MV8 Posted June 1, 2023 Share Posted June 1, 2023 I was confused. I thought the car was essentially near completion and you were teasing us with short clips between long commercial breaks with "a message from our sponsor". Must have been thinking about something else. My mind wanders... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anduril3019 Posted June 1, 2023 Author Share Posted June 1, 2023 You're partially right. Things are further along than the current posts suggest, but still a long way from completion. I started the thread retroactively and am playing catch-up to current status. And now back to our regularly scheduled program... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anduril3019 Posted June 2, 2023 Author Share Posted June 2, 2023 Jumping ahead a little... Frame core is tacked up, but I've been avoiding the curved pieces: dash hoop, cockpit sides, and rear hoops. I shopped around a little, thinking I could get a local shop to do them, but had a hard time finding someone who would bend just a few tubes, and do it for an unreasonably low cost (Locost?). So, I used a cheapo pipe bender from eBay, along with my own super precision bending fixtures . It worked out surprisingly well, I'm happy with it. Took a few tries to figure out the amount of spring-back. I tried to get the rear hoops and dash hoop each bent as one piece, but couldn't quite nail the width without burning through too much tube stock through trial and error, so I finally settled for a 2 piece dash hoop and 3 piece rear hoops. I was striving for a nice elegant arch to the dash, and the top rear hoop is gently curved in profile to blend with the cockpit sides. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher smith Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 Just a thought on that transmission choice for your build. I had a couple of Cortina boxes but beyond repair, so I coupled a Pinto box to my pre-crossflow 1500. I used a concentric slave cylinder and that just failed last week. It is 7 years old but few miles and no real abuse. I noticed clutch fluid in the Tilton master cylinder reservoir got pretty black and the next day all the fluid leaked out of the concentric unit. Perhaps rubber particles from he master caused the slave to fail? Now I am faced with quite an extensive job getting the new cylinder in place as everything is a very tight fit. Perhaps I should have worked out a different clutch actuation at the start but have a new concentric coming and I guess a new Tilton master cylinder will be necessary. Hope you have better luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlesG Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 52 minutes ago, Christopher smith said: Just a thought on that transmission choice for your build. I had a couple of Cortina boxes but beyond repair, so I coupled a Pinto box to my pre-crossflow 1500. I used a concentric slave cylinder and that just failed last week. It is 7 years old but few miles and no real abuse. I noticed clutch fluid in the Tilton master cylinder reservoir got pretty black and the next day all the fluid leaked out of the concentric unit. Perhaps rubber particles from he master caused the slave to fail? Now I am faced with quite an extensive job getting the new cylinder in place as everything is a very tight fit. Perhaps I should have worked out a different clutch actuation at the start but have a new concentric coming and I guess a new Tilton master cylinder will be necessary. Hope you have I learned something about concentric slave cylinders from a Corvette guy the other day. He told me that they had problems with clutch dust getting into the slave cylinder and finding its way back into the master cylinder causing parts to fail. I noticed this happening with my clutch hydraulics. I think bleeding the system more frequently would help prevent this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MV8 Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 (edited) Makes sense. Oem concentric slaves and brake calipers have dust seals to protect the hydraulic seals. Most aftermarket parts do not. Full fluid change bleeding could slow it down. Oem masters also have a rubber boot over the fluid to minimize the amount of water absorbed by the fluid where many have the traditional pin hole in the cap open to atmosphere (standard older british design). Edited June 2, 2023 by MV8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher smith Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 1 minute ago, MV8 said: Makes sense. Oem concentric slaves and brake calipers have dust seals to protect the hydraulic seals. Most aftermarket parts do not. Full fluid change bleeding could slow it down. Thanks all---That bleeding advice sounds good. A few sessions of that vs. pulling the engine to change a cylinder? Seems like a good trade.Wondering how crap could migrate up to the master cylinder reservoir but I am only a chemist, not a hydraulic engineer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastg Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 Clutch cylinder have a lot of throw. Think about the brake pedal, it only moves a small amount, but the clutch pedal goes to the floor every time, so there is a large volume of fluid moving around. That movement of fluid allow dirt to migrate back up to the master. A yearly replacement of clutch fluid is a good idea, especially if you have a internal style slave cylinder. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher smith Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 3 hours ago, fastg said: Clutch cylinder have a lot of throw. Think about the brake pedal, it only moves a small amount, but the clutch pedal goes to the floor every time, so there is a large volume of fluid moving around. That movement of fluid allow dirt to migrate back up to the master. A yearly replacement of clutch fluid is a good idea, especially if you have a internal style slave cylinder. Graham Graham- great insight and advice- thanks from all of us with concentric clutch actuation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anduril3019 Posted June 3, 2023 Author Share Posted June 3, 2023 Yes, good advice! I haven't yet decided if I want to go with a concentric. For those with concentrics, any recommendations for or against various brands or models? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MV8 Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 I've had tilton and oem concentrics. I advise against concentric. Traditional external slave and cable systems fit but both require maintenance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IamScotticus Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 (edited) The bain of the cable clutch has traditionally been the breakage at the top yoke eyelet. And stretching. Both are manageable. for a LHD car you want the 5ft long cable. The advantage of the cable is its easilly replacable and inexpensive. The downside is they are not high quality reproductions and are known to break on the drive so always have a spare. Your mileage may vary. A potential higher quality substitute may be a marine grade out board motor control cable, but I can't direct you to one in particular. It was an Idea I read and having looked at some, I think its possible. Another option is to send Speedycables a donor and have them make a high quality cable speedycables.com/cables Edited June 3, 2023 by IamScotticus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MV8 Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 If using the original type clutch cable system, adjust the cable eye bolt to leave the eye free to rotate freely. Cables typically fail from being forced to bend repeatedly near the crimped/swedged end fitting. It sounds like the cables from across the pond are too thin for the load since they stretch or it could be the wire rope they use is not pre-stretched/test loaded. The oem pinto cable looks heavier duty but it is only 44.5 inches, though that might work with LHD and a pinto bell and fork. The mustang II v8 cable is a little longer version of the pinto at 53 inches but with an unusual, captive adjustment nut. A marine, industrial, commercial, or custom cable can be made with just a few measurements. Look for a 500lb working load for reduced stretching/adjustment and 5/16-24 ends for using rod ends. Grooved housing on both ends is fine (no need for a threaded housing). The two bolt groove clamps are not included. Don't use a morse type cable with a rigid end on the pedal side since the end attached to the pedal would move vertically with pedal travel but the housing mounting angle to the firewall is fixed. You need to know the necessary cable travel also or just use the trans donor specs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anduril3019 Posted October 18, 2023 Author Share Posted October 18, 2023 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MV8 Posted October 18, 2023 Share Posted October 18, 2023 Looks good. An alternative to the threaded rod alignment on the lower control arm pivots (LCAPs) would be passing the tube uncut through both chassis tubes, fully weld in place, then just cut out the middle. Might also add tow loops while you are in there and double shear the control arm pivots. Have you picked a radiator yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anduril3019 Posted October 18, 2023 Author Share Posted October 18, 2023 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MV8 Posted October 18, 2023 Share Posted October 18, 2023 For very low rad mounts, you could use 1/8 x 2 x 3-1/2 strips, welded to the bottom face of the front crossmember and drilled for grommets or split rubber hose "edging" to line the circle, leaving a hole a little bigger than the radiator bottom stud so it doesn't fit so tight as to pull the grommet out with the radiator. The plates can be bent if the radiator clearance to the nose requires tilting. You can probably shim the civic rad cap so it can't open or dribble on shutdown, leaving system pressure up to the expansion tank cap pressure. If not, the rad cap needs to be at least 20psi to keep it from dribbling or tee the overflow hoses so it is collected if it does dribble. Instead of a welded tow loop, consider an accessible threaded hole and keep an eye-bolt in the glovebox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anduril3019 Posted October 19, 2023 Author Share Posted October 19, 2023 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MV8 Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 Yes, except it needs to be significantly higher (so it won't open) unless the relief ports are tee'd into the catch can/overflow, in which case the caps can be the same or similar psi rating. An alternative is to eliminate the pressure relief capability of the cap that does not have the relief port connected. Just plugging the port next to the cap may not be adequate to prevent leaks and may blow the plug off. 13-14 psi is reasonable. Higher system pressures can damage typical wide tube radiators by ovaling the tubes and blocking airflow. Good time to consider panels to block airflow through the nose from going around the rad. When picking a fan, the size specs are usually smaller in one dimension than advertised, allowing a bigger fan that expected. Most amps/watts you can find for the size that will fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anduril3019 Posted January 17 Author Share Posted January 17 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. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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