Kenny's Kup

[Kenny.s]

I guy on here called something like 450bhp or 800bhp had his shell acid dipped and i'm sure i read he lost 30kg. Theres a thread on here somewhere, unfortunatly he had to sell up before finishing the build

I suppose when you take into account the weight of all the primer and paint aswell it could be near 30kgs but you'll have to put some of that weight back on as most places who acid dip a shell will then dip the shell in a zinc primer, then obviously you need to repaint it so the total saving might not be quite as much as 30kgs.

The shell is supposed to be approx £1700 but you'll need to see what discount you can get from your dealer
It is also exactly the same shell as the regular 1.2, the only difference is that the rear arches need to be rolled but thats not an issue, easy job to do that. The dealer also contacted Renault and asked them to confirm that it wouldnt come with a sunroof cutout, if you want a sunroof you need to cut it out your self.

 

[chrispy.clio]

Here was the thread i was talking about

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/show...phy-Project-40-500&highlight=trophy+track+car

 

[mr.pink87]

Does the new shell come with a new VIN or do you need to get your existing VIN pressed in? 1700 is not that expensive...

 

[Kenny.s]

Found reference to the 30kgs in that thread but also mention of the underseal and seam sealer weighing 10-20kgs and the rest being paint, so not too far off with my guesstimate.

I believe the shell comes with a new vin, not sure what you would do if it was going to be a road car with potential re-sale in mind but for what I'm doing this isnt really an issue.
You'll get the shell cheaper that the list price, just need to do a bit of haggling

 

[Will.]

f**king hell. Wasn't expecting this when I opened the thread.

Subscribed. Hat off to you. Nice workshop too.

 

[Kenny.s]

Small update;

New shell hasn't arrived, it was due this week but never showed, hopefully it'll turn up sometime next week.

With regards to the rollcage, it looks like a potential change of plan regarding who is fitting it, the guy I was originally hoping could do it is snowed under with work and doesnt know when he'll be free to do it.
Fortunately, I know of another guy who runs a company specialising in classic car restorations, building race cars etc. He's able to take the shell when it arrives and is happy for me to work along side putting the cage in etc so at least there is a plan B.

I spent today at his workshop shotblasting various parts ready for paint or welding etc. Rear hubs and the alternator/PS bracket are out in the shed painted, did my usual and just got stuck in with what I was doing and completely forgot to stop for pictures lol might go out later a take a few, see how they look.
I've also sent the rear beam, front subframe and a few other bits out to be blasted as they were too big for his shotblast cabinet, should get them back next week.

I picked up a brand new set of AP 2 pot front brake calipers for an Elise at a bargain price quite a lot lighter than the OE ones and obviously a much better design.
The pad size is quite a bit smaller but they will be more than adequate for what intend to use the car for as it will help get heat into the pad quicker but quite sure with the correct pads they would be capable of doing track work too should I ever decide to.
Got another connection who is going to machine up some brackets, will run with std discs for now.

Going to alter the strut towers to take a proper adjustable top mount, have spoken to Curtis at AST and he's going to sort out a set of eccentric Mk1/Mk2 Escort top mounts which I can run with the Clio Coilover. I'll need to draw up some plates and have them cut on a water jet, there's a place locally who has a waterjet machine, never tried them but heard good reports so will give them a try and see what they're like.

Thats about it really, only other thing I've done is to gut the drivers door, interestingly, there is an additional bit reinforcing at the front which isnt on the passenger side, made it a right pig to get the inner skin of the door out as it's about 3-4mm thick and the air saw wouldnt look at it but managed to get it out eventually.

Kenny.

 

[Kenny.s]

New shell still hasnt arrived :dapprove:
Last update I got was on Tuesday of this week, apparently that was it ready to leave France and from then it would be 5-10 working days, not much I can do apart from sit and wait, the parts guy said he was doing what he could to hurry them along but as it's not a common item to ship to the UK it's probably taking them a while to sort the logisitcs out, even though they stated 7-10 working day delivery when it was ordered nearly 5 weeks ago.

Meantime, i've been trying to make some progress on other areas and get some things organised so we're ready to crack on when the shell finally does land.

Pictures speak a thousand words but unfortunately i've not got many pictures lol but ill try to give a basic outline of what i've been up.

