Frame has started

I finally started on the frame yesterday and it was certainly exciting to get started. Getting everything ready has taken longer that I had anticipated.

Last weekend I made the stand part of the build table. I also managed to single handedly get the table top up onto the frame. Probably not the smartest thing to do by myself. The table top is very heavy and I ended up scraping knuckles getting it on. Once it was on I was happy and screwed it down to the frame. Last weekend was also a bit above freezing and I have some paint you can use in low temps, so I painted the table top as well so that I could mark out the frame.

So finally yesterday I got started. I layed out a centre line on the table and started marking out the bottom frame. I was happy to do the diagonal checks and everything looked square.


A view from what will be the back of the car with the frame marked out on the table.


A view from the front of the car marked out.



Another view from the front. The book was a constant reference laying out the frame.

After laying out the frame I went to the tube details in the back of the book and started cutting the tubes for the bottom rail. The chop saw worked well. I quickly used up over 25 feet of tubing cutting. I layed out the tubes on the board as I cut them.


The first few cut tubes layed out.

All the tubes for the bottom of the frame now cut and loosely in place.

Another view of all of the bottom of the frame layed out.

After the photos were taken I spent the time screwing wooden blocks along the edges of the frames. It helps hold all the tubes in place for a nice square bottom frame. I had to grind down a couple of tubes a little here and there to get a really nice tight fit. Overall I'm really happy with how its turned out.

I haven't had a chance to work on it today. I had the 3 kids most of the morning while Julie went out. I then got the 2 older kids to help me get the backyard skating rink ready while the youngest slept. I decided to try a plastic liner this year for the rink. Hopefully it gets nice and cold tonight so the water I filled up the liner with freezes.

If I get a chance this evening I might get out there and start tack welding the frame together. After tacking the frame I also need to build a jig for the very front of the frame. Once it is done the frame will start going 3 dimensional.

I've got the next 3 weeks off work (technically) although I already have a number of meetings I have to attend. I'm hoping to be able to get at least a bit of time each day to work on the car. The last week should be the most productive when the kids will be back at school.

Still not started the frame

So its December and I've still not started the frame. Its not what I'd hoped for. I was hoping to have at at least started to tack the frame together and there would be some progress.

What I have done of late is buy a lot of the steel. I bought what I think is all the square tubing I need and most of the steel plate. I'll still need some round tube but that will be a while off still.

I found a shop crane on sale. I'll need to put the engine in and out a number of times so rental would not work too well. I also got a self storage unit (I had to bring down the shed I built... don't ask) so I'll need to crane the engine and subframe into and out of the truck at home and the storage unit. I can justify just about anything.

I'm hoping to have a few weeks off over Christmas where I plan on getting some progress.

I finished another welding course last week which went well (not to brag but I got an A). I really enjoyed it. It was an arc welding course. I start a MIG course in January. The school also offers an advanced arc course and a TIG course. I might take those one day but the MIG should be enough for me to finish the car confidentally.

Prep work

It's been a while since I created an entry. There's been no move on the construction of the car. I have my excuses!!! We were away for a couple of months back to Australia and Western Canada visiting family. And while there has been no move on the actual car there's been prep work going on.
- I did a big clean-out of the garage and put down an epoxy floor coating which is really nice.
- I've constructed a good workbench. And surrounded it with peg boards
- I've modified some shelving in the garage to be supported from the ceiling to remove a support that was in the way
- I build a small shed outside our house to get a few things out of the garage, however the shed is now "under review". One of my neighbours complained to the City. City now says I need a building permit. Not sure why as it is very small... but watch this space as I can see it becoming an on-going saga.
- I've bought the material for a construction table but yet to be put together... hopefully this weekend.

So once the construction table is done I'll likely order steel and get started. I've been doing another welding course at the local technical institute and its getting a lot better.

Hopefully early November I'll order steel and get the construction going. Looking forward to having some visible progress.

Off to the scrap yard

So I pulled the seats out of the mini-van and loaded up the van with the cut up car. I tried to get the car all in with one load but it was a bit too big. I could probably have loaded it a little better to get it in one load but I wasn't too concerned. I got $37 for the scrap metal. $4 of that was for the Aluminium radiator. So not much for the metal but to be honest I thought I'd have to pay to get remove the frame when I first got the car so actually getting some money for it was better than expected. After getting the car out I got to give the garage a pretty good clean out.

I started cutting off a section of the front. There was a lot of steel to cut through and my sawzall is battery powered so took a while. I decided I needed to cut through less metal making subsequent cuts.


