i built a car

[alex.s]

[Alex]

Ariel Atom, the early years.

[dcj13]

Originally Posted by Alex

Ariel Atom, the early years.

That's the Ariel Neutron.

[alex.s]

yesterday it was 106F with 50% humidity
today, 100F, 50% humidity, and expected heavy storms.

[alex.s]

[alex.s]

unfortunately it seems i broke the welder feed motor. i'll probably just go pick up a new one. this one is kinda old and worn down.

i made the base a-arms for the right side. they need nuts welded on, and i need to finish the balljoint mounting plates and weld them on. should be able to do this tonight... maybe if i'm quick i can even make some brackets and get the arms mounted to the frame... we'll see.

shocks came in. i think they'll work nicely. i thought i might be able to use the stock gsxr shock knuckle but its just not going to work. so i'll have to make my own. no worries.

i am hoping by this weekend she will be standing all on her own.

[alex.s]

i bought a new welder. it works much better. the a-arms are almost done. i need to drill them on the press. and i need to drill out the upper ball joint mount on the miata hub to 5/8" like the other. just need to cut out some brackets and drill them and weld them onto the frame and then she'll have 4 wheels! maybe i can get that done tomorrow. i had to order extra heim joints for the linkage for the inboard suspension. it should be here on saturday. hopefully i'll be able to get the suspension linkage and pivot made over the weekend and maybe she'll be standing on her own... still more work to do for steering. and lots of work on roll cage and an absurd amount to do on electrical. brakes have basically not been started yet and probably wont happen for a little while until i can go pick up the rotors and calipers that will be going in the front. i still need to figure out a gas tank... i think it might be lined mild steel sheet that i weld together myself. lots of fiberglass work to do as well.

[alex.s]

my new welder works about a million times better than the old welder. it makes me want to redo all my old welds... oh well. i guess i'll just have to build a second car afterward with prettier welds.

[alex.s]

[alex.s]

http://www.fuelsafe.com/road.htm

[Alex]

Is that what's attached in front?

[alex.s]

[alex.s]

its standing on its own now. its so stiff and light in front that even with one wheel off, it stands fine without letting the far side touch the ground... nice! it rolls around freely... it feels extremely light.

i modified the steering rack again. now its the correct length. but i need to lengthen the tie rods still so they reach since i shortened the rack.

it also turns out what i thought was the engine control box was actually mostly in charge of the wipers... so we've got the box that actually controls the engine... and the wire colors are lining up to the wiring diagram... so things are looking positive.

the right side upper control arm ball joint is 5/8th but the miata upper hub mount is 1/2" so i've been trying to drill it out... gone through probably 30$ worth of bits that are supposed to be nice quality... should take them back and complain. once i get that drilled out all that will really be left of the front running gear is the second shock mount, shock knuckle and mounts, pushrod and pushrod mount, and the longer steering rods.

after that i have to finish the electrical. and i need to make a gas tank. i will do rubber mounted steel coated in por15 with baffles. i also will soon start making the bucks to make molds for the bodywork... was thinking of going crazy but i will instead just try to replicate the atom bodywork directly. also thinking about buying a nice bender... jd squared looks really nice... so many dollars though. i need to make a roll cage soon

[skilletmo]

Subd!

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by Alex

Is that what's attached in front?

fuel tank goes between engine and cockpit. that front gap is where i will put the battery, brake and clutch hydraulic res'. and a small little container for paperwork or gloves or whatever. there will be a separate "glovebox" built into the dash as well big enough to hold... maybe a pair of gloves.

it's probably not the best thing to go shopping in. but it might have more storage than a bike if you count the passenger seat

[alex.s]

[alex.s]

so after talking to several very well experienced builders, i'm going to be making some changes to my mounting bracketry. it started when the guy who made midlana mentioned my lower pushrod mount was pretty slim. being 16ga its definitely underbuilt. it got me looking at those brackets... so basically i'm just going to be welding washers onto the main arm mounting tabs for extra support as well as adding some 90* braces to the sides of each arm mount to help against braking forces. the pushrod mounts are going to be remade from 11ga tube made into square bracket sides, and so then the heim joint will just mount to these. should be able to handle basically anything within the realm of reason. (obviously its not going to be taking 60 footer jumps with two-arm 11ga wishbones.)

[alex.s]

been doing wiring. my brother is leading the fight. we're about half way done identifying everything... it will be a very simple electrical system. chassis ground with a safety key near the front. posi switched at the ignition. single main relay for fuel pump and ignition. the EFI needs a minimum set of components so-- the MAP sensor, throttle pos, intake temp, water temp, oil pressure, and downstream oxygen all need to get wired into the ecu. the distributor has the crank, tdc, and cam sensors built in and provides the ecu with those inputs. the starter has built in relay, and will be on a separate circuit triggered only by the keyed ignition switch. no accessories or lights on the main circuit- they will come off the battery separately through an accessory breaker box. eventually it'll have the full spread of LEDs. but that will come much later. the lighting and accessories will be run by a main computer running a low power arm7 chip. probably a raspberry pi. it will control gauges, lights, logging and accessory control (ie- transponder/gps enables, tpms pings and obviously the internet radio. --it wont have FM, unfortunately. but you will be able to get on ninjette.org)

[JohnnyBravo]

Beyond thunder dome

[Hero Danny]

Awesome updates, very impressive to say the least.

