soon to be HUM VIT thread

[zng109]

I have had a little look around my car and found it to be lacking, very lacking in a number of places,
The first was the horizontal fuel filler in the wheel arch....that needs a bit of redirection.
next the rubber body to chassis mounts seem to be a bit hit and miss, ie some there some not.
the roof well that is defiantly lacking as there isn't one ditto doors!
suspension is standard and the loom that runs in the sill is cable tied to the chassis waiting for an errant branch to rip it out.
But fair play to the guy who built it, he builds road cars not off roaders.

a suspension lift kit is on its way giving me an extra 50mm on springs (though I am somewhat dubious about it as the shock spacers arrived today and I thought WTF!
The body lift/ chassis mounts issue I may have resolved by purchasing a solid rubber boat fender from flee bay which can be cut to size ( a solid rubber rod with a bit of rope through it)
any way lets see how it goes.

a little latter I made a decision changes are required! body, lights doors, roof!

[duke]

Keep us posted Ian & remember the pics

[RichardD]

I made an ally plate roof for mine with wing nuts in the corners for quick detaching.

Photos - or it never happened!

[zng109]

I know the pics or it didnt happen bit, I am suffering from the "parts or it isnt going to happen" problem right now.
The car that I bought was built for a kit car video, the guy that built it normaly does road cars and well didnt show everything in the video.
he has neglected to refit any rubber body mounts, like wise lower rad mounts missing.
The car came with rear seats and seat belts fitted....only the central locking part for the seats was holding them in place
The rear floor pan was cut far too short and bolted on with 3 bolts on one side and four on the other the joins were wavey to say the least.
I cut the whole rear floor out today and replaced it with alli chequer plate with a sub steel cross member (same as the origional) to brace the floor.
I used sika sealant/ gripfil for this (as a seal) Its great stuff better than silicon sealant, sets under water ect but......total bstrd to get off your fingernails!
where the frame bolts onto the dash there was a slight gap, water blew in under it and caught me by suprise, I resolved this with two tupes of standard black silicon.
I allso took the coat hanger off the front because when its on you cant open the bonnet! bloody stupid idea that was!
under the hood a few suprises, firstly the choice of battery location has a lot to be desiered, I will have to relocate it to a sensible place.
Likewise the cabeling needs a dramatic shift around.
The rear spare wheel holder snapped off in my hand! (super human strength or rubish welding you choose)
The front axel is grumbling on one side.....(I have parts but at work)
so the next pictures will be with the new back and no bull bar.
On a more personal note things at work have been rather bad, with staff leaving we went from 7 to finaly 2 staff, this includes the manager resigning due to lack of staff, I was due to be on holiday this week (proper holiday) But unfortunatly my father died last week after a long and draining illness so I am unable to go away away.
So i am taking the time to forfill promises of gardening help to my old land lady and do what I can on the car.
Hopefully some time this week an old school 99 model singer sewing machine will turn up with a couple of meters of canvas and I can get busy and make a few roofs.
I saw rather a good thread on a U.S website of guys making soft tops for their jeeps ect and showing their mistakes so it is going to be a learning curve.

[zng109]

oh yes, top and doors priority now, i bought a meal deal today, crisps, sandwich and drink.
only to find crisps missing, i think they may have blown out the car!

[zng109]

Well sewing machine and canvas is here, time to get busy.

[zng109]

[zng109]

I have whacked on extended springs and shocks all round, I found the front shocks that I was replacing were gone any way,
I allso found that the front diff was knackered as well! So I need to source a new one.
any way the now pics and a rough idea what it will be like when the 16"rims go on.




I used my rolling tin as a reference point.

[zng109]

Well lets not bore you, there were and are a few issues with the car, I had to change the front axel, fortunately I magically had a spare steel one in the garage,
the filler neck was in a stupid place, bought a metro city one with locking cap and fitted it, hand brake cables replaced.
Cv joints all re greased and re fitted using jcb blue poo! New gators all round.
A heim spacer is a must, due to the lift.
the eletrics are...... need fixing
doors a must, some wag decided to pour a bottle of mature urine over the drivers seat, neglecting to think that a watering can of flash would cure the problem (waterproof seat covers)
Any way new boots on.