As I mentioned previously, the front strut towers are going to be modified to take a different top mount, to allow greater adjustment of camber/caster.
So far fabricated some of the parts required and sent a drawing to a waterjet cutting place to have the new tops for the strut towers cut.
Decided to use the old shell as a practice so I know where and how to cut bits out of the new one, excuse the crappy phone picture, forgot my camera the day I was doing this but you get the idea, a 6mm plate with cut out for the new top mount will then be welded to the top of what you see here

As standard the cage i've got comes through the bulkhead and picks up on the towers but we are also going to triangulate them with some additional 25mm T45 tubing which will go through the bulkhead and pick up on the A-pillar tubes.

Plan to run the car quite low so we've been looking at ways to raise the front roll centre, not 100% finalised yet but current plan is to modify the wishbone pick ups on the subframe and raise the steering rack, as well as some machining to the front hubs to allow bump steer to be corrected/adjusted, more details on this once we get round to actually doing the necessary fabrication.

I've cut the insides out of the boot and the inner skin off the bonnet so all the panels are now about as light as I can realistically make them. Spoke to a friend about painting the car and all the various bits so hopefully he'll be able to make a start on some of the smaller bits and which dont require any further work, then paint the panels etc as and when they're ready.

Pretty much decided on what colour it's going, considering it's going to be a competition car for ease of repairs and being good at hiding minor blemishes, it's going to be white

Kenny

 

[-J-]

Awesome project, will be reading with interest...

 

[Kenny.s]

Quick update:

Got an email from the parts guy at Renault today, the new shell is in the country they expect it to be with them by the end of the week and will be delivering it out to me early next week.

The waterjet cut plates for the strut towers have been made and are in the post so fingers crossed we'll be able to get cracking when I get home on the 23rd, this could turn out to be a very long week!

 

[Adamm.]

wow proper project this. keep up the good work mate.

 

[Kenny.s]

Another quick update:

The shell is now sitting at the dealers, it's due to be sent down to my mates place tomorrow. Apparently it arrived on a big pallet as apposed to the crate they expected it to be in but the parts guy has had a good look over it and it appears to have made it over undamaged.
I'm also due home tomorrow but by the time I get down the road it'll be late on, so hopefully get cracking on Wednesday.

Kenny.

 

[Kenny.s]

New Shell has arrived

After waiting nearly 8 weeks it's finally here!
It turned up at the dealers on Saturday just before they closed. Since I was nearly home from work I asked if it would be ok for them to hang onto it and arrange delivery once I was home. I popped into the dealers this morning and got a bit of a surprise to find it was already painted white :S on closer inspection and chatting to a few guys in the workshop our best guess is that the shell was probably on the production line when they pulled the plug on the Mk2, the sticker on the n/s rear inner arch had a date stamp on it

It also appears to have lived outside for a while but it's none the worse for it, had a good look over it before it got loaded onto the truck and there's nothing more than a bit of mildew in places.
The car was going to be painted white anyway but I dont know how easy it'll be to get a match, the colour code is also on the sticker but i've not spoken to the guy who's painting it yet so ill wait and see what he recons, if we do decide to paint over it, at least we've got a good base to work from.

By the time I got it into the workshop and up on the stands the day was getting on, but was keen to get something done. Decided to get the soundproofing off, after about an hour i'd gotten this far

Camera died at this point but I eventually got the rest of it off and that bucket is now full, not weighed but it's pretty darn heavy!

Tomorrow ill crack on with removing brackets etc and depending on how I get on I may start modifying the strut towers, once thats done, it'll be time to start on the cage.

Kenny

 

[JackJack]

Great progress will be following this and white ftw!

 

[Cupman29]

Good times with the shell turning up. Hope the build goes well now.

Are you seem welding the shell?

 

[Kenny.s]

Not sure, I might seem weld some of it, round the bulk head and front chassis legs but once the cage is tied into the strut tops etc I dont know if it's going to be worth the hassle.

 

[Cupman29]

Going to be a top build anyway.

Good luck mate and I'll be keeping an eye on this one!

 

[Kenny.s]

Had a few things to do this morning so only got started about 11am but still managed to get a fair bit done, started removing brackets and any other bits that aren't needed.

Managed to get this plate off quite quickly this time, largely down to having already taken it off the other shell, 10mm spot cutter made it 100 times easier,

off

Not a very good picture of it but this is without doubt the best spot cutter i've tried

Cut and drilled out the metal pins that hold the dash frame, quite heavy little blighters these and hard work to drill out but every little helps

Then it was time to bite the bullet and set about the strut towers, was nice to have had a practice shot on the old shell so I had an idea where to cut and how it comes apart

Then trimmed the new bits I made a few weeks ago

That was pretty much it for the day, I did make a start on the other side but it's a bit harder to get apart so decided it was best to leave that for another day.

