Brakes - Willwood / AP Alternative. Rear Bias solution
for Sierra brakes
I purchased Colin's white stylus. I recently upgraded the brakes as I found the
standard sierra ones very heavy. After some research I bought hispec motor
sport's 260 kit (4 pot callipers on 260mm discs). this was a lot cheaper than
Willwood or AP racing equivalents @ circa £450 including pads
and mounting brackets. They also fit perfectly under the 14" minilites The new
front brakes were much better but consequently unbalanced the car. my local
garage knows Fords very well and suggested using the rear pistons from an estate
sierra ( they have 2mm bigger bores but are interchangeable with all other
sierra pistons) This seems to have worked and avoided the need for
a bias valve, and at £12 each was a cheaper alternative.
Miles Youdan
Body Fitting - Escort Axle car (helps on De Dion car
too)
When fitting the body to the standard escort axle car, make sure the car's
suspension is loaded. the panhard rod means the axle moves sideways when it's
not loaded and the axle is 'hanging'. To ensure the body lines up with wheels
and arches have the car sat on the ground holding it's own weight.
Ford Zetec - E Cam Shaft Removal
Undoing the torx socket bolts that fix the pulleys to the camshafts can be
difficult. Although locktight is not used by Ford, they can be problematic to
undo. Once undone, the pulleys come off the taper easily. If they do not want to
move with a torx driver, use a disc cutter to cut a slot across the face of the
bolt. Depth of slot about ¾ of the bolt thickness. Then the bolt will unscrew
easily using a hammer & drift. Unscrew it immediately while it is still hot, it
helps. Cut a little more if they refuse to undo. Heat cycling, extension bar &
shock treatment all failed for me. The slot method was much quicker, easier and
safer than heat cycling or shock (hammer) treatment.
John Vinnicombe
Track Rod End Rubbers
I (Chris Chapman) was recently checking over my Stylus with Toyota 4A-GE ready
for an MOT, when I noticed the track rod end boots were perished. This is the
second time I have had to replace these & the car has only covered approx.1000
miles. Speaking with a colleague who runs a Rickman Ranger (escort steering
rack) he has suffered the same problem countless times. We both decided that the
original rubber boots are poor quality.
I have just fitted a pair of 'Energy Suspension' polypropylene boots, which are
a direct replacement for the original items, but should last much longer.
I would advise everyone to change these, as perished boots could cause an MOT
failure.
I bought mine from Rally Design Tel: 01795 531871 or
www.raldes.co.uk
they cost £3.80 + vat per pair. Have included 'before & after' pictures.
Electrics
1. Don't rely on the joint to support the cable.
2. Try to avoid dis-similar metals in contact, particularly if you want them to be a good electrical joint.
3. Cover electrical joints with general purpose or water repellent grease before assembly. The grease does not prevent metal to metal contact (what you want) but it can exclude water and other corrosive fluids to make a very reliable joint.
Click here
for a picture of the pedal end of things or here
for a picture of the carburettor end.
Fitting of the body
When reading the instruction in the build manual it sounds very daunting and of course to try to explain it, it is very long winded but in fact only takes a couple of minutes to actually fit the body over the chassis.
After fitting the inner body make sure you have cut off
the up turns that run along the sides and go up the scribe lines, where the door
shut will be, I always cut on the far side of the line as this gives a bit of
clearance and is easier than getting the body on & then trying to nibble a bit
more off the inner body, with the main tub in the way.
Cut a good 12 mm off across the rear and up the boot walls, also at the top of
the boot walls at approximately 45 degrees e.g. 50mm x 50 mm.
Now you are ready to start fitting the body shell. If possible position the chassis so that you can stand back from it at all sides so that you can look at the body sitting on the chassis. Sit the chassis on some pieces of timber or 4 axle stands so that it is fairly level, remove the front sub frame, remove the shocks and springs and fit some more wooden struts in there place, remove all 4 wheels & the steering wheel, also if you have prefitted the engine, you will find it easier later on if you remove the engine & box & refit them once you have most of the work done in the engine bay.
Now find a couple of mates to give you a hand. Now read the instructions again with your mates, although it says it is a difficult task, in fact it is not, now lift and stretch the Body on as outlined in the manual, it will only take a couple of minutes, and yes it will stretch that far without breaking. Once in place make sure it is sitting on the alloy floor protruding from the chassis rails, now fit the rear wheels (are they a pair?) (you do not need the front wheels on) and fit the front sub frame, now clamp two battens on either side of the boot aperture and set the distance of 200 mm between the boot floor and the boot lip, I use a spirit level across the back of the car on the upturn just in front of the boot to make sure the back is level. At the front position some cardboard boxes under the nose cone, to lift it to stop it drooping and set the front measurement of 250 mm from the top chassis rail to the bottom lip of the bonnet aperture, make sure the grill aperture looks level and also put a straight edge across the wing tops. Now check that the rear wheels are central within the wheel arch, when you are happy with this mark a centre line (centre of the wheel spindles) on each of the four wheel arches so that when you start measuring the side to side distances that you measure each time from the same place, to measure the side to side I use a spirit level in the up right position. You will notice that at the rear, because the body is sitting on the boot upturns which are flexible, that when you push or pull the body it just swings back, so the best way to move it is to lift & move it , measure between the spirit level and the top edge of the of wheel rim. When you have the rear right, check the front, measure between the level and the centre of the rocker spindle . When you have the front right, check again the rear and again at the front, you should be able to get to within 3 mm from side to side, when you are happy check again that the wheel position at the rear is still correct and the measurements in the boot & bonnet apertures . I now gently fit the "D" sections into the nose cone, try not to knock it all out of position, I now use masking tape over the bolts & nuts so that they do not get bonded . Now check all your measurements again, before bonding across the back of the boot and into the nose cone. Leave it over night to go off, then check all your measurements again. Before bonding under the rear wheel arches, I place 50mm wide masking tape between the top of the boot returns & the under side of the body, from inside the boot area, this stops the fibreglass matting being push thro the gap instead of bonding it all together. When bonding under the wheel arches I use pieces of fibreglass no longer than about 150/ 200 mm long as the weight of longer pieces will make them fall off. I no longer bolt through the Door sill area, but run a fillet of silicon or similar, I also do the same across the top of the fire wall under the windscreen surround round rather than bond with fibreglass, just make sure the areas are clean before applying. Drill a hole either side of the rain channel through the top of the fire wall and fit 5 mm bolts with penny washers.
Fitting the door hinges
Complete the fitting of the hinges as though my
instructions in the additions section of the Build Manual, (you may have to make
the slots in the hinge mounting plate longer) now get a piece of alloy strip or
similar 6mm to 10 mm wide 200 mm long and clamp it to the hardboard attached to
the hinge, now bend the alley into place to replicate the outer skin door shut
line against the door hinge upright, towards the bottom of the door, now open
the door to checked to see that it does not catch the body shell or drag against
it, if it does, check to see if the hinge pin is over towards the body shell as
far as it will go, if not readjust the hinge & check again, if it still catches,
the hinge needs to be packed away from the hinge pillar towards the engine bay
with some washers, this will increase the throw on the hinge, now check again,
it should now clear, but also check half way up and at the top of the straight
section of door.
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