Vernier

A while back I bought a vernier caliper from Aldi. It worked well, but the digital aspect of it was not designed for a garage, and died pretty quickly. So I thought I'd buy a standard one and hopefully get a decent one. Boy, was I wrong...

The scale is way out when set to zero, and no option to recalibrate it. So, time to find out what I can do, without having to resort to returning it.

Universally jointed

I had to post a picture of this, it's a remarkable piece of kit. It fits exactly as expected, and with bolt cutouts on both splines and drilled holes on this it'll be nice and secure. Looks like an M8 hole drilled through for a nut and bolt, while a threaded end might have been better I kind of prefer the need to add a nut.

The steering column has been chopped in half and marked for the 60mm lengths that need to be inside the thick wall tube. I've chamfered the ends slightly so it should be easy to fit. I'll then cross drill the tube and add some puddle welds as well as welding the end.

I've also done a red oxide coat on the rear suspension parts, they'll need a second coat then gold hammerite. The pedal box gets the same red oxide base but with a black top coat (it'll be deep in the foot well so no need for anything flashy). Time to get back on to the list and see what's next.

Steering

I think my next job is steering, so there's a few things to sort here. First thing is mounting, the standard bracket is renowned for bending and letting the rack wander, and that's not what you want if it's the only thing keeping the car going in a straight line. Some simple braces and/or reinforcement will do here.

The steering column has already been fitted, and makes use of the collapsible column as a safety feature. The second feature will then be a universal joint to put a bend in the routing. And therein lies the problem...

MX5 steering columns are finished with a 5/8" x 36 splined end. Mark 2 Escort racks are finished with a 9/16" 36 splined end. Neither the standard Escort or the standard MX5 UJ's would work. And besides that, the bar is too short to get from one to the other!

The solution for the latter is to cut the bar and weld in a thick wall tube to extend it down to the rack. But there's no point in using the splined end if it won't fit to a UJ that can then go on to the Escort.

After a quick ask around on locostbuilders (the bible for home builders!) a kind gentleman gave me the name of a steering specialist who, purely by coincidence, is just down the road in Birmingham. They stock (amongst other things) a 5/8" to 9/16" UJ. Hopefully the price will be similar to the Rally Designs joint which is £24 plus postage. If it does work out to be a decent price, then I'll get one of those, extend the steering rack exactly as described in the book, and do away with any messing around with different sized shafts. Then all I need to do is buy some thick wall tube (15mm ID, 21mm OD seems to make sense although I may have to warm it up to get it to fit as 5/8" is 1.5875cm).

Oh, and before I forget, the specialist is Kiley Clinton Engineering. Fingers crossed for good news in the morning...

(update) £45 + vat... so not a huge saving over the spline shaft + coupler from Rally Design, but it looks like a far better solution. And a proper forged unit rather than just pressed steel. Now I just need to find the thick wall tube, and if it's anything like the other tube I've bought the post and packing will be more than the tube itself!

Brake pipe straightener

A while back I purchased some rollers that were designed for 3d printing, but they fit brake pipes almost perfectly. So I was going to make a low cost version of this;

This particular one costs £140, I plan to make something very similar for less than £5. Watch this space...

More painting and 'to be done' list...

Chassis painting went ok, the welds look decent in the right places (some of the caps to seal the tubes are a bit 'rough', but they only need to be watertight rather than strong). And of course, when I took this picture I noticed the bit I missed on the lower suspension bracket...

The pedal box and the suspension parts also got a coat. So now it's on to the next job, which is.... erm... not sure!!

This is what I have left to do;

1. Steering rack supports and brace. Three strips of metal to hold the steering rack. As with other items I'll be over-engineering this, as a common complaint is vague steering due to insufficient bracing.
2. Brake hard line to flexi pipe support plates. Four small pieces of metal that will hold the joints between the flexi and hard lines. I need to figure out what these are, I think they're just 1mm plate with a certain sized hole in. The flexi pipe then feeds through and a d clip holds it in place.
3. Engine mounts. Oooh, I may have to get the engine in place to figure out where these go. That'll be a new experience for me, the first time I've lifted the engine in place! I may have to wait until summer for that though, to get the engine and chassis into the same place in the garage will be impossible. 
4. Gearbox mounts. As above, something to be done in decent weather.
5. Roll bar. Now the book has the roll bar, but I want to wait until after I have the bodywork to do mine. And basically I'll just buy a ready made one.
6. Pedal box fixings. A metal strip across the top with four welded nuts so it can be mounted in the car, not a big job. 
7. Steering column modification. Not difficult, but has to be done properly. And I won't have the required tube so I need to buy some.
8. Radiator and mounts. Completely forgot about this one... I guess I ought to find a suitable radiator.
9. Propshaft to be modified. Definitely not a diy job, even if I felt confident enough to weld it I doubt I could get it balanced up afterwards. I'll find somewhere to get that done.
10. Fuel tank. Steel is the obvious solution, but I might see if I can find something lighter.
11. Fuel and brake pipes.
12. Handbrake.
13. Electrics. This can be an entire blog all on it's own!! 
14. Bodywork. To be purchased, I wonder if this is the year I place my order at Stoneleigh. Best take my cheque book.
15. Paint the rest of the chassis and the rear suspension parts. 

So overall not actually that much more to do. Some jobs I can't do, some jobs will take me five minutes.