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Post by scooby on Apr 13, 2014 21:59:53 GMT
Being very lazy recently, but finally sorted my rear brakes which have been causing weird problems for a while. Some symptoms included unpleasant 'clunks' and complete lock-up of the brakes when going from reverse braking to forward. Not a good thing to happen - I'm talking complete lock-up of a rear wheel whilst in motion... The causes was down to one of two things - I can't be any more specific since I had two problems within the same drum; return springs fitted in the wrong place and a lack of bump stop for the handbrake cable. (The absence of the latter allows the handbrake lever that's mounted on the shoe to land hard against the shoe securing spring when the handbrake is off. The spring was literally squashed flat in the middle. Anyways, redid one side with a complete new shoe set and fitting kit. Found it a complete pain due to rubbish Haynes manual instructions and fiddly securing fittings. Seems I'm not alone here as others both on this and on the BuySellCortina forum have also hated working on this braking system. Happy to report that second time around was very straight-forward, and here follows hopefully simple instructions for the job: 1) Jack, axle stand - wheel and drum offski. 2) You will be faced with this... 3) Next, remove the shoe retainers. For this you'll need a slotted tool as shown. I used an old screwdriver with a busted tip - I cut a shallow slot using a 4" angle grinder. You first need to peer into the spring hole or prise away the shoe to look behind it with a torch to see which way the 'end hook' of the spring exits the spring's coil - this will determine which direction you apply the disengaging force. (See the second last post of this article - on page 3 - for a proper picture of how this securing spring attaches.) If you look down from above, peering between the cylinder end and the start of the shoe, you can see the spring hoop and clip which really helps when operating the tool. Insert this tool, locate it in the end spring loop as it crosses along the centre, push firmly inwards to extend the spring a few mm (it doesn't require tooo much force) and then lever the whole tool to the correct side to disengage the spring end from the backplate clip (see the picture much further on for a close-up of the spring and clip so's it makes sense).
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Post by scooby on Apr 9, 2014 18:16:06 GMT
Wow, Moggy - that SS fell into the right hands! Can't wait to see what you're going to do with it.
And as Peter says, that's a real niiiiice Bug.
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Post by scooby on Apr 5, 2014 9:44:44 GMT
Wow - that's sounds real good for someone!
Is it correctly reg'd? Where abouts are you?
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Post by scooby on Apr 4, 2014 21:09:04 GMT
Hi Steve and Baj. Are the RVs worth doing up properly? I'd have thought so! If you keep them in decent nick, they'll maintain their value. If, however, you let them get to the stage where they, for example, fail an MOT and you suddenly can't be bothered sorting it and instead chuck it on eBay as a 'project', you'll only get a tiny fraction of its value. How many other cars out there can hold their value indefinitely? Only classics. So the RV is a classic Parts are dead cheap - I got a recon steering rack for £40, for example (how much would a rack for a modern car cost? £100's...). DIYing the repairs - if you are that way inclined - is also as easy as it gets on a car; access is amazing, and it's all very agricultural. So, even if you cannot do these jobs yourself, the labour costs from a garage should be relatively low (try and find an older, time-served mechanic - one of the 'old school'!) And - it's just great fun to drive. I sold my hard-top and doors a couple of months back, and run around exposed to the elements, wrapping up in a thick coat when it's cold, and pulling my hood up when it rains... A long-term project is to make detachable roof panels and doors, but I'm in no rush for that. Get these photos up, gents
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Post by scooby on Apr 2, 2014 8:10:50 GMT
Blimey - that's just incredible.
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Post by scooby on Apr 1, 2014 23:03:26 GMT
Ah. I have to say, the prop angle on my own RV did make me wonder if it was ok - it approaches the diff quite steeply. Mind you, nothing untoward has happened yet, and I've given it some welly over pretty rough ground which must have seen both extremes of suspension travel being reached So, these adjustable links will 'rotate' the whole axle to bring the prop flange at the front pointing a wee bitty more up? Nice. Ok, one Q down and one to go - what's that small V-twin in the photo?!
