Gilmer project - complete re build going electric

[Dirt car]

Test lash up
I had added a steering servo earlier.

Put the speed controller, battery and receiver in a convenient place for testing.

And added a tin can to simulate the additional weight.

Ready for its first run !

[Dirt car]

Here is video of first run. Not going to win any prizes for speed (I didn't check out speed at this stage)

[youtube]https://youtu.be/QlE83cdle0M[/youtube]

[Emilio]

Nice, I really like your steering setup, going to steel that idea.

[Kaye]

Nice job!

[Mike Casey]

incredible project! Clean work!

[Dirt car]

Made a working steering rack. Used some copper tube and brass bar I turned on my small lathe, and brass bevel gears from ebay.

Here you can see assembled before painting

And here is the body painted

These are the other parts, control arm and rod to the front wheels. You can also see the ignition key to turn on/off the electrics.

here is the final assembly ready for fitting. The end plates are for fitting to the Gilmer chassis. I also filled the body with thick oi.

[Dirt car]

Steering arm fitted to the front axle.

[Dirt car]

I need some brakes as well.

I bought a set of hydraulic brakes from eBay - pretty good quality. Im only going to fit them on the rear wheels.

I machined the hubs (using small hobby milling machine)to fit the square profile of the disks. And drilled and tapped 4 holes for screws to hold the disks in place.

Here you can see them assembled with brass washers (I like the contrast of brass and steel). The disks are allowed to "float" a little within the disk caliper.

Here are the other parts I made to hold the calipers on the rear axle and rods to stop the caliper holder turning.

I tried to replicate the welding of the aluminum "stays" like Mr Gilmer did. I think I did a reasonable job

[Kaye]

Superb detail !

[Mike Casey]

steering box looks great!

[Emilio]

I too love the brass and steel combination. Did you modified the original Gilmer hubs or are they built from scratch?, I like the allen head screws going from the back fasten to rims with nuts. Would you mind taking it all apart to show more in depth of the hub system and what exactly was done?

[Dirt car]

Hi Emilio
I modified the hubs. I had to machine the end with 4 flats square, and drill 4 threaded holes to hold the disks in place. The depth is important just a little deeper than the thickness of the disk so when they are fitted they "float" and dont bind in the calipers.

[Dirt car]

Now that I know the car is going to run I dismantled back to the chassis and carefully reassembled, the rear end first. All the bearings were locktit in place.
BTW I had some old stands that I modified to fit the axels of the Gilmer - really useful at this stage of assembly - it was like building a "kit"

[Kaye]

Lovely! I like the stand idea too!

[Emilio]

It's becoming a swiss watch , I love it. On the rear hubs do you think I can modify them with a file? Sadly I don't have a lathe.