Focus skid plate questions

Thanks Andrew, look forward to seeing them.

I should be hearing from the welder sometime today, after I get it back I need to make the gussets, I should be able to get the car over to Johns I just need to put the dash and belts in. Getting excited! My goal is to hopefully do one of the three rallies available in june. I believe its idaho, nevada or Pomeroy- shooting for pomeroy since its the smallest one and shouldn't be all hyped up like RA Olympus. I figure that Pomeroy would be a good first timer rally, short and sweet.

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ChrisKobi
Thanks Andrew, look forward to seeing them.

I should be hearing from the welder sometime today, after I get it back I need to make the gussets, I should be able to get the car over to Johns I just need to put the dash and belts in. Getting excited! My goal is to hopefully do one of the three rallies available in june. I believe its idaho, nevada or Pomeroy- shooting for pomeroy since its the smallest one and shouldn't be all hyped up like RA Olympus. I figure that Pomeroy would be a good first timer rally, short and sweet.

Yeah its easy. only 4 turns in the entire event.

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

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fiasco

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john vanlandingham
75 squids is nothing.

That sounds like a lot of calamari to me....

I would put Livre Anglais but Hi dun't stink the hoi poloi would unnerstan.

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

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john vanlandingham

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fiasco

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john vanlandingham
75 squids is nothing.

That sounds like a lot of calamari to me....

I would put Livre Anglais but Hi dun't stink the hoi poloi would unnerstan.

You say:



I say:



Let's call the whole thing off!

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Andrew Steere
Lyndeborough, NH
KB1PJY

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fiasco

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john vanlandingham

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fiasco

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john vanlandingham
75 squids is nothing.

That sounds like a lot of calamari to me....

I would put Livre Anglais but Hi dun't stink the hoi poloi would unnerstan.

You say:



I say:



Let's call the whole thing off!

But you hain't hoi poloi

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Here are the pics as requested.

The underside on the car:


Side View:


Farther under the car, you can also see the skid plate over the fuel and brake lines, the skid plate over the fuel tank and the plastic protection for the rear suspension:


The support. It looks small but it is make of crome moly and with the thickness of the plate is does a good job.


Here is the mounting point. I reused one of the captive nuts for the radiator support and added a plate to the frame rail to level it out.


Here is another angle to show the mounting plate on the frame.


Here is the plate off the car. The vertical parts make is much stronger that if it was just flat plate. It is likely overkill on thickness but I got a deal on the Aluminum at a metal recycler place and I was tired of the the thiner plate I had run before bending or deforming everytime it came in contact with a rock.


Another angle that gives better view of the bends in the plate and the sides.


One more showing the mounting tabs for the front of the plate.


Since your car is a zetec you if you use this design your support will have to come down lower to clear the head and the bends will have to be sharper as it goes toward the front of the car.

This is the 4th iteration of the skid plate. I previously had one that was a full metal frame made of roll cage tube that supported a mainly flat skid plate. I had lots of trouble with header clearance and it acted a giant bowl so anything that got on top of it stayed there. It would be simplier to fabricate but if you are paying someone to do it they would likely be the same price.

Let me know if you want more pictures, and I can grab some.

Thanks Andrew, that looks great! The photos are very helpful. What kind of plastic did you use for the fuel lines? I get my car back tonight, the cage should be done and hopefully there will be a lift available at school to throw it on so I can do some investigating and get some photos.

I appreciate your help
Chris

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john vanlandingham

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ChrisKobi
Thanks Andrew, look forward to seeing them.

I should be hearing from the welder sometime today, after I get it back I need to make the gussets, I should be able to get the car over to Johns I just need to put the dash and belts in. Getting excited! My goal is to hopefully do one of the three rallies available in june. I believe its idaho, nevada or Pomeroy- shooting for pomeroy since its the smallest one and shouldn't be all hyped up like RA Olympus. I figure that Pomeroy would be a good first timer rally, short and sweet.

Yeah its easy. only 4 turns in the entire event.

Weeellllll, maybe i'd like more than 4 turns and as I picture it i would bet those 4 turns are wide open. I'm more thinking of the whole going through the motions from start to finish, it doesnt seem like it would be all hyped up like a rally america event either.

Fuel lines and fuel tank are covered with aluminum. Pretty thin stuff. I used plastic for a while but it kept saging. The key was to weld in several captive nuts into the car and use them to mount the plastic.

For the plastic I used HDPE, High Density Poly Ethylene. I found a plastic supplier in my area that sold it like plywood in a 8'x4' sheet. My codriver and I made some templates out of cardboard and went to work. I went through a bunch of iterations of how to attach the plastic to the focus without either melting it on the exhaust or having it rip off. Weld nuts were the final solution. With a couple on the leading edge. one, in front of the wheel along the pinch seam. And one on the rear subframe where the bracket for the rear roll bar are mounted.

I do a 6' long piece of 1" square tube along the pinch weld, with a weld nut every 18" or so, then weld nuts down the frame rail to hold the HDPE, and run it past the rear suspension secure with large zip ties looped around the rear control arm.

