Davrian Mk3 1968

Post pictures of your car here for others to see!
shammycoupe69
Posts: 39
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2009 9:08 pm
Location: Midhurst, West Sussex

Re: Davrian Mk3 1968

Post by shammycoupe69 »

Looks amazing! Is that a replica F40 next to it?
Jeremy Cooper

1958 Frogeye Sprite
1969 Singer Chamois Coupe (now sold :( )
1970 Hillman Imp Deluxe
1984 VW Campervan
2005 Ford Focus Est
plasticfantastic
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2010 9:51 pm

Re: Davrian Mk3 1968

Post by plasticfantastic »

Thanks again for all the comments guys, its really nice to know you all enjoy looking at the project.


And yes that iss a replicaof an F40. I havebeen producing the body for around 10 years now with the help of myfather. I have designed it to be a replacement body for the s3/s4 Lotus Esprit, meaning the car can be built using a 350bhp tt v8 S4 lotus esprit a a donor and the car wont need an IVA.

The build diary for the F40 is here:

http://www.madmechanics.com/forum/build ... build.html

Cheers
plasticfantastic
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2010 9:51 pm

Re: Davrian Mk3 1968

Post by plasticfantastic »

Hi all,

I had another quick go at making a cover for the duct, im almost happy with it now, it just hangs out from thecar too far. I will have another go and im hoping to keep the same look but to bring it in an inch or two.

I also spent quite a few hours stripping the old paint and filler off the original rear end, after using the die grinder to remove the worst i then go over it with the da and 40 grit. i had a quick sweep up after grinding the paint and filler and it was just under 3kg's and im not even done, thats over 42kgs now of extra bonding, filler, paint and rubbish.

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Again id really like to hear peoples thoughts and opinions on the vent?!

Cheers
dickdixon1
Posts: 98
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2010 8:37 pm
Location: Bath

Re: Davrian Mk3 1968

Post by dickdixon1 »

Great blog. I'm not convinced by the vent, I prefer the cleaner line to the body. I guess it depends on your engine choice (air cooled - what type) and how much is needed or could be scooped from other places - through the buttresses? Which part of the country are you in - would be good to see your work t is impressive and very brave!
User avatar
Dave6091
Posts: 147
Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2009 4:01 pm
Location: Hornchurch Essex

Re: Davrian Mk3 1968

Post by Dave6091 »

Well seeing as you've asked!:D.
Earlier Davrians say pre Mk7 had a very suptle body shape made up of a set of simple curves, i think any add ons should reflect this and the cover for the door/side vent should be much closer to the body line following the curve from door top to lower sill. The mk8/Dragon is a more angular car and their side pods refects this, Adrians cover design is very close to the body line and knowing him if there wasn't enough air going in it would have been bigger!. But as i said previously all Davrians are different and what do i know!! :lol:.
I'm curious about the the roof, is the roof a separate panel bonded on around the waistline?, if so where is the join at the windscreen?. I know very early cars had the roof as a separate piece but wondered when bodies where molded as one piece. My Mk4 is deffinatly one piece and i thought the mk3 was also.

Dave.
plasticfantastic
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2010 9:51 pm

Re: Davrian Mk3 1968

Post by plasticfantastic »

Hi all,

Thanks for the replys,

As for the type of air cooledat the moment im hoping to mate a harley davidson evo v twin to the imp transaxle.

This is quite an early can, it came out of the convertable molds because you can see the roof was added after but oddly the door and window surrounds and the rear window were added in seperate moldings, you can see they were molded in white and the roof in off green?! You can see the roof joined about 2 inces above the screen, the join is coming apart but there is a roof bar welded between the two metal bars bonded down the a pillars,i'll rip it all out once i have thickened up the bonding inside the roof. It also had the early rear chassis before i cut it out, i believe mk3's came with both types?

I try to do most things with trying to think what Adrian might have done, not always an easy way to think. Im continuously amazed a little details on Davrians, i didnt discover till the other day that Mk8 door cards have a leather print in the grp finish, how do you think that up?!

As for my location im less than 2 miles from Tim in the Welsh hills, actually it might be less if i did go over the hill :D

Cheers
plasticfantastic
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2010 9:51 pm

Re: Davrian Mk3 1968

Post by plasticfantastic »

Hi all,

Got out on the Dav today, but couldnt face another day of itching so i decided to dismantle the front suspension ready to rebuild it. I have taken apart the drivers side, and taken the drum off the upright as i plan to convert to discs all round. With the wishbone off i decided to attack it with the angle grinder and wire wheel. An hour later and it cleaned up pretty well and its a nice solid wishbone. Tomorrow i might have a go at cutting the seams off and rewelding the wishbone, it should look neater and save a little unsprung weight. I popped the old rubber bushes out and a thought jumped into my mind that a few years ago my father, a self employed toolmaker now retired, decided to knock up a mold to make polyurethane bushes for his morris van project. Remembering there is a box somewhere with poly bushes of different sizes and shores (sp? hardness!) i went for a rummage. Successful in finding the box of bushes i thought the chance of anything fitting was remote but to my suprise they pressed in like a charm, i just needto hunt out our stainless tube now.

With the wishbone done i spent the rest of the day huddled over the sand blast cabinate and cleaned up the wishbone brackets, all came up really well and i will probably just give everything a quick coat of satin black for now.

After spending most of last night reading through a thread on the imp forum i think i might have changed my mind on the harley engine. Instead i might stick with the imp engine, using the one i have now to get the car up and running and in the meatime build up another 875cc into a 1040cc with a Kawasaki zx7r 16v head fitted,and if im going that far it might as well have a supercharger too.

Thoughts?


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Comments appreciated as always,

Cheers
plasticfantastic
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2010 9:51 pm

Re: Davrian Mk3 1968

Post by plasticfantastic »

Hi all,

I had a couple of hours on the dav today so i thought i would have a go at the front wishbone i tidied up yesterday to see if i could get it looking a little better and hopefully lighter. So i started with a standard imp wishbone weighing 4.45kg's, its not quite finished as i plan to round off and plate the area behind the poly bushes, i also need to finish and dress a few more welds but so far i have the weight down too 3.15kg's which I'm pretty happy with.

Sorry theres alot of pics but hopefully it shows the progress....

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Comments appreciated

Cheers
Soyuz
Posts: 47
Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2009 3:10 pm

Re: Davrian Mk3 1968

Post by Soyuz »

A very interesting project.
plasticfantastic
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2010 9:51 pm

Re: Davrian Mk3 1968

Post by plasticfantastic »

Hi all,

I managed to sneak in a couple more hours on the dav today, with the front suspension pretty much sorted (in my head!) i decided to dismantle the drivers side rear trailing arm to see what i had and what needed to be done. With it all stripped i colud see that the condition is alittle worse than the fronts, so i decided i didnt have much to loose and attacked it with the angle grinder. I knew i wouldnt need the spring cup anymore because im going to convert to coilovers so that was removed along with the pressing welded on the underside of the arm. With all that removed i spent the rest of thetime giving it the same treatment as the front arm the other day, holes cut and insert made. I still need the deseam it and remove the seam holding the old damper mount but i have already managed to save over 2kg's from the original weight (about 7.2kg's. There is also an area on the underside i need to cut out and replace as the rust is starting to break through. Pics will tell more....

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Comments appreciated

Cheers
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