Half way through cutting off the front



Front clip outside


Another view of the front clip outside

Another view of the front clip. Look for the kid's razor scooter. I used it to help wheel it out. I just picked up the other side and wheeled it out of the garage

Julie was away for a week and I threatened to leave bits of car parts all over the front yard while she was away. I took this with the intention of emailing it to her. As it was I packed it all away after I cut it up as I wasn't all that keen to have it all laying around outside either.

The back end of the car in garage

Another view of the back half of the car in the garage.

RIP

So the S2000 really is no more. The final cuts to the body were completed over the last couple of weekends. Before being completely cut up, taken out of the car were the rear subframe, the last of the wiring harness, the gas tank and the rear bumper beam.

The body of the car has been slowly cut up into sections so that I can cart it away. I clipped the whole front of the car off and then cut it up into smaller pieces. Next came out the passenger and driver floors with rockers, the top of the transmission tunnel was cut off and I'll keep it for now in case I want to re-use as it has nice mounts for the hand brake and shifter. A little more trimming took out some of the metal behind the seats before the final blow as the back of the car was cut in half and fell off the jack stands. It was real milestone as I am now finished dis-assembly and can look forward to builing now. Next week when I'm off I'll pull out the seats of the mini-van and cart the cut up car to the scrap yard.

Before construction of the new car begins there will be some garage preparations to be done. On the list of things to do are:
1) Clean the floor and put down an epoxy paint. I wasn't able to do this before I got the car in because it couldn't be applied in winter.
2) Build myself a good work bench. This will require a bit of shelving modifications and tool organization.
3) Build a construction table. From looking on the internet people use steel studs with MDF for a rigid flat table to build the frame on
4) I'm considering getting a couple more outlets put into the garage. If I'm running a chop saw, welder, grinder and a heater (in winter) I'll be tripping the fuses all the time. This occurred occasionally last winter because of the heater.
5) Insulate the Garage - I don't have an insulated door and there are gaps etc. I'll be doing what I can to put in a bit of insulation so that the winter months aren't bitterly cold in there.

So the first big milestone of dis-assembly is complete. Time for the next chapter in the build. I plan on posting some more photos of the dis-assembly soon once I get them on my computer.

Release the beast

So the big news is that the engine is out. I finally managed to release the beast from the car over the weekend. I lowered the car down so the engine and trans sat on the dolly I'd made. I removed the trans support and front subframe, cut the front frame rail out and simply jacked the car up. The engine then easily rolled out.

Before I could remove the front subframe I had to remove the front suspension. This was relatively easy. I was amazed at the weight of the front uprights and brakes. Still trying to work out what to do with the front suspension. I like the idea of the single donor for most parts but still need to work out if I want to go with front upright from the S2000 or buy something different. If I buy something different it will likely cost me more money but may save weight and make the suspension design easier. Suspension design is something I need to spend more time reading up on. I've been reading bits and pieces on a forum about suspension design. I'm not sure if people just go way overboard with the designs and if it really makes that much of a difference.

I've managed to sell some more parts along the way as well. I'm well over the half way there to recovering my money on the original car. A lot of the big items are gone so I doubt I'll get all the money back. I do have a lot of parts to sell still so I might get close. We'll see. Its already a cheap engine and transmission for the engine I got. Add to this all the other parts I'll re-use like the wheels, differential, drive shafts etc and it was a good purchase.

Julie and the kids are heading away for a week so I'll have a full weekend (and maybe some evenings) to work on the car. I will probably cut the front end of the car off and cut it up to take to the scap metal yard. That will give me a lot more room in the garage to work. Once the front of the car is out I'll be able to drop the rear subframe out of the car. So more things to consider. I've seen people use the rear subframe of a miata for the back end of the car. I could do the same thing using the S2000 subframe. Weld in (or even bolt on) the rear subframe. It would likely save time and would make rear end suspension design easy. Again... something to think about.

After getting the engine out I was able to measure its dimensions. It is fairly compact but tall engine. I'll probably have to make the frame a little taller for the engine. Probably another 50 - 60mm taller.

So hopefully by the end of June I'll have the rear subframe out and the body will be all cut up and taken to the scrap yard. Before ordering the steel and welding up the frame I'll be doing a bit of work on the garage. I've got some paint for the floor to make the floors all nice to work on. I need to make a good work bench and generally get the garage ready for the build portion to start.

Suspension is out

Suspension out

Suspension out

Suspension out

The engine is out. Exciting moment!

Engine out

Front end with subframe removed and front rail of the frame cut out

Engine out and rail cut out. See all the way to the diff!!

More parts stripped... some good sales

So its been a while since I last updated where I'm at on the car. I've been doing some more stripping of the car. Out of the car now is the air conditioning unit, a lot of wiring harness, control systems and fuse boxes. I plan on reusing the wiring harness so I did my best at labelling the harness but I struggled with some of the front harness as it was damaged in the accident and I wasn't sure what was meant to be connected to what. Biggest concern is my labelling and working it out when I have to put it back together. It is one of the things that worry me the most is the electronics.

