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Thread: My New Project ( Millington Escort) to stop me using this

  1. #41
    Spanner Monkey Med's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    luv this thread...i like ur creativity working on those link covers... GOOD JOB!!!

    good luck mate.. i'll be in perth on April.. maybe i can drop by ur place..see how it goes mate...

    keep us updated...


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  2. #42
    Pit Crew

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    nice Fab work there, welding looks good from here

    www.gulfpetrolheads.com

  3. #43
    Spanner Monkey genRS2000's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Quote Originally Posted by Graham View Post
    good stuff and great work with the wooden formers
    I find wood is very helpful to mock things up because it is easy to cut and shape.

    Quote Originally Posted by Med View Post
    luv this thread...i like ur creativity working on those link covers... GOOD JOB!!!

    good luck mate.. i'll be in perth on April.. maybe i can drop by ur place..see how it goes mate...

    keep us updated...
    I hope to have it finished by April so you might be able to see it in action.

    Quote Originally Posted by dobuy View Post
    nice Fab work there, welding looks good from here
    Thanks. I like what you have been doing with your project too.


    Made up a channel so that the exhaust can run up into the boot space over the axle.





    After a lot of thinking and checking other projects on here I cut the rear quarter panels and outer tubs to fit tarmac arches.





    Turned up the edge on the panel with a hammer and dolly to give it some strength and make it easy to weld in the tub extensions.

    Decided I needed to seal the boot from cabin with some steel and sealant.




  4. #44
    Spanner Monkey genRS2000's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Next up cutting the rust out of the spare wheel and fuel tank wells in the boot. Also extended the inner tubs to the rear quarter panel.

    Fabricated some steel for the wheel well. I couldn't be bothered to follow the original lines as this is not a show car.











    I had bought a repair panel for the tank well but it didn't fit very well so I ended up cutting most of it away and making my own.








    When that was finished I went back the Watts Link mounting.
    The mount I had bought needed to spaced down from the chassis rails so a spacer was made up from 32mm CDS tube. I had the lower tube bent up and welded some inserts into it to allow the mount to be bolted on. That was then welded to a straight tube that would be welded to the chassis rails.

















    The next installment will be fitting the arches.

  5. #45
    Spanner Monkey Ruudje's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Amazing build!!!

    This makes my resto looks like a walk in the park

  6. #46
    Spanner Monkey genRS2000's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    On to the arch fitting.
    I wanted to bolt them on , not use rivets as usually done. So I bought some stainless steel Flat Head Socket Screws.





    Started on the rears. Marked where the bolts would go then drilled them and trial fitted them to the car with clecos.



    I needed to put a dimple in the arch flange. I had bought a tool do this but the jaws were too wide for the flange ( or the flange wasn't wide enough).



    So I had my friendly machinist make up a tool to do the job. Basically it is a punch and die, the top has a male taper and the bottom a female. Put it in my drill press and applied pressure.





    It worked really well...




    Needed a matching dimple in the rear quarter panel but it was too difficult to do. Made some 10mm thick washers from some plastic rod with a countersunk 3.5mm hole.


    Drilled a 9mm hole in the panel ( the photo shows a trial ) so that the dimple poked through and placed the washer over the dimple and screwed the bolt into the plastic so it acted like a nyloc nut.



    Bolted them on with the plastic washers/nuts.





    Dressed the flange onto the panel with a hammer and a small block of wood.






    Local wildlife waiting for the front arches to go on


  7. #47
    Mechanic gringo!!'s Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    wow... just read this thread from start to present... the work is really nice, and the car will be a real stunner when complete, i love the work on the rear arches.. keep up the cracking work mate..



  8. #48
    Mechanic cuttsy224's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    This is bangtidy, like what your doing!

  9. #49
    Spanner Monkey genRS2000's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    For the front arches I could use the dimple tool on the wing as there was enough clearance for the jaws.



    After cutting a section out of the wing , the arch was offered up and trial fitted with clecos . Because I was able to dimple the wing I just bolted the arch on using the same bolts as for the rears but with a normal nyloc nut





    Later I will put a bead of Sikaflex between the arch and the wing and dress the wing back onto the arch.

    Before I could fit the right hand arch a new wing had to be fitted. The wing I had was a patten panel so the fit wasn't perfect but I managed to get a reasonable fit with some persuasion.





    Cut the wing and put dimples in as for the left hand one.



    Before I attached the wing I removed all the black primer and put a coat of etch primer on and also put a new section in the headlight aperture that was a bit rusty. Then the wing was attached with pop rivets, bolts and a few tack welds.










