Finally, paint on chassis

[HealeyPassion]

Well, after what seems like years ... oh wait ... it was years, the chassis is in paint and home. Trial fitting rear Bilstein shock tower brace .... for Udo Putzke's Bilstein kit.

Sharp eyes will see 4 chassis mods in the first pic ... a couple more in the 2nd pic.

Let the fun start!

Steve

 

[BoyRacer]

I love a test! In photo #1, I see vents in the front inner fender, reinforced wishbone mounts, a tunnel in the driver's side inner fender and a modified pedal box. In photo #2, I see tow eyes at the rear, some sort of passenger floor addition, tabs on the chassis for maybe a belly pan and the end of the rear cross member cut off at an angle on the driver's side. There are probably more subtle mods but those were the ones that were obvious to me.

 

[dougie]

Ditto Richard....and those inner fender well vents look suspiciously familiar

 

[HealeyPassion]

Well Richard and Dougie, I'm impressed! I thought the first pic would be fairly easy for guys like you... (oh and the tunnel on the driver's side fender well is to accommodate a cold air intake).... but picking up the on the "rear crossmember" angle cut I thought wouldn't be picked up! Well done!! Bit of explanation... the passenger floor mod is a channel that will house the wiring going to the electrical compartment (see attached pic.) ... and the angle cut on the rear frame member is so the exhaust can exit behind the rear wheel, but be raised a bit to tuck in close (frame rail caused clearance issues). The only missed item is the frame rail mod (driver side rear out rigger) so the exhaust can be routed close to the frame back to the rear frame rail exit. (pic.)... last pic shows the stepped exhaust pipe to clear Bilstein rear shock.

Not much gets by you guys! (Oh, and yes, Dougie got the idea for the louvers in fender well from you....thanks!)

Steve

 

[Lin]

Ah, the smell of fresh paint in the morning. Congrats, Steve. Looking good!
Lin

 

[Bob_Spidell]

The rear shock tower brace is impressive engineering. Presumably, it will solve the recurring problem--if you drive your car enough, you'll have it--of the rear shock bolts working themselves loose. IMO, putting just a couple bolts in shear to secure the rear shocks--with no bracing--in an application with major shear forces is one of worst engineering faux pas on our cars. I've solved the front shock bolts working loose problem on my cars, but I just spent a couple hours replacing the standard split lock washers on both my Healeys' rear shocks with Nord Lock washers, secured with blue threadlocker. If that doesn't work I'm out of ideas for a permanent fix, and will just have to remember to re-torque those bolts every year or so, a job made more onerous due to the difficulty of getting a socket on the bolts and nuts (my BN2 has two 6V batteries and the trays make it impossible to get anything but an open end wrench on the nuts, and the cutouts for the bolt heads are borderline too small).

 

[BoyRacer]

I just saw another mod in photo #1. You have a speaker box in the driver's side footwell.

 

[BoyRacer]

Regarding Bob's post about the difficulty of getting a socket on the rear shock mounting bolts: My solution is to use socket head bolts (allen head).

 

[HealeyPassion]

I just saw another mod in photo #1. You have a speaker box in the driver's side footwell.

Good catch Richard. Yes, footwell speaker boxes were added to both sides...required cutting out some of the reinforcement structure to install ... which was welded back into place once boxes attached. Boxes are thick aluminum and, of course, chassis is steel so had to pop-rivet into place... used a permanent sealer to ensure watertight.

 

[red57]

Looks very nice Steve. I gotta say Richard has the best eyes of all of us. I knew about the exhaust system from your help with mine last year but what really caught my eye is that cold air intake - I would like learn more of that. Congrats on this milestone.

 

[dougie]

Speakers, speakers...! The only sound I wanted to hear is the roar of motor.

 

[HealeyPassion]

Speakers, speakers...! The only sound I wanted to hear is the roar of motor.

Yes I know, but sometimes when touring my lovely navigator, companion of 50+ years, mother-of-my-children, (need I go on) ... tires of just the engine sound ... yeah hard to imagine.

 

[HealeyPassion]

Looks very nice Steve. I gotta say Richard has the best eyes of all of us. I knew about the exhaust system from your help with mine last year but what really caught my eye is that cold air intake - I would like learn more of that. Congrats on this milestone.

Cold air intake -- as you know, engines run better with cool air than hot under hood air, and while my cold-air intake is feeding an EFI ... this approach could also be used to feed the SU's. It would just take a bit of imagination to build a box in place of the air-filters on the SU's. In these pictures you see a Cold Air cannister that also houses the air-filter. The air-filter is capable of supplying sufficient air for 250 HP, so should be plenty large enough.... made by Spectre Performance. An inlet hole was placed beside the fresh-air inlet, which gives acces to air in front of the radiator. I checked wheel/fender well clearances during fabrication and don't expect any issues. The air inlet hose to the cabin fresh air has been reduced from 4" to 3" which then clears the cold-air cannister/filter .... which I feel won't be noticed.

 

[BobHaskell]

Regarding Bob's post about the difficulty of getting a socket on the rear shock mounting bolts: My solution is to use socket head bolts (allen head).

Richard,
No concern with the smaller head of the socket head screws? Clamp load distributed over a smaller area? Thick, hardened washers?

 

[BoyRacer]

Yes, hardened steel washers under the socket head bolts for mounting the rear shocks.

 

[Legal Bill]

I have to ask, will you be installing rack and pinion steering?

 

[HealeyPassion]

I have to ask, will you be installing rack and pinion steering?

I won't be installing a rack & pinion --- but I have rebuilt the steering box with a DWM constant clearance worm gear (CSTG303). The original steering worm gears were cut on 2-axis machines which was why they have a dead spot in the middle (or at least it is supposed to end up in the middle). With today's 5-axis machinery they can cut a constant clearance worm which eliminates the dead spot and is very close to R&P feel. I used it on my last build and was very satisfied with the improved feel.

 

[Legal Bill]

I won't be installing a rack & pinion --- but I have rebuilt the steering box with a DWM constant clearance worm gear (CSTG303). The original steering worm gears were cut on 2-axis machines which was why they have a dead spot in the middle (or at least it is supposed to end up in the middle). With today's 5-axis machinery they can cut a constant clearance worm which eliminates the dead spot and is very close to R&P feel. I used it on my last build and was very satisfied with the improved feel.

Thanks for that information. I have thought about doing the same on my car, but the process of removing the box is such a pain, I questioned if new gear was worth the effort.