Right, well, as per normal it's not quite going to plan - the suspension's putting up more of a fight than expected. And I keep forgetting my camera - I'll update again tomorow with some photos of where we are up to now.
In the meantime, lets have a look at some of the plans currently floating about in my head - I'd like to get them written down, and some might find the process interesting too. Maybe.
One of my favourite hobbies at the moment is finding parts interchangability between different cars - it is an oddly pleasant way to spend an evening on the internet, and can throw up better parts choices for the projects. I'll attempt to explain the thinking behing each choice - and some of the websites and search techniques I use. Here goes:
ClutchTake, for example, the clutch hydraulics on the Clan. It's a standard-ish Girling system lifted from the Imp, with a 0.625" master cylinder, a 3/16" rigid line running out of the master to an adaptor then a 1/4" rigid line running the rest of the length to a hose with 7/16" UNF fittings connecting the pipe to a 0.7" slave. So far, so normal. However, from Imp parts suppliers the master is ~£45, the hose is ~£45 (goodrich braided - no standard ones left), and the slave is ~£45. Ouch.
I already know that I can get a direct-fit master cylinder from
Compbrake for £18.50 delivered. I've been using one on the Imp for a few years now with no trouble at all. So far, so good.
A vague memory of a posting on the Imp club forum followed by a little research shows that the slave cylinder is identical to those used on Series 2 and 2A Landies -
£10 delivered. Excellent.
The hose is a little trickier, but a hunt about shows that the
MGB hose has the same slave cylinder fitting, but connects to a male union on the rigid pipe instead of a female union: not a problem, I'm making my own pipes. Add another £2 for the
nut to attach it to a bracket. Nice.
Finally, there's the question of the adaptor from the 3/16" pipe (7/16" UNF fitting on the master) to the 1/4" pipe (uses 3/8" fittings). I could try to re-use the existing one, but there's no guarantee it'll come undone. As it happens, Land Rovers use a
suitable adaptor screwed straight into the master cylinder for £8. ;D
So far I've saved ~£95 over buying the bits from the normal sources. And the cost of the parts is low enough that I could keep a spare slave and hose in stock - as they are above the engine they are the bits most likely to fail. And there are enough MGB and Land Rover spares places about that I could probably pick them up same day if required - it just gets better.
BrakesThis is going to end up with a silly engine. Added to which it's likely to be driven quite hard in all weather conditions. While the Imp-sourced all-round drums are perfectly powerful enough, fade is a possibility if pushed hard enough. Add to that the need for adjustment (everyone,000 miles was usual in the Imp), the cost of the bits, and the fact that they don't like getting wet, and I'd quite like a disc conversion for this.
Now, there are a couple of front disc conversions around for the Imp - one using KA calipers and redrilled discs, another using
Micra discs and calipers. All well and good, but they still leave me with drums at the back - needing frequent adjustment and doing odd things in the rain: after all, with so much weight at the back the rears do nearly as much work as the fronts. And the calipers are all iron - not ideal when looking at unsprung weight at the front, which is quite high anyway.
All-round discs have been done - one of the most sucessful that I'm aware of uses Fiat X1/9 discs and calipers all round, with a
0.7" master cylinder. That's on a competition Clan, and the brake bias is supposed to be very good indeed. Problem: where on earth am I going to find an X1/9 to rob of it's brakes? So - what can we find thats 1) light, 2) available, 3) with cheap parts, and 4) has the same piston sizes as the Fiat to maintain the bias?
Well, looking up the X1/9 shows that the calipers are
48mm at the front and
34mm at the rear.
Exhibit A -
Adam's Locost thread. I had a look at that after seeing him at A52 over the weekend as I was reminded that he'd used nice lightweight brakes. The front are
bendix calipers as used on
Peugeot 205, 106, Citroen ZX, and others: easily available; light ally; 48mm piston.
Standard Mintex road pads? Find the Mintex part number:
brakebook.com/bb/mintex/en_GB/PKW/88/196_Series/2292/applicationSearch.xhtmlSearch for Camskill's stock using the part number in google:
www.camskill.co.uk/m33b0s3341p25834/£15.40/set. Ideal.
The rears that Adam used, however, are 30mm pistons - a bit small. Step up google and BrakePartsSuperstore:
www.google.com/search?q=piston+34+site:http://www.brakepartssuperstore.org.uk&start=60Exhibit B:
Corsa C rear calipers. 34mm piston. Available easily. Mintex pads?
£16.20. Ally?
Yes.Well, some of themHow about the handbrake cable? That can be a right pain on rear disc conversions. Well, it looks like this:
The inner and outer both attach to the caliper, the outer is retained somewhere on the car, and the inner runs forward to the handbrake. Looks ideal for a conversion - after all the Imp uses uncovered cables all the way, so the cable can use the same guides etc. at the front. And the stop position can be altered to suit.
Finally, discs. The X1/9 uses 240mm discs, but with a 98mm PCD. The Clan is 4x4", but we're not going to find anything in that, so how about 4x100? Worst case the bolt holes need opening slightly, best case they might just drop over. The 205 calipers use a 10mm thick disc with a diameter of 247mm - I can probably get away with 240mm - while the Corsa calipers use a 10mm x 240mm disc. How convenient.
So, 240mm diameter, 10mm thick disc on 4x100. For cheaps. Google and BrakePartsSuperstore again:
www.google.com/search?q=site%3A+%22www.brakepartssuperstore.org.uk%2F%22+disc+thickness+10I narrowed it down to a bit of a shortlist, but the current front runner is
small-engined Mk1 Golfs from '75 on, at
£16/pair for standard Mintex examples.
The centre bore (65mm) will need opening out a bit - IIRC the Imp's centre bore is about 71mm - but that shouldn't be a huge challenge with access to a lathe.
Finally, I'll need some
brake hoses, and some DIY caliper brackets. But first I need to check whether the 205 calipers can run on 240mm discs without problems, and whether the Corsa handbrake cables are a resonable length - if they are miles too long it could be fiddly. I feel a scrapyard run coming on.
SteeringThis is all standard Imp - not desparately expensive, reasonably strong, and unique to the car so the normal suppliers will be helping here - except for the steering column universal joint.
This is a device of much mystery.Following the lead in that thread, I looked up the cost of the
Triumph 2000 UJ - £48, with no guarantee that it's right. And it doesn't include the female-female converter at the bottom. And in any case, wouldn't it be nice to have some steering wheel adjustment, and maybe even a collapsible column? In addition, the location of the standard UJ - between the clutch and brake pedals - restricts the right foot n the brake a bit (not ideal for heel-and-toe) and completely prevents left foot braking. The hunt is on!
A bit of searching on the Imp forum turns up the fact that the Imp shares the steering rack splines with the Triumph Herald as well as the 2000. And a bit more searching turns up the fact that the
Herald has 36 splines on a 9/16" shaft. I've not measured the Clan's yet - I shall do so tomorrow - but it's certainly in the right ballpark.
Some further searching turns up the fact that early
Escorts also use a 36-spline 9/16" fitting. And you can get
all sorts of UJs etc. in Escort size.In fact, even the
Volvo 240 shares the splines.I've not got a complete setup yet - I need to take some measurements and work out exactly where I want the column to go - but it's a starting point for making great improvements to driver comfort while allowing easy-to-find replacement UJs should they be required. More on this anon.
If there's any interest I'll post my musings on wheelbearings and headlights at some point. Anyway, that's quite enough waffling for now. Picutres of dismantling tomorrow.