Other parts out of the car are all the pedals, brake master cylinder and ABS unit. Still deciding on what to do with brakes. The S2000 uprights (spindles) are really tall. Much talled than would normally be used on a lotus 7 replica. So might just sell it all off and look for a suitable replacement. Maybe put some Miata pieces on. Still plenty of time to work it out.

I've pulled the prop shaft out so the only thing to disconnect from the engine is the fuel lines and I should be able to pull the engine and trans out. That will be a big day!! I'm planning on cutting the front of the frame off and just pull the engine out through the front. It will save me getting an engine hoist in. I'll just drop it onto a dolly (yet to be made).

Since the last post I've sold some of the big ticket items which has been nice. I've sold the convertible top to someone local. I think I could have gotten a lot more for it as there was lots of interest about it after it was sold. I've also sold the seats tonight and a number of trim pieces. I've sold some more on eBay but I'm starting to dislike eBay. I've had better success with local classifieds despite the annoying low-ballers. eBay I've not got prices I was hoping and by the time you pay insertion fees and selling fees they get a pretty big piece of the sale. On top of that is what they take on paypal as well. I'll be glad to be finished selling parts to be honest. Not something I'm really enjoying. Then again... I have to remember that I've got a lot of parts left to sell and I've almost made half the money back on what I paid for it.

Finally took some pics but they are still a couple of weeks old now

View of the car before the pedals etc came out but with most of the interior out

Looking back at where the seats and roof was.

View looking from up high above where the trunk was.

View of the rear quarter with lights and bumper off

Front view with the radiator pulled out. Still before I'd pulled out the wiring harness seen dangling at the front and the brakes

Lastly a more recent view of the front. You can see I've cut some of the front frame off. This has made life a little easier. Space is a premium and this has given me a little more. Its also given me access to some more parts which would have been a bit harder with the bent frame in place.

I hope to get some pics soon and an update with the front sub frame and engine out of the car. Last think I'll likely do is drop the rear sub-frame. Then there will be some fun when I cut up the frame to take to the scrap metal yard. Might try to sell off the rear quarter panels but will depend on how desperate I am for the couple of hundred dollar I might be able to get for them.

Stripping down continues

I haven't spent much time on the car of late (Julie may disagree). I'd like to be getting more time but work's been busier than I'd like and taken up some of my play time in the last couple of weeks.

Interior trim, trunk trim, trunk lid, convertible top and carpets are all off the car now. There's nothing really left inside the car now. It looks pretty gutted. As I don't have the keys I had to get into the trunk from the interior of the car so I was glad to finally remove all the trim etc to be able to reach through and open the trunk. The trunk looks like it never had anything in it it is so clean.

I've only listed a few more parts on eBay with 4 auctions finishing this coming week. I've had some part listed on the free local internet classified with some success. I sold the centre console trim to a local. I've had an offer on the seats that I've accepted and I'm waiting for a local to come and pick up and I've sold the side mirrors, rear view mirror, passenger door, windshield trim and door handles to a guy in North Dakota. He found my side view mirrors on-line and we've worked out a deal for the other parts he needs.

It will certainly be good to get some of the bigger items like a door and seats sold so I don't have to store them. I've got to get around to listing the convertible top. I hope it goes to someone local as I have no idea how to package something like that up for shipping. I'm building up a plywood box for shipping the door to Nth Dakota so the door is still nice and straight when it arrives.

I managed to pull the radiator and AC condensor out over the weekend. They were pretty mashed as you can see from the earlier photos. It wasn't easy to get them out. The frame of the car was bent over on them and that couldn't be pulled back by hand. I managed to get the bolts off (some were folded over with sheet metal) and with bending some of the thinner sheet metal by hand I was able to get them out. I'm going to keep the fans for now... one of them at least even the shroud for it was OK. I may be able to re-use on the project.

The next step is to remove the AC and heater unit from the car. I'm thinking of putting a heater in the new car to try to extend the driving season but with no top it is probably a losing battle. So we'll see what the s2000 heater unit looks like when I get it out and decide whether to sell the lot of keep it for the project.

Once the AC unit is out I don't really have an option other than diving into the real guts of the car. I have to decide whether I take the engine out first leaving a rolling chasis or pull it out last. I need to get under the car soon enough to see how I can get the engine out. I'm wondering if I can drop the motor down onto a dolly I'll make for it or if I have to get an engine crane in to pull it out. I don't mind taking the sawzall or cutting wheel to parts of the car to make room to get the engine out (in fact I think I'd rather enjoy it). I don't think the frame is destined for anything other than the crusher anyway.

