The Raven e9 project

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Ohmess said:
Stephen - I think you are talking about some of the work Erik describes in the middle of this post: https://e9coupe.com/forum/threads/chassis-reinforcement-ideas.37110/post-315624
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There's another thread where someone placed rectangular jack pads projecting from the bottom of the frame rails (at least that is how I remember it). I think Erik's amendment was at the rocker assembly, and I do plan to borrow his design as well. That would be totally invisible and provide some protection just in case someone sets a jack or lift at the factory jack points (how dare they). Honestly, after going through all of this at this level of detail, I am making my car un-jackable. Don't want to scratch the frame - ha ha.
 
autokunst said:
There's another thread where someone placed rectangular jack pads projecting from the bottom of the frame rails (at least that is how I remember it). I think Erik's amendment was at the rocker assembly, and I do plan to borrow his design as well. That would be totally invisible and provide some protection just in case someone sets a jack or lift at the factory jack points (how dare they). Honestly, after going through all of this at this level of detail, I am making my car un-jackable. Don't want to scratch the frame - ha ha.
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Hockey pucks on the jack help with this issue.
 
Ohmess said:
Hockey pucks on the jack help with this issue.
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I was wondering if maybe a custom made "cradle" that would match the bottom of the frame rail geometry, including radiused corners and short little sides that would support the vertical sides of the rail to keep it from wanting to widen out. Of course, lined with a rubber or hockey puck type surface.
 
QUESTION ABOUT A and B PILLARS and progress

I've finished the right hand frame rail to my satisfaction. Photos of the before and after below.
20210622-rt frame outside.jpg

20210622-rt frame inside.jpg

20210624_144221.jpg


At the A and B pillars, there is what I'd call a flange that is spot welded to the thicker pillar structure. The fenders/quarter panels hem around these flanges such that the body panels can actually slip a little bit on these flanges. I assume this is to allow for slight movement (thermal expansion/contraction, and maybe even body roll) without distorting the panels. Does anyone know if these are available? The rear one is easy enough to fabricate or patch, but the front one is a bit more involved. I don't think I've ever seen these for sale. Pics below.
20210624-rt front fender flange.jpg
20210624-rt rear quarter flange.jpg
 
Digging into the next phase, I am working towards replacing portions of the rocker/sill structure.

Although I will correct ALL corrosion, it is reassuring to see much of this structure squeaky clean and intact.
20210625-intermediate no b.jpg


B-pillar patch section removed with replacement nearby. I've found 3 dimes and 2 pennies within the car so far. That'll contribute towards the restoration. ;) The arrow is pointing towards an unexpected stress crack. Interesting.
20210625-old and new b-pillar.jpg
20210625-stress crack.jpg
 
It has been some time since I updated this thread. I've been busy with work, so less time dedicated to the car. But also, my time with the car has been scattered. Some time on the chassis, some time on the front suspension, some time on engine parts. I love a good distraction.

But tonight I finished a small step in my process. Several months ago I was cleaning up the front subframe. This involved stripping it, general straightening and filling some scrapes on the bottom, and fussing with the tow hooks. Ah, this is why I paused - I waited for some replacement tow hooks from Coupe King. When I ordered them, they were out of stock and waiting on a fresh batch. So the subframe was put aside. Now the tow hooks arrived, and I finally pulled the subframe back out. While I still have to adjust the tow hooks (they don't exactly match the original hooks) and weld them on, I turned my attention to the sway bar attachments. With these, few things bothered me.

First, the slot that the sway bar clips slide into seemed slight. So I decided to weld them up a bit - reinforce them so to speak. After all, we invest in stiffer sway bars (mine is 25.5mm), and we reinforce the clips themselves. But that slot just seemed too flimsy. Once I started fussing with the slots, I test assembled the clips and realized that:
a) the slot is much larger than the tab on the clips; and
b) the slots on my subframe wouldn't allow the clips to align. Between the slot and the bolt hole, they were a few degrees out of alignment. I checked the sway bar and it is straight/aligned at the clip points. So.... I did some more welding/filling, filing and fitment so the clips go in straight and without play. I'll admit I went a bit overboard on these slots. I don't even remember what the original configuration looked like.

Next will be the tow hooks, then I can get some paint on this subframe and check it off the list.

By the way, I have the allen head bolts in upside-down for this fitment. For final assembly they come up from underneath and the nut goes on the top.

