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Post by trike on Jul 10, 2023 5:45:10 GMT
Yes,I will be at Newark. Not sure which day yet.
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Post by trike on Jul 9, 2023 5:58:19 GMT
Hi Jon Please put me down for one in large Name Colin
Thanks
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Post by trike on May 7, 2021 22:15:35 GMT
Long overdue for an update. Been very busy at work ,7 days a week, not enough time or energy left at the end of the day to do much,so progress has been painfully slow. However,electrics and mechanical side is finished,all up and running again. Fun getting the rev counter and speedo working correctly, set up correctly for 4 cylinder wasted spark running off the ecu ,rev counter was reading way too low.Had to set it as V8 to get the correct reading . Speedo was completely dead,no signal from sensor on rear wheel hub.Sensor came with no wiring diagram but only 3 wires so how hard can it be? red=positive supply , black=earth , blue=signal ,obviously, err no! turned out black= positive ,blue=earth , red=signal. Now working ,just need to calibrate it. Still had some heating issues,seems the cheapo ( ebay ) ally radiator ,twin fans and waterless coolant wasn't up to the job. Now replaced with twin branded radiators, (focus RS & golf VR6 ), large single shrouded fan and normal coolant ,problem solved. Boot area all finished,had some issues with the gas struts , with the boot closed the struts were pushing the lid rearwards causing the locking catch to jam,simply fixed by relocating the struts so they push the lid forwards when closed. Battery relocated to the rear behind left side panel to make room for the twin rads. Black tank bottom right is the now needed expansion tank for the redesigned cooling system Apart from a few pieces of trim needing regluing,the interior is nearly finished,need to make some stainless or ally plates (cill covers?) to tidy up the holes for the reversed door lock holes. GT40 seats , the narrowest i could get ,are still a tight fit but fitted on runners ,so some adjustment forwards/backwards. Major problems with the doors Definitely twisted out of shape, when closed ,top of door is flush with roof,lines up with the A post and top of front wing but sticks out 1" at bottom of door and 2" gap at rear bottom of door.3" when gas strut fitted! Not good. Side windows seat nicely against seals at front edge when closed but about 5mm gap at top rear. Twisting the door to match the body shape closes up the window gap nicely. Spent last few months ! figuring out how to solve this without totally dismantling and rebuilding the doors. Best solution I can think of is to cut away part of the inner door skin at the top rear where it curves down front the roof line and at the front where it meets the wing, then heat gun on the outer skin end careful bending to get it in to shape. However the glassfibre outer skin is quite thick,not sure if heat gun will do the trick. Once back in shape make up some stainless? reinforcing plates to glassfibre in on the inside then replace the inner skin. Will replace the struts with electric actuators if I can get them to fit, the roll bar is in the way of the ideal position. From previous experience, most of the actuators (cheap) on the interweb seem to be , 'A'too slow,even the ones advertised as high speed only manage around 14mm /sec. 'B' too noisy,especially inside the car, given the motor is going to be inches from my ear. 'C' too unreliable,either fall apart or motors burn out after short time. Quality ones,capable of around 50mm /sec or faster and quite(ish) run in at around £300+ each,so have to think on that one, or have an umbrella, flask of tea,sandwiches etc. for when standing in the rain waiting for doors to open Also, as door catches are required,(by law in uk),need to make sure they unlatch fully before the actuators operate. At the moment I have the most powerful central locking motors to unlock the doors,but they are bearely adequate ,sometimes need to operate twice before unlocking. So if I decide to go ahead, I will replace these with proper, small more powerful actuators. These will be operated by the remote, then suitable microswitches fitted to the lock mechanism will operate the door actuators when in the fully unlocked position.
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Post by trike on Jul 24, 2020 12:07:20 GMT
NOW CANCELLED
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Post by trike on Jun 29, 2020 13:46:19 GMT
Unforunately no pics of mine before pulling out the pinto lump, but check out Neils ford SS posts, some engine bay pics there, and must be more somewhere on the site.Engine space isn't too bad,enough room(just)to fit v6/v8 but yes,gearbox is a bit tight in the tunnel,standard ford reverse light switch is awkward on type9 gear box,requires a hole in the tunnel by the drivers seat,(I managed to find a shorter one but no idea what from)and i'm sure the later MT75 box is wider,so may not fit. The high stance isn't so much down to the cortina suspension ,that can be lowered,(sort of),but having enough ground clearance for the exhaust system,as no easy way to route it without having to go under the chassis at some point. The alternative is, if you can't make it lower,then make it 'look' lower,side skirts,lower front,rear spoilers, etc.
