50 steps to building a Sagaris V8 race car....
Discussion
Hi All
Having reached something of a milestone this weekend (priming the bodyshell), I though I would share with you some of the steps in building a Sagaris V8 race car (so far)....
1) Decorate workshop, paint floor, fit racking, HiFi system, TV, DVD and Video players
2) Explain to team manager (wife) that the rest of the house will be decorated soon, honest
3) Obtain Sagaris bodyshell from TVR and introduce to Tuscan Challenge race chassis that happened to be lying spare in the garden
4) Wield angle grinder with vengence - remove road 'roll cage' from shell. Diameter too small for race purposes and the rear stays end in the GRP over the wheel arches not the chassis!!
4) Cut out entire floor, transmission tunnel, footwells, rear deck and significant elements of the front inner wings
5) Slide shell over chassis. Bolt on rear suspension and wheel in one corner to locate shell on chassis
6) Remove transmission tunnel and front left bulkhead from old Tuscan tub. Graft into Sagaris shell
7) Fabricate new floors, footwells and rear deck from GRP
8) Remove all floors and footwells and do them again as first effort not good enough
8) Remove floors again and redo, this time aligned with top of chassis rather than bottom
9) Blank out fuel filler hole in rear wing
10) Stand back and marvel at shell with all holes now filled in
11) Deliver shell and chassis to Rollcentre for FIA spec roll cage to be fitted
12) Collect shell from Rollcentre and pay nice man for the damage to his Calibra inflicted by combination of race transporter and gap between hedge and Calibra being too small for said race transporter on previous visit
13)Weep at large holes cut in carefully fabricated inner shell in order to fit roll cage
14) Re-glass all holes in such a way that shell and cage can be lifted off chassis in one piece
15) Take deep breath and cut entire front end off shell just behind front wheels
16) Stand back and consider whether that was a good idea
17) Conceal all discarded sections of shell before team boss asks difficult questions about why so much of the £3,500 shell is now in bin
18) Shorten wheel base of new shell by approx 20mm
19) Fabricate new front quarters freehand, with cunningly shaped sections of thin aluminium (getting good at this now)
20) Using skills of an amatuer gynaecologist, apply GRP to the inside of front quarters accessed from inside footwells
21) Remove GRP mess from inside of front quarters and use skills of experience gynaecologist to do properly
22) Take another deep breath and cut entire lower passenger side off car
23) Stand back and scratch head. A lot
24) Graft new exhaust section (sourced from Fred) to side of car and create inner side bulkhead. Remake passenger bay floor for fourth time
25) Hold doors purchased from Fred in door recesses. Scratch head and wonder why they dont fit
26) Chop grooves in window frames to make flexible, gaffer tape doors into recesses and apply GRP to frames from inside of car to change their profile
27) Spend days (literally) fiddling about with rose joints to make door hinges and get shut lines correct
28) Visit scrap yard in rain to obtain Ford Transit door lock (TVR original equipment in a Sagaris!) strikers. Lacerate fingers removing from scrap vehicle full of glass
29) Craft door opener push buttons from aluminium rod. Polish to mirror finish. Explain why result is a thing of beauty to incredulous and disbelieving team manager
30) Remove shell from chassis
31) Purchase welder and experiment with off cuts of steel wearing helmet, heavy leather gauntlets, T shirt and shorts
32) Apply cream to 'sun' burnt arm and legs from UV light from welder
33) Weld bracing sections for floor mounted pedal box to chassis, along with air jack mounts and lugs
34) Take yet another deep breath and cut most of dash out. Fabricate mounts for new dash moulding. Fabricate centre console from bottom half of old Tuscan Challenge dashboard
35) Fabricate frame for fuel bay cover from aluminium section.
Before:
After
36) Experiment with carbon fibre fabric, resin and 12mm honeycomb. Fabricate incredibly stiff but very light drinks coaster which is subsequently denied house room by team manager
37) Fabricate large carbon honeycomb panel to cover fuel bay
38) Cut sodding great big round holes in rear quarter light for fuel fillers
39) Weld steel mounts for dry break fuel fillers to roll cage inside rear quarter light
40) Blow furiously to extinguish flames from burning GRP of rear quarterlight
41) Obtain new large capacity air compressor and locate in small lean-to shed type arrangement on external workshop wall
42) Apply filler to newly fabricated sections and sand
43) Repeat step 42 fifteen times
44) Apologise to complaining neighbour for noise of compressor (strictly during working hours only) and reassure them that sanding will not continue in the summer when they are 'enjoying their garden'
45) Apologise to team manager for inflicting 'fibre glass rash' on her from hug (after not wearing protective covering on arms whilst sanding)
45) Cut 50mm of bottom of rear of car to accept rear diffuser
46) Take yet another deep breath and cut hole in roof for ventilation intake. Graft NACA duct into roof
47) Repeat step 42 again a couple of times
48) Apply primer to shell
49) Apply large glass of wine to throat
50) Make start on the oily bits.....
