1102 replies to this topic

[Robnut]

Yes Andy I will get you photos and sizes of the spacers. My problem is my mini is not at home at present because of building works happening at home. As foryou sorting out the taper I just drilled and reamed out the hole and fitted with a bolt ( you will see from pics).

Rob

[Strawbsey]

Dude, just read the whole of this, taking basically 2 hours (way past my bed time), but it is an absolutely amazing machine you have there. If I could get even half of what you've done on this car on mine, I would be chuffed to the high heavens. Amazing stuff.

[cptkirk]

Dude, just read the whole of this, taking basically 2 hours (way past my bed time), but it is an absolutely amazing machine you have there. If I could get even half of what you've done on this car on mine, I would be chuffed to the high heavens. Amazing stuff.

Cheers Strawbsey, you may well get one like mine in the future it just takes a bit of time to get the funds together, I had to wait until my thirties to get mine but it is totally worth it.

[cptkirk]

Yes Andy I will get you photos and sizes of the spacers. My problem is my mini is not at home at present because of building works happening at home. As foryou sorting out the taper I just drilled and reamed out the hole and fitted with a bolt ( you will see from pics).

Rob

Cheers Rob

No rush, I am away for a wee while and aim to do the fixes late Aug to early Sept.

I had better order some rod in for turning, unsure whether to go with a LH/RH spacer and a LH thread male Rose joint or a RH thread female rose joint?? I get a feeling that the female rose joint wont have enough depth to its threads.....

[BlueminiJohn]

Thats a bugger about the shocker. Thanks for letting us know. Like you said, I guess you just don't expect it, do you?
That said, even with these kind of cars, sometimes you still have to take the approach: its still a mini!

Anyway, had a good look over your's on here, I should be getting mine back end of next week. I went with the wilwood brakes, pedel box, steering column extra bars to the front subby and roof etc, race tunnel, inner arches, radiator kit, fuel kit and a few more bits and bobs...
Z'cars are also supplying a volvo engine and gearbox, which they are going to fit into my frame.

Cant wait!

[cptkirk]

Thats a bugger about the shocker. Thanks for letting us know. Like you said, I guess you just don't expect it, do you?
That said, even with these kind of cars, sometimes you still have to take the approach: its still a mini!

Anyway, had a good look over your's on here, I should be getting mine back end of next week. I went with the wilwood brakes, pedel box, steering column extra bars to the front subby and roof etc, race tunnel, inner arches, radiator kit, fuel kit and a few more bits and bobs...
Z'cars are also supplying a volvo engine and gearbox, which they are going to fit into my frame.

Cant wait!

Good luck with the build.

Like you say it is still a mini.............

[cptkirk]

I have now ordered in a few bits for my new steering setup, I will keep you all updated with details as when they happen.

I have gone for a brand new sportspack rack, 2x LH thread 1/2" UNF Rose joints, LH & RH 1/2" UNF half nuts, 3/4" hex bar for machining, pack of 4 1/2" misalignment spacers, unsure as to size of spacer and design not finalized yet, once it is I will post drawings. This design allows easier adjustment of tracking and will further help to alleviate bump steer.

[cptkirk]

Additions to Order:

I ordered these two bad boys yesterday - uprated Cooper S steering arms, in an effort to stave of rotational forces caused by adding a spacer to the steering where the track rod end would normally go.

I am going to get my head together with Stevie G soon to sort out the required fabrication and then will have some more to show, for now a couple of snaps of the new arms:

[brandon7]

More Woes - will it ever end?

Saturday morning saw me driving around for the best part of two hours, lots of bumpy back roads and the like to exercise the new ball joint and make doubly sure the wheel bearing was sorted. After driving around I returned home, jacked the beast up and checked for loose play in both side of the front suspension - nothing - chuffed to bits, it was finally fixed.

So I offered to give the misses a lift into town and I would go for a raz round to Goodwood to watch the sprint that was on up there until she was finished. Just around the corner from Goodwood the N/S front suspension unit (Protech) decided to come apart. For those of you that have followed this build will know that this had previously happened to me on the rear O/S and that I had given out a warning of the problem, however as mine was fully built at the time and checking the front suspension was a massive job I gave my two front Protech units the benefit of the doubt, surely lightning cant strike twice kind of attitude, well how fecking wrong could I be. Obviously I am p!ssed off with myself for not checking them but I am even more p!ssed off that they even came apart in the first place - I mean, seriously, what the feck is going on.

I have yet to fully assess the damage done by the spring as it rattled round under the bonnet, I know it has chipped a few bits of paint of here and there but thats just cosmetic & the threads have taken a beating on the damper shaft, lets hope it hasnt caused any real damage - the kind that costs lots of money.....

So for the second time and this time I really mean it, if you have a Zcars conversion please check the locking nut on the suspension damper shaft is tight against the top hat that holds the spring in place, you may have to wind the spring down away from the top to be able to do so but it will be worth it - trust me.


Last time it happened I didnt manage to get any pictures, however whilst waiting for my mate Benson to pick me up so I could go and get my trailer I took a couple:

I thought i was the only one. This was back in June now but the day after I had been sprinting my car at speeds of up to 110mph at our local sprint i was pulling out of my driveway off the very slight kerb to take my car to a static show.
There was a massive clank from the rear as the shock top decided to seperate itself from the bottom sending the spring flying up inside the car. I got out the car and couldnt believe it as i could not see how it could rotate and come undone as it is held at both sides. All the thread inside the tophat is fine.
Anyway it happened again later that day when i was driving the car out of the show arena.
Its all tight but when will it strike again. Have done a trackday since and seems to be alright for now.....

