VAHokie's Roadster Build Thread - Body Fitment Questions

[cv2065]

Awesome! Sounds great!

[Fman]

Awesome! Enjoy the first start buzz, sure is a great feeling... engine looks and sounds great!

[jrcuz]

Tony, you've been busy! It sounds and looks great. Love the quiet pipes maybe some day for me.
JR

[RJD]

Congratulations! Up next - first go-kart. Way2go!

[phileas_fogg]

Congratulations Tony. If I can help you chase electrical gremlins, let me know.


John

[scottiec]

Guys I can't stress how clean Tony's build is. Coming along fantastic.

[Blitzboy54]

Your wheels are fantastic. Really love the look.

[BadAsp427]

way to go Tony.... congrats on the milestone... only a few more to go...

[GTBradley]

Woohoo! This calls for a beer!

[460.465USMC]

Congrats, Tony! What a big day. Very motivating.

Still following along.

[JB in NOVA]

Very nice! Sounds great. Congrats!

[VAHokie]

Air Filter
Took a little time off from the build over the holidays, but have been slowly plugging along towards first go-kart. I've knocked a few small things off the to-do list to include finalizing the air cleaner install. Nothing earth-shattering about it but wanted to share that I did have to notch the air cleaner base to accommodate one of my distributor wires. Hopefully this helps with a future builder who plans to use a K&N filter. With the mod it fit like a glove and the finished product looks darn cool.

[VAHokie]

Mechanical Throttle Linkage
A modification almost everyone I spoke to in creating my build plan recommended was Fortes' Mechanical Throttle Linkage. It's a great product and would highly recommend it. I've had it mocked up for some time but only recently got around to completing the install. As with all of the other parts, scuffed it up and applied some paint and clear coat to it.

Here are all the pieces painted and ready for install. You'll notice the bell crank on the right has a little bit of the top cut off which is to clear the top of my footbox.


I placed my heim joints in the firewall as close to the top of the 2" frame tube that I could. A lot of guys put them into the frame which would have addressed my footbox interference issue mentioned above. By putting them that low, I had to put relief cuts in the washers behind the firewall.




I used a small brass fitting to help with the transition through the footbox inner panel.


Bird's eye view of the finished product.


Side view of the finished product.

[VAHokie]

Courtesy Lights
I wanted to do something a little different with the courtesy lights so that they matched my color scheme, so I went with some red LED lights. In addition to both of the footboxes, I also have one in the trunk that is on the same circuit. They go well with the gauges!

[460.465USMC]

Mechanical Throttle Linkage
A modification almost everyone I spoke to in creating my build plan recommended Fortes Mechanical Throttle Linkage. It's a great product and would highly recommend it. I've had it mocked up for some time but only recently go around to completing the install. As with all of the other parts, scuffed it up and applied some paint and clear coat to it.

That looks really sharp, Tony! Nice!

[jrcuz]

Nice work on your throttle linkage Tony. My home made throttle linkage works fine but it doesn't have any roll pins to prevent slipping, no problems so far.
JR

[egchewy79]

Nice work on your throttle linkage Tony. My home made throttle linkage works fine but it doesn't have any roll pins to prevent slipping, no problems so far.
JR

Looks great Tony. consider putting some rubber seal along the cut edge of your air filter base so that it doesn't cut through your spark plug wire boot over time w/ vibration.
JR, if you don't plan on a roll pin, at least consider filing a flat spot on your arm with a set screw. you can generate a lot of pressure on that pedal and I wouldn't want it to slip while on the freeway. I tested my Forte linkage first without roll pins and it did slip very easily despite having the set screws tight.

[VAHokie]

That looks really sharp, Tony! Nice!

Thanks, Chris. The attention to the small details like this are what stretch the build process out. Subconsciously, I don't think I want the build to end and come up with these little side projects.

[VAHokie]

Nice work on your throttle linkage Tony. My home made throttle linkage works fine but it doesn't have any roll pins to prevent slipping, no problems so far.
JR

Thanks, Jerry. Fortes kit comes with some roll pins but I opted to use 1/8" cotter pins. Having the looped shoulder on one end seemed like it would be easier to grab hold of up in the footbox if service is needed in the future. I'm praying that won't happen as it's tight up in there! Similar to egchewy79, one of my bell cranks would slip despite having it tightened down, which is why I had to place a pin. Not everyone has experienced slippage but an easy enough mod to do now for peace of mind. If you do drill into the arm, recommend using a drill press and some high quality drill bits.

Looks great Tony. consider putting some rubber seal along the cut edge of your air filter base so that it doesn't cut through your spark plug wire boot over time w/ vibration.

Great call out and will do!

[VAHokie]

Alignment
Long overdue for an update so I'm going to play a little catch-up here. Working towards my first go-kart, I did a rough alignment using a Longacre camber/caster tool and toe plates. They made dialing in the measurements fairly straightforward, although still time-consuming as there was a lot of bouncing from one side of the car to the other as I was making adjustments. I also spent time making adjustments to the ride height before doing the alignment to ensure the car was sitting at 4" in the front and 4.5" in the rear (I also double checked the pinion angle too). That, too, required a lot of raising/lowering the car, checking measurements, repeat. For whatever reason, I couldn't get the rear shock adjusters to turn even with the car jacked up and the weight off the suspension (the front shocks turned and adjusted just fine). I ended picking up an adjustable pin spanner wrench which ended up doing the trick. Figured it'll be something I may need in the future and who doesn't like adding new tools to the toolbox?!?

