2013

In October 2013 it was decided to pull out the motor to finalize the gearbox conversion. The front suspension had a lot of play all round with worn kingpins, control arm bushes and subframe mountings. The general plan is to build the race car, put it on the track to test and develop, modify as required and then to strip it entirely for paint.

Before the engine was removed, the propshaft was located with a jig as a reference. Once the new gearbox was installed, the jig could be fitted to see how the mounting needed to be modified to line up with the propshaft.

Once the engine was out it was decided to restore the entire front suspension properly – at least this would be done and complete when it came to strip the car down for painting. Before any work started on the front subframe, it was sent to a company in Pretoria called Powerbrake to measured it up for a braking solution for the car.

Once the subframe was returned it was stripped down completely. The holes in the subframe for the lower control arms were slotted by 5mm to give the car extra negative camber if necessary and then the subframe and suspension components were sent for powder coating.

There was a bit of a delay waiting for the suspension parts to arrive, but in the interim the front air bellow chambers were painted. A small zinc plating kit was acquired to be able to plate all the relevant nuts, bolts and washers.

A set of Cibie spotlights was imported from the UK and spotlight mountings were made, referring to photos found on the internet.

A mock-up bracket was made from cardboard to get the proportions right and then scribed onto a piece of steel sheet. This was cut out, formed into shape, welded together and finished it off.

The same procedure was followed to make the bottom spotlight bracket, once again referring to internet photos

The suspension components all arrived back from powder coating as well as all the new suspension parts that had been ordered from Germany:

The various nuts and bolts were plated and the assembly of the front suspension subframe was started.

To help firm up the front suspension, polyurethane bushes replaced the standard rubber bushes.

Getting the front subframe back into the car alone was a bit of a struggle and later a proper cradle would be made to make the job much easier.

The steering box was sent to get overhauled - it had been leaking and was a job made much easier to remove and install while the engine was out.