Hi Will, My engine had the flywheel and 10 bolts that are really close to each other, they were seriously tight! If I remember correctly I just jammed the flywheel and hammered a socket onto the bolts until I got a grip, i then used an impact wrench to get them to move. I am not sure about the aluminium flange, I know i had two studs, but I used those to align the new flywheel. Maybe if you post a picture you can refresh my memory? The picture below is how my engine came. I made the adapter plate out of 13mm aluminium plate, that was fine, I used an Audi flywheel and clutch, machined to fit the Jag crank, the problem comes when you try and get a starter to fit, as the flywheel is much smaller than the Jag one, nothing comes close, I had to grind inches off the jag block to get the starter close enogh to the new flywheel. I used an Jag XK starter with the pinion of an Audi starter welded to the shaft. I fitted the gearbox to the new clutch/flywheel only to find out that the nothing touched, so as you say, I had to cut 13mm off of the bell housing. I also had to extend the spiggot bearing and machine it to suit the Audi.. (I had for gotten about all that grief I drove my car yesterday for the first time in Bahrain. I got everything working and went for a short spin around the block. It was only when I heard some gurgling noise behind me that I realised that the cooling fans had not come on and the engine was boiling. It was 28 degs yesterday and the car just isn't used to the weather! According to the engine management system the air intake temperature was 65 degs C…. now that is warm. Regards Nick Image Unavailable, Please Login
Dowels normally stay in place when things come apart, they give you something to hang the flywheel upon once the last bolt is out. Might it now just be corrosion holding the flywheel? Aluminium and steel are never good together, due to electrolytic corrosion. Is it worth trying some sort of rust eater (acid) or penetrating oil for a few days to clean the dowels up? You may well have to improvise a puller... or time for a bigger hammer? David
Nick, Surely you missed a trick there. If you'd just left the engine there, bolted in gearbox and a couple of drive shafts you'd have finished an astonishing v12, mid-engined estate car by now! David Image Unavailable, Please Login
hi Guys my car and I are on the front pages of the country's weekly english speaking paper http://www.gulfweekly.com/article.asp?Sn=8139&Article=26597 in the printed version I am on the cover and page 2... Hopefuly this will generate some interest in finishing off the body.
Nick, If you're having trouble generating interest for the body there's a few routes that I believe may be viable. If you want perfect accuracy, you could use a 3D model of a Zonda taken from a videogame. I believe that when large companies like EA create car models they laser scan them so that the models in game are accurate. From this you would have surface geometry that you could mill into foam. Depending on how handy you are with glass fibre either you or someone else then creates molds from this plug. Lay up the inside of the molds and then you have it, repeatable body work. Here's a few examples of Zonda models I found that were taken from the Need for Speed videogame series http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=ff1f49c24223f450bda72093f9b5aa73 http://www.nfscars.net/file/view/mostwanted/12405.aspx http://www.nfsaddons.com/nfsmw/cars/Pagani/1484/ You get the idea. Alternatively, if you have a nice scale model of a Zonda perhaps you could laser scan that, increase the scale (you'll know the scale of the model already) and do the same process but with that geometry. Finally, it's a bit more laborious and perhaps not as accurate but many kitcar makers use full size carboard cutouts to line up and then fill in the gaps and sand to create the plug. Although you'd still need some idea of the car's geometry. This method was done in the link below, although it's not in English (it is but after being translated by google), the pictures give you an idea. http://bit.ly/hW63ef Interesting read, if you keep browsing it came out ok
Hi Alex Thanks for the advice, I do have the 3ds Zonda model andn a couple of 16th scale cars. I have had some interest but not as much as I hoped. I need to find some bondo and get on with it myself
Are you sure? I'd look into a machine shop to have them route some foam, you'll get a nice looking body that way
I have had some quotes for foam cnc machined etc.. the prices ranged from £10k upwards.. I got a quote from the UK at it was £15k. The best price I had was £7k and that was for wooden male molds, which would need a ton of finishing. The best price I have had in Bahrain for a body shell is 3500 dinar, or £5500 but I am sure I can get it done cheaper. Labor is very cheap here and there is no tax, so I am hanging on to the notion i can get a body made for around £2k. I also have to get headers made and other studd. Cheers Nick