What are you doing at the tunnel side Sean?

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Grant Hughes
www.nocoastmotorsports.net
Denver, CO

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NoCoast
What are you doing at the tunnel side Sean?

x2.. and what are those wheel stands.. they look kinda handy...

The "frame rail" runs down the car about 6" from the tunnel. I welded some M6 weld nuts along the rail.

Most body shops have a few sets of those stands, got mine from a buddy who own a body shop, they had a few extra sets. I really like them for body work and working under the car on the sills and stuff as there is no stand in the way

The focus is set up well for on the tunnel side as there is a raised rail along both sides of the tunnel that is perfect for weld nuts. That is what I am using to protect the fuel lines. I will try and get a better picture the next time I am out in the garage.

I like the rail down the whole car idea. for the outside. I had a bunch of issues with using zip ties on the rear suspension of the focus. The kept breaking and there is not a good place to mount them. So they would look good until the end of the first stage where I was basically dragging them behind the car.

Adding the weld nuts really helped keep them up close to the body for long enough that I did not need any zip ties in the current config.

The trick with the zip ties is to use the giant ones, and leave them loose. The VSC cars had a neat U bracket riveted on the the plastic sheet. The U went around the control arm, and a pin went through it. Easy and smart.

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john vanlandingham

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Andrew_Frick
John, I like the design of your aluminum cut outs and I actually went down the road of trying to build some for the focus, but changed course because the fabrication was going to be a night mare. Here are the focus short comings to this approach.

1. The frame rails are not straight, once you get in front of the strut towers they pinch in to help make room for the tire at full lock and then flatten out, kinda. You would end up having to make some oddly shaped spacers to match the aluminum bracket.

2. The outer wall of the frame rail is where the crumple zone is so the metal is rather weak and is stamped with an uneven pattern to allow it to deform in an impact. The inner side is a little better but you would have very little clearance on the passenger side because of the accessory drive belts for the engine.

3. The openings in the bumper cover would not line up where the tow hook part would be coming through. This might be a minor issue but may matter to some.

Chris I forgot to take pictures this weekend. I will see if I can get out there this evening.

Know whatcher mean. I did have a LOT of time with that black car to look at things and was sorta stumped--with the time we had.

Maybe a nice flat strip of say 1/8" x 1.5" or 1.75" could be welded in to help stiffen the crumple zone AND provide a base for anchoring the plates...

I dunno, don't have a Fuck-us here to stare at. But Chris is just a few miles away and after his last visit he said he'll drop by and show me the cage and we can work on a Triage List on what to do....
Be good to get "Service Nazi" aka Robert RallyMech over since he's just about 2 miles away and second set of eyes is always a good thing..

One question while you're here: can you say what "transgression" that 01 has in it? IB5? MTX75? the poor boy is stuck with the ZZZzzzzzzze-tec which is appropriately name zzzzzzz but I have a sneaky feeling that a MkIII Ex-squirt turbo box might just bolt right up, and I've seen them for as low as 75 English Squids....they come with 4.2 ratio and a decent VC LSD. 75 squids is nothing.

John is this what you were thinking of? http://www.thegearbox.org/catalog/item/3819132/3532263.htm

Also sorry I couldn't make it by this week, car took a bit longer than expected. I should be able to swing by early next week with it.

here are some pics of underneath the car. Bare with me if I screw this up. going to try to post the picture.

Addressing the zip ties failing. It was probably on here that I heard of this but I can't be sure. Instead of zip ties use romex wire, cheap to free, quick and easy. Just use them like giant twist ties. They are much stronger than zip ties and reusable.

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Zap zap my ass...

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slidewayswrx
Addressing the zip ties failing. It was probably on here that I heard of this but I can't be sure. Instead of zip ties use romex wire, cheap to free, quick and easy. Just use them like giant twist ties. They are much stronger than zip ties and reusable.

I have been through everything.

Tell you what the best option i've found is. BUNGIE CORDS!

drill 2 holes in the back edge of the plastic. attach the bungie cord to the floor of the car just behind the rear axle. works perfect! easily to attach, easy to remove.

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Chris

Chris and John,

Let me know if you want help coming up with a Junk yard list of parts if you are looking to build a good brake system.

Andrew

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Andrew_Frick
Chris and John,

Let me know if you want help coming up with a Junk yard list of parts if you are looking to build a good brake system.

Andrew

Will do! I'd like to go with rear discs at some point.

I might need some tips on building myself some skip plates as well.

Now, why was the pinch welds re-enforced? Is this needed? Or was this just to strengthen a jacking point?

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Broncoboy80
I might need some tips on building myself some skip plates as well.

Now, why was the pinch welds re-enforced? Is this needed? Or was this just to strengthen a jacking point?

We can meet up, I will be building one sometime hopefully in the next month.

The pinch weld was not beefed up as a primary factor, that was/is just the easiest way to have a nice flat wount for the underbody protection.

VW's similarly have little to go on for skid plate frame...

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