Kenny

 

[Nick172Cup]

Hats off to you with this project, would love the time/money/knowledge to do something this mental! Really liking the top mount idea your doing also!

 

[Dweeb]

sweeeeeeet!

 

[chrispy.clio]

Excelent work Kenny. Should be a right little monster when its finished. Good luck with it all

 

[Kenny.s]

Cheers for the commets guys.

Had another late start due to going shopping for some supplies. There's been another slight change of plan regards who is welding the cage in, so it's now going to be Tig welded at my workshop. Went to pick up an Argon bottle and various other consumables, and some 0.9mm steel sheet for filling various holes in the bulkhead etc.
I've also bought my self a Mig welder so I'll be able to tack things in position and then get the real welder to do it properly lol Once I get the hang of i though I'll start doing some more stuff my self but having seen the guys tig welding I'll be getting him to do as much as I can

This is how I'd left the N/S strut tower yersterday

As part of modifying the tops of the towers quite a lot of metal has to come out, having discussed it with the eligibility scruitneer for the class I'm going to be in, he was happy for me to remove the outer section of the bulkhead, the bit between the struts is nothing more than a divider and since half of it unbolts I dont see how it can have any structural properties, the extra skin might help near the towers but what i'm putting in place of it will be several times stiffer.

Out with the air saw

Then drilled out the remaining spot welds (not many holding that bit on) an smoothed off with a flap disc

I'm also thinking about removing the wiper motor/linkage mounting bracket and making up something else once the 'X' is welded between the struts and the A-pillars, looks as bit gash sitting there on it's own, will have another look at it tomorrow.

Then removed a bit more metal from round the tower

Trimmed the rest away and got the spacer plate fitted up, both sides sitting in position

I still need to round off the corners of the top plates but I'll wait until the spacer plates are at least tacked in position and then the tops of the existing towers can be cut out. Need to have a think about the best sequence to weld everything in, namely the tie ins from the A-pillar to the strut top but once the cage install gets going we'll know better how much access we've got, or not as the case may be!

I also removed the steering column mount as I'm going to fabricate a new one which picks up directly from the dash bar, again I double checked this with the eligibility scrutineer before removing it

As you can see from that last picture I also started offering up the cage but it was getting late and decided to call it a night. Suspect I may need to call custom cages and ask a few questions as there are a few things I've found already which I'd rather ask about than assume and then regret later!

Kenny

 

[Kenny.s]

Lost some time over the weekend thanks to the lure of beer lol but it was a good laugh and sometimes it's good to get away from it for a day or two.

Was back at the farm early this morning to carry on with fitting up the cage, dont feel like i've achieved much but it's quite a tedious job and something thats got to be done properly.
First off I removed the standard seat mounting brackets, going to fit some 25mm T45 tube between the tunnel and the inner sill to mount the seat on

I spent an hour or two cleaning off the glue and tar residue left from removing the various bits of sound proofing, I had been using petrol to do this but wasnt getting anywhere very fast. I then remembered I had a tin of Autosmart Tardis in the shed, it works great for removing tar spots so figured it was worth a shot, and right enough it made light work of shifting the glue and tar, put it in a spray bottle, gave the areas a good soak and left for 10 mins, came back and it cleaned off easily with a cataloy spreader then wiped the last of it off with a cloth.

I then went on to get the main hoop, screen and the A-pillar bars fitted up.

There's only so much you can do without tacking things into position but the rear diagonals and the door bars fit quite well so the main section of the cage must be pretty well bang on.
My welder mate is coming up tomorrow after he finishes work to tack a few bits into position, I need to call custom cages to ask about a few things before I go any further but hopefully will get an answer tomorrow and we'll be able to crack on when my mate finishes work.

Kenny.

 

[chrispy.clio]

Wow this car is getting extreme! So your not replacing the large strip of metal between the turrets?

 

[Kenny.s]

Nope, would be a bit of a nightmare to try and refit once the X is fitted between the turrets and I dont see that it has much of a structural effect anyway.
The wiper mounting looks a bit odd sitting there on it's own so it's most likely going to get the chop too but i'm leaving it be for now just so I have a reference point.

How you getting on with your car? not seen any updates for a while?

 

[.Andy.]

