Broken finger all healed up, and I'm back to having 10 finger nails again, which is better than 7! Back to it then.
Not as much activity on here it seems these days as everyone is over on Facebook, which is good for instant responses, but the forum is always the best place for a build thread. All information is in one place, and as long as the photo links work it can be stay a point of reference for others later down the line. :)
It's good to be back on the car, had two weeks on it. To start I was evaluating priorities...
I figured there's loads to do so better to focus on one thing, and the biggest thing at the moment is driving position, and all involved: steering rack, column, pedals, seat etc.
After mocking up the column inside I realised the rack was at the wrong angle to get the UJ to rotate without binding. To fix this I flipped the asymmetrical brackets upside down and spaced the rack out by 5mm.
Can't mount the colum without knowing the pedal location, so time to get the pedals in. Lots of headscratching about locations and angles to find my perfect driving position! Where to start!? I took all the measurements of the standard setup, all the angles and distances from the bulkhead. The standard column is 19 degrees and I decided it was important to keep this angle. I liked the feel of the steering angle on the standard car.
I stuffed the pedals and Almera column in the car with wood and cable ties and started mocking up..
Hmm. Hmmmm..
The issue is getting the pedals close enough to the floor without compromising on the steering column angle. The column has to go just underneath the pivot of the clutch and brake pedals, and inbetween them, meaning the lower the pedals, the steeper the column angle, which is not wanted. I don't want the top of the steering wheel to go away from me, like driving a lorry or a mini! The solution was to get the pedal box as high as possible, and as far back as possible, and extend the pedals/raise the floor.
Lots of stuff in the standard Scirocco that I want to re-engineer and improve in my build, one of them is flex in the pedals. Important then to have a solid mounting point as the bulkhead is like paper mache!
Commence bulkhead strengthening bar..
Flangey end plates in net form
Folded and welded
42mm steel tube, 2.5mm wall. This is not straight, it bends about 7 degrees by the fusebox, and then 3 degrees where the wood is propping it up. It's really tight to the bulkhead. Would have been nice to use CDS, but this was lying about and will be stiff enough with an extra support (to do later).
Gussets
Fixes here on each side
Spreader plates on inner wing, still to be shaped, may weld this in
Still space for loom, need to test fit the fuse box though!
More test fitting.. With the bar in, the pedal box is too far forwards. With the pedal box below the bar, it's bad news for a happy steering column angle.
After much hesitation it was decided to dismantle my brand new pedals and get the angle grinder out. It felt a bit wrong to hack up something brand new, but strangely it felt a bit right once I had started! This was the maximum I could remove whilst keeping clearance for the sweeping arc of the brake pedal.
Did I say more test fitting? Position is sweet now.
Now to mount on the bar!
Captive m8 nuts welded in. Just tacked on to the column for now as I want to be sure of positioning before fully welding.
Tacked on to the bar now :) Needs to go to the right a little but will go here more or less. I want enough space on the left hand side for a clutch rest. I've just bought an E46 coupe as a daily driver and the driving position is ridiculous, pedals offset to the right, and steering wheel to the left slightly! I've thought loads about what consitutes a good pedal position, and the clutch pedal needs to be dead in line with your left leg, as you put a lot of force in when you push the clutch. The accelerator pedal is a light push so is less important, but infront of the right leg is ideal. In my BMW the clutch is slightly to the right, and I can feel my inside thigh muscles activating more, instead of using all muscles equally.
So I've ended up with pedals slightly further back than the standard position, and a little higher so will need extending down, or raising the floor. To maintain the 19 degree steering column angle, the driving postion is going way way back, I will be sitting in the footwell of the rear seats, with an extended column, which will aid weight distrubution. Move back the handbrake and gear shifter. I just may need to reach forward to get to the dashboard switches! Normal seat belts are a must then!
