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Author: Subject: Reliant Kitten Project
John Bonnett

posted on 30/11/19 at 07:10 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Oddified
The links fitted at the moment on mine are 1" x 1/8" cds (so just slightly thicker wall than your thinking) with 1/2" unf rod ends but i always er on the thicker/stronger side than probably necessary....my motto is if in doubt go thicker/stronger! lol. Decent power and grip drag racing does test things.

Ian


Sorry to be a pain Ian but do you have any photos of your set up. Your design and build obviously works and if you don't mind I'd very much like to copy it.

I think I'm happy with the specs I've been looking at because at best, my engine will only be knocking out half the power of yours.

[Edited on 30/11/19 by John Bonnett]

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John Bonnett

posted on 17/12/19 at 07:39 AM Reply With Quote
Without the benefit of 3D CAD anymore I have to work out in my head the way things are going to work but we get there in the end. So it's taken a bit longer to sort out the five link but I'm pretty happy with the design now. I've made a start on putting it together with the Panhard rod and suspension axle mounts tacked in place.

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Mr Whippy

posted on 17/12/19 at 12:31 PM Reply With Quote
Really quite a sturdy chassis design, would look great if you galvanised it
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John Bonnett

posted on 21/12/19 at 08:10 AM Reply With Quote
The rear suspension is coming together now with most of it tacked in place. The Panhard rod will complete it which is the next task.

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Oddified

posted on 21/12/19 at 09:07 PM Reply With Quote
Haven't had chance to send you any pictures of my link setup sorry.The lower points are pretty much identical, top links are longer/connect to the chassis further forward on mine.

My only concern would be bending the stubby tubes running through the chassis with the rod ends screwed into the ends on your setup (all depends on how much grip and power you have of course though).

Ian

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John Bonnett

posted on 21/12/19 at 09:51 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Oddified
Haven't had chance to send you any pictures of my link setup sorry.The lower points are pretty much identical, top links are longer/connect to the chassis further forward on mine.

My only concern would be bending the stubby tubes running through the chassis with the rod ends screwed into the ends on your setup (all depends on how much grip and power you have of course though).

Ian



Good point Ian and it did cross my mind too. I still haven't ruled out bracing them.

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John Bonnett

posted on 24/12/19 at 04:44 PM Reply With Quote
Using my air planishing hammer I've formed a couple of dished ends and rolled two tubes all in 2mm thick mild steel sheet. The ends were welded to the tubes which will form the top mounts for the rear dampers.





[Edited on 24/12/19 by John Bonnett]

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John Bonnett

posted on 2/1/20 at 06:26 PM Reply With Quote
The five link rear suspension is now complete and tacked up.



[Edited on 2/1/20 by John Bonnett]

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John Bonnett

posted on 16/2/20 at 05:36 PM Reply With Quote
Slight change of plan to keep the car legal. Rather than use the MGB axle I'm opting to stay with the Reliant offering. This will then give more than the minimum 8 points necessary to satisfy the DVLA. I have it on good authority that the internals are good for 150bhp but the weakness is in the casing. The diff case is alloy and the steel axle tubes an interference fit and secured by taper pins. Evidently the axle doesn't respond well to 5-link systems. In fact, they break. But if I can address this weakness I stay on the right side of legal, save weight and keep the same stud pattern back and front.

Bit of a longshot but if anyone on here has any experience using the Reliant axle and a five link set up I'd be pleased to hear from you

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John Bonnett

posted on 27/3/20 at 09:59 PM Reply With Quote
Following my last offering, I'm going to use the Reliant axle and build a Mumford link suspension which has a number of advantages including confining the loads to the strong part of the axle casing and a roll centre that can be pre-set. I've fabricated the pivoted arm and bell crank from stainless steel and incorporated oil lite bushes and precision shoulder bolts to act as pivots.



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John Bonnett

posted on 30/3/20 at 05:15 PM Reply With Quote
The Mumford link assembly is now finished and ready to tack onto the chassis.

http://locostbuilders.co.uk/upload/3IMG_9023.JPG


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John Bonnett

posted on 3/4/20 at 06:33 PM Reply With Quote
I've done a bit more work on the suspension and it is coming together. The axle mounts will be held in place on the spring saddles by the original U bolts. There is a clearance problem on full bump where the transverse links foul the chassis but this can be rectified quite easily.






[Edited on 3/4/20 by John Bonnett]


[Edited on 3/4/20 by John Bonnett]

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John Bonnett

posted on 5/4/20 at 06:54 AM Reply With Quote
On full bump the link is very close to the chassis and it will probably actually hit the chassis when the bump stop compresses. Jacking the axle through its entire range of travel hasn't highlighted and other problems. Contrary to what I was expecting, as the axle is jacked up the bell crank and arm raise up increasing the ground clearance.

I'll gusset the bends on the links for added strength and the ends of the axle mounts will be blanked off with closure pieces.

The roll centre is the point where if extended the transverse links would meet and this can be preset by setting the angle of the links.




[Edited on 5/4/20 by John Bonnett]

[Edited on 5/4/20 by John Bonnett]

[Edited on 5/4/20 by John Bonnett]

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John Bonnett

posted on 6/4/20 at 06:12 PM Reply With Quote
Today was spent consolidating the work I have recently carried out. These are the axle fixings for the ends of the transverse links and they will be mounted on the spring saddles which are in a perfect position.






[Edited on 8/4/20 by John Bonnett]

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John Bonnett

posted on 8/4/20 at 06:39 AM Reply With Quote
Having been running a Mumford Link rear suspension on my V8 MGB for a couple of years I am very happy with the system and am confident that it will work well in this application too.