This thread is awesome! Can't wait for more updates!

 

[Kenny.s]

Was up at the farm early this morning and spent the day getting the main section of the cage ready to be welded in, so it was a case a measuring everything and then measuring it a few more times to make sure it was a close as I could feasibly get it and getting the weld areas cleaned and prepped

Fitted up and held in place with metal ties

Then once my mate arrived we got on with sticking it together, all the joins were tacked at 90deg intervals

The cage was then dropped through the floor (by means of two holes cut under the main hoop) to allow the tops of the tubes to be welded

While the cage was dropped I took the chance to get some primer on the areas which would be hard to get to later.
The holes in the floor have been welded back up and the rear footplates are welded in.

Sitting back in position

Quite happy with what we managed to get done in a couple of hours.

Tomorrow I'll offer up some more pieces and get them ready to be welded and hopefully he'll be able to come up again tomorrow night.

Kenny.

 

[.Andy.]

Welding looks neat man! Good job

 

[Kenny.s]

Progress has been a little slow the past couple of days, had a few niggles with some of the tubes not fitting properly, but thats just par for the course with something like this, so many tubes/angles etc tiny variables, a mm here a mm there and before you know it, you have a more obvious error else where, i've got everything as close to the measurements in the drawings as I can get so it's not for a lack of trying.

Mate was up the other day and tacked a couple of things in place but the majority of what you see is all just sitting in position or held in by tape or other means for now, hopefully get some more welding done on Monday when he finishes work.

 

[JackJack]

That cage looks ace mate good progress.

 

[bmthnick1981]

Great build thread, look forward to following your progress.

 

[mr.pink87]

Fecking awesome!

 

[chrispy.clio]

Will the cage have the X bracing behind the drivers seat?

I found it difficult to find a decent seating position for Icemans Brit car race car because we had to literally have the seat on the floor so we could get it as far back as poss because the seat kept fouling the X brace.

Looks great so far, keep up the good work.

 

[Kenny.s]

Yeah the cage is supposed to have an X brace in the main hoop behind the seats, there's a bit of an issue with that bit though, ie part of it is 30mm short! need to phone Custom Cages in the morning.

Interesting that you mention the seating position, I did wonder about that when I first looked at the cage but didn't think it would be too much of a problem. I'm 5'11" but have quite short legs, going to fit a pedal box, make a new steering column and possibly move the gear lever back if need be, so hopefully should be able to get decent seating position.
If I want the cage to be certified I'm pretty sure the main X will need to be fitted but i'll ask the question anyway,
For for the events ill be doing though the cage would be more than adequate with out it.

 

[Kenny.s]

My mates been up a few nights this week doing some welding, never seem to get as much done as we'd like but tig is quite a slow process and some of the joins have been pretty tricky to get into so that slows things down further but it's obviously very important to ensure all the tubes are fully welded.

Last night we got the door bars almost fully welded and the front triangulation fully welded out to the strut towers. Not an easy job as the A-pillar tubes have to be drawn together with a ratchet strap to pull them away from the car A-pillars to be able to get in to weld them, could only get about 30-35mm clearance on each side but he managed to get them done.

This morning I set about making some plates to fill in the access holes in the bulkhead, my mate had tried to do some of the welding directly to the car but Tig doesnt do well unless the material is really clean, even when the top looks clean because most of it is so thin it was pulling impurities through the metal from the other side and messing up the weld and the tungsten. So I had to bite the bullet and use my newly aquired mig, still learning but managed to make a reasonable enough job of it. The extensions to the strut towers have also been welded as you can see.

Other side tacked up ready to be welded

I then made up the front X from some lengths of 25mm T45 tube, will need to make some more plates to fill in the holes once the tubes are welded in position.

I then moved onto fitting up the hoop cross, I did speak to custom cages about this bit and as I suspected it definately does need to be fitted as per the drawings in order for the cage to be certified

Hopefully get it finished on Saturday as I'm back offshore on Tuesday so it would be nice to have the cage done

Kenny

 

[.Andy.]

Epic!

 

[Dean.]

this is awesome, by far the best project thread at the moment!

 

[ElkWorks]

fuuuuuuuuuuuck!

love that cage, want summat like that when i get mine built

KUTGW!

 

[Cr33do]

nice cage, lovely welding! - wouldnt mind that in our car

 

[Meek_racing]

I told you they look amazing

 

[Ian_R]

Looks a very interesting build this, good luck lad!