So the next few weeks should be interesting as I start to really get into the guts of the car. I'd like to think that by June the frame is gone and I'm left with just parts I need. Then I'll be able to start the frame construction for the new car.

A few people have asked me what the finished product will look like. This link http://www.constructorscarclub.org.nz/sevens.html shows examples of what the car should like when its done.

I'll have to get some more pics of the car stripped down soon to post to show the progress.

In the garage

The car is in the garage now. With the help of Julie and a friend we got the car in the garage.

I got the seats out during the week. I also got the steering column minus the steering column lock back into the car so we could steer it back into the garage. Now the car is in the garage I've got the doors off. One of them is stripped right down with glass, power window motor etc out. The other will hopefully be stripped down tonight after the kids get to bed.

In the plans next is removal of the remaining interior trim and getting the convertible roof back and hopefully off. I got the doors off by myself (it was a little awkward in the tight garage) but I'm sure I'll need help with the roof.

It was a beautiful day today so we were all out on the street with kids riding bikes etc around. The fact I'd had a wrecked car in the driveway for a few weeks certainly made from some conversation with the neighbours.

The Murphy Bed is all but complete so I've started to turn some attention to the car a couple of evenings this week.

I removed the steering wheel, clockspring etc and got the steering column out. I've removed the steering column lock, I unfortunately damaged it in the removal (I drilled a little too deep on the sheer bolts and wrecked some of the thread) so its gone in the bin rather than going onto eBay.

I'm going to put the steering column and wheel back in so I can steer the car while pushing it back into the garage (rather than buying wheel dollies). Saturday I plan to have the car in the garage and really start the disassembly proper.

I took a door panel off as well in the last couple of days as well. Finding a place to store all the parts before I sell them may become an issue. Julie didn't like a door panel laying around the house for some reason.

So here's some pictures of the cars. The damage to the front probably looks worse than it is. Nothing is pushed back against the engine or pulleys. As you can see there are still a few straight panels and glass in place to sell off to try to make back some money on the original cost of the car. So far the antenna is sold and the mats have bids. I'm starting with some of the smaller things to get a good rating. That and I don't have room yet in the garage so removing doors and convertible tops is not exactly a good idea.

Discovery of a donor

I'd been toying with the idea of working on a classic / sports car for a couple of years. I'd been looking into a number of different cars. A classic mid 60s mustang, a classic Porsche 911, building my own Locost (Lotus 7 replica), or my favourite... a classic 50's Cadillac.

The 50's Caddy is a big favourite but a single garage put paid to that. The car would barely fit let alone give me room to work on it.

Porsche 911 was a bit more than I wanted to spend and parts etc aren't cheap

60's Mustang would have been good to fit the kids in but a good solid car was going to be costly as a starting point.

So building the Locost had been a front runner for a while. Its small, so easy to work on in the single garage, its cheap to build in comparison to most cars, its going to perform well and its going to be a great learning experience building the car. Some of the down sides are only 2 seats and no roof so it is certainly a fair weather toy.


Donor cars in north amercia for the Locost are in short supply. There are very few front engine rear wheel drive 4 cyclinder cars. Miata (mx5) is probably the most common. The ultimate donor though is the S2000 but they are not the most common car on the road.

I'd been looking at JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) engine imports as an option. Nissan has made a number of front engine rear wheel drive cars for the Japanese market. Front clips imported from Japan can be bought as a donor. Most of the engines are a few years old now and parts are not readily available in North America.

So by chance, I'd been looking at a local wrecking site and to my surprise a damaged S2000 was for sale. I was still procrastinating on the project and not really ready to start, but the car raised my interest. I went out to have a look at the car and it seemed to be just the thing. The car was written off due to the number of panels damaged, lights, radiator etc but the engine transmission etc were still in good shape. So before I really knew what I was doing I'd bought the car.

The car now sits in my driveway while I finish a couple of house projects and clear out the garage. Its certainly a conversation starter with nieghbours who wonder about the damaged car in the driveway (there goes the neighourhood). I'm hoping to get the house projects all but done this weekend and get the car in the garage by the end of the month.

The good thing about buying the S2000 is not just that its the perfect donor car, as it is a bit of a high end car, I'll hopefully make back most of the cost of the car parting out the bits I don't want. I've listed my first part on eBay last night (the antenna) and will likely list the floor mats this weekend. The plan is to sell a few of the cheap items on eBay, get some good reviews so I can sell some of the bigger items later with good feedback... that's the plan anyway.

So for now, I've got the dream donor car and I'm itching to get it into the garage and start stripping it down. Its certainly good motivation to get the house projects finished.

I'll post some photos of the car soon before I pull it down.