    You can probably see in the last photo that there is a roll cage in place. I will describe how that was done in the next few posts. All I will say now was that is was quite a challenge with a lot of

  10. #50
    Pit Crew Decade Plus User markjabber's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    good work like the fab work

  11. #51
    Pit Crew Decade Plus User GAZZAMK2's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Fantastic work

    Like your idea with the bolt on arches, very neat and forward thinking. Nice neat welding too - you really have been studying Retro Garys threads!!

    Keep up the good work. Any thoughts on engine yet?

  12. #52
    Spanner Monkey genRS2000's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Thanks for the

    When I started the build I had no intention of going this far with the modifications but after seeing what Gary does and other projects on here I was inspired to go further with it.

    Hopefully the engine will look something like this:



    The next stage was installing the roll cage which I knew was going to be a challenge as I had not done one before. To make it easier I bought a weld in kit from a well known cage manufacturer here in Australia. Well I thought it would make it easier but in some ways it made it harder as I will show later. As the rules say every joint must be fully welded I was advised that there was do ways to achieve this. 1. cut the roof off so that top joints can be welded 2. cut holes in the floor so that front legs can be tacked to the main hoop and then the whole section can be lowered to fully weld around the joints. I choose option 2.

    I then bought some tools for the job:


    a notcher to "fishmouth" the bars


    a profile gauge to make notching the difficult angles easier


    clamps for the bars... the one on the right I modified so that bars in different planes could be clamped

    Just before I started I read about the problems some people were having with scrutineers and cages in the UK. The problem being having more than one bend in the lower half of the front legs. ( In my opinion the rules are poorly written as " the lower half "is not clearly defined).
    Unfortunately my cage could be viewed as having 2 bends making it non compliant.



    So I had a chat over the phone to to the scrutineer who will hopefully log book the car and he said it would probably be OK and after reading the clarification from the UK MSA ( a slight shaping of the leg is allowed to follow the curve of the sill) I went ahead.

    The first thing I found was that the main hoop was bent in such a way that when I put it in the car it was jammed tightly up against the door pillars. I would have liked a bit more clearance so that it could drop through the floor easily Also I could see that welding the door bars on was going to be nearly impossible.




    As can be seen in the photos I had to use a ratchet tie down to pull the bottom of the main hoop inwards so that it would drop down.



  13. #53
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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Awesome work there fella

  14. #54
    Spanner Monkey genRS2000's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Started the cage by putting the main hoop in place and pushing it hard up against the roof, it will drop down slightly when welded to the floor plates. Then I offered up the front legs ( again I wasn't entirely happy with how they were bent) and butted them up to the main hoop which was pushed back a bit so that the legs could marked for the correct profile using the profile gauge.

    This photo shows a different joint but shows the general idea of pushing the wires of the gauge to fit closely then mark that profile on the tube.



    Now using the old rule of measure twice and cut once ( although it was more like measure 5 times , think about it for 5 minutes to make sure it was right then cut) I cut the profiles on the legs. They had to be done freehand not with the notcher because this was not a simple joint.

    Then the legs were then held in place some tape while I attempted to mark the front roof bar. This was very difficult as I couldn't hold it up and do the profiles so I got a mate to help. While he was available I got him to hold everything in place while I tacked it. After a few more substantial welds the main hoop was forced in and then lowered through the holes in the floor to be fully welded.



    Took a couple of photos of the joints to prove that the top parts had been fully welded.



    My mate was not available to help anymore so I had to think of a way to do things without help.

    For the roof diagonal I made up a dummy bar that I could clamp in place to get the profiles and correct length.




    Took more photos for proof of fully welding the joints.

  15. #55
    Pit Crew

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Nice job, having spent a week bending, cutting and welding my cage, it makes me appreciate your work

    www.gulfpetrolheads.com

  16. #56
    World Champion Decade Plus User exboyracer's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    There is some superb work going on in this thread, keep it up
    http://escort.accelerator.org
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  17. #57
    Spanner Monkey genRS2000's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Quote Originally Posted by dobuy View Post
    Nice job, having spent a week bending, cutting and welding my cage, it makes me appreciate your work
    It wasn't easy and couple of times I got pretty frustrated when things weren't going right but when it was finished I was well pleased that I had managed to do it myself.

    Found this photo that jogged my memory that I used tape AND ELECTRICAL WIRE to hold the front legs in place while sorting the front roof bar.



    Thought I had better make some rear trim panels and put them in before the cage was finally welded as the main hoop was hard up against the lower pillars.



    Used a length of timber to force the front legs out so that they would be in correct position so that front transverse bar could be done.



