Fuel tank & Bushes

Hi

Last day home again, didn't expect to get much done today but after another trip down town and a coffee and croissant at Nero's I got stuck in.

I started with the fuel tank, I had bought a 15m x 19mm x 3mm roll of foam tape which arrived yesterday, I needed this to carry on with the tank.

I got this of course from eBay 15mt foam roll

I had already cleaned primed and sprayed the fuel tank but as I had a couple of tins of stone chip I decided to give it another spray.

Fuel tank before

Fuel tank after

I finished it of with the foam tape and its ready to fit, I may give the bottom half a paint of under seal which I imagine will add years to its life. Although it will probably rot from the inside out.
The bracket are also ready, these got powder coated this week and just needed the foam stuck on, I also have new stainless steel separator tubes cut, I just need to sort some stainless bolts.

Brackets before

Brackets after

Just need a bit of re-shaping before fitting.
I got the painted brake drums out of the way as well, the auto adjuster needed a little tap to allow them to go on and they pushed straight on.

Drums fitted

I have a habit of painting the bolts I have tightened to let me know what's been done and checked. I started checking the tightness of the arms already fitted and painting the nuts and heads and I got a bit carried away. I wasn't happy about the finish of the axle, I had used 2 coats of hammerite after blasting thinking it would give a good finish and of course I had paid good money for it. It looked great at first but it seemed to soak up all of the dust and and debris flying around from other work and looked terrible. So I got stuck in with my chassis paint and I now have the finish I wanted originally.

Gloss painted

I was about to call it a day when I thought I'd have 5 minutes on the left over bush 2 hours later it was all done and fitted.

I used the lessons learnt yesterday to get it right this time. I started by measuring the squish which started out at 46.6mm un-tightened to 47.9mm when tightened, a squish of 1.3mm. This is the distance I was out yesterday. 

I needed to get down to around 38mm, so only using a file I did a bit then stopped, removed to check and carried on. When I got to around 38.5 I cooled it under cold water and measured again and it came out just right.

I tested in the axle hole and it fit with just the right resistance.

Next the distance between the flanges was measured this had to be 36.5mm so onto the sanding disk doing each end at a time and they soon came down to size.

The flanges had to be sanded next, the axle side of the upper arms weren't really designed for bobbin style bushes; in that the distance for the thickness of the flanges is not substantial at only around 4mm either side. I needed to get down to around 45mm for a good fit.

This photo shows them at 46.42 but I had to take them down to 45.3mm to fit neatly, you can see from the insert how much has gone already. It got a bit more difficult the farther down I went, but with a bit of care I managed it ok.

Once the poly fitted I took a hacksaw to the insert then onto the same sander and smoothed it off.

This photo shows the final test fit, pretty good.

There is one major thing I found out about fitting the upper arms that would have been good to know a couple of days ago and that's "you can't fit the nearside upper arm with the axle fitted". This is because the axle connection of the panhard stops any movement of the arm, so when the next bush has been made I will have to drop the axle again to fit the upper arms first, or maybe I could just remove the nearside damper and get enough pull to fit it.

This photo shows what all of the work has been about, I may trim the outside of the flange to make it look a little more fitted. I now understand why Floflex couldn't find a fit, there ain't any.

Well back in 17 days.

See ya Paul

Friday 20/1/2012

Hi

I guess yesterday was to good to be true because today didn't go quite as planned. 

It started quite well, I fitted the brake pipe for the rear brakes, I originally thought that I had lost the fitting for the connection yesterday but today with the spotlight on I realised that there wasn't one and that the copper just screwed onto the flexy via the bracket. Which leads me into the first problem of the day; I moved onto the front calipers which went on and connected up without a problem and looked great.

It was when I took the photo I realised that there should be a bracket bolted on so the brake pipes are secured, I checked thru my photos of when I stripped it and there was the bracket.

Original bracket

I have searched everywhere for them and they are gone without a trace, I think they may have been left at the powder coaters when I put my first lot in a couple of months ago. It was easy enough to get around this as there was no chance of me driving all the way to the coaters, so I made a couple of new ones, unfortunately its the nuts that are also missing that's the problem. Bet they turn up when I'm not looking.

One of the new brackets

The nuts are the fine thread of the brake nuts, no idea what these are.

New bracket fitted

Luckily there was a nut still attached to the offside pipe so I fitted the new bracket and secured the pipe. Will have to find a couple of nuts somewhere.
The next job was pretty straight forward and went without a hitch and that was to finish blasting the rear drums and give them a light spray to try and keep the rust at bay for at least a week.

