Mechie3's 818S

[DruOdil]

Hi Craig, thank you for letting me test fit one of your products. Here are some pics of the steering rack bracket in place, "mocked up". I just bolted it right on with the FFR supplied hardware. Simple, and perfect fit. One peace aluminum with the extra metal/ weight removed. Strong and light, just what we all need. This solves a problem area and with your bracket and the steering rack could never move. I don't have a thread so I posted on yours.

Thank you again, Dru

SR bracket 1.jpgSR bracket 2.jpgSR bracket 3.jpg

[Hindsight]

That's a nice looking piece!

[FFR-ADV]

Hey Craig, Those steering mounting brackets look great!

[FFR-ADV]

Don't look too closely at the welds, but this is one of two of the AWIC integration kits (for lack of a better term) going out to the product testers. I'm an aluminum welding noob and it was -4F outside in an unheated garage when I was welding. Brrr! For production pieces I've retained the services of my friend who used to weld for both a company that makes aluminum racing radiators as well as was the lead fabricator for the two seater indy car. It'll save me time, money (I scrapped probably 1/3 of the parts), and look nicer. This kit is everything that I will supply to fit the off the shelf frozenboost components.

Looking really nice Craig! And they work with the AJW exhaust as well!

[Mechie3]

Thanks for the pics Dru! I spoke with the shop today and they'll start making parts when I drop off a deposit.

[Mechie3]

In the course of 3 days we went from a 4F am morning to a 60F afternoon so build mode is back! I couldn't justify working in single digit temps when I have a little girl inside I could spend time with. Now that it's warm enough I can sneak out after she goes to bed or my wife is having some one on one time.

I didn't get much done, but tackled the hump close off panel. I'm still not a fan of riveting everything together so I continued to use 10-32 rivnuts and 10-32 x .5 screws to hold it together. I put 10 rivnuts between the vertical/horizontal panel and 12 between the horizontal and frame. Nothing holds the top portion so I wanted it to be stiff. It was difficult to get anything into the horizontal panel underneath the roll hoop. I managed to get 2 on each side. I spaced the others out so that they weren't all in a single line to eliminate a pivot point. The vertical panel went in front of the crease. The 90deg bend there hides the two panel transition and eliminates an exposed seam allowing water to get in. I'll probably end up putting the black trim around the opening of the fiberglass to give it a finished look.

Couple of notes:
After I was done I realized that the crease sits ~1" back from the front edge of the fiberglass. I should have trimmed the front of the horizontal piece to allow it to sit further up. Too late now as the rivnuts are already placed, though I might drill them out and replace a few if I can't figure anything else out.

The very ends of the horizontal piece have little tabs that stick forward around the roll hoop. These cross right over a large weld bead. I just cut them off as they're hidden under the body anyways.

The gap:



Horizontal to vertical transition. Rivnut every ~5.25"


The cut off tab (bottom right of photo) and a few frame mounting points:


The center mounting points. The marker was for rough positioning, I measured actual locations later (ignore the one missing screw ):

[Mechie3]

Got some work done this weekend. Mostly just finishing up the front fender wells. Got the battery undertray temporarily mounted with Cleco's as well. It took so long due to trimming and using all rivnuts instead of rivets. Rivets are easy, drill, cleco, rivet, done. I can never get my rivnuts to set perfectly centered so after the initial drill, cleco, redrill for rivnuts (and bolt clearance holes), and setting rivnuts I then have to fit the panel and adjust any clearance holes to account for off center rivnuts. I think it's worth it. For items like the firewall that will never come off or the battery tray that doesn't prevent access I'm fine with rivets. For any panel that needs to be removed in order to inspect brake lines or fiddle with suspension parts I want them removable without a drill, spare rivets, and rivet gun.

[Hindsight]

Nice idea on the rivnuts. With all those rivnuts you are putting in, I hope you aren't using the FFR provided tool! What about just using short sheet metal screws?

That is the first good pic I have seen of the front wheel well with all splash guards in place. It makes me wonder how the vents at the rear of the fender are going to work? I was thinking the rear fender vent openings were to help create negative pressure to help air flow the radiator but if they are blocked off by the splash guards it seems like it won't work. Maybe there is another path the air can take?

[Mechie3]

I don't think they are vents as much as clearance for the door to open. Curving the door in and having a big open fender is done to allow for better final looks as the panel gap is hidden so it can be uneven. OEM cars don't do this.

If you use the FFR door vents (like C. Plavan) you don't put in that rear most piece. I might put some slots on the rear piece along with some mesh to allow air through to vent the high pressure area behind the wheel but prevent rocks from chipping the door.

I'm not using the FFR "tool". I bought a rivnut tool from Menards for $20 (it's in another thread, blue, looks like the HF one but is much stronger). it looks like a pop rivet tool. Much easier than the FFR method, but still longer than rivets due to the multiple step process and threading on/off vs slipping on a pop rivet with an air tool.

