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Steering, Steering Steering.... I had modified the bottom arms to get more lock, (they were fine until I bolted the calliper on and the mounting bolt hit the arm) forgot to model that in CAD! So I was always going to remake them and the top arms before it was finished, I had also moved the anti roll brackets a few times and they looked a bit rubbish. Well I remade them a few weeks ago and here they are, SO they all got fitted on and set the tracking and camber etc, Did I get better Lock..... Did I F%ck Well a little better but not as much as I wanted. my old dodge RV was 6 foot longer and had better lock so I have been looking for a front clip off a P30 for a while now as the Bentley engine's sump was in the way before hence having my own arms etc on the front, But now with the Ford lump in instead there is clearance for a decent cross member, and in the states they tend to use the P30 chassis a lot for COE builds, just not that many over here unfortunately , I did buy the old green RV for this but it was just to good to cut up in the end, but had done all the measuring while i had it, just in case, Anyways I bit the bullet and a road trip to Bisley in Surrey one day.. Bit of grinding and cutting later And its on, Thought I may need to get some dropped spindle when I was measuring ever thing up, turns out step vans and campers have 1" raised spindles compared to C20's and 30's so you can fit them for a 1" drop or get 3" dropped spindles also, But it turned out ok in the end for now , Also Had to buy some new wheels as its 8 stud now and I couldn't redrill or make adapter's coz the PCD's are to close, but the new wheels look pretty good and they are 16's so the tyres fit, Now the steering needs some tweaking, as in I need to move the engine mounts now as they are in the way and the engine needs to move up a bit for clearance, make an new steering column to mate up to it all, make the new bag mount plates etc etc... But I'm sure it will all be fine and I will make it to RetroRiders Weekender
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Last Edit: Feb 27, 2024 8:27:29 GMT by atomman
Play'in round with an old Datsun & a Ford COE
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Also found someone to alter the old Beford RL army truck canvas to fit properly, in exchange for a bit of CAD work Just needs some more tie down straps adding and a good coat of new water proofing stuff
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Play'in round with an old Datsun & a Ford COE
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Oh wow, that was quite the front end overhaul that you played down a fair bit there haha
Days are getting longer, sun is breaking through a little more... Almost time for some cruising and adventures!
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Oh wow, that was quite the front end overhaul that you played down a fair bit there haha Days are getting longer, sun is breaking through a little more... Almost time for some cruising and adventures! Yep managing to get down the workshop after work now rather than just closing the curtains to shut the rain and dark out, Just a couple of hours a night makes a difference, It was a bit of a mission to sort the front clip, well still ongoing lol, about ready to move the engine mounts this weekend so the steering has enough clearance to fit but I have made the air bag mounts for it and test fitted them last night So I mite be able to plumb them in to and see how it all works, May not go as low now with the bag in there as the other picture was with no spring at all,
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Play'in round with an old Datsun & a Ford COE
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Engine mounts now moved and engine sits up more and looks a lot better in there probably closer to its original potion when it was new with a Y-Block in there, had to change the air filter so that now sits in the dog house, also didn't go low enough with the bags on there, And the back is all done so didn't want to redo all that again, So ended up getting dropped spindle from the USA which are 3" but actually lower it 4" as mine are 1" higher than a stock C30... Also these came up on my Instagram feed, they just slot in and a R-clip holds them in place and when you get to a show just air it up and take them out and the bracket stays there, pretty good idea and a bit of safety, rsrbuilds.com/products/pre-order-63-87-airsafe%E2%84%A2-emergency-support-kit-for-air-ride-suspensions?variant=47735717134624So I knocked some up to fit my set up, which means if a bag goes pop these bump stops stop it dropping to the floor, so I can find some where to fit the spare bag I carry under the seat, Also seems to a lot of COE's coming up for sale recently over here and in Europe for some reason ? 5 in the past 2 weeks ! these came up on the USA to $4k each and he had a pretty cool tow rig , just the brake lines to finish off, had to order some imperial brake fittings for the flexi connections, run a hard fuel line on the chassis and modify the steering column to meet up with the new box, oh and the Ford ranger anti-roll bar i brought ages ago , looks like its the right width to mount on the front which is nice, looking forward to the (second) first test drive with the new front set up and hopefully a lot better steering lock
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Last Edit: Mar 12, 2024 10:18:14 GMT by atomman
Play'in round with an old Datsun & a Ford COE
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Very cool, i'd never really considered the risk of a bag blowing out, makes perfect sense to have a contingency plan if that ever does happen! Are bags considered as a serviceable item? Swap out every couple of years? That tow rig is incredible! There is a guy close to me who brings in loads of US trucks, mainly big stuff, quite a few COEs and the likes. Last time I was up his yard I absolutely fell in love with this... Never knew this existed and oh what a thing it would be slammed into the ground and with a little truck bed on the back.
