DAX Build Up

[Ian Anderson]

Collected the car and WOW what adifference 3 weeks at the paint shop has made. It is better than I expected and he pictures do not really do it justice.
I managed to crick my back today so could not get out to take petter shots

Ian

 

[Dave Bilyk]

Ian,
great job, look forward to seeing it in the flesh. What are your plans for striping etc ?

 

[Ian Anderson]

Hi Dave

I'm hoping to get sticker stripes and sidesill stripes done in Black

totally monochrome for now but will allow for changes as and when the mood changes. I may even change to something like Martine at a later date.

Cheers
Ian

 

[Ian Anderson]

Well it is now 2 years since I got the DAX registered and on the road and thaught things were starting to come together nicely, painted. going well, sorting the small bits for Le Mans etc.


Then I noticed when up at full temp with the fan running there was a water drip from the front of the engine. Tightened all hoses and still dripping. Got ot to a garage today and they did a pressure test - 1/2 hour later pressure was the same. Ran it to temp and it dripped AGAIN. Came home and pulled the water pump - serious evidence of the leak - seems the seal has gone and the drain hole to stop the water getting to the bearing did it;s job and dripped it on the pulley casing it to spray!

New pump on order and should be here n Monday.

Then the car has been out to Brian's and he fitted the outside door handles - no need to slide my hand through the opening of the window.

He also figured out how to get air deom the front ducts through a pair of bilge room fans into the car. I recon 250 cfm per side should suffice- well today I got the plumbing done on one side and did a test run - now have a bad hair day! Loads of air movement s my "tight arse air conditioning system" should work at LE Mans and I'll not need to drive without the windows! To end the day I wired the fans and also a manual over ride for the rad fan.

Then fitted a power socket for the sat nav

Tomorrow I'll refit the interior of the car doors - removed for the handle fitting and redo the carpeting in the door pockets.

I'll fit the black rubber seal around the drivers side door window.

finish the ducting on the drivers side blower system

And fit another 2 of the bilge fan motors inside the rear clip to keep air moving in case of traffic jams.

Monday should see the water pump refitted and then it's just time to do the wash and polish for the trip.

I'll take pictures tomorrow of the completed ducting and fan set up.

Tired but happy with today's progress

Ian

 

[Dave Bilyk]

Ian,
my heart fell when I read the first para, thought it was something major. In my case its the a/c compressor, but then the engine doesnt need that to run!
Take care with all those fans, if they are all on at once you may be donning a pilots hat:stunned: seriously tho, check the current and wiring, make sure that no switches are overloaded as they must add up to a serious amount of current.
Keep up the good work, cant wait to see the car.

Dave

 

[Ian Anderson]

Dave

Thanks for the comments
Fans are all through fused circuits but also only draw 4 amps max each (possibly more if the blades get stopped by something like a small child!)

I would hope never to have to use them all at the same time but it is definately something I'll be watching - keep an eye on the volts and a sniff out for burning

Total draw if everything was on at once could be a silly number
Lights, hazards,spots, fog, 2 fuel pumps for efi, efi brain, 4 recent addition fans (2 cockpit and 2 rear) and 2 x 175watt demister units for the SVA test!
Just as well I have a 650 amp hour rangie battery fitted!

Ian

 

[Ian Anderson]

Found a water pump it is the P6 variety (to get a short nose)

Needed to modify the mounting holes as a non P6 pulley is used to line up with the crank pulley.

Finished at 10:30 last night so did not start it as the neighbours would have had a fit.

Tonight I'll start and see if it is sealed!

IAn

 

[Ian Anderson]

Ran up to temp and spewed water everywhere

Simple fix - I had missed on of the hose clips!

Tightened and tan to temp - fan cycled 4 times and temperature steady as a rock.

Refitted cover, seats etc.

Ready to take for a drive tonight

IAn

 

[Ian Anderson]

Sme pics of the work done in the last couple of weeks
Polished 18 years of corrosion off the fuel fillers and ali surrounds

 

[Ian Anderson]

Door handles fitted and mechanism made to attach to inner handles. These use normal bearclaw catches. (not those from a Mini)
The rubber band will be replaced by a spring to hold the outside handle closed
Handles made from Ali bar - shaped by an enthusiast Club member
2 bilts through the fiberglass hold the hinge bracket in place
Inner handle opens by pulling forward and returns to up position when closed.Locks - not yet.

