Mid- Engine Modified Sports

[robfrey]

Neil, Your workmanship is soooo amazing! I cant wait to see this car on the salt.

[lsrjunkie]

Pretty trick stuff Neil!  That thing is awesome, keep up the good work!

[manta22]

Not much to report, but I did get a couple of blind nut plates riveted to the inside of the fiberglass nose of my black Mirage. Normally the nose is held in place by a 3/8” bolt running through a welded-in bushing in the support tube structure and then through a hole in the fiberglass. A washer and nut then are added and it takes two people to tighten it—one with a wrench on the bolt head inside the nose opening and the other person turning a ratchet on the nut inside the fender. It’s so far into the front of the nose that one person can’t reach both at the same time.

I wanted to eliminate the need to hold a nut on the inside of the fender so I found a couple of 7/16-20 floating nut plates in my stash and used them to provide a threaded nut inside the fender. I drilled the steel bushing out to 7/16” and the original hole in the fiberglass to 1/2” to allow the bolt to float a bit to line up the holes. I then riveted the nut plate onto inside of the fiberglass fender panel.

I had planned on installing a Rivnut in the fiberglass panel but they are hard to find in sizes over 3/8”; besides they would not have allowed any lateral float so the holes would have had to be far more accurately located. This nut plate is also a “prevailing torque” type so it will not come loose under vibration.

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[Freud]

Easier to see.

[robfrey]

Neil ,
I could only imagine what you would come up with if you built a Streamliner or Lakester. I bet that it would be completely awesome. You are truly gifted!

[manta22]

Wow- it's going to be hard to live up to those expectations!

Seriously-- thanks. This is a fun project and I'm looking forward to driving it, whatever speed it achieves.

A small displacement streamliner would be an interesting thing to try but I'm afraid that it would be "a bridge too far."

Regards, Neil   Tucson, AZ

[manta22]

I’ve stripped my black Mirage down to the bare chassis to finish welding everything so I had an opportunity to weigh it by hanging it from an engine hoist. The steel tube chassis is 400 lbs, as close as I could read the scale. This includes the steel tube chassis and full roll cage plus the gear shift mechanism. Stressed aluminum panels will add a few more pounds when the chassis is finished and painted. Not exactly a road-race weight but it is what it is to meet the SCTA rule book.

Unfortunately I blew out the diaphragm in my oxygen regulator so I can’t do any more welding until the repair kit I just ordered arrives.
As Miss Emily Latella used to say on Saturday Night Live—“It’s always something!”. 

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[manta22]

I previously posted the weight of my black Mirage bare chassis as 400 lbs but I overlooked a few things that were still in the chassis. I removed those and re-weighed the bare chassis, which includes a full roll cage. The weight is 359 lbs.

I also weighed a few odds & ends: 

Left side stainless steel coolant tubing plus silicone hose connectors and T-bolt clamps: 8 lbs.

Right side stainless steel coolant tubing plus silicone hose connectors and T-bolt clamps: 8 lbs (estimated-not finished yet).

The total so far is 1804 lbs but some aluminum panels, gussets, etc. will bump this up a bit.

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[robfrey]

Neil, have you made any progress lately?

[manta22]

My main accomplishment has been to blow out the diaphragm in my O2 regulator.   

I had the torch tip in a restricted area and the flame blew out and it flashed back. During the downtime I've been getting both my tanks refilled and making gussets and doubler plates so when I got my torch back in operation I'd be ready to weld those on.

I got a deal on a Harris Radnor O2 regulator this afternoon at a welding shop in town so now I should be welding up a storm tomorrow.

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[manta22]

Problems, problems. The el cheapo engine hoist that I bought at Costco a few years ago worked fine until last week when it refused to lift anything. Apparently the hydraulic ram went bad-- probably an internal seal. I tried the usual things-- nothing worked, so I needed to replace it. I found a replacement 8 ton long-stroke hydraulic ram at Harbor Freight and it was a perfect replacement. So I'm back up and welding again. A trip to Nashville for Thanksgiving hasn't helped my progress but it made Joline happy--- something very important! 

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[robfrey]

Glad to see you back in production mode. We are looking forward to some pics.
Btw, I just finished Mark Donahue's book titled "Unfair Advantage". I learned a lot about Can-Am series and the cars of the era. I'm a bigger fan if these cars because of it. I really enjoyed the read.

[Stan Back]

Replacing an item with a Harbor Freight thing may be problematic, Neil.  But I'm figuring that we may outlive their usefulness at our age. 

They take great pride in their product.  I bought a jack there a couple of years ago.  Asked if I wanted to buy an extended warranty for it.
"For how long?"
"One year."
"How long is the regular warranty?"
"Thirty days"

I guessed that I would, at the most, only use it once every 30 days, so, no.  So far, I think I'm ahead of them.

[manta22]

Yes, the Can-Am Series was unique and exciting. Yesterday, surfing the internet, I was sad to find that Bob Peckham, the owner/driver of the McLaren M8C that I crewed for died back in 2009.

Photos will be forthcoming!

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[manta22]

...but for $59.99 and no shipping cost it will last long enough to be a bargain.

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