The Roofus Special

[Flipper]

It will look smaller when it's down on the ground, instead of up on a table.

You are probably right.  

When I first mocked it up, it seemed the right size.

[Flipper]

I decided to try and see how the stock jag rear suspension fit.  It fits better than I thought it would. I don't think the springs would have cleared the last set of verticle pieces.

Not really sure how the springs are supposed to be mounted.  Dad pulled the rear suspension out of the jag.  At the time, I had no plans to use anything except the axle.  Anybody got any good ideas?

[Flipper]

Finally figured out how the stock jag suspension worked....I think.

It pivoted on the lower half of the spring pin.  The upper half was mounted in rubber such that the pin couldn't catch anything.  as the spring cycled, the top portion of the spring pack could move front to back.

Here is my attempt to immitate the function.



more almost free material was used for my spring boxes.  ....cop car roll bars that dad bought at an auction.  I used the 1/8" panel at the bottom.





I overlapped the tops so I'd have double thickness on top.



The insert captures the spring pin.  It is secured by four 3/8" bolts and really beefs up the spring box when it is all bolted tight.

[Flipper]

Here's how the box fits into the overall car.  The box I just made made will be behind the seat. The front bucket (upside down box) will be under the seat.







Here is a view that shows the eurothane bushing inside the box.  It sits over the spring pin.



Still have a lot of figuring out to do.  the nuts will be welded to the side of the box to make it easier to re-assemble in a finished car.  Need to remeber to keep the bolts accesible when I build more of the rear bulkhead.

[Flipper]

If you haven't guessed, these boxes are going to be tied into the frame/sides/floor and heavily supported.

These boxes to way longer to figure out than I would have ever guessed.

[enjenjo]

If you haven't guessed, these boxes are going to be tied into the frame/sides/floor and heavily supported.

These boxes to way longer to figure out than I would have ever guessed.

I had figured that out. Should be fairly easy to tie that all into the space frame.

[Flipper]

I got my other spring box put together and started looking at how to anchor the top links and came to the conclusion that I  needed more beef in my framework.  I am adding some 1.5 x 1.5 front to back in a more conventional frame like position.  I am also installed a 1.5 x 1.5 crossmember ahead of the forward spring support to provide additional support for the front of the spring.  There will still be an angle added from the link mount to the front back tube.

This about where I thought I was going to get to last weekend.

I feel a lot more comfortable with the extra beef.







Since I am not sure exactly what spring rate I have, I built some adjustability in for the top links.

[Mac]

Are you thinking you'll have to remove spring leaves because your car will be less weight than the Jag's?

[Flipper]

Are you thinking you'll have to remove spring leaves because your car will be less weight than the Jag's?

Yes.  The spring feels stiff to be in free state, but dad said that he thought the spring was almost flat in the MK2 at ride height.  I am probably going to have to tweak it when the wheels hit the ground. I'm just not sure which way(raise or lower).

[Flipper]

Next weekend, I will add a diagonal for the link mounts and mount the spring boxes (verticle wall at back, angled wall at front and tied to the frame sideways down low).



Hopefully after that, the pace will pick back up.

[jaybee]

Might be overkill but to me it looks like you could put some diagonals in top view from the ends of your longitudinal 1.5x1.5 pieces to a point further forward on the frame.  The purpose of that would be to spread the area where drive force is applied into your space frame to prevent concentrating load at one point.

[Flipper]

Might be overkill but to me it looks like you could put some diagonals in top view from the ends of your longitudinal 1.5x1.5 pieces to a point further forward on the frame.  The purpose of that would be to spread the area where drive force is applied into your space frame to prevent concentrating load at one point.

I'm not finished with those yet.  They are actually going to run forward all the way to the front suspension crossmember.

It was not going to be a straight shot shot, it was going to require some zig zags so I went ahead and ran the sections where I was working at the time.

[Flipper]

Here are the pics of the boxes getting welded in.





The link mount needs support.  I will also tie the boxes in to these.



Stuff is too crowded to get to all seams.  I cut the tube apart.  Some of the welds are on the inside.  After these welds are done, the tube gets put back together.  Fun!

[Flipper]

Tubes put back together


Boxes tied to the diagonal


Pics of loading the suspension

[Flipper]

1952 Mercedes gas tank looks like it will work for this car.  Yes, it was just laying around.






It should clear the links OK and has a little bit of clearance for the diff.  Fuel inlet will work with a racecar style cap on the top of the boattail.