A trip down to LWS Design

After numerous emails to both Lewis and Dean at LWS we headed down on a rather wet Saturday afternoon, in the supposedly ever trusty caddy van with a temperamental starter motor to collect a few parts.

Made the trip fine making sure to minimise the number of times starting it. Only having to resort to bump starting it the once on the journey home. But we made it. 

Picked up a carbon outer/fibreglass inner tailgate, was deemed one of their seconds as the clearcoat did not meet the standards they strive for. A fibreglass roof skin also part of the deal, a fantastic piece and after been shown the method in which its made as a posed to your typical fibreglass 'wet lay' parts their parts all being vacuum bagged after initial lay-up and then resin infused to create a part with consistent thickness/strength and quality. Saves weight in the process and the final product is on point. 

A bit of head scratching and we had the tailgate and roof skin packed up in the back of the van ready for the 3 hour drive home. Who knew you can get a Mk2 roof in a 2nd generation Caddy.

Safest place for the roof skin to be is sat on top of the shell until the time comes to bond it on. 

Made the trip very worth while,  great to make a solid connection with a enthusiastic team that will be making even more of an appearance as the build progresses. With the creation of a custom one piece front end, rear quarter panels/arches and a set of doors at a later date, some promotional status from the car when its done to help advertise just what they can do.

Started on fitting Aerocatch's to the tailgate, tried a few different orientations and decided this was the best way to go making for the simplest brackets to secure the locking pins. 1.5mm mild steel corner brackets on both sides to mount the M10 pins. Bent to accommodate the angles of the body and leaving plenty of room for adjustment, catches mounted and a some choice trimming to the internal panel and it works a treat. Have kept the original top hinges for simplicity once the rear wing struts exit through 4 holes in the rear window with quick release fasteners it will just make access quicker.

Albeit this seems like yet more part hoarding but stay tuned there is always behind the scenes activity.

A differential approach

One of the main parts of the running gear is in the shape of the rear differential from an E36 BMW, purchased from someone who races one. Equipped with a Quaife diff inside with 3.15 final drive ratio it matches up handsomely with the ratio's from the Tremec gearbox I will be running.

Overall in a rather grubby state I started by removing the rear cover which had previously had a 12mm thread added at the top as a larger breather. Replaced with a -6 fitting which will have a remote filter the other end. Blasted the cover, the original 2 bungs in the back cover have been replaced with -12 fittings to allow me to run an external oil cooler and 12v pump to keep it cool back there. Had looked at getting a Rogue Engineering finned rear cover, but the minimized ground clearance, import duties and overall cost of the item put me off, the money could be put to better use elsewhere. Have pressed in some billet/poly replacement bushes as the standard ones are rather baggy, have pressed them in backwards to allow me to have a mounting boss that will not foul the CV joint and will double as a rear wishbone mount at a later stage. Mounting bosses made from EN8D and tapped to M14

Wanted to get rid of the speed sensor from the rear cover too so took a few hours turning a billet blank to fill the cap, may get drilled and tapped to take a temperature sensor at some point. Nice snug fit and will hardly ever be seen, oh well.

Rest of the diff should be getting sent off to a local firm specialising in BMW Motorsport and will be getting stripped down to check for any wear. Then have the pinion and crown wheel shot peened to prevent any shock fracturing that may occur. Rebuilt checking the backlash finished up with new bearings and seals. Will cover this in another post