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The Car Thread


MadManMike

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14 hours ago, Simpson said:

Yeah I don't see myself having enough time to be going mental for it but I'll stick my toe in and see how hard it bites. Its the 1.8VVT - you think cam is worth doing?

No experience with that engine unfortunately - have a gander / sign up to www.mx5nutz.com, loads of advice on there :)

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Bodywork time..

Ariel hole filled and painted...

20170914_191303.thumb.jpg.1f5e0df43b89e6faceceed6ce19dc64a.jpg

I'll be painting the arches at the weekend, then while it's off the road I'm gonna whip around with aerosols and tidy door shuts up and the likes.

Ordered a MK2 escort rack tonight in RHD and I'll flip it so it's correct for mounting behind the hubs. It's the correct length more or less so should provide a good base and keep bump steer down.

Need to asses my options in terms of how to joint the column to the rack, it'll inevitably be a length of rod and 2 UJs but I'll need to develop a support for the engine bay end of the column..

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@RobinJI

Steering rebuild, if I remember rightly your very clued up on this..

If I choose a steering rack the same body width as the mounts/pivots of my bottom arms, then mount the rack so the steering arms sit parrelel to the bottom arms when at ride height that should give the correct steering proportions shouldn't it? With minimal bump steer..

If I mount the rack following the line my current steering bar sits along that should also mirror the factory steering and be as close to as possible..

It all makes sense in my head, just needs clarifying haha.

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@Tom Booth

It depends what height the rack's mounted at, and what type of suspension it's got. If it's a double wishbone like I think most of those yank tanks were, then you want the inner track rod end on a line drawn through the 2 wishbones inner pivots. Height wise you want the inner and outer track rod ends the same distance between the wishbone pivots. So if the steering arm puts the outer TRE 1/3rd of the way between the top and bottom ball joints, the inner TRE wants to be 1/3rd of the way between the wishbones inner pivots, on a line drawn between them. Hopefully that makes some sense! 

Oh yeah, nearly forgot that as the steering arm will be offset from the line of the top/bottom ball joints, (to give ackerman), the inner TRE will need offsetting from the position I described by the same amount. 

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51 minutes ago, RobinJI said:

@Tom Booth

It depends what height the rack's mounted at, and what type of suspension it's got. If it's a double wishbone like I think most of those yank tanks were, then you want the inner track rod end on a line drawn through the 2 wishbones inner pivots. Height wise you want the inner and outer track rod ends the same distance between the wishbone pivots. So if the steering arm puts the outer TRE 1/3rd of the way between the top and bottom ball joints, the inner TRE wants to be 1/3rd of the way between the wishbones inner pivots, on a line drawn between them. Hopefully that makes some sense! 

Oh yeah, nearly forgot that as the steering arm will be offset from the line of the top/bottom ball joints, (to give ackerman), the inner TRE will need offsetting from the position I described by the same amount. 

When you say what height the steering racks mounted at, what's that relative too? The steering arms, chassis or wishbone? With the car being on air it's gonna be abit of a guessing game haha. It's a double wishbone system anyway yeah.

It sounds abit lazy but I don't really want motorsport standard steering from it, just a reliable simple setup. Aslong as I don't gain any adverse bump steer along the way I'll be pretty happy if it turns out as it is now..

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All 'blobs' on this diagram are centres of ball joints / pivots:

ctrp_1001_03_z-bump_steer_explained-tie_

So, track rod parallel with lower wishbone is going to be near as dammit. I doubt there is a lot of camber correction built into your wishbone design, so the difference in plane between upper and lower wishbone will be minimal.

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There's adjustment for 2 or 3 degrees camber correction but it's not vast. That's a pretty useful diagram Adam cheers for that. It does seem a hell of a minefield when you start researching steering setups and geometries but I think something pretty simple can be made to fit my needs. As I say I'm not looking to optimise this setup and get it to it's all out potential, I just don't want anything nasty to come of it either.

In the states they just seem to go find a scrapper and just rip into it :lol: I can't find anything regards steering rack conversions on a '64 fairlane so this could well be a first home brew..

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12 minutes ago, Tom Booth said:

There's adjustment for 2 or 3 degrees camber correction but it's not vast.

 

Aah, camber correction is something built into the geometry of the wishbones (rather than an adjustment), so when the wheel moves up into the arch / the body rolls over it adds camber dynamically (to keep the tyres upright rather than falling over onto the outside edges).

Poor / no camber correction:

double_wishbones1.jpg

 

Better camber correction:

 

double_wishbones3+camber+change.jpg

 

 

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This is basically what I was badly describing.

All the black circles are the existing pivots that you probably don't want to mess around with moving. If you get the inner track rod as close to this position as possible, all's good. I know you say you're not arsed about performance, but the the car being on air may exaggerate any issues, because you're using more travel more often than most people will. If you can't achieve this width with a rack you can get your hands on, then it being too short is better than it being too long.

