S1 Rebuild(s)

[Dave Adams]

some pics of the rebuild process,

the top trailing arm bracket is broke......

the diff is sloping back a little (looking up) so that will need sorting.......

As you can see there isn't a lot of bracing in an S1 chassis, that will be sorted.

[Dave Adams]

No pictures tonight but i have put two pieces of 45mm x 2mm steel flat bar where the prop shaft meets the diff for protection if the prop ever lets go......and also fabricated some hand brake lever mounts.

i will just keep chipping away at it until its done ;-)

[Steve Kerswell]

I was talking to someone the other day who had a prop let go, destroyed his tunnel and gave him a pretty nasty gash in his leg. Luckily one of the following cars was a nurse with a first aid kit. It was a hospital jobbie for a couple of days. So it makes sense to protect yourself.

[Dave Adams]

Knackered UJ....happened on my first Dutton. Luckily it did no damage.....no warning either.....

[Steve Kerswell]

Yeah, mine went too. Luckily it held together for a couple of hundred yards 'til I worked out what the vibration was.

[Dave Adams]

The prop on my Malaga B+ had a grease nipple and it was greased before i took it for its first long run....to Harrogate kit car show back in 1989.....it got there but the return trip the prop started making a lot of noise and vibration, it was a very steady run home. it got me back but the UJ was destroyed, it was very lucky and a near thing.

[Steve Kerswell]

Its well documented about the misalignment in set up of both diff and engine gearbox mounts, a few degrees on such a short prop is heading for disaster. I have now rectified that problem and I believe Dave had the same trouble on his S1 but corrected it in his build. I have also now re done the Sierra and got that running right. Simple check with the old angleometer saves hassle.

[Pete Clayton]

Interesting, i'm sure I read there needs to be slight misalignment otherwise the joints wear out quickly

[Dave Adams]

There should be some angles in the propshaft UJ's they really shouldn't be straight. but the input and output angles should match......

this is the reinforcing to the tunnel area near the propshaft......

I have started fitting the handbrake lever, it needs adjusting as well, but nothing is ever easy when you rebuild these cars to maximize space.

[Dave Adams]

all of my welds are not fully done yet, once everything is in place i will go round and fully sort them, along with the wire brushing the whole chassis for painting.

[Steve Kerswell]

Your right Pete, but these were extreme, and with the movement in the axle was too much. Strange how Dave's went on a long run and mine went after a 150 mile blast into a 200 mile trip.

[Dave Adams]

Errr long is a subjective term.......i had only done local driving for the first week, Harrogate was some 60 miles away......long for me at that time....

[Adrian Southgate]

Built the legerra with less than 1 degree of variance in the prop uj's, 44000+ miles later there is still no play in the prop but then I have shifted the centre line just by changing the shocks and ride height I suppose.