D81: Steering Rack and Column Updates

With the newly redesigned front suspension I needed new mounts for the steering rack. Below is the design for the new mounts. From the previous post, I knew how high above the lower control arm pivot I wanted the center of the rack to be and from the original design I knew how far in front of the front cross bar I wanted the rack to be. Thus, the design below.

Below is one of the two mounts for the steering rack that will attach to the front cross member.

Both mounts tacked onto the front cross member and the steering rack in place.

The new design I have for the steering column required a few mods to the firewall. The first was installing a firewall mount for the steering column. I replaced part of the firewall with this 1"x2" piece of tubing.

With the firewall mount in place, I wanted to make sure the the column cleared the brake booster. From the pick below, there is plenty of space.

The new steering column connected to the steering rack. Getting rid of the extra piece of linkage makes for a clean install. I also think it'll be a safer/stronger design.

The last pic is the steering column next to the pedal assembly. The new column will come almost directly out at the driver instead of the previous design where the column was at an angle. Again, a cleaner design.

D79-80: Suspension Redesign and Rebuild #4

I've spent the past week redesigning the front suspension yet again. After getting the last design tacked together I realized that bump steer might be an issue. I did a little research and modeled my design in CAD to realize that, YES, I did have a bump steer issue.

The design below is what I've come up with for the (hopefully) last build. I've raised the steering rack and plan on mounting the tie rods to the top of the spindle instead of the bottom. This allows for adjustments to control bump steer. I need to modify the spindle and build custom tie rods to complete this conversion.

The new design brought the mounts for the lower control arms in about 1.5" on each side. Below is the design for the new control arms. I've gone back to the style of the second design maximizing the steering range. This won't cause the same issue I ran into with the second control arm because the tie rod is on top of the spindle mount and won't hit the rim.

I built the new arm on the frame. It was easier to tack the mounts and build the control arm on the frame than trying to build a jig for the arm. I did the same on both sides and I'm much happier with the latest build than with the previous one. There is much less slop. I also plan on adding some additional plates to strengthen the mounts.

D64:Frame Rear End

I had some time this afternoon out in the garage and the weather was beautiful. I decided to give the steering a break for a day and try to get the rear end finished. The CAD drawing is what I was going off to build the rear end of the frame. I've made some changes here from the book, as usual. Most of the changes are needed to incorporate the donor rear end without major mods.

I tried to mock up the wheels and fenders in the CAD to get an idea of what it'll look like assembled. We'll see how it looks when it actually comes together.

I've finished about half of the rear end so far. I still need to add a couple of pieces to the rear and then add the sides in as well. I'm hoping that all comes together pretty quickly.

One change from the book is using square tubing and a flat strip instead of a round tube on the top of the rear. I just didn't want to spend the extra cash buying round tube when I had plenty of square in the garage. I also didn't want to figure out bending the tube either for the corners. I think this solution might not be the prettiest in the end, but it'll work... and it's locost.

Nose Cone CAD

It's been freezing in Denver for the past week... and by freezing I mean barely in the double digits. So instead of working on the car I've been playing around with CAD mockups. Here is a rough idea of what I'm thinking for the nose cone. I'd like to keep the look of the BMW grill and work that into the nose cone.

A few design pics...

For those of you that care, here are the design drawings that I've been using to date. Let me know if you have any questions or want more details on them. I'll try to upload new ones as I finish them.