Mark (smokey mow) Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 It's funny how the jobs which should be quick and easy seem to take the longest. Fitting the handbrake cable should have been simple but it's never that easy. For whatever reason my car runs only a single cable rather than the more conventional twin cables. After much searching and unfortunately little sucess after asking on the Boardroom I found it was a MK2 Escort (BC978) part that had been shorterned. I forgot to take any pictures of how I shorterned it but basically I cut of the end ferrule from the clevis, measured the new cable against the old damaged one and cut the cable about 20mm longer than needed. I then slipped a steel nut over the the cable and splayed out the strands to stop it slipping back over then fused the splayed strands to the nut with a small weld. Feeling pleased with my handywork it was trial fitted to the car, but then problems 2 and 3 occured. Firstly the head of the bolt through the clevis would catch on the vertical tunnel tube when pulling the handbrake on (you can see in the picture below how close it is) and then when taking the brake off again the clevis would occasionally catch on the bracket that the lever bolts too. Both were relatively easily fixed in the bench grinder. FIrstly the head of the clevis bolt was thinned down to about 3mm thick so it had plently of clearance to the chassis, and then a radii was made on the end of the clevis so that it could slide past the bracket rather than catching it. Close up of the the offending clevis And zoomed out All fitted and working 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KugaWestie Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Lazy tong riveters are great, that's what I use. I cannot get the car high enough to fix the bottom of the tub with it though, so will have to revert to a hand held one for this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chri5 Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Watcha Mark, Had all the money set aside, made the trip up to Westfield world and ordered starter kit, type of body work, colors etc... then 4 months ago lost my job due to company going into administration so unfortunately the money that was set aside for the kit has had to keep a roof and food on the table :cry: . So all i can do now it clean up and paint the bits i have and keep my fingers crossed a job turns up soon so i can start building again.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 That's a PITA Chris, not good hopefully you find something soon so the build can restart again If you ever want a passenger ride on one of the club runs I'm happy to oblige, I've normally got a seat spare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chri5 Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Yeah i hoping too, driving me nuts seeing everyone building and i cant lol.. but picking up some good tips and tricks so by time i get to building it'll be a breeze.... lmao... Cheers chap, might take you up on that offer one day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodman Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Hi smokey Have you made the throttle pedal yet? Also have you looked at 'push type ' cables? I need to make a new pedal and thought they may be easier to install? regards Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted January 21, 2012 Author Share Posted January 21, 2012 Ok a bit of a confession; if I'm honest I've made a bit of a faux pas in an effort to keep the weight down A culmination of slightly the wrong grade of aluminium and a slightly too thin gauge means there’s a tad too much flex for my likening in the floor on the passenger’s side I could just drill it off, remake it again and refit which would be a PITA or go for option 2 which is to fit a stiffening brace. You guessed right.... I went for the easy option So it was out with the trusty metal folder, and I set to work A bit of drilling and with a few extra holes added for lightness all finished and riveted into position Ultimately it will be hidden under the front of the passenger seat so you wont even see it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Very neat job; wondered what those Clarke folders we're like, look like you've been able to get decent, crisp bends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted January 21, 2012 Author Share Posted January 21, 2012 Very neat job; wondered what those Clarke folders we're like, look like you've been able to get decent, crisp bends. For the money it's not bad at all and gives a neat fold. My only criticism of it is maybe that the bend radius is not as tight as I'd like, I'm more used to working with gauge radii for the inside of the bend but this gives a radius of about 2x sheet gauge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 That's not too bad for a cheap n cheerful press brake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLiNK Motorsport Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 I can test it for you Mark - if it will take my weight your safe! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 I can test it for you Mark - if it will take my weight your safe! :d It would barely take my weight before I fitted the stiffening brace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 I had a day off work today using up the last of my holiday so set about plumbing in the brake lines. First up as a bit of easy practice the back axle. Then onto the front brakes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 Todays progress..... Number of harness mounts welded on = 1 Number of small fires started and quickly extinguished = 1 Number of bends formed in back panel = 3 Early start to the day for me as before the sun had finished rising and the frost thawed, Ben dropped by to re-weld one of the harness mounts on. When we did the welding before Christmas we think one of the mounts saw a bit too much heat and distorted when it was welded on, to the extent that the eye bolt binded when screwed in and stripped the thread when we wound it back out again There was a bit of delay to mornings proceedings as Ben's mig wasn't playing ball and decided to produce nothing other than Pigeon poo, so a quick change of the wire in my mig and an upgrade from fluxcored to gas soon saw us up and running again. One mount sucessfully welded on. With all the grinding and welding, it was about time something caught fire. To protect the back axle and the aluminium panels from stray sparks I'd covered them with sheets and towels, this has always worked well in the past and done the job, however.... The one protecting the axle had obviously soaked up something, most likely white spirit of brake fluid, but however a couple of hot sparks was all it took and now I have 4 very small sheets That completed and a quick trip across town to Ben's workshops we put the folds in the top and bottom of the back panel ready for it to be rivet in place. Just waiting for the paint to dry on the harness mount before doing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KugaWestie Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I can remember having a cortina floor pan welded years ago, I was inside the car with lots of wet towels/cloths, they were steaming like mad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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