 

[Ian Anderson]

The water pump that sprung a leak

 

[Ian Anderson]

My "tight arse" air system AKA ram air
Ducted from the brake duct inlets next to the rad
Over the mounts for the Radiator
Through a duct from rectangular to square
Through a bilge pump on each side (250cfm 4 inch)
Into 2 by 2 inch duct pipes per side - oneper side to the eyeball vent and the other in footwell area.
Fans are independently switched
Should not be necessary when moving but will give a good flow when stationary

 

[Andy Green]

Hi Ian
I like the way you've done the door handles, as I never liked the idea of the pivot bolt for the handle being into the fibreglass, as I've seen on many other kits

Good luck with your trip to LeMans
Regards
Andy

 

[Dave Bilyk]

Nice job Ian,
looking forward to seeing it in the flesh soon.
Agree with Andy on the doorhandles, quite robust.
Mental picture of you in the car, wearing flying goggles and a scarf flying in the wind from all those fans. It will surely make you a lot more comfortable in the heat and traffic.
When you ran the car to temperature you didnt say what temperature you reached, mine was about 92deg, interested for comparison.

Dave

 

[Ian Anderson]

Fans kick in on the thermostat at about 92 - 93 and turn off again about 87 -88

Today I went for a drice to Tony Hunt's for lunch and to drop of tickets for Le Mans Got into a jam and running the rad fan on manual the temp never moved from it's standard position.

Heat started cming through from the engine bay and I turned on the 2 fans blowing on the engine block - a minute or two later and the radiated heat off the bukhead reduced.

The Ram air ducts from the front work really well and give an amazing flow of air anything above 30 mph without the fans running and below that the fans work wonders - that said today was cool an WET - aquaplaned a couple of times on the way home.

Ian

 

[Martin]

Great job with those ducts Ian.
Martin

 

[Ian Anderson]

Two and a half years ago I started a journey - to build a GT40

After the 30 months I call this a result!

Taken in Dunlop Curves at the Le Mans Classic 2008!

Thanks must go to a lot of people who helped make this possible - not least of all Paul Walton who did so much of the build, and Brian Magee for fettling and adding some missing bits (Air ducts and door handles to mention 2) and af course Roy Snook for organising the lap time. Lastly to GT40s.com for all the assistance and advice - without which this picture would not have been possible.

Thanks again everyone.

Ian

 

[Dave Bilyk]

Ian, now you have got me all excited about the picture - upload it pleeaase:whip:

best

Superb picture and credits to the photographer.
Dave

arrived on desktop as I typed

 

[Ian Anderson]

I went to a Dyno day organised by the V8.org crowd - mainly engine swaps of Rover V8 into Capri, and MGB crowd - but a great day and loads of different cars seen - what a load of work people put into them.

Anyway I think my car had visited Shetland and the ponies have got smaller since the engine was built - or perhaps the extra baffle plates in the exhaust to keep moise dwn for SVA are killing more than expected.

Two runs on the rollers
The first had the right tyre spinning on the roller and smoking so cut short and straps adjusted

Second run went to full revs but then blew water out the overflow - seen at end of clip exiting in wind from mega fan at the front.

Numbers were
Car: Dax GT40 3.9 Rover Efi
Corrected Engine Power: 233.1bhp
Engine Power: 231.5 bhp
Wheel Power:179.6 bhp
Drag Power:51.8 bhp
Max power @ RPM:6240rpm
Max attained RPM:6520rpm
Max Torque 227.4 lbf.ft at 4575rpm

So perhaps time for some tyres that grip more than these OLD Bf Goodrich ones. Also have to check over the cooling system as it spewed water as temp was never over 85 degrees so perhaps an air bubble and hot spot.

Runs seen here - sounded amazing in person and would not meet the sound check at any UK track at full power!

Run 1
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gn5CDg1n9Ks

Run 2
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7HKbnheoQGY

I'll post the graphs on Tuesday when I am in the office and can scan them there

Ian

 

[Paul Thompson 'Hooligan']

Hi Ian -

Great account of what must have been a fun day. Dyno's can be very interesting in their results - but very useful for seing what works and what doesn't when tuning. Hat's off to you for going that step further than many consider necessary.

Did they monitor/record your Lambda for the runs also? - how was the mixture?

There's a great dyno facility (ask for Matt) at Raceshack - Tewkesbury that we've been using recently and would heartily reccommend to all owners that want a tuneup. We picked up an additional 100hp (at the wheels) on the first session with Nadine's Viper and Ray Christopher had good results also. Matt is also very profficient with Weber, Delorto and Holley as well as most adjustable Efi systems.

Oh and it's fully monitored with a 2000HP capacity and is capable of logging full quarter-mile drag runs - so plenty enough for any GT40. (that I've heard of!)