Good Day All

It’s about time…………..I started this thread.

BUILD PLAN: Is to build to my own specifications the way I want it done.

MODEL & STYLE: Sierra Sapphire with Cosworth Kit, V6 24v Power Plant & 4x4 drive train.

ASSISTANCE: I need heaps and heaps of help, guidance and direction for when I get stuck or lost. I’m one person alone to fit and assemble it all.

EXPERIENCE: I can swing a tool or two but I’m no engineer or experienced fabricator. I know some terminology and lingo and still learning the arts

TOOLS: Basic Stuff Nothing that is complete and to do the odd DIY

Right intro’s settled then, lets get on with it.

Just wanted to get some of these seals and mouldings on. I know the glass isn't in yet but this is where I'm starting

01. Car. Yes I wrapped it in cellophane plastic so that the cover wouldn't scratch. It did work for a long time but now its all starting to peel off.




02. Front left window outer moulding




03 Left side now fitted




04. Rear Left window outer moulding installed



05. Right side window outer mouldings




06. Right rear window outer moulding Installed




06. Left & right upper weather strips for rear doors




07. LHS Weather strip and retainer seal installed




08.




09. Weather strip installed with fasteners




10. RHS Weather strip and retainer seal installed




11. I wont be using that steering wheel. I have a 4 spoke 1992 later spec wheel that is going to be used.




12. Lower door weather strips. - I'm missing one. When I refitted these I found the clips to be a bit on the small side, like there's quite a bit of wiggle room when pushed into the hole (That's what she said). I may opt for another type of clip




13. The lovely side skirt clips - I broke 5 trying to fit the LHS skirt. Super annoying. I got 3 clips on and the skirt eventually. Used rivnuts very carefully without splitting the plastic and then bonded it with CA glue.



14.



15.




16. RHS Side Skirt temporary fitted. I cant seem to get the alignment 100 percent correct on the back part of the skirt with the fender edge, without breaking a clip so that how it going to live for now.




17. Somebody cut into the skirt. Super annoying that I didn't see that earlier before it was painted. Only picked that up when unwrapping it and trial fitting.




18. I didn't think fitment looks too bad. I installed some gasket on the inside of the back face of the skirt and some on the edges so no scratching of paint would occur.. I'm not going to rivet the top edge, instead going to try use that hook and loop velcro stuff with double-side tape.




19. Mocking up the front skirt. Not easy. Have a post regarding the position for the skirt bracket, which facing side does it go?




20. I installed some gasket foam so no scratching when its all tightened up you wont see it.




21. Drilled holes very carefully to install rivnuts




22. There are some small nics and fine scratches, which where visible will be attended to. where things cannot be seen or are hidden I will treat in some form so not too concerned. The car has been standing for like 2 / 3 years since it was painted last.




23. Trying to establish how this bracket / hanger is positioned. Please let me know?




24. So plan here is to riv-nut into body panel for the bracket and the main side skirt mounting points.
Side skirt bracket: Do I drill for the two outer holes or drill just the center hole or drill all three mounting holes.
---- if I drill one hole I've got some adjustability on the front skirt as it can swivel and less holes to drill?
Side Skirt Main: drill for two holes or drill for one hole same issue?



25. At some point of our Lock-down i managed to wash and clean these clips and fittings. I found quite a few broken ones too. I will be needing some help with where these all go, some of them I know exactly but some I'm not 100 percent sure.

* Is there a super thread on PF like ie Where does this clip or fastener go? and people share their pics and views? With these part dialogues and schematics I find they give you so many options and they don't show you exactly where they go.




And there I have it. What you see, is what is now.

Until the next post, Cheers!

 

Looking good, keep up the good work .

 

Top project. Nice colour too.

 

what colour is that ?

 

Tidy job, looks like a nice clean shell 👍

 

All the best with the build mate any problems just put them up on here and one of us will help me mate

 

Thanks Glenn


Kinetic Blue for all the exterior- relative to the 2013/2014 Ford Figos and Ecosports
standard duracoat dark blue for the interior
Camel Yellow for engine bay and tunnel (when seen)

Thanks Mat. I am trying as a one man band

Is still very cleanish Kyle. Rust was very minimal only major rust repair done on the sunroof area. We kinda revised it a little bit.

Thanks Coley. When I did the initial tear down, I didn't mark or label anything, so I'm definitely sure there be quite a bit of shouting and asking for help.




Apologies for reporting later on, but I managed to fit the RHS side skirt and bracket into position with lots of fettling and "french talking"

Excuse my numbering / advance timing system, it’s just so I and you have a reference to go back on.

Prior to the drilling and rivnutting, I tried the velcro hook and loop stuff. Unfortunately it’s too thick for the skirt and fouls the door because of being thick heavy duty stuff. I was sad that it didn’t work and a thinner version may have. Anyway I push forward with the rivet nut option

After this I added foam tape onto various sections of the inside parts of the skirts. basically where the corners make contact on the car body.