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Post by scooby on Apr 1, 2014 22:58:36 GMT
Since your car is already Q-reg'd, a desperate option may be to return it to the UK, have it all made legal here, register it in a friend's (UK-resident) name, and just 'borrow' it for a few months each year...
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Post by scooby on Apr 1, 2014 22:52:44 GMT
Hi Baj! Is this a recent purchase? Let's have some photos I'm guessing your RV is Cortina-based, so for the more obscure parts you may want to look at classic Cortina suppliers such as www.oldpartstore.net/ and www.fordcortina.co.uk/links.htmBut, to be honest, very likely the best place for things like plug cables is good ol' eBay - many of these companies sell on there too. Pretty much everything else 'kit car' can be had from EuropaSpares - such as the hinges you are after: www.europaspares.com/exterior-parts/hinges-latches.htmlAlso good is www.s-v-c.co.uk/ Also very good is www.albert-jagger.co.uk/products (great range of commercial vehicle parts which would suit the RV!) For interior and exterior trim materials, www.woolies-trim.co.uk/default.aspx is probably your best bet. Anyways, enough of that malarkey... PHOTOS! STORY! TELL US EVERYTHING! (I have an RV too, as do a few others on here, so don't hesitate to ask if there's anything we can help you with.)
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Post by scooby on Mar 30, 2014 21:30:46 GMT
Nice job, Terry.
Why adjustable top links - what will that do?
What's the interesting V-twin motor? (Or is it a compressor?!)
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Post by scooby on Mar 26, 2014 20:58:43 GMT
Jeepers, that's harsh. I guess the UK was one of the very few countries that actually had a thriving kit-car industry at one time, and there still seems to be that flexibility and allowance for people wanting to build 'one-offs'. Are you confident your car could pass the UK's IVA? Is an ultimate desperate option to have it delivered and tested 'back home', given a UK reg number, have it - cough - registered with a UK resident's name, and then... Sigh, I guess not
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Post by scooby on Mar 24, 2014 14:13:49 GMT
The worst part is that they called your lovely car a 'trailer'...
Cough.
I reckon there's a very good chance there's 'someone' in that country of yours who is familiar with what to do. Even in the UK not every member of that department of the DVLA is familiar with these procedures, which is why in the hay-day of the kit-car industry, cars were often given a Q plate instead of the original reg purely on the 'say' of the person you took it to. (I still remember my chagrin when my Dutton - which according to the DVLA's own points system at the time was more Escort than Dutton - was still given a Q plate. When I started to try and 'discuss' this matter, you could see the guy bristling - he wasn't going to allow a li'l upstart to undermine him...)
You need an equivalent of 'Neville King' (I think he is). He's based (or was) in Truro, I think, and came up to visit me when I was trying to re-reg my NG Henley from being a 'Sierra Convertible'... He wasn't going to bend any rules, but he was a thoroughly decent fellow who took the time to look at all the evidence. And he gave me the original car's reg as well as a V5 with 'Henley' on it...
Are there any kit-car websites based in Spain, or any K-C forums? There must be lots of kits registered in that country?! I think I'd start there - get in touch with as many K-C owners as you can and find out how they managed the reg process. You might find a particular 'DVLA' office in that country who knows the system. And is sympathetic.
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Post by scooby on Mar 18, 2014 20:28:35 GMT
What type of rev counter are you hoping to use, Terry?
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Post by scooby on Mar 15, 2014 21:23:05 GMT
Good advice Peter. It takes a lot to get me going on a project, but I think the 'dash' is in many ways the most satisfying one you can do. Every other part of a kit car is in essence a 'tweak', but the dash is a true ground-up construction.
