Trophy Project 40/500

[480bhp.com]

It's all to do with the seams Jay,

once it's been dipped it will be back to bare steel, great for putting down a neat weld and also the seams will be thoroughly clean,
welding before it's dipped would involve cleaning up all the areas to be welded and removing all the seam sealer, zinc etc, a lengthy job and one which would need to be done right to make the best of the welding.

It's cheaper too do it pre dip, but for the sake of £400 i'd rather get the welds looking good (i'm not welding it) and make it easier for the welder.

I just like things to be done a certain way, if you'd seen some of my previous builds you soon get the picture

Heres a few pictures, built in 2005 and sold in 2006 for £11000, earlier this year it sold again for £11000, most kit cars depreciate quite a bit, this one hasn't lost a £1 yet

These aren't the best pictures, but they're all i could find at the minute.
Chris

 

[Jay Payne]

Thats mint mate, superb quality. I see where your coming from now, makes sense. But why dip after? (excuse me if im being dumb)

 

[480bhp.com]

Hi Jay,

After the 1st dip it will start to corrode within days, so by the time i've collected it from the West Mids, brought it back to Sheffield, had all the welding done (1-2 days approx) and then shipped it back (probably in the rain) it will have a few spots of surface rust etc, the dip then removes all contaniments and any bits of corrosion, then it goes for it's E coat, when i get it back then it will be the same as it was in Dieppe before it was painted (the same coating all new panels come with)

Hopefully i'll get some pictures of the shell at each stage.

Chris

 

[Jay Payne]

Looking forward to seeing all this

 

[Jonny1*2]

Nice to see this moving along Chris. Would it not have been easier/cheaper to buy the new shell? or would that come with all the crap you're trying to remove?

 

[Rob]

This is crazy, a lot of time, money and effort going into this, but a very good read so far. Looking forward to seeing more.

Oh, and that previous build (the white one) is FCUKING MINT!

 

[northy]

Which company is doing the dipping for you ?

 

[480bhp.com]

Jonny it may have worked out easier to start with a new shell in hindsight, (may have cost a bit more though) but seeing as this one already had the cage welded in, i was a already commited.

Surface Processing are doing the dipping, while there is plenty of stories about issues with damage while the car is there care, i also know a few people who have good things to say, so seeing as i can only find 2 companies in the uk that do this (on this scale) and the other one hasn't answered any of the emails i've sent them, i guess it's probably better the devil you know

Chris

 

[480bhp.com]

Boooked the day off work today to organise the removal of all 4 windows (or 6 if you like )

So while i was waiting for the window fitter to arrive i decided to make a start on the doors, As i'm now retaining the standard steel doors instead of the composite doors, i needed to lighten them a touch, so out came the Angry Grinder

Seeing as i have access to a weighing scale i decided to weigh the stock doors, 27kg's as pictured below

I then Fired up Mr Angry and the steel started to fall away, just how much should i remove :S:S

A bit here and bit there, then a bit more here, and a bit more there, then all of that and most of this

And here's what i finished with, plenty strong enough to do the job i need, as the side impact is now within the door x-braces in the cage, and sufficent area to bond the polycarb slider windows on to.
As time was against me with all the other jobs i need to get done (not just on the car) the other door will have to wait a few days, but suffice to say it will have a similar amount of steel removed

And here's what's been removed, not including the mirror and glass

Oh and incase your wondering what does it weigh now
as pictured above the door inc bump strip weighs 13kg's to add on is a further 3kg's max (in the mirror and Poly carb)
Quite a severe job to do for a 11kg saving, but it's just a track car so it's not important as to what creature comforts i retain.

Chris

 

[-JB-]

Nice chop job on the door there!! Takin it to the extremeeee!

Wonder how many Trophy owners are cringeing at the sight of it!

 

[Keith185]

not much door left there lol. Pitty about not using the cup dash.

Great progress :approve: keep us posted

 

[BenG]

Wonder how many Trophy owners are cringeing at the sight of it!

Ive just gone into shock !

Keep up the good work Chris

 

[MarkCup]

Ooh, 11kgs a side eh?

Make sure you weigh the cage before it goes in!

 

[northy]

Surface Processing are doing the dipping,
Chris

They have been doing a Jag in Practical classics....looks the best place to go, I dont need to recomend them to you now lol

 

[the_prophet]

Wonder how many Trophy owners are cringeing at the sight of it!

i am and i dont even own a trophy :dapprove:

looking forward to seeing this finsihed. your last build looks epic fun

 

[Jonny1*2]

very nice grinding there Chris. You're going more extreme than Jay on this project. He'll be cutting his doors to bits soon

 

[480bhp.com]

I'd like to get the car under 900kg's but i don't think i'll get there:dapprove: i reckon wet it will weigh around 920kg's, so dry it could squeeze under 900kg.