Rackposition.png.d002d641c09c797bca86d6ec5f3b06ab.png

Like Adam says, parallel to the lower arm's likely to be close, as most cars have the steering arms quite low, putting the track rod end not far off in line with the lower arm.

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Yeah, the logic in my head suggested a shorter rack would offer less movement then with a longer rack and shorter track arms.

RHD mk2 escort rack flipped is 10mm narrower then the current steering pivot points and should mount up relatively easy with some creative bracketry..

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Managed to get a quick bit of alu welding done on Tuesday evening and produced something vaguely resembling a TIP (or at least it will when I’m done) and some charge pipe goodies.

tiptop.jpg

As a wedding gift, some friends made us a MASSIVE planter for the garden. It’s going to take some serious effort to fill it so currently sits empty, and makes for a fantastic spray booth

tiptopspray.jpg

Not too shabby given they’re relatively thrown together!

tiptoppaint.jpg

Had an hour spare last night, so figured I should try and make a little progress. Here’s a DIY charge pipe tutorial:

Weld elbow onto flange:

topflange.jpg

Measure twice, weld once. Definitely don’t just wing it and get it wrong

toperror.jpg

Fix the error you definitely didn’t make through use of slotted holes and a hammer

topfixed.jpg

Bolt it all up, something like this but on the car

topdry.jpg

Something like this

topfirstfitting.jpg

Didn’t need that handy bracket as you can see. Given the solid TOP and short run to the FMIC, this is incredibly solid. There’s a minimum of 12mm all round between the TOP and pulleys/belt, so I’m confident it’ll be enough but the first sign of interference I’ll revisit and tweak anything that needs it. For now, however, it’s another step closer.

Annoyingly I’m away again all this weekend, which means no dice for the progress I had hoped to make. Once the inlet is sorted (next week, all being well) I’m just an oil return line short of turning the key and running things in

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Not sure what to do, company that rebuilt the steering box have happily offered to repair under warranty, which would get it on the road again without too much hassle. Downside is I might not be so fortunate and in such a good position if it fails again. Also means I can use this time to do more research on steering and gather parts ready for a winter rebuild.

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3 hours ago, Tom Booth said:

Not sure what to do, company that rebuilt the steering box have happily offered to repair under warranty, which would get it on the road again without too much hassle. Downside is I might not be so fortunate and in such a good position if it fails again. Also means I can use this time to do more research on steering and gather parts ready for a winter rebuild.

How did it fail, or don't you know yet?

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The top bearing in the steering box has failed, so rather then the bearing taking the load, rotating the column and turning the sector shaft, the steering shaft 'unscrews' out the box as there's nothing to hold it in place. It could be as simple as a dodgey bearing and not there fault but it's knocked my confidence in the setup, plus it's an absolute twat to remove and refit if this becomes a regular problem.

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20170916_192051.thumb.jpg.059aa9fb57651771e5d83cb8c6a890c9.jpg

20170916_194413.thumb.jpg.3b3ac4bbedf887b7dd08a9e6a50f7955.jpg

Back quater painted up, colours off a little it's abit to yellow but it's water proof for now, just need to buff the blend in. The rear n/s trim had a caravan plug through it when I bought it so I've had that welded up and I've painted it turquoise to match the sides now. It's getting there!

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Update copied and pasted. In summary - going back to servo assisted brakes but with abs delete from a cup. Problem is my pedal box needed to be hydraulic clutch and they are 95% cable clutch on clio mk2's. 
 
So the pedal box I was picking up from the v6 failed me, the guy who worked at the breakers told me that despite me asking 3 times if the part was available and it was... turns out it was broken. What a dick.
 
I called back Renparts and asked them for the one they said they had from a dci100, they ring me 10 mins later to tell me that it was broken too.
 
Started pulling my hair out a bit but luckily I had found something that looked like it would fit... it's from a kangoo but all the other kangoos seemed to be cable clutch apart from this MPV one I found. There was no other information on the internet to suggest it would fit but I found it for £20 delivered so was worth a punt either way. 2 days later it arrived..
 
36472401783_748c3f4b5b_b.jpg20170916_140205 by dann2707, on Flickr
 
Trial fitted it and it does :D Ignore the accelerator pedal, that will be being replaced with the ph1 172 one when I find out how it bolts to the assembly.
 
36449354904_889f4c97ae_b.jpg20170916_141344 by dann2707, on Flickr
 
37096266686_338681dce3_b.jpg20170916_142246 by dann2707, on Flickr
 
So with the new peugeot 406 v6 master cylinder fitted I wanted to see how close the de-cat is going to be to it. Absolutely no chance it would fit.
 
36889486920_14121941ed_b.jpg20170916_143727 by dann2707, on Flickr
 
36449484724_2dd1821b2e_b.jpg20170916_143834 by dann2707, on Flickr
 
Left it that evening to go for some day drinking with the gf. Ended up at a nice burger place, had mac and cheese as a side which was epic.
 
