Mister Towed's Tai Chi build - Page 25

davecymru · #**481** 27th May 2012, 07:05

Adjustable seats! Ohhh get you!

tlrtone · #**482** 27th May 2012, 07:19

Have you tried your body on with the seat belts fitted? The inertia reel may be a little high and hit the body.

Like the moving seatbelt bit though. Since my seats don't move, I can't nick that idea!

Mister Towed · #**483** 27th May 2012, 08:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by davecymru

Adjustable seats! Ohhh get you!

Wife says she wants to be able to drive it...

I'm guessing that'll only happen the once and she'll come back all pale and flustered, but I thought I'd make the effort anyway. It's also the only way to access the luggage bay as I didn't want the much taller tilting mechanism raising the seats up too far. It could help if I get a shortarsejobsworth MOT tester who can't see over the dashboard with the seat all the way back too.

The seats are a perfect fit for the Sammio shell and give a very laid back driving position. You can get an idea of just how reclined they are if you look how far forward the runners are bolted. I'd recommend this type of seat over a bench seat or more upright arrangement though as it's both comfortable, and means there'll be a lot less of me sticking out of the cockpit and spoiling the aerodynamics.

As for the seat belt reels, yes, I'm expecting them to foul the bodywork. I'm going to trial fit the body again in a day or so and see how bad the issue is - if it's only a couple of cm's then I'll probably add over the shoulder 'power' bulges to give clearance above. If that's not practicable then plan 'b' is to move the reels down to the lower mounting points that I've welded on beside the seats and attach the fixed end of the belt to the mounting at the top of the frame. I tried that set up yesterday and it works fine (the reels are any angle adjustable), although it does give the effect of a static shoulder belt, making it impossible to lean forwards at junctions.

I've also found a suitable handbrake that I think could be adapted for my needs. It's a bit modern but should be stronger than the ancient Minor one and I'm sure I can make it look more period with a little thought.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3307353169...84.m1423.l2649

Patton · #**484** 27th May 2012, 16:01

I'm using a 106 H/brake but found the lever only just had enough travel to pull the brakes on passed the MOT but turned up as an advisory will mod before the next MOT, Pat

Mister Towed · #**485** 27th May 2012, 16:42

Cheers Pat, I did look at a couple of Peugeot handbrake levers myself. The problem seems to be the original Triumph handbrake was pi$$ poor in the first place.

Short video of 'putting the moon rover to bed' below with any luck. Wish I had a private drive like Phil J's though...

cbjroms · #**486** 27th May 2012, 16:52

Mr T,

I am using a TR7 handbrake which just has a centre-pull very like the Herald. Its base looks ideal for bolting through and it only cost me £5 on Ebay!

tr7brake.jpg

By the way, I borrowed your idea for a radiator - brand new Honda Civic off Ebay for £17.50.

Chris

mulberry · #**487** 27th May 2012, 17:21

hope your RAD came with cap??

my honda cap off ebay didnt fit, and was a nasty piece from china..

Mister Towed · #**488** 27th May 2012, 18:36

TR7 handbrake lever looks suitable, I was looking for something similar with a single, central cable connection. Early mini ones looked like a possible candidate but from memory, they were a bit flimsy. I'm hoping the VW Polo one will be a bit more solidly made.

The verdict on my Honda radiator idea is so far so good. I haven't had the chance to take it out for a proper run yet but I left it idling in the blazing heat for half an hour yesterday and it kept the temperature gauge in the mid range with the electric fan running. There were a few teething troubles on first run up to temperature - the Honda radiator cap had steam bubbling out from under it shortly followed by more steam from the Triumph one on the in-line filler, but that seems to have been them just bedding in as they haven't done it again. Plan B is that I made my shroud big enough to take one of the Civic alloy racing radiators if it does overheat.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-CIVI...item519f7efb05

Cool.

Straight Sixer · #**489** 27th May 2012, 18:58

Don't think this will affect your plan MrT, but I've just mended a Polo handbrake that the owner had yanked up so hard, it tore the spot welds out of the floor. I've seen it done on a Mini 1000 too. As I say, it was the spot welds that failed, the actual handbrake was ok.

