LOLA T70 scratch build...

[Steve26]

Hi Marcus,
The main difference between the Cherry Max rivets and solid driven rivets is fatigue life and clamp up. The driven rivets swell in the hole for a "tighter" more solid fit. I would use them wherever you have access. Cherry does make a fastener that provides some clamp but it is not a direct substitution for a driven rivet. Having said that I think you will be fine for the application you are talking about. Make sure the grip length is correct and find a pneumatic installation tool. For the rivets you have access to you might consider a rivet squeezer as this will assure a uniform installation with no distortion or shanking. You can also install rivets quietly by yourself with a squeezer. As far as the angles, if you are using 6061 you can make hardwood dies and form the angles in a press without drilling any holes. Having said that, I don't think you will have any problems with the duct you are making but if you have any areas that are structural I would recommend forming the angle. Your work looks good, I can't wait to see the finished product.

Steve

 

[Marcus]

Steve,

thank you very much for that detailled input.

When it comes to 6061 I found out that Lola uses 2014 T3 for their
continuation chassis. It may be a bit softer (some doublers could help there)
but therefore less crackprone.
What do you think?

Best,

Marcus

 

[Steve26]

2014 T3 is going to be much stronger and is NOT weldable or as easily formed as 6061 T4 or T6. The 2xxx series is a very strong aircraft aluminum that is still formable (withen some rules) and might be hard to find in an extrusion. For all your flat sheet the strongest aluminum alloy would be 7075-T6511 or 7050-T6511 but dont bend it in any tight radius. The next strongest alloy will be 2024 T3 or one of the 2xxx alloys and you can form and bend it with a minimum 3t radius. 6061-T4 or -T6 are easily formed and weldable. In the aircraft industry 6061 is considerded a "tooling" material not an airframe material. Most of your extrusion will be 6061 T4, this is common ok kit planes and if sized correctly is plenty strong. The great thing about 6061 on a race car is it's very ductle and will resist cracking whereas the 2024 and 7075 are not. The tensile strength is the highest on the 7050, less on the 2024 and lowest on the 6061. There are other weldable alloys used (5xxx and 3xxx) but I think you should stick with the alloys stated. I hope this is of some use to you and I'm sorry if i've rambled on.

Steve

 

[Darren]

Hi Marcus.
Yep. We use 1.2 and 1.6mm L163 as we call it for main chassis and good old NS4 for non load bearing areas. We have no trouble folding it or welding it for that matter. Just have to make sure you drop the bar on the Brake first.
Just out of curiosity, did you glue the joints on your nose box or just dry rivet? Nice job by the way.
Not posted for a while. Really busy in the workshop. Restoring Lola T280 HU3 for the LeMans Classic. And building a DFV for it, amongst the other 9 cars in at the moment..

All the best

Darren

Steve,


When it comes to 6061 I found out that Lola uses 2014 T3 for their
continuation chassis.

 

[David Sturch]

Good advice Steve. Marcus I visited my old school buddy at Aviation Supply and bought a cleco package with the four sizes(25pks) and pliers. $65.00 CDN (25Pks$22.00CDN) While I was there I was looking at the pneumatic riveters he had, He had the Cherry unit which was way out of my price range (1K) and a nice Italian unit at about $250 CDN. I will buy it next week and let you know the make and model number.(Bright Red in colour) I will test it and let you know how it works with the cheaper rivets the Cherries are too expensive to waste.
Dave

 

[Marcus]

Yes, Steve, great informations, thanks a lot, please do not worry about rambling...

@ Darren...good to hear from you. Are you suggesting that you´ll be at the LMC?
The nose box joints were not glued, thought that might not be necessary on this part,
no real loads to bear there. (Hope I´ll be proven right...)

Dave, we actually used a pneumatic rivet squeezer when riveting the sidepods to the
centre section of the rad housing and a pneumativ rivet gun and a bucking bar for all the
other rivets except for the cherrys. Working with the adjustable rivet squeezer was a piece
of cake, it just seems to me as though there are not too many options for using it.
Please do keep me informed about your testing, I´d be most grateful.

