I've wrestled with the steering column rake for a while. You are right Steve its a 41 degree steering box but with a shorter column. It puts the wheel a little high but not too uncomfortable. See pic below. I think the sports box is 37.5 degrees and I've estimated that I'll not have much room under steering wheel as the cockpit is quite narrow and my knees are already close!. (the pic is taken without the sides on so my knees are splayed out slightly). I'm not a fan of steering wedges having tried one on my previous special and found it none too firm and I didn't like the high brake pedal position. I ended up shaving material off the back of the steering box and putting a very small wedge in the front. This kept the brake pedal hole in the same place but I don't think changed the rake by more than a degree or two.
The original concept for the car was as a trials special. Hence the straight front axle and standard springs. I guess a slightly higher seating position is acceptable or even desirable especially for the bouncer? The seat base in the photo is about 3" above the chassis rail but with no cushion.
A single door is an idea, but once Liz is in the car I'm not sure she would like to get out every time I do!
With this glorious weather I've ben able to wheel the car out and attack the completed ply shell with a hole saw. Firstly I cut the doors out and then set too with the drill.
I've only put holes in the cockpit area as other areas will be exposed to spray and mud and had they been drilled with large holes would have needed to be skinned internally with more ply. I will need to skin inside the cockpit but that may be just fabric.
I've also been a bit wary getting too close to the laminated curves and places where I've joined layers of ply together. However all together I taken more than 1.5 kg off. (measured by weighing the discs cut by the hole saw but not taking into account huge amount of saw dust that was generated). I'm still considering some more smaller holes but I'm not sure how much more weight saving I can make.
Next problem is finding some decent brass hinges. Because fixing to the edge of the ply would be very weak I need hinges that will fix to the inner face but pivot about the outer edge. The ply is only 12mm thick so I think I may have to make these.
I quite like the more upright stance on this car Howard. It looks like the cabin won't be "too" cramped compared to lowered specials. How about "Holey Mc Hole Face"
Thanks for the naming suggestions. Shame its all going to covered up with fabric!
I've been busy doing other things today. Putting some strengthening plates under the main cross beam of my trailer to help stop some cracks that have developed around the mounting points. I've also replaced a damaged slat in my roller shutter garage door. I didn't realise how heavy a full double door would be and at one point ended up with the whole lot cascading on top of me. No damage, just some pride and a small scratch on the modern! I also investigated a rumble coming from under the RK. Loose fabric coupling bolts no less.
I have had a go at making a door hinge. I needed a double cranked hinge as shown in the photo below. I couldn't see anything like it on the web so I took a strap hinge like the one on the right and bent it and cut it down to a reasonable size, filled a couple of screw holes with braze, cut other holes and cleaned it up. Three more to make. Shame they are not brass but I may nickel plate them eventually.
I feel a bit overwhelmed by Ian's thread. He really is "the Master" when it comes to special building, but maybe others may take some some comfort in my amateur efforts?
I've spent a couple of days hanging the doors. As with all DIY efforts you realise the mistakes too late. The holes in the doors should have been positioned to avoid the hinges. The third screw hole on the top hinge will find some purchase in the ply door card when fitted.
The hardest part of the work was forming the latch plates. I still haven't got those right especially as the door is very light and doesn't "slam" shut as I would hope. I may have to weaken the springs in the door catches.
I've also dipped two rusty wheels (acquired this week) in a bath of diluted molasses. I'll let you know how that turns out in a couple of weeks!
Fairly slow progress over the last week or so. I blame Beaulieu but there again I got lots of stuff (thanks Tony Betts and Dave Williams to name but two!).
I'm a bit of an amateur when it comes to metal bashing and I didn't join Duncan's course but I think the bonnet and side panels will look OK once they have been filled and painted. The round hole on the passenger side is so I can get my hand in to turn off the fuel (and probably a battery isolator). Opening the bonnet every time I want to turn off the fuel is a bit of a pain in the RK.
I took Steve and Duncan's advice and lowered the steering column. It was 41 degrees its now 38. I filed a very small wedge off the back of the steering box (about 1/8") and then added a similarly thick wedge at the front. This way the brake pivot pin stays in the same place and the bottom of the steering box remains flat. Unfortunately as predicted my knee was hard up against the steering wheel. I've solved this by forming a "heel depression" in the floor. It is only about an 1 & 1/2" but makes a huge difference. I still need a "blister" to accommodate my size 9's even wearing twinkle toe beach shoes!
I then found the steering wheel a bit remote from the scuttle so I've added a scuttle wind shield. All ready for an aero screen.
That is a possibility. I was trying to avoid putting a tunnel mid way across the car which I think chassis level seats would entail. The car is pretty narrow!
