Got a Freestyle Buggy at last!

[250buggys]

My grinder started to loose power so I stripped it down, it came with a spare set of brushes so I thought I would fit them.



When I got it apart I could see that the plastic cooling fan had gone brittle and three of the blades had disintegrated, one was lodged in the casing but the other bits can only be inside the gear box. If this part had been made of alloy it would have never failed. Small chance I may be able to fix it but thinking I have had my money out of this one and will order a new one.

 

[250buggys]

Not sure what happened to the sun this evening, I went to get some tools out and it went in but I still managed to get out and get the top arms fitted and greased up.

 

[250buggys]

Got another item out of the shed and onto the buggy today, had a look at fitting the steering column cowling.
It's a case of 'cut a bit and offer it up' so it took a while, If I come across another cheap one on ebay I may have another go at this as I know exactly where to cut it now and can leave a bit more meat on next time.





While the steering wheel was off I had been meaning to have a look at the column/rack as something was binding, drilled some more holes and moved the position of one of the U bolts and opened it up a bit with the help of the vice, I added some edge strip inside the u bolt as it needs some padding or otherwise when you tighten up the 28mm exhaust clamp this crushes the outer steering column and this causes it to bind.

Put some grease inside the outer steering column at the top where the collar is and now with the track rod ends disconnected from the steering rack it spins nice and freely now.

Ignition barrel lock all working nicely when key removed, just as well as this is my immobiliser for the IVA and saves messing about with a 2 circuit electronic disconnect.

 

[250buggys]

When I tightened the steering wheel nut I noticed the boss was making a slight contact with the outer steering column, there was no room at the other end at the bearing so I took it off and cut off a slither. Also as recommended by waggon fitted a couple of fork gaiters over the UV shaft, could only cover one as the other is directly under the column mount.



Got some engine paint so tried it on the pulley to see what it looked like, turned over the engine by hand OK, thought it may have seized up being left over the winter, no chance... Was hoping to get the engine in the shed but didn't.



Started to remove the flaking paint from the gear linkage box, will only re-paint the steel. Will need to design/make a centre console at some point.

 

[250buggys]

The fuel tank and combined fire-wall cover I designed arrived yesterday, very pleased



Need to get a hole saw to drill the hole in the fire-wall and a couple of big stainless jubilee clips



This is probably one of the biggest hurdles and tick boxes in the IVA test so glad the fuel tank has arrived.



Hope to get this fitted behind the passenger seat soon but with the sunny evenings combined with very little wind I have been concentrating on doing as much FPV flying as possible and getting my skills up.

 

[250buggys]

Got the fuel pick up pipe installed and found some jubilee clips.



Marked out and drilled the mounting holes, filled the tank with water and left it for a good while, no evidence of leaks and took aprox 8 litres.



I had a spare filler neck/cap fitting so I don't have to butcher my fire extinguisher tank to re-use that one.



Filler cap that retains key when off tank kindly donated by Alan This will save me having to fit a tether for IVA.

Started raining so I packed up, went in and watched the F1 which was pretty uneventful... Top gear was more entertaining though this evening.

 

[250buggys]

Marked and drilled the holes for the firewall cover.



Hole saw and arbor arrived today so will be able to get round to fitting the tank now (in between April showers)

 

[250buggys]

I made a gasket seal from a fuel/chemical resistant material which fits between the bottom of the cover and the buggy floor. The theory is that if the tank should leak it will drain out from the holes I made in the floor rather than leak into the passenger compartment.



Hole drilled in fire wall for filler neck and fuel line, tank bolted on, just needs fitting into the buggy...



Tank and rear fire wall fitted, I drilled some more drainage holes in the floor, just need to fit the cover.

 

[250buggys]

Cover fitted and seat ready to be bolted back in.



I needed to make a bracket to support the fuel filler assembly, scrap bits of steel are so useful...



Introduced to the bench grinder

 

[250buggys]

Fuel filler cap neck welded onto bracket, a couple of rivnuts to secure to box section, a lick of paint and some edge trim and here it is fitted.



I had a look at fitting the dash, trimmed up some ply to fit the bar I had previously welded in.



Cut some holes for the switch gear

 

[250buggys]

My intention is to trim the dash in black vinyl, fingers crossed this should arrive in the post tomorrow.

