Clutch commissioned

One of the things we need and want is a working clutch! From a safety perspective it is a physical safety valve, a simple way to stop the motor driving the wheels, is to push the clutch in. Still no gear stick controlled changes though (the linkage is missing), a job for Bruce at a later date...

After fitting the newly machined clutch line adapter (thanks Ed) and a length of flexible high pressure hose, we proceeded to bled the clutch.

Once this was done, we thought the clutch slave cylinder did not have enough travel to disengage the Tilton clutch plates. What was actually happening though, was that it was travelling too far and re-engaging at the end of the travel (after being disengaged at the half way point). Strange behaviour indeed and we are not entirely sure why it is doing this. It could be fixed with a stopper under the clutch pedal, but we would like to understand this better.

I'll be asking a few questions tomorrow. if you have any ideas, please let us know.

Anyway, it was good progress and big thanks to Frank and Ed for making this happen :)

Speed show push - Day two

This morning we mated the transaxle, clutch, adapter and motor together in preparation for the installation. This allowed us to do a final sizing up of the chassis and mount point changes that will be required.

After sizing everything up, Bruce set about removing the petrol engines mount points. There was some discussion about needing to lower the rear bottom chassis rail , but after checking out the transaxle's axle shaft alignment with the suspension geometry in its normal position it was clear that we did not need to lower it any further.

Everything fits where it is meant to and there is heaps of room either side of the motor and in front of it for batteries (The Saker is a rear engined vehicle, so don't let this next photo confuse you).



It also appears that a decision about half shafts has been reached. We will source a set of Subaru STi axles (stronger than standard subaru axles) and modify them to fit the UN1 transaxle.

As well as this, the dash structural changes have been finished. The Dash2 is mounted but the eVision still needs some work (mounting requires the creation of a two layer lexan bracket with spacers. The front layer is the cover/lense and the back is the mount plate).

Tomorrow I need to make a decision about the trailer (buy one here, or use a transporter and source one back in Auckland). It will come down to cost effectiveness of the deal and how well the trailer is going to cater for the Saker (the trailer needs some specific features to handle the long front overhang and weight distribution of the rear engined vehicle). We will be visiting a very good local trailer manufacturer who has one completed and slightly run in trailer plus a semi completed trailer that might be a better starting point given the modifications we will be after.

Check back tomorrow!