The Project Begins

[coolfart]

Re: The Project Begins

Update

Material has arrived, but i fear i may have ordered too much lol! 18 meters of mild steel tubing seems enough for two or three frames but i'll soon see.

Welding gear should be with me tommorow

David

So once you've done the first one, a limited production run looks likely!!!

[6F00T4]

Re: The Project Begins

Always good to build an alternative subframe for a different engine or just a spare. Smart subframes are easy to get hold of.

[David_MCS]

Re: The Project Begins

So once you've done the first one, a limited production run looks likely!!!

There has been talk of this but not saying too much at this point.

I've produced detailed drawings to fit a Hayabusa 1300R engine in to a Smart Car so thats what we'll be sticking too for now. The frame will be changed a number of times to insure everything works perfectly

To be continued..

P.S No welding gear has arrived yet

David

[6F00T4]

Re: The Project Begins

If you need any CAD work done, give me a shout. I'm looking for a nice little 3D project to draw up at the moment.

[David_MCS]

Re: The Project Begins

Update

Still no welding gear yet, i've just emailed the company to get an ETA.

Also, i've ordered some Cosworth Parts for the rear, i'll be using 173mm rear discs. This should look quite compared to the 280mm ForTwo fronts and will be brilliant for stopping the additional power.

More soon..

David

[David_MCS]

Re: The Project Begins

Update - 19/02/2009

Excuse my last post concerning the rear discs i'll be using, i meant to post that i'll be using 273mm Cosworth Rear Discs

Welding gear has arrived *cheer*, Cosworth rear driveshafts should be here before the weekend

David

[David_MCS]

Re: The Project Begins

Update - 25/02/2009

Driveshafts have arrived and are being taken apart for a refurb and a good greasing, i'm going to produce some drawings and get some front hubs machined up. These will be exact replica's for the Smart Fortwo front hubs but with a sensible 4 bolt pattern instead

I need to get the Cosworth rear hubs apart before the weekend so they can be cleaned up with new bearings etc.

David

[Jcdenton]

Re: The Project Begins

Can we get some pictures? It sounds great so far.

[6F00T4]

Re: The Project Begins

yeah, any blogs or websites?

[David_MCS]

Re: The Project Begins

Very soon guys :-) Went to see a friend this evening concerning the front hubs, watch this space

[Jcdenton]

Re: The Project Begins

make a guide lol. Should only be a few hundred pages long.

[David_MCS]

Re: The Project Begins

Only takes an imagination

[David_MCS]

Re: The Project Begins

Update - 28/02/2009

Afternoon all, not much hands on work today but alot of design work is about to start.

I've taken off the original ForTwo front hubs, as i've mentioned before these are going to be remade but with Ford wheel fitment (4x108).

The reason for this obviously that i won't be able to get any decent and matched front and rear wheels.

This will mean though i'll be using Ford Sierra or similar front calipers and discs, i'll have to get these to fit using custom bits when it comes to it but for the moment i didn't want to spend too much time at the front when the rear needs all the thought and work initially!

Here's a few pictures to explain what i've been talking about.

Original Smart Fortwo front Hub



Note the ABS ring attached on the opposite side


Left: Fortwo front hub, Right: Cosworth Rear Hub


The difference between the hubs is only a few millimeters so it won't cause too much of a problem, the main concerns is obviously getting the ABS ring in the right place on the new hub, and making sure the hub center is correct so that Ford Wheels will fit on perfectly.

Should have some drawings of the new hubs later

[pam gazey]

Re: The Project Begins

Fantastic, another conversion on its way.

Love the 'bits' on the dining table, reminds me of my youth and helping Dad strip his Norton 650 Twin on the kitchen floor because it was to cold in the garage, Mom went mad.

Pam

[David_MCS]

Re: The Project Begins

Update - 12/03/2009

I've currently got a week off work to catch up on the project

So this is whats been happening today.

* I've dropped off two bottles to get filled with CO2 ready to use with the welding equipment.
* On the way home i nipped in to see Gearboxman to depart with some cash for a new rear quaife diff and drive flanges (£££).
* This afternoon i prepped the driveshafts for sandblasting, these are getting dropped off tommorow morning so should get them back next week.


In the meantime the driveshaft boot kit arrived last week, so once i get the driveshafts back they will be set aside as i now considered these finished. Also i now own about 50 cap head driveshaft bolts!

I need to order the kit-car rear uprights soon, once these have arrived i basically have the complete drive parts completed.

Also, i ordered the Quaife Diff as a bit of a suprise for my dad. He has helped me out no end recently. We usually go halfs on all the parts and equipment but i've ordered the diff as a suprise to say thank you. Funny thing was he was talking today about how handy it would be to have while bending some tube up for the subframe.

So thats it for now, i'll post some pictures up once the diff as arrived