Project Legerra

[Dave Adams]

one of the car with hard top.....

and one with the soft top.....

the phaeton is still in my drive and it really really has to go.......ebay this week some time i think.

as for the Legerra, well it has given me some fun and games, first it boils up like a kettle....er well it did it now has a much larger radiator and some ducting on the radiator. it seems to make a difference.

the car goes quite well but it did have a hot staring issue which turns out to be a duff ballast resistor even though the car has electronic ignition. easy to fix and the car now starts hot reliably.

the suspension is very stiff and it will be softened up a bit, but the car handles quite well.

it has a MG miget dash in the car and i feel it really suits the car....more pictures later

[Paul Sheridan]

Oh dear, so what's next Dave, a full strip down to check everything else?  Always the same problem with any old vehicle, once you start looking, ya wont stop until its all in bits ;-)))  

[1midz0wwbl268]

was this a factory welded  strengthening  job, if so, it cant fill you with much hope  can it,  so whats next, full stripdown,  body off  strip the chassis and test all welds  then re weld on the strengthening  sections  and this time  make sure everything is done right?  its probally going to be the only way  your going to feel confident that its safe. 

[Dave Adams]

ooooh you rotter that was a bit harsh...;-)

[Dave Adams]

from what i gather the chassis and body were made by the dutton factory after Scorhill bought the rights to make and sell the Legerra. the chassis strengthening was an option by Scorhill. so i am guessing the chassis was ordered from the dutton factory and scorhill added the strengthening. only they must have used a weedy DIY mig welder of about 85A because the welds haven't penetrated the steel at all. and a bit of grinding got them to break off in most places.

on the plus side my car was built with a pinto and 4 speed, but the chassis has been modified already for a 5 speed. i think i will be checking the welding on this modification a bit more thoroughly. 

[James Doulton]

That is dreadful, Dave. I would hope that the 'strengthening' was an after thought and done by someone else, so that the rest of the chassis is sound. Now you will have to decide whether to just weld it back on properly or to add a different section. If you assume that the reinforcement was not doing anything for the rigidity of the chassis before then I would guess that just welding it on properly would make a big difference.

[Dave Adams]

Thats what I am hoping. ......whats there was decoration only it's had no practical purpose on the car. ....

[2edvaw06pgbav]

That's grizzly Dave. I think mine is attached better than that but I also think I'll be having another look

[Dave Adams]

the steel used for the strengthening is a little over engineered with 3 mm thick walls, if the steel used on the chassis is the same as the S1 had it will be in the region of 1 mm thick 1.5 mm at most. so welding them together is likely to be fun. i am almost tempted to get new steel with a more similar wall thickness (and a lot lighter) i am not convinced the 3 mm wall thickness 40 X 40 tube will add a significant extra stiffness to the chassis over 1.5 mm wall thickness 40 X 40 tube.........but then being an old skinflint i may well just leave the steel and weld it properly.

[Dave Adams]

the point where the chassis rail strengthening turns to follow the original chassis rails and where the two sections should have been welded together is about mid point of the car.......just about the point where the chassis starts to bend (or hog as its better termed) because it wasn't welded together it almost acted like a hinge, rather defeating the whole point of adding it in the first place.

[James Doulton]

According to my calculations, if you have a 75x40 section of 1.6mm thickness and you add a 40x40 section of 1.6mm thickness then the overall stiffness goes up by a factor of 3. if the 40x40 is 3mm thick then the stiffness goes up by a factor of 3.8 instead. The extra weight for the 3mm over the 1.6mm is about 6Kg (the extra cross-sectional area is about 2cm2 and the sides are about 2m long). I'd go for the skinflint option.

[Dave Adams]

it does show that the extra cost and weight of 3 mm wall thickness over 1.6 mm is not worth it as the stiffness factor goes up from 3 to 3.8 a little over 20%. maybe it is worth it, but on a sports car i think that the lighter material is the better compromise every time. but your right i have lived in Yorkshire too long to be wasting money just to save a few kilos of weight when i have suitable material to hand.....albeit a little heavy.

[James Doulton]

I haven't found a suitable supplier of tubing around here, so when I wanted new diagonals for my Legerra I made tube by welding up some 3mm thick angle iron from B&Q. Some might say that it was a wise precaution as the tube does support my seat.