Best,

Marcus

 

[David Sturch]

I will not have to buck any on my chassis. Just a body panel sealer and pop rivets, Our two chassis are different. I did some research and the Rivet gun is a FAR. I also see that FAR makes rivets. Wonder if they are any good? I will let you know what the model is and let you know how it works. We used CP(Chicago Pneumatics) when I worked for GM and some other custom units. They are twice the cost of this unit. We used cheaper units at one time and they would gum up quickly and would not have a constant pull. The hannafin riveter is the best and quieter.
Dave

 

[Manny]

Re: Rivet selection

Do some research on the rivets that you are using. Specifically there are coated rivets that resist corrosion and are a much better choice for a street car. Most race cars were riveted together without any concern for corrosion. That's fine for cars that will seldom see any puddles or water. The last thing that you want is to find out that you have a corrosion problem five years down the road after you have done all this work on your pride and joy. Even if it is a bit more expensive, you owe it to yourself to do it right and use a proper coated rivets on the structural areas of the car... Also expect to be using different rivets on areas where you are riveting steel to aluminum, and take a look at corrosion protection between dissimilar materials.

 

[Darren]

@ Darren...good to hear from you. Are you suggesting that you´ll be at the LMC?
Marcus

Yep, will be there. Should have Carlos's T70 in Group 5 and the T280 in Group 6 poss in T286 config. Looking forward to it as it was so good in '06.

 

[EGLITOM]

Marcus

I love the look of the flared holes in the parts. I will fabricate some parts for my GT40 as well. How does this flaring tool look like ( i guess it is some kind o negative Form and a positive stamp). Is there any information available on how to do it correct(hole size, flare depth aso). Where can i source the tools ?

THanks
TOM

 

[Marcus]

http://www.gt40s.com/forum/feedback-buyers-sellers-vendors/22735-irvan-smith.html

 

[EGLITOM]

great
Thanks
TOM

 

[Marcus]

Guys,

sorry for the rather long break in my build thread, but I think it might have happened for some good reasons...

I decided to reevaluate my strategy in terms of chassis building and to go another route.
Instead of using my set of flat patterns for marking, hand cutting, drilling and smoothing/deburring every single panel all the patterns are getting digitalised by a special CAD/CAM-software for easy laser- or watercutting.
That also makes them easy to reproduce just in case.

So hopefully one day I end up with a CD containing the complete MK3b chassis including all drawings, parts lists, shopnotes and detail pics, to serve me as a helpful documentary.

This software is also able to make drawings and 3-dimensional views of each single panel.
Here´s one of the panels from the rear shock tower assembly, still missing some holes and bend lines, but you get the idea.




Best,

Marcus

 

[David Sturch]

Welcome Back

 

[Randy V]

Marcus - Great to see that you're still at it man!

I like your plan... I'll build a Lola someday but first my GT40 Dream car... The Lola T70 Mk 3B was the first car that ever took my attention from the GT40 - so I'm tackling them in sequence!

 

[Marcus]

Some progress to report here.

While examining the panels and workshop notes of the motor mount bulkheads they turned out to be a very complicated part upon which a lot of the chassis´s strength and safety hinges.
Lots of different angles etc. involved and they also carry the rear rod towers.

So I decided to have them done by a reputed Lola specialist who has not been doing this for the first time. He is a master chassis builder, located in Simi Valley. CA. His name is John Mason and you can find him under

Mason Engineering - About

The bulkheads are in the making and are soon to be shipped, here are some pictures:

 

[Steve26]

WOW! Beautiful work, please don't stay away for so long next time Marcus as some of rely on this type of build thread for our kicks! I hope to do a T-70 someday and if you tell my wife that I'll deny it.:lipsrsealed:
Steve

 

[Marcus]

Steve,

thank you. The credits for the bulkheads all have to go to John Mason.

Since the finished bulkheads arrived yesterday at my doorstep in a crate together with many other bits and pieces I´ll post detail pics of all the stuff tonight.

Best,

Marcus

 

[Marcus]

Hi everyone,

another load of parts has finally arrived at Stuttgart´s Airport Cargo Center.

Opening the crate felt a bit like gift giving on Christmas Eve...

Among the "Hen´s teeth"-parts were the long awaited Motor Mount Bulkheads, the front lower control arms as well as the hard to find gearlever mechanism with its rod linkage.

I´m very pleased to say that the bulkheads and the engine mounts as well as the control arms are made to high quality standards. My neighbor, who is an engineer at the nearby DAIMLER plant being in charge of quality control for the S-Class Coupe, confirmed the build quality after I happily presented the parts to him. Needless to say I´m also happy to got hold of the gearlever mechanism, which is original Lola.

Here are some pics of the Motor Mount Bulkheads with the radius rod towers:

 

[Marcus]

Some pics of the front lower control arms: