Neil's Aventador build (Page 14/74)
Neils88 AUG 21, 06:57 PM

quote
Originally posted by GlennGdman:

Nice new welder!

You are going to want to weld up a metal "sealed" box if your filler tubes ends up inside the passenger compartment at all. There should be at least one drain hole inside the box to the OUTSIDE. Last thing you want is for a gas leak to be inside the car with you...



Thanks Glenn. That's a good point with respect to the sealed box. Having looked at it a little closer, I don't think there is enough room to fit it through there anyway. The vertical structural beam is too close to the firewall for the pipe to fit. So likely the pipe will have to run just behind that sealed area.
Neils88 AUG 21, 07:05 PM

quote
Originally posted by RCR:

Looking good Neil. Cyberweld had a great deal on a Miller, so I upgraded too. Just added gas yesterday. 20+ year old Chicago Electric going to a new home. Can't wait to melt some metal.

Bob




Thanks Bob. I saw your new toy last week... I got jealous and had to buy a new one as well.
Neils88 AUG 22, 10:00 PM
I finished off the curvature of the door frame (front and back).



I'm starting to look at the front jamb. This will have to be extremely stiff to resist any movement of the hinge with the door raised. The first thing that I need to know is the exact location and design of the hinge itself. Once I know this, I'll be able to design the jamb for maximum stiffness. I've trimmed and positioned the main door shell into the opening, sitting as it should. From this, I found there was some major interference with the door latch. The body kit was designed to have the latch a little further back. But since I want to use the OEM Aventador latch cover, I put the latch further forward. As a solution, I have cut the back end of the door shell to allow for it to fit. I'll glass it into place in a little bit (I've actually avoided doing any actual glass work for now. I'll have to get around to it sooner or later...)

Though I could use a standard eBay Lambo hinge and weld it in place, I've decided to design and build my own hinges. eBay Lambo hinges are designed to open out, then up, so they would have to be modified to remove the outward motion. Secondly, they use a standard bushing that will wear quickly when the hinge assembly is tilted over at the required 19° angle; they are designed to be installed vertically. I'll be using tapered roller bearings to account for the thrust load generated from the angled hinges.
Neils88 AUG 23, 09:14 PM
The door shell is already quite stiff, so I've only added a little bit of bracing. I want to have inner bracing that can be used for securing key items both internally and externally to the door, such as the inner skin, the arm rest, power window regulator, and the latch receiver. I also need to incorporate a safety bar around bumper height. The safety bar runs the complete length of the door, and will hit against the vertical pillar supports in a collision. Another important consideration is of course weight. Unlike regular doors, scissor (Lambo) doors are much more weight sensitive. The pic below shows the completed inner frame, minus the latch receiver bracing at the back end.
GlennGdman AUG 24, 07:48 AM
You are making good progress...
Neils88 AUG 24, 08:57 PM
Thanks Glenn.

I just discovered that the striker plate that I used (2003 Hyundai Santa Fe), doesn't fit properly once the Aventador latch cover is in place. It's about 1/2" too short. I took one of the striker plates and extended it by 1/2" to compensate. It works now, but I don't think it looks as good as it could. I'll have to see if I can track down a longer one. The other option would be to bend a 1/4" 3/8" steel rod and make new one from scratch. I think that would look better than the way I lengthened it, so I'll go that route if I can't find a good replacement.

I have also decided to do some major overhauling of the door shell at the latch end and so I've cut the fiberglass off. I plan on first building the shell framing to accommodate the new striker, and then re-glassing the end of the shell.

[This message has been edited by Neils88 (edited 09-05-2015).]

Neils88 AUG 28, 10:00 PM
I've been working on the design of the door hinges. I had a specific dual bearing design in mind that would handle the loads and be completely stable. Unfortunately I have run into a small problem and I won't be able to bring this design together. There is very limited room available at the pivot point location. When the bearing assembly is located there and tilted at the required 19°, one bearing would sit just past the edge of the fender...in other words....it just doesn't fit. The alternative is to compress the design down to a single bearing design, but this won't have much benefit above existing eBay "lambo" door hinges (as opposed to OEM Lamborghini hinges, which would work perfectly but retail for about $1000 a piece). I haven't decided which way I'll go yet.
Neils88 AUG 29, 10:47 PM
I ordered a pair of Autoloc heavy duty "lambo" hinges. I really was trying to avoid using "lambo" hinges, but I want to keep things moving so I'll put up with them for now. I can always change them later. I should get them in next week, then I'll be able to carry on with the framing of the forward door jamb. In the meantime, I started working on the passenger side central framing. Now is a good time to get the passenger side framing caught up with the driver's side. Made some good progress today.
Neils88 AUG 30, 07:17 PM
Today's work... almost finished the passenger side rocker framing.
Neils88 AUG 31, 10:26 PM
Started to fit the passenger side rocker framework. Started by adjusting the A and B pillars slightly to ensure the correct vertical angles for the side glass. Next, after a rough fit of the framework (measured to match the driver's side framework), I've put the panels on to help finalize the alignment (which hopefully will happen tomorrow).