Q91CMV - Dutton Legerra ZS Series 2

[Adrian Southgate]

So, MOT sorted by the skin of its teeth, loads to do before tomorrow morning, panic has set it due to a little mishap with the pedal box...

How many of you fitted metal spreader plates between the pedal box and the bulkhead? Here is something for those of you with pinto engines to think about.

I didn't see this coming 8 years ago when I re built it... The holes are supposed to be there... the crack around the edge is not.

Seems the proximity to the manifold has weakened the fibreglass of the tub a little

Well a lot actually :)

A metal spreader plate on the inside would have eased the load on the area and this may not have been quite so severe. This is going to be a fun evening..

[Paul Sheridan]

Ready for your spring tour?

[Steve Kerswell]

Big, BIG, washers :-))

[Adrian Southgate]

While I'm waiting for parts to arrive for the steering, I started to work on the shocks. The old ones are just that, old and very tired.

Budget's well blown for this month so looking at replacing them with dampertech units later. In the mean time found a pair of very similar units lurking in the parts bin and having acquired a set of softer springs off Mr Kerry decided I'd do the swap. Having re manufactured the coil clamps, which were way too big, I struggled getting the first one apart. Like all Dutton related tasks, the ten minute job requires 3 hours to make the right tool because you bought the item that should have done the job but it didn't fit.

Anyway, got the 'spare' apart only to find the I/D of the old spring is 45mm and the replacement springs are 50mm. Oh well, time for another look in the spares box I guess.

[Adrian Southgate]

The discs and calipers line up perfectly. I have one piece stub axles with integral steering arm. I'm sure the Capri just used different stub axles, The RS used a different setup with steering arms separate if I remember correctly, probably capri bits :)   

I've got sources for Capri bits locally that might turn something up, one of them is my MOT tester :)  

I'm going to order the parts for my solution tonight, hopefully they arrive Saturday. I need to get on with it while I can, it's supposed to rain sunday, back later.

[Steve Kerswell]

Whatever you think is best, your at the sharp end, I'm just throwing ideas at you :-)

[Adrian Southgate]

Its a thought but would that have enough of a contact area between the base of the steering arm and the top of the ball? The top hat washer thingys spread the contact patch to about 3x the area and will be a dead snug fit inside the ball and around the non threaded part of the bolt. The ball and the steering arm total 40mm so I am looking at 75mm bolts which gives me 39mm of plain shank plus whatever the washers add... I can always trim some thread off.

[Steve Kerswell]

Isn't Tim (God) known as the bodger?

[Steve Kerswell]

You could drill the arm to 14 mm parallel, it's not like the rose joint is a temporary bodge. It's a permanent bodged :-))))

[Adrian Southgate]

Narrow end of the taper is 12mm, wide end is 13.5mm. The centre hole in the M14 rose joint is 14mm so it would need the top hat spacer which comes with a taper bit on it, its too angled to make a good seat all the way up.

This is one of 'those' moments when a small metal lathe would be rather handy. I could do the job with a drill but i'd have to be careful about drilling down the centre of the taper part of the old track rod end after its been removed from the ball. I could make a tapered sleeve to go over the bolt, its going to be clamped pretty tight to the ball in the new rose joint anyway so in theory it's possible. The bolt would have to pass through the top hat into the ball and another top hat the other side, washer either side then into the taper adapter and nut on the top. I can see it developing 'play' if it doesn't have the taper adapter made but with it it should be fine.

Any thoughts people?

[Adrian Southgate]

I'm off out to measure the hole in the steering arm both top and bottom. I've worked out a plan involving old track rod ends, rose joints and top hat spacers and a big 12.9 ht bolt ...