Chassis Mods

[graeme]

Hi to all you rallyists,

 

My car (TR4) is now down to its most basic components, being prepared for rallying, and the chassis found to be in good condition.

My question is, should the chassis be strengthened or otherwise modified before painting? Any help would be appreciated and any other tips while I am at this stage.

 

Cheers

Graeme

[jmathias]

Roger Williams' 'How to Improve TR2-4A' has plenty to offer in this respect - it's an excellent book - available from tr register on the regalia page

[GSKTR4]

This is a very good stage at which to add lugs for your sump guard and decide if you want to guard the gearbox as well. Not a bad idea given an incident we had on the Welsh Retro last year where we ended up beached on a huge boulder!

[Guest mrodbert]

Hopefully none of this is news, but:

 

Might be worth giving Neil Revington a buzz. He's always keen to offer advise, which as he owns 2/4 of the works cars is normally worth listening to. If you want to be really retro you should paint the chassis white at this stage, as I believe the works teams did that for easy identification of any subsequent distortion. Also, if you're using a Revington's replica light bar I would drill the holes in the front of the chassis now as the're a bugger to do once the body's on.

[graeme]

Thanks for your comments. Revington do a kit of chassis strengthening parts for about £400. Is it worth it??

 

Graeme

[john minchin]

I seem to remember from a TR Register chassis preparation discussion a few years ago :

-The rear spring outrigger needs a tube inserting to make it stronger, the insert reaches from the end of the tube to the inside edge (+ some) of the chassis.

-The front suspension lower pivot bar needs straping to the chassis with some welded plates.

 

I also have welded caps over the outriggers under the seats as these fill with mud and you can not clean them. I fitted a long sump guard from just under the front valance to cober the clutch slave cylinder. It was held on with nuts which I welded to the chassis and the removable angle section under the rad. It is vital to put foam between the sump guard and the sump so stones do not get trapped and punched through the sump. On LE JOG it collected some large grooves.

 

I do not rate the book refered to in other postings. It is great as a coffee table book but not so good when it comes to put it to use, although the internal trim bit looks to be full of handy tips.

[Tr4Tony]

Hi

 

You can do an awful lot to a TR4 chassis to make it apparently stronger - the works by o means got it totally right but Neil's kit is a good place to start.

 

Ive done this now on 3 cars and been round the houses with a number of the specialists to see what they do, what they have broken and whats stood up to a hammering. Ive given my car BST 82B a good roasting and what ive done seems to work well. Steve Hall of TR Enterprises seriously stage rallied a TR4 (temporarily in bits due to a tangle with a bridge in Ireland) and the advice he game me has been especially valuable. Starting from front to back;

 

 

1. Lamp bar - either on the chassis as thr RTR works item or use the bumper bars as per the TRE item (this is what ive used and ive parked the car into an earth bank without damaging it ...... hehe);

2. Circular discs on the top of the turret where the shock can punch through;

3. Fillet all the angles to the engine cross member - 'bone' shaped plate underneath to add stiffness;

4. Fillet the lower fulcrum mounts all round;

5. Plates on the sides of the engine mounting plates  on the side of the turrets (L shaped);

6. Web stiffeners on the rearward facing turret supports;

7. Top fulcrum mods (if required - see RTR kit - or jus cut 3/8inch and reweld your top wishbones to get neg camber - heh heh);

8. Body mount strengtheners (box in);

9. Sump guard mounting ( I use a 4 ft long 5mm alloy skidplate which covers the antirollbar back the the overdrive bung - hot but very effective);

10. Fillets to area around central crucifix;

11. Plates around forward leaf spring mount;

12. Circular solid tube inserts to rear leaf spring mount;

13. Fillets to angles around rear level arm shock mount, plus extension to fit rear anti roll bar (I dont use one);

14. Fillets to rear cross tubes;

15. Mountings for towing eyes front and rear;

16. Mountings for exhaust and guards - depends on system used;

17. Generally fillet all corners - it is obvious .......

 

This is basically what I do now ....... no doubt ive missed something. You can also plate in the 'triangles' in the centre of the chassis but Im not convinced on the stiffness this gives. It makes the use of the handbrake, exhaust fitting, jacking and maintenance difficult.

 

Hope this helps

 

Tony

[rudi]

I would like to make and install an alu sump guard for my TR3A. I have a high quality 6 mm alu sheet that is 1 by 1m. Can anybody give me some advise for design and fixing the guard? A picure showing one would even be better. Should I keep the original radiator protection shield in place?  My alu sump is sitting 3 cm lower than the chassis members. Although I have raised the front I gues so far I have just been lucky as the sump already shows some signs of touchdowns. Any advice is welcome.