Quote from: AdamR28 on October  6, 2020, 09:31At 145bhp, that means a requirement for 725kg. Again, might fall short of the 'target' but it'll be fun trying!

Massive brain fart right there. Just squeezing into the 700s is nothing like low 700s, ha. So I can knock 200bhp/ton on the head right away.

Perhaps 2ZZ swap category is more likely. What do they (realistically) make, 180? And perhaps a ton and a bit if its a FL car with the added bracing, bigger wheels, chunky track tyres, a roll bar, and not much stripped out?

140bhp and 800kg would be bang on 175bhp/ton... new target

Screen is about 9kg, surround around 8kg - less than I thought!

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Frame is reasonably well reinforced...

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I'll weld a plate over to cap this off, then affix the front facing roll cage / bar struts to said plate. That bit of tube runs down towards the wheel arch so I'm going to assume its structural.

Had a little win with the washer bottle, it was completely full, so a very easy 4kg saved there 

Eeek no messing about there Adam, good job so far and look forward to further progress

A bit too gung-ho, it seems...

Thought I could dice with death and strip the immobiliser out, turns out I was wrong. Anyone on here got experience with it? I have all the bits that came out and think I've found all the areas it's spliced into the main loom(s), but a few of the wires are the same colours / thicknesses... I'm such a div.

In other news, had a few bits arrive including an IKEA roll cage:

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He's also now on a set of dollies to help shunting around.

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Exhaust is off ready for making a new one, backbox is 13kg and downpipe with car 8kg!

Quote from: AdamR28 on October  7, 2020, 04:37

Quote from: AdamR28 on October  6, 2020, 09:31At 145bhp, that means a requirement for 725kg. Again, might fall short of the 'target' but it'll be fun trying!

Massive brain fart right there. Just squeezing into the 700s is nothing like low 700s, ha. So I can knock 200bhp/ton on the head right away.

Perhaps 2ZZ swap category is more likely. What do they (realistically) make, 180? And perhaps a ton and a bit if its a FL car with the added bracing, bigger wheels, chunky track tyres, a roll bar, and not much stripped out?

140bhp and 800kg would be bang on 175bhp/ton... new target

I reckon my FL is around 1050kg with 6 point cage, fully braced, 2ZZ engine (heavier than 1ZZ?) etc

No idea what power mine puts out. Very similar straight line speed to my mates 220hp ep3 which weights around 1220kg part stripped so 180hp/ton

With that I'd guessing mine is pushing out the standard 190hp with the BCM CDA intake with cold air feed to the side scoop, custom header, sports cat and custom free flowing backbox.

190hp - 1050kg =180hp/ton.

Nice one Phil, good to know!

Mr Poo lives again 

Though maybe not what you'd expect... huge thanks to @Maurici for his moral support and brain power today. We spent about 4 hours digging through looms, trying to scope out wiring diagrams, tried reattaching all the stuff I'd ripped out after upending the bin, still nothing. Immobiliser wouldn't turn off 

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A mate who is an auto spark had popped round earlier, he'd dug out some full wiring diagrams and sent them over, so I gave him a quick call... his recommendation was to trace / check continuity from the ECU to the black fob reader thing around the ignition barrel. Which we tried, but the wiring colours didn't match. Odd.

But, the wiring colours did match another plug in a very similar location.

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See those two little white 5 pin badboys there? I've never seen two plugs the same so close together on a car wiring loom before, and yep, I had put them back in the wrong places.

Fired up perfectly after that 

So I feel like a bit of a muppet, but a huge lesson learned and relieved I can now crack on with the rest of the build - which will involve as little electrical stuff as possible!

Had a couple of hours more tinkering this morning before work...

Did some exhaust calculations. I figure the engine won't spend much of its time below 4 or 4.5k rpm now, so a 4-1 design will be better. 38mm primaries, 50mm for the rest. That's enough to efficiently flow ~150bhp with decent manufacture. I won't be going quite 'to town' like I did with the last one I made:

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But will at least try to make it neat, tidy, light and functional. Something along these lines:

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Currently trying to get my hands on a cheap / free manifold so I can reuse the header flange (having given one away the other week, arse) - if anyone has anything please let me know! Could perhaps do a deal / swap with the eBay header I have on there at the moment.


Figured now as a good time to make some engine inlet side access...

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And knocked up a cover out of old exhaust heatshield. Needs tidying and some foam at the back to seal, but will do the job.

