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]

I have been fitting the pedal box today and adding some bracing to the transmission tunnel,

after careful measurement i am sure the pedals are as near as dammit in the same place as before, however sitting in the car it feels closer....odd.

I have altered the steering column angle slightly so that it is parallel to the dash surface and clears the pedal box position with out compromising the pedal position.

I have measured the width at the pedal box and on the old glass fibre pedalbox and it was in the region of 10" it is now 11 3/4" .......so result!

[Dave Adams]

I had thought to alter the pedals themselves but not the top mount.....I will have an experiment and post the results....mine may be as much as 3/8 of an inch out as well.

[Dave Adams]

I have put about 3-5 mm of washers behind the top pedal box mount and it moved the pedals back by about 1" the pedals will still need cutting and reshaping to improve matters as there is not enough thread to put more washers underneath. i am reluctant to do much with pedals until the seats are back in.

[Dave Adams]

a little more progress today just about finished the welding, and i have modified the pedal box some what. I have put it back where it was and cut up and re-welded the pedals, they are about 2" further back but they have the same travel.

and another.......

they are now in line with each other for the first time ever......and you can see the clearance there now is in the pedal area of the foot well.

more later....i have to do the family thing now.....

[Dave Adams]

The pedal heads are about 2“ wide and the pedal box is now much wider than it was. the pedal box is Triumph.

[Big Vern]

Dave, I see you've added all the extra weight:) tubing in the cockpit but not replaced the rollbar. Did you not learn anything from AndyS's ramblings:):)

[Dave Adams]

I took note of andys ramblings i even looked into buying a new roll bar. however having spoken to Andy smith for a few hours it seems the roll bar is adequate if braced for the chassis and roof support. i am not concerned about rolling the car......most folks will never roll a car in their whole lives i have done it once (in a relian robin in snow....) so do i fit a new stronger roll bar? how about air bags ooooh and 4/5 point harnesses. and that's my point Vern....where do you stop with safety features? I figure that any accident that involves my car ending upside down wasn't survivable anyway. besides most cars contemporary with our cars never had roll bars kits or otherwise. anyway if safety was my priority a dutton would be bottom of the list and a Volvo near the top.

[Dave Adams]

some more progress, somewhat delayed because Sandra told me Friday that her car needed an MOT so in it went Saturday....and failed on 3 brake pipes and one tyre was a different size on the rear of the car...odd as it has never had tyres since she owned it so it was there last years MOT. basically taking the car to MOT and all the prep work done before and then sorting the problems afterwards took all day. So at 1700 i was able to play with mine.

My Xmas pressy came into use and jolly good it was too

Look no engine and gearbox, whilst i have fitted a clutch this is the first time the gearbox has been out of the car whilst in my possession.

At least i can paint over the dodgy colour scheme left by the previous owner, and i can sort the rack position and mounts. Or fit the ford front end for which i still need to acquire parts for (callipers and wishbones)

Those curved flat bars on the front are my Radiator mounts and very well they work as well, i can flex them out of the way and lift the radiator out in 5 minutes, when in use the radiator is firmly fixed in place with no movement.

[Dave Adams]

A little more today...I had to do some DIY on some flat pack furniture,

so i have put a gusset along the top of the rear of the car as i think it needed one here, also

some triangulation on the transmission tunnel and the door front edge has had a fillet added to the chassis instead of the wood filler it had before. This is a huge help with waterproofing the cars whilst it's moving. and sealing the doors to the car edge.

[Paul Sheridan]

Does the door have any extra fixings to the fillet (velcro or the like) to stop water ingression or is it just the fact that the door has more area to seal against ? 

[Dave Adams]

Paul...

When the cockpit capping's are on, all i do is stick a 20mm wide 5mm thick foam strip to the car side to follow the door opening. Once the door has been fitted and bent to shape to the side of the car it actually seals very well. Wind pressure is enough to ensure a good seal. The fillet to the front edge is because there is a small gap on my car (and other S1/2's i have seen) when the door is closed and it is amazing how much water got in.

This small mod along with the rounded fillet to the door where it meets the rear wing, makes the car very dry.

[Dave Adams]

this weekends progress.......not much but enough especially as i have a cold and working in the garage is just what it needs......NOT.

I have made new shocker top mounts and worked on the bottom ones, they will be cut off the axle and remade and repositioned. I may even make the bracket with a choice of mountings to give the shocker some adjustment for ride height and load.....or not.

I have also removed and made anew one of the axle trailing arm mounts, the axle now moves smoothly up and down in the chassis with out binding. Hopefully the excessive axle bush wear will be a thing of history. the panhard rod is not perfectly positioned but it is quite close to it, so i don't know what to do.