more mods

[Dave Adams]

i have ordered another clutch cable for my car, because past experience has shown they can snap after a year or so. to get one at a minimum length i need i have to order an RS2000 clutch cable. My friend has a MK3 Cortina and his clutch cable is quite long so i thought i would order one of those, and it is the same length as the one i have. So my question, What RWD ford uses a long clutch cable? Capri?

my Cable is about 1m long (overall, inner and outer)

[Dave Adams]

I obtained some coil overs and needed to remove the springs as i felt they were too stiff. the spring length was about 10" or so i thought. but my spring compressors wouldn't fit on the springs. I tried to buy some but i was struggling to find any that would fit. so i modified the ones i had

and another view,

 

and here is the first spring removed, as you can see it had 2" preload on it,

 

however the spring does not feel too stiff now it's off, i wish i had a spring rate tester to check exactly what it is. my 150lb/in springs are 12" long  and if i fit them they too will be pre loaded to 300lb before they go on the car, so i am unsure what to do, my car is quite heavy though and a little preload may be a good idea.

[Dave Adams]

I have made myself a coil spring tester, i will post pictures later. But a quick test gives 45kg/in (about 100lb/in) and 65kg/in (about 145lb/in) on two different springs i have The 45kg/lb are the ones above! so they may just go straight on to my car.

[Dave Adams]

Some pictures for you, i will take some more of the individual parts to show the method of construction.

It is made from some 4" X 2" box section steel and some 1/2" square tube....more later.

[Dave Adams]

Well i have calibrated the tester with a bucket of water (10L = 10kg) and re-tested the springs and they came out at 120lb/in and 190lb/in and 205lb/in the 120's are the ones going on my car they will have 240lb of preload I will like to see how the cars performs with the softer springs. Before i do though i will check my springs on the car to see if i get 150lb/in.

it does mean that i have two pairs of springs spare they are both 10" X  2 1/2" ID one pair is 190lb/in (ish) and the other is 205lb/in (ish) so if some one is looking for some springs there will be some available....... i just need to see what i need for my fronts, they are 225lb/in at the moment but i dont remember the length, the 190's would be better. But i think they are too long for the fronts and too wide as i am sure they need 1.9" ID. I will keep you all posted.

[Dave Adams]

Sandy doesn't like bathroom scales.......they depress her too much ;-) but they were in the bathroom, and then they weren't i found them in the bin, i thought they would come in useful one day.