Midlana Build

Need help from a fellow owner, something to air - discuss away!

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ChrisS
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Re: Midlana Build

Postby ChrisS » Wed Jun 23, 2021 1:36 pm

Minor update. Had a few ergonomic issues once I got to driving it for real. Probably lockdown-bulge to blame as I was sure I'd sorting this long ago....but I was finding my knees were being jammed into the column shroud. Moved the column up and rearwards a bit by tweaking the bracket, changed the wheel and fitted a QR, trimmed the underside of the shroud, adjusted the pedals a bit and it's pretty good now. Moving the seat back would have been the obvious thing to try, but that's impossible without some major and fundamental structural changes.

My front cycle wing brackets were clearly not up to snuff - kept coming loose, so I made some new ones using the old tried and tested formula and these appear to be much better.

Had a total brain-fart at some point and totally forgot to even measure rear bump steer, let alone adjust it.....anyhoo, sorted that now and re-checked the front while I was at it. The rear was pretty bad before adjustment but came good, the front was so small my rather iffy measurement technique couldn't really quantify it. I'll make another bump-board some time, but for now, it feels pretty good.

Gearshift was a bit iffy, particularly on 2nd, but a quick tweak fixed that. Again, something I thought was OK before, but you can't beat actually driving it to find these things. I used the gear linkage adapter from LB Specialist Cars that they use on their Stratos replica, so it's well made and easy to adjust.

Rear springs may need to go up a bit - I'm messing with the dampers at present but suspect I'll just need to up the spring rate. Currently at 400lb/in with a ride frequency of around 1.63Hz (2.24Hz at the front). If I do change them, I'll go to 500lb/in which would give a ride frequency of 1.82Hz

A shot taken recently while out in the wild....

Midlana @ Falcon 1.jpg

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Wingco
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Re: Midlana Build

Postby Wingco » Sun Jun 27, 2021 6:52 pm

That's a cracking looking car Chris, big pat on the back for a very good build.
I don't know much about springs and lb etc but 400 sounds bloody harsh to be fair, its only a lite car, perhaps the shocks need turning up a bit more or the length maybe wrong ??
Only my 2p worth

Nice colour also
Mirror, Signal go faster pedal !!

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b33fy
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Re: Midlana Build

Postby b33fy » Sun Jun 27, 2021 7:41 pm

Looking great Chris. Rear suspension was an issue for the v-storm, ended up maxing out the spring rate which gave an awful ride and no give. If I kept it I would have looked at progressive spring options or at least something to stop the bottoming out on a soft spring, progressive bump stops or something. Best of luck with the fine tuning.
Power.. small nail, fast hammer, Torque.. small nail, big hammer.. I got a big hammer :P

greenwoo
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Re: Midlana Build

Postby greenwoo » Mon Jun 28, 2021 12:24 am

wow that colours 'pops', looks great!!!

ChrisS
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Re: Midlana Build

Postby ChrisS » Tue Jun 29, 2021 3:54 pm

Re the spring rate - you have to consider the installation ratio and angle too. Allowing for that, the rear wheel rate is about 183lb/in...and the sprung weight is about 700lb per corner. That's why I used ride frequency - it helps make sense of the numbers a bit better.

It isn't a light car. The chassis is 'substantial' and that Alfa engine & gearbox is a lardy bastard so it has a pretty rearward weight bias.

Damping is now very close to the limit of 'jacking' so there's nowhere to go there.

A progressive spring or bump stop is certainly an option. VW bump stops are really cheap too.....


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