44 replies to this topic

[maph2]

Tie rods part 1

 

One of the main components still to buy were the front tie rods. Had been holding out for a deal but hey ho nothing forthcoming. Decided to splash the cash on these rally spec "group N" rose jointed adjustable jobbies from Minisport. They were £40 more than the minispares ones (minispares is my go to place for parts and has been for over 25 years) but I went for these ones as the front bracket is much nicer -beefier and nice to look at. So you'd think these would be well engineered.

 

First up, fitted with set screws rather than bolts( bolts have shoulders, screws are fully threaded - thread should not be taking the load of the rosejoint as it chews up the rosejoint). Secondly, lots of slop between the set screws and the misalignment spacer- poor tolerance made worse by the threads. Emailed minisport to flag these issues and to be fair they shipped out some more spacers with a better/tighter tolerance but weren't gonna budge on the screws, saying they'd sold loads of these with no issues and the set screws was the right tensile strength

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[maph2]

Tie rods pt2

To correct the problems, I ordered some shouldered bolts and some oilite bushes. The bushes needed a few mm fileing off so they fitted perfectly. Zero play with the shouldered bolts. I'll cut the bolt down to the right length.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[maph2]

A little bit more today. Dropped the frame back out to glue the packing spacers in place and to get the pedal box in position so the throttle pedal can be located correctly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[maph2]

Drivers side upper arm rebuilt with new pin and bearings.

 

Lower bulkhead prep

 

Throttle pedal captive plate sunk into the grp and glued in.

 

[maph2]

Second coat on the rear arches.

 

 

 

Thin basecost on the lower bulkhead. Working on the upper bulkhead for the next week or so.

 

[maph2]

Youtuber yo! I won't be giving up the day job just yet. Trying out some filming during this lockdown. Top arms gotta go in so i can check the coilover alignment before fixing the upper mount repair panel in place.

 

https://youtu.be/KF1pNmmEXh0

 

 

 

 

[maph2]

A deep dive into the filing cabinet to pull out a coilover. Springs will need to be changed as these were for a heavier redtop engine & box.

 

 

[maph2]

So that's where we are - up to date now.

[KTS]

is it de-bodging or un-bodging i wonder ?

 

either way plenty of it taking place.  loving the colour - really unusual, but seems to suit the car somehow

[mini_matt_106]

wow you've had a lot of issues to fix! you seem to have been cracking on with it though, I'm assuming you have some prior experience with mini kit cars as you're not scared to jump right in.

Looking forward to the youtube videos, I'll be following along.

[Ethel]

Threads cut directly in to grp hold. Obviously you need a suitably thick cross section & it ain't gonna take as much load, but it works for mounting brackets etc.

 

Dunno what goes on at Minisport. Perhaps they start with well spec'd products they then put together in house where the bean counters can stick their noses in?

[maph2]

Bit of a quick update - its been on hold for a few years due to other cars

 

https://youtu.be/FP79lspGVvM

 

Edited by maph2, 20 December 2023 - 06:20 PM.

[maph2]

Quick update vid - part 3:

https://youtu.be/1W53W1QEmjo

Edited by maph2, 04 January 2024 - 02:38 PM.

[maph2]

Quick vid update - part 4:

 

https://youtu.be/s4h-AJVk_lg

[maph2]

Vid update part 5

 

https://youtu.be/Ekg2N1eTBak