Well, that didn't fit

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PeterT
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Re: Well, that didn't fit

Post by PeterT »

Am I the only one unable to open these photo files ?
PeterT
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Re: Well, that didn't fit

Post by PeterT »

And suddenly I can. Now I can see what you are talking about. It does help.
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agnoraan
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Re: Well, that didn't fit

Post by agnoraan »

With Silverstone looming, I thought that now might be the right time to make some sidescreens for the car, not least of all because my better half, Nadine, is coming along too. I didn't want her first long trip in the car to be a windswept affair that could put her off going anywhere else in it. Having looked at various types of sidescreens, I decided that I wanted something that kept the race car look, whilst still being functional. The inspiration came from Alan, who posted up photos of his lovely green ERA on here for sale a few weeks ago.
I started off with some 15 X 15 x15 x 1.5 mm section as the size is just right to sit against a door seal, whilst not protruding too far outside the profile of the roof.

A template was taken of the window aperture which would form the basis for all fo the cuts etc to be made


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To enable the aluminium to bend it has to be annealed, otherwise it will just crack and lose its shape. I worked out where the bend was to be and scribed it with a permanent marker pen.


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This was then heated up with a blowtorch.


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.......until the permanent marker had disappeared. Once the marker pen has gone it's annealed to the right temperature.

I then made a simple jig that would fit the profile of the inside of the box section. This would help to stop it collapsing in on itself when the bends were being made. The aluminium was then gently formed around the jig, with plenty of brute force and ignorance, ...No no, I mean a rubber mallet. As it was being worked I cable tied the aluminium to the jig to hold it's form


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It didn't turn out too badly, with only a few creases in it. Once off the jig, I was able to hammer and dolley it smooth and get the profile exactly right. After a little bit of filing and sanding I ended up with this


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The formed piece was then trial fitted to the car. Once found to be a good fit all of the other sections were cut, and mitred.


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Nik, the kind soul that he is had previously made me some ferrules for the door tops. Thanks buddy, you're a star :lol: I made a set of pegs to bolt and later weld to the bottom of the frame. I thought it might be a good idea to thread the bottom of the pegs, so that once fitted I can use wing nuts to secure the frames to the doors



The basic frame before assembly.


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A piece of laminate was then cut to shape, with a hole cut into it for the sliding window. this was then riveted to the frame making it quite a sturdy fixture.


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Some laminate was then milled by a friend to make the sliders for the side window. The whole lot was then bolted to the screens using domed head bolts


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The gap under the frame will be taken up with some 6mm foam seal. I've also added a velcro strap to the top of the door, which will attach to the inside of the roof to stop the frame from moving whislt driving. I just don't know if I'm going to have enough time to do the drivers side before Silverstone.

Nige
Last edited by agnoraan on Sat Jan 11, 2020 1:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Roger King
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Re: Well, that didn't fit

Post by Roger King »

Very nice, Nige. I do like a nice bit of fabrication.

Did I mention that Cobras are utterly horrible with sidescreens on? I've used mine once in 10 years and now consider them to be there only for show. A better approach is to get mirror-image wet sleeves together. Are you making anti-rattle bumpers for the top of the screen, where the sidescreen fits? I can give you drawings for the originals, or look at my car at Sliversnot.
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Migge
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Re: Well, that didn't fit

Post by Migge »

Great Work Nige :)
Special customized BRA289
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agnoraan
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Re: Well, that didn't fit

Post by agnoraan »

Thanks Migge, Rog, I'm putting some 6 mm foam around the edge of the roof flange that the door seal and the screen will sit against that. It seems quite snug at 0 mph. At the moment I'm up against it timewise for Silverstone, due to this

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2871

Nige
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Phil Riley
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Re: Well, that didn't fit

Post by Phil Riley »

Brill!
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Roger King
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Re: Well, that didn't fit

Post by Roger King »

agnoraan wrote:Thanks Migge, Rog, I'm putting some 6 mm foam around the edge of the roof flange that the door seal and the screen will sit against that. It seems quite snug at 0 mph. At the moment I'm up against it timewise for Silverstone, due to this

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2871

Nige
Probably a long term thing as you're prepping for S'stone, but the issue with sidescreens as that the reduced air pressure over the surface as you move along tends to make them bend outwards into the airstream. The idea is to 'load' the mounting pins so that they lean inwards, hence AC's fitting of a couple of brackets with buffers on to hold them out against the loaded pins. You may be OK because they will sit against the hardtop flange, but make sure they have a decent 'set' on the pins.

Reminds me of my Series III Landie - every month I'd open a door, put my knee on the inside of the frame just below the window and bend the top in to regenerate the seal. Same principle!
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Roger King
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Re: Well, that didn't fit

Post by Roger King »

...and talking of preparing for Silverstone, whose idea was this concours thing? I'm now high on Raceglaze 55 and Solvol Autosol and my fingers hurt from prodding spokes and grille slots. I bet it rains on the way there, too. Ah well, back to work - still got the inside of the exhaust pipes to do... where're my 'big boy' pipe cleaners?

Interesting to see if the ACOC next door have any offerings, though
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agnoraan
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Re: Well, that didn't fit

Post by agnoraan »

Whilst waiting for parts to arrive so that I can revamp the cooling system, I thought I'd make a start on tidying up the engine bay.The inner arches were covered in some kind of heat insulation stuff, which was looking a bit tired, so I decided to bite the bullet and try and make some aluminium inner arches

The engine bay before I started.


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I decided to leave the inner arches in situ and treat them as if they were "arch liners" as on a modern car. they're also structural so it made sense to leave them alone


The aluminium arches are just an attempt to make it look a little bit more original looking, though I'm limited as to how much I can do as the engine's in situ and I don't really want to be taking it out at this stage. It'll make the job an awful lot harder doing it this way, though that's offset by how much quicker I can do it :lol:

First thing was to make some cardboard templates

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Because the car has a master cyinder and servo in the way, I've had to take that into account when trying to make this work.

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Once happy with the fit of everything, the pattern was transfered to some 1.5 mm thick 1050 aluminium, which is nice to work with. Everything was "dry assembled first on the bench, all of the holes for the rivets were drilled and the whole lot held together with panel clamps. Once happy that it fitted together ok, it was then a case of fitting it all into the car like a giant aluminium jigsaw.


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Well, that's two days of my life I'm not going to get back :lol: Tomorrow it's on with the other side which should be a whole lot easier as I don't have to contend with the servo etc. Once the arches are in, I can then turn my attention to detailing everything and maybe chop out the front crossmemeber and fit an "X" style one in its place like the originals. A 4" part of the square section will have to remain on the ends though as that what's holding the suspension together.

Nige
Last edited by agnoraan on Sat Jan 11, 2020 1:15 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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