The Devin Project
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2/20/23 - A customer approached us recently wanting to build a Devin SS. https://devinsportscarsllc.com/ The issue for this customer is that he had years of TR6 parts parts lying about, and since he was happy with the performance of his various TR6's he thought he would like to put the body on a TR6 frame, using his many parts. The problem was that the TR6 wheelbase is 4" shorter than the Devin SS, and the Track widths are several inches narrower than the Devin's. So the project is to construct a special frame which will utilize the TR6 Suspension parts, but will also accommodate the Devin Body, which we know little about. Kevin Callahan at Devin has been very supportive of the project and has supplied drawings of the body, and will be delivering the customers body here at RATCO before too long, so we can work out the details of mating the two.
2/20/23 - A customer approached us recently wanting to build a Devin SS. https://devinsportscarsllc.com/ The issue for this customer is that he had years of TR6 parts parts lying about, and since he was happy with the performance of his various TR6's he thought he would like to put the body on a TR6 frame, using his many parts. The problem was that the TR6 wheelbase is 4" shorter than the Devin SS, and the Track widths are several inches narrower than the Devin's. So the project is to construct a special frame which will utilize the TR6 Suspension parts, but will also accommodate the Devin Body, which we know little about. Kevin Callahan at Devin has been very supportive of the project and has supplied drawings of the body, and will be delivering the customers body here at RATCO before too long, so we can work out the details of mating the two.
The first step was to take a drawing of the TR6 frame and adjust it's dimensions so that the suspension mounting points were in the right places. We then superimposed the mounting rails for the the body. It's main connection points are the side rails on either side of the car. Once these were overlaid, we modified some of the pipes to make a cleaner looking version which is our starting approach. Once we get the body here and test fit it to the tacked up frame, we can determine if we need to make modifications. The customer is planning to put a Chevy Small Block 350 in this car, and although we have the dimensions all worked out for the TR6 Frame, we will need to modify that solution because of the different rail locations and widths. We are planning to update this site once a week or so, to document our progress, stay tuned.
The first step was to take a drawing of the TR6 frame and adjust it's dimensions so that the suspension mounting points were in the right places. We then superimposed the mounting rails for the the body. It's main connection points are the side rails on either side of the car. Once these were overlaid, we modified some of the pipes to make a cleaner looking version which is our starting approach. Once we get the body here and test fit it to the tacked up frame, we can determine if we need to make modifications. The customer is planning to put a Chevy Small Block 350 in this car, and although we have the dimensions all worked out for the TR6 Frame, we will need to modify that solution because of the different rail locations and widths. We are planning to update this site once a week or so, to document our progress, stay tuned.
2/28/24 - The first order of business is to build the front clip. After some research I found out that the Devin in addition to being longer is also wider. 1.75" in the front and 2" in the rear. Well it's actually 4" wider in the rear, but I have some concerns about the spring tower being too wide to fit in the body, so rather than risk having to cut up the body, I'm only making it only 2" wider and the remaining 2" can be taken care of by selecting rims with 1" offset. The front clip went together as usual except the tool we usually use to setup the location of the upper fulcrum mounts was 1.75" too narrow, so I needed to make a new one specifically for the Devin. You can also see in the left photo that the yellow tool we use to set the distance between the towers also needed to be made 1.75" longer which I accomplished by adding some tubing spacers. I may run into this in a few other areas. In addition to that, since the frame is so different than the TR6, we can't use our usual jig table. This means I will be building it on a flat table, which means a lot more measuring, and some issues clamping things down for welding.
2/28/24 - The first order of business is to build the front clip. After some research I found out that the Devin in addition to being longer is also wider. 1.75" in the front and 2" in the rear. Well it's actually 4" wider in the rear, but I have some concerns about the spring tower being too wide to fit in the body, so rather than risk having to cut up the body, I'm only making it only 2" wider and the remaining 2" can be taken care of by selecting rims with 1" offset. The front clip went together as usual except the tool we usually use to setup the location of the upper fulcrum mounts was 1.75" too narrow, so I needed to make a new one specifically for the Devin. You can also see in the left photo that the yellow tool we use to set the distance between the towers also needed to be made 1.75" longer which I accomplished by adding some tubing spacers. I may run into this in a few other areas. In addition to that, since the frame is so different than the TR6, we can't use our usual jig table. This means I will be building it on a flat table, which means a lot more measuring, and some issues clamping things down for welding.