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Post by scooby on Mar 14, 2014 22:33:40 GMT
Blimey, an engine swap in a day? Won't you need to make up new brackets or anything? Done now't to my own RV for a while (other than cleaning up the starter motor following some unsettling non-cranks...), but it is still being used on a daily basis, sans roof and doors - quite exciting in the current thick mist.. Slowly collecting bits and pieces for when I do get stuck in - I have a nice set of 17" alloys and I'm gathering together suitably chunky high-profile tyres. The big project will be the dash build. I haven't started on this, but I'm formulating ideas in me head. I do have the clock cluster I plan to use, tho' - from a Mk1 Granada; neat looking assembly, same speedo fitting, similar rev counter connections, and a couple of useful extra dials should I feel like connecting them - an oil pressure gauge and a voltmeter. (Not sure how the voltmeter works as the needle sits in the 'middle' position - how will a lower voltage make that fall?) Also looking at colours to ultimately respray the beast with. Fav colour at the mo' is 'Plum' as used on the Peugeot 106... (Not quite sure it'll suit it, but it is a deeply gorgeous colour...!)
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Post by scooby on Jan 30, 2014 22:01:38 GMT
Jeepers, Maverick - what happens if you go over a high ridge and become air-borne? That'll be one 'ell of a hard landing with no springs present!
Can you remember if that was an Eagle recommendation to lower the height? And how firm is your rear now...?
Any idea how much compression travel you still have - that must have been reduced a fair bit? Does you rear 'crash' (bottom-out) when you go over bumps?
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Post by scooby on Jan 29, 2014 23:22:08 GMT
I wouldn't be too concerned about the rear ride height as it's almost certainly not a 'fault' as such with your vehicle, but just one of those things that needs addressing on these models during its build/refurb.
There are plenty of solutions to it, tho' it would be nice to know just what the 'Eagle' one is!
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Post by scooby on Jan 29, 2014 19:07:00 GMT
Wow - a V8 NG?! The TC model has the 'cycle' wings? (Any pics?!)
I sadly had to sell a TF Henley a few months back as an uncompleted project - I really regret not having to be able to get behind the wheel for a good run; they are very handsome cars.
What's the V8 like? A bit scary in such a light vehicle?!
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Post by scooby on Jan 29, 2014 14:59:00 GMT
Hawki, if the ride height increased when you unbolted the dampers, that suggests the dampers were already at their maximum extension with the car just sitting there. So, as you drive along, there is no further suspension movement for the rear wheels to come down if that rear wheel runs into, say, a pot hole - the whole car would crash downwards instead of just the wheel! Not very comfy - or safe.
Clearly the springs are too strong/long for the rear weight of the car.
However, if you were to just cut the springs (in half!) to get a better ride height, the stiffness would be increased further - I can't see that being very comfy either.
I also wonder how much actual travel these dampers have; at the moment they are at the top of their extension. This means the wheels can be pushed upwards by road bumps, but not drop down any further into dips. If you were to now alter the springs to lower the ride height by 6", that also means the dampers have been reduced in length by roughly that amount; you've effectively removed the best part of 6" from the car's upwards suspension travel, so I wonder how much travel is left inside the damper to allow the wheels to be bumped upwards? Possibly only an inch or so! In which case your car would 'bottom out' with almost every raised bump you drive over...
So, it's quite possible that if you wanted to reduce the rear ride height by as much as 6", you would need to change the springs and the dampers. Perhaps this can be done by replacing it all with coil-over-shocks, or perhaps either the top or bottom damper mounts can be extended - along with either shorter springs or softer ones? You'd also need to ensure the rear axle wouldn't foul anything under the car with this new ride height.
Surely someone has the answer!
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Post by scooby on Jan 28, 2014 22:28:40 GMT
That looks like a really solid project for some lucky person - a terrific car which genuinely needs little work.
Good luck, Nicola - I hope it goes to a good home, and you get what it's truly worth.
(I bet it'll be a real lurch for you to see it go, though...)
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Post by scooby on Jan 27, 2014 21:13:42 GMT
Hmmm, the SS looks good in that shade of blue . What would cause the rear end to be high? Isn't the Eagle chassis designed to take the Cortina axle and suspension and set it at the right height for the car?