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Post by trike on Jun 19, 2020 19:57:54 GMT
Slowly making progress,head skimmed, valve seats recut,new valvesand guides. Whilst engine was apart fitted new heavy duty big end & main bearings, new piston rings, seals etc. cross member is now bolt on.I was hoping to mount the steering rack lower to clear the slightly deeper sump but couldn't get the geometry right, so no option but to raise the engine 10mm to get sufficient clearance. Now the engine is all back together, decided to make a few 'minor' mods to the fuel system. Carbs replaced with throttle bodies Had to relocate the brake/clutch fluid reservoir, oil breather system and remake & reroute the a/c hoses. Lack of space under the bonnet means I've had to fit the fuel pumps,filters etc in the boot. Just need to fit another lambda sensor in the exhaust for the ecu (already one fitted for the afr gauge),and ready to fire up. Hopefully get it running over the weekend.
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Post by trike on Apr 5, 2020 6:32:07 GMT
The fit on my new screen wasn't perfect,size or shape. Fitted ok at the bottom but diferent curve at the top.Possibly the roof has gone out of shape over the years? Had to fit some rubber trim to tidy it up.
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Post by trike on Mar 21, 2020 7:10:46 GMT
GEOLOGY
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Post by trike on Mar 19, 2020 14:54:59 GMT
ROCK
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Post by trike on Mar 15, 2020 9:13:03 GMT
Classics@pilkington.com
£459.13 +vat (2018)
sure i posted the part No. on here somewhere.
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Post by trike on Mar 10, 2020 17:10:07 GMT
Can't believe it's been a year since my last post,time for a update! Had the engine running nicely but ,oil leak from sump gasket not sealing around the crank seal housings ,apparently a common problem with steel sumps for RWD zetec conversions. Whilst running the engine to check on the leak,the thermostat (new) decided not to play anymore ,resulting in blown head gasket Removing the head revealed a lot of oil in no2 inlet & exhaust ports (as in dripping out of the carb!),so I figured the overheating had cooked the valve stem seals. Had the head skimmed and pressure tested as it was warped. Removed the valves to fit new seals and ' oh ^*$$#@*% ',valve seats were non existent and stems and guides were totalled. A trip down to Specialised Engines Ltd in Grays,(Ford specialist) to have the seats replaced & phosphor bronze guides fitted & supply new valves. They see this problem a lot on zetecs due to poor quality unleaded and advised using super unleaded & lead additive. The oil leak from the sump was more of a problem,had to cut the crossmember out (welded in as part of chassis) to remove the engine. I will convert it to a 'bolt in' in case it has to be removed in future. Bores were ok but fitted new rings and replaced the main & big end bearings with h/duty race items ,new crankseals etc. Replaced the sump with cast aluminium one,so hopefully no more leaks. i n
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Post by trike on Dec 25, 2019 9:07:42 GMT
Merry Christmas to all
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Post by trike on May 16, 2019 7:41:21 GMT
Was nice to see an SS there,shame about the pitch location.
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Post by trike on Apr 26, 2019 21:08:40 GMT
Hmm....the show guide says 54f 55c would be the plot opposite,next to Club Nova (55d according to the guide) Unless they have been moved as well.
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Post by trike on Mar 20, 2019 20:52:21 GMT
Angle grinder made short work of the old filler,ready for glassing in.
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Post by trike on Mar 19, 2019 21:40:03 GMT
New hinges Headlights Daytime running lights are a bit brighter than expected. Started on the drivers door... Lots of filler to dig out Had a wander around the yard next door and found.. Apparently it's being exported to Cyprus?
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Post by trike on Mar 19, 2019 21:18:10 GMT
I'll be there....not sure about the car, still lots to do.