All the fabrication is finished now and I have trial fitted it. I'm never keen on bends in tube but it was unavoidable with the dampers set behind the axle. There would probably have been no problem but just to set my mind at rest, I have gusseted them for added strength. The springs are 150 lbs which is just a guess but for road use may not be far off.

The rear brakes are standard Mini so it was easier to purchase the complete built-up assemblies from Mini Spares than trying to refurbish the old ones of which not much would have been salvageable.







[Edited on 8/4/20 by John Bonnett]

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John Bonnett

posted on 8/4/20 at 10:47 AM Reply With Quote
Next on the agenda is to get it to a rolling chassis stage. This is important for establishing clearances for the future bodywork. I'm going to set the ride height by substituting the coil overs for fixed rods using the damper mounting points. And that brings me to the choice of wheels and tyres, always an emotive subject where everyone has his or her own opinion. For a light car I have always favoured a narrow section tyre inspired by the Lotus Elan. The target weight of my car is about the same as the Elan so I see no reason not to go for the 145 or 155 section 13 inch tyres that work so well on that car. Granted the rear suspension on the Elan is more sophisticated than a live axle so I agree that there may well be a difference. Personally, I like a well located live axle which I've always found gives predictable handling and a reasonable ride quality.

So, choice of wheels, not easy when aftermarket widths start at 5 inch which is the very minimum recommended for 155 section tyres and perhaps too wide for a 145 section. Stud pattern is 4" so for starters at least I have ordered from Andy Jennings a set of 13 inch Sprite wheels with tyres which will serve their purpose during the build up stage very nicely.

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John Bonnett

posted on 13/4/20 at 01:05 PM Reply With Quote
Some pleasing progress made both with learning Sketch Up, a 3D cad package that I'm now totally addicted to and with the project itself. I've fitted new shaft seals and completely new rear brakes and put everything back together. The chassis sits at ride height using fixed struts rather than the coil overs and with the 145 80 13 tyres ride height is 5.5 inches which is what I was aiming at.



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John Bonnett

posted on 28/4/20 at 03:56 PM Reply With Quote
First attempt to fit gearbox to engine could have gone badly but fortunately no damage done. So an alternative single operator method was devised. This worked a treat. They say necessity is the mother of invention and how true. You may have spotted the clutch fork and release bearing. I hadn't forgotten to fit it. This was just a dummy run to prove the method.



[Edited on 28/4/20 by John Bonnett]

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John Bonnett

posted on 28/5/20 at 06:46 AM Reply With Quote
I notice that it's a month since the last offering but in that time I've managed to get to grips with,although not by a long chalk master, Autodesk Fusion 360 which has enabled me to produce drawings of the 38mm diameter round tube hoops to give to the supplier and bender of the tubing. It has also enabled me to tweak the dimensions on screen rather than fabbing something up and trying it for size.

I'm trying to build something with a nod to the Italian designers and a strong hint of the Lancia HPE a sports estate of the 80s but hopefully without the same penchant of dissolving in the wet.


[Edited on 28/5/20 by John Bonnett]

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ettore bugatti

posted on 31/5/20 at 11:43 AM Reply With Quote
Interesting to see how this develops, an aluminium bodied shooting break will be quite something.

My personal favourite is the Lamborghini 400gt flying star 2 by Touring.


[Edited on 31/5/20 by ettore bugatti]

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John Bonnett

posted on 31/5/20 at 12:09 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by ettore bugatti
Interesting to see how this develops, an aluminium bodied shooting break will be quite something.

My personal favourite is the Lamborghini 400gt flying star 2 by Touring.


It's a massive project and I have never underestimated the challenges, not the least being forming the roof when the time comes. At the moment, I'm working on mounting the engine whilst retaining the air conditioning compressor. I'll put some photos up when I'm a bit further on.

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John Bonnett

posted on 3/6/20 at 09:05 PM Reply With Quote
The engine sits quite nicely in the frame and the mounts tacked in. The mounting are screwed to a base plate which will be welded to the chassis. This feature allows for adding shims if necessary to make sure the engine is level.




[Edited on 3/6/20 by John Bonnett]

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Mr Whippy

posted on 4/6/20 at 06:53 AM Reply With Quote
This project may actual disprove the saying "You can't polish a turd"
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John Bonnett

posted on 4/6/20 at 08:00 AM Reply With Quote
The MK1 Focus is proving to be an excellent choice of donor vehicle with parts being plentiful and very cheap. I bought two complete Zetec SE engines with all ancillaries for £200 which is probably a reflection on their lack of popularity among kit car builders. But the engine has a lot going for it. It was developed as a joint venture between Yamaha and Ford and is all aluminium. Confusingly it is referred to as a Sigma or Zetec SE. It weighs around 80kg and in the 1.6 Focus develops 100bhp. This can be easily increased to 150bhp without major and costly work. My aim is to produce a light nimble car following Colin Chapman's philosophy, that looks pretty and is an enjoyable drive. It will have air conditioning and a decent audio system like the Alpine Freestyle with all the modern features including a 7 inch screen, comfortable seats and plenty of room for luggage for Continetal trips. It is nice to have a relatively clean sheet of paper to be able to design and build a car to my own spec. Very early days yet but that is my objective so we'll see how it develops.
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HowardB

posted on 4/6/20 at 09:16 AM Reply With Quote

It will have air conditioning and a decent audio system like the Alpine Freestyle with all the modern features including a 7 inch screen, comfortable seats and plenty of room for luggage for Continetal trips. It is nice to have a relatively clean sheet of paper to be able to design and build a car to my own spec. Very early days yet but that is my objective so we'll see how it develops.


and you have a level that goes beep,.. perhaps Binky has been an influence?

H





Howard

Fisher Fury was 2000 Zetec - now a 1600 (it Lives again and goes zoom)

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