10/05/03
I took
the suspension bits to work and pushed in the bushed with a fly
press, it is nearly impossible to knock them in with a hammer and
socket. Then whilst still at work I shot blasted all the parts to
give a nice base to spray.
Two
coats of red oxide later..
While
the red oxide was drying I drilled out all the holes in the area
I would be working today, (the front suspension), I found you need
a very long 12mm drill to clean out the galvanized holes. Some of
the holes are deep tubes and inaccessible with a normal length drill
bit. This may sound a bit crude but I managed it with first getting
as deep as I could with the normal drill, then using my 12mm 12"
masonry drill on a slow speed, worked fine.
Next
job was to make up the Spax shocks , simple job, didn't even need
spring compressors. Going through the supplied bag of nuts and bolts
, it is quite apparent there is nowhere near enough. Guess I will
need to place an order with Namrick. Later in the day I painted
the first coat of Hammeright, then to finish off the day, the second
coat.
11/05/03
No
problem with assembling the front suspension, as per then manual,
a 14mm, (not that easy to find), opened out the bottom fixing hole
on the strut., Everything thing bolted together as expected.
I
adjusted the camber to 0 degrees at full droop, well as best I could
measure, and it's a bit of a pain undoing the top joint each to
to adjust the camber.
Once
both sides were assembled all that was left was to temp fit the
steering rack and drill the reverse taper in the suspension strut.
I
was a bit dubious about drilling the reverse taper , but with an
old track rod end cut off clamped in my drill, and plenty of cutting
paste, the job was a good'un in about 5 mins each side.
Next
weekend will be the rear suspension, in preparation I have mounted
the diff onto its carrier.
17/05/03
Started
off the day by drilling out all the holes I would be using today,
no problems there all easily reachable. Now to mount the diff, I
decided to try and manipulate the diff into place using both of
my trolley jacks, (I am working on my own). It took a lot of struggling
and swearing but eventually the diff was secured into place. I found
it best to fix wires to the rear mounting plate and pull up through
the fixing holes in the body, then use the trolley jacks to raise
and push forward the diff.
Anyway
soon had all the fixing bolts tightened up and the diff was
done..
Had
to go out in the afternoon so I just had time to make up the rear
Spax Coil-over's ready for the swinging arms tomorrow.
18/05/03
Now
to have a go at the swinging arms, hmm a bit heavy and awkward on
your own, but I found a bucket was just the right height to support
the swinging arm whilst I maneuvered the fixing points into place.
The fit was good with no shims required.
I had
to drill to holes in the swinging arm to take the bottom bracket
for the Spax Shock, other than that no real problem. Oh just one
thing there is a 16mm clearance hole for the top shock mounting,
well this is no longer a clearance hole because of the galvanizing.
It is very difficult to get at but I found that you can just
, but only just, get a round file in there at an angle and
clear out enough of the galvanize plating.
That
done I simply lifted up the swinging arm and bolted the shock into
place. It was then a simple case of re-attaching the drive shaft
to the diff.
The
same the other side and the rear suspension is complete .
Fitted
the servo and pedal box next, but before fitting the pedal box I
replaced the original clutch ratchet quadrant, (yellow), with a
replacement ,(white), which is 5mm larger in diameter. This extra
5mm makes a lot of difference with the clutch 'bite' area,(it lifts
the clutch engagement up a bit from the bottom of the travel),and
gives a little bit more leverage.
No
problem in fixing the servo and pedal box, I then continued on and
fitted the steering wheel and Handbrake.
24/05/03
Went
to Partco and bought 2 25ft reels of brake pipe and a large container
of brake fluid. I used a length of stiff wire to measure the required
runs , then starting from the from began to make up the pipe runs.
First off the short run from the front of the master cylinder to
the offside caliper. Nice and easy and no problem with the little
hand tool I borrowed to flare the pipe ends. To secure the flexible
pipes I cut a female brake pipe fitting in half to make a 'nut'
this worked quite nicely to clamp the end of the flexible brake
pipe in the fixing holes.
The
pipe runs along the inside of the top chassis rail, next the nearside
front pipe, (also from the front of the master cylinder), along
the inside of the chassis rail and fixed the same way.
Now
to attack the rear pipes.
I decided
to fit a brake compensation valve to ensure the front brakes come
on before the rear, to pass SVA. I had done this before with my
last Kit, so I took a valve from a Sierra, (found on the inner nearside
wing), cleaned it up and positioned it on the bottom chassis rail.
The rear pipe then goes into the back of the valve, out the front
and onto the rear brakes. The valve is fixed at a 30 degrees angle
facing forward.
The
brake pipe then continued its run the the rear along the offside
chassis rail, then across the back of the back panel to a tee piece.
Again
used half a female connector as a 'nut' and fixed the flexible to
the mounting holes supplied.
Right
now to bleed the brakes, I had borrowed, (a lot of people owe me
favors !), an Easybleed system. I had never used one before and
I have to say I wish I had, it was very simple to fill the reservoir
then pressurise the system with a spare tyre, and hey presto just
go round all the nipples and listen to the air come out followed
by fluid.
