Brett's RS GTD

[Brett James-McCall]

Well they're on - Wilwood's Powerlite Rear Handbrake caliper. A BIG THANK YOU to Frank Catt, who very kindly came up with the bearing carriers.

[Brett James-McCall]

And for all of you who are interested, here's what it looks like with a Granada 15" wheel on from the inside.

[Brett James-McCall]

Well the wiring loom arrived yesterday... oh what fun I am going to have over Christmas :O)

[Dave Bilyk]

Brakes are looking good Brett, and a lot of good progress in general. I dont envy you the wiring job, and esp over Christmas, you shouldnt Drink and Wire.

Dave

[Brett James-McCall]

Well Christmas was disaster and had no time and then skiing throwing myself of off-piste cliffs . Luckily I didn't damage myself this time,so I managed to get a few hours and start to look at how I was going to trim the seats I got from Brian M. I think the upshot is that I will probably build a small centre section to house the handbrake, and also provide some lateral support. Any one got some good tips on trimming?

Brett

[David Morton]

Good progress Brett.
Good quality trimming means paying money. Average trimming you can probably do your self.IMHO. What are you going to trim with? Alcantara is one material quite easily done at home by her indoors. Real leather or suede
needs real expertise.
Dave M

[Neal]

I have the same seat shells and the recline angle is not adequate. I fabricated a metal wedge to raise the front. Be sure you are pleased with your seating position before you commit to covering them!

[Brett James-McCall]

Originally Posted by David Morton

Good progress Brett.
Good quality trimming means paying money. Average trimming you can probably do your self.IMHO. What are you going to trim with? Alcantara is one material quite easily done at home by her indoors. Real leather or suede
needs real expertise.
Dave M

Dave,
I'll probably do the trimming myself with Alcantara. My mother-in-law is a former seamstriss, so I may be able to puusuade her with some pattern making... hopefully .

Managed to get in the garage to night to finish of fitting the fans to the radiator.

[Brett James-McCall]

Also got the rest of the front bulkhead piece made after I started this weekend. I ended up chopping away the original fibreglass front. Time will tell if I have done the right thing... I still have to make the access panel, so I need to go buy a edge setter this weekend to make a little raise in the aluminium to stop any water ingress (hopefully)

[Brett James-McCall]

Originally Posted by Neal

I have the same seat shells and the recline angle is not adequate. I fabricated a metal wedge to raise the front. Be sure you are pleased with your seating position before you commit to covering them!

Neal,
What thickness foam did you end up having on the seat bottom? Thanks

Brett

[Neal]

3/4" high density on the bottom. Not much cush for the tush but sufficient.

[Brett James-McCall]

As I said a few posts back, Iwas concerned about lateral support of my hips and decided to try to make a small centre section to support me and also stop my mass sliding over to the passenger (if I ever finish the car that is ).

I still have to finally put it in, but any thoughts from anyone?

[Simon]

Brett,

I presume you've had a good sit in the car to check there's no elbow bashing?

Simon

[Ian Anderson]

Also check your clearance with a pannel covering the gearshift

Other than hat ot looks like the DAX set up
SVA were really trying to fail on a sharp edge at front of each section but when carpeted their tool did not work!

Ian

[Howard Jones]

Brett, I think you should weld in a 1/16" thick steel plate to mount the peddle box on. Sort of the same way the seats are mounted to the steel strips running across the floor but wide enough to mount the peddle box. I think the thin floor material will flex when you stand on the brakes.

Also don't forget the 7/16 shims under the steering rack. This is the "fix" for bump steer on these cars. Real easy to do now.

Nice job so far!!

[Brett James-McCall]

Originally Posted by Howard Jones

Brett, I think you should weld in a 1/16" thick steel plate to mount the peddle box on. Sort of the same way the seats are mounted to the steel strips running across the floor but wide enough to mount the peddle box. I think the thin floor material will flex when you stand on the brakes.

Also don't forget the 7/16 shims under the steering rack. This is the "fix" for bump steer on these cars. Real easy to do now.

Nice job so far!!

Thanks Howard, I constantly go back to your build to find out ways to do stuff .

The steering rack was sorted out when Roy Smart came round a while ago. I am currently trying to design the pedal box and make it adjustable so my wife can drive it one day (I promised). However, I am thinking having an adjustable seat back may be easier.

Question for anyone. As the chassis came with the floor in, what is the best way to weld a strengthening plate for floor mounted pedals.

Brett

[Brian Magee]

Hi Brett

On my car I welded a 25 x 5mm strip across the footwell from where the outer rail starts tapering forward, across to the centre rail. I then welded in two further rails of the same material running forward to the crossmember. These were pre drilled and threaded with a series of holes to mount the peddle box to. You could do the same but instead of welding to the chassis, weld a strip upright on the ends to take two bolt on each through the sides of the chassis rails, similar to the way the engine cradle mounts.

Brian.

[Brett James-McCall]

Well,
after having to do that very necessary job of tidying up this morning, I didn't have much time to what I really wanted. Putting the handbrake cables in. So I came up with a piece of inspiration (well to me anyway). When I bought the chassis off Roy Smart, he installed some of his engine mounts, which allow you to lower the engine. My goal has always been that I would have the engine sitting at the lowest setting no matter what. It gives approximately a 1.5" lower position in the chassis.

[Brett James-McCall]

So after a bit of huffing and puffing, I finally managed to getthe engine back in. Its not actually a problem, but the Audi gearbox front casing that attached to it is! I always knew I was going to have to modify the rear. Now I really know. Hopefully you can see the before and after of the engine. I tried to sit the camera in the same position on the sill. You'll have to excuse the angle for the moment on the block!

[Brett James-McCall]

Started to fit the headlights this weekend once my friends had gone. Will require some tidying up, as some of the gaps are a little too big... Hopefully, I'll get a chance to start on the pedal box this week, as my thrttle pedal from Mick Sollis is sitting in the PO waiting to be picked up... and a small shopping list for Detling next weekned