Finishing Jobs
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Battery Tray |
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From experience, I know this engine takes a lot of current to crank it so I’ve bought an 075 battery that has a huge amount of cranking power. We are not talking small here but I was pleasantly surprised at the cost. Not too bad at all. The nearside pod seemed the most convenient place to put it so I had to give thought to the design of a suitable tray and clamping system. I like stainless and it is an ideal material on which to sit a battery. I fabricated a small frame using 20mm square tube. |
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| This has legs on one side that will be bolted through the pod and the 3mm thick aluminium angle extrusion underneath the pod. That should be strong enough. For the other side, I bonded a piece of 16 gauge glavanized mild steel with an upstand to line up with a similar piece on the battery tray. I used three M5 screws to join the two. The angled clamp pushes the battery firmly into the restraining piece at the far end of the tray and lips either side will prevent any lateral movement. |
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I needed a flush fitting cap with a funnel compatible with the size of the filler tube of the Caterham tank. I found just the thing in the Rally Design catalogue and for an extra £11 supplied with an unleaded restrictor. It fitted perfectly and so, another job done. |
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Fuel Cut-off Inertia Switch
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This is obviously a most important item so, all the more surprising that I almost forgot to fit one. In the event of a crash, the switch prevents a potentially lethal situation by cutting off power to the injection pump and thus preventing fuel at high pressure being sprayed around. The switch I’m using came from a Ford Granada and it has a red re-set button which ideally will be easily accessible. I’ve decided to place it on the scuttle adjacent to the fuses and petrol pump feed cable. I think it needs its own relay so I have made a housing to accommodate both items. This consists of a box fabricated from 2mm aluminium and a lid made from 20 gauge stainless steel. Just an excuse to do a bit of TIG welding really. Using such thick aluminium it’s difficult to get it wrong, it really is so much easier welding thicker material. The box will be powder coated and the lid polished. |
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Side-pod |
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For the exhaust side, side-pod I’ve made my own and although I say it good. The surround was made in the usual way using a hammerform but this time, I allowed a bit more material on the returns to allow for a tab on each side that would clamp the mesh and this has worked really well. I now have a number of parts ready to go to the painters for powder coating.
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Bogged down |
I don’t know if other builders have the same experience but for me, things seem to proceed in fits and starts. For a time, really good progress and then periods where I’m bogged down and progress seems to stop. I’m in a bogged down stage now. For what seems to be an age I appear to have made little progress. I still have to source a plug for the inertia switch before that can be finished and there is the fibre glassing to the underside of the bonnet that I keep putting off. Once that’s done, I can re-fit the bonnet and make a start on the inner wings. I fancy having a go at the type of thing fitted to Frogeye Sprites. They look like little more than trailer mudguards but hopefully will not be too difficult to make and should do a good job keeping detritus out of the engine bay. |
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This will be an interesting exercise in metal shaping and one that I am very much looking forward to. Just the fibre glassing to ’ve just spent the last hour removing and tidying up the various components to be powder coated.get out of the way first! I On the whole, I’m fairly pleased with the various aluminium fabrications, particularly the side pod intake grille. |
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