[Frank818]

Oh god, the engine block off plates go that far behind the FW? That won't fit with my engine, it's taller than the horizontal V tubings onto which the alu plate sits. Damn, some more issues coming for me!

[C.Plavan]

I don't think they are vents as much as clearance for the door to open. Curving the door in and having a big open fender is done to allow for better final looks as the panel gap is hidden so it can be uneven. OEM cars don't do this.

If you use the FFR door vents (like C. Plavan) you don't put in that rear most piece. I might put some slots on the rear piece along with some mesh to allow air through to vent the high pressure area behind the wheel but prevent rocks from chipping the door.

I'm not using the FFR "tool". I bought a rivnut tool from Menards for $20 (it's in another thread, blue, looks like the HF one but is much stronger). it looks like a pop rivet tool. Much easier than the FFR method, but still longer than rivets due to the multiple step process and threading on/off vs slipping on a pop rivet with an air tool.

I didn't put in the two rear peices (each side) for the door vent. The back piece and the triangular peice in front of it. Seems to work great once you get all the air out of the coolant system.

My engine compartment gets so damn hot without the hump/engine block off stuff. I welcome any venting. Make sure to watch those temps.

[Scargo]

Frank818: LOL, Frank. What are you talking about? The engine's not in the front!

[Frank818]

Frank818: LOL, Frank. What are you talking about? The engine's not in the front!

I hope not, cuz I have done everything to have it in the back!

I meant on the other pictures post #1126. I was a little behind posts.

[Frank818]

My engine compartment gets so damn hot without the hump/engine block off stuff. I welcome any venting. Make sure to watch those temps.

You don't use them? Is it a lot louder without?

[Mechie3]

Frank, those are some simple parts. You could likely make your own. Smooth lines won't matter as they'll be hidden under the humps.

[Mechie3]

Found a few hours to work tonight.

This is why I'm glad I used rivnuts. After finishing the fender wells I removed the windshield surround as the lip has been held in place by clecos the last several months. When I removed it I noticed that I couldn't previously reach the corners of the metal block off plate that goes under the surround and dash. If I had just riveted it all in place I would never have access. I put in rivnuts for the windshield and the block off plate. When I removed the block off plate it made it much easier to put these side panels in place. I don't recall these being in my manual and I haven't fully read the updated version. It would be much better to put these parts in place (or at least drill/cleco and then remove) before doing the surround. The wheel well pieces would have been much easier if I had simply removed the surround as well.

The clecos for the block off plate with the aluminum side plate shown below:


The side aluminum piece. I might not even rivet/rivnut the fiberglass to the lip. There's enough tension on it that unless it vibrates like crazy it'll hold itself in place and there will be less exposed fasteners.


This part wasn't in my manual either. Others had tucked the mounting tabs underneath the larger pieces so that there were less exposed overlapping tabs. Much harder to do after the fact. Quite a bit of trimming and drilling out about 10 rivets. It's not perfect but when powdercoated it'll blend better and I can cover the small exposed cracks with silicone to clean it up. Rather than modifying the small part you can simply cut the openings in the larger parts a little bigger and it'll drop in with little effort. Too difficult to do with the panels still mostly mounted and it would mess up the nice powdercoat.

[nkw8181]

Looking good. Looking good!

[Frank818]

So Craig, should it be better to have the body properly aligned and trimmed when fitting those inner fenders and wells? Or it doesn't matter, even if I have never test fitted the body panels I could go ahead and fit all those alu panels and then put the body on later and adjust slightly if required?

[Mechie3]

For the front the only one you can't do (sort of) is the one that goes from the radiator tunnel to the bumper (the one in front of the wheel). The rest don't contact the body (except the rear one, it has a lip that goes under the body).

[Mechie3]

It's not an 818 part, but I finished a table this weekend. Started it on Thursday, finished it on Friday, assembled it Saturday. Now it sits in my cubicle area. Also finally finished the matching aluminum upright for my friends legrand so I've cleared my plate of most of my obligations and can focus on the 818 again. There's a small story on the table at my facebook page.

[Mechie3]

After it hit 75F a few weeks ago we dropped back down to freezing temps and then hovered around the 40's for a while. It warmed up again (50F) and I got a little time in the garage.

I borrowed a page from the Mike Everson playbook and made my rear fender wells removable. The brackets look a little odd by themselves, like I couldn't make symmetric parts. When you put them on the fender well you'll see they line up nicely with the edge. The mounting tab on the well isn't centered on the arc. I decided to go with horizontally spaced screws instead of making them follow the arc. The end result is what you see.







The cutout for the rear bumper/side sail lip wasn't in the right spot (as others have noted too). This is the shape I cut out for extra clearance.