Oh and put decent headlights on it before winter (oh and kill the p merchant)

[zng109]

I seem to be talking to myself here, not an issue I do it all the time,
I need to fit a heim spacer.... this sort of makes me wonder, I have bought and fitted a few springs mainly from bloke down the pub, flea bay ect, this time I bought a 2" lift kit new.
now the rear A frame is suffering and I am dammn sure I had a 2"spring lift on the last waggon without this, "business".
Any way photos to follow as to when you really need the spacer, because trust me I need to fit one.

[zng109]

https://youtu.be/YHcOJ_rymgQ

The build, before me

[vtrax]

Welcome to the wonderful world of kit cars mate – where problems breed like maggots in the rotting corpse of ……………………………. Sorry – back to therapy

My best advice ………………….

Side screens / doors are important – horrible driving in a x-wind with no protection. Also keep pokey sticks from poking you in the ear while off the beaten track.

Get out and give it some trials before making too many conventional mods. I’m guessing that she weighs in at about 1000kg (?) A lot of standard mods are designed for Vits twice that weight so may not work, or be necessary for you.

Remember she’s not a ‘real’ car – cut holes in her, use self-tappers to hold things together, get out the fibre-glass kit to make new ‘better’ bits – that’s the real fun of a kit!

[zng109]

You have a very good point, I fitted a 2" lift kit, now that would have been configured to a standard vit, I had done the same to my last vit.
well to cut to the crunch, it has sort of gone a little high, the rear A frame is at a very acute angle, the prop shaft is well out, I won't go into the front cv angles!
Now this would definitely be down to lack of SPAM.
Any way you are right about the glass fiber, although I am looking at carbon fiber matting just to tank out the lower half.
I am getting a big 0 in the way of help from ncf motors who conceived the car.
with winter just a few months away I am playing with the idea of a hard top and gull wing door's.
The door frames are so big that a hinged door is impractical.
I allso need to sort out the back because when I bought it I suggested to my better half that there would be room in the back for the dog......

[zng109]

Since my last photos, the vandal bug has struck again, I note the Tuesday pictures show the damaged mirror, however the snapped off headlight was a new one


Now personally there are ways of dealing with things, I have taken advice.

[zng109]

New ligh brackets made and fitted!






And heim spacer fitted, do you think I needed one?

[ubermeister]

The first photos I ever saw of an Outback was a prototype and the rear of the frame was upright rather than angled, forming sort of a pick up bed - might work for the dog. And I'd still like to see one on a long wheel base chassis with a pickup bed.
Liking your build thread even if I don't post much, so keep posting.

[zng109]

Its more of a repair thread than a build thread, I am sorting out a not very good build. The guy hadn't even put the body mounts back when he cut it down, so call it find and fix if you like.

[rhinoman]

You need a heim spacer, I wouldn't like to drive it around like that, a broken joint leads to a bit of a mess. I think that I would try to source some softer springs to get the ride height correct, that should improve the ride quality as well, I would imagine that its quite harsh.

[zng109]

Yep thats a before and after photo! You want to see the prop shaft I poo myself on pot hole's!
But I am officially broke, need to move kit on e-bay just to buy food this month!
and its supposed to be a 2"lift but lack of SPAM has thrown everything.
On a sub note did you tank a vit for someone in ash vale?

[zng109]

[RichMayo]

[zng109]

Well for anyone running a 2" lift get the tape measure out, I am running 225/85/r16.





So thats the throw on a space frame,

[RichMayo]

Mine measures 13.5" there with a 3" calmini lift. My tyres are 31" with a fair bit of wear.. So not dissimilar to yours. My maths says you could be running a 5.5" lift based on that! Maybe keep the petrol tank full?

[zng109]

Hand on heart was supposed to be a 2" lift,
I am having to chuck a lot at the running gear to get it straight! Cv angles are horrible, need to drop the front axel.

[zng109]

Oh and this is my day to day car!

[zng109]

Explains a bit.

[rhinoman]

[RichMayo]

Why don't you put the standard springs back on? might be less effort and more reliable and still give you some lift...maybe some spacers if it's not enough?

[zng109]

Very good question, same reason people climb mountains probably.

[vtrax]

Doors can be a real PITA!

The original Rotrax had gull wing doors hinged on the windscreen pillar. This worked well as the doors were small & light.

As mine was stretched to fit the vit chassis, the doors are a lot longer.

The best solution we could find was to build in 'A' panels & hinge them conventionally (with lift off hinges - obviously )