20211116-front subframe.jpg
20211116-sway bar reinf slot.jpg
 
With the big sway bars, I have cracked a bushing bracket. Front was still in the tab & the nuts & bolts were tight. Autowerkes Maine found it & welded it back together.
 
why invest in bigger sway bars ?
with our stiffer( rally) springs we don't even use front sway bars ...... much safer to keep the " tires on the road" .
 
One easy improvement to your new slots: round off the inside edges of your 'mailbox' opening. Having a 1 mm radius in each of the 4 corners will increase the strength by ~25% (load before tearing). Even removing a bit from your current design will make it stronger.
 
autokunst said:
.... Does anyone know if these are available? The rear one is easy enough to fabricate or patch, but the front one is a bit more involved. I don't think I've ever seen these for sale. Pics below.
View attachment 121927View attachment 121928
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I haven't seen these available from the standard repair panel suppliers before.
However there has been a Dutch guy who made his own pressing moulds for his 2000CS for the front L and R parts. He tried selling the moulds 3-4 years ago, i even posted that here on the forum. He made a set for me, that I probably need myself. But more then happy to make measurements if yours are too far gone to use as a template.
On original repair panels, they are attached to the outer skin, from factory. (I have a front and rear quarter panel with these on, can use them as well for partial measurements)

link to post, however with dead link and no pictures anymore available:

2000cs body panel pressing moulds

Nmna, Here in the Netherlands a local 2000cs owner produced his own pressing tools ( front quarters, wheelarch, etc) to make body panels for his 2000cs. Here's the link to his dutch advert with 20 pics...
e9coupe.com e9coupe.com
 
eriknetherlands said:
One easy improvement to your new slots: round off the inside edges of your 'mailbox' opening. Having a 1 mm radius in each of the 4 corners will increase the strength by ~25% (load before tearing). Even removing a bit from your current design will make it stronger.
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Thank you for that tip. That makes sense and I should have realized that. I will look for the right rounded file, or maybe a carbide grinding bit.
 
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autokunst said:
Next will be the tow hooks, then I can get some paint on this subframe and check it off the list.
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When I did mine I used some kind of epoxy paint. But after I installed it I really wished I had powder coated it. That frame gets a fair amount of abuse from rocks and floor jacks and I think the powder coating would be well justified over the long term.
 
That is a tough sell for me. I am an admitted anti-powder coater. :oops: Not sure if I can give substantial reasoning for this, but the fact remains. In the interest of education, can the powder coating get into the almost completely concealed steering box support structure? And also the space between the center bar and the corrugated/ribbed jack support? When I electroplate parts, the plating has a hard time getting "inside" things due to the voodoo that is the magnetic field that forms around the part. I assume a similar effect occurs with the powder coating process, but could be way off. My current plan was to coat the insides of things with POR 15 or similar. Once complete, I'd top coat those areas and also the rest of the exterior of the parts. Again, open for discussion/education.

EDIT: just want to admit that I am a dinosaur with some things.
 
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autokunst said:
That is a tough sell for me. I am an admitted anti-powder coater. :oops: Not sure if I can give substantial reasoning for this, but the fact remains. In the interest of education, can the powder coating get into the almost completely concealed steering box support structure? And also the space between the center bar and the corrugated/ribbed jack support? When I electroplate parts, the plating has a hard time getting "inside" things due to the voodoo that is the magnetic field that forms around the part. I assume a similar effect occurs with the powder coating process, but could be way off. My current plan was to coat the insides of things with POR 15 or similar. Once complete, I'd top coat those areas and also the rest of the exterior of the parts. Again, open for discussion/education.

EDIT: just want to admit that I am a dinosaur with some things.
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Powder is elctrostatically applied so you should get the opposite of any repelling action that you have seen in the past. The powder should pull into those areas. It is still sprayed on so the person doing the work should know about tricky areas.
 
Thanks to @eriknetherlands tip, I fixed the "mail slots" by rounding the corners of the sway bar slots. Not the prettiest work, but I trust these will be strong enough to do their job.
20211118-rounded edges.jpg


I found these cool files in my toolbox. I think I picked them up from a resale shop or garage sale and had forgotten about them. Should have probably cleaned them up before taking this photo. But the "Swiss pattern" cut effortlessly. I plan to look for more of these files - they seem great!
20211118-Heller files 1.jpg
20211118-Heller files 2.jpg


Enough of you have convinced me to at least look into having the front subframe powder coated. We'll see if this idea sticks. I am almost finished fitting the tow hooks and then I can clean everything up for some form of coating/finishing.
 
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