Here's a shot of the camber/caster tool and toe plates in position. The best I could get for the caster was +7.5 degrees, both the camber and toe were dialed in to the specs in the manual. I'll leave the fine-tuning up to the professionals.


When setting the caster with the Longacre tool, you need to turn the wheel 20 degrees in either direction as you're taking measurements and making adjustments. The tool comes with handy 20 degree relief cuts to align with the side of the car as you turn the wheel. Once the relief is parallel to the side of the car, you're at 20 degrees. To be extra sure, I drew 20 degree marks on the garage floor. A little hard to see but hopefully you get the idea.


One set of instructions for setting caster and camber that aren't in the manual but shared by EdwardB and posted in other threads is the following. This was extremely helpful in ensuring I was making the proper adjustments.

Setting Camber and Caster

REAR (IRS):

Left side: Moving toe arm adjuster DOWN (from front) moves toe OUT. Moving camber adjuster DOWN (from front) moves camber POSITIVE.

Right side: Moving toe arm adjuster DOWN (from front) moves toe IN. Moving camber adjuster DOWN (from front) moves camber NEGATIVE.


FRONT:

Left side: Moving inner tie rod DOWN (from front) moves toe IN. Moving UCA adjustment sleeves DOWN (from back) move both OUT.

Right side: Moving inner tie rod DOWN (from front) moves toe OUT. Moving UCA adjustment sleeves DOWN (from back) move both IN.

[VAHokie]

Cockpit & Trunk Aluminum
With the rough alignment complete and everything seemingly buttoned up, I proceeded to install the remaining cockpit and trunk aluminum. What you don't see here is that I also installed my sound deadener/heat insulation in both areas except the cockpit floors. I still need to get the seats positioned correctly and the Breeze seat mount installed. I also used HVAC tape to seal the seams in the panels and for the insulation.

Here's the cockpit panels installed (I may have gotten carried away with the number of rivets!). These were all installed with a hand rivet tool.


Here's the trunk. You can see some of the HVAC tape on the RT drop trunk box.


I also expanded the fuel pump access area to allow more room to work on it in the future. Doing so required a custom panel to be made which I did with a 12x12 16 gauge piece of steel. It's affixed to the trunk floor panel with 10-32 screws and rivnuts to make it easily serviceable.

[VAHokie]

Roll Bars
I decided to go with a boltless/hidden rollbar kit to avoid the frankenstein bolt protruding from the leg and hoop junction. Just personal preference. The 520 Speedworks product is a nice option and a straightforward install. To assist with drilling the holes at the base of the hoop and legs, I fashioned up a little jig to hold them in place. Nothing fancy, but helped ensure the roll bar wasn't going anywhere as I drilled through them.


One thing to note for those that follow in these footsteps, be sure to get the threaded rod protruding 1/8" from the lip of the roll bar leg (per the instructions). I ended up having more than that and it resulted in a sizeable gap when installed, which wasn't going to fly.


Easy enough to fix, i'll just take my dremel and cut the threaded rod down to size. Unfortunately, in doing that I apparently didn't clean the cut edge of the threaded rod enough and it buggered up the coupling nut. Quick trip to the local hardware store for another threaded rod and coupling nut and I was back in business. I would have liked for the roll bars to mate up perfectly, but I think the slight variations in the angles has them offset slightly. Hardly noticeable and it may be something I take some black silicone to if it really bothers me down the road.


Here's the finished product. The dual roll bars aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I actually like them and I see them as protection for my passengers.

[VAHokie]

First Go-kart
With the alignment complete and cockpit panels in place, I couldn't resist throwing a seat in and backing the car out of the garage under it's own power for the first time. With everything appearing to be in order, I decided to take it to the end of the block and back for my first go-kart - talk about nerves!

[VAHokie]

First Go-kart (Continued)
Here's one with a little more to it.


The brakes feel a little soft for my liking, but they haven't been properly bedded yet. I may need to bleed them again but will wait to get some more miles (read: trips around the block) before doing that.

There's still a lot of work to do but it feels great to reach this milestone.

[RJD]

Woo-hoo! Congratulations!!! Well done.

[egchewy79]

Nice work! I had the same gap w/ my 520 boltless kit. I'm thinking of trying the bend the rear mount a bit using a long breaker bar.
My stock brakes were also a bit lacking. As long as you don't get brake fade and have a good firm feel, it gets much better after you bed them in. I can now get them to lock up from 30-40mph.

[Blitzboy54]

Courtesy Lights
I wanted to do something a little different with the courtesy lights so that they matched my color scheme, so I went with some red LED lights. In addition to both of the footboxes, I also have one in the trunk that is on the same circuit. They go well with the gauges!

