Preliminary Report:
Aftermath of my personal secret short term project with sifu master levin driver zul akira.
Report of activities done after my session at TTT was concluded:
Body Restoration and Strengthening tutorial by Master Sifu Pro Driver Zul.
Background: following the conclusion of my latest engine transplant, several fundamental but important problems came to light in the new experience of modding my car. One of these problems was the increasing feel of flex in my car body under hard acceleration and hard cornering. Today it was finally concluded that the problem came from 2 sources. The main cause of the problem was attributed to the weakening chassis due to rust and age. Jerking motions which impared smooth power delivery was attributed to broken bottom mountings.
The illustration below shows the problem area where the weakened structure was found.
The test involved turning the left front wheel to its extreme point and pulling the tyre towards the front of the vehicle; this was done in a way to put a force that stresses the chassis frame. the area circled in blue moved and flexed noticably even when stress was applied by hand pulling the tire/knuckle/absorber/lower arm assembly.
The red line denotes the seam where multiple layers of chassis plating meet to form the car's front support structure. the long line shows section of plating edges that became detached from its base (bigger) plate behind it. the gap and movement (flexing) between these platings were obvious during the test conducted (see above paragraph). The short red line follows a crack found to cross the underfloor plating where the lower arm's rear clips were fastened.
Thus, with fingers crossed, we determined that it should be welded and hoped it cures the acceleration and handling problem i was facing.
We reached Master Zul's recommended workshop at 12.20am
after a spirited sprint along the NPE, whereby Master Zul finally found and swiftly dealt with the elusive and haunting Ghost of NPE; wrapping him up neatly and throwing him behind kow2 3-4 poles. (DAMN his LSD :P) It is with utter gladness i report that the exorcism worked very well and the NPE stretch is cleansed of all Red Coloured Apparitions :lol:
I was introduced to Ah Pau, quite a jolly fellow to tiao back and fro :lol:. Very colourful character indeed. We showed our own inspection of the problem and ah pau promptly agreed that it should and can be welded immediately; to which i am very grateful for.
The welded area follows the red line exactly and the entire seam section was not spot welded, it was welded end to end all along the cracked and gapped seams. (refer to previous illustration). the process took less than half an hour. he assured me that it is very strong and proceeded to check the right side of my front chassis. We found that the seams are still strong and intact.
With Master sifu Zul presence gracing my passenger seat, we tested the feel of the vehicle under hard acceleration. VIOLA! no more veering from left to right! i was gobsmacked and happy all at the same time. a problem has been solved for the time being and more importantly; we now have the knowledge and means to proceed to solve it further.
An important reminder to future body restorations/strengthening attempts; the welds must be tidied properly and protected by a strong coat of anti-rust and/or paint to avoid the formation of rust. This is paramount to those who still want to keep their mod vehicles as street commuter for a long time.
On my way back home, the cornering of the car never felt more solid. If anything, now the right side feels too soft from hard turning because i never strengthened the right side chassis :lol: the handling problem during acceleration has been greatly reduced. I am so happy with the results and hope that the welds will hold together under hard driving (my everyday style :P ) for a long time. It was worth every penny i payed ah pau and it was a good price to start with (for a high quality argon MiG weld)
Conclusion:
I feel that every serious car modder should give chassis/body strengthening serious consideration; and get the highest quality available to our financial capabilities. Even this one front left corner weld has made me feel a significant difference in handling, imagined how a vehicle prepared like the best track cars will feel like in SIC!
sorry for the long read. im still so excited and pumped up with adrenaline from my trip back from Ampang :) Thank you so much to Master Sifu Zul and Ah Pau for kindly helping me in the wee hours of the night to solve one of my greatest headache! :lol:
