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This is a read-only archive of the old Madabout Kitcars forum. New posts and replies are no longer possible, but every thread is still here to browse and read.

Swifty's Navigator

21 Mar 2017, 9:09pm
Hi Gary funnily enough i had the car out yesterday making the most of the sub tropical temperature up here, a massive 12 degrees, alas it was short lived today its been 2 degrees and snowing. Just changed the gearbox on my daughters car and returned back to the breakers for my surcharge so made the excuse to take the car for its first 2017 run.

Decided to do a little maintenance over the winter and after a lot of online searching for a solution to a poor gear change between 2nd and 1st in a type 9 box i went for the easy solution first by changing the gearbox oil. One problem is there's no drain plug so without removing the box i had to buy a suction pump which worked better than expected.

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Oil advised to use and manual suction pump.

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Small inspection plate removed to gain access to level plug where the oil was sucked from.


Also been busy fabricating an english wheel from 60x60 mild steel box section and turned the top and bottom anvil wheels from EN8 which ive had hardened by a specialist heat treatment company.

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60x60 box section frame cut to angles then welded to make a horse shoe shape. Top anvil wheel mount is fixed while the bottom anvil wheel is adjustable depending on material thickness. Sorry for the upside down frame had just finished the undercoat.

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The top anvil is the larger one with a parallel od surface, if i made this again i would leave more material on the center boss to minimize distortion during the heat treatment luckily the internal bore shrunk out of true so i was able to machine it back to size and true with the outer diameter. The six smaller wheels are the bottom anvils with various radius's on the o/d to accommodate different amounts of curve required. All anvils have internal bores for the bearings.


Once ive mounted the frame correctly ill post further pictures, my intentions are to roll a couple of front wheel arches for the sammio, i had intended making them from flat sheet similar to the way the rear inside arches were made but thought a curved rolled arch would look professional.


Well that's it for now see you all soon.
25 Mar 2017, 4:01pm
Swifty - Looking forward to seeing how your front arches come out.

Plus I love the fact that you have built your own metal shaping tools. :cool:

Good luck, Paul. :)
25 Mar 2017, 5:50pm
Beautiful wheel there Swifty! Good work.
27 Aug 2017, 6:39pm
This year ive been out driving the car getting used to its handling and finding its limits which can be sudden giving the odd squeaky backside but its alot of fun and still draws the attention where ever it goes. Ive also entered the car into a few car shows locally with a good response.

The throttle has always felt a little numb lacking instant response which prompted me to consider fitting bike carbs, but speaking to a few lads who have fitted these carbs they all said the same they are a pain to set up so wanting an easier solution i decided to redesign the way the throttle linkage operates.

Made a bracket to anchor the throttle cable along with a new spindle and cable guide wheel, all made from ally and stainless.


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Old linkage which has a lot of wear probably due to its age.


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New setup fitted, it's made a massive difference to the throttle response, much quicker but requiring less foot travel so it may be a hand full in the wet. Thinking of turning a larger cable guide wheel or fitting a heavy return spring.


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Also made a bracket to carry a spare set of plugs.
27 Aug 2017, 6:56pm
Neat work! Tried my time "wheeling" some aluminum, made a pile of waste!
28 Aug 2017, 5:45pm
Swifty - Good to see you make and still making beautiful parts for your car. :cool:

Did you ever get a chance to play with your English Wheel?

Cheers, Paul. :)

PS
Did you bring a camera to any of these shows? :icon_wink:
24 Sep 2019, 8:13am
A very nice example of the type of cars we build/are building. Outside of my price range, but I wish him well as he has put a lot of effort into his build.