I’m doing some early wiring right now and I am setup to do the exact same thing. My red led’s arrived last week. I wasn’t sure how it would look now I see it will be pretty sweet.

Nice job.

[jrcuz]

You've been busy Tony. I've got the boltless roll bar kit also. I got them from the previous vendor before 520 speedworks started producing them. I've had them so long I can't remember the vendors name. I took my car to Whitby's for a few finish items including the roll bar kit and body/paint. It's been there since Feb.5th. The guy that got the trailer for the trip lives about 5 mins. from me with a Mk3. about 3 weeks ago he was rearended in his and now has nothing to drive and is still working with the other persons insurance co. so he hasn't decided where he is going to have it repaired. Whitby finished and painted originally after his 2nd deployment Here is a pic of his and mine the left rear quarter is gone from the accident. Love the go cart vids.
JR

[VAHokie]

Nice work! I had the same gap w/ my 520 boltless kit. I'm thinking of trying the bend the rear mount a bit using a long breaker bar.
My stock brakes were also a bit lacking. As long as you don't get brake fade and have a good firm feel, it gets much better after you bed them in. I can now get them to lock up from 30-40mph.

Let me know how you make out with the rear mount adjustment as I may do the same. With your brakes, what pads are you using? I upgraded to Hawk pads based on other builder recommendations.

[VAHokie]

You've been busy Tony. I've got the boltless roll bar kit also. I got them from the previous vendor before 520 speedworks started producing them. I've had them so long I can't remember the vendors name. I took my car to Whitby's for a few finish items including the roll bar kit and body/paint. It's been there since Feb.5th. The guy that got the trailer for the trip lives about 5 mins. from me with a Mk3. about 3 weeks ago he was rearended in his and now has nothing to drive and is still working with the other persons insurance co. so he hasn't decided where he is going to have it repaired. Whitby finished and painted originally after his 2nd deployment Here is a pic of his and mine the left rear quarter is gone from the accident. Love the go cart vids.
JR

Congrats on getting the car off to the paint/body shop. Look forward to seeing the finished product. Awful to hear about your friend's car but it sounds like he's OK, which is most important. The car can always be replaced!

[egchewy79]

Let me know how you make out with the rear mount adjustment as I may do the same. With your brakes, what pads are you using? I upgraded to Hawk pads based on other builder recommendations.

I've got on stock pads.

[460.465USMC]

First Go-kart (Continued)
Here's one with a little more to it.

There's still a lot of work to do but it feels great to reach this milestone.

Awesome milestone! Looking good.

[PeteMeindl]

that's awesome! Congrats on the great accomplishment. That first drive is such a thrill!

[BadAsp427]

Way to go!!!! Looking fantastic...

[VAHokie]

Initial Body Fitment
Been working on the body fitment for the last couple of weeks. This is the first time the body has been on the rolling chassis and boy does it look good. I'm leaving the bodywork up to the professionals, so my goal here is to trim only where I need too in order to get the body centered/square to the frame and the hood, doors and trunk seated. I don't have the bulb seal on yet as I'm checking for any initial panel interferences. Once I get the body positioned correctly, i'll take note of any places to trim and go from there.



Couple of questions for the group:

1) I suspect there are likely subtle variations in every body and frame, so how they mate up will vary by build. On my front end, in order to get equal measurements on both sides from the frame to the top lip of the wheel opening, the body has to shift towards the PS, which leaves a 7/8 gap between the body and QJ mount and no gap on the DS. What have others found with their builds? Is there supposed to be this much variation? I know these aren't centering points on the car, but would have expected them to be a bit more uniform.

Here's the PS.


Here's the DS.


I also understand that the location of the rear door sill with respect to the latch mount should be fairly flush. Here's what I'm showing on my PS which is identical to the DS. Does this look right or does it need to come forward more?

[CraigS]

It is very common to need to 'persuade' those QJ mounts some. Not sure if they don't jig them well enough or maybe they are just such a handy handle for when frames get moved around. Either way, usually it's hard to move them sideways enough w/ the body on so that they stay. They need to move more than you actually want, to account for the spring back once you take you hand away. I would make notes w/ pics, figure how far each needs to move, and tweak them next time the body is off. They won't go up or down, or in or out, but you may be surprised how easily the go sideways.

[jrcuz]

As Da'Bat put it on the d/s put a 2x4 in the wheel well and "whang" it over with a BFH. I did it and it worked it moved about 3/4".
JR

[VAHokie]

It is very common to need to 'persuade' those QJ mounts some. Not sure if they don't jig them well enough or maybe they are just such a handy handle for when frames get moved around. Either way, usually it's hard to move them sideways enough w/ the body on so that they stay. They need to move more than you actually want, to account for the spring back once you take you hand away. I would make notes w/ pics, figure how far each needs to move, and tweak them next time the body is off. They won't go up or down, or in or out, but you may be surprised how easily the go sideways.

As Da'Bat put it on the d/s put a 2x4 in the wheel well and "whang" it over with a BFH. I did it and it worked it moved about 3/4".
JR

Thanks, Craig and Jerry. Now that you mention it, I do recall reading/hearing that the QJ mounts require some persuasion to get where they need to be. Thanks for the note!