Popular Post Mark (smokey mow) Posted May 21, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 21, 2021 The blasting of the chassis revealed far more hidden horrors than I was expecting and in total the list ran to about 60 defects that needed fixing in one way of another. Most of these were cracks, broken welds and some rust holes so it was surprising that they were all hidden below the fresh paint that the previous owner had applied to the chassis only a few years before. the welder Richard so I’m told is more commonly found fixing up the BTCC and GT grids. He had been an absolute artist with the TIG and brazing rods and put in a late evening yesterday to try and finish it but was eventually beaten by the magnitude of issues which exhausted his supply of brazing rods. One more visit will see it finished so I can then finally get it painted. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen_I Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 I'm sure I can't be the only one thinking it looks great even as it sits there now!! Just shows how most things can look good on the surface until you dig a little deeper (shot blasting in this case) to uncover a whole multitude of sins. Can't wait for the reassembly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted May 22, 2021 Author Share Posted May 22, 2021 7 hours ago, Glen_I said: I'm sure I can't be the only one thinking it looks great even as it sits there now!! Just shows how most things can look good on the surface until you dig a little deeper (shot blasting in this case) to uncover a whole multitude of sins. Can't wait for the reassembly! Thanks, it’s come in a long way in the last month and I’m looking forward myself to getting it painted soon. this is an example of some of the hidden damage. The dark spots are some of holes, the small tube is too far gone so we’re going to cut out and replace. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DIY-Si Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 On the plus side, it'll be lighter now! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen_I Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 Not much meat left on those tubes, I'm sure that in the previous owners defense he wasn't trying to hide or bodge anything as it probably felt fairly solid after going over it with a wire brush or however it was prepped for painting, but at least you have caught it now and done the right thing. Good luck......(don't think you will need it though😎) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted May 22, 2021 Author Share Posted May 22, 2021 The chassis tubes are all 20gauge (0.8mm) thick, it doesn’t take much for them to be damaged. The blasting was done with glass beads so it was a gentle as possible. I think in the case of the previous stalled restoration it was as much to do with lack of knowledge and capability rather than trying to hide anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen_I Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 4 minutes ago, Mark (smokey mow) said: The chassis tubes are all 20gauge (0.8mm) thick I didn't realise that's all they were. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted May 22, 2021 Author Share Posted May 22, 2021 24 minutes ago, Glen_I said: I didn't realise that's all they were. Yes it’s quite mad. The chassis gains all its strength from the triangulation which means that the tubes can be very thin walled. The result is one of the stiffest space frames for its weight. its also worth noting that every chassis prior to this one that was designed by Costin was built with a resin bonded plywood monocoque with only the engine frame made from steel. Notably the Costin Nathan GT that preceded this car and the Protos F2 that was designed in parallel to the Costin Walker were both plywood. both cars share similarities and indeed parts with my car. The Nathan engine frame had very similar triangulation and tube structure as well as sharing suspension bracketry whilst the Protos is styled very similar and shares the same windscreen mouldings. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted May 23, 2021 Author Share Posted May 23, 2021 Final update for a few weeks. Top service this week from local company Bentleys Blasting who have cleaned up all the brackets and small parts and then zinc plated then again. They were only dropped off on Wednesday, yet all done and delivered back to me two days later. So many of these parts I could have replaced but I wanted to keep as many of the original bits as possible. the engine mounting brackets and gearbox adaptor plate were originally painted but as these are prone to scrapes and impact when fitting I opted to get them cleaned up and plated too. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted July 3, 2021 Author Share Posted July 3, 2021 While the chassis is still U.K. the road waiting for the welder to return there’s not many jobs I can be getting on with but whilst tidy the garage today I tripped over one of the coolant pipes so thought I’d give it a quick clean up. like the rest of the car it has plenty of surface corrosion, the majority of which cleaned off quite well with the wire wheel, the a light sand with some wet and dry followed by a final polish. I’m not a fan of straight straight ends on coolant pipes because of the fear of them popping off but unfortunately I don’t have the luxury of a beading tool to add a swaged bead. A few years back on recommendation from locostbuilders I bought a plumbers olive setting tool in the sale from B&Q for a couple of pounds which enables a series of raised dots to be formed. that should help to keep the hoses and clips in place. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen_I Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 Thats a handy way of doing it it. When I plumbed my 20xe I made a steel coolant pipe section but run a bead of weld around the ends to do the same. Something is better than nothing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsechris Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 I bought a cheap cable crimp tool and modified the jaw profile to do a similar thing. Takes a couple of passes but it can make a decent bead. The dimples that tool make look really neat though, and just as effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted July 4, 2021 Author Share Posted July 4, 2021 14 hours ago, Glen_I said: Thats a handy way of doing it it. When I plumbed my 20xe I made a steel coolant pipe section but run a bead of weld around the ends to do the same. Something is better than nothing! On the aluminium castings I’ve done very similar using chemical metal. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted July 10, 2021 Author Share Posted July 10, 2021 Looking through the various boxes of parts I pulled out the wiring loom today, it’s going to be remade at some point but I’m struggling to work out what one of the parts is. it’s on the loom between the battery isolator and the starter motor so I’m thinking it’s a starter relay but it doesn’t look like one I’ve seen before. any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard (OldStager) Posted July 10, 2021 Share Posted July 10, 2021 Certainly looks like a solenoid to me as well, not a design I have seen before though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.