Build 46. A Frame

Fitting the A frame was a little bit of a faff, mainly because it relies on padding it out to make sure that the DeDion bar sits as central as it can on the car. You are given a number of washers to pad the inside out with to adjust the DeDion so it fits in the right place.

I tackled it in this order. I first got the A-Frame into position by slotting the bolts on the front bushes into place (simply left loose and not tightened) this allowed the bar to hand down as shown in picture one. Not there is a correct way round, if you look at some of the further pictures you will see that the top of the bush will sit higher than the top frame when it is in place.

Once this was swinging freely I then fixed the rear part to the DeDion bar using the plastic washers and some long sockets. I will be leaving them fairly loose until I move the axle stands to the DeDion bar later, at this point I will be torquing the bolts properly.

Once this was done I then tried to centre the DeDion bar, and then work out how many washers would be needed each side in order to keep the tube centred. I'd actually worked this out to be 4 on the LHS and 3 on the RHS. Getting these in was a bit of a pain and a mess due to the copper slip that I wanted to apply. The best practice was to cover the washers and bolt (apart from the thread that will engage with the nyloc) in copper slip and then first use pin punches to get them all aligned. I found that pushing my 6mm pin all the way through seemed to line them up the best. I then used a rubber mallet to just tap the bolt through if it got slightly stuck (Tap not whack!)

Once I had done this both sides, I gave it a measure and it was actually 89mm on the LHS, and 85mm on the RHS, so I then moved one washer from the left to the right (This was a bit of a messy job) making it 4 on the RHS and 3 on the LHS. After a re-measure, they both now measured 87mm. Result!

The next step is to now move the rear axle stands so they are supporting the DeDion bar, which ensures that the rear suspension is then compressed under load, and means we can then torque up all the bolts that need it on the radius arms and the A-Frame. I actually did this slightly later than this post (Just after the front wing prep part) due to missing parts, but this is when I would have done it if I had all the bolts required from the start.

I was advised by CC to use the rear of the A Frame to lift the car in order to do this. this was all quite straight forward, once it was in the air, I released the axle stands by cutting the cable ties that were securing it, moved the axle stand forward, and then lowered the jack slowly onto the new location. The only thing to be careful of here is to make sure the axle stands do not foul the fuel tank! (Obviously make sure your entire A-Frame damper setup is complete before attempting this!)

Once it was resting on the new stand location, I cabled tied it up again to ensure it was safe.

I then went back a few steps and applied the correct torques to all the rear bolts that needed it so far.

Timelapse