    Made up an adjustable straight dummy bar so that the length of the required bar could be measured easily.



    Used the notcher do fishmouth the ends as it had simple 90 deg angles and held it in place with a couple of ratchet straps.



    When that was welded in I used some timber to force the entire cage up against the roof .





    The backstays were next. A few clamps, pieces of wood and a length of steel were used to hold a dummy bar in place to get the profiles and length. In hindsight I would have got 2 profile gauges so that each end could be done at the same time. With only one gauge an end was marked then the gauge was taken off to mark the the proper bar then the dummy bar had to be put back in the exact same position to do the other end.



    Left hand backstay profiled and clamped in place ready for welding.



    Backstays in place but not welded to the turrets . The next post will show why.


  18. #58
    Spanner Monkey genRS2000's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    These photos show why I didn't weld the backstays to the turrets.




    As you can see when the cage is in the final position it would be impossible to weld the lower rear backstays and the door bars to the main hoop. Again the main hoop would need to be pulled towards the centre of the car.

    Before I did the lower backstays I made up plates to level the floor under the main hoop joints. These plates were bent so that they went up the inner sill a bit to give extra strength.





    I then welded these plates to the floor and forced the main hoop against the door pillar and welded the hoop to smaller floor plate. I couldn't weld all the way around so the hoop had to be pulled towards the centre to do this. These smaller plates weren't welded to the floor at this stage as the main hoop still needed to pushed and pulled to allow access for the mig torch later.



    Next job was the lower backstays. Again these were not welded at the back. The bottom weld was really difficult and I had to use a mirror for the section facing the pillar.



    Before doing the door bars I thought it would be a good idea to do the seat mounts while I had easy access to the floor.

  19. #59
    Spanner Monkey LOW'N'SLOW's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Quote Originally Posted by genRS2000 View Post



    I rekon the fitting your after for this situation uncluding your guards is a rivnut. they are brilliant things!

  20. #60
    Spanner Monkey genRS2000's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Quote Originally Posted by LOW'N'SLOW View Post
    I rekon the fitting your after for this situation uncluding your guards is a rivnut. they are brilliant things!
    That would have been too easy

    If I had used rivnuts on the rear arch the arch would not have sat flush with the panel as I could not put dimples in the panel. I did experiment with rivnuts for the front arches but found that the bolt would not sit nicely in the dimple.

    The seat mounts were made to FIA spec which meant that the bars had to be bolted to plates welded to the sill and tunnel. These plates had nuts welded to them that sat in holes drilled in the body.







    Once again some timber was used to get the correct length and angles for the bars. The bars were then clamped in place to get the exact position for the alloy brackets that the seat bolts onto and tacked in place.



    The bars were made from CDS tube with inserts welded in where the brackets are bolted and a square section as per FIA regs.





    It all bolted in perfectly.

    Then it was back to the cage.

    I was never happy with how the front legs fitted as to get them up as high as possible the right hand one had a 30mm gap at the floor so I cut the left one to have the same gap and made up some boxes for them to sit on.


    A piece of CDS tube was welded in for extra support.

    As this car won't have a co driver it doesn't need a left hand door bar but I decided to put one in to tie it all together but I put it low down and horizontal to allow easy access to the cabin.

    After a bit of I worked out I could use a piece of timber ( again !! ) to get the length and angles instead of a dummy bar.



    When the bar was welded in I could then weld the main hoop and front leg to the floor and the rear backstays to the turret.






  21. #61
    tuk and poke me Decade Plus User mogsmex's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    fantastic work, going to be an outstanding car, I watch with interest



    All I got for christmas was a sweater, I really wanted a moaner or a screamer......

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  23. #62
    Spanner Monkey genRS2000's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Last post before Christmas. It is going to be 38 deg C here tomorrow which is probably 38 deg more than where most of you are.

    Started next on the right hand door bars.
    The usual ways to do door bars is the have them in a cross with one of the cross bars welded at the join or to have the bars bent into a flat U shape and to weld the bottom of the Us together. I didn't want go to the trouble of getting the bars bent so I was going to do it the first way . Then I read about Gregg Hansford the motorcycle racer who was killed in a Touring Car race when he was speared with one of the door bar crosses. So I looked at the roll cage regulations again ( I must have read them about 50 times and they still make me ) and decided to do it this way.



    The lower one nicely notched and in position.



    The main hoop was pulled in as before and the lower bar welded but the joint at the front leg wasn't as the hoop would have to be pulled in again to weld the upper bar.

    The seat mounted so that a good height for the upper could be found.