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Post by scooby on Jan 2, 2014 10:00:13 GMT
Many production cars have split-folding rear seats, often with the larger folding section including the narrower central seat - so you have one standard seat and one 'double'. This can be an easy way to cut the overall width down to RV size - just cut out that 'middle' seat, restitching the fabric, to make 2 standard seats instead.
So, once you find suitable front seats, you might be lucky and find that the rears lend themselves to being modified quite easily too.
That's what AndyexRVMac did with my RV - chopped off the central section from the rear Renault bench, and they fit snugly. Darned comfy they are too. If I wanted permanent rear seats I'd probably stick with them and fix them down properly, but I'm really looking for multi-purpose use for the Jeep, so will be using folding Vitara ones.
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Post by scooby on Jan 1, 2014 15:53:45 GMT
Hmmmm, MGTF seats.
Yes - these are a bit narrower than those of most cars, and can be really stylish and comfy too. And they have flat-mounting rails.
I bought a pair a few years back for another kit I was hoping to do up - an NG Henley. The MG TF's seats were one of the few fro a production car that would fit in the kit's tighter cockpit, and I gave them away with the kit when I sold it a few months back - so I could concentrate on the eagle...
What would you do for rear seats in this case? Does the MG TF have a small matching dicky seat in the back you could use? Or would you have to buy 2 matching pairs of front seats?
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Post by scooby on Dec 30, 2013 11:00:44 GMT
Ah - the Bedford Rascal! That donor of many seats for narrow-cockpit kits such as the Marlin...
I think they'd look wrong in the RV, tho', as they are pretty skinny-looking in all respects.
That darned roll-over bar does make a big difference, but don't forget that seat side squabs are squishy, and you don't necessarily need a 'gap' there betwixt the seat and bar as such - tho' it is desirable, I guess. But, once you position your seat, it basically stays in one position anyway.
My RV currently has really comfy Renault seats fitted, and these do press against the roll bar a bit. The only actually hassle with this is that the seat belt tries to come up between the two, so it makes it harder to pull. Other than that, tho', it isn't actually a problem that they touch - and the seats are really comfy...
Without running out to check, I think my replacement Vitara seats are slightly narrower so will hopefully not fit as tightly.
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Post by scooby on Dec 29, 2013 18:57:46 GMT
Hi Eagle.
I've had similar bad earths to you, seemingly. Some really weird goings-on with the dashboard lights. Traced to the column light switches not having an 'earth' connector to the spade on the right-hand stalk (lights/wipers) and also an earth for the Cortina clock cluster not being, well, earthed.
I ended up taking a sturdy wire from the engine block to the metal square-box-section bar that runs under the dashboard cowl - this box-section has three bolts going through it and the fibreglass 'valance' between the screen and the bonnet; you know that flat body bit where the washers are mounted? Having earthed this metal box-section tube, all my other earth requirements go to that.
If your leccy does 'weird' things, then it'll almost certainly be an 'earth' fault. Poor earths force power go through other circuits - with strange results...
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Post by scooby on Dec 21, 2013 12:11:54 GMT
I'd suggest simply having a look around a local scrappy, then!
If you tie yourself to a particular make of seat, you'll likely give yourself a harder task. Landie seats may well be very suitable - I don't know - but I think you'd do yourself a disservice ruling out others. If you reckon you don't need 'vinyl', then I'd avoid it - cloth/velour is far more pleasant to sit on, especially come next summer when the sun hits your seats!
If you just keep your eyes open, and have a good look in through the window of every parked car you see (cough), you'll soon pick up on which makes have the best-looking seats. Some will have overly-patterned fabrics which are a no-no. Others will look too 'plump', round-edged and wide. But you'll find many which are crisply-styled whilst still being very comfy (I'd fit the ones from my Zafira in a heart-beat.)