Mind
you I did drop the jar once holding my expelled brake fluid and
managed to kick over my container of fluid, god what a mess !.
Now
that I had brakes, decided to call it a day. (by the way it takes
24ft of brake pipe for the Sumo), yes I know I bought 2 Reels of
25 ft Doh..
25/05/03
The
plan today is to fit the engine, but first I need to mate the engine
and gearbox. Just remembered in time I had to modify the clutch
release arm to accept a cable instead of the normal hydraulic plunger.
This was a simple task of drilling a hole in the arm (12mm) to accept
the sleeve of the Granada Clutch cable, then drill a corresponding
hole in the bell housing, just large enough the let the cable nipple
through. The idea is that the other sleeve pushes the arm back as
the inner cable is prevented from moving anywhere.
This
done I fixed the release bearing into place and positioned the gearbox
on the garage floor with the bell housing sitting on a bag of sand,
(the kids playsand destined for the sandpit). This allowed me to
set the gearbox at an angle ready to accept the engine.
Next
the engine was hoisted up on the winch and naturally hung at about
a 30 degrees angle, then I could offer up the engine to the gearbox
then wiggle the gearbox about on the bag of sand until the two came
together nicely. Inserted all the bolts and bob's your uncle, job
done.
Now
the whole lot was hoisted up on the winch hanging at about 45 degrees.
As
you have probably realised I am on my own doing this so need to
make things as easy as possible, so I lowered the front of the chassis
to about a foot lower than the back. This seemed to give a easier
route in for the engine. All the engine and chassis mounting plates
were loosely fitted at this time.
Little
by little I lowered the engine/gearbox into the chassis , each time
checking underneath to see where the gearbox was relative to the
floor. Then I placed my trolley jack under the gearbox in line with
the engine so that as you pushed the engine forward the trolley
jack simple moved with you. Each time I lower the engine a little
I jacked up the end of the gearbox. Within half an hour or so the
engine was sitting on the engine mounts and that was it !. Note
I had removed the steering rack first.
So
it is possible to fit the engine on your own.
Then
I marked up the fixing holes for the gearbox mount and bolted that
into place too. Tightened up the engine mounting bolts and job done
!.
There
is enough movement on the chassis mounting plates and enough holes
to choose from so that you can get a good fit fore and aft. I used
the third hole from the front in the chassis mounting brackets and
the top hole nearest the Rad for the engine mounting bracket.
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Engine
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Clearance
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I was so pleased
with myself, decided to call it a day.
31/05/03
Taking
a second look at the engine in situ, the oil filter is very close
to the chassis rail, in fact almost touching, Pilgrim suggest a
replacement filter part number FRAM PH2991. Hmm means nothing tome
so I went to Halfords who looked up the FRAM number which corresponds
to Halfords HOF221. This filter is a lot smaller in diameter and
gives plenty of clearance. WHilst in Halfords I then opened a few
other filter boxes noting the thread size and sealing ring diameter,
it is obvious you could also use a filter still small in diameter
but also much longer, maintaining the oil capacity.
Anyway
back home and the filter fits no problem and clearance is not an
issue. Right onto the clutch , the re-engineered clutch arrangement
suggested by Pilgrim seems to be working but does not seem to have
much pedal travel, I have also used the larger ratchet quadrant
suggested. Looking amongst the bits supplied I noted a small spacer
tube which fits where the clutch cable comes through the bulkhead.
If fitted this would give the cable some extra length in the engine
bay, hmmm better fit it and try.
Well
It meant I had to remove the servo and pedal box, but once fitted
the spacer tube made all the difference, the clutch pedal seems
just right now.
Now
to fit the Alternator, this is a standard Alternator as fitted to
a Sierra 1.8 or 2.0 , and uses the supplied bracket. I found the
bracket need to be drilled out for the 5" bolt and nut I had
but otherwise no problem in fitting and a 1100 mm fan belt fits
fine.
Now
to fit the radiator, but first you have to fit the two cooling fans.
The fitting kit provided means you have to push 8 fixing pins through
the radiator ! gulp, better be careful here.
It
was very daunting pushing said fixing pins through my £125
Radiator, but with my heart in my mouth all went okay. You also
have to remove the 'wings' on the side of the Radiator otherwise
the overrider bars cannot be fitted.
The
Radiator is actually fitted upside down, apparently this gives better
hose runs. Two of the bottom fixing holes on the Radiator, (in reality
the top), line dup perfectly with two of the pre drilled holes in
the chassis, so on it went, I also made up two brackets for the
top mounts. For the top mounts I used a couple of exhaust fixing
bobbins from Halfords, but note they have 5/16 UNC threads so get
some there and then else you will have to trot all the way back
to get some nuts ..
Next
weekend I would like to complete the plumbing, having a quick look
it is easy to make up a bottom Rad hose from an original SD1 top
hose and part of the Original SD1 bottom hose, with a joiner, the
top hose also looks quite simple, so I will order the parts during
the week and assemble next weekend.
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