Having said that the must be 20kg of underseal and seam sealer that i'll be loosing

I'm sure you guy's will no the answer, who can name the engine used in the kit car i built in 2005 (the white one above)

Chris

 

[Ryair]

Looks honda to me... S2K?

Awesome project btw!

 

[Tom@JMS]

Good stuff, someone doing it properly :approve:

Makes me want to throw up a thread about our ongoing project :quiet:

 

[Russ Rallye]

Beaten to it by wheel nuts, it is an F20c out of a Honda S2000. Coming along nicely chris, doors look similar to mine although i've taken the horizontal and vetical strenghening bars out as well. Like to think my ph1 will be 900kgs too without having it dipped, cage is circa 40kgs though.
Russ

 

[480bhp.com]

Can't fool you guy's 1st guess and you're right, yes it was an standard f20c engine, put out slightly less than Honda claim at 229bhp, but with some good maping it produced 33ftlb's more torque between 4 and 6000 rpm than the stock engine set up. all packaged in a 620kg car. was pretty lively, handling was far from any good though, although straight line performance was brisk, 1/4 time was 12.138 terminal 110mph, which when you consider it's aerodynamics it was pretty good going

Chris

 

[Rick Draper]

PM sent

 

[480bhp.com]

PM sent

Not too me :S

Chris

 

[bearne1]

Not seen this before - looks very interesting! Being in the insurance industry most car these days are crushed as Cat D's so fair play to keeping it going.

 

[480bhp.com]

Not seen this before - looks very interesting! Being in the insurance industry most car these days are crushed as Cat D's so fair play to keeping it going.

I would have thought that would apply to cat A and B's and maybe the odd C, but Cat D's are normally easily repaired with a few panels ie wing and bumper etc.

 

[480bhp.com]

Spent another day in the garage, (got a deadline to meet )

Stripped the other door and also sorted the holes for the Aerocatch's for the bonnet and tailgate.
Only thing left to do now is remove the remaining bit's from the shell and it's ready to go for the dip.

The work carried out on the doors and tailgate, plus the polycarb windows, will save roughly 30kg's overall

 

[The Boosh!]

You are awesome. fact.

 

[B16DOE]

goin to be the best trophy ever

 

[Jonny1*2]

is there no angle grinding to do on the under side of the bonnet and the inside of the boot chris? Not any more that can be shaved off? Bit like foxy did with his valver project?

 

[Ben]

Awesome thread. I'd like more pictures though

 

[Missing Link]

Epic, I know it will cost loads, But it's fantastic to see everything done right first time round,

I'll watch with interest.. Dying to steal your aero catch idea.

 

[MarkCup]

I f***in' love this. Great work.

 

[480bhp.com]

is there no angle grinding to do on the under side of the bonnet and the inside of the boot chris? Not any more that can be shaved off? Bit like foxy did with his valver project?

There's not much can be removed from the underside of the bonnet without compromising strength, It pretty light as it is

The last picture above is the inside of the tailgate, currently weighs 7kg's

Glad i've chosen to stick with the steel panels now, i was quoted that the composite panels would weigh approx 50% less than the standard panels, with the excess removal i've done, the weight difference now is approx 5-10% so it's not worth spending £1200 too save another 3 kgs

Chris

 

[b33fy172]

I'm soooo tempted to start angle grinding my doors and boot lid now... Quick question, How are you going to mount the door handles on the inside, now that you've taken the monts off?

 

[Tonnentom]

Spent another day in the garage, (got a deadline to meet

Great work and an good idea!

 

[480bhp.com]

I'm soooo tempted to start angle grinding my doors and boot lid now... Quick question, How are you going to mount the door handles on the inside, now that you've taken the monts off?

There's a little steel tab on the mechanism (the part the cable attaches too) i'll weld a small piece of steel to that, and you'll be able to open the door by just flicking the catch, it saves worrying about cables and levers

As the build progresses i'll take loads of pictures and put them up on here.


Chris

 

[480bhp.com]

Weighed the shell today,

The entire shell inc cup racer cage (minus door bars) plus both side doors,bonnet,tailgate and hinges, came in at 310kg's

It leaves me optomistic that i may just be able to get under 900kg's

I should loose a further 10-20kg's with the seam sealer and under seal, no point discounting the paint's weight as it will be repainted.

So i'm looking at around 320kg's max when all the welding is complete and the door x-braces have been welded in.

Chris

 

[Jay Payne]

Your bathroom scales will never be the same again

 

[480bhp.com]

Your bathroom scales will never be the same again

Nah, not bathroom scales
Luckily as part of my business i have use of a weighscale that weighs up to 2000kg's in 1kg increments +/- 0.1%

I wouldn't trust bathroom scales

Chris

 

[Englebert]

Looks like it will be fun, but i have to ask, why didn't you just save the hassle and buy an ex-Cup car?

Also, i'm not sure about acid dipping myself. It stays there, which means it will slowly eat at your fresh paint job.