Rhyscar's Toyota Levin - ‘fab it all from scratch’ project

[Rhyscar]

Gearbox all sorted and bolted up. Plenty to re do properly but at least I can see how it will sit.

The good;

- It fits (ish)

The bad;

- sits too low. Will smash sump to. Pieces at current height

- needs to be leant forward heaps to flatten out sump

- looks like I will need cutout/hump in bonnet which I really want to avoid if I can (outboard injectors will sit out even further)

Onwards and upwards. Plenty more to do after rallying is over for the season

[mikuni]

Definitely looks very tight, especially if you have to lift it and stand it up a little more still. If you stand it up, will you be able to push it back in the engine bay a little to gain a bit more clearance?

[Rhyscar]

I can push it back a little maybe 30-40mm but it is quite tight against the steering rack. Considering I've got to fit the extractors on the back of the engine and around the steering rack, I don't want to close the area up top much yet

[Rookie]

I think the only option is to go full BTCC spec Rhys.

[Rhyscar]

Normally I'd like to say I agree with you Dave but the thing is btcc spec is reliant on the gearbox output shaft location being further up and also the option of having the output on the front would be super helpful. This is cause you either need to lean the engine back or forward to get trumpets to fit and axle location is always going to be the limiting factor.

I really would love to have $25k sitting round to buy an xtracc gearbox that's not really realistic.

[Rookie]

Why not spin the motor around and use a honda box?

[Goat]

Make and adaptor plate to rotate gearbox angle to suit position of motor?

 

/i don't know what i'm talking about

[Rhyscar]

^^ That's not such a silly idea. Would have to install a external sump/resevoir/pump to spray oil around inside but other than that and how to lubricate the diff I don't see why not..

Nah mit or needs to be intake facing forward it's pretty much the whole reason I did this rather than building a serious 4age. I've got to talk to a very clever man about the size of the intake and airbox as this may determine if I can use a scoop or if it'll need to fit under the bonnet

[mikuni]

Yeah Joe's idea is best. The box would likely be splash lubrication so not too much worry there, just need to make sure the diff gets a good feed of oil being so much higher. I looked very seriously at this, but the biggest issue was relocating the starter, which is actually quite tricky. Moving it to the front is pretty much the only option but there is no meat there for it, so would have to make something meaty, and my BTCC-ness means I'm reluctant to move that much weight in front of the engine.. haha

[Rhyscar]

holy batman I've actually been getting some work done on this thing lately. Have made it my goal this year to finish this thing and get it on the road. Have made a list (very long one at this stage) with all I need to do and its a bit daunting but just need to pick away at it getting 1 or 2 jobs a week done.. 

 

Enough with yabbering here are some pics. Have decided to strip the car right back to bare metal to make sure I can tidy up all the untidy bits that I screwed up last time with the paint.. I've decided to go with sandblasting + 80grit sand paper should do the trip. This involves stripping engine/box and subframes out of the car so I can remove all the underseal and sealant in order to seam weld the chassis while its bear. 

 

Been cutting heaps out of the doors to try make them lighter but retain power windows. Got perhaps 10kg out of each door but they are still 15-20kg each once I put everything back in them. Hoping to have car all sandblasted and ready to go back together in the next month or so. 

 

 

Looking at CNC'ing new hubs for this as I always suspected the geometry was bung. How wrong I was! It actually isn't that bad with only +/- 1mm in most of the stroke length. Still worth doing the hubs though to correct the roll centre and reduce unsprung weight a bit as I'm building bilstein shocks as well so can slam it heaps and have it work (full compression will see 50mm of ground clearance). 

Made a jig to measure accurately. 

 

Plan is to make it standard replacement fitment so brake mounts and lower ball joints can be re-used, making it more universal for people wanting to buy. Will be made out of chromoly so the design can be approved by LVVTA certifiers which will make it even more valuable! Once I have the geometry I can make a full race item too, possibly out of Alloy for the likes of dads and Grants cars. 

 

This is the ride height I'll be aiming for - trying to decide on where exactly it will sit as I don't really want adjustment on my shocks, only by clevis. Still not sure about how that will go. Apprently 50mm travel in each direction is what I should be aiming for - a bit on the short side in the front but that won't be the end of the world. 

http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g437/touge_ae101/20150125_182625.jpg

 

 

Hopefully more progress to come

[EURON8]

So technical ! Enjoying thread.

However if your going to the extend of cutting that much of the doors for weight saving just ditch the power windows? It's a 2door so not like manual windows are that hard.

[DB8-TypeR]

I dont know about this car but with Civic Type R the manual window mechanism weighs more than the electric (some EK9 were optioned without power anything, no recaro etc)

[Rhyscar]

First issue is they don't make any manual windows Ae101s I know of. Also the motor and cable mechanism isn't actually that heavy maybe 1-2 kg.

This car has to be a daily-able racecar which means wind down windows are a must. Nothing worse than going into a parking building and having to open the door or feed a ticket into the machine through a tiny slot in the window..

I know it's a bit of a compromise but ah well got to have power windows and a heater in my books!

[Rhyscar]

Progress has been made.. been stripping it back to a bare shell so it can be sandblasted. Reason for this is to tidy up the whole body and allow everything to be painted mint.

Rear windows out

Pretty much made a massive mess of my shed pulling everything apart. Need to spend a good day water blasting all the dirty crap that came out

I bought this seat off dad for the passenger seat. It's a racetech 4000 so the ol d 4009.. has been re foamed and covered not long ago so is in brand new condition. Only issue being the blue gel coat.. have stripped the seat so I can paint this black after I get back from holiday.