Brake drums

I had been told by Floflex that my bushes were due today and they duly arrived, the Panhard rod bushes went straight in.

That's the last of my designed one's fitted and if I had the money I would have had a mold made of both sides of the upper arms because what I thought was a scale drawing from Floflex wasn't. 

This was a bit of a disappointment when I opened the pack but the biggest was yet to come.

I had to decide whether to see if I could return these and have a red face plus the fact I would have to figure out what else to order or I could try altering them. After yesterdays success and realising just how easy this poly is to alter I thought I would give it ago.

The sizes I required are:-

38mm OD instead of 46mm.

36.5mm between the flanges

44.5mm overall width instead of the 65mm.

As I no longer own a lathe I decided upon a vertical drive to spin centrally so attached the bush to my drill in its stand via a 12mm bolt with spacer washers borrowed from my bench grinder.

Bush fitted to vertical drill

I used a number of tools to reduce the bulk including a grinder with a sanding disk and a air file but I found the best tool for the job was an ordinary file.

This kept the diameter perfectly parallel and the size (I thought) came out perfect at 38mm, unfortunately a huge dose of stupidity lent a hand.

What a great accomplishment turning down a poly bush by hand to 38.09mm, think again!

I had forgotten to take into account the tightness of the bush on the spindle which as the bush got hot needed tightening a little more and a little more to stop it spinning. So great, success until I tried to fit it in the axle bush hole and found it over a mil to small, I couldn't believe it. After doubling checking my sizes I realised that as it was tightened it squashed up and as I released the nut it returned to its correct diameter.

Well you have to laugh.

I still have the other bush to do, so I will check the size by loosening the nut and allowing to cool before taking a measurement, of course I will have to buy another bush, that will be £10 for the bush and £8 postage.

Well over £200 for the rear bushes so far. £80 for the Teflon blank and the mold, so really only around £120 about the same as the front.

I had to give up after this disappointment so got the brush out and cleaned up.

I hope to get a little more done tomorrow but that will be my last day as I am off early Sunday for a 17 day trip this time, hopefully I will have a full 2 weeks off when I return, although we find out about redundancies at the end of the month so I may have more time than I thought to work on car.

See ya Paul

Thursday 19/1/2012

Hi

I'm afraid progress has been slower than I had been hoping for since getting home on Sunday, well today has more than made up for it.

Yesterday was a no day as Lynne had the day off and I was working on her birthday so she decided to have me out for the day, which wasn't to bad as I ended up with a new coat in the sales, result.

I did manage to get an hour or so in on my return and got under the car with a spotlight, what was left of the under seal and a paint brush, surprisingly there was very few places the spray gun had missed; in fact I was rather pleased with the result. I also attached the springs to the lower arms and fitted the bushes.

Lower trailing arms and springs

The bolts were also bought yesterday, 10 x 12mm and 2 x 10mm for the upper spring attachment, with washers and nylocks in stainless came to just under £20.

I started today by drilling out the 7/16" bolt holes to 12mm, I mentioned in a previous blog that the upper trailing arms were 1/2" BSF or UNF and the lowers were all 7/16" well to make life somewhat easier all mine are now 12mm. Unfortunately it is not as straight forward as it may appear, not a problem when you are used to difficult situations that have to be overcome but be aware if you do try it you will need a couple of unusual tools. or a decent file.

A couple of them I could just straight drill using a 12mm bit.

Most of them required a right angle drill attachment with a carbine rotary file.

Right angle attachment

And 2 of them required the drilling of the first hole with the 12mm bit then a bit of filling before fitting a 12mm tap through this hole and threading the 7/16" to 12mm.

Chassis lower bracket

All this is because of the tight angles and lack of room to fit a drill and bit, If anyone buys the bushes I had made at Floflex then ask them to drill the inserts to 11mm to fit the 7/16" bolts fitted although I think it comes from a standard tube and cut to size. Still for an hours work it is well worth it as I have fitted all stainless and will never have to worry about grinding them of as I did with the originals.

I was now able to fit the lower arms and bolt the springs to the chassis, the new bushes fit like a dream, it took a bit of effort having a bobbin made in Teflon then a mold but seeing them slide in made it all worthwhile, very pleased.

Lower arm new bush

The spring was bolted on first with the locating pin slotted into its hole then while loose I pushed the bush in place and bolted it all up tight.
Once these were in position I got out the upper arms and oversized bushes, for what reason I do not know? I had bought a attachment for my grinder to cut these bushes to size, stupid idea.
I had in the loft the perfect tool I made last year for grinding smooth the edge of glass using diamond pads, all I had to do was swap the diamond pads for grit pads and I had it.

