anduril3019

Phil Bass, aka Cortina Phil, in Southern California, is a great source for used parts. I realize you already own a used clutch! However, he's also good at mixing and matching and figuring out what you can do with whatever you happen to have in terms of transmission, input shaft, bell housing, flywheel, clutch, etc.. Might be worth a try: cortinaphil@cox.net

I'm interested in the list. I'm slowly collecting parts to build a 1700 pre-crossflow on a 7llM block.

On the top menu go to: Browse > Downloads https://usa7s.net/ips/files/ More obscure or specific tech help can be found buried in discussion threads by using the search.

The semi-circle sealing surface (say that three times fast!) at the rear of a lip seal pan is approximately 5" diameter, on a rope seal pan it's about 4" dia., very roughly speaking. I don't have a rope seal to measure, but it's significantly smaller.

Sent you a PM

Awesome! I did the same for my daughter's troop. She's 35 now and can change oil, brake pads, and bulbs! Sounds like you may have inspired a few future enthusiasts. Good luck.

Regarding the lower Dzus fasteners, I'm experimenting with hinges and a tilt up nose. It needs a little finesse, but so far I'm liking it in concept. Part of the trick is getting it to pivot in the right place to clear everything as it swings open, and not have the pivot points hanging below the frame or nose where they are exposed to dirt and damage. The pins are easily removable, so the nose can still be completely removed if needed. The frame half of the hinge will be screwed to the frame. On the top, I can still use the standard Dzus method, or I may try just using small alignment pins and allowing the bonnet to do the hold down work. I'm going to add a clip-on check strap on either side to keep it from hitting the ground when open. I'll probably reinforce the nose at the mounting points. The hinge parts are 16ga. stainless from SendCutSend. Pardon the nose condition, it's a work in progress. It was mostly held together with tape when I got it, and I'm slowly working it back into shape. Anyone recognize it, by chance?

My assumption (stepping into dangerous waters right off the bat!) is that this comment was simple hyperbole, or reductio ad absurdum, or something like that. To which I might have replied, "Touché, I see your point!" Anyway, I thought the tire jokes were funner.

Kind of a "tired" reference at this point.

COD (Comment of the day)

Good tip on the rust, I'll hit it before it gets out of hand. Re. the trailing arms, if I was doing it again I'd probably do them in line with the outer chassis rails to pick up a little bit of cockpit width. As it is now, it's good incentive to finish the project before I'm too wide to fit!

A little more progress... Steering rack mount. I did some mocking up of steering rack placement. Without working out the geometry, I was hoping my Spitfire rack would be acceptable unmodified. Bump steer turned out to be pretty significant, which I guess I could have figured out ahead of time! So I ended up having the rack shortened based on my Vsusp dimensions. I had a local machine shop cut the shaft, weld up to fill the machined flat and re-thread the end. Rack tube was cut and re-welded, leaving the bushing in place. With the shortened rack, I started dialing in the height by set toe at 0" at ride height, then measuring at 2" of bump and 2" of droop. Not as sophisticated as dial indicators at multiple intervals of suspension travel, but at least it's showing me extremes at this point. Once I got it close, I started testing with .050" shims. The best I could do was to get it similar at full bump and droop, ending up at about 1/8-3/16" total toe out (difference at front and rear of tire centerline). So with those numbers I decided to install the rack mount a little low to give me room for dialing in with more precision at final assembly. Ackerman at 10° of steering on the outside wheel results in +1°-1.5° on the inside wheel. Radiator mount is next.

And here: https://mountuneusa.com/products/ford-kent-crossflow-engine-block?_pos=10&_sid=e73890b28&_ss=r

Thanks for the tips. I mocked up the radiator and it's a better fit than I thought, no clearance problems, with some tilt, of course. For the radiator cap, are you basically saying to make sure the radiator cap is a higher pressure than the main filling cap at the expansion tank? What about a standard non-pressurized cap at the radiator?

I like the uncut tube idea, maybe next time! The UCAPs are both double shear, except for the shock mount which shares the pivot bolt. I've been thinking about double shearing the LCAPs, as well as the upper shock mount. Now that you've mentioned it, I'll probably sleep better if I just go ahead and do it. I've got one of the aluminum Honda civic radiators which seems like it will just fit vertically. Worst case, I thought about removing and patching the filler cap and adding a bleeder if it doesn't clear. I also like the tow loop idea. Not sure I want them exposed, but maybe easily reached by removing the nose cone.

A little progress has been made... Front suspension is coming together. Most of the frame welding is done and everything is still pretty straight and true so I started by leveling the frame and locating the lower mounting points. I used an extra long drill bit through the front holes to try and keep the rears parallel, and then an all-thread fixture to ensure everything was aligned before tacking the sleeves in place. From there, I made wood templates for the upper mounting points and cardboard templates for the brackets. I ended up getting the brackets made at SendCutSend.com for around $5 each, which saved a few hours of cutting and grinding. They still needed finessing for final fit, but they got me 80% of the way there. Used the all-thread fixture again to keep everything in line. A little more work on the left side, then it's time to get my steering rack back together and figure out the mounting.

I've had some luck with these guys: metalsupermarkets.com 1-855-271-1555 They have a small warehouse in Anaheim I usually pick up from to save a bit on delivery when buying small amounts.

Sorry to hear that. I didn't have much contact with him, but from what little I did, he seems like a good bloke.

Well, it's a sad day. I (and others, I know) have been trying to contact Mick at Xtra Special Sevens for a while, without luck. I've been hoping he was just busy or sidetracked with something temporarily, but now his website is down. http://www.xtraspecialsevens.co.uk/ (Sorry if this is already common knowledge!)

Hi, I'll give these a good home. Sent you a PM. Thanks!

Here are a few places to try. They pop up on ebay every once-in-a-while too. https://www.s-v-c.co.uk/categories/stafford-vehicle-components-lighting-front-side-lights https://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/c/side-lamps

I'll second the recommendation. Both good, thoughtful books. I preferred the first, the second seemed to get a little repetitive to me. For anyone considering a read, each could alternatively be titled "7 Shop Class as Soul Craft" and "Why We Drive 7s"

Sorry if I missed this part of the discussion, but which tubes are we talking about here, and how are they being accessed? If doing repairs or building from scratch, there is access, but on a finished frame there aren't any open ended tubes. Are holes being drilled then capped? Are rivet holes being used? If spraying through small holes, it doesn't seem like you'd actually be getting good coverage on the interior.

Sent you a DM

Interesting. Mine does have longer runners, not sure if it's an issue or not. I've also seen the center support cutout. DCOE slides right on the studs, no problem.