DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

[david_white]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

Andy Pipe, myself and Frank 'no kettle' Frostick fitted up all of the suspension and steering in an hour, which was easy on Franks ramp using his transmission jack. Again big thanks to Frank for his help and Gemma for letting me have the shell.



After a quick roadtrip up to Ely the car is now at Grahams new unit ready for the new cage, a firewall and a couple of other little jobs.

[Graham]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

it doesnt look much but ive done a bit, removed the last of wiring and heater box. cut the screens out intact, the fronts heated and going back in the rear wont so if you want a rear sierra screen pm dave.

ive also got rid of all the interior sound deadening pads, which i did on the hottest day of the year so far, it really wasnt the day to be using a hot air gun and scraping hard at the same time





also removed the sunroof cassette, looks like a bit of sanding and worm poison needed on the inside of the roof

[david_white]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

Thanks Graham, awesome work. Might not look much but I know how long all those jobs take, especially the sound deadening! Look forward to the updates!!!

[Longman]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

Missed this so far.

Will be nice to see it progress!

[Graham]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

a bit more progress.



a quick run over with a wire brush in the angle grinder followed with a wipe over from an old towel with some petrol/diesel mix took away most of the residule black gunk from the sound deadening pads



someone had done a nasty hydraulic clutch conversion to the bulkhead, so i welded the plate on properly and welded up the holes in it. the battery tray has now gone, and the dark patch top left on the inner wing was a localised grotty bit where two panels meet, as it was fairly narrow i simply ground the grott out and welded it up

from the inside
daves going to fit a floor mounted pedal box so the other holes will be welded up later, im leaving them for now as they may make usufull access points for cage welding


front footwell, the bit with the slotted holes will need plating over, you might notice a hole cut in the floor, i need a hole to drop the cage down to weld the top of it later on, but that bit was grotty, so i just cut a bigger hole and will make it a nice neat patch later.



cage main hoop sitting in place, its not attached yet ive just worked out where it goes and trimmed it to fit the footplates, one things clear this cage seems to fit better than some from the manufacturer, but no way will i end up not having to trim some tubes




main hoop another angle, with another hole to drop it through the floor, plate at bottom of B pillar is nothing to do with rust, it will be an attachment point for the door bar

[david_white]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

Coming along rather nicely Graham. Will that cross bar on the main hoop tie in with the tunnel in some form? Obviously that will come last once the cage is up in its final position. Front bulkhead looks a lot neater now

[Graham]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

No the main hoop x bar doesn't tie in to the tunnel, it should sit much higher where the top door bar and lower rear brace meet main hoop. Right now It's only in there to spread main hoop legs apart, it's a fraction too long and will need jacking into place

[Graham]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

It's not obvious from the pics but I've also removed loads of little brackets, very time consuming but worth it's as weight wise it all adds up, and although looking good from the outside invariably there's rust forming behind them

[Graham]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car



a few more holes filled, again butt joined and seam welded, pop rivets and alloy plates would be a zillion times quicker. got rid of the screen bonding from the front screen surround and treated some scabby bits



slots in the foot wells welded over



hard to see but a couple of the many holes in the rear bulkhead welded, ive turned the shock bolt round and given it a captive nut, once everything is in, access to rear shock mount from the front side of the car will be very restricted, captive nut makes it an easy one handed job to unbolt the shock

[david_white]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

My 3 door had captive nuts on the towers like that, as you say it pays to make jobs much simpler in the future. Been working on stuff lately where you wish to god someone had had a little foresight to imagine working on it once fully built up.
Its all those little touches that will make it a joy to work on later on, rather than cursing with bloody knuckles lol!

[david_white]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

Foot plates look good, I need to check the angle of them from the floor for the pedal box

[mk22door]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

Not been on here for some time, it looks like great work that's being done!

What became of the magenta shell then?

And about your black 2 door bonnet, was it for sale?

Cheers

[david_white]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

Not been on here for some time, it looks like great work that's being done!

What became of the magenta shell then?

And about your black 2 door bonnet, was it for sale?

Cheers

Bonnet might be for sale, pm me.

Magenta shell gone, far to many 'issues' started to appear the deeper I dug. It could have been done but would have been patched up everywhere underneath and needed a fairly costly bit of restoration first. As a race shell with everything on show you certainly dont want to see repairs everywhere and the new shell is so nice and solid in comparison. Money saved on repairs and also at the paintshop later on..

[mk22door]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

Makes sense.

Was the magenta shell scrapped? That bad?

[mk22door]

Re: DW's Sapphire Cosworth race car

David, I cannot send you a message as I only have a post count of 14, well now 15!

I need more to be able to message you.

Cheers