Gauging interest......S series outriggers off the shelf?
Discussion
Just something I started to think about sitting in the smallest room of the house; outriggers....you can buy them for Griffiths and Chimaeras, but not the S (or can you??)
I make Chim/Griff ones at work, but rather than sell them we use them to do our own refurbs. We don't see many S cars in for refurbs & body-off work as we do with the former, because in fairness the value of the cars doesn't really make it viable for a lot of people (V8S excepted, though my S1 is going to have the full works over the winter!)
It dawned on me that the S is more the sort of car (and would have the sort of owner) that would feature more heroic DIY-work on a driveway or in a single garage. And so I started to wonder....maybe there would be a market for the opposite....replacement outrigger kits? Buying them singularly, or in pairs and fitting them yourself.
So really this is more of a question to S owners...is this something that would have helped your rebuilds?
Rich
I make Chim/Griff ones at work, but rather than sell them we use them to do our own refurbs. We don't see many S cars in for refurbs & body-off work as we do with the former, because in fairness the value of the cars doesn't really make it viable for a lot of people (V8S excepted, though my S1 is going to have the full works over the winter!)
It dawned on me that the S is more the sort of car (and would have the sort of owner) that would feature more heroic DIY-work on a driveway or in a single garage. And so I started to wonder....maybe there would be a market for the opposite....replacement outrigger kits? Buying them singularly, or in pairs and fitting them yourself.
So really this is more of a question to S owners...is this something that would have helped your rebuilds?
Rich
Well the problem is just that....cost. It's amazing how many man-hours it takes to knock up a set for a Chim/Griff.
That said, the S is a bit more simple in design, and as long as we could get the eyelets for the rear arms pre-fabbed and laser cut along with the mounting plates, it might not be too bad.
Main cost is in building the jig. Takes ages to do, and you have to start with a set of known good riggers to begin with to make the jig from. Luckily I'm doing a body-off on mine over the winter, so I've got a car to do a dummy run on
That said, the S is a bit more simple in design, and as long as we could get the eyelets for the rear arms pre-fabbed and laser cut along with the mounting plates, it might not be too bad.
Main cost is in building the jig. Takes ages to do, and you have to start with a set of known good riggers to begin with to make the jig from. Luckily I'm doing a body-off on mine over the winter, so I've got a car to do a dummy run on
TonupS2 said:
An added complication will be that there are 3 different combinations of rear outrigger. The S1/S2 differs from the S3 in both the height of the rear body mounting plate and the position of the rear suspension eyelets. I believe the V8S chassis is different too.
Ah....the eyelets I'd accounted for, but I wasn't aware of the mounting plate. I didn't even realise that differed!ETA - I've nosed around a couple of V8S' and thought, visually at least, the outriggers looked the same. Like I say though, that was only visual.
Edited by Kitchski on Saturday 28th September 08:34
The outriggers are actually quite simple on an s I would think if you have the skills to weld them in you probably have the skills to make them in the first place? Also I expect original manufacturing tolerances would mean it would be difficult to get them to suit every individual car.
mikel003003 said:
The outriggers are actually quite simple on an s I would think if you have the skills to weld them in you probably have the skills to make them in the first place? Also I expect original manufacturing tolerances would mean it would be difficult to get them to suit every individual car.
I did have this thought, though I would argue that it's easier to weld outriggers on than to fabricate them from scratch. Not everybody has a chop saw, laser-cut panels, metal folders etc in their single garage.swimmer27 said:
Just repaired mine last month, managed to buy the steel tube and plate from a local steel fabricator for just £10 as all from his off-cut bin.
I did the same with my Chimaera before our workshop existed, but not everybody can. I'm just wondering if there are enough cars (and demand) out there to warrant the production costs of setting it all up.Kitchski said:
I did the same with my Chimaera before our workshop existed, but not everybody can. I'm just wondering if there are enough cars (and demand) out there to warrant the production costs of setting it all up.
I'm fortunate to have a large double garage (was priority when purcasing) and still have my Arc and mig welders from years back.I think speaking for myself If I were able to purchase the necessary steel pieces already fabricated then I would be keen on the idea.
Years ago when I purchased my welders etc I had unlimited overtime at work but over the years things have changed so much that this is no longer the case.
If I was unable to repair my chassis then I had already decided my S2 would be either sold or broken up for parts.
Good luck
Doh! Just done mine. As previous, managed to haggle tube and plate from local steel merchant for £10 and then had fun welding on the drive. Prefab would have saved a lot of time and I did look around to see if anybody did them - no guarantee that body would have gone back on first offering as it did with the bespoke fabrication. I also found other areas that NEEDED attention that I might not have found if I'd done it quicker.
Good idea especially if it keeps more cars on the road, gives another option for the DIYer and garage alike.
MV
Good idea especially if it keeps more cars on the road, gives another option for the DIYer and garage alike.
MV
Kitchski said:
swimmer27 said:
Just repaired mine last month, managed to buy the steel tube and plate from a local steel fabricator for just £10 as all from his off-cut bin.
I did the same with my Chimaera before our workshop existed, but not everybody can. I'm just wondering if there are enough cars (and demand) out there to warrant the production costs of setting it all up.After repairing the n/s inner out-rigger I notices a small scab of rust on the centre tube that runs between the main chassis rails under the sump, as you can see that small scab turned into a complete rusty mess, once I had cut out the tube it looked more like an exhaust baffle!
New piece is now welded in so fingers are now crossed for the MOT around November.
New piece is now welded in so fingers are now crossed for the MOT around November.
mep12345 said:
Swimmer, if you had to replace that you may have found it useful to fit it as a bolt in cross member as this makes sump removal etc possible with the engine in - I think several others have done this previously. All too late now I know
Snap.Found engine removal was near impossible as I have a weird sump/chassis configuration that mean't the sump wouldn't clear the cross member. Cut it out in the end, otherwise the body was coming off. Ended up welding 'L' section onto the ends, sitting it on the main chassis rails and bolting it down from the top.
- Touch wood* I haven't needed to take the engine back out yet, but always best to assume the worst.
mep12345 said:
Swimmer, if you had to replace that you may have found it useful to fit it as a bolt in cross member as this makes sump removal etc possible with the engine in - I think several others have done this previously. All too late now I know
I did consider it after another ph member suggested it but if need be it would take 10 minutes to cut it away and probably 30 minutes to weld another piece back in.I sold my pride and joy a couple of weeks ago, my Suzuki GSXR 750 SRAD, I really needed the money and its possible once I get a years ticket on my S2 in November she will have to go too.
Edited by swimmer27 on Thursday 3rd October 11:16
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