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More re-purposing - I designed, collected all the bits for, and started on a scratch-built single seater bike engine car a few years ago:

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Then my wife at the time decided she'd like to go and sleep with someone else without informing me, life got a bit hectic, and that got canned. So I've been looking for a way to re-use this for a while...

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Chop saw came out, and Mr Poo now has the beginnings of a cage. I will of course upgrade the gaffer tape to weld at some point.

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Looks high but I want to make sure the below MSA regulation is met - I can't see myself doing an MSA event (or one of the fussy scrutineers letting such a creation take part), but from a 'makes sense' point of view I'd like to have good clearance for taller drivers than myself.

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@AdamR28
No chance for grass to grow under your feet! Thank you for the pictures, I particularly like the one with the super tool box and the juxtaposition of the two Birmingham screwdrivers.

I think ive still got my stock manifold in the loft will have a look for you..

Quote from: Joesson on October 12, 2020, 11:39@AdamR28
No chance for grass to grow under your feet! Thank you for the pictures, I particularly like the one with the super tool box and the juxtaposition of the two Birmingham screwdrivers.

Ha! You've got a keen eye. I was battering the shell flat t omake way for the spreader plates, and the smaller one just wasn't man enough!

Quote from: thetyrant on October 12, 2020, 11:54I think ive still got my stock manifold in the loft will have a look for you..

Amazing, thanks man. Swapsies for a pair of wheels?

Quote from: AdamR28 on October 12, 2020, 12:03Amazing, thanks man. Swapsies for a pair of wheels?

Is it just the flange to head you need ?  i was possibly going to reuse the flange to cat pipe on my turbo build for inital mock up so i can cut other one off for you, that is of course if i didnt the whole thing when i moved house end of last year, but dont think i did!

Yeah that's all I'm after, if you do have it then please let me know if you want owt for the flange! (Oooh err missus)

Similarly if I can get hold of a cheap manifold and you still need the bottom flange, you're welcome to it once I've robbed the top one.

Quote from: AdamR28 on October 12, 2020, 13:34Yeah that's all I'm after, if you do have it then please let me know if you want owt for the flange! (Oooh err missus)

Similarly if I can get hold of a cheap manifold and you still need the bottom flange, you're welcome to it once I've robbed the top one.

Had a root about in garage loft at lunchtime and all i could find was 2 old cat pipes   looks like i might of chucked the manifold when i moved DOH!  although will check my overspill storage which is at my parents when im there at the weekend.

I've sourced one Ian, will lop the header flange off and you're welcome to the rest 


Had a couple more hours this morning before work - insomnia does have benefits sometimes!

Employed Mr Guillotine and Mr Folder to make the spreader plates. Always feels a bit like taking a gun to a knife fight using these, but it does such a neat job so easily I really can't complain.

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Chose this location for a few reasons:

- It's a big box structure that runs the whole width of the car, much more sturdy than the floow pan

- Being enclosed, there's no fuel tank or stinky melting underseal to worry about

- The OE seatbelts mount here, this is usually a good clue as to where the manufacturer built strength into the shell

- It's double skinned, meaning you can melt some proper volumes of metal rather than having to daintily tack into some 0.8mm (minus whatever nearly 20 years of rust deducted) wafer thin stuff


I call this 'tack n smack' - a bit like 'shake n vac' but a little warmer. Basically stick a corner or a side down, then use the Birmingham Screwdriver to form the plate to whatever it's being stuck to, tacking as you go.

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It was at this point (too late) I remembered how much of a mess any paint or seam sealer makes when trying to weld to / through it. I am confident this isn't going anywhere, but it sure doesn't look pretty!

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Fixed for the other side...

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Same technique for the back stays. Again finding an area of 'enclosed box' to pick up onto. Turns out it is also pretty thick, apart from the very bottom which blew through immediately and I had to turn the welder right down!

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Bashed the main hoop together and chopped it ready to fit the spreader plates...

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Welded it in - more tack n smack!

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First backstay in

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The welder is a little flattering, but happy with the results welding on fresh, clean, 'proper' material.

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Then the welding wire ran out. I need to pop to the supplies place for a new regulator for the TIG after tha exploded the other week (!), so perhaps I can get the other backstay in later today, it's already cut and profiled ready to stick in.

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Check out that ride height!  I can see why you chopped your springs now @Petrus - what weight are you down to?

