45 replies to this topic

[nicklouse]

try

Alan Britton
SPECIALIST ENGINEERING
HUNTINGDON
CAMBS
PE26 2SY

[email protected]     

[morley]

Try either Derek Hambly or Dino on the gtm owners club forum

[morley]

Well working on the gtm didn't happen over the weekend.

Worlds first i think... the weather was actually decent for a bank holiday! 

 

Managed to get the sills completely plug welded together and attached to the tub, no pictures unfortunantly nut'll grab them next time i'm in the garage.

The next thing to happen is to get the plug welds ground down and then it's stitch welded in a few places

[morley]

Managed to get some time in the garage, only limited to weekends at the moment as it's too noisy for the evenings after work.

 

Got all of the plug welds ground down, apart from a couple which i can't get to because of the bracing. I'm definitely considering trying to borrow a spot welder for when i do the other side, it will save so much time!!

Also got the stitch welds down and the ends of the sills welded together. Just gotta grind down some of the welds to tidy them up then it'll be on to getting the floor pans in. I had originally wanted to get all the welding completed by Christmas, i'm going to try my best but i can't see it happening, i always find something new that needs welding whenever i look at the car haha! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the floorpans the edges need joggling, i have a joggler but it's not man enough, the steel is 1.2mm is there such thing as a heavy duty joggler or can anyoone recommend a way of joggling the edge in some other way?

 

 

 

 

[morley]

back in the garage, got one side of the floor pan in... kind of, I've the stitch welds on the underside to do. Went for weld an inch then miss a couple and so on, then joined up on the corners.

Instead of GTM way.. weld an inch miss 10, weld an inch and so on. 

 

Happy with how it's turned out, some welds i'm gonna grind down and redo as the welder started overheating and the wire wasn't coming out smoothly. 

 

So heres my progress:

 

put some etch on the ground down welds where the floor is going to sit

 

making sure the panels fit in the hole, some fettling was needed but nothing major

 

painted the panels in any areas which are gonna be inaccessible once welded in

 

tacked

 

welded

 

 

Plan this week is to get the welds done on the underside so I can tidy them up on the weekend.

 

I think I was a bit optimistic to try and get the welding completed by Xmas. I'm gonna change that to floorpans and rollcage!

[nicklouse]

I suggest some drain plugs in the lower parts.

[morley]

Yeah I have heard that theyre not very water tight. The original floor did have about a thousand holes drilled to let water out!
I'm hoping to keep it garaged once it's finished and it'll be a weekend warrior/track toy so it won't be seeing much water.

I suggest some drain plugs in the lower parts.

I did manage to get the majority of the welding done on the underside of the floor last night, finished up around 9.30 would have kept going but the welder started playing up again. Learnt from last time it happened that it's best to just let it cool down completely and try another day.

[morley]

Well play ended it a bit early today, worn down my grinding discs grinding down the welds. Ordered a couple which should be here sometime next week.

Cut out some of the bracing which wasn't needed on the drivers side now that the new floor is in and also got rid of the passenger side floor, so it gives me better access for grinding down the welds. Should be a lot quicker doing the other side!

 

[morley]

Well we're long overdue an update, just to prove things have been happening!

 

Much of the same, passenger side this time

 

 

 

 

Never did get round to borrowing a spot welder, soo many to grind down!

 

 

 

 

 

Bracing out!

 

 

Got rid of some rust

 

 

Not happy with how the rear spaceframe looks

 

 

This is after cleaning it up

 

Had a good prod around the rest of the spaceframe

 

Nearly every part of the spaceframe has holes in it now, and the rear bulkhead is just full of rust behind the frame so rear bulkhead and frame is getting replaced!

 

Rust trap behind here too/door hinge stiffner

 

With some help I got the tub off the spit and onto a little trolley

 

Body down to see if that still fits, so much easier to get down with two people

 

Dust everywhere

 

Still fits

 

Tried with a seat in there and helmet on and my head doesn't hit the roof.... win

 

After lots of measuring, even used my laser to make sure the cage was sitting central & symmetrical, got it bolted in, had to cut some holes in the rear bulkhead so i could get the drill in

 

Getting the body back up top, on my own this time, was not fun..

 

Same with the tub back on the spit, I did have an engine crane this time though, should've taken the cage out to make it lighter too haha

 

Just working out where i can maximise room for the engine

 

 

Next to do:

replace the rear bulkhead/spaceframe

mock the engine up

more rusty panels to replace

get some rollcage spreader plates folded and welded in

 

We're in the middle of buying our first house, just waiting on a completion date now. So trying to get as much done as I can while it's all fresh in my head, but as soon as we get the keys the gtm is gonna be put to one side, until my garage at the house is ready!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[grizzler73]

Just a note there has been a very good upper arm and steering lockout done for the rear that you should consider as it does improve things. Ask on the GTM Facebook group.
And before you start anything find out about replacement windscreens,

I have designed a bracket to hopefully sort the rear steer on the wishbone by bolting directly to the back of the hub for my race car.
http://i47.photobuck...TM/DSC_0648.jpg

[tiger99]

I knew that the GTM had a monocoque structure lurking beneath the GRP, with a sort of space frame at the rear, but until reading through this thread I had never managed to actually see one, and had no idea just how it was structured. But looking at the pictures, it is certainly more than adequate, or will be, once fully restored. There also seems to be a decent amount of engine room. Altogether very interesting!

 

Have fun, once you get back to it!

[nicklouse]

early were monocoque rear as well, two pontoons for the top of the subframe to mount onto.

 

one had a hole in it to allow the starter to fit.  front mounted rad.

[tiger99]

Just curious. I know that historically there were issues with the steering lockout, but why was a simple track rod, as at the front of a Mini with the rack centred (albeit with a rose joint at the chassis end for simplicity), not adequate? Why so many variants?

I do know that the old BMC 4WD twin engine thing ended badly when one rear wheel decided to steer itself. That would be the same sort of problem. But why? The track rods are well proven and will take steering loads as well as the component of torque reaction that goes that way. They don't break on FWD Minis.

[nicklouse]

Just curious. I know that historically there were issues with the steering lockout, but why was a simple track rod, as at the front of a Mini with the rack centred (albeit with a rose joint at the chassis end for simplicity), not adequate? Why so many variants?

 

it was fitted as standard to some cars but I don't think it worked to well with too much flex.

more load going into it on the rear.

 

the latest designs that people are doing with a proper adjustable top wishbone that does way with the top ball joint are much better.

[Northernpower]

 

 

the latest designs that people are doing with a proper adjustable top wishbone that does way with the top ball joint are much better.

Nick, have you got an example or listing for this?