    Ready to be welded. There was very little clearance to weld the top bar to the hoop even with it pulled in so when I cut the notch I offset it 6mm towards the centre of the car. The bottom one was easier as there was more room because of the angle when the hoop was pulled in.



    After the joints on the main hoop were welded it was pushed back ( again !) to the pillar and the joints on the front leg welded.





    You can probably just see a harness bar in the photo. That was put in after the backstays were welded to the turrets. I don't seem to have taken any photos when I did it .

    Now for the final time I could push the right hand side of the cage on to the pillars and weld the floor plates.

    The compulsory diagonal notched and in position for welding.





    Lower transverse bar to tie the link boxes to the cage and the tunnel.







    That was about it for the cage. Now I could walk around the car and admire my handywork and that the scutineer would pass it.











    Merry Christmas

  24. #63
    Racer Decade Plus User DarthVader's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Wow

  25. #64
    Spanner Monkey genRS2000's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Now that the cage was in I could plate over the holes in the floor.
    This photo shows the floor strenghtening plate that Australian Escorts had from 1978 on the right hand side. Not sure if UK Escorts had this.





    While I was welding underneath I put in some plates to mount the harness to.



    When I was doing this I remembered about some Rallysprints that are run here. My car will be eligible for these events as they are run on private property so cars that are not licensed for the road can be used. I thought it would be a good idea to put in mounts for a co driver seat and harness. I only did the plates in the floor for the seat, I can make the bars when/if they are needed.






    Next I returned to the rear axle and made a wood template for the rear caliper mounts.



    I chose to use Wilwood Powerlite calipers ( 4 pot with 25mm pistons) with a built in handbrake mechanism after checking out a mate's Westfield that has them. The handbrake action is not very strong but I only need a handbrake as one of the hillclimbs I compete in has a downhill start that requires just enough force to stop the car from moving.

    I had these laser cut and then machined and threads tapped to mount the caliper.







  26. #65
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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Looking really good. It will be interesting to follow this build, keep at it
    67 TVR VIXEN V8

  27. #66
    Mechanic mk2 wizard's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    What a great build you are doing a lot of nice touches !!!!!!!!!

    UK Escorts never had that strenghtening plate its just not fare but then again it would only rust

  28. #67
    Racer Decade Plus User DarthVader's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    The joys of building a jungle jim! Lovely work and love the idea of all the wood templates. Wish I thought of that when I did my cage.

  29. #68
    Spanner Monkey genRS2000's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Quote Originally Posted by DarthVader View Post
    The joys of building a jungle jim! Lovely work and love the idea of all the wood templates. Wish I thought of that when I did my cage.
    It certainly made it easier after I had thought of this method:

    First I cut the length of wood so that the width was the same as the diameter of the tube then clamped it to the cage so that it ran behind the bars. Then I marked lines on the wood where it intersected.



    Then I cut it to length. It helps to have one of these so that small cuts can be made to get it to sit accurately between the bars.







    Then the tube to be notched had a centre line marked at each end ( this was easy in my case as the wood thickness was half the diam of the tube).



    Next the length of the wood was marked on the tube. This gave the points where the notch cut needed to start.



    Had to make sure that the cut marks where 90 deg to the centre line at each end.



    Then the wood could be used to set up the required angle on the notcher.





    Back to the build.

    The next job was to make some axle brackets for the watts link. I already had some 4 links brackets so I made some plates to weld to them for the Watts arms.



    They were welded to the 4 link brackets with some CDS tube ready for some threaded inserts to bolt arms to.





    Brackets tacked to the axle ( I will get it all TIG welded when it is finished ) with triangular strengthening plates and the inserts in place.



  30. #69
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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Top work mate nice one, it will be a stunner/

  31. #70
    Bodger

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Quote Originally Posted by genRS2000 View Post
    OK no more scenery just more photos of the car in my shed.
    I hope to have the shell repaired, modified to Gp 4 and painted in 4 months and then to start fitting it out mechanically so it will be ready for competition next year.I have been buying parts for it from the UK as the exchange rate for us Aussies is really good at the moment. I will be taking the motor, probably the gearbox and the front suspension and brakes from the RS.

    Have been busy with the angle grinder cutting out rust and the sound deadening.








    Had to cut some sections out of a donor wreck that I have to weld in where the rear pillars have rusted and the front panel was damaged.




    Waiting for a new tip for my MIG before I can start welding
    Hi Mate

    Was the donor a 2 dr and if so do you have the "C" pillar sections left?
    Cheers

    Paul

  32. #71
    Mechanic cuttsy224's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    im lovin this, some decent fabrication and its being done your own style.. any more updates tho?

