Got a little job to do before I leave Adelaide

[Mark Cogan]

I was looking through emails from my old website a few weeks back, and in among the thousands of vigra offers I found an email from a guy here in Adelaide asking if I could do some work on his MK2.

I have a bit of time to kill until I move so thought it would keep me out of trouble.

His name is Ben, (I am sure he will be along later)
His original car had a bit of rust that was going to be a bit expensive to fix properly, so we went shopping and found this little gem.
2.0 GL Auto 2 door, a few dents and a couple of tiny rust patches but mostly rot free, and ideal base for a project car.

here it is in my garage on the rotisserie








Unfortunately it also had some unwelcome guests
So first job was some of this

[Mark Cogan]

Plans are to fit this little lot to it

Diff tunnel, 4 link and round turrets from Ralloy, and a panhard rod from rallye design.
Plus a set of fibreglass forest arches from here.




So I decided to start with the diff tunnel, fired up the trusty plasma for the first time in ages, and it worked a treat
Cut a small hole first to make it easier to trial fit the new tunnel



Then mark out position, remove it, a little heating and reshaping of the floor, cut the hole to correct size and clean it ready for welding




A few tec screws to hold it firmly in place and ready for the mig,



It is welded in now will post some more pics when I get in the shed to take em.

[MOOSE]

[Matt]

[Mark Cogan]

[Mark Cogan]

[banishit]

[MOOSE]

[Mark Cogan]

Been a bit lazy, but time for a quick update.
Diff tunnel welded in




And started on the 4 links.
We are using 2 piece 4 links from Ralloy on this car, so first job was to measure and cut for the bracket part








Then drop the brackets in the holes and make sure they are in the right place

[Mark Cogan]

Clamp them in place, recheck measurements a few times and weld them in.




Then mark out the position of the 4 link cover, and cut this.
When using these 2 piece bracket covers, instead of a one piece box, there is no need to cut the floor completely for the top link, instead just cut a slot long enough to allow movement of the suspension.

[Cam]

Nice work.

Geez I wish you lived near me.

Cam

[dingo_boy]

Mark,

What sort of diff is he putting in there to warrant the new diff tunnel? (Atlas, Fierra, cut down Falcon?)

Cheers

Justin

[Mark Cogan]

[MOOSE]

[Mark Cogan]

[Mark Cogan]

Haven't made much progress in the last couple of days, but the Panhard Rod bracket is now on.

This is a fixed height panhard from Rallye Design, I have used these on quite a lot of cars and they are excellent value, have only ever cracked one bracket and that's on Smiffy's 400bhp Yellow MK1, which cracked after years (and thousands of miles)of abuse on road and track, it was soon fixed with some light strengthening though.

Easy to fit, clean up the chassis and floor where it will be going,


Tweak it so it fits tightly, measure and get it in the right spot



Then weld it all the way round

[MOOSE]

Mark,

Gee's that was easy and I reckon if I was to do it again I'd go your way, my GRP4 item looks good and is almost bullet proof but it came in a million bits and a bit of a hassel to fit (especially drilling through the chassis as if it ain't right first time you could be in the poo )

BTW cars looking good

[Mark Cogan]

John

I would never reccomend one of these brackets for a rally car on coilovers, they would not stand up to the strain off road.

But they work OK on road/track fun cars, and if they can survive the abuse we gave Smiffy's car they aren't too bad

They are also not adjustable either though so before anyone says about it, they will change your roll centre, but it is a good budget option

[Mark Cogan]

I have been a bit slack on the updates for this, so here is the latest.

I added a cross brace to the 4 link boxes for strength.



Then looked at the rear turrets, unfortunately the bracing on an Aussie shell is right in the way of where I need to cut and fit the turrets, so it had to go.





I wasn't in the mood for cutting turrets that day so I decided to get rid of some trim holes instead
Cleaned them out with a drill, and sanded the paint away, then using a copper "spoon" on the rear to prevent heat distortion I mig welded the holes then ground flush, they will need a heavy primer or a skim of stopper to hide them, but they are now gone for good

[Mark Cogan]

As I have only got just over 3 weeks till I move I thought I better get the turrets finished.

Cleaned the area up then marked the position of the turret under the arch.
Then start cutting undersize of the area marked out
(the bump stop has to go)





Then fold a 90 degree flange to open the hole out to the full size
try the turrets in the hole and mark where the parcel shelf has to be cut.
Cut it and set the turret in position, use a couple of tack welds to hold it, then do the other side (I dont like to weld it in fully until both are in place).








Then weld them in place




At the top I leave a bit of extra inner arch in place with 2 slots cut in it, I then fold this downwards out of the way, that gives good access to the top of the turret which can be welded to the inner 1/4 panel, then fold the "flap" of steel back over it, put a coupple of tacks on and it can be sealed nicely from the elements using panel edge sealer.