So there you go - easy!!
We have some way to go for the car to be complete, but have already built up many of the sub assemblies - front and rear hubs/uprights, pedal box, fuel tank and pumps etc. The next phase of the build will be far more enjoyable (and quicker) - bolting clean shiny stuff into a clean freshly painted shell and powder coated chassis.
The car will be racing later in the year fitted with a 6 litre Chevy LS2.
(With thanks to IMR Limited for their sponsorship, Tim Hood and Terry Lee for giving me the benefit of their experience and chassis modifications, Fred Tonge for the body mouldings, Charlie Barnard (one of my race mechanics) for his assistance, and the team manager for her incredible patience….)
Having reached something of a milestone this weekend (priming the bodyshell), I though I would share with you some of the steps in building a Sagaris V8 race car (so far)....
1) Decorate workshop, paint floor, fit racking, HiFi system, TV, DVD and Video players
2) Explain to team manager (wife) that the rest of the house will be decorated soon, honest
3) Obtain Sagaris bodyshell from TVR and introduce to Tuscan Challenge race chassis that happened to be lying spare in the garden
4) Wield angle grinder with vengence - remove road 'roll cage' from shell. Diameter too small for race purposes and the rear stays end in the GRP over the wheel arches not the chassis!!
4) Cut out entire floor, transmission tunnel, footwells, rear deck and significant elements of the front inner wings
5) Slide shell over chassis. Bolt on rear suspension and wheel in one corner to locate shell on chassis
6) Remove transmission tunnel and front left bulkhead from old Tuscan tub. Graft into Sagaris shell
7) Fabricate new floors, footwells and rear deck from GRP
8) Remove all floors and footwells and do them again as first effort not good enough
8) Remove floors again and redo, this time aligned with top of chassis rather than bottom
9) Blank out fuel filler hole in rear wing
10) Stand back and marvel at shell with all holes now filled in
11) Deliver shell and chassis to Rollcentre for FIA spec roll cage to be fitted
12) Collect shell from Rollcentre and pay nice man for the damage to his Calibra inflicted by combination of race transporter and gap between hedge and Calibra being too small for said race transporter on previous visit
13)Weep at large holes cut in carefully fabricated inner shell in order to fit roll cage
14) Re-glass all holes in such a way that shell and cage can be lifted off chassis in one piece
15) Take deep breath and cut entire front end off shell just behind front wheels
16) Stand back and consider whether that was a good idea
17) Conceal all discarded sections of shell before team boss asks difficult questions about why so much of the £3,500 shell is now in bin
18) Shorten wheel base of new shell by approx 20mm
19) Fabricate new front quarters freehand, with cunningly shaped sections of thin aluminium (getting good at this now)
20) Using skills of an amatuer gynaecologist, apply GRP to the inside of front quarters accessed from inside footwells
21) Remove GRP mess from inside of front quarters and use skills of experience gynaecologist to do properly
22) Take another deep breath and cut entire lower passenger side off car
23) Stand back and scratch head. A lot
24) Graft new exhaust section (sourced from Fred) to side of car and create inner side bulkhead. Remake passenger bay floor for fourth time
25) Hold doors purchased from Fred in door recesses. Scratch head and wonder why they dont fit
26) Chop grooves in window frames to make flexible, gaffer tape doors into recesses and apply GRP to frames from inside of car to change their profile
27) Spend days (literally) fiddling about with rose joints to make door hinges and get shut lines correct
28) Visit scrap yard in rain to obtain Ford Transit door lock (TVR original equipment in a Sagaris!) strikers. Lacerate fingers removing from scrap vehicle full of glass
29) Craft door opener push buttons from aluminium rod. Polish to mirror finish. Explain why result is a thing of beauty to incredulous and disbelieving team manager
30) Remove shell from chassis
31) Purchase welder and experiment with off cuts of steel wearing helmet, heavy leather gauntlets, T shirt and shorts
32) Apply cream to 'sun' burnt arm and legs from UV light from welder
33) Weld bracing sections for floor mounted pedal box to chassis, along with air jack mounts and lugs
34) Take yet another deep breath and cut most of dash out. Fabricate mounts for new dash moulding. Fabricate centre console from bottom half of old Tuscan Challenge dashboard
35) Fabricate frame for fuel bay cover from aluminium section.