Keep it up, all good ideas will be greatfully stolen

Len.

Mister Towed · #**490** 27th May 2012, 19:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Straight Sixer

Don't think this will affect your plan MrT, but I've just mended a Polo handbrake that the owner had yanked up so hard, it tore the spot welds out of the floor. I've seen it done on a Mini 1000 too. As I say, it was the spot welds that failed, the actual handbrake was ok.

Keep it up, all good ideas will be greatfully stolen

Len.

Cheers Len, feel free to use/modify ideas as necessary. My handbrake will be fixed to brackets welded to a bit of box section metal bolted to the main chassis. On my mk2 handbrake the mounting remained solid while the Moggy lever twisted like it was made of tinfoil

Looking forward to having a parking brake that just works. Perhaps a trip to the Honda parts bin will be in order if the polo one fails.

Mister Towed · #**491** 31st May 2012, 12:59

Working handbrake fitted at last!

Straight Sixer · #**492** 1st June 2012, 07:02

Are you going to tuck the label under the seat cushion so it doesn't show?

Mister Towed · #**493** 1st June 2012, 08:29

Hmm, I think I need to speak to my trimmer about that. Those seat covers cost me £600!

Mister Towed · #**494** 2nd June 2012, 15:04

Complete rethink on the seat belt front today: decided I didn't want to add humps over the reels or mount them in the 'doors' which would've given me the effect of static shoulder belts. As I wanted to be able to lean forwards I decided the easiest option was to go with inboard belts mounted similarly to Dave Cymru's.

Both ends of the lap belt mount to the bolts on top of the seat runners so they move back and forth with the seats meaning anyone should find it easy to put them on.

Slowly but surely I'm inching my way towards being ready to fit the body. I can't wait.

froggyman · #**495** 2nd June 2012, 16:52

That last shot should carry a prior warning as its a bit scary scrolling down to it!!!!

davecymru · #**496** 2nd June 2012, 17:30

Signs of a Sammio builder - "pencil behind ear"!
I came in from the garage one evening and had been watching tv with the wife for an hour before she finally started laughing and told me that i still had one behind the ear and she wanted to see how long it would be before i noticed

Mister Towed · #**497** 5th June 2012, 17:40

Spent today tidying up a few loose ends prior to bonding the body on tomorrow (hopefully!). Fitted the tank for the water/methanol injection system, boxed in the gap above the new central seat belt mounts and cut the hole for the fuel filler neck to fit through.

Then spent ten minutes trial fitting the lights and number plates with sticky tape -

As you can see, it's a bit of a departure from the usual bee hive lenses. The red ovals are reflectors, the white ones are indicators (actually intended as side repeaters) and for safety reasons there are twin rows of led's either side of the number plate light to give much brighter illumination of the brakes and rear marker lights than with conventional bulbs. I'm quite pleased with the look.

seanick · #**498** 5th June 2012, 21:03

Just a thought, how about a single (race car stylee ) single brake light frenched into the hump? Could those led brake lights go right under the rear valance? I like the indicators.

Mister Towed · #**499** 5th June 2012, 21:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by seanick

Just a thought, how about a single (race car stylee ) single brake light frenched into the hump? Could those led brake lights go right under the rear valance? I like the indicators.

I'd considered a single brake light as that's all the law requires believe it or not. I'd also thought about putting the led lights down very low on the rear valance, but the requirement is for the brake light(s) to be at least 350mm from the ground. There's no minimum for the rear marker lights though, but they need to be a maximum of 800mm inboard. The rear lights are still a bit of a work in progress at the moment and I can see from the picture that I need to do a bit of work tomorrow to level the rear valance before committing to the final positions.

Paul L · #**500** 5th June 2012, 21:42

Mister T - I can't wait to add your final layout to the thread on rear lighting I started.

I think the way the indicators and reflectors match is a nice touch.

Will the out riggers "falling off" influence the final positions?

Good luck with the body bonding, you are on the home straight now.

Cheers, Paul.