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Mar 13, 2024 10:19:51 GMT
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Very cool, i'd never really considered the risk of a bag blowing out, makes perfect sense to have a contingency plan if that ever does happen! Are bags considered as a serviceable item? Swap out every couple of years? That tow rig is incredible! There is a guy close to me who brings in loads of US trucks, mainly big stuff, quite a few COEs and the likes. Last time I was up his yard I absolutely fell in love with this... Never knew this existed and oh what a thing it would be slammed into the ground and with a little truck bed on the back. That is SO awesome! don't think Ford ever made a 4 door COE , Seems to be a thing in the states to modify them into 4 doors though, Where is he based? I think if I went there I wouldn't be leaving empty handed though. here's a better view of the safety bracket thing, Bags do go, usually if they rub on something or are over inflated , but I suppose they have a life span to, A friend has a transport truck that he take caravans up and down the country and has always told me to carry spare bags, like he does "Just in Case"
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Play'in round with an old Datsun & a Ford COE
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Mar 13, 2024 12:47:45 GMT
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Yeah better to be safe than sorry with those sorts of things! Especially is the suspension has the ability to drop to the floor in the event of a failure!
The truck chap is based just outside of Milton Keynes, he goes under 'ajkperformance14' on ebay. Brings a lot of stuff in for films so often what's in his yard never makes it to ebay, or take a long time to turn up depending on if it is rented or sold for filming and so on..
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Apr 16, 2024 11:49:06 GMT
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I know this is probably tempting fate but , I have done about 50 miles so far this Sunday and seems OK, It now gets round the mini roundabout at the bottom of the estate no problem and I even had it up to about 70mph on the local dual carriageway and the rear canvas didn't fly off ! A couple of squeaks and bangs but that was with the rear bags inflated a bit to much with no load in there, So just been trying different settings to see how it feels and rides, Helps it stopped raining in Wales for the day to, So I could drive around with the windows down listening to ever sound it made and went back to the workshop after even little drive to check stuff over then back out again a little bit further, but all seems ok and I am building a bit of trust in her now, Touch wood You can now drive it pretty much on the floor with the new clip but the anti-roll bar is the lowest part then, no good round here with the potholes everywhere though, So may modify the mounts to take it up a bit more to be safe, Also managed to get some paracord and mount all the sides and stuff, hopefully may even be able to drive with these down to, Re-CAD'd the front spikes after the clip change over & they looked a bit pony so re-designed them this morning, to look a bit chunkier, print some of tonight and see if they look better, Here she is in all her glory. , with the sun out just to prove it doesn't rain all the time in Wales, oh and it just about fits on my driveway which is Nice
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Last Edit: Apr 16, 2024 12:00:59 GMT by atomman
Play'in round with an old Datsun & a Ford COE
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Davey
Posted a lot
Resident Tyre Nerd.
Posts: 2,197
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Apr 16, 2024 12:03:49 GMT
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Great to see this finally getting on the road!
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K11 Micra x3 - Mk3 astra - Seat Marbella - Mk6 Escort estate - B5 Passat - Alfa 156 estate - E36 compact Mk2 MR2 T-bar - E46 328i - Skoda Superb - Fiat seicento - 6n2 Polo - 6n polo 1.6 - Mk1 GS300 EU8 civic type S - MG ZT cdti - R56 MINI Cooper S - Audi A3 8p - Jaguar XF (X250) - FN2 Civic Type R - Mk2 2.0i Ford Focus
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Apr 16, 2024 13:25:48 GMT
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i’d have to spray up that bumper to look like teeth/fangs
looking fantastic , big old beast , a real presence on the road i bet
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