[cptkirk]

I thought i was the only one. This was back in June now but the day after I had been sprinting my car at speeds of up to 110mph at our local sprint i was pulling out of my driveway off the very slight kerb to take my car to a static show.
There was a massive clank from the rear as the shock top decided to seperate itself from the bottom sending the spring flying up inside the car. I got out the car and couldnt believe it as i could not see how it could rotate and come undone as it is held at both sides. All the thread inside the tophat is fine.
Anyway it happened again later that day when i was driving the car out of the show arena.
Its all tight but when will it strike again. Have done a trackday since and seems to be alright for now.....

Its not a good feeling is it.......

With all of these things going wrong it has definitely taken the enjoyment out of driving the car and with that lack of enjoyment trying to find the gusto to fix it is hard work. I spoke to Protech about the problem and they had only one prior instance of this before, another Zcars owner, I can only assume it was Mark (Brandon7) - maybe not....?.... When I was checking mine again this time I realised you can use loctite if you want as the nut on the shaft will always allow you the undo from the top eye without having to hold the shaft itself.

Still, things are moving along even if they are at a snails pace. Bits are off to be machined for the steering so fingers crossed that'll sort the wandering sensation out on lift off and braking - really disconcerting.....

I have been suffering for some time with alternator problems - not charge but the actual housing. Because I have the supercharger I am using a different sized belt and one of the things required to be able to use the OEM tensioner is to put spacers on the alternator, however the alternator I was supplied with this engine had part of the top mounting missing, the bit nearest the block (photos to come later). When I got it I didnt think it would be a problem, how ever I have now extracted 2 high tensile bolts from the block - TWICE....and aint doing that a third time. I hasten to add that I wholy believe this would have happened even without spacers as the broken part allows for the alternator to twist - live and learn.

So it is safe to say that I need a new alternator, so good old ebay got me one, if the charge isnt good I can swap internals. I am getting a proper spacer set made that will allow for belt stretching but will offer solid support, the main body of the spacer set will cover all three bolt holes and utilise one of the water pump housing bolts to hold it in place and then a set of matching spacers of varying sizes will be produced, these will be able to be fixed/bolted to the main body of the spacer set so as to ensure the spacer is solid also.

The mounts that hold the drop link of the anti-roll bar to the front hubs are, well no polite way to put it - RUBBISH. so I need to design a new fixing for them, if you dont beleive me then look back at the photos of when the suspension came apart and you will see, they appear to have been made from a bent bit of mild steel and they looked like that before the suspension came apart, they were once at 90deg's. Hopefully I will have enough billet left to machine some nice shiny new ones that'll stand up to the job a bit better.

In many ways it is deeply frustrating to have to fix things that should have been right in the first instance, although I have to say there is a certain amount of satisfaction from working out and designing new and ultimately better parts which will give you the confidence back in the car that was there before it all started falling apart..........

Edited by cptkirk, 16 September 2010 - 01:35 PM.

[crispy]

Congratulations! Your car has received an award:



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It's a minor award, but I think it's the thought that counts...
~Chris

[cptkirk]

I take it my prize money is in the post?

[cptkirk]

Alternator Plate - Round 1

I know no-one else will have this issue but I thought I would throw it in here to keep things lively....

So as per my previous post I have been having alternator issues, so I have been designing a new mount which as previously stated will cover all three alternator mounting holes and will be held in place by one of the water pump housing bolts.

So in the first picture you will see the newly purchased alternator on the also newly purchased block of billet ali ready for machining, well, wire cutting for a start. then drill holes for mounting, the spacers are also going to get wire cut from the same block so should be a spot on fit and the spacers will be locked in place via a seperate bolt to ensure not movement at all from the spacer set up.

I whipped up a quick 3D of what the initial plate will look like, no mounting holes yet but you get a feel for what it'll end up like, you are veiwing them in roughly the same plane as the block is in the first photo under the alternator, once its all cut and done I will post pictures:

[cptkirk]

NEW STEERING RACK + BUMP STEER ALLEVIATION

So Saturday saw me attempt to fit my shiny new steering rack and the my really shiny new track rod end replacements. First thing to note is that I didnt get them fitted, the primary reason being that I need to shorten the length of the track rods and add thread by 25mm, to enable the use of my really shiny new bits, so with that in mind yesterday I ordered a 1/2" UNF Die to be able to carry out that task, fortunately the new rack has enough meat on the track rods to allow this. So in the ineterst of keeping people happy I thought I would post some pictures of the new really shiny bits I mentioned earlier. So here they are, LH/RH turnbuckle, LH Rose joint, 45mm spacer (A bit long me thinks but wont know till all together), Cooper S arm with tapered hole reamed out to 1/2" straight hole and a misalignment spacer:

















One of the things I did manage to do on Saturday was change the steering arms over to the new Cooper S arms. Now I dont know if its me being too picky about things so I will post up my findings and see what you lot think.

When I removed the steering arms that were on the car as supplied, I found two rather alarming things, one being that the n/s arm was a normal arm (as I thought as this was the side I had recently been working on) and the o/s was a Cooper S arm??? Why would you fit two different types?


The other alarming thing was when I removed the Cooper S arm I found one of the (what I call 'quite critical') dowels to not be an interference fit, in fact it wasnt even a proper dowel, looks like a bit of tube cut to fit (badly), so it wasnt supporting the bolt in any way and as it was slack in the hole wasnt even helping that much with keeping the steering arm in position.

Anyhoo in my moment of disbelief I took a snap of the two arms I removed together and one of the botched dowel against a new proper dowel (new dowel on the left incase you were unsure).



Is it me being too picky??

[e11evns]

you fitted them mods yet ? dont suppose the weathers to great to test it out!!! oh well mines done now ready to collect but its trying to find time to go get it, its like organising a trek to the north pole its so far away!