[Kurk818]

After it hit 75F a few weeks ago we dropped back down to freezing temps and then hovered around the 40's for a while. It warmed up again (50F) and I got a little time in the garage.

I borrowed a page from the Mike Everson playbook and made my rear fender wells removable. The brackets look a little odd by themselves, like I couldn't make symmetric parts. When you put them on the fender well you'll see they line up nicely with the edge. The mounting tab on the well isn't centered on the arc. I decided to go with horizontally spaced screws instead of making them follow the arc. The end result is what you see.

The cutout for the rear bumper/side sail lip wasn't in the right spot (as others have noted too). This is the shape I cut out for extra clearance.

That's an awesome mod. Ill have to do the same. Thanks Mike and Craig for the helpful tips.

[RM1SepEx]

I just put nutserts into the frame there instead of making a tab...

[Mechie3]

I thought about that, but there isn't very much access to that point. I had a hard time getting a cleco in there to mark where to mount the tab.

[wleehendrick]

I borrowed a page from the Mike Everson playbook and made my rear fender wells removable. The brackets look a little odd by themselves, like I couldn't make symmetric parts. When you put them on the fender well you'll see they line up nicely with the edge. The mounting tab on the well isn't centered on the arc. I decided to go with horizontally spaced screws instead of making them follow the arc. The end result is what you see.

Very cool... are you planning to offer that as a product (could probably do a batch pretty inexpensive), or mind sharing a template?

After it hit 75F a few weeks ago we dropped back down to freezing temps and then hovered around the 40's for a while. It warmed up again (50F) and I got a little time in the garage.

Tell me about it... I was in Iowa all last week for business, and before I left everyone was saying how nice the weather was there and just bring a light jacket. Well, I got stuck in O'Hare for 12 hours due to the ice-storm that hit the upper mid-west last Monday and didn't get home til early Saturday. So I spent a lot of this last weekend in a hammock on my back patio thawing out and catching up on my sleep instead of working on the 818!

[Mechie3]

Very cool... are you planning to offer that as a product (could probably do a batch pretty inexpensive), or mind sharing a template?

I'll have it quoted. It's thinner material and small so I'm hoping it's an inexpensive piece. It's certainly not something that brings in the dough, so to say, but more of something that just saves others a headache or makes a nicer looking piece.

edit: I modified the model so the profile looks nicer and the bolts follow the curve of the top and sent it out for quoting.

[nkw8181]

Nice!

[Frank818]

Great part Craig, again great part. Plz continue...

[Mechie3]

Final version of the rear AWIC bracket. The logo used to be "Zero dB" but it required two different versions, one for clocked and one for non clocked turbos. With this pattern, I can order the same flat piece for both setups, just bend them opposite ways without any reversed names or words.

[longislandwrx]

smart!

[Mechie3]

I don't always let the cat out of the bag before I have prototypes, but enough people have been asking for these so I thought I'd share. It's a hood hinge design based on a concept that RM1sepex emailed me last week. You can see his implementation of it in his build thread.

nstead of using angle pieces bolted together I designed it as a weldment as my sheet metal supplier can get me better pricing than having to CNC angle pieces and use more bolts. The center piece has two tabs that mount on top of the subframe member and a few bolts that go in from the back. It'll be fixtured during welding to ensure that the pivot holes are concentric and parallel to each other. The arms have a slot for a screw that gives an adjustable stop so you can have your hood open just a little, 90 deg, or all the way.

[nkw8181]

Sweetness!

[bbjones121]

Awesome!

[Hindsight]

Wow that looks very slick!

[07FIREBLADE]

Now thats what I'm talking about. It looks awesome like usual. Great work Craig keep up all the hard work.

[AZPete]

Yes. Yes. Yes. Take my money now for this hood hinge, Craig!
. . . and, nice design Dan.

[Harley818]

Nice work on the hinge guys. I saw it in Dan's thread. Seems to work great.

[RM1SepEx]

Craig fabricates to Cad and CMC capability I use microbrew beer, a bandsaw, drillpress and files

[Scargo]

RM1SepEx, I'm jealous, too and yearn to do what he does. Scotch lubes my 'pooter. I used to move in Craig's circles. Had CNC equipment and powerful CAD software. Three employees designing and making their own parts. Now, I have few resources. My friends are retired. So, like you I get out the Foredom and files.
BTW, nice work (again) Craig .

[Mechie3]

Thanks!

I changed up my bracket design. Instead of 1 long piece, it'll be two separate pieces. Dan suggested making it so that it has some lateral adjustment after the pieces are bonded in case they shift or weren't placed perfectly. Said the hood had enough flex to account for minor changes in the pivot axis.

Here's the first proto. Needs two relief slots added to make the small tabs easier to bend and needs one relief tab moved so it doesn't deform the lower mounting slot.