Horizontal grinder

The sander is just a box with my spare variable speed grinder fitted to the back, the work bench is the water trough for the water pump to go, I just removed the splash guard and pump and screwed on a couple of straight edges and da! da!, perfect. I had taken a lot of trouble when I first built it to get the wheel in as close to vertical and horizontal as possible so as long as I screwed on the straight edged square then I would have aligned bushes.

The bushes I am using for the upper arm chassis end are the one's selected by Floflex and they fit great in every department except width and these are.

Capri ARB end bush

Upper arm bush before sanding

As you can see the O.D is 49.28mm, unfortunately it should be 45.5mm.

I rough marked to bush and give it a sand nice and gently and testing all the time.

The sanding disk worked great, I didn't go mad, turning it constantly and it cut down and gave a perfect finnish in no time on a 80 grit disk.

Bushes compared

Only .o6 out, perfect. The other one turned out just as good and the steel inserts got the same treatment. 

When finished I loosely fitted them and will fully fit when the opposite bushes arrive.

The opposite end of the upper arms have been ordered and an email from Cat at Floflex informed me they will arrive tomorrow along with the Panhard bushes that they forgot in the first order. 

I took the sizes for the axle end from a scale drawing luckily supplied when my front bushes came, I returned a set of the Capri bushes and ordered these new one's because the internal section is longer and will fit better. Hopefully these will fit and if so I shall post the order number.

I also received and fitted a poly handbrake bush 

Handbrake bush

This just slotted in without a problem

Capri handbrake bush

Next was the shocks, I bought these on eBay and are for the Vauxhall Magnum, unfortunately the holes for the bottom bushes are to large at 12mm. There was a couple of ways around this but in the end I took the easy option and removed the bottom bushes from the originals, these are still in great condition and a polish with a bit of silicon grease and good as new.

You can see here all three elements fitted, upper arm, lower arm and damper.

Once these were all in place it was time to fit the rear axle, I still had the wheels on so it was just a job of wheeling it into position and then jacking up one end and fit a stand then the other. Once up the lower arm bushes were pushed into position and a bolt inserted the same with the other end. Next came the dampers, I had fitted these to check them and had to remove again as the lower end needs to be fitted first.

I was pleased it only took about 20 mins to re-fit the axle instead of the half day it took to remove it, that was a bit of a workup.

I was a bit disappointed with the condition of the rear axle, I only painted it a couple of months ago and the gloss has gone already, could be the gunk I used to clean all of the dust from it, still no one will see it and its well protected.

Next was the handbrake rod, this just slipped thru and the cable and Teflon sleeve slotted into position, I still haven't bought any E clips yet, but will track down a stainless one. Both handbrake levers had they Teflon stoppers fitted then connected up with the pins and R clips.

Not finished yet as the new bushes need grinding and the panhard rod to fit.

Just a few reminders 

Well getting there slowly but surely.
Another good buy arrived today, 99p on Amazon, of course the sting was in the p+p at £3.80 but stll a great bargain.

This manual covers the whole strip and rebuild of the Solex EEIB 38, great buy.

Well pleased with todays progress and hope to get the brakes fitted tomorrow and await the arrival of the rest of the bushes.

See ya Paul

Tuesday 17/1/12

Hi

Bit of a dirty day today, onto my 3rd boiler suit and thrown away a sweat top, messy job this under sealing and sand blasting. I have managed to use all 3lts of Tetra Schultz doing the wings and all of the underside, there are a few touch up areas to do but mostly its all done. It may not be the prettiest job in tight to get at places but I can be sure its well protected.

Under-sealed

A few hours were spent in the blasting cabinet doing the springs and the brake drums, the springs have had a prime with plastic undercoat and so far 3 coats of paint.
I also bought 2 tins of stonechip and have re-sprayed the radiator and the drive shaft, I shall do the underside of the petrol tank tomorrow, basically anything that can get chipped will get a spray.
I have also been to the powder coaters and picked up my parts and again a lovely job done, cost £50.

Powder coated arms

The lower arms now have the new poly bushes fitted, next is to re-fit the springs then they can be bolted in position. First I need to go buy some stainless bolts and locknuts.

The lower arm bushes fit perfect into the arms, unfortunately they are to wide by 4mm. I have bought an attachment to convert my grinder into a chop saw and have a couple of thin cutting disks so I may have a go at chopping them. Nothing to lose as I can always go back to the void bush option.
Well it doesn't seem a lot done today but we are getting there.
See ya Paul

Monday 16/1/12

Hi

Just got back yesterday for a week so will try and get some progress done.

