Outlaw Anglia & SOS Pop - Fixing the mess!!!

That's the real question, as it all looks pretty typical for home-built hot rods(modified cars in general). That would mean that Car SOS simply 'restored' the car down to the original builder's standards  

A look around any large car show soon finds all sorts of modifications that simply cannot work, or that are so badly done it's surprising the car made it there in one piece. Any time you hear the phrase 'built properly by somebody who knew what he was doing' it's time to start looking very closely

Can you elaborate on this Mark for those of us that have not seen the programme.
What suspension, what donor, what was there before etc.
It will help understanding of how it ended up with the current setup.

I would guess it was an Ian Mocket front end. Very highly regarded, a rather stupid decision to replace it rather than fix the issue properly.
I wonder what happened to the bits that were removed.

Theres the initial assessment clip on you tube it was originaly a std viva front end but it did look a bit wide.

I wonder how close the mountings are to a standard spitfire front suspension which would be a simple low cost solution.

To make it safe (i.e. so nothing breaks) it looks like it needs :

-  The ends of the arms reinforcing
- The steering column sorting out
- The ball joints re-orientating or rebound travel limiting.

With this done it will still have some strange steering geometry but probably no worse than a multitude of other home built and kit cars.

After that it becomes a much bigger job, probably needing new wheels  or hubs and then arms steering rack etc which all is going to cost in time and money, I'd be inclined to do the safety stuff, see how it drives and get it back to Andy for the summer and think about further improvements if needed over the winter.

The main issue  for cost  then becomes the steering rack/ column, what inner joint centers are you looking for?

Thank you both.

Ian Mocket - thats correct.
Paul, is it an Ian Mockett crossmember?

Kevins,

Initial thoughts as of last night are to unpick the plates from the tubular arms and refix them for the correct ball joint angles.
Re-make the lower shock mounts in the right place & reinforce their mounting (possibly making the lower mounts bolt in for ease if shock fitting).

Replace the rack with a new professionally narrowed one.

Fit a new lower column bearing in the correct place.

Fix shifter mechanism & kickdown cable.

Fix the (obvious) wiring issues and then give it back with the idea it comes back at a later date to sort out the smaller issues.

I'll have a look when I get home.

The front needs about a 2" lift to be a sensible ride height.

It looks like an Ian Mockett x-member but i can't be sure.

Your plan of action looks like a good pragmatic approach. Re your suggestion of a 2" ride height increase; there's not an easy answer for that. raising the spring platform brings a whole heap of issues, none good. The real answer to that is cut the x-member out and remount it, a pile of work.

Had another look at it tonight before dinner.

With the bottom of the grill 5.5 inches off the ground we have a good 7.5 inches under the crossmember and every other part of the car.

So that all looks good.

The wishbones are pointing a little downward at that height (unsprung) but I might be able to lose a bit of that when I alter the ball joint plates on the arms.

The rack is Escort mkII, it is narrowed the correct amount, I'll unstake one end tonight to see if it been narrowed straight.The reason for it turning more one way than the other is the TRE's are wound on 15mm different each end! If they were put on evenly that would help out a lot.

If I get a new rack and a long steering shaft I'm hoping my friend Rob can make up some kind of interference fit or sleeve joint to extend the rack input shaft using the steering shaft that will have the correct spline on the end for the uj.

If that front suspension is based on a well known and respected suspension setup, that could be great news.

There has to be a Pop out there somewhere you could take measurements off, and/or compare things.


Any production part ( even if it is limited & low numbers production) is a lot cheaper than a one-off.