37114755442_86027a896d_b.jpg20170916_212706 by dann2707, on Flickr
 
Anyway, the next day, today I started with the custom brake lines to the master cylinder. Due to the ports being on the one side now, I had to create some new brake lines to suit. Using 2 m10 splitters to brake them up into 4 brake lines. 
 
Also removed the engine to do this, did it in under 15 mins as nothing was connected really.
 
I originally tried it like this but quickly discovered it wasn't that neat and very hard to get to.
 
37144836871_593cab6e42_b.jpg20170917_140025 by dann2707, on Flickr
 
I went for a different approach, I mounted the splitter to the side of the car.
 
36473199503_737f668bbe_b.jpg20170917_160901 by dann2707, on Flickr
 
Then did something similar for the other lines
 
36473358133_c3bbeb8f3f_b.jpg20170917_165226 by dann2707, on Flickr
 
Connected that up:
 
36450015144_5281f840ff_b.jpg20170917_173752 by dann2707, on Flickr
 
36473486323_41f2f9d677_b.jpg20170917_173756 by dann2707, on Flickr
 
36473426093_e7163821c4_b.jpg20170917_181633 by dann2707, on Flickr
 
Nice and neat and out of the way, really quite happy with my progress today as i've been feeling a bit hungover but got it all sorted pretty much.
 
I'm now going to get some motorbike reservoir bottles for the clutch and two ports to the master cylinder and hide them away under the scuttle panel like before. Then fingers crossed i'll have my servo assisted brakes again which will make me happy.
 
To get around the downpipe issue i'm going to get my mate who's making the exhaust to avoid the master cylinder when shaping the downpipe. I guess i'm mainly waiting on that to be sorted before being able to drive it.
 
 
I need a few more things:
New oil pressure/temp gauge as my temp doesn't work £80
Clutch pipe £30
Nimbus heat shield £20?
O/S gearbox seal £20
Gearbox oil £25
3 x reservoir bottles £15 and pipework £not a lot.
 
Then i'm thinking of going down the route of a return rail for the fuel line:
3.5 regulator £55
Pipe £20
ph1 Return sender £25
 
NPT fitting for fuel rail £7
Tap £5
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Steering box woes mayyyyyyyyybe solved. I spent the day building my buddies 64 mustang, which uses effectively the same steering.

I looked at his steering box and realised mines either missing a top hat support that runs next to the bearing, or it's worn away through years of being driven on shitty bearings so it's not offering the top bearing full support in the centre.

We went to mine and whipped the steering box off (4h job).. and took it to his workshop, stripped and realised the mustang steering box is 99% the same so I can repair mine with a donor. Luckily this is his 10th mustang so he has spares galore. Gonna drop the steering box back with the original repair guys for them to replace the bearings, then fit the replacement top support when its back.

I'm still gonna look for steering rack options and accumulate parts, just be able to do it at a better time.

Oh yeah repainted the rear quater with a better match, just the other side to finish and it's solid..

20170917_123829.thumb.jpg.298a445a3294e6abc336e2f3b371ac05.jpg

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Love that car so much Tom! American cruisers are a very rare sight over here, never seen one of these in the flesh.

 

Took part in BMW Challenge this weekend. It's a national rallysprint competition I used to take part in for 2 years which has been a breeding ground for the best drivers in the country. Treated it as a back to the roots exercise and a test of the car, quickly found that I don't want to do it again. It shreds tyres and literally destroys the car. Anyway, it was nice to compete against some amazing drivers and find that despite the long break I still had some skill left. Finished 1st in my class and 2nd overall, losing to a brilliant driver in a prototype almost mid-engined S54 powered E36. When on the same tyres, I was losing 2 seconds on a 3 minute special stage to him. 

bLOpHU2.jpg

XlOti6L.jpg

N16A9OO.jpg

Said prototype E36 with the engine mounted entirely behind the front axle. As these cars go, I think the way the rear end has been widened is fantastic.

F3Xulya.jpg

20448944_1421550711226874_67103744206320

20507029_1421547204560558_37891738164867

 

And it's driver holding 4 trophies for winning everything that there was to win. 

VOLoqrE.jpg

 

Met an old friend I bought many E38 parts from. 1 minute later this happened :D 

XhH3NqN.jpg

 

At least I now know what to do with the car. Don't want to have anything to do with rough surfaces anymore, going to tune it for track driving meaning harder springs, lower ride and more aggressive geometry. Perhaps a bit of aero if I can retain an original look. Rallysprint is brilliant in the sense that you're going around corners literally all the time but when it comes to peak g-forces which is what currently gives me the biggest rush, you can't beat the smooth tarmac of a racetrack and 100mph+ corners on full throttle. 

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Cheers Alex, their's not many Ford Fairlanes over here full stop as they were abit of a mid runner to the galaxy and not the 'sports' car the mustang was. I love it eitherway as it's just as powerful as a mustang but slightly different and mad amounts of fun.

I love your BMW, it is absolutely one of my favourite car builds on the internet by far. It's just 100% focussed on going balls out fast!

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