Got doors and panels sandblasted. Didn't realise how much bog was in the front panels. These ones are rooted so I've sent my spare set down to get blasted which look to be in a bit better condition.

Really happy with how the blasting came out did an awesome job and will def make the painting process easier.

[Rhyscar]

How it went to the sandblasters..

How it came back...

Really happy with how the interior came out it's so nice having it tidy and all the same color! A good canvas to start from.

So now I've got a massive job of stripping all the underseal and sealant out of the car in preparation of seam welding the chassis. Main reason is cause I want to do it properly but also cause the chassis was fatiguing in a number of places. Really makes me understand where the strength in the chassis is and where I could cut weight out if it wasn't going to be road legal..

got a few mates around the other night and turned it on its side. The chassis is so light maybe no more than 200kg with nothing attached to it..

This is where I'm up to now - ready to flip back the other way for ultimate working height/comfort..

Heating all the seams to get the sealant out from between them.

Seam welding and cutting lots of holes in panels to come next!

[Rhyscar]

More progress.

Finished cleaning up all the seams and seam welding the chassis. Once I got into the swing of it it wasn't too bad and Simons welder was ace for it.

Sneak shot of engine bay:

Decided to cut the spare tyre well out and make a diffuser from some Sheetmetal. Quite happy with how it turned out. Will add fins and underbody panels once all the bumper (what will be left of it) etc goes back on

Currently working on trying to figure out how to get the exhaust to exit above the diffuser.. best option so far is to weld up the rear section of the staonless exhaust then weld it into a 3" mild steel pipe and weld it into the car.. just means the rear section will never come out. Undecided at this stage - open to ideas!

Also making a box for the 60l fuel cell to sit in the rear seat. I decided on 60l because the long term goal with this car is to do targa. The standard 45l tank would of never been enough and also gives me the option of endurance racing. The old man's ae82 uses approx 1l per km and this will be making about the same power so when being thrashed it's sure guna drink the gas..

Just trying to source a jaaz fuel cell with all the fuel senders etc for a decent price.

I know this doesn't look like much but for me this has been a huge step forward welding in this cut outs in the tunnel and finishing off the floor repairs. There were so many holes I'd drilled in the past for seat/battery mounting! I filled at least 15 on just one side of the car.

Next step is to mount the seat rails and mock up the dash.. then it will be off to the sandblasters again for the shell and the dash will be sent off to be flocked.

Speaking of the dash quite happy with myself here.. Had planned on spending big money molding a carbon dash for coolness factor/lightweight. Turns out abs plastic has a density much less than carbon fibre! So I stripped the vinyl and foam off a ae111 dash (about 5 kg lighter than the Ae101 dash). Total weight is between 2-3kg I'm stoked!

Still trying to decide on colour.. options are either white or something along these lines

http://lh6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/A2INBHCZhvLKzpoWlW1meodeWGwBvkiG50ZLxglHQmgLcL6uXCcHypQRpEZ0U2u_JzJeLOarO1BIYrmKNGWm0crX3VwCu_hhWOsU0Msc6BzBIffDrg=w443-h332-nc

[CorollaGT]

Looking good Rhys

[Rhyscar]

Tunnel being finished off. Spot welded inside mount on for max flushNess.

Pretty stoked with how the seat mounts turned out seat sits so low it's literally less than 5mm between the bottom of the seat and the floor..

Laser cut some seat mounts. I've got a spare set anybody want some to suit a racetech seat??

Getting some motivation for low. Subframe are currently being sandblasted and yellow zinc coated. Also just bought some white paint so we get to paint the underside before it goes back on its wheels..

Fuck load of work to do before move to the tron in a few weeks..

[Rhyscar]

Anybody got a tilton/wilwood floor mount pedal box they want to swap for a wilwood reverse mount pedal box? Looks like I have more room than I thought and floor mount will be way easier/simpler.

[Rhyscar]

So I've finished off the fab work for the tunnel, seat mounts and fuel tank box. Really happy with how the seatmounts came out - if you know me I'm 6 ft 2 and when I sit in the driver's seat my shoulders are below the window height of the door.

I made the seat mounts so they are wide enough to fit a 4009 wide head restraint seat as that is what I'll use as a drivers Seat and depending on who ends up in the Co drivers seat I have enough flexibility to put a bigger seat in if needed. Currently I have a skinny 4000 for Co drivers seat which will be fine for running in the car and getting used to driving it again.

Made up sheetmetal box for fuel cell to be housed under. Made sure I made it the right size so I can fit a semi slick through the parcel tray opening so I can fit my tyres in the back, drive to a race meeting then drive home. Pretty happy with how it turned out.

Made some straps for each side as it was the best way to make it fit up properly. Stitched the box in from underneath and will urethane-weld the top to seal it up.

Looks like most of my floor has been replaced now..

Finished welding the tunnel into the floor. Pretty happy with how it turned out. Started to get good at welding panel steel.

Had my subframes and swaybars sandblasted and yellow zinc dipped by the good old bugger at manawatu electro plating as opposed to just painting them black again. Really happy with how they came out. Got all the bolts passivated silver also for some contrast

Subframe and arms assembled. Arms move freely now and don't bind up like they used to. Can't imagine how much better this is going to make the handling!

So job for today is to get the chassis into the trailer so it can go back to the sandblasters tomorrow. Will get bottom of car re-sandblasted and will get them to prime + paint the underside and wheel arches. I've bought some 2k base coat white which I've had good experiences with so hoping it will be a hard paint for under the car.

Plan is to have the car rolling in the next 2 weeks so I can put everything together for the move to the tron!