Mid- Engine Modified Sports

[manta22]

I've been considering something to hold my driver's side gull-wing door in the raised position after I manually push it open. I have a support rod that can hold it open but I can't raise it from the driver's seat, only from the outside. Initially I thought about using a gas spring and may try one yet but I found another way to do the job.

A straight helical-wound spring has lots of stiffness in compression but if it is pushed sideways, it collapses rather easily. Some clever individual seized upon this principle to create a purely mechanical hold-open. I ordered an all-stainless spring assembly from a marine hardware company for about $20 and gave it a try. I had to remove the lower end attachment for my application and make a bracket that would fit without interference. I had a piece of 3/4" aluminum angle and mounted a floating nut plate in one leg to receive a 10-32 oddball fastener I had. This fastener fits through the lower spring loop end. Both end attachments are riveted in place, as is the nut plate. The nut plate needed small diameter rivets (a #40 hole) and I had a bag of that size Cherry rivets. They were slightly too long a grip length but since they only held the nut plate in place, I would go ahead and use them. The upper end uses 3/16" rivets into the door.

The spring holds the door up nicely and when I push the spring sideways slightly, it goes down. On the downside, the placement results in the curved spring hanging down further than I'd like. I may move it to the rear edge of the door if it won't interfere with my helmet.

One thing more- when working on fabricated parts, de-burr all holes and break sharp edges (this is just basic metalwork) but I recommend also radiusing all those square corners. The corners add no strength but they do add weight and they lie in wait for the unwary. If you've never gashed yourself on a sharp corner when working on your car, it's only a matter of time before you do. Use a belt sander to round off the corners and then break the edges with a file. It looks better, too.

[Peter Jack]

That's ingenious Neil. Well thought out!!! 

Just be careful acceleration or braking doesn't cause the bent spring to go where you don't want it. 

Pete

[manta22]

Thanks Pete, it's a pretty stiff spring- 9" long & 9/16 dia so it doesn't "dangle" when it is bent.

[Rex Schimmer]

Neil,
That is a really cool idea! I am going to uses that some where.

Rex

[salt27]

That is a creative use of a spring.   
The thought of getting ones hair stuck in it is a bit unnerving but I have nothing to worry about myself. 

  Don

[manta22]

I didn't discover this trick- it's been around a long time but I'll pass along my experiences using it.


Getting to the backside of a bolt to install a washer or get a nut started on its threads is sometimes really difficult (see photo). I was re-installing my front anti-roll bar and each bracket was bolted to the chassis with three 1/4-28 bolts. These extended through a 1/8" aluminum plate and through a vertical 1/8" steel chassis tube. I could barely reach the end of the bolts with one fingertip so getting a nut started on the bolt threads was not easy.

I remembered the old trick of wrapping a piece of tape around one finger, sticky side out,  and sticking a nut to the tape adhesive. This allowed me to position the nut without it falling off into the bowels of the chassis. Although duct tape does work, I tried "Flex Tape" and found that it holds extremely well. For farther reach, wrap the tape around a long flat blade screwdriver. That works well, too, for retrieving parts that have been dropped into places that seen inaccessible.

[floydjer]

Neil...Little dab of silicone in a box end wrench is my go to

[manta22]

Neil...Little dab of silicone in a box end wrench is my go to

I've done it that way, too, but it lacks the feel of using your fingertip with tape.

[floydjer]

Neil....My father just yelled into the house for " that kid with the skinny fingers"....🤔

[manta22]

It looks like he only way I'm going to scrunch down far enough to get my larger new helmet far enough below the roll cage to pass tech is to remove a brace so that I can get my left knee bent up a little higher. Unfortunately, I have a sheet of 6Al4V titanium riveted in place there. The Ti needs to be cut so that I can cut the tubing brace so I set about that today.

The first thing I tried was a 3" Harbor Freight cut-off wheel. Two abrasive discs resulted in about a 2" cut and the HF motor died. 

Next, I hauled out my DeWalt angle grinder with a 4.5" metal-cutting diamond blade and I'm 95% finished with that cut. Lesson: sometimes you can get away with buying cheap $hit but not very often.

 

[manta22]

OK, the offending piece has been removed and it helped getting my head further down below the roll cage. I couldn't bend my left knee up high enough to slide down and forward before. Sitting lower required re-profiling my driver's seat which I've just finished.

I found some stuff that is very good for making templates or covering a workbench to keep it from getting scarred up. It is called "Ram Board", a thick cardboard-like material that is intended to protect floors when moving heavy appliances. It comes in a large roll and it is cheap, about $25 a roll. The Ram Board seam tape is also cheap and useful for lots of applications. It is a thin paper-like tape but it is fairly tough and has a really aggressive adhesive. It even sticks to HDPE paneling, etc.

Now that the seating position problem is solved (hopefully) I re-installed the front bodywork. Thrashing away for WOS 150 Club since I need to get the car sorted out.

[Elmo Rodge]

Neil, I just used your spring idea on my hatch prop. I wish I had done it 10 years ago. 
Wayno

[manta22]

That's one important function of this forum, to share ideas and information. I can't tell you how much I've learned here from other people. I'm glad it worked for you.

[manta22]

I'm working on preparing my car so lots of work has been done lately. Today I made a small panel to block an opening in the cockpit. It is a 0.063" thick sheet of 3003-H14 aluminum that I cut, bent, drilled, and finished by scouring it with a yellow 3M bristle disc in an angle grinder. I can't recommend this 3M abrasive disc too highly. It is a unique design that is perfect for de-burring parts and leaving a scuffed finish which provides a "tooth" for paint or adhesives to adhere to. A simple wipe with denatured alcohol is all the preparation it needs before painting. One nice feature is that it doesn't grab the piece out of your hands and fling it across the room!


https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40064927/

[manta22]

I?m thrashing away on getting things ready to leave here on Tuesday morning. I started the engine and ran it for a short time this afternoon. I'll probably increase the secondary idle a bit when it is fully warmed up. This Proform 850 has 4-corner idle so that is an improvement over the old Holley.
 
I hit the starter on Friday to build up some oil pressure and the button went "click"- nothing else. I thought the starter solenoid might be stuck so I hit it a few times with a plastic mallet (with mallets aforethought  ) and then I got a click and a solid solenoid clunk but no starter motor. There was no option but to crawl under and pull the starter off. It?s an IMI mini-starter and pulling it apart wasn?t too bad a job. The starter motor had some rust & corrosion inside the rear of the case, around the brush holder assembly. At some point it must have ingested some water. I cleaned it out as well as I could and tried operating the starter on a battery out of the car. The solenoid operated but the motor did not turn. Probably corrosion on the contacts inside. Disassembly verified that so I cleaned the contacts and burnished them with Scotchbrite and added some grease to the bearings and reduction gears. After putting it back together, the motor ran on a battery so I put the starter back on. I had not foreseen starter problems but at least it?s fixed now.
 
I?m gathering up stuff I need to take in the pickup this afternoon. Things are coming together. Was there ever a racer who didn't tell himself "I should have started on this sooner"?
 
That?s the situation as of now.