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Post by trike on Feb 25, 2019 21:36:13 GMT
Not much progress last couple of months, all the silicone coolant hoses started leaking again!.Had to remove them all and refit with good quality gasket sealant and heavy duty clamps.So far seems ok. Headlights all finished and working,very quick up/down,less than 1 second. Can't post any pics at the moment ,although photobucket seems to be back to normal,keeps asking me to confirm wrong email address,so can't upload,and now vgy.me is broken!
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Post by trike on Nov 3, 2018 22:34:31 GMT
Been a while since my last post,busy at work so not much energy left at the end of the day to do much on the car. Haven't fitted the screen or seats yet but passenger side door and mirror is finished and all wired up,just the door card and arm rest to fit. Had some issues with the door hinges,to get the door top level with the roof requires 6mm spacers below the hinge,so will have to remake some with the pin mounted higher on the mounting plate.This will give more clearance to fit domed bolts up from the inside and the nut on top,which will make fitting the headlining easier. Had a bit of a re-think on the head lights. To get them high enough meant mounting them set right back in the wing,main beam was just about ok,but on dip, the beam pattern was terrible, wouldn'nt light up the road at all,no way it would pass an mot! So decided to go back to pop-up's. Not being able to find anything to fit the existing openings and not wanting to hack about the body now it's painted,decided to make my own,and came up with this... The lower opening will have daytime running lights fitted.
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Post by trike on Nov 3, 2018 21:08:54 GMT
Interesting choice of headlamps,nice & compact. Will you leave them manually operated or fit motors?.
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Post by trike on May 30, 2018 16:16:51 GMT
I've been searching for some as well. Found a place that does them 4.5mm thick,but only sell in bulk. Mirror fixing grommets are one possibility, but not sure on sizes. The other option could be to use standard grommets,2 cut in half,offset to one side to make 2 T sections ,then fit one either side of the glass.
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Post by trike on May 19, 2018 19:16:57 GMT
Making up a mounting base for the MX5 mirrors
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Post by trike on May 19, 2018 19:13:59 GMT
Been sorting out the new steering wheel and quick release,couldn't find a short enough boss to fit the column and the adapter needed to fit the mountney steering wheel to the quick release costs around £50, so ended up making them myself.
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Post by trike on May 19, 2018 17:32:41 GMT
I've fitted a afr gauge in mine. No need for engine ecu , but you will need a wideband controller unless using one of the more expensive gauges with the controller built in. Having it permanently fitted is handy as you can monitor the mixture while driving under different throttle/load conditions.
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Post by trike on May 14, 2018 19:24:24 GMT
Over the last few weeks got a fair bit done,electrics finished apart from door wiring. Dash,instrument housing,and center console made,but not yet fitted. Alarm ,central locking system and remote boot release all sorted. Seperate immobiliser system installed, (Autowatch).Not cheap but like most modern cars,has a chip in the key fob,so no messing about with dongles,doodahs etc. Picked up a few goodies at Stoneleigh so got virtually everything needed to finish the car,apart from seatbelts & door seals. Whilst at the show,ordered a pair of seats (GT40 in leather)from Intertrim, 6 to 8 weeks for delivery, so hopefully will have interior finished by then. Started work on the doors,although not rusty,the metal hinge tube in the top of the doors was starting to come away,and the grp on top of the doors (inside & outside) has sunk,so need to sort that out. Managed to misplace one of the door hinge pins so decided if I have to make one,I may as well make all four,and if I'm doing that ,I may as well make them in stainless ,so, Never liked the door catches with the spikey bit sticking up,so have reversed them. Pin mounted in the door,and the now electronic catch fitted in the sill.
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Post by trike on May 12, 2018 19:54:04 GMT
Was there both days. Given the perfect weather shame there wasn't a bigger turnout, although the nova boys & beach buggies were out in force.
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Post by trike on Apr 2, 2018 7:25:19 GMT
that should be Classics@nsg.com
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Post by trike on Apr 2, 2018 7:23:38 GMT
I've got one on order.
£575.95 inc VAT and delivery
Unfortunatly only available in clear, no border or tints
Current contact : Emma Dony Contacts@nsg.com
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Post by trike on Mar 27, 2018 17:44:59 GMT
I'll be there but unfortunately no SS , still way too much to do
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Post by trike on Mar 16, 2018 10:54:18 GMT
Rather than cutting in the middle and then having to modify doors,roof etc. why not cut between the screen and bonnet and just move the nose section forwards?
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