meXEco pt2

[DanR]

dont forget to seal down the side of the link boxes - great job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[meXEco]

Yes mate i've given them a lick of sealer on the inside-still have underneath to do yet. Not much more to do bodywise now.

[Quarterless]

How's things going now?

[PIG]

looking good so far tho

[ludsonline]

Looking good M8

[meXEco]

Hi sorry for the lack of response broadbands been down for ages. I've had a little detour from this one for a bit, the new Red Dragoon ones had all the attention recently, got her mot'd now so can get back onto this one, got compressor setup so a little more bodywork then onto paint prep. I'll keep posting pics again as and when bits get done-dont worry i've not forgotten her!!

Thanks again for the kind words, John.

[meXEco]

Little update-bare metalled engine bay-few little holes/welds to clean up then i can prime. Also made up a one piece firewall to fit around turrets. God that sound deadening stuffs a bitch to get off isnt it??

[jbenny1]

nicw job mate, your a few step ahead of me i'm still cleaning underseal and sound deadening, it's a bitch to get off.

don't supose you've got any adational pics of the 4 link boxes and how they fit in. also where did you get yours from as i've seen a couple of slightly different styles / sized boxes.

thanks and keep up the good work.

[meXEco]

Sorry thats all the pics i have. The kit was from Peter LLoyd Rallying (click logo at top of page) Its the basic kit with one piece boxes-two piece boxes are available from other suppliers-think these are stronger but for mine one piece will be fine.

I had a Classic Ford with a how-to, which i read about 10 times before doing anything-and got it in my head nice and clear.

You need to find the centre line of the car on the rear diff tunnel-a few measurements with a tape taken from the rear interior 1/4's will get you this. I did my boxes at-i think-740mm centres-so half this and mark either side of diff tunnel on the floor for the box centre lines. Then measure the width of the box-say 50mm-and measure half that for each side of the centre line, giving the full width over the centre line. Then mark a line about 10mm INSIDE of the box lines to give the CUT line-which leaves 10mm all round for a turn up-my pics should show this. The front of the box sits flush against the rear seat xmember-so cut up to that-then keep cutting up towards the rear till the box fits-i cant give dimensions as all will be slightly different.

So measure about a million times-when cutting err on the small side-its easy taking metal out-its a lot harder putting it back-once the slots cut bend up the edges and drop the box in from top-then you can see where the rear needs to be cut too-mine was a little into the rear old suspension mounts-just make sure the front edge of box is flush to the xmember-the rear goes where it goes.

And if you buy this kit make sure the front of box is upright and top of box is angled down towards front of car-dont have the top level its wrong!! The shape of the bottom of the boxes gives you a good idea how far down to go-kept mine level with underside of floor.

If you need any specific pics i will go and get some for ya.

Hope that helps-a little lol. John.

[meXEco]

Oh dear-2 years since the boxes went in.... Anyway the axles in on its link bars, hoping to get the coilover brackets and panhard welded on tomorrow (Chris?? ). Got some rear discs to go on need to find some calipers-the brackets are already on the axle.

I'm guessing i need to get the link bars level before tacking on the coilover bracket?? That was my plan to jack up the axle to make sure the brackets at the 'top' of axle??

Try not to pay too much attention to the underside this is all being cleaned/sealed/painted etc.

[meXEco]

With regards to the axle bracket placement-heres how i did it-may not be the most ideal way or indeed scientifically accurate-but it worked for me.

I started with the bare axle-all previous bracketry removed. I measured the length of all the diff flange bolts to see if they were equal-they were all pretty much spot on. This was because i planned on sitting the axle on the bolts-on a nice flat workbench-with both ends of the axle supported on equal sized spacers to hold it all flat/square. A few measurments were taken along the axle tubes length at a few points down to the bench to check the level-all good.

Next was to mark it up. Measure your centres on the link boxes-mine were put in at 740mm centres-so this needs to be replicated on the axle. I measured across the axle-both inside and outside flange faces to find the axle centre-which i scribed on the rear cover. From this centre line mark half of your box centres either side-so 740mm halved = 370mm. These 2 marks are your axle bracket centres. I also double checked and measured both marks again from either axle flange to make sure they were correct. Again all good.

Cut your bracket in half to locate it over the axle tube-and if you can dob a bit of weld on to hold the 2 pieces back together once over the tube.When both brackets are loosely tacked on check the spacings again-it should be 740mm (for me anyways). Now once centred on your line you need to get these brackets level (remember the axles lying 90 degrees over)-what i did here was to measure down from the bolt holes in the bracket both front & back (will be top & bottom once fitted ) to the bench to get both sides equal-hence level.

