My '75 2002 Sleeper

[knuklehead92]

what is the part number of those qa1 where did u get them at? summit?

[jhaurimn]

Just discovered this thread. All I have to say is the way you go about fixing things is incredible. Wish I had your skill to fabricate or deal with any kind of problem/issue. I appreciate taking the time to share this with us too.

Inspiring.

[tinkwithanr]

Wow! the work and this car is stunning! i cant get enough of it, just went thru all the pages and damn it took long! love it! cant wait to see what happens next!!

Thanks! I try to not disappoint lol.

Oooooo those are hands down my favorite wheels ever. Good choice

Mine too, now I just need to make them fit!

absolutely speechless. i hope one day i can take on a project like this. best of luck to you! really looking forward to more progress!

Thanks man!

what is the part number of those qa1 where did u get them at? summit?

Yup, I got them from Summit. A few family members work there, so I like to keep my business there when possible. Plus they had a black friday sale in store, so it was Win/Win. Don't have the part number in front of me right now, but it would't do you much good if I did. You need to measure the travel you need and choose the right one for you application. Also, the double adjustables should be able to cover the range of spring rates aside from very high race bits.

Have you decided what your gonna be doing for a rear suspension?

Just discovered this thread. All I have to say is the way you go about fixing things is incredible. Wish I had your skill to fabricate or deal with any kind of problem/issue. I appreciate taking the time to share this with us too.

Inspiring.

Thanks for the kind words. Hope you like the rest of it.

[TrentW]

Wowza--those Epsilon wheels are a great choice for this car. Great retro look.

[mrbeef612]

Nice build man.... I can not wait to see it done... Seeing this makes me think about all the stuff I want to build for my car when I get out of the Navy....

[knuklehead92]

yea i am going to modify to fit the e30 rear subframe on the 02 with e30 trailing arms, axels, ect... built e30 diff with 4 clutches should hold with 60 lock

[mrbeef612]

MOAR WORK MOAR PICS .....please

[tinkwithanr]

Wrote up a nice update and it deleted itself right before I posted it, so I'm just gonna throw a bunch of pictures up and maybe explain it later lol.


New storage for the socket sets. I laid them out how I wanted and drew it up in CAD. Then used that to engrave some signs and underlaid that with plywood:
















Fits in the drawers of my craftsman box:








Then I worked on the front struts. Removed the spring perches and cut them in half. Then I turned down what was left of the perches on the lathe and trued up the cut edge. Could use the lathe on the bottom half of the strut housings because the spindle didn't clear the ways, so I trued those ends by hand. Then I made an aluminum spacer that will keep the halves in line when I go to reweld them. With the welding done the spacer will then be cut down and used to space up the Koni inserts from the bottom of the strut tube (they are shorter than the housings, so they need to be spaced up for the gland nuts to have something to hold on to).















































Happy Holidays!

[kts]

You have no idea how jealous I am of your socket storage, those look amazing. Really outstanding work.

[mtlbloodshot]

Wow outstanding work!! This car gonna move sir.
Do you have an idea how I can make a custom hood release cable for e30?

[tinkwithanr]

Got a lot of prototyping done today. First up was to get the strut tubes bead blasted and welded back together:






Here you can see how much shorter they will be compared to a set of stock '02 struts. It turned out to be ~1.75":






Hmmm, what could these be for...






With the housing welded back together I cut a 1" hold in the bottom of them:






Then I went over to the other side of the building to use the large horizontal band saw. First I cut the welding spacer into two pieces 3.15" long (with some left over):






Then I also cut out some 4"x4" billet alum 1.25" long, which will be used for the roll center spacers that go on the bottom of the strut housing:






Everything all cut out and ready to go:






Here's the two strut tube spacers along with the CAD dwg I made up. Took some notes and got one spacer turned out.






Finished Piece:






Then I took some 1/2" stainless bar stock and made this guy:





He fits into the receiver on the bottom of the strut insert for adjusting the compression damping like so:






All the parts for the strut insert spacer laid out:






And assembled outside the strut tube:







And how it looks with everything installed in the strut housing:







This is how the roll center spacer will hold the second gear. Because the steering arms and outer ball joints for the front suspension mount directly underneath the strut housing, access to the compression damping adjustment screw is blocked. The gear assembly will let it be adjusted from the side of the roll center spacer, full external adjustment.






Moving on, I used the fly mill to square up the 4" chunks of aluminum to ensure the top and bottom are parallel and even to each other:






Then I machined a bunch of holes in it.






Parts for the roll center spacer laid out:






Assembled:






Then I added one M3x0.5 set screw for each of the bearings in the assembly:






And this is everything in place:






And how it will be covered with the steering arm installed:







Overall I'm very happy with how the assembly turned out. The weak link right now is definitely the plastic gears. I started with them mostly because of cost, they were $3 each while the equivalent steel gear is $20 per. I wanted to make sure the theory and practicality of the setup would work before spending the extra $80 on gears. Keeping that in mind I designed it around a gear size (d.p. and basic dimensions) that is available in both plastic and steel. The other reason why I wanted to try out the plastic gears first was corrosion resistance. Even though the assembly will be pretty much sealed from the elements, I'm sure water and grit will find it's way in there somehow. The mild steel gears may start to rust, so I'll need to pack the assembly with grease before putting the steering arm on to help prevent the gears from rusting together. All that's left is the drill the mounting holes for the roll center spacer to the housing, and the steering arms to the roll center spacer. Then I just have to rinse and repeat for the other side.


Thanks for looking!

[FredK]

Dude. That is TRICK. I love seeing updates on this thread!

[truism]

^ i agree with the guy above me

very well done

[pilotskillse30]

12 more pages of reading..and now..I WANT MOOOOORE!

[tinkwithanr]

Thanks guys, getting the last of the parts ordered today to finish up the struts.