6 replies to this topic

[Elliott_12]

I have a vtec road kit I am putting together here in the USA

I was wanting to mock up the frames and get it to a rolling shell and as I was lining up the Zcars front frame to mini shell. The tower bolt holes do not line up with the bolt mounts for the frame. It has roughly a 1/4 to 1/2 inch deviation off center

How should I remedy this fitment issue?

Is it a modification or tweaking of Zcars frame or slight modification or relocation of mini shell subframe mounting hole?

[minibugga]

Hi Elliot, 

 

I would suggest you either compress the tower mounts with a strap or you expand them with a jack. These little misalignments are quite common, don't worry. 

 

Regards, Gonzo 

[MiniMadRacer]

You assume all Mini shells were "jig aligned".. sadly nope

[Tupers]

Is it too wide or too narrow?

I’ve seen a lot of people’s Zcars builds where they’ve had to draw the tower bolt sections together with a ratchet strap to get the tower bolts to line up. It seems like they weren’t measured between coming off the jig and going out to the customer.

[Elliott_12]

The towers on front frame are wider or spread apart more then the shell

If I am to bring the tower arms closer together how much or how are my chances of not cracking the powder coat?
I had that idea but I was convinced that the way the frame is welded and reenforced I wouldn’t be able to get it to budge enough

[Tupers]

As above it’s just a problem with the how Zcars made them that never seemed to get corrected.

Here’s a thread discussing the issue and another build thread showing how the subframe had to the strapped to make the towers line up with the body.
http://www.theminifo...-busavan/page-4

http://www.theminifo...l/?fromsearch=1

[wreckitralph]

 i get the need to ratchet or compress to get in to position in order to bolt them up t the body  but i may well be wrong but i wouldnt think thats ideal having the towers under constant spring out tension  i would think it could maybe lead to stress cracking