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.

[Adrian Southgate]

The initial one degree was engineered... the displacement angle when I'm in it ...pure luck

[Dave Adams]

after a while of not being able to work on my car i have made a start again.....

the modified front wish bones.......i have used the Dutton mounts and altered the triumph wishbones to make them. partly to see if it is practical to do that and partly so there is minimal or no modifications to my chassis up front. the wish bones need a little tidying up but i was wary of doing too much in case it all didn't work as planned. it seems fine the castor is about 5 degrees and the camber is adjustable and now set to 1 degree negative.

the track at the front is 54 1/2" the rear is 53" with the 3/4" spacers it will be the same front and rear.

i have also been strengthening the scuttle and making a battery box.......

[Steve Kerswell]

Those wishbones look the bizz Dave, good thinking.

[Paul Sheridan]

I recognise that top arm idea !!!  The most important thing is to get that adjuster sleeve the correct size, if not the head will sheer off the insert adjuster. Are they from rally design Dave? 

[Paul Sheridan]

What ball joints are you using in the top arms, the only ones I could get had a different taper to that of the triumph uprights and so had to buy a tapered reamer to ensure a good fit. 

[Dave Adams]

A guy on ebay sells them for £35 a pair all steel....

[Dave Adams]

They are cortina uprights. Found in a local scrap yard a few years ago for £5..... I have used the locost dimensions for the wishbones which incidentally are very similar to the triumph ones. The top being shortened a fair bit but the bottom almost right for the cortina uprights.

[Dave Adams]

the other wishbones are in place now

and i have been looking to fit the spare shockers i have but the top mounts will need moving as well as ajusting

but you can also see that the rack is mounted too high and that will also need adjusting..

as well as sorting this way too proud bush on the O/S wish bone, as a plus it will bring the castor back to the same as the N/S......i hope.

[Dave Adams]

I have 4 coil over Koni shocks all fitted with rose joints .......they were an ebay purchase a few years ago but of the 8 top spring platforms i have only 2 are right..... so i could use some more...pictures to follow.

i have also started to make a remote brake pedal linkage so i can mount the master cylinder right over in the engine bay adjacent to the side chassis rail, this will give me a much easier job of making an inlet plenum ...again pictures to follow

[Dave Adams]

new rack mounts have been  made and fitted, and the steering column re adjusted for the ford rack position...tomorrow i will take some pictures and post.

just some shocker mounts to make and i can centre the rear axle then strip it down and fully weld everything clean and paint the chassis then the long process of building starts.

[Dave Adams]

these are the shockers i bought off ebay a few years ago, i had some 200lb springs which i think will be right for the car (not that its an issue as springs are very cheap to buy at less than £20  each...)  they are only 10" springs and the overall length of the shocker is a tad longer than ideal but i am modifying the car anyway and making new shocker mounts is the least of my problems. the Koni's are old but sound, the bushes at either end are rose joints not rubber...but i dont think it is a problem.

and here is the (work in progress) pedal box brake linkage mod i am working on.......

a little tidying up and perhaps some extra bracing on the mount and the master cylinder will mount adjacent to the chassis rail. thus giving me loads of room for my inlet manifold.

i have discovered one thing though....whilst i have a Ford Escort rack i dont have any rack mounts....if anyone on here has any spare brackets and rubbers let me know as otherwise it will have to be ebay again........

[Dave Adams]

burton power and rally design both sell "new" cortina uprights.....not cheap but not bad value either at about £175 the pair.