Before:
After
36) Experiment with carbon fibre fabric, resin and 12mm honeycomb. Fabricate incredibly stiff but very light drinks coaster which is subsequently denied house room by team manager
37) Fabricate large carbon honeycomb panel to cover fuel bay
38) Cut sodding great big round holes in rear quarter light for fuel fillers
39) Weld steel mounts for dry break fuel fillers to roll cage inside rear quarter light
40) Blow furiously to extinguish flames from burning GRP of rear quarterlight
41) Obtain new large capacity air compressor and locate in small lean-to shed type arrangement on external workshop wall
42) Apply filler to newly fabricated sections and sand
43) Repeat step 42 fifteen times
44) Apologise to complaining neighbour for noise of compressor (strictly during working hours only) and reassure them that sanding will not continue in the summer when they are 'enjoying their garden'
45) Apologise to team manager for inflicting 'fibre glass rash' on her from hug (after not wearing protective covering on arms whilst sanding)
45) Cut 50mm of bottom of rear of car to accept rear diffuser
46) Take yet another deep breath and cut hole in roof for ventilation intake. Graft NACA duct into roof
47) Repeat step 42 again a couple of times
48) Apply primer to shell
49) Apply large glass of wine to throat
50) Make start on the oily bits.....
So there you go - easy!!
We have some way to go for the car to be complete, but have already built up many of the sub assemblies - front and rear hubs/uprights, pedal box, fuel tank and pumps etc. The next phase of the build will be far more enjoyable (and quicker) - bolting clean shiny stuff into a clean freshly painted shell and powder coated chassis.
The car will be racing later in the year fitted with a 6 litre Chevy LS2.
(With thanks to IMR Limited for their sponsorship, Tim Hood and Terry Lee for giving me the benefit of their experience and chassis modifications, Fred Tonge for the body mouldings, Charlie Barnard (one of my race mechanics) for his assistance, and the team manager for her incredible patience….)
Simply one of the best* posts on PH for a loooong time! Cheered my afternoon up no end. Thanks! 
*The funniest of all time being the guy who tried to install some clear lenses to his Tiv (not sure which though, cos it was so long ago!), ending up in one of the funniest Sagas in history!
*The funniest of all time being the guy who tried to install some clear lenses to his Tiv (not sure which though, cos it was so long ago!), ending up in one of the funniest Sagas in history!
Edited by kmpowell on Monday 19th March 16:09
tommfuller said:
Fabulous. Wish I had those skills!
Cheers,
Tom.
Cheers,
Tom.
Thanks for the comments - I'm self taught on the whole. Lets just say that my last fibreglassing efforts were considerably better than my first! Ditto the welding. And the spray painting is still in its infancy, so room for improvement!
Like anything, the more you do the better you get - its just practice....
jellison said:
Have bookmarked this for when I can get to my Griff200 - good stuff. Really wanna race it in TVRCC some time but think would get spanked my that.
Stop Being a Wuss Jelly and get the car built for 2008 to be spanked like the rest of us. thats what class B is for after all.............
You won't be alone out there
Neil.
Edited by heightswitch on Tuesday 20th March 13:03
heightswitch said:
jellison said:
Have bookmarked this for when I can get to my Griff200 - good stuff. Really wanna race it in TVRCC some time but think would get spanked my that.
Stop Being a Wuss Jelly and get the car built for 2008 to be spanked like the rest of us. thats what class B is for after all.............
You won't be alone out there
Neil.
Edited by heightswitch on Tuesday 20th March 13:03
Mind I think Steve W lead a TVRCC race last year or late 05 till some monor thing scuppered it.
Would have to run slicks and monster brakes though!
kmpowell said:
Simply one of the best* posts on PH for a loooong time! Cheered my afternoon up no end. Thanks!
*The funniest of all time being the guy who tried to install some clear lenses to his Tiv (not sure which though, cos it was so long ago!), ending up in one of the funniest Sagas in history!
*The funniest of all time being the guy who tried to install some clear lenses to his Tiv (not sure which though, cos it was so long ago!), ending up in one of the funniest Sagas in history!
Edited by kmpowell on Monday 19th March 16:09
Defo the most interesting Pistonheads post for a long time, keep dreaming about new projects and the Sagaris idea has been kicking about in the back of my mind for some time, great to see someone has rolled his sleeves up and got stuck in!
So bored with the usual "What colour is fastest?", "Should i fit Viper stripes?" type of b*llocks that gets so much bandwidth these days!!!!
jellison said:
Mind I think Steve W lead a TVRCC race last year or late 05 till some monor thing scuppered it.
Would have to run slicks and monster brakes though!
Steve's car ran in a few of the tvrcc races in 05, I dont think it lead though the mighty thorpedo did most of that.
I had 2 good tussles with it in the tuscan with the 4ltr rover at Pembrey.. the Griff was awesome down the straights, like i was in reverse. The trouble was he had to brake at the point i changed up. he's still got drums on the back...
In the second race i jammed in 4th and Steve ad oil pressure problems. we must have looked a picture chugging round the slow bits and then hanging on for dear life through the fast bits nose to tail..
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