Don't forget the all-important rear seats; if you just want casual rear-passenger/children use in the back, then the smaller ones from the usual 'Jeep-style' vehicles should be ideal - the Suzukis and Hondas, etc. Similarly - as mentioned before - the 3rd row seats from many MPVs.
Also have a gander how they are fitted to the vehicle's floorpan - you ideally want flat, level fixings, one at each end of each rail. But, don't rule out a cracking set of seats just because the fixings will require a bit more work.
When you look inside your completed RV, 2 things will immediately mark out its perceived quality - the dashboard and the seats. Worth getting right.
Once you settle on a few suitable makes and models, do a search on eBay for each type and 'save' the search according to 'nearest'. Sit back and wait...
(Unless you have a good near-by scrappy, of course.)
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Post by scooby on Dec 20, 2013 14:25:51 GMT
Nice one, UK!
What needs doing to make it roadworthy - or is it already?
As said above about seats, the production car world is your oyster. The RV is a roomy car, so most manufacturer's car seats will fit. Having said that, you do need to watch out for narrowness caused by the roll-over bar.
What type of seats are in there at the moment? I'd suggest you simply sit in these and decide what more you want over them; more padding? Width? Adjustment? Is the jeep going to be a mud-slugger? If so, do you want vinyl/ easy-clean covers?
Any seats going in the back? If so, you'll find space more limited so rear seats from most production cars will need modifying (cutting down)a fair amount, and this can be tricky to do neatly.
In general, tho', I'd say go big and comfy! The Renault seats that came in my own jeep are really good this way, tho' they don't have any adjustment other than recline.
Under the seat you'll find a fibreglass 'box' moulded in to the RV's floor. This gives a good raised base ideal for a limited number of seats, most likely after-market seats designed for 'kits'. If you want to use production car seats, you'll almost certainly find these 'boxes' too high, so they'll need cutting down and re-glassing.
I've been very lucky in managing to source a full set of Vitara seats, and I'll be fitting these as soon as I have time. The rear seats fold up completely, so will allow the back to be a load-carrier or provide actual seating space. The front seats have different height rails underneath, so I've made blocks to level them out. They will need the glass-fibre boxes to be cut down nearly flush with the floor, but that's no great heartache.
In keeping with the car's image, definitely big comfy chairs, and not after-market 'buckets' or sports type, I'd say. Have a good look around a local scrappy!
(The Honda RAV and many Suzukis tend to have fully-folding rear seats. Another type of car to look at is MPVs such as the Zafira, Galaxy, and such like. You'll very likely find the '3rd-row' seats are ideal for fitting into the back of the RV, and they'll match the front ones.)
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Post by scooby on Nov 15, 2013 16:28:28 GMT
I can't really help you, wiggy, I'm afraid.
All I can say is that my Jeep - although Cortina-based - is clearly different from yours as it doesn't have an opening rear door.
I notice that the other hardtop - in Chesterfield - seems to have a larger glass/acrylic rear window which appears to go right down to the very bottom of the roof at the back(?), so when it opens there isn't a solid piece along the bottom as on mine. This is pure conjecture, but I'd have thought that that would more likely suit a Jeep with an opening read door? (Blast...)
Have you asked the seller what type of Jeep he has, and whether it has a rear door?
Ask him what the width of the bottom opening is - if that's the same as the width of your rear door, then I guess you have your answer?
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Post by scooby on Nov 15, 2013 11:12:26 GMT
Gary. I should have thought about advertising them separately, as half the questions I've been asked is just that - can I have the top OR the doors. And the doors would have been an easy couriering job - the hardtop is proving to be a 'mare. It's too big for a standard pallet, and 2 pallets cost over £100... Hey-ho. As bids (well, a bid... - the other one has been retracted), I feel duty-bound to continue with the auction as it is.
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Post by scooby on Nov 15, 2013 11:07:08 GMT
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Post by scooby on Nov 14, 2013 20:51:11 GMT
You made these ferrules? How did you anodise them that colour? That is seriously lovely work... Why two cables - is it a pull/push system? To be sure to be sure.
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