UK Lakester build G/GL

[Lemming Motors]

My new job requires I work into my evenings as most of my colleagues / customers are on EST and I am on GMT.
As such I do a couple of hours in the workshop in the mornings and collapse with a beer in the evenings.

This morning I wrapped up the chute flap release cable bracketry and hooked up the spare car battery.
Just the cable and the flap buckle, no load on the flap from the pilot yet.

To my great disappointment the linear actuator (aka car door central locking thingy) struggled to pull the pin. 
Stainless reckons these have sufficient grunt and Kiwi Sid directed me to the cone idea for the cable to engage with less stiction so it must be me.

Turns out 9.4 volts is not enough to excite the actuator and an hour on a charger and 12.5 volts later it went with a whoosh. I will preload the sprung pilot and see if it is still up to the job, then attach the assembly to the chute tube properly. I struggled to push against it with full voltage so that is cause for optimism. 

I also put a bump stop on the secondary / manual cable pull lever so it does not over reach in the excitement of grabbing the cockpit handle and yanking.

[Lemming Motors]

Houston we have separation; the pilot chute, under tension, can be released from the tube using electrical actuation.

I don't actually have a chute to attach to the sprung pilot; do you think thats a problem at tech 

[ronnieroadster]

 During Tech you will be required to deploy the chute to prove its operation. Its always an exciting time to see if the pilot comes out and then how far for the fun of it. So in short if there's a chute on the car it needs to be complete.
 Ronnieroadster

[Lemming Motors]

It would go a lot further with no chute attached 

[Lemming Motors]

Relieved to have the forum back. 

I have started work on plugs to make fibreglass molds for two sections of the body work.
I know that in a pure world it should taper from the widest point to the tail but in this case about 4 feet forward of and 6 feet or so rear of the firewall are essentially the same line - two of the pics are the framing and then skinned section of the plug - it is one side of the body about 4 foot 6 long.

It will be resin painted to seal, then use a high build (catalysed) primer and try and get it as fair as I can before lay up to make the mold to save work at the final vehicle paint stage. About six pieces out of the body mold should work nicely; three each side, part of one for the sealed fixed pieced surrounding the firewall.

I also made the frame (pre-skin pic) for the humpy bit over your head where the hoops are.

Repeat request - does anyone have 6 inch square of the flat SFI foam they are willing to trade (money could be involved).

[Lemming Motors]

I got an error with the picture upload. Will try again later.

[Stainless1]

John, I might have some 1 inch.... I will look today... 


Edit... I tried to load a picture on my thread and didn't have any luck as well.  I'll bet BTWE is working on that as well

[Lemming Motors]

It sounds like the forum is not censoring pictures anymore so here goes .....

[Stainless1]

John, found a 5x7... still looking... it has a smooth cover... I have 1/2 inch without a cover as well, just the open cells.

[Lemming Motors]

Stainless
A nice man on the Isle of Man (who is building a Lakester) sent me some offcuts of 45.2 flat so I am covered - many thanks for looking.

[Lemming Motors]

Things are slow at the moment; work, weather (sanding out doors), short daylight hours and too much DIY to do but I must keep the steering committee happy!

I am not a body shop person so I put on 1 lb of filler and sand off 0.9 lbs (sometimes 1.1 lb I suspect) so it is multiple iterations of build and sand. The bendy ply flattened a little between some of the stringers and formers hence the need to add filler - much more prep than I expected. I coated the ply with polyester resin primer so it became rigid for the subsequent prep. It is amazing how subtle a ridge or hollow the hand can pick up but the tongue is even more sensitive 

The final coat on the plug is a catalyzed polyester high build primer (Duratec by Hawkeye Industries) that can be sanded and polished (sanded 400 grit in the pic). Molding this piece was a debate of effort over need as it will be about 80% of the area requiring that particular shape but it has roll hoops etc in the way so not so easy to make up in foam in situ hence this approach. I think this first plug is good enough to wax and lay up to make a mold. I read that I should wax-on / wax-off about 10 coats of carnauba release wax, one coat per hour. Whether that will mean I can do karate afterwards is another matter entirely.

The fibreglass part that comes out of this will hopefully only need some filler / primer and a bit more elbow grease to get it to a state worthy of being out in public. I also hope the air travelling over it does not shy away in dismay of the quality.

[ggl205]

John, you say you are not a body man but you could have fooled me. You are doing some great work there, boyo.

John

[Lemming Motors]

Thanks John

Appreciate the encouragement.

I will keep plugging away 

[Lemming Motors]

Progress is slow but I have laid up the first mould over the humpy bit plug.
The plug had 10 applications of carnuba wax one hour apart (wax on, wait 20 mins, wax off, wait 40 plus mins wax on etc). Just before I gel coated I dropped a clamp and dinged the plug - I liberally filled the small ding with wax rather than rework it. Bother said Pooh.

I got the garage up to room temp and around 60% humidity so I hope its all happy. Laying up with polyester resin at 2% catalyst.

I did a moderately thick layer of pale grey gelcoat but I am not sure if it set off enough before the first 300 gsm chopped strand matt layer - we will know soon if strands show through.

I let that go off a few hours then rubbed it over with acetone and laid up three layers if 450 gsm. Used a paddle roller and cleaned the edges with a stanley knife once it was cheesy (not shown in the pics).

I am desperate to know if they will part but I am leaving it a week first - is that adequate for a low use mould knowing the panels coming out will still need finishing?

I am thinking two layers of 450gsm for panels (about 3mm / 1/8"). These will have lips added where they join as individual panels.

Making it up as I go along, its an adventure.

[Lemming Motors]

The mold parted from the plug like a bought one - there is some chopped strand fibre showing through the gelcoat so obviously I didn't leave that to cure log enough; I have been heating the garage and using a low % catalyst (1.5 - 2%) to give me the working time - I am used to small repairs not large layups so this is learning on the job.

This first mold was slightly lighter (floppier) than I would have liked so a little ply reinforcement was added - not using fibreglass on it after its cured for risk of the mold changing shape - a bit like metal warping with heat. I used sikaflex adhesive (light sand, acetone) - sticks like excrement to a blanket.

I was intending to take only two out of this mold but a redesign on the fly means probably just one part - it was a good learning experience either way.