until they arrive. I mention it however because of the help they gave when ordering. I rang up to sort out the order and delivery, Mary who works there was good enough to post out a sample of the vinyl that I was thinking of getting so I could get an idea of the colour; it's difficult to get a good idea on the internet. It arrived the next day and it was perfect, a definite example of going the extra mile.

Other than this ordering, the cutting of mild steel into the slightly more intricate parts is still going on in the background and I am spending a good portion of my time in the Uni workshop. However although labor intensive the results are not very interesting to photograph or write about. So I have not really bothered, but I may write more when I am welding the chassis together and I actually use them, don't worry (I could see that all my many readers were fretting that you had not heard from me in so long). That's all for the time being but as always I will keep you posted with my progress.

Current Spend (including seats):
£2,071.78

Shock Horror!

Shocks and the steering rack arrived yesterday. Unfortunately Rally Design supplied me with 1.9" dampers and 2.25" springs. After a quick phone call the guys at rally design sorted the mistake and sent a courier the next day to collect the incorrect parts and replace supply me with the right ones. Problem solved. I've also sent of the deposit off to MK Engineering, which is where I am purchasing most of the fibreglass panels. Current spending stands at £1,256.63 including everything.

Suspension Brackets and a Trip to Nottingham

I have put off writing this entry for a while, partly because I have been waiting for several things to happen before I wrote, and partly because I a struggling to figure out my audience and thus the parts to write about and the parts that should be glossed over.

I am still in the cutting stage of the build and a lot of my time is spent waiting for material to arrive. I have been able to fabricate the 16 wishbone brackets that attach the suspension and therefore the wheels to the car. This, as I expected, was a little tedious, making 16 of the same thing should be saved for a factory in my eyes, but at least they are done.

I also found out that the book that I am working from lacks continuity when it comes to the cutting list part quantities; this resulted in me ordering too little material which was very annoying. I won't explain in any more detail as it is boring, but what I will say is that if you are using this book to do this project CHECK YOUR PART QUANTITIES.

On Sunday my dad was a true hero and drove the 5 hour round trip to Nottingham and back to allow me see the car. It was much as I expected and it drives well, the lack of power steering can take one by surprise though. It was really great to finally see it though.

Yesterday I started to order parts and currently have shocks and a steering rack on route, I eagerly await their arrival and I will keep you posted. That's about it for the moment but I will leave you with the great words of Jonny Silvester,

"Not just a sierra but a laseeeerrrrrrrr!!!"

I feel saw...

It has begun... again... well properly this time. I mean the making has begun.

Today I became the proud owner of 12 metres of 25 x 25 x 1.6mm square tube steel and I started to cut the hundred or so lengths that will make up the space frame of my car. The University of Nottingham engineering stores did not have all of the material that I needed, so I took what they did and made a start with that.

I learnt how to use a new tool; the horizontal metal band saw. Possibly one of the least stressful tools to use with its quick lock clamps and the automatic hydraulic cutting blade and switch off (you just press go and it turns off when it's finished).

The result of my work was 28 lengths of steel cut down to rough dimensions ready to be taken home at the end of term. I also managed to find a place to store the parts in the engineering department.

As well as this I managed to get the relatively small amount of round tube steel 19mm dia. that I will need.

To give a rough idea of what this metal is actually for, here is a cad image from the book that shows the assembled space frame:

Its been picked up!

My Dad picked up the car today and took it to my house in London. I have yet to see it still, but I am told by my father that it is in good condition and drives well. The exhaust sounds a little rough, but as I will be replacing this it is not an issue. The clutch was replaced 2 years ago apparently and is good, but does feel a little heavy. Otherwise all is well, by dad is going to drive it up to Nottingham next weekend so I can see it and have a look over how big the job of dismantling it will be. I will post some more pictures up then.

Cost so far:

Car - £451
Months worth of insurance for my dad + the cancellation fee at the end - £100
---
Total - £551

A little more info - The Plan

Ok, so by no means am I intending to write on this blog everyday from now until the beginning of September. However I feel that I should give a bit more of an intro in terms of what the project entails.

I have managed to keep good connections with some great people from my old school. I worked there in my gap year and still help in holidays pat testing and fitting projectors. It's because of this and because of their supportive nature that I have managed to get access to a school owned garage for 10 or so weeks of the holiday, a garage which is, during term time, the home of the automobile society or "autosoc". This is fantastic as I live in London and space is at a premium especially if you're planning on turning it into a temporary workshop.

I am in the middle of my first year Uni exams at the moment, but have spent the "small" amounts of time when I am not revising sourcing parts. This was really aided by the adverts in a few kit car magazines that I purchased when the car idea was in its infancy.

The main websites that have sourced from are components suppliers list on the right. As well as sourcing I have put the cutting list into an excel document and downloaded a trial of a piece of cutting optimisation software which is perfect for finding the best way not to waste materials. I would like to buy it but as it stands I am on a budget and it has a perfectly adequate 30-day-trial. The software is called "cut logic 1d" and can be found on http://www.tmachines.com/cl1dp.html it is perfect for tube steel cutting list optimisation.

The next step is to start construction on the smaller more complex parts immediately after the exams using the workshop facilities up here at Nottingham. I could also use this opportunity to cut down the tube steel, which I am hoping to source through the University, into the many individual pieces. This should give me a head start and make things a lot easier later on in the project. I am also limited by the fact that I can't use the school garage until term at the school ends; this is a noticeable length of time after my university term ends.

When it does end however I should be ready, with cut steel ready to weld, certain parts complete, many parts on order, a sierra ready to dismantle and about 3 days before I go to Malia for a week. What can you do though? When I get back it will be go go go from there though, and that is when the real making begins and I spend my time sleeping, building and blogging car.

But for now, I wait. That's what I do. Tick follow tock follow tic follow tock... Twiddling my thumbs until these exams are over.

In the beginning god created... wait... no, that cant be right...

SO IT HAS BEGUN!!!

So, although it has been a passion to build a car since I was very small, there always seemed to be obstacles in my way. The Caterham 7 that I dreamed of making since I was 12 years old was just out of my grasp, or more specifically, about £12,000 out of my grasp. No, pocket money just did not cut it and my penchant for spending the pocket money on the latest gadget did not help either. So what did I do? Simple. I became a student and it was not long before the student finance company sorted out a healthy sum of money for me to spend on what I pleased. (I lie they took forever, an uphill battle the whole way, not just for me I hear). Either way, this influx of funds also fitted in neatly with the chance meeting of my new friend, in the form of the HAYNES manual entitled "Build your own Sports Car on a budget" and so the story begins.


I have set myself the goal, or rather the almost inevitably impossible task, of building a sports car in 11 or so weeks, on a budget. I have a garage for 10 of those weeks, a LADS holiday in Malia for a week, somewhere near the beginning, and a sponsored Kilimanjaro Climb at the end (Sponsor me at: www.justgiving.com/hugowilson) goes to a great charity called childreach international, but I digress.

Today it all began as I purchased the DONOR CAR off eBay, from which I will salvage engine, drive train etc. It cost me the healthy sum of £451, a tad more than I wanted to pay but I get excited when I use eBay and my logic is that if it was worth that much to someone else then it can be worth £10 more to me.



Either way, pick up is soon, and I felt that it would be a good time to start keeping an account of what I am doing. So if anyone reads this then great and if not then confirmation that I am talking to myself is here and I am proved to be mad, but at least no one will know. Take care all, and I will keep you... blogged?