D31:Spindle Adapter D5

Today, I decided to stop trying to re-invent the wheel. Why am I trying to bend 1/8" plate when someone has already done this? I picked up a piece of 1 1/2" square 1/8" tube to use for the lower bracket. With this, I could just cut the tube to the shape I needed and not have to worry about the bends. I think the final result looks much cleaner than the original attempt. I also picked up a piece of 1/2" x 3/4" rod to replace the pieces of 3/4" plate I had cut. It's much easier to just cut this new rod to length instead of trying to cut off pieces of that plate. I've also got photos of the upper mounts pictured. My only concern now is that my welder only handles a max of about 3/16" - 1/4" max penetration. I'm not that confident that it's enough (with my skills) to hold the upper ball joint mount to the rest of the adapter. So, I'm planning on adding some additional supports from the vertical bar to the top mount. I'll post a pic when it's done to show what I'm actually doing here. But... 1 down, 1 more to go, then it's a-arm time.

D30:Spindle Adapter D4

Started working on the first lower bracket for the spindle adapters today. The first part was easy... design, print, trace, cut, drill. The last part, fold, was not so easy. I can't seem to find a decent way to bend sides up and keep the part with the holes flat. It's 1/8" plate that is actually a little thicker than the stock mounts. Might need to do some googling before trying it again.

D29:Spindle Adapter D3

A little more time spent cutting pieces of that 3/4" steel plate. I'm really starting to hate this thing. I've also put together a jig to help assemble these adapters. Next up is building the brackets to attach the bars that I've cut to the spindle.

D28:Spindle Adapter D2

Today I started working on the new upper a-arm mount. I'm planning on fabricating an adapter that bolts to the spindles that I can bolt an upper ball joint to. I picked up a new 'milling' vice for my drill press along with a 1/2" end mill. I figured this would be helpful for this project. I also picked up a piece of scrap 3/4" steel plate to cut all the necessary pieces. This is the same thickness as most of the mounts on the original spindle.

I learned a few things today. I do not have the best tools to cut 3/4" steel plate. Drop saw doesn't work. Sawzall doesn't work. Hacksaw works, but is WAY TOO SLOW (and too much work). So... it was about 15mins per cut with a cutting wheel on a grinder. Not the prettiest cuts... but it worked. I burned through a 4 1/2" disc PER 7" cut. I used the end mill to try to clean up the cut edge. Turns out an end mill in a drill press doesn't work that great. The table is not sturdy enough. So, lots of learning experiences today... but making progress.

D27:Upright Mods D1

I'm still working on the details of how to convert the front spindles from being strut type to dual a-arm. Here's the beginning of the McSorley approach. I don't think I'm going to use this exact same method as I want better access to the castle nut with the upper ball joint installed. Also, one of my struts is badly bent and a new (used) strut will likely cost me more than something scratch built. This does give me a good start to a template for building whatever solution I do come up with tho. One note on this process... the warning on the struts, "DO NOT OPEN, GAS PRESSURE" really means, "If you drill a small hole in the side, hydrolic fluid will spay all over your garage, floor to ceiling." You can see it on the floor in the daily status photo.

D26:Engine Fit 3

This afternoon I finally got around to fitting the engine one more time. With all the changes to the front end, I wanted to be sure that the engine still fit and more importantly, that I could get it into the frame. I was worried about all the crossbars I put in for the front uprights. As you can see, there is still plenty of space. So, next step is gong to be getting the front suspension built. I'm also playing around with the idea of modifying the engine mounts to raise the engine up an inch or two. I'm a bit worried about the ground clearance with this new design.

D25:Spindles and Engine Mount Supports

I've got the supports for the engine mounts in. From here I can get the engine fit for, hopefully, the last time. Since the engine sits at an angle, I want to make sure it doesn't make contact with the bars on top that the rear uprights attach to. It shouldn't... but wouldn't be the first time my measurements were off. I've also stripped the front spindles in preparation for the modifications needed to convert them from using struts to an upper control arm. I'm still finalizing my design for that change over. I'm also doing a fair amount of research into a-arm design, materials, etc. Once I make sure the engine still fits, a-arms will be the next project.

D24:Pt2 - Front End Reconstruction

When I decided to change the front suspension from using the stock lower control arm from the donor BMW to independent a-arms, I realized the front end would need some updates. The front five inch deep "box" will hold the radiator. Behind that are the uprights that the a-arms will be mounted to. I have the reinforcements for the top installed... but still need to figure out the best way to reinforce the bottom mounting points. That will be the next step. After that, add the last front pieces from the rear upright to the transmission tunnel, check out the engine placement, then get the new design welded up. All these changes have dropped the wheelbase from 109 inches to somewhere between 100-104 depending on the a-arm design. I'm much happier about the new numbers.

D24:Pt1 - Finish Rear Mounts

I had the day off work and was able to get some good time in the garage. Turned into a productive day. With so much getting done, I'm splitting today into two posts. The first on finishing up the back end, the second on the front.

I've got the rear sub frame mounts finished. Definitely not the easiest thing to put together with trying to calculate all the angles involved. I'm pretty pleased with the finished product, but a little concerned about the two main pieces coming straight back. I think those might need a little extra support to keep them from bending under loading since they will get the gross majority of any force applied to the rear wheels.

D23:Rear End: The Final Mounts

With the rear end coming together, the next step was getting the "front" mounts finished for the rear sub frame. This has been something I've been trying to figure out for a while... I'm hoping the final solution will work. This is much more of a build from a picture in my mind than a design drawing, so you'll have to wait until the next post to see the end result.

D22:Rear End

Today I was finally back to getting the rear end build and the rear sub frame mounted. It's been a long a time coming and I'm glad to finally make some progress on it. I've got the rear mounting points finished, so all that's left is the front mounting points.