2/29/24 - Spent today cutting the pipes for the frame. On the TR6 frames, the pipes are now cut on our CNC Plasma machine. I had forgotten how long this takes cutting the pipes manually on our Cold Saw which is basically a miter box for steel. 6Hrs vs 2hrs. So far, no surprises, everything seems to be lining up as expected
2/29/24 - Spent today cutting the pipes for the frame. On the TR6 frames, the pipes are now cut on our CNC Plasma machine. I had forgotten how long this takes cutting the pipes manually on our Cold Saw which is basically a miter box for steel. 6Hrs vs 2hrs. So far, no surprises, everything seems to be lining up as expected
3/5/24/- Had a bit of a panic on Friday. I had all of the parts laid out, and started taking some measurements against a TR6 frame to ensure everything was right. Well, it wasn't, I was off by an inch or so in several locations. I realized that the TR6 drawing I started with was transferred from another CAD program, and some of the dimensions were corrupted. It took a good part of Friday afternoon to get the drawing corrected. Once that was done, I needed to recut a few of the pipes. This morning I spent an hour or so, rechecking everything TWICE!! Now convinced that everything was right, I tack welded everything together. This is about all I can do until the body arrives next week. You may notice that along the right side of the frame, there is a piece of 2x2 tubing on top of the frame rail. The Devin chassis has a 2x5 rail in this area that the body attaches to. I will eventually weld 2x2 along both sides converting our 2x3 rail into a 2x5 rail, length to be determined once I see the body.
3/5/24/- Had a bit of a panic on Friday. I had all of the parts laid out, and started taking some measurements against a TR6 frame to ensure everything was right. Well, it wasn't, I was off by an inch or so in several locations. I realized that the TR6 drawing I started with was transferred from another CAD program, and some of the dimensions were corrupted. It took a good part of Friday afternoon to get the drawing corrected. Once that was done, I needed to recut a few of the pipes. This morning I spent an hour or so, rechecking everything TWICE!! Now convinced that everything was right, I tack welded everything together. This is about all I can do until the body arrives next week. You may notice that along the right side of the frame, there is a piece of 2x2 tubing on top of the frame rail. The Devin chassis has a 2x5 rail in this area that the body attaches to. I will eventually weld 2x2 along both sides converting our 2x3 rail into a 2x5 rail, length to be determined once I see the body.
3/15/24 - The body delivery was delayed due to a vacation, so I started looking at the engine and transmission mounts. The customer has decided to go with a Chevy Small Block engine along with a Tremec TKX transmission. I was able to get the dimensions for the length of the short block, as well as the distance from the front of the bell housing to the C/L of the mounting bolts at the back of the transmission. In addition they provided the height from the mounting surface to the C/L of the output shaft. With all of these dimensions I was able to work out the location for the transmission mount as well as it's height. This should put the output shaft at the same C/L height as it is in a standard Triumph. One interesting wrinkle is that the Devin's transmission tunnel is molded into the fiberglass and is not removable as it is on the TR6. This means that the transmission needs to be removable from below rather than from above as it is on the TR6. This necessitated a new cross member design, which is kind of like the early TR6 crossmember, only upside down. I believe this frame design will provide plenty of room down the center for the drivetrain. The front engine mount is the same one we designed recently for the Chevy small block TR6 project. On that one the headers are mm away from the inboard side of the upper fulcrum mounts, too close in my opinion, but because the Devin required the front tracking width to be increased by 1.75", there should be plenty of clearance. Next the modified T-shirts.
