Badgers Build Thread

[Badger]

Right so after creating an account on here nearly two years ago and then SPECTACULARLY failing to post anything other than a brief "Hello", I figured it's time to start a build log. I've one I've kept more up to date on the Haynes forum if anyone is interested

So the car is a Haynes Roadster I bought as a rolling shell, then proceeded to strip it down to the bare chassis for the build. Without wishing to bore people too much, so far I have:

• Strengthened the chassis (more triangulation, welded floor and seat back, shear panel under the steering rack)
• Installed the power plant (after a reconsideration I've swapped the 2.8 M52 engine for a 3.0 V6 out of a Jag), transmission and propshaft
• Brakes are sorted (both handbrake and foot brake) as is the clutch
• Nearly finished the left side exhaust

It's kind of depressing when I list it like that, but I guess not too bad when I only get a few hours a week to work on it! Now for some pictures:
Before I got it:


Strengthening:




Engine chocked in place to check steering:


Engine mounts:



Hand brake balancer:


Rear diff with brake lines:


Transmission tunnel (now also has prop catchers installed):


And finally home made 3-1 collectors and equal length headers - welding is a bit ugly in places, but I've since started to use the foot pedal and found it makes a hell of a difference!





And that is now mostly up to date - I've got to mount the exhaust can, weld up the system and repeat the lot on the right side. Then onto the intake...

[Moleman]

Nice to see it progress mate, I am impressed with that exhaust. 

['The Gaffer']

Good to see another kit car build thread, should go like a rocket

[Iancider]

Good to hear from you again.

Really impressed with the quality of work you are doing there.  Stainless welding aint easy so well done for taking that on.  Jag V6.... the sound system is going to be good too!

Good luck with it.

Regards
Ian

[Daley Down Under]

Great job to date - impressed with all that welding.  Going to be some car 

Cheers Adrian

[Badger]

Cheers guys, will update again as soon as I have something to update with   

[Badger]

Minor update: got a couple of hours in so fabricated\modified my exhaust mounts to support my beefy cans (hur hur hur). Got both sides done, so just (just!) the headers to do on the RHS and then I'll set about fully welding it. Wanted to get both sides done before fully welding in case something needed modifying, and to allow me to spread the welding out and hopefully limit warpage due to heat.







Also the bent components for the roll cage arrived, but numpty here managed to give the wrong dimensions for the rear roll bar. That'll teach me for doing it in a hurry! Don't suppose anyone wants an extra-width rear roll bar?

[Iancider]

Hi Badger,

The nice work continues.  You could split the roll bar and re-weld it - with full penetration welding it should be as strong as the original.  It is a lot of work but would recover the value for you. 

Regards
Ian

[Bulldog Bri]

Just caught up with this one.

Great to see another build taking place. That exhaust is certainly impressive and with that engine should go and sound Grrrrreeaat!

Best of luck with it.

['The Gaffer']

Looking good

['Mendip Wurzel']

Wish I could weld like that..... I keep meaning to put myself on a course

[Badger]

Thanks again guys

- Iancider: I did consider splitting it but would prefer to get one made up the proper size, especially if I can resell this one to anyone making a wider than normal car. Plus if I ever decide to do any kind of competition in the car I don't think it would pass scrutineering!

- Bulldog Bri: I was worried that the exhaust may have been too loud, now I've got it mounted I kinda like the effect

- Mendip Wurzel: I just bought a welder and practised a lot, until I was confident my welds had full penetration and sufficient strength. I'm still working on making them all neat

[Badger]

Been a couple of weeks since I've updated this, so here goes:

I've mostly been doing the donkey work on the exhaust, it's nearly finished though. I'd have had it finished on Saturday, but ran out of gas... typical!

Kit of parts


Right hand done...



Left hand ALMOST done!



I've also had a pinking at a couple of little bits - the brake light switch and the cover for the front of the footwells.

This kind of shows my solution - I've made up a bracket out of 16swg onto which a microswitch is bolted - or at the moment held in with a couple of nails as I have no bolts of the right size! The bracket bolts into the pedal box, so it's adjustable with the pedal. I've welded a plate onto a nut which threads onto the pedal push rod (again allowing some adjustment) and is held in place with a locknut. Seems to work well enough for now but I've got some misgivings about the plate on the pushrod - may try to sandwich it between locknuts or even put some loctite on it to be sure.



Finally I've cut the top panels into shape, will rivet and bond them into place next weekend. The aluminium front of the scuttle will bolt down onto the top of these, probable via rivnuts.



And finally my new rollbar compared to the existing one... whoops...

[Iancider]

Nice work
Ian

[Daley Down Under]

Looking good

['The Gaffer']

Coming on nicely, thanks for sharing

[Badger]

Cheers guys, hopefully I'll get onto the complexity that is the intake manifold this weekend 

[Badger]

So it's been a while again since an update; I've been busy but it's all been little bits really. This is the summary:

Got the inlet manifolds made up (I used Alu-Weld to join the tubes to the plates since my TIG welder couldn't put enough heat into it), modified the throttle bodies to accept bosch style injectors, made up some spacers and then assembled it all on top of the engine. An easy summary but there was a fair bit of detailed work involved! Also got the throttle cable set up sorted for now - I expect I'll have to tweak it a bit in the future (especially if I make some cam covers), but for now it proves that the throttle pedal has sufficient travel and both sets of bodies open equally.









I've also made a start on the rollcage - made the mounts, and notched the tubes. Turns out one side of the front rollbar is longer than the other, didn't notice it before the trial assembly! Just need to move the notch up a bit. Other than that it fits together quite well