Dash fuckwittery, etc.

[Roy Kemp]

Hi all,

Actually managed to wangle a few spare hours to work on the Dutton yesterday. Which, given present commitments, is a minor miracle in itself. So, you may recall from previous blog posts that I've got a pile of fancy bits to fit, stuff to fix, things to modify/improve, etc.

So, I decided to have a decent loo at my front suspension which has always been a bit of a bugbear of mine. The car is phenomenally understeery, even taking the locking diff into account. I've got adjustable bottom arms which need bottom shock mounts welding on before I can fit, however, looking at the front struts it appears I've got the cheapo motorcycle shocks. I've always suspected my car is way too high at the front, and it needs to come down a fail old bit. Anyone know if you can change the springs on these crappy old struts? If not, it doesn't make sense to fab up brackets for the new arms to suit these if I'm going to have to go down the coilover route. So, this job was successfully f**ked off for now.

Next, I pulled off the dash and steering wheel for a look at what's under there for fitting the Corsa PAS column. Oh, wait, sorry, I skipped a stage. I was trimming all the old Corsa switchgear off and managed to completely butcher the top bearing in the process. So, that's that fooked. I guess this column will only get to serve as a dummy for test fitting! Anyway, removing the dash revealed not-as-bad-as-feared wiring, but a complete abortion of an arrangement holding the steering column into the car. As per the photo, there's a bit of angle iron bolted loosely through the tub running vertically. Then, loosely "bolted" to this, a horizontal piece hung from a broken part of the tub, from which the column hangs. Horrendous. Needless to say, this is all coming out.

Current plan is to run a bit of tube across the car behind the dash. This will pick up two backing plates to sit behind where the screen bolts onto. This should hopefully cure the tub flexing that's cracking my windscreens. This will be bracketed down to the chassis. Hopefully I can position this so it's not a total nightmare to hang the rear steering column mounts from. Will see if I can retain the collapsibility of the column with this arrangement. Not had a look at the front column mounts yet but suffice to say they look fairly poxy. Might need another cross-tube.

Bloody thing will weight a tonne by the time I'm finished.

[Big Vern]

The adjustable TCA's were never intended to be used like that - they are mean't for track cars. The threaded portion is a high load high fatigue point. As said previously unless you are using the car for the track why do you need adjustable TCA's. Double width ARB mounts only add to the front end stiffness promoting understeer which you are complaining of. Ditch the Adjustable TCA's you don't need them once you have the camber set  and fit stock ARB 'properly' mounted and use the small bar. This should provide a safe stable base to enable you to tweek the car to your liking.

[Steve Kerswell]

did it come off a Morgan? they use that tree wood?

[Steve Kerswell]

couple of wood screws up from the bottom, to close that split, and jobs a good 'un :-))

[Adrian Southgate]

APM Duraflex can do 19mm. Its just not on any of the listings on ebay. I've not used (knowingly anyway) the 'wrong' bushes so don't know it they will fit ok or slop around under stress. Having too stiff an ARB will cause lift on the inboard wheel. I had a 22mm ARB on the legerra and dumped it as there was one 'roundabout' that used to cause the opposite wheel to get airborne if you cut it, same with speed ramps taken diagonally. In your situation I'd be looking at retaining tyre contact on the tarmac rather than stopping the front from rolling. No doubt others will disagree with my laymans opinion :) Low speed hard cornering ... which do you want, rubber flat on the tarmac or cocky leggy syndrome, better still ask Nick as he's tried both I beleive...

[Dave Adams]

I'm with Steve as well......it's your car.
Personally I don't see an issue with what your doing.

[Roy Kemp]

I've got a fabrication guy who could probably weld cheese and toffee together, he's that good... 

I've got the double width brackets and 20mm ARB poly bushes (nobody does 19mm) - do we recon these will be ok or will I need to shim out the ARB for these bushes?

[Steve Kerswell]

Aberdeen probably has a few stove welders :-))

[Adrian Southgate]

19mm ARB is basic 1100/1300 escort fodder :) and IMO perfectly adequate for the lightweight Phaeton..

Yes I was looking to make tension strut brackets but the shop has stalled most of that R&D stuff until I finish getting a handle on being 'Da Boss' :( Retail kits are available but silly money.

@BV The number of people fitting those adjustabe TCA's to road cars is relatively high (because negative camber is cool :( on a road escort innit bruv.)

[Roy Kemp]

Thanks Steve - appreciate the comment.

[Steve Kerswell]

Ask twenty people, you'll always get differing opinions. It's your car and there is nothing "dangerous" in what you want to copy. Think you just got to say, this is where I'm going with this. Sort of sort the information out from the answers below, and just think it through. Good luck with it and keep us posted.