[hilly]

I was thinking that it would be really cool to build a 3 seater, in the spirit of Gordon Murray. I think his 3 seat arrangment is absolutely brilliant, and I have been thinking I really really want a car with this arrangement. It doesn't have to be a McLaren, but a custom of some kind that still looked and performed great would make me happy. Most of the kit cars I have seen are garbage when it comes to quality. I thought about hacking up an MR2 body, if only for the center cabin area of the car (to get decent door sills, and doors, windshield, etc). Or maybe hacking up a late 90's Chevy Camaro, or something along those lines. Go tube frame in the front, and the rear (mid engine of course), then all that remains is the front body and rear body. I would go one peice clamshell style on both of those.

Without giving too much away, you are definitely in the right area.......

HIlly

 

[cbulen]

Interesting:

http://www.lulu.com/kiminicooper1

and

http://www.lulu.com/browse/book_view.php?fCID=237511

 

[hilly]

Interesting:

http://www.lulu.com/kiminicooper1

and

http://www.lulu.com/browse/book_view.php?fCID=237511

Good guess, but nope........

Think more up market

Hilly

 

[hilly]

More electric power steering column updatey goodness.

Now that I know the Corsa column will fit the Esprit, time to start making some brackets to fix it to the car.

Here is another pic of the electric column

First thing to do is make up a support for the front collapsible bit of the column.
This front section is supported by a pair of break-out fixings which, errrr.... break, allowing the steering wheel to move into the dash when something soft and squidgy (ie me) hits it during a collision.

So, get some of the 3mm steel sheet left over from making the exhaust bracket.

Cut out a couple of strips to support the break-out fixings.

Add a few bends and drill some holes for mounting bolts.

Finally fit them the electric column.

Now as it turns out I could have just left the metal strips flat without bending them due to the way the alloy mounts on the column have been machined, however adding the bends will allow the collapsible section to move freely in the event of an impact.
I'll also tidy up the corners of the strips to make it look nice before powder coating.

Next thing to do is drill a couple of holes so I can temporarily bolt the new brackets to the car and then check alignment with the copper pipework jig I made last week.

All looking good so far, so I'll dream up some sort of permanent solution for that.

Now that the column is now bolted in and less likely to fall off and squash my head I can fold up my body, crawl up and under the foot well (the Lotus position) and measure the rear column support as it is all a bit bendy at the moment.
Chop up some more sheet steel and we have another bracket ready for welding next week.

That is about it for this weekend as it took a fair bit of head scratching to figure out the brackets to mount the column and I am on DIY duty tomorrow.

Hilly

 

[MKnight702]

Hilly,

My vote is for the Aeon GT3, personally I prefer the complete lack of practicality of the aero rather than Coupe, but then I do see the that being hit by bugs, stones etc etc at 60-70mph could sting a little. Mind you that doesn't stop me presently in the Westfield XI.

Good work on the power steering by the way, it's not something I had ever thought about really, I would have just settled for the heavy steering as something that I had to live with. (Plus I really could do with the exercise!!)

 

[hilly]

Got a bit more done on the Steering today.

Carrying on where I left off the next job was to weld the mounting brackets together.
The peddle box mount was first, hack up all the bits of metal till they roughtly fit together and then clamp in place.

Time for a bit more of my crappy welding (I really should go and learn how to do it properly).

Bolt the resulting mess onto the new steering column.

Next up was the front mounting brackets, these will fix onto the existing tabs on the Lotus cross beam via 2 steel pillars.

Enlarge the holes in the brackets to fit over the pillars.

Then put everything in place, hold in position using a trolley jack, check it all lines up and then weld everything up together.

Now we need to make the spline on the new electric column fit to the UJ on the car as they are different sizes. To do this I am going to use the bottom section off the old column and weld it to the new one. So here is what I chopped off the old column.

Next I got the clamp off the new column and made up an alignment tool to keep it all straight while welding. This is made out of aluminium so it won't accidentally end up being welded on.

A bit more welding and it all bolts together.

Now the moment of truth, does it all go back together and is any of it in the right place............

After all this carnage the steering wheel has only ended up 10mm lower, not much I can do about this as the new column is a fair bit bigger.
With this all done and tested (yes it does all still turn the front wheels....) I can get the brackets powder coated and then have a go at sorting out the wiring to make the magic happen.

Hilly

 

[derracuda]

while you're at it, move the wheel to the proper side!

 

[hilly]

But then I won't be able to reach the peddles ????????

 

[Justin517]

while you're at it, move the wheel to the proper side!

Put it in the middle a la:

 

[hilly]

That is where it is going in the next project car..............

 

[derracuda]

But then I won't be able to reach the peddles ????????

i guess you'd need a passenger then? boy, that would make for a fun driving game

 

[Justin517]

That is where it is going in the next project car..............

O rly?

cant wait.

 

[Klassiekerrally]

Very impressive! And it sounds glorious too!

 

[a4kquattro]

That is where it is going in the next project car..............

Hilly, you tease!

 

[hilly]

That is where it is going in the next project car..............

Hilly, you tease!

 

[spunagain]

Damn, I was looking forawds to seeing a beetle with little castors on the back to steer when it pulled wheelies!

 

[dog_day_sunrise]

Any updates?

 

[hilly]

Any updates?

Fair enough as I haven't posted anything for a month what with work, holidays, DIY and stuff.

Work has been continuing, but it has just been wiring and the refitting the interior so nothing to take pictures of.

However I have had a chance to power up the system and try it out on the drive and it actually works YIPPEE!!!!!

I haven't the foggiest idea how it works as the column motor is totally silent in operation, but with the power on I can turn the steering wheel from lock to lock with one hand, turn it off and it just wont budge unless you have got forearms like Popeye.....
I am tempted to buy another column on eBay to take apart to find out how it works.

The car still isn't drivable just yet as I still need to refit the drivers seat and the battery has curled it's toes up from not being used over the winter, but when it is back up and running I'll take some more vids.

Hilly

 

[84urq20v]

My guess: 3 seat, rear drive, mid-engine Audi TT - or maybe 914 but I don't think that is "upmarket" so...

Incredible build!

Brandon

 

[///Mink]

Incredible project, and congrats for your appearance on Jalopnik:

http://jalopnik.com/376281/maniac-transplants-audi-42+liter-v8-into-1981-lotus-esprit