3/15/24 - The body delivery was delayed due to a vacation, so I started looking at the engine and transmission mounts. The customer has decided to go with a Chevy Small Block engine along with a Tremec TKX transmission. I was able to get the dimensions for the length of the short block, as well as the distance from the front of the bell housing to the C/L of the mounting bolts at the back of the transmission. In addition they provided the height from the mounting surface to the C/L of the output shaft. With all of these dimensions I was able to work out the location for the transmission mount as well as it's height. This should put the output shaft at the same C/L height as it is in a standard Triumph. One interesting wrinkle is that the Devin's transmission tunnel is molded into the fiberglass and is not removable as it is on the TR6. This means that the transmission needs to be removable from below rather than from above as it is on the TR6. This necessitated a new cross member design, which is kind of like the early TR6 crossmember, only upside down. I believe this frame design will provide plenty of room down the center for the drivetrain. The front engine mount is the same one we designed recently for the Chevy small block TR6 project. On that one the headers are mm away from the inboard side of the upper fulcrum mounts, too close in my opinion, but because the Devin required the front tracking width to be increased by 1.75", there should be plenty of clearance. Next the modified T-shirts.
3/18/24 - The body arrived today, on initial inspection, everything appears to be lining up as anticipated. Some additions will need to be made to the frame to support the front and rear sections of the body. This was anticipated but could not be done without the body here.
3/18/24 - The body arrived today, on initial inspection, everything appears to be lining up as anticipated. Some additions will need to be made to the frame to support the front and rear sections of the body. This was anticipated but could not be done without the body here.
3/19/24 - Designed and built the front chassis extensions. The two holes toward the front are to secure the body down. Ordinarily, there are radiator support brackets in the front section. Since we have not yet selected a radiator, and to avoid the customer from having to cut into the powder coat, I added a row of three 3/8-24 nuts to allow them to simply bolt on an adapter bracket for the radiator later. The extensions are tapered on the bottom and then again extremely so at the front to minimize their being visible.
3/19/24 - Designed and built the front chassis extensions. The two holes toward the front are to secure the body down. Ordinarily, there are radiator support brackets in the front section. Since we have not yet selected a radiator, and to avoid the customer from having to cut into the powder coat, I added a row of three 3/8-24 nuts to allow them to simply bolt on an adapter bracket for the radiator later. The extensions are tapered on the bottom and then again extremely so at the front to minimize their being visible.
3/20/24 - The aft part of the chassis needed to be extended to provide support for the aft portion of the body. Extending the frame was fairly straightforward. I'm now working on framing out the Trunk opening with 3/4" tubing. This part is extremely tedious as the pipes need to be bent slightly to conform to the curves in the body. Then once they fit the shape of the body, the ends need to be birdmouthed to fit to the other tubes in preparation for welding. Bend, check fit and repeat, repeat, repeat then grind , checkfit, repeat. Slow going. Fortunately, the chassis extension is at a good height for a trunk bottom. Hope to have the rest of the pipes bent cut and tacked together tomorrow.
3/20/24 - The aft part of the chassis needed to be extended to provide support for the aft portion of the body. Extending the frame was fairly straightforward. I'm now working on framing out the Trunk opening with 3/4" tubing. This part is extremely tedious as the pipes need to be bent slightly to conform to the curves in the body. Then once they fit the shape of the body, the ends need to be birdmouthed to fit to the other tubes in preparation for welding. Bend, check fit and repeat, repeat, repeat then grind , checkfit, repeat. Slow going. Fortunately, the chassis extension is at a good height for a trunk bottom. Hope to have the rest of the pipes bent cut and tacked together tomorrow.
3/21/24 - Finished framing out the Trunk lid today. The aft end of the car is on the left side of the shot. Everything is tacked in place, the final welding will take place when the body is eventually removed. Time to do something similar for the front hood.
3/21/24 - Finished framing out the Trunk lid today. The aft end of the car is on the left side of the shot. Everything is tacked in place, the final welding will take place when the body is eventually removed. Time to do something similar for the front hood.
3/22/24 - Started the front section today. The Dash support is made from larger 1.25" tubing. Very tough to bend. I decided to put flanges at the base to bolt it on. It won't be removable once the hood supports are in place, but it will allow the bottom to be shimmed if necessary to ensure a tight fit to the top of the dashboard. Since I don't know what type of steering column we will be using, I welded a few nuts to the underside, one in line with the steering column, and two each 4" from the center one. This will allow the customer to fabricate a bracket and simply bolt it to the chassis without disturbing the powder coat.
