Читать книгу I'm Building a Car - Andrew Davies - Страница 4

APRIL 2007

The container arrived on 2nd April 2007, and to my surprise as the parts were replica 1950 parts (broadly speaking) it was duty free, so pay the GST, transport, clearance and it was done, I had key parts to make a DBR2.

My optimism suggested I could have this on the road in 1 maybe 2 years, how wrong I was, what I received was what I bought but the reality of a component car is that everything is built to suit and off the shelf just isn’t possible.

Things started to go wrong almost immediately, the suspension parts I had ordered separately had the wrong geometry, so back it went, the rear Di Dion assembly wouldn’t accept the donor hubs so re manufacture was required. Fortunately I can get that done at work, don’t try this at home!

I spent the first few months sourcing front uprights, having them X-rayed and re machining the hubs to suit the Di Dion mounts, then the ½ shafts were too long, so again re manufacturing, this early experience pretty much set the precedent for future projects.

The definition of a kit car is in my opinion summarized in the “Airfix kit”, in other words it’s in the box, assembly it and your done. Well dear reader this project car is NOT a kit car nothing fits, everything has needed re engineering, re designed to suit or improve the concept, that is why the manufacturer was reluctant to supply parts, interestingly he closed down within 1 year and sold to a new builder who maintains the same plan, finished cars only, thankfully he has been of great assistance and advise.

I might add the heads on the AM V8 were being re fitted after conversion to ULP at roughly the same time so priorities were askew, yes I did that too.

When you spend the odd weekend on the project you really don’t get much done, many will know what I mean, but I figured the main thing to was decide upon an engine and transmission.

The idea of an AM engine was tempting but dismissed early, the over all investment would almost double and I felt that was simply too much of an over investment, it is after all a replica, recreation, concept - so lets not get carried away.

The UK car builder has used Aston 6 and V8 engine but most cars are built with Jaguar engines and manual transmissions via a Ford Sierra differential.

The Jaguar period engine is a mighty looking motor, very similar to the Aston, the visuals, the sound the experience will be very much the same, aside a badge and tens of thousands of dollars!

Easy, I’ll buy a manual Jag and use it and a donor, loads of parts could be useful, not so easy, the MK 11 and S-Type fit the bill but are hard to find and pricey, I came across a 1966 - 420 compact in Perth and quickly had it transported to Melbourne. Oh the owner said, the clutch is a bit tricky, read - “stuffed”, it was drivable but to get into first I had to stop/start the engine every time, not too convenient. Otherwise the car was in pretty good condition and my father said it was sacredledge to destroy the car, he was right so I sold it for a tidy profit.

I ended up ordering a fully rebuilt Jaguar S-type 3.8 litre, the 3.8 is said to rev better than the 4.2 which is easier to get, and I liked the older look. I acquired a set of 2 inch SU carburetors, I re built these and ported and polished the manifolds. I had the manual flywheel lighted by 3 Kg crack checked and balanced. A rebuild the water pump and damper added a new electronic distributor, geared starter and importantly a W58 close ratio Supra 5 speed transmission from Dellow’s with a quick shift. A short custom drive shaft ex UK was necessary, as I couldn’t match the flanges between a Supra and a Sierra. Frankenstein?

Engine from Mike Roddy Engineering - fully rebuild.

We're now in late 2008, and the engine mounts supplied with the body didn’t fit, so a redesign and in goes the engine assembly. But it’s too high (close to the bonnet) and the sump maybe too low, will address this later.

Things started to slow at this point not a lot happened until mid 2009, I then decided that it needed some modifications such as a rear roll-bar, (safety not handling), in addition I would undertake some chassis modifications in line the current design of the new owner of the replica company.

Interestingly the history of this “replica” goes back to about 1996, seems the originator of the replica only made a few cars, then shelving the project, it was resurrected by a new owner in 2004 only to be sold again in 2008. The body is an accurate impression of an “original” or so I’m told. The chassis is a space frame design and the current owner is modifying the chassis so as to achieve classic racing status in the UK.

The body incidentally is GRP and has now been fitted to my chassis at least 10 times, I have cut and trimmed it to within a mm of it’s life, let me re phrase that an 1/8 of an inch. It’s ready for the next phase.

A business trip to the UK followed and a quick drive to Norwich and a farm shed where all my questions were answered, well most! I spent around 4 hours with the new owner and the car, great help. Got lost driving back and a speeding ticket to boot, but without that visit things would have been a lot harder. It’s amazing how seeing is believing and I quickly figured out how to complete the boot and bonnet hinges, exhaust system, fuel tank, instrumentation and importantly how to fit the body to the chassis, yes there were no fixing points so that needed resolving too.

Over 2009 and 2010 the developments were aimed at safety and making the car work, this included re designing the steering column to a collapsible system, the idea of a spear at my chest was not appealing. The alloy fuel tank was scrapped and a stainless steel LPG tank extensively modified for the purpose. In addition body support points were added to the chassis enabling me to support the body at 4 primary points. Hinges were added for the boot and bonnet.

A custom SS exhaust was developed in line with recommendations from Jaguar specialists, think of an E-type, the pipes are short but equal length, a 700mm stainless steel muffler, yes body on and off several times.

Doors, hinges, latches, 3 problems all in one, necessating a re design of the hinges for additional rigidity, fixing to the chassis, the addition of an intrusion bar plus bracing for the latch, sounds easy this involves dismantling the double skinned GRP doors and essentially starting all over – Yuk!

At this point it's fair to say I have extensively modified the car, I just could not build it as supplied, to do so would have been wrong and I would never have been happy with the outcome, given I know the weaknesses and potential shortcomings. I guess that's the penalty of being an engineer, you understand what your doing and the consequences of doing things by half.