While away I managed to track down a few of the items I need, a bit of luck on a new clutch fork gripper which I found on eBay with only a few hours to go, they are probably still made but doubt I would be able to find one. Mine had a bit of damage where the rubber locked thru the hole, I would of course have been able to re-use the old one but if a new one is available then why not.

Fork gripper

 The part number supplied on eBay is

FORD CORTINA SIERRA SAPPHIRE GRANADA GENUINE NOS CLUTCH FORK CABLE GRIPPER

Ford Finis No. 6050236  Part No. 76BB 7L588 AA             £12

I also found and lost a Gearbox mount on eBay which I am now having difficulty finding through suppliers as everyone I have spoken to say it is no longer made and that even QH have stopped making them. When I find one I will post the numbers in case any one else needs one.

I said in my last blog that I had forgot to buy any Gearbox gaskets and would make my own, well that did not happen as my gasket material was a little dried out after sitting in the loft for many a year. So I bought a set for £6.75 on eBay.

 Gearbox gasket set

I only required the bottom 2 shown in the photo and fitted them this morning.

Next job was the removal of the hand brake rod, as I have been to the powdercoaters today I have been getting as many bits together as I can.

It took a bit of effort to get the thing apart as the rust had bound to the teflon section.

I started with a little lubrication around the teflon and steel sleeve then with a screwdriver eased out the E clip pressed into a groove, you can see it at the bottom of the sleeve. Unfortunatly mine was so far gone it just broke up on removal. These are around 12mm, plenty on sale on eBay as mixed packs for around a fiver for 2 to 300, only need 1.

Here you can see the groove where the E clip was positioned and the damage to the teflon made while trying to twist the sleeve off.

With the handbrake released the metal sleeve and spring can be pulled back.

This is where the groove in the sleeve comes in, pulling back on the spring exposes the wire cable, the groove then slips over the wire and pops off. A bit of silicon grease on the spring when it goes back together should preserve it.

Back to the bush saga, I had arranged delivery for my arrival home and they is good news and there is bad news, the good news is that the bushes made from the new mould are pretty much perfect.

Here's a set, and they fit as good as they look, I have measured against the original mould and they are spot on. Along side them you can see the new handbrake bush.

The bad news is that the other bushes that fit the upper arms are way out, I sent them a void bush to use as a template and they matched the inner bobbin section perfectly, but unfortunatly when in position they are to wide.

The bushes sent are from the Capri ARB and should be when fitted around 45.5mm wide flange end to flange end, these are around 6mm out at 51.7mm fitted. The bottom photo shows what it is and what it should be when fitted, so the saga continues. I have been in touch with Floflex who have offered a full refund on these Capri bushes but aren't prepared to go any further in tracing the correct size, they have looked once and that's it basically. So my options are to find the correct bushes and return these, or cut these to size, or to replace with void bushes. I have already spent £180 getting this far, it's no problem replacing the original voids with new as I have the correct fitting tool and the reason for removing has been accomplished as the trailing arms and panhard rod are at the powder coaters with the rest of bits and will be, I have been promised; ready for pick up on Tuesday (today) after 1600.

I shall wait till the arms return before deciding what to do. All part of the fun I guess.

Next job was to remove the springs from the lower trailing arms, they is a drilling under the arm to get a socket in, it required the impact wrench to get these moving but came of pretty easily. The arms are, as with the rest in a sorry condition, the outside will be coated but because of the drilling for the spring bolt water is allowed to get up inside and rust away happily. I doubt the blaster at the coaters will bother to try and get right up inside this drilling so I will have to spray up inside with rust converter and then waxoil when dry. I was hoping to get the springs coated as well and called the company up to double check about the rubber buffer on the top of the springs to see if it would get damaged during the process, and I got the answer I was expecting; in that the oven would shrivel the rubber up. So I will have to sand blast the springs and spray myself.

You may be able to make out the rubber at the top of the spring.

So that was about all for the first day, a trip to the powder coaters on the North side of the Tyne, a journey that at 4 in the afternoon would normally have taken around and hour now took 15mins due to the new Tyne tunnel. Best money ever spent. I also stopped of at Bills auto parts and picked up 3lts of Tetra Schutz under-seal which is Tuesdays job, I want a couple of coats of under-seal sprayed on so overnight in the airing cupboard should have it nice and thin.

I have been thinking ahead a little while away and tracking down info on the Solex carb, I found a Finnish site that I have posted on my Links page. This site is dedicated to the Ford Taunus which is fitted with the EEIB Carb.

The other site is FORDOPEDIA an excellent site with a load of info about the Granada, Cortina and the COLOGNE engine

Well thats all for the fist day

See ya Paul