fletch & son's build thread

[fletch]

The FFR wheel wells were a bit of a challenge. There was a fair bit of wrestling involved to get them properly formed, then aligned to the inner fenders. I added tabs with rivnuts to the fender to secure the wheel wells in place. They are entirely supported by the fiberglass body and have no connection to the frame. Seems to work well and is plenty rigid. I also made them 2-piece to better connect with the rear bumper and make removal a tiny bit easier.
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[fletch]

The recommended yoga mat installed. Also tabs to support the forward wheel well panel similar to the rear wheel well attachment.
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[fletch]

Here's how we looked a few days before the track day when the axle broke. I was able to add the doors just before then but forgot to get a picture. New wheels & custom bungee cord instrument cluster.
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And that about catches us up to today.

[Rob T]

Fletch: This looks great. I'd strongly recommend some open honeycomb mat over the radiator. It's usually used on sprint cars, dirt cars. My radiator was getting "shelled" on the track with rocks, tire rubber, etc and was getting damaged. This material is strong, flexible and does not cause any noticeable impact on radiator performance (way less than bent fins....).

[aquillen]

While crawling under the car replacing the wheel studs or maybe just closing out the front wheel wells I noticed this.

Attachment 167572

I nearly had a heart attack. There were maybe 2 threads of engagement. Fortunately I saw it before it really became a problem. This was solved by flipping the orientation of the brackets fore-aft.

Definitely an OMG moment.

[jforand]

While crawling under the car replacing the wheel studs or maybe just closing out the front wheel wells I noticed this.

Attachment 167572

I nearly had a heart attack. There were maybe 2 threads of engagement. Fortunately I saw it before it really became a problem. This was solved by flipping the orientation of the brackets fore-aft.

Wow! Great catch. Personally I am a stick my for as mainly thread as I can possibly get. I think mine are uppers are completely engage with no thread showing. I cut the turnbuckles the bare minimum and am running the most camber I could get. It is nice to have the 50/50 adjustment capability but I don’t ever want to sacrifice that much positive engagement for the potential of inward mobility. Speaking of this, it does look like you did not have to remove too much thread on the lateral links, but you should really be sure on that. I ended up buying another set that were something really closed to 1” longer just to get that 1/2” of thread engagement back on both sides. They are VERY cheap outright and certainly in comparison to an incident.

[J R Jones]

Standard design practice is 1 1/2 times the thread diameter for thread engagement with steel on steel. Aluminum and high stress require 2 diameters.
The jamb nuts are not included in the 1 1/2 proportion. Actually I do not see a bending moment on this part, it is the upper control arm? Is there binding in the articulated ends?

[jforand]

Standard design practice is 1 1/2 times the thread diameter for thread engagement with steel on steel. Aluminum and high stress require 2 diameters.
The jamb nuts are not included in the 1 1/2 proportion. Actually I do not see a bending moment on this part, it is the upper control arm? Is there binding in the articulated ends?

Agreed.

JR, I don't actually think it is "bent". If you zoom in the threads (males side) look intacted to me. It seems that there is only a thread or two and they are just not engaged and that is how it is sitting, versus being bent or deformed tot he current angle.

Can't lie here. Everything has been on and off so much that it is easy to miss something. I adopted a process early of only hand tightening everything as I did not want to over do the nylocks and such from a 100 offs and ons. Even after a few 'complete' nut and bolt checks one pops up from tie to time. I even went around with a paint pen and hit everything after torqueing, but now those have been off too! I guess I need to switch colors

[Frank818]

It's been so long since I posted

Me too!!!!

Damn, Brian, there are a lot of great ideas on your car!!! It makes my solutions look like CRAP compared to yours. But I can swallow the pill as I have not encountered any issues after thousands of kms, but I'd still have appreciated knowing about those great ideas 4 to 7 years ago! loll


Keep up the good work, send more videos on your channel soon!
And let's hope you fly to MTL again someday...

[fletch]

Well, we aren't dead. But, boy, did we lose some momentum.
More tomorrow.

[JimLev]

I was wondering what happened to you. My 33 has been registered for a year now.

[fletch]

Getting the dashboard to a reasonable place took forever. And we had some other family stuff to deal with so progress has been very sporadic and slow. Isaac's a sophomore at Texas Tech studying mechanical engineering, so I guess we've been successful!
Foot vents, dash vents, defrosters, speakers & head unit... and the dash needs to be detachable. This was a challenge. I used several kg of PLA filament in my 3d printer to make ductwork. Had to learn to use CAD a bit... Ultimately, I'm very happy with how it turned out.
IMG_7154 copy.jpg
Door glass is the nightmare everyone promised. I can't get a decent seal at the rear edge of the window so I think I'm going to need to modify some fiberglass back there to push the seal outward.
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@JimLev, we should get together. I need help figuring out some fiberglass challenges - hood fitment, door seal gaps, just to name a few. If you can spare some time, it would be great to reconnect.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Getting the dashboard to a reasonable place took forever. And we had some other family stuff to deal with so progress has been very sporadic and slow. Isaac's a sophomore at Texas Tech studying mechanical engineering, so I guess we've been successful!
Foot vents, dash vents, defrosters, speakers & head unit... and the dash needs to be detachable. This was a challenge. I used several kg of PLA filament in my 3d printer to make ductwork. Had to learn to use CAD a bit... Ultimately, I'm very happy with how it turned out.
IMG_7154 copy.jpg
Door glass is the nightmare everyone promised. I can't get a decent seal at the rear edge of the window so I think I'm going to need to modify some fiberglass back there to push the seal outward.
IMG_7155.jpgIMG_7156.jpg

@JimLev, we should get together. I need help figuring out some fiberglass challenges - hood fitment, door seal gaps, just to name a few. If you can spare some time, it would be great to reconnect.

VERY NICE workmanship. I love the tunnel that is not packed with a mountain of wires. You have more perseverance than I. When I got to the dashboard my project was all about getting it on the road quickly.

Congrats on your future Mechanical Engineer. I'm sure he learned more real life stuff building this 818 than he will learn in college.

I have extra door skins if you need any.
Bob

[JimLev]

Fletch, I’ll shoot you a text and we can set up a day and time.
Are you still doing any work from home? Week days are generally when I have the most free time.
Your 818 looks good. I was at FFR last Sept, they have stopped selling 818’s.