Our (very) muddy buggy.

''Left a Bit''

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AnodisedUprights.jpg
 

Mini Mad Max

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Don't spend too much time making things shiny, they will get filthy on their first outing :p It is looking very nice though!
 

''Left a Bit''

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That's all that getting shinied up I'm afraid. Mainly because they're a big chunk of time and effort so a few quid for a bit of protection seemed a good idea. And everyone likes shiny stuff. :D
 

''Left a Bit''

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Ed's been busy again, yep, he's started chopping the front out now the rear's going back together. May as well have built a new car....
New front cross going in that mates to the beam stiffening bars we added a few years back, and is higher to clear the new pedals and fuel tank/battery/PAS which have been shifted backwards for better weight distribution:


New mounts for pedal box going on:



And some new floor bars, to mount the seat belts clear of the new bulkhead and help prevent anal insertion of the various large rocks we always seem to land on.

 

''Left a Bit''

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Haven't been very active here due to family health issues and struggling with an infection myself for a few weeks, in fact, I'm at home today as I made myself ill again working too long last night, hey ho.
That aside, I'll get some pictures tommorow, honest - but the new floorpan is fitted up, Ed's made a new front bonnet and bulkhead, pipework/bulkhead fittings have gone in, new seat mounts are there, there's some more things to press and light up on the dashboard, ECU has been mounted, new brake/clutch reservoirs have been adapted and fitted, altered the wiper system so it autoparks and there's 2 speeds (sound trivial, but if you're giving someone a ride and they park the wipers right in your line of sight it's quite a distraction!).
Airbox prefilters are going in tommorow to keep the larger items - grass/leaves/wasps, etc, out of the cooling system and save the engine filters having to deal with 'em, got some more to do on the chassis loom as there's some spare wiring/connectors going in for future upgrades and because we're probably switching to a different PAS pump sometime in the year, so connectors for that are going in just in case.
Still plenty left to do on the hydraulics side but it's mainly just straight runs of pipe to the bulkhead connectors for the brakes, and a new fuel line.

Modified the lathe last week so we can spin 16" wheel rims in there - just - so we can make some new wheels much easier than before by skimming them true afterward welding them up. Not far away (yes, I know, we've said that for 2 years, sue me!)
 

''Left a Bit''

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Finished off some last bits of dashboard wiring today (few extra's been added, launch control settings, etc), and tidied all the wiring behind it into neat runs, switched idiot lights out for LED's (which then required ripping them to bits and trying to add diodes and ballast resistors in the case of the alternator charging light....good fun trying to solder them in a space about 8mm x 4mm.....lots of swearing, some burnt fingers.



Anyway, kettle went on, coffee came out, shiny lights:



As promised, new front bonnet, ignore the steel box section, it was just there to hold the front square whilst welding as it's fairly thin aluminium, it's on hinges now and will get a gas ram lifter fitted to secure it, much easier to work on if you break down away from the service area then.



And new floorpan is on, new bulkhead, seat mounts, pedals, etc:

 

''Left a Bit''

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Dashboard finished with new connectors on the end today :D
ECU mounted in a new home underneath the dashboard to shorten the wiring runs as we weren't too happy with the previous location, connectors are soldered and potted on the engine side of the loom, so all there is now is a bit of time to run the stringers/wires between the 3 sets of plugs, which is time consuming but easy as it's just pin to pin, nearly there ;D
 

''Left a Bit''

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I can do it - but I hate doing it. It's such a tedious job if you want to do it properly. I mean, you can make a fast loom up these days with a pack of pre-insulated crimps and a ratchet crimper, a roll of 13 core - but give it 6 months and you'll be cursing it.

This loom has been crimped to bare connectors/terminals with proper flag shape crimps, any exposed tips have a solder seal (but not enough to travel down the wire and make the interface brittle), then the whole lot is dipped in liquid PVC which is then sealed inside heatshrink coating - the idea being the PVC at the edges glues and seals the heatshrink, and if there is ever any abrasion or wear, it allows the PVC to flow out and quickly seal and weathertight the joint again.
Then the whole loom is shielded with a thin copper overbraid to stop any electrical interference, wrapped in Teflon tape to keep the bundles together but allow them to move for flexibility and fatigue reasons, and has fibreglass woven braid over the top to reduce abrasion/heat damage, sealed at the ends with the PVC and heatshrink.
All the connectors are either the weatherproof type with rubber seals on the cables, or for the soldered ones, have loop of wire behind them to act as springs so the solder doesn't crack, then heatshrink over the soldered joint to help it even more, and then the whole rear side of the connector is potted in a thin layer of polyurethane for weatherproofing - with a rubber balljoint boot that clips to the connectors and the braiding further down for more strain relief and another water resistant layer, and to allow access to the spare wires that are put in for expandability later. Any bare interfaces/terminals are coated with a silicone gel so even if you unplug and plug them back together when wet the water can't actually get in to affect the connection.

Takes ages. Sick of seeing it.
 
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