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J15 Owners
nickm - 23/6/14 at 06:53 PM

Hi
I am just about to start fitting the bodywork although lights etc have been done, can anybody give me details of suspension settings so i can set most of these prior to the bodywork getting in the way.

Thanks

Nick M


Kdempsie - 23/6/14 at 08:00 PM

Nick,

In the build manual the recommendation is 125mm ground clearance front, 160mm rear. Tracking parallel front and back, approx. 1 degree negative camber.

Actually it says a 'smidge' of toe in, about 0.5mm.

I've got the manual text if you need it.

Keith.

[Edited on 23/6/14 by Kdempsie]

[Edited on 23/6/14 by Kdempsie]


Jenko - 24/6/14 at 10:33 AM

I actually found that the body work position on mine mostly governed by the position of the central tub around the rollover hoops. Ideally, I could have moved it all forward by a few more mm's, but if I did this, there would be no meat on the rear of the fiberglass on the hoops.

Self centering steering to get you through IVA will probably govern the toe. But be prepared to cut body work to get everything fitting nicely.

Trial and error seemed to be the best way to get through this part of the build!.


monkeyarms - 24/6/14 at 12:15 PM

The ground clearance depends on which chassis you have ie the old ford based hubs ot the later style Jeremy adopted (Herald/caterham?) .

The rest i did same as Kdempsie.

Anyway dont worry too much as you might be taking the bodywork off and on a few times like i did!


Paul AS - 24/6/14 at 01:12 PM

Hi Nick,

Just a few words of guidance should you need any.

buy lots of gaffer tape, put a full day to one side and rope in a friend for taking the tub on and off - lots!!

You'll also find a few small clamps very useful.

Everything relates to a centre line on the main tub. get this wrong and everything else will be wrong!

Don't drill any more holes than you have to, until you have ALL of the bodywork is in place and the car is on its wheels!

Then go and make a cup of tea and make yourself walk round the car lots, and look at it from every angle.

Make sure the wheels are centred in the arches front to back!

Then make sure that the clams aren't offset and the wheel face is recessed by the same measurement on both sides of the car. Front and rear will probably be different, but the axles should be the same at both sides.

Then just before you drill it - have another look and double check all your measurements!!

Have fun!!


Jenko - 24/6/14 at 01:39 PM

Hey Paul, your car looks awfully like the one JP used in the Kit car mag write up :-)


Paul AS - 24/6/14 at 06:34 PM

I thought that as well!! Can't imagine how that happened ;-)

[Edited on 24/6/14 by Paul AS]


nickm - 24/6/14 at 08:01 PM

Thanks Fellas
It was more the toe/track/camber i was after, i asked Jeremy a while ago and got a typical Jeremy answer " set it all to zero drive it and adjust till it feels right" ! or something along those lines.
I had read somewhere that the ride height was 110 front and 125 rear which is what i have set currently. (non ford)
The bodywork is more than half way there with the centre tub and side panels fitted previously the only parts i havent fitted are bonnet/boot i have trialled them on supports etc and it looked okay although the side panels were out on the supports.
I have had the GRP for a while which im sure will have affected some of it but with a few strategic placed supports fasteners im sure it can be coerced/held symmetrically.
My centre of the tub was very weak after the cut outs but i put a small steel 1m bar in and it worked well. Im going to try and fit some thick aliminuim bar between swivel point brackets and lower edge of the boot bonnet to see if the flex can be transmitted across the whole of the lower parts rather than just the fibreglass inserts
The biggest problem will be movin the car to a decent open area to get a good look at it from all angles and then all the people who have been watching this stranger appear and disappear over the last 3 years will realise whats in the garage.

For holding the rear lights in fibreglass or sikaflex ?

Thanks

Nick M


Paul AS - 24/6/14 at 09:18 PM

For holding the rear lights in fibreglass or sikaflex ?

I haven't used anything. Just a nice tight fit into the GRP and tighten up the screws. Makes maintenance and replacement very easy!!


nickm - 25/6/14 at 06:56 PM

Thanks Paul
Sometimes the solution is staring you in the face, i was trying to push the light thru from out to in to seat the small lip on the outside but put small lip inside job should be a good un !

Ta

Nick M


Jenko - 26/6/14 at 08:53 AM

I can't comment too much as I ditched the standard lights some time ago....but do they not simply screw together?. I though the hole size was a tad larger that the threag part of the light, then you simply screw the back on and it clams the light to the body work....I could be way off the mark here of course!.


nickm - 26/6/14 at 07:42 PM

Hi Jenko
No i dont think its threaded i think Paul is right and the only issue is if the whole light out and inner turn in the fibreglass but i think if nice and tight with an extra seal of silicone on the inner rim it will be fine on the other hand me being me i may over engineer it and create a nightmare far to complex job which will cause me a mare 2 years down the line !
I am one of these people that heatshrinks all electric cables then covers them in spirawrap which i seal with more heatshrink every so far down the length then have to unpick it all to add an extra wire later on cos a single spirawrapped wire attached looks untidy !!!!

Thanks

Nick M


Jenko - 26/6/14 at 08:25 PM

Well, there's nothing wrong being careful with the wiring.....I double heat shrunk everything!.

I think your suggested method will work fine..