Once your happy then fully weld the brackets together to the axle tubes. Remember to wear a mask/gloves.

Then its a case of simply.. feeding the link bars into the boxes, bolting them in then offering up the axle to locate the rose jointed ends into the axle brackets. I had axle stands under the chassis rails, and another pair to hold the axle roughly in place to locate the rose joints-as long as your axles bare its easy to move it about to link it all up.

I will be doing the panhard and coilover mounts soon-the panhard will also help to centralise the axle-i will check the link bars in the boxes for clearance then fit the bar for the bracket location to be welded on-no more movement (well a lot less anyway)

This is how i did mine so far-maybe obvious to some-or slightly unorthodox-but it may help someone or give a better understanding of whats involved.

[Dan]

dosnt matter how long it takes to get back to it. just getting back to it is all you need keep at it

[meXEco]

Bit more done today-my mate Chris (Resin8) popped over to finish the Panhard rod and brackets on the axle, which now needs painting and putting together with a 3.54 English plate LSD, xr3i vented discs and calipers, and Gaz adjustable coilovers.












I also started scraping off the crap from the boot floor-and its suprisingly good under there-only 1 hole so far-it has had a few plates in the past which i will tidy up as i go.






Rear cage ready for footplates to be welded in.






And the drivers side top plate had been welded over in the past-the swage in inner wing didnt look good-and i thought it would be tricky to get right so i decided to flush them off instead ala mk2's.







Getting there now. Big thanks to Chris for his help so far...

[kosingcurry]

Real nice work bud...keep it up!

[meXEco]

Bit more today-got some paint on the axle, LSD's in, got the calipers but need new seals as one had popped out. And yet more underseal scrapage-showing tool of choice and the remnants on garage floor-this was only a small section of floor too!!!

Chassis looks minty underneath as well.

[105Ian]

Keep up the good work your doing a great job

[meXEco]

Disc & caliper trial fitted-looks ok just need to find some pads to try as it looks tight in there...maybe its supposed to be?






And a few bits i've collected so far.

[alladdin]

nice bits ! if your going to use front calipers on the rear you will need a rear reducer in line for sure
and after all the trouble i went to, to keep my swages

[meXEco]

Yeah its a suck it and see with the brakes-havent heard many people running rear discs having to use a reducer but until i try them i wont know.

And the swages were doing my head in so thought this would be an easier option whilst cleaning the lines a bit.

[meXEco]

Rear axle now done-new solid discs fitted as opposed to those vented ones which didnt quite fit.

[will130]

Wow nice work dude

[meXEco]

Yo dude-thanks-coming on a bit now.

[lee 1]

Comming on nicely

Good to see i am not the only one with bits of escort in the house

[meXEco]

Cheers.

The joys of not having a woman around to moan...

[tom burgess]

coming along nicely.Well done

[robvirgo]

keep the advice comin

rob v

[oldskooler]

great build mate, you have some nice stuff lined up for it.

[meXEco]

Right got the rollover jig painted today with cans i had lying about in the garage:

Ford Tasman Blue.




Ford Electric Orange.






A few more bits being done to Dads anglebox then the mk1's getting spit roasted.

[rallyladgaz]

nice work keep the pics comin

[Stringpants]

I love to see the bits all over the house...my missus goes mad...I have the Xflow engine on a stand in the conservatory at the moment...Love the axle in the fireplace....much better than any fire!

Russ.

[Si3]

Looking good John, keep it up mate How long do you think before you will be on the road? Mines going in for new floors and painting in a couple of weeks. Would be good to a couple more mk1s ready for the summer down here!! What do you reckon?

[meXEco]

Cheers fellas.

Si hoping to get it done for the summer-aiming for a month on the spit to finish the shell, then down to paint, then the refit-i have most of the parts needed no doubt there will be hundreds of more parts i've forgotten about.

I WAS going to put the crossflow on a stand in the spare room just to look at....

[SAF_Capri]

Glad to see your project coming along nicely...putting the XE in saturday so hope it all goes well

[meXEco]

Hi Shane-yeah i saw your getting ready for the engine install looking very nice mate. Mine should be going in the garage this weekend.

[SAF_Capri]

You going to the meet on the 3rd of may? Cafe A38-its up on oldskoolford website.

[meXEco]

Wont be able to make this one mate.

[meXEco]

Fookin thing.......

[panelbasher]

Fookin thing.......

wots the problem now mate ???????

[meXEco]

Still got clearance issues-now on the outside... a mate mentioned a portapak to ease the arches out and wondered how this worked. Seems my only option now i think.

[meXEco]

Anyone got any tips before i take a hammer to it?