my mk1 Track Car (03 - present) - (now road legal!!)

Black forest industries? Chris www.blackforestindustries.com

 

Yes, apologies! New Forest CGTI region/Black Forest bits n bobs! Doh!

This:



Link

I was going to get Broke to sort the shipping on one earlier in the year - they won't ship to the UK - but I had to breathe in at the expense of the things and haven't done anything about it since. Plus I suspect they're a bit heavy and want re-making in a lightweight fancy metal. Cue plot loss!

 

Thanks for the info Chris & Micky1,

I wasn't planning anymore cage in front of the turretts so I would be good MSA wise, I have no plans to compete in it, but thanks for the heads up as it leaves doors open for the future.

I was planning on tying up the front chassis legs with a rose jointed bar if need be. The front engine mount is to be ditched in favour of a 3 mount system golf 4 style. The red mk1 in my sig has successfully tested with the 3 mount system, and i'm happy with the results. The rear engine mount is solid block of Ali, i'll stick some pics up soon.

 

Well, with the recent rubbish weather putting a stop to things progressing outside, I was stuck in my shed thinking of things to do. I turned my interests towards my rear axle to get things sorted on it.

First up was a good strip and clean.



I have had this bar for years been meaning to chuck it on, not 100% sure of how it will feel when on. spec's are Neuspeed 28mm rose jointed ends. the bar is quite heavy making the rear axle much heavier than expected.




I had planned some rear axle mods whilst I was here as per golf 3 kit car / beetle cup / Reeves mk1 style (big thanks goes out to the chaps at www.vwmotorsport.com )




deciding on length of cone



cone fabricated and tig welded on. The cone was made from a single piece of stainless steel 3mm sheet. each corner bar one was folded to give added strength. The Nut on the top is stainless 12mm one. I wanted the cone to be as far out as possible to have maximum effect.

The size of the cone means I can only run 15" plus rim's which was planned anyway.

side view


Plan


Two stainless steel equal length arms were produced, left and right hand threads were welded on either side.

pic of end of arm with heavy duty m12 rose joint


Bar bolted to cone


Two 3mm plates were welded to the centre of the axle, they were placed carefully apart to allow the rose joints to have a snug fit.



Looking down the length of the brace.


Completed beam

 

Nice rear beam G.

Gurds

 

gorgeous work on the welding to whomever did it!

beam looks great

 

Nice job G !

 

pukka mate !

 

Very nice mate, any exhaust problems fitting it?

 

Shot blast before, powder coat after and you could sell a good few of those.

Nice work

 

Thank you gents!!!

Thanks Mike!! remember i've got a centre exit exhaust !!!

hmmmm, couldn't be bothered with the shot blast at the mo, would certainly be cheaper to mass produce.

 

Very nice indeed.

How did you fold the 3mm steel to a cone shape without a folding machine getting in the way?

I presume you had to make the threaded inserts to weld onto the stainless tube?

 

proper job that

 

The bends on the stainless sheet were folded from outer bends working inwards, the last bend was virtually done by hand.

Another strong and simple of making it would be in two halfs, and weld the two corners together

The threaded inserts were made at work on a lathe, The edges were chamfered to allow good penetration of the weld!

cheers dude!

 

great project!

do you have any more info and/or pics of the fuel-tank install? I have the same idea of installing the tank

 

Managed to find this old pic




plastic tank just slots in here and sits above the axle. Be warned though if you are planning on racing of any sort this kind of fitment won't be allowed as there is no fire wall. I hope that helps! G

 

Have a look at the rally design site, they sell the tanks encased in a steel shell as a built I fire wall, would also protect from anything underneath

Did I tell you about the plastic tank being split open on a pug at Donny I wouldnt want to be sat next to that

 

Ok, so this month i've been concentrating on the chassis itself. The area of focus was chassis stiffness. I've carried out various job's to try and put maximum stiffness back into the chassis. The car has put on around 10-12kg's but I think its worth it, check out the pic's below.

1. spare wheel well welded


2. Interior paneling has been sealed






3. fuel tank inspection hole


Moving onto the engine bay

Engine dummy fit, ( note Bar behind gearbox)


bar tacked in place




Additional bracing added
With the lack of subframe on a mk1, tying up the front end is a must, The bar is tied up to the A -pillar.


With the front lower sorted I moved upto the turrets



Turrets completed

 

nice

 

Some thought-provoking tubing there, bracing up the front.

Panelling off the interior for neatness?