Making room

[Mark Bagnall]

My enthusiasm seems to return with the, slightly, warmer weather so I'm clearing up the garage and planning the revised cockpit. Hopefully I can attach a photo with this to show the large hole in the fibreglass to be filled.
A little background might be useful, it was a salutary lesson for me, and should at least give you a laugh. I decided to buy a 2 seat Dutton last year with my eBay earnings from clearing out the garage. I investigated several cars trying to find one that didn't need too much work and was still in my budget.
Now comes a simple lesson which I knew but ignored, always take someone with you when looking at a car so they can make sure you check the obvious! I was so engrossed with checking all the information I'd found out about Duttons (not a lot really) I forgot to sit in it!!
Once trailered back to the new space in my garage I soon realised that even taking the seats out my legs were wedged against the wheel and tube under the dash, impossible to drive.
Any guesses what it is? I thought I'd bought a Phaeton, but right now it could be a "B-" with the amount of fibreglass cut out of the cockpit. The idea is to panel in steel between the crossmember at the rear of the gearbox and the cross piece below the roll bar taking this as close to the axle as possible and as low as possible (level with the cross member). I'll then use high density foam to make a seat directly on the floor - there isn't enough room for a separate seat. I'm hoping I will then fit without having to move the pedals as well.
The other main job I have at the moment is a full re-wire (I'll use Dave Adams approach) as it is a complete mess at the moment.
I'm hoping writing this will encourage me to speed up the work as I really want to drive it.

[Mark Bagnall]

Good point Paul. as There are no bump stops, I think the travel must be limited by the dampers so I should really take the springs off and put the dampers back on. Whatever I do it will be better to leave the axle at fill travel and work from there.

[Mark Bagnall]

Bump Stops. I've moved the rear axle to full bump (dampers connected without springs) and the axle & panhard rod get intimate with the boot floor before the dampers bottom out.
What do you guys use for bump stops? The obvious place Is between the main chassis rail and axle, but there's not much room.
Suggestions?

[Dave Adams]

Check out my S1 rebuild posts i managed to get a fair bit extra room out of the seating / cockpit area.

[Dave Adams]

No bump stops on my car. thought about it a few times but not fitted any. my diff also touched the boot floor

[Mark Bagnall]

Do you still run the 120lb/in springs mentioned in your build diary?  Do you have any issues on rough roads? 

I'll work out what my springs are but I will have to live with them and the woodhead dampers for now.

[Dave Adams]

Its still on 120 springs. however with my wife and i in the car its just a bit soft. two up 150‘s was better. Both are loads better than the 190‘s it had. it may yet get the 150‘s back on since my wife and i have had......shall we say a good xmas and new year and a distinct lack of enthusiasm to do any thing about it. :-)

[Dave Adams]

Like i said.......no enthusiasm to loose the odd pound ;-)
so xmas blamed ;-)

[Mark Bagnall]

I find it comforting to select from the huge range of scientific & medical research something that suits me.  The one I particularly like (not publicised much in the UK because its not PC) summarised medical research papers covering millions of people and found you had a better life expectancy if you were OVER rather than at the recommended "normal" weight!

[Dave Adams]

I will be fine for my telegram from her majesty then.

[Mark Bagnall]

Hi Stephen, I bought the Dutton expecting a lively ride and years of fettling so that's good news ;)

I raised the question as the roads round here (whenever I finally get on to them) are pretty rough.  However I suspect my springs are on the hard side so probably no likelyhood of bottoming out, I'll just be shaken to pieces first.

When funds allow I will aim for some decent dampers and fit some softer springs as I believe that is a better approach for handling than very stiff springs.

[Mark Bagnall]

Hopefully this picture of the rear axle will come out in the test - I could not get this to work on a different computer.  I'm slowly cutting away more of the bodywork for better access. 

[Mark Bagnall]

Just worked out the approximate spring rate for the rears (calculated not measured as I don't have a practical means of testing) and they are well over 200lbf/in which is a bit concerning.   Ok for a previous owner sprinting but I'm after multi-purpose, road and track days.