  33. #72
    Spanner Monkey genRS2000's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Haven't posted an update as I have been ill after using some paint stripper on the underside of the car. Even though I was using the correct mask it seems that as I have a beard it didn't seal well enough so I was overcome by the fumes. After a bit of research on the WWW I found that the main component in the stripper ( methyl chloride ) is pretty nasty stuff and as now been banned in paint stripper in the EU.

    Back to fabrication. Made up a box section to raise part of the boot floor so that the muffler (silencer in the UK ?) can sit up into the boot.







    Then it was back to the Watts Link. I had a couple of 5/8in bolts machined up to connect the arms to the axle housing. These arms were made from two 4 link arms that I shortened after bolting everything in place so that I could get the correct length.








    In this photo you can see that the arms are not parallel to the axle. Somehow I got the measurements wrong so I had to take it all apart and cut 10mm off the axle brackets. Thankfully I hadn't welded the inserts just tacked them.


  34. #73
    Spanner Monkey genRS2000's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Had a chat with the guy who is going to make a alloy fuel tank for me so that I could fabricate a well in the boot for the tank to sit in. The tank only has to be small as the car is only for hillclimbs and sprints so it will hold about 16 litres with a 1 litre drop pot. It will have an in tank pump so that a separate lift pump and tank will not be needed.

    Started by bending this with my small bench mounted pan brake. The hole in the base is for the drop pot.





    I could only bend it this far with the pan brake so I had to use clamps and bits of wood to complete the 'box'.












    Then I had to make a section to follow the profile of the floor on the left side of the well.

    Everthing fitted nicely so I welded it all in.




  35. #74
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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Top marks to yer mate its great to see all this fabrication being done. I`m always amazed at what the people on this site are capable of

  36. #75
    Spanner Monkey genRS2000's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Not much to report because I have been distracted by this:



    Belongs to a mate and the deal is I can share the driving in the sprint/hillclimb series we compete in if I get it ready for the 1st sprint in 2 weeks time. Unfortunately it isn't an Escort... I keep trying to persuade him to get one.

    Have done a couple of things on the Escort.... filled in the large hole in the gearbox tunnel that someone cut, probably to fit a Celica 5 speed gearbox which is pretty common over here.



    Wasn't happy with the look of the tek screws I had used to fix the rear firewall so I took them out and replaced them with pop rivets.



    Ordered some Hoosier tyres from the USA. Our dollar is at parity with the US dollar atm. Excellent service from http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....r&tireModel=A6



  37. #76
    Spanner Monkey genRS2000's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Now that I have got the tyres the next job was to sort out the axle width and where to locate the damper brackets on the axle. I put the FF hub onto the stub axle that will be welded to the Atlas and slid the assembly onto the the axle.



    Then I centred the axle on the car by adjusting the rose joints on the Watts Link.



    Now I had a problem because with the axle centred the RH tyre stuck out from the arch and LH tyre was 20 mm in from the arch.




    By removing the axle flange and bolting the wheel directly on to the hub the RH tyre now was in line with the arch and the LH tyre 10 mm in from the arch.
    I knew that the axle was correct so the body must be out. So I then had to re-adjust the length of the Watts arms to give 10 mm tyre clearance on both sides.
    All this means that I will need to take 10 mm off each axle tube to give the correct clearance with the axle flanges in place.

    Next I had to work out were to locate the damper brackets. I made up this so I could clamp the damper brackets to the axle ( these are not the brackets I will be using as the damper needs to sit closer to the axle) and allow them to be adjusted.


    Then I swung the axle from full bump to full rebound ( no springs fitted) and positioned the brackets to give adequate clearance between the damper and the tyre and the turret. The centre line of the bolt was marked on the axle tube so that proper bracket can be welded in the right place.



    Finally I set the theoretical ride height to see how the tyres sat in the arch.







    Looking good I think

  38. #77
    Pit Crew

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Looking bloody good I think

    www.gulfpetrolheads.com

  39. #78
    Spanner Monkey LOW'N'SLOW's Avatar

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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    LOOKING GOOD! This thread gives me lots of ideas. cheers for sharing.

  40. #79
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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    Looking real good.

    I actually have the same Gum tree beige GL 2dr escort that I am about to put the same arches on.

    I have a question, how wide is your axle rim face to rim face? and what offset are your rims?

    Also have the same axle offset issue.

    Keep up the great work
    Last edited by oscos; 08-02-2011 at 08:06.

  41. #80
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    Re: My new Project to stop me using this

    maybe the problem is your arch they are sometimes not the same width you have to ajust them i fitted a good few sets and ive seen this before. where did you get the watt tower. keep up the good work i love what your doing

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