“cough” prototype part “cough” does the trick if it is unusual and they are unlikely to have seen one 
Finally it seems like im getting a little bit of work done -
The roll cage is now all ready to be bolted down for the final time. Im going to leave the front section out until i’ve finished doing what i need to in the cabin, just to give the access if nothing else. The rear stays need some small mods so they will stay off until the engine is in. Hopefully I’ll be bonding on the side sills and bulk head sometime in the next week and try and drop the engine in position soon after, its now all ready to go.
I had to have a couple of spacers made to fill the gaps in between the bottom A-frame fixing to the main hoop.
A bit a fettling with the excess weld to get the male and female joints to sit together nicely at the top of the A-frame.
Drill 4x 8mm holes in the top of the chassis rail for the bolts and cut 2 slots into the side of the chassis rail to allow the steel brackets to be inserted which bolt in the front section of the cage.
Said steel brackets - 4(off). They all need to be marked for position then drilled and tapped twice to 8mm to accept the bolts.
The passengers side spreader plate was about 5mm off so i’ve had to cut it off and weld it back on in the correct position.
The gearbox has been stripped and inspected, pretty much all looks in ‘as new’ condition, certainly hasn’t seen much if any work. Again like the engine it was an unknown so could quite easily have been a lemon. I was hoping to see a diff in there but alas no… First big spend then and the only one ill be making on the std gearbox!! Ive got a few more of them sitting on the shelf so if it goes tits up ill just bung the diff in another one and away we go again 
Im currently waiting for the pedal box to come back from Pilbeam. It’s the parts from AP that are causing the delay and they’re not going to be in stock until the 24th, realistically it’s going to be March until I see it back… It’s a pain in the butt as I can’t do anything in the cabin until it gets here… I have all the steering, dash, gear change, loom, seat, cage and all the rest of the clobber ready to go but there is bugger all I can do until the pedals and brake lines have been run…
Just trying to keep myself busy doing other bits until it gets here the best I can -
I’ve taken a pattern off a 2-11 splitter, it needs to be trimmed here and there but essentially it’s going to be something like this. Not quite decided how to make it yet, it’s either going to be a one piece design of marine ply or possibly the same as the 2-11/GT3’s with a 2 piece ali undertray and wooden front section.
Finally, some bits that I can fit…
Something missing (not for long!!)
Some seriously sexy parts have arrived from Seriously Lotus. Thanks Dave
Who’d have thought tightening up 48 little nuts and bolts could be so pleasurable -
Some not so sexy parts but again thanks Dave.
Four new hub packs all given a couple of licks of black Hammerite to cover the exposed steel and generally tart them up a bit.
Gav - Hope you used a small torque wrench on those little 1/4 nuts and bolts!
Of course…
[quote=TarmacTerrorist]Ok so
Said steel brackets - 4(off). They all need to be marked for position then drilled and tapped twice to 8mm to accept the bolts.
[/quote]
Why are they shaped like this - I was imagining just a flat load spreading plate would be required?
There is a profile extruded on the inside of the chassis rail that you cant see. The bracket is cut away to allow it to sit over the top of it.
I was quite surprised to see how thick the aluminum was on the side of the rail when cutting the slots.
Thanks
I’m guessing it was quite reassuringly thick!
Whose cage is it?
It’s Lotus Motorsport’s own to FIA spec and comes with all the certs.
I really like it in the fact it’s a modular design and the various parts can be added as and when you want.
All of Cup cars came with the main T45 roll hoop and rear stays installed from the factory as standard. (the normal one doesnt have the welded lugs to accept the A -frame and is made from the wrong material for an approved roll cage)
You simply bolt the A-frame in to make it an MSA approved 4 point cage and if you wish you can then bolt the front section in to make it a 6 point FIA approved cage like what I am doing.
The A-frame I have fitted in my car was actually a special one made by LMS which also allows the fitting of a removable petty bar if you dont want the full front cage (like what you see in the S1’s) which makes it a 5 point MSA approved design.
So I’ve managed to get another good couple of evenings on it.
The side sills came back from the paint shop this week which has allowed me to get on with fitting them and the rear bulkhead to the chassis.
I’ve not had them painted yet, just prep’d and primed while they were easy to work on whilst not being on the car. I know when they fit these as replacements they normally like to paint them as well so they dont have the hassle of masking off the car. I’m going to be in and out of the cabin so much I would only end up scratching them and I’ve not decided what colour its going to go yet… (Gav grey still top of the list atm, unless anyone has any funky suggestions???)
The sills are a set of Junk’s specials, they are very light, the fit is good and the price was right. A big thanks to him for supplying them and the other bits and pieces he is sorting for me 
Hmmmm!!!
Any palm readers out there !
One of the big items missing from my pile of bits was a set of uprights. After a lot of research, headache and phone calls I eventually decided to go with the Elise Parts GT uprights.
Not a cheap solution in the slightest but in the scale of everything else on offer they were the most sensible choice by far…
I wanted to get rid of the oem assisted braking in favor of a full on race set up with independent master cylinders and bias control. At the same time also increase the size of the calipers on the front and move the std 2 pots to the rear. OEM uprights just wouldn’t let me do this.
The EP uprights had so many benefits going for them in this respect.
Firstly they work with oem wishbones which is a big bonus. Both the front and rears allow you to bolt the std 2 pot directly to them and take a 295 disc with no spacing required. The fronts also have extra bolt holes to take the larger AP 5000 caliper with no extra machining required (which is what I’m fitting). I’m going to be running 315f/295r discs so they are a perfect fit on the rears and a 10mm spacer will be required for the fronts. They also allow for much more camber over oem and the bearing locations have been raised by 16mm which will lower the car by the same amount. Im hoping between the 2-11 running gear and these uprights I’ll get to the ride heights I’m after and keep everything geo wise in good balance. They also put the outboard rear toe link into double shear…
Fronts -
Rears-
Basically just loosely offering everything up to make sure its all as it should be -
First problem… The fully floating bells use bobbins mounted to them to hold the discs in place, these stand much prouder of disc face than a normal solid fix bell and as such the caps foul the caliper with a smaller 295 disc. Im going to have to file a little flat in the back of the calipers on one side to clear the bolt heads, no biggie. -
TD 17x9 (as used on the very first GT3’s) -
Looks lovely.
Again, just starting to offer up some more of the body work to see what is what and where is where -
If you’re into matt colours Gav, why not try for something loud - Hi-Viz green perhaps 
GT3 RS style viper green