Struck Gold Last night a guy came over to look at my car, he wants to start a business working in GRP, but at the moment he only does this at weekends. Currently he restores boats. He looked at my car my ages and concluded that there is nothing wrong with the body other than it hasn't been finished. I never coated it with Gel Cost, so what you see is just raw rough fibreglass. His idea is to rub the whole car down; filling where required and get the car perfect. Where the GRP is bad, cut those sections out and remake them. Then paint with Gel coat, rub down again and repeat, but for the final process when its all dead smooth, layer the body with thin carbon fibre. I have to admit to being rather excited about this approach. I know it doesnt look great at the moment but the shape is there and I worked really hard making that body, I would have been gutted to throw it away. I appreciate that the body shell may be better, but it would not have been one I made, which would have taken away some of the fun I had making the car. So I am now waiting to see what his process will require (money wise). We are also going to make a make the cockpit, the idea is to carve some blue foam to the right shape as a male mould and GRP over that. I am not sure whether one normally bonds windscreens onto GRP though, may be someone can help with this? Regards Nick
Bonding windscreens onto GRP was never a problem for TVR, thats the way they did it and I can't see any reason why you couldn't too.
This weekend i took the car out for a blast around the block. Rather gingerly at first I drove the kitcar onto the roads surrounding our compound in the desert. My son was holding my laptop which was "tuning" the engine as i drove it through the gears and gently through the rev range. The road outside our compound is 1/4 of a km and dead straight and makes a perfect test track After about 10 mins of driving up and down I decided to see what happens if you push the pedal down a bit harder and faster.. I remember my son screaming an obscenity, the blow off valves chattering away and then we were at the end of the road. So just to make sure we did it a few more times. I have no idea what speed we got to, but we were moving, the turbos hit 1 bar or 15 psi boost each at 6100 rpm and we were in 2nd and 3rd gear 4.6 seconds. The maximum throttle was 70%. In 3rd gear it wheel spins in a straight line when the turbos kick in... it is breath taking.. My Dad who is visiting us in Bahrain stood and watched on the side of the road, he said that from a distance it looked like a stealth fighter coming at him. So This is by far, the fastest thing I have ever ever driven Kind regards Nick Image Unavailable, Please Login
2 things. Gel coats crack. Personally I don't see the need for it. If you prime and paint fibreglass minus the gel coat properly it will look just as perfect. My little club race car had a fibreglass body minus gel coat, was fine and if I had put more effort into painting it would have looked as good as any other car. Do you have any roll over protection. Haven't seen a recent picture ... just wondering. Especially for when you have your son in the car. Pete
No, iit all happened so quickly and was a spur of the moment thing... I worked out my car went from 14mph to 80mph in 5.9 secs at 3/4 throttle. That was without putting any effort. So I think it is fair to say it will be pretty fast, I need to get used to 1st gear though, Today despite a state of emergency being introduced I managed to get one of the headers off and sent to the exhaust shop. I was going to have a set of 6 branch manifolds made, but really I don't see it will be any benefit. The "expert" there said the ones I have made are ideal, they just get the gas from head to turbo. he will reweld them and tidy them up which should make a big difference. The next will be to have a rear muffler made, I have to choose the sound I want, magnaflow, borla and another sound. All in all £200 for a custom system, with 2 6 branch headers he quoted £600. Yesterday we watched the Saudi army cross into Bahrain which was wierd! Last night we went out and were confronted with armed kids at a road block, I did a pretty hasty U turn and went a different route.. We live in sad times The attached picture was taken from my front door. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Then just as I posted the last post The Kuwaiti army moved in! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I was thinking of you when I heard the news this morning. Hope you and your familly are safe and well. Neil
Thanks guys, My wife and kids fly back to the UK tomorrow and I will stay here (with my car).. I have to say its a bit noisy outside tonight lots of screaming and chanting - oh great