3/22/24 - Started the front section today. The Dash support is made from larger 1.25" tubing. Very tough to bend. I decided to put flanges at the base to bolt it on. It won't be removable once the hood supports are in place, but it will allow the bottom to be shimmed if necessary to ensure a tight fit to the top of the dashboard. Since I don't know what type of steering column we will be using, I welded a few nuts to the underside, one in line with the steering column, and two each 4" from the center one. This will allow the customer to fabricate a bracket and simply bolt it to the chassis without disturbing the powder coat.
3/25/24 - I finished up the Hood support this morning. Everything is tacked in place. Removed that pesky body, and started welding up the main frame. This one is going to be a bit of a challenge to flip over because of the structure on the top side of the frame. I'll need to work something out.
3/25/24 - I finished up the Hood support this morning. Everything is tacked in place. Removed that pesky body, and started welding up the main frame. This one is going to be a bit of a challenge to flip over because of the structure on the top side of the frame. I'll need to work something out.
3/29/24 - I discovered that the ladder portions of the frame were useful for lifting the frame. By threading a choke strap through those sections I was able to lift the frame and it was fairly well balanced. Nothing exciting to report, I spent my time welding up the entire frame. All of the open pipe ends are now capped so the frame can be rustproofed later. Monday it will go out for powder coating, and it will take a few days to get it back. This will be a rolling chassis, so I will spend that time working on the suspension parts, installing bushings and assembling anything that can be assembled off the frame. I will provide more pictures as I begin installing the suspension.
3/29/24 - I discovered that the ladder portions of the frame were useful for lifting the frame. By threading a choke strap through those sections I was able to lift the frame and it was fairly well balanced. Nothing exciting to report, I spent my time welding up the entire frame. All of the open pipe ends are now capped so the frame can be rustproofed later. Monday it will go out for powder coating, and it will take a few days to get it back. This will be a rolling chassis, so I will spend that time working on the suspension parts, installing bushings and assembling anything that can be assembled off the frame. I will provide more pictures as I begin installing the suspension.
4/10/24 - Finally back from Powder Coating. I say this every time, it looks so good it's almost a shame to put a car on it.
4/10/24 - Finally back from Powder Coating. I say this every time, it looks so good it's almost a shame to put a car on it.
4/10/24 - Once I got it unloaded this morning, I started on the front suspension. Since the front section was made 1.75" wider, the steering rack is effectively shorter. I think it will be ok, but this will need to be confirmed by the alignment shop. This customer opted for the Willwood disc brakes all around, so they are being installed along with the suspension. I ran out of time for the brake lines, so I'll install them in the morning before I begin the rear suspension.
4/10/24 - Once I got it unloaded this morning, I started on the front suspension. Since the front section was made 1.75" wider, the steering rack is effectively shorter. I think it will be ok, but this will need to be confirmed by the alignment shop. This customer opted for the Willwood disc brakes all around, so they are being installed along with the suspension. I ran out of time for the brake lines, so I'll install them in the morning before I begin the rear suspension.
4/11/24 - Installed the Motor Mount on the left, and the Transmission mount on the right
4/11/24 - Installed the Motor Mount on the left, and the Transmission mount on the right
Then installed the rear suspension along with the Differential and Split axles and the Wilwood Rear Disc brake package.
Then installed the rear suspension along with the Differential and Split axles and the Wilwood Rear Disc brake package.
4/15/24 - Well, this about wraps up RATCO's portion of the project. I re-installed the body for the last time here at RATCO, and put some temporary wheels on it. Usually our chassis goes on a pallet and is shipped freight. This is so much like a car, it's being shipped on a car carrier. Kevin Callahan from Devin will be coming on Thursday to hang the doors, and then we have to pack the remainder of the fiberglass panels in the engine compartment for shipping.
4/15/24 - Well, this about wraps up RATCO's portion of the project. I re-installed the body for the last time here at RATCO, and put some temporary wheels on it. Usually our chassis goes on a pallet and is shipped freight. This is so much like a car, it's being shipped on a car carrier. Kevin Callahan from Devin will be coming on Thursday to hang the doors, and then we have to pack the remainder of the fiberglass panels in the engine compartment for shipping.
Thanks for sharing our journey on this one. It was an interesting project, and gets me wondering if there are other Fiberglass bodies out there looking for a new chassis.
Thanks for sharing our journey on this one. It was an interesting project, and gets me wondering if there are other Fiberglass bodies out there looking for a new chassis.
