Resurrecting a NZ built racing special

[hotrod1]

Not having a chassis jig to measure and square up the frame the best I can do is get it on a flat surface and have at it with string lines, rulers and tape measure, I found the flattest part of my garage floor and laid down a thick sheet of MDF marked with a center line. I have lined up and fixed the rear bulkhead of the frame to the back edge of the sheet with the middle of the crossmember on the center line the frame sits flat on the MDF sheet all the bottom cross members are parallel and the side frame rails at the firewall are only 5mm off center so that is good enough for me, But the rails forward of the firewall are cranked over to the right quite a bit as just over 1 meter forward of the firewall the side rails are 30mm off center, This does not seem to be as a result of accident damage as the front top crossmember is still parallel to the firewall and the floor, it looks more like the original builder got the measurements a little wrong.
This explains why the front suspension had a lot of shims on one side and the centers of the front and rear hubs on each side of the car were 15mm different.
This will all be addressed when I redo the way the tubes run at the front to add in some more triangulation,strength and fit the new suspension components.

[928]

hi,
just remember the old henry ford expression "simplicate and add lightness". best way of making any car faster.

[hotrod1]

Good advice 928 I think the car will be a little lighter when I am finished even though I am having to add some tubes around the front end as some of the bits I have cut out that I thought was tube was solid bar and the steering rack mounts were flat steel bar the new rack will mount to the suspension towers to save using brackets.

[928]

I bought a pair of cheap of bathroom scales fron the big red shed so i could keep track of weight.

[hotrod1]

I'm doing the same

[hotrod1]

I have marked the MDF sheet with a center line and added lines across the sheet spaced at 100mm and by using these as a guide and measuring from the edges of the sheet I can make sure the frame is square using rulers and a large square, It may be a little crude but is effective enough for the job in hand, I am lucky that the bottom of the frame is flat so I don't have to deal with uneven heights while taking measurements.
To keep the frame steady I have screwed blocks of wood onto the MDF hard against the tubes this holds it in place quite well and they can be adjusted if need be latter, one of the bottom crossmember's has some rust inside the tube so that will need to be replaced before I can start adding in the new tubes.

[hotrod1]

the new Triumph Herald steering rack will mount to a flat bracket that will hang between and brace the suspension turrets using the Herald rubber bushings and U bolts this will mean I will not have to add separate mounts and save weight.