Quote from: AdamR28 on October 13, 2020, 09:29Basically stick a corner or a side down, then use the Birmingham Screwdriver to form the plate to whatever it's being stuck to, tacking as you go.

Had to google "Birmingham Screwdriver" Impressive work!

Ha. Just trying to make things more understandable for @Joesson 

Managed to get the required supplies, rear part of the cage is now done!

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Seat fitting next, so I can figure out where the harness bar can go. I would normally stick it in the main hoop, but I think the seat will be right back there, so won't clear. Plans B and C are to put it between the rear supports, or straight into the shell. So we'll see.

Once the seat is in, I can get the steering wheel in the right position (will make a new column, the OE one is unbelievably heavy!), then get the front supports and side bars in. Don't want to do it in the other order as access gets poor once the side bars are in!

Seats in - a lot easier than expected. Perhaps I got lucky, perhaps I'm just getting better at it. Used to be a job I hated but this was enjoyable for once.

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Looks like I will just get away with sticking the harness bar directly to the back of the main hoop - which will also give a bonus advantage that I can add a 5th mounting point somewhere around shoulder height on the seat. I've had GRP seats crack before, and the nuts pull out of the bases, when used on track.

The harness bar might have to be a bit cockeyed though to match up to the shoulder strap holes in the seats! The passenger is of course as low down as I could get it, but I needed to raise the driver's seat away from the floor pan a little so I can see over the front successfully.

Also had a hunch the top steering UJ could be flipped over and it'd fit the rack... that is indeed the case, so I can bin off the old rusty one that has play, and still use an OE quality UJ. Winning. I'll just run one UJ straight from rack to wheel. I appreciate the two UJ thing is partly for wheel adjustment and partly to allow it to collapse, but I think if I have a head on big enough to move the whole front end of the car back 2 feet and the steering wheel back a further two, I'll have bigger things to worry about...

@AdamR28
Good progress and with such a sparsity of tools in evidence of use. Probably best to keep any passenger down where they can't see where their going!

Thanks - it is amazing what the old knocking stick can do, isn't it!

Bit more bodging... Existing lower column chopped up, turned down, smacked into and stuck onto a bit of 11/16" CDS to make a new column. Upper UJ swapped to the bottom and flipped over.

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Old bicycle headset cup and bearing, top wedge, and turned down bit of broken steerer tube used to make a clamp / wedge / locating thingy for the column. The headset cup will be affixed in the 'right' (depending on where I want the wheel) place by welding it to some tubing off the dash brace bar. A bit OTT but ergonomics and controls are my 'thing', especially for circuit cars.

This design - combined with the 'flat' on the OE splined section, allows a bit of in and out adjustment to the wheel too, handy as I may tweak the seat a bit more vertical at some point to give a better view (the driver's seat mounts are designed so that I can space the seat up and down at the rear).

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Steering wheel boss in the makings - no that's not a drawing of a wankel rotor, but I amused myself after having drawn it so decided to grab a snap.

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"Only 3 bolts!" I hear you cry. A mate who works at BAE reliably informs me that they drag F-16s around using 4x M5 bolts in shear, so I think 3 of 'em will be enough to rotate Mr Poo's steering rack.

Stock steering setup is suprisingly heavy, so this should take a few kilos off as well as putting the wheel in a more suitable place for the new seating position.

Neat usage of the available UJ, that looks to be in good condition, unlike
the PS pipes, but I guess those are extra to requirements. Top tip, you may want to use a different screw driver when you start on them.
PS: Is your mate @BAE likely to be a passenger?

Yeah the PAS is already deleted, just looped the free lines. I may do it properly sometime if I can be bothered!

It is very likely John will be a passenger at some point yeah, so it'll be his fault if I disappear off into the nearest tyre wall 

In related news... Happy with how the cage has turned out, all for under £100 (plus a bit of my time!).

Got a bit of my welding mojo back a bit... it had been a while and I was clearly out of practice.

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Side impact bars have a subtle curve so they are under compression in a side impact.

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Also sorted the steering wheel mount, looks really weird but is stiff enough, and the driving position is poifik  which is what matters 

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Happy bunny!

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Progress may slow now for a few weeks as I have a new staff member starting at work, and we're starting to get Xmas deliveries in...

that looks like it's going to be a right thing!!

Are they going to allow that on track?
You'll scare the other punters.

Fascinating to see a skeleton 2.  Never seen it like that before.