Good work, Alex!

sub'd

[alex.s]

[alex.s]

[alex.s]

[alex.s]

the chassis fuse box starter and engine are well grounded with a forward safety key, posi line runs through the center channel from the battery in front to the main fuse and relay in the rear. posi also runs through the ignition switch and starter circuit to the rear relays also through the center channel. have fancy 64pin quick connectors that will separate between the firewall. still hooking up the ecu... found a good place to mount it, right behind the passengers head.

i made the RH LCA pushrod mount. this one is made from quarter inch steel plate on top of 11ga tube. should be about twice as strong as it needs to be. i also reinforced all the CA mounts. well, i haven't finished the last one... need to do that probably tonight i guess.

still need to go pick up some water hose fittings so i can finish the cooling system. i'll actually probably be using a ninja 250 radiator fan as its pretty much the perfect size i need.

yesterday i got a bunch of fiberglassing stuff and expanding foam and cardboard and started prepping to make bucks. the first piece i will make will be the front cowl. it is the smallest piece, so it will cost the least to screw up (i'm expecting to screw up a lot as i'm still fairly new to glassing)

i still need to finish the rear up. several supports for the engine mounts need to be welded on, as well as some cross braces and a few 11ga supports in the firewall for the roll cage structure. the left rear also needs a toe adjust bar and mounts and a remade UCA+mounts for camber adjust. (only have it on the right rear so far)... just a few minutes ago i ordered the parts for these. after that it needs an exhaust hanger bar to mount the muffler to. i need to order a nice tube bender. jd2 is too much though. i think im going to go with the eastwood because it comes with a "full set" of dies... i quote full set because its really just one die with a bunch of bolt on faces to get the difference sizes... but it should do what i need it to do.

[alex.s]

it's sorta starting to look like.... something...

[tfkrocks]

I really have no idea what you're doing other than you're putting **** together and making a car which is cool

[alex.s]

[alex.s]

with legit cardboard-fiber body panels.

[alex.s]

this is vaguely what it is supposed to look like

[tfkrocks]

[alex.s]

hahahaaaaa.... aww

[tfkrocks]

Better than this star

[alex.s]

so the ignition switch is hooked up and the battery and fuse box are hooked up and the main relay turns on when you turn the ignition on and it provides power to what will be hooked up to the ecu. so this is a big milestone for the electrical side. the rest is basically hooking up sensors to the ecu. i also need to hook up the relay line in the main to the ignition switch. the main relay is actually 2 relays. one powers the ecu and fuel system and the other powers the the starter solenoid.

i also finished cutting for the steering rack. i didnt get around to welding everything back together yet though... should be able to do that tomorrow. then i can bolt the rack in fully. i'll probably make some brackets for it.

i ordered the tubing bender. not so bad... $450. should be here in a week i guess. ordered from jegs. it will make the intake bar, the rear roll cage, and the front roll bar which according to regulations has to be above the steering wheel (why not just cut the top of the steering wheel off?) the front roll bar is actually one of the more complicated pieces to make. its 11ga, it needs to be at a nice large radius curve, and it also has two bends from the bender put in one end for the steering wheel hump

[salcuta88]

Would you finish it already? I wanna see it in action

[alex.s]

i am hoping that i will be able to take a test ride at least a few feet sometime this month. *hoping*

[csmith12]

Keep on, keepin' on!

[alex.s]

Link to original page on YouTube.

[iamjacob]

Looked like a fun ride right up until the end. Must have been a faulty steering wheel.

[alex.s]

nut behind the steering wheel maybe

[alex.s]

so tonight i made the first mould and i layed up my first piece... the "trunk"... it goes around the battery in the front and you can put things in it! it also diverts air to the side. it needs another layer of glass.

i found a washing machine sitting out for the trash with just a busted heater coil. so i took it. the body work is what looks like 18ga steel that's been painted with some really nice stuff. maybe its powder coat or something. i think i will use it for the seat area paneling. maybe i can use the motor to make a blender or something. i think the center is asking to be some kind of fire pit. for the seats i'll be stuffing 3 containers of bean bag refill pellets into a giant garbage bag and then pouring a little glue in and shaping it into a seatish looking thing before i sit in it for awhile and get it nice and tuned into my ass. once it cures i'll cut it down to size and cut holes for seat belts. i'm trying to work in a jiggles-style gyro cup holder... its harder than it looks.

the steering is all in place basically... i need to cut out some plate to make a new steering arm for the second miata hub. that hub also needs to have a hole finished drilling but it keeps stripping all my bolts. its cast, but i can't figure out how its so strong. maybe i just need the oxy torch... maybe i should just weld on it and then drill it.