Fostek's R&D department

[FOSSIE]

Re: Fostek's R&D department

Bonnet is a bit extreme but looks the part otherwise. What's the finished weight?

Car still needs battery, and one or 2 other bits which will make a difference. It'll be a smidge more than I planned, 1 or 2 things have worked out a bit heavier than I had expected (door seals for instance - weigh a ton - really upset me) and especially with the current axle, but will still be under 750kgs without ballast.

[FOSSIE]

Re: Fostek's R&D department

Is it a modified Ascona 400 rear spoiler?

Ultra rear RS item

[mexicotait]

Re: Fostek's R&D department

Rear or rare?

[muckerbarry]

Re: Fostek's R&D department

under 750kgs without ballast.

Jesus that’s amazing, that’s some brilliant engineering.

This is easily my favourite build, so well thought-out and the execution is superb. I don’t think it would be possible to pay someone to build a car with such a high attention to detail, again, superb.

Where do you think the biggest weight savings are made, is it a few key items or a bit of everywhere? (I totally understand if it’s a trade secret and you’d rather not say!)

[Fosworth]

Re: Fostek's R&D department

No trade secrets really. Remove everything, and I mean every little bracket etc etc from shell and replace everything else with carbon / alloy etc that isn't part of the strength in the shell. Then Alloy engine, tiny Sadev gearbox ( alloy ) Alloy axle ( spark erode cwp etc ) and use gundrilled shafts and all hubs etc have every bit of material removed that isn't vital. Use alloy / nylon nuts and bolts wherever possible and where possible drill out the centre of every bolt that isn't life threatening. The list goes on more but you get the idea.
There is limited benefit from just drilling out a few holes in bodypanels as it doesn't save that much, you need to be more imaginative and get rid of the panel altogether.

[Paul C]

Re: Fostek's R&D department

Have you got any pics of the finished dash Tom? Interested to see how you have finished it off as you have the digital display on the steering wheel.

Love the colour! Its a fab escort, well done to you.

[Fosworth]

Re: Fostek's R&D department

Paul. Please excuse my poor photography skills in poor light but I think this pic shows enough of the finished dash, or what there is of it. It is blank apart from gear indicator and a couple of lights for indicators, main beam etc.

[FOSSIE]

Re: Fostek's R&D department

No trade secrets really. Remove everything, and I mean every little bracket etc etc from shell and replace everything else with carbon / alloy etc that isn't part of the strength in the shell. Then Alloy engine, tiny Sadev gearbox ( alloy ) Alloy axle ( spark erode cwp etc ) and use gundrilled shafts and all hubs etc have every bit of material removed that isn't vital. Use alloy / nylon nuts and bolts wherever possible and where possible drill out the centre of every bolt that isn't life threatening. The list goes on more but you get the idea.
There is limited benefit from just drilling out a few holes in bodypanels as it doesn't save that much, you need to be more imaginative and get rid of the panel altogether.

Just about summed it up really.

There are 1 or 2 items on the car which have given massive savings, the axle being the most obvious, that was a very worthwhile exercise.

After that, my strategy was to look at every single component (and I mean every last nut & bolt) that was going onto the car and review it; can it be made from a different material, thinner gauge material, drill some holes in it, machine away un-stressed material, or get rid of it altogether. There are lots of parts (look at the dash for instance) where we just used the bare minimum.

The aim was to remove 25% from each part. If you keep that up over the whole build, then hey presto, the finished car will be 25% lighter than a "typical" build - which is pretty close to how things have actually worked out. Some items will be tricky to achieve this; take the engine for example - you can machine some material from the block and head castings but not much else really, without spending fortunes. It's the ancilliaries which make the difference; starter, flywheel, clutch, alternator, exhaust manifold etc. By going to town on these parts, (and starting with a very light engine anyway - the duratec is incredibly light) the overall engine "package" is approx 20kgs lighter than a typical Millington installation for example. 13" wheels instead of 15"s - 20kgs overall. Skinny discs and calipers on the back - 7kgs less than the norm. Lithium battery - 9kgs less than varley red top 30! Would you believe how much it saves using Tig or brazing on the bodyshell? You can use a whole spool of mig wire on 1 shell!

It all starts to add up.

Quite often it's very small savings you make - like drilling the centre out of bolts - we're talking grammes. But add that up over the course of the whole car and you're into several kgs. By using alloy bolts the hold the front wings on rather than steel, it saved nearly half a kg alone, just for example.
.

[Sunbmw]

Re: Fostek's R&D department

Great philosophy, and the last few cars I have built I have lived by this weight saving regime, and get quite anal about it. On the Tarmac, "None Historic" spec Sunbeam I am building, every bracket that isn't used was removed, I made some alloy bumper brackets, but also drilled them, and just every nut, bolt and washer that isn't a stressed item is replaced with aluminium. I just think it looks proper and gives the impression to the onlooker that you have actually put some pride and effort into building the car and not just thrown it together. It's a passion at the end of the day and I love to see something that has been properly thought about. Well done Tom and John, can't wait to see her in action.

[PaulAlex]

Re: Fostek's R&D department

Loving that rear spoiler Tom (and the rest of the car obviously!). If it passes a logbook or scrutiny, I want one PLEASE

[tkracing]

Re: Fostek's R&D department

Weight saving on a car is easy, I pity the drivers diet lol

[tkracing]

Re: Fostek's R&D department

any updates?

[Fosworth]

Re: Fostek's R&D department

Sorry again for the lack of updates but we have been fine tuning everything along with a full rolling road session at Daytuner in Harrogate. All seems good so we will be out testing this coming week and doing a trackday the week after hopefully. That should mean some pictures and a report on whether or not it goes like we expect. Mind you I have driven it round the industrial estate and it is impressive despite it being unbelievably noisey inside.

[Gyver]

Fostek's R&D department

Are those carbon wrc-style mirrors from a impreza?

Nice build!

[Fosworth]

Re: Fostek's R&D department

The mirrors are just very lightwieght aftermarket items. I can't remeber where I got them from.