it's been a while

wow it has been  while, not having the net on will do that though.

when all is said and done there isn't really much to report.

of late things have all been house and impending baby with a little work thrown in to pay  for it all. i'm sure that most of you know how it goes.

i did have one stroke of brilliant luck. a friend of mine from uralla (the next town down the hwy) gave me a call and said he was cleaning out his shed and was about to take a load to the tip, if there was there anything i wanted it was mine. 

needless to say, being the scavanger that i am, i was down there on my next day off.

he is mostly into later models and buggy's but he had said that it was IRS trailing arms (which interested me) plus some old engine cases and a few other bits and pieces. when i turned up a few other bits and pieces turned out to be a decent layer in the bottom of a 6 by 4" trailer...  the first thing he said was " you remember that distributor you wanted, that my uncle gave me, it's yours. (i checked about 5 times on this as he was told under no circumstances sell it, ever). so i'd been there 2 minutes and picked up a VJ4 BR8 distributor (aka an early 019 dist), something i've been keeping an eye out for for 2+ years. 

next i started poking through various bits and my friend (we'll call him S to protect his true identity) was picking on me for my love of "junk" and pulled out an ugly, severly mashed, 70's (?) steering wheel from the trailer to make fun at me with. when i started jumping up and down he thought i was truely mad. i had eyespyed that it still had the splined bit of it's boss, and it a had protruding square center bit to fit the wheel on. a while back i picked up a vintage leather and aluminium Formula (UK company that made the later speedwell steering wheels) steering wheel. i had been looking for a suitable boss ever since but was begining to dispare that i would ever find anything suitable within my current tight budget. 5 minutes and two things that i were high on my wish list coming home with me. 

next i got poking through the trailer good and propper, it yeilded a few little nick nacks in decent condition that are nice to have. at this stage i'm over the moon it had been such a car drought and suddenly i've crossed 2 bits off my list and got some nice other bits as well.

we chatted, he showed me around his new shed and what he was up to with all of his projects etc and generally talked car BS as you do.

eventually i realized that it was nearly time to pick the girls up from school so i had better motor back up the HWY. the intention had been to come back on the weekend with the other car to pick all the greasy bits up, but i figured as he was happily giving me all this cool stuff i'd chuck it in the back of the good car and hope to hell it didn't leave grot the boot (or i'd get a skinned by the better half).

in went the IRS trailing arms, the case half with the distributor firmly stuck in it and a bucket with the odds and ends in it. there was a late 6V fan shroud and generator there that i was umming and ahhing about. i figured what the hell and picked it up to put it in the car. as i got it in i noticed it had a decent dent in it so decided to put it back. we chatted for a few more minutes then i went to go, but something was drawing me towards the fan shroud. i knelt down and had another look at it. then i noticed that the generator was made in brazil... alarm bells started going off. that looked fimaliar, really familiar. a quick lick of the finger and the rest of the generators details were exposed. 38A 14V! a quick double check with mr S "that is 6V size isn't it?" in case my mind was playing tricks with me, "yes it is". " err S that is a 6V size 38 amp 12V generator". "oh cool, do you still want it?" "umm they are rather hard to get hold of and worth $, you should keep it" etc. he even turned down offers of decent cash for it, so 3 top scores all off my "i want it a LOT" list and all for a few $ in petrol! i was buzzing the whole way home (well actually till i eventually went to bed that night).

the next week was spent making everything i got from him look pretty etc. i need to buy some bits for the dist before i can finally re-assembly it but it is all cleaned and re painted etc.

later i went to fit the boss to the steering wheel (which turned out to be from a early 70's mini clubman GT if you care) it turned out that it didn't fit :(   .   oh well, it was nothing that 6 or 8 hours with the dremel, a razor saw, a drill and bits plus a few files couldn't fix. now the boss is fitted up and ready to bolt on. i only need to work out the back cover and the front bit with the horn button and make them or get them made at a reasonable price.

mr S wouldn't take any money for it but he is after a decent roof for an old ex-race off road buggy (rolled, roof replaced then rolled again etc). now that i have finally emptied my trailer i think that i might chop the roof off a parts car i have here and drop it down for him this weekend. you have to look after the people who look after you.

apart from that one day of brilliance i haven't picked up anything new and apart from that week i have barely even looked at the car stuff. 

actually in my smoke break i remembered that i spent a number of evenings at the beginning of the year designing a vw based special. i've wanted to design and build a car for years. using vw underpinnings makes sense to me as i a) know them and b) have them, plus c) you can get decent numbers out of them for minimal weight and fuss.

it started out as a 50's styled hardtop GT/sports job on a shortened vw pan, with an full aluminium body. sort of my take on a d&s or a rometsch but with a little more sporting flavour... it ended up getting a bit more denzel.

i got the shape to something that worked for me then for giggles did a drawing with it shuffled about to be a mid engine. that was it, it not only looked right but of course is better for the weight distribution etc. the level of mechanical complexities jumped right up... then i thought, double wishbone front end. etc.

several nights later i had most of the exterior design resolved (the middle bit of the nose is still a bit up in the air). and a lot of the mechanical layout and the basic structure (now full monocoque) is worked out. now all i need to know is where to put the roll centre for set types ofhandling so i can work out where i want it and start thinking about the design of the suspension itself.

btw the intentions are to be about 500kg wet, fairly short wheelbase, low polar moment of inertia, fairly neutral handling (maybe with a slight tendence to oversteer) top speed arount 100-110mph fun being more importand than fast. the polar moment may possibly change as with a short wheelbase and light weight it may not be an advantage.

unfortunately that is where it has stopped. i need clay to resolve some of the final shapes that can't really be drawn. plus i need to actually lay out the dimentions/ bits on the ground to see if there is enough space for the driver... i got a little worried that maybe i had lost too much foot room with the different front suspension. also the side profile looks good but the front is still a little too high and narrow so if i could get a few inches out of the roof and still fit in the size driver i'd like it to fit it would be good. also i needto take the front and rear screen out ot full size and see if i can find a suitable screen to cut down to fit... this is before i take some rough drawings to my sister to get a rough structural analysis done...

nfi if it will ever progress any further but it was heaps of fun and kept me well occupied/entertained for a few weeks.

hopefully it wont be months till the next entry here.