So after more than a year of neglect, this is what I had. During
the layoff, I'd bought a set of big and little (for a Pop) crossplies,
and fitted them to the Minx wheels I already had. The rear (still Alfa)
is on temporary brackets, and will sit a couple of inches lower than this.
I want to modify the rear wheels with slightly wider rims, and more offset
to make the centres appear less bulbous. The narrower Anglia axle should
allow this. Alfa motor still in place when this picture was taken, extreme
rearward positioning dictated by the sump shape. The Pinto motor should
fit better.
Here's the Alfa motor hanging on the hoist. A lot of work was put
in to adapting a more compact starter. Alfa required a big cutout on the
right side of the bulkhead. Note the deep sump that runs all the way to
the front. Also visible in this shot is the Z'd frame.
Here's the new 2.0 litre Pinto motor and junkyard fresh 5 speed
box. Bought the motor off a friend's dad, it's good one to use as it has
a Weber twin choke carb and a Bosch electronic dizzy. Note the Pinto motor
has a rear sump, the reduced height at the front allows the motor to sit
further forward than the Alfa unit. (Screwfix does not refer to some kind
of sexual therapy, by the way).
Anglia axles are hard to find these days. I picked up a pair, less
brakes off my boss's dad, he intended to use them in his autotest frogeye
sprite, but ended up restoring it instead. Remember the front brake conversion
using Anglia hubs? The discarded 997 front drums fit the rear axle, plus
the guy I bought the motor from also threw in some Anglia brake shoes.
Sometimes you get lucky.
Here's the new motor sitting in position. Front pulley perched
just above front U-bolts, Viscous driven stock fan could be used, rad will
fit just forward of stock location. May use a 100E rad. Funky rostyle wheels
used as rollers.
Busy right side of engine uses stock Sierra engine mount bolted
on upside down, so it sticks backwards, positions bobbin style engine mount
above and slightly inboard of frame rail. Fiat coupe steering box fits
between engine mount and alternator. I may swap out the fiat box for something
with an integral column if I can find something that fits. I tried a Ford
100E, and Zephyr mkII box before settling on a 105E Anglia unit bought
from the NSRA swap meet. Alternator later raised on a spacer bracket.
A chunk of 10mm steel plate was drilled and tapped to act as a
spacer to raise the left side engine mount. this puts the bottom of the
rubber slightly above the left frame rail. The Zing operation still incomplete
on this side, the metal part below the wood is temporary. Work now proceeding
on the frame side of the engine mounts, pics to follow.
Inside view shows the improved footroom, due to the more forward
location of the Ford engine compared to the Alfa. This particular 5 speed
box was selected because it has a mechanical speedo drive. I envisage using
a remote gearshift lever positioned well forward, with a link running back
to a stub lever in the original position. the reverse lockout will be tricky.
If I can find a transit gearbox of the right type, the shifter sits on
top and to the left of the transmission.
Fast forward now to the lates spate of work carried out August
2003.
First thing was to finish the split radius arm setup. I fabricated
up a new crossmember with a slight drop in the centre, and made mounting
points to locate the ends of the radius rods. The rods have rubber bushed
fitted at the ends. The bends were welded up, I might add a gusset for
strength. Bent arms are not ideal, but due to space restrictions sometimes
compromises have to be made. Lower part of engine mount (stull requiring
gusseting) can be seen in this shot.
I decided to add a new "main" crossmember of chunky 50mm square
tubing. 25mm square brace is in place here to brace the two new crossmembers
together. Diagonal links will be added to the rear. The axle will be located
by long radius/torque rods which will attach to the rear side of
this new crossmember.
Time to mock it up a bit to get an idea of how it might look. I
quite fancy the fenderless look, not sure if I'd get away with it though.
rear wheel just propped in place here, Bedford hubcaps borrowed to tidy
the look a little.
Here's a sneak view of the no nonsense rear suspension setup. One
rubber bush, rods are bent to clear the floor, and are welded solidly to
the axle. Hard part is mounting the transverse spring, that is the current
job in hand.
Here's the assembly taking place on the world's smallest chassis
jig. Geometry was very carefully checked when frame was welded to the axle.
(lost the pics unfortunately). Rubber bushed end is one end of a Volvo
panhard rod.
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More will be added here as it happens.
---oooOOOooo---
Mart.
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