The Zetec 'Ropacane

[Roger]

I've been to that museum too, and apart from anything else I was struck by the number of Matchless G50 racing bikes there.
I suspect most of the world's survivors are in that museum

[Chuck Nukem]

I have a new surprise for you all...




 






!!!!!

[Chuck Nukem]

 

Here is a shot of my firewall mold out of the car. The flanges are not pretty, but I think it will work

[BDA]

Great progress, Chuck!

So is the idea to build the whole thing in the mold or are you going to layup one surface, then put the honeycomb and top layer on the cured first piece?

This should get interesting! Good luck!

[Chuck Nukem]

That is right. I am going to try a few experimental pieces to establish a good method for bonding the aluminum. The mold needs a little bit of clean up, but is not too bad overall! I need to add some weirs for stability before I laminate. I still need to turn my vacuum bag fittings on a lathe as I was not prepared to shell out 50 bucks for a 1/8 npt air fitting that clamps to plastic.

The bad news is that we are due for a two week cold spell here in TX so I will have to get some kind of heater for the garage.

Stay tuned for some destructive testing....

[Chuck Nukem]

Well it got so cold here I have not been able to laminate anything. I decided to switch gears and get back to work on my bushing mold. I have some poly that I plan to pour in there eventually. I made a locator bushing to keep everything concentric. Now I just have to machine the plugs to fill the centers and the stainless sleeves to fit there! It sure is nice to have a boss who has a mill!

After this I need to start hunting down a set of adjustable shocks. Any recommendations?

[BDA]

Re: shocks

It's amazing there are so many choices for such a rare car! I use Spax and like them well enough. Checking the knowledgebase (http://lotus-europa2.com/ekb.html) others have used AVO, Protech, and GAZ. Of course, there are varying opinions about each.

[Chuck Nukem]

Update! Progress is on the horizon! My friend in Connecticut is hand making me a set of 16ga aluminum gas tanks. We are waiting on a sending unit to come in from England...they look incredible so far! He is available for bar mitzvahs, birthday parties, and other restorations.

I changed gears on my mold for the carbon/kevlar/Al honeycomb firewall. The fiberglass mold taken from the firewall was not exactly smooth...(thanks lotus) so I made a new mold out of melamine board. Stay tuned folks... It is about to get expensive.

[BDA]

Nice tank! That's a big improvement on the original!

Shame on you for even thinking that the compressed horse hair/fiber board/shop sweepings or whatever it's made of would be flat! 

Can't wait to see the finished piece!

[EuropaTC]

That tank is excellent, amazing attention to detail the way he's rolled the end caps. It makes the OEM Lotus ones look like backyard specials......   (which they probably were    )

Brian

[BDA]

They were backyard specials. They were steel and had a permanent catch for water in the top. Great design!

[Chuck Nukem]

I forget the alloy, but it is for marine application. Supposedly very corrosion resistant. I was showing him some pics of the aluminum tanks floating around on lotus-europa.com to which he replied, "I can do it better". Well, I put it to him to prove it...so far so good!

[BDA]

Yes! He did VERY well! It really is beautiful.

[Chuck Nukem]

I got a warning for this thread being over 3 months old... lol

Guys I am cheating on the Lotus. I started a 1966 chevrolet C10 project about 5 years ago and I'll be damned if it is going to get the best of me. It was my first project and I can confidently say that I barely knew how to change oil when I got it. I learned a lot, (mostly I learned that I am a god awful welder responsible for creating fabrication abominations). I am getting ready to paint this damned thing if only to have some practice before I paint the Lotus. Hopefully it will be painted by next week and I can focus my attention on what is really important...THE CAR! I quit my old job to get the truck and the cars done, but my new job is going to start soon so I may not get to paint the TC as soon as I'd like. Just thought I would throw you guys an update since it has been so long!

In lotus news! I finished both sandwich panels of my CF/Kevlar firewall, and am waiting to bond in the aluminum honeycomb. I did an infusion on the second panel and it worked very well! I plan to infuse several CF panels for the car down the road. I found a supplier for aerospace and commerical grade honeycomb near dallas and I plan to do some strategic reinforcement on the car. Mainly around the sills, doors, roof, and rear 3/4 area. The spec on the commercial grade stuff take 640psi in compression and has a density of 5lbs per cu/ft. This is before any additional sandwich panel support. The weight penalty should be minimal...and who knows, I might survive the first crash I have?! (call me a coward now!) Other than that I have been trying my best to get the car ready for paint. I was planning to paint it in August, but then the job thing snuck up on me so we will see. Boo to work and real life.

[BDA]

I try to keep up with Lotus models but that is one I'm not familiar with! 

Just kidding. Good luck with your paint job! Please post some pictures of your CF, Kevlar, and honeycomb stuff. That sounds really interesting!