IVA Manual Section 12 - 'Interior Fittings'

and I quote...

"Non Rigid Material
A material which has a hardness of less than 50 shore A. For the purposes of this examination it will be deemed to be a material which is capable of
depression under thumb pressure and when deformed retains a degree of protection against contact with any structure which it is covering and when
released returns to its original form"



Since I don't have a Durometer handy to measure 'Shore' I will add a layer (or maybe two) of foam between the ply and vinyl, this should hopefully cover this one...

I was intending to fit a classic mini speedo, I have a couple to choose from but dash space is at a real premium.

I decided to fit the Acewell, this will help loads as it has fairly good functionality with most of the indication lamps required.
I just need to make a bracket to bring it away from the dash a bit so the switch gear is deemed accessible.



I have 6 gauges I want to fit but I didn't want to pay £100 per gauge for the Durite brand which have the IVA radius bezel's.



It looks like I can squeeze two gauges in at most in the exemption area (my small steering wheel doesn't help here) I have gone with revs and water temp but would have liked to put oil pressure in also but will fit a warning lamp for now. The other 4 holes marked out ready for drilling...

 

[250buggys]

Got some more foam on, postman didn't bring any black vinyl today - hope to see it tomorrow.

Made a steel bracket to support the switch gear, it has a lip on one side so will bolt this on and weld the other side to the dash bar.

 

[250buggys]

The black vinyl turned up today. In this pic you can see the thickness of the foam I applied, went with 2 layers.



Both sides covered, almost is ashame to cut the holes for switch gear and gauges...



I also made a bracket to bring the acewell forward.

These summer evenings are great for tinkering with the buggy, shame the days are now getting shorter.

 

[250buggys]

Gauges and switch gear fitted to the dash.



I am not sure I really understand the exemption zone bit, it makes sense for the driver as the steering wheel is in the way in an impact but what about the passenger, does this apply for them too?

I think I will see if I can chop the indicator stalk down a bit too if I can as this sticks out a lot.

With the Freestyle you could probably just state 'wear a crash hat' and reduce the regs manual by a fair chunk.

 

[250buggys]

Got some paint on the bracket I made to support the switch gear.



Started to fit some shiny parts to the rear end of the buggy and get that built up.

 

[250buggys]

From this



To this



Spent a fair bit of time removing the old paint and making the engine look good again, also went round and replaced the oil seals.



New wheel bearings and ball joints (all corners done now), drive shafts painted, inner & outer CV boots replaced with new grease.

 

[250buggys]

Dash in



Also switch gear

 

[250buggys]

Engine in minus ancillaries. Rolling chassis



Thanks to Alan for noticing (the lack of) and recommending on buggy rear tracking and thanks to Danny for sorting me out a set.



As the sub frame was already bolted to the buggy I thought I could just lower the engine in and onto the mounts. After a length of time raising and lowering the engine, offering it up in different angles, loosing paint from the sub frame and chassis I decided it was no short cut after all. I then proceeded to remove the sub-frame from the buggy drop it in and bolt it all back as pictured.

Ordered a new water pump and complete gasket set.

 

[250buggys]

Started to clear out the shed and get some bits on the buggy.


Water pump, oil filter & housing, thermostat, starter motor, radiator and midget fan all fitted. ordered a 9 inch electric fan which I will fit to the other side of the rad which should help with cooling, will wire this on a sensor with an override switch. Ordered a new belt (which I should have done before now) and 12V horn.

Will order some side repeaters, seems a shame to cut holes in the mud guards but not sure where else to mount these?

Thinking about the speedometer, I was going to use the standard cable and terra trip as I didn't really want to fit a magnet to the alloy wheel. Looking at this again I should be able to make a bracket and drill and tap a small hole in the wheel to take the magnet. Does anyone know if the magnet needs to be on a driven wheel or whether I can keep the cable run short and put it on the front?

Still plenty of jobs to do...


Got some edge trim on the upper nose, pic shows it just ballanced on for now and not actually fitted. Not sure what is the best way to secure this, would be keen to know what everyone else has done regarding this.

 

[250buggys]

Found some small side repeaters from CBS, fitted them to the cycle wings.



Paint helps buggy to stand out in the dark, evenings drawing in now...