26-01. Using dimensions from another post to drill and rivet nut into front sill / wing for bracket and main skirt




27-02. Rivnuts fitted. I’m not sure if the skirt tabs are supposed to align with the bracket or not




28-03. Temporary fasteners on. Going to look for more suitable fastener: allen key flat head auto grade bolts. For some reason the bracket it appears skew on the photo, it was not the case when I was mocking up and the trial fitting




29-04 .Front rivnut fitted. I used the edge of Ford sill decal as a ref.




30-05. Fitting the skirt with small screw by front door.




31-06. Reference marks on front sill




32-07. Middle hole Drilled with reference marks. Used the edge of the door hinges which are aligned




33-08. Rivnut fitted.




34-09. Skirt fitted with center screw.




35-10. Rear door end markings and references – again using ford sill decal edge as ref.




36-11. Applied tape underneath so when drilling through the skirt I get the drill mark.




37-12. Applied rust proofing paint. I also applied paint on the rivnut for extra protection. Ill spray the rivets with Tectyle 506 later when I pull the skirts off for last time fitment. The hole is quite a lot inward and not center because with my set of skirts I need the flats as far in as possible so the doors can clear when opening.




38-13 Rivnut fitted.




39-14. Skirt fitted with rear screw bolt.




40-15 How the front skirt sits. There is slight adjustment on this as the skirt can slide back and forth.




41-16 Gapping and spacing slight inwards on the bottom edge. I can only adjust this one all the support clips have been fitted and skirt bolted in nicely.




I think it’s almost there. Adjustment is very difficult and as you may have noticed some unsightly scratches on the corners…. Well…. Note to self, lay some soft pad / newspaper on floor so when skirt drops it don’t scratch. I did have some bubble wrap down, but it did not save those corners. I’m hoping that comes out with a buff. So Teeeed off with myself on that

42-17 Rust proof paint I’m using as touch-up when drilling through



Lastly for this post, the plan is to perfect the LHS skirt with what I’ve experienced with the right. Once that is complete, it will be left on until vehicle is ready for polishing. The skirts will then come off and together with the sills cleaned and polished. The skirts will finally be permanently fitted and attached with respective bolt fasteners and possibly upgraded supporting clips.

Up until the next update

Cheers and happy spanner swinging.

 

Nice work and you have found all the problems with fitting the skirts.
The original Ford skirt fitting clips for the bottom are very brittle. Most will snap when fitted due to the age of them. I made a change to the clips for mine and made them thicker and added a built in nut so they screw on.
The top on the skirts are normally just riveted to the sill.
The front skirt section is very difficult to get on and off with the Ford brackets. Yes you can snap the brackets or the skirt section. I also changed the brackets on mine so the are slightly further from the wing when mounted. This allows the skit to come off without breaking anything.

 

All from memory some might be wrong though!
cant really see some of them clearly








And there I have it. What you see, is what is now.

Until the next post, Cheers![/QUOTE]

 

Skirt Clip Hangers

Hey Rob

Those clips look really neat and strong. How well does it hold up? Where’d you get them and what you pay for a set?

I’ve just about successfully broke 90% of all my clips and just a few holding now. I thought of fabing up some with 1.6mm brass flat bar with slight variation in design. I could’ve probably have used mild steel TBH, but I can’t weld and opting to solder. I’m toiling with the idea of drilling holes through the bottom seam where these clip hangers should go or drilling a hole through the floor board and blind riveting it on the flat. In one way it will be strong and easy to take the skirts off, but the downside is very little adjustment and now have holes through the seam body. Also that the fact I have to drill through already painted and protected finishes in areas prone to be high risk to corrosion.

Hmmmm!!!Also not sure if I should make like a C or Z type design. I tried following a similar pattern to the original clip, but with the tools I have its very difficult to bend with very short hard bends. If anyone is wondering why I’m doing this and not getting the plastic clips, it’s because I live in the southern hemisphere and these clips can’t be sourced locally an not at reasonable cost, plus I can solder if I need to.

What can anybody recommend considering a hardier installation?

43-01 Design Proposal

• Design 01 - Z Type
• Design 02 - C Type
• *NB Option B screw is a known and shall always apply.

I need recommendations on screws A & C and recommendation on hanger design considering ease of fitment




44-02 Clip Hanger




45-03 Clip Hanger




46-04 Clip Hanger



Skirt bracket

From your insight I also experimented with adding an extra washer and with the head of the rivnut provides that little extra clearance between skirt bracket and fender panel which helps taking it off. I also found that a spray of water between the panels where it slides onto, helps with removing


[/QUOTE]

Wow thanks Tosh! This will help me as I go along. I have many many more clips that I will need assistance with including some new replacement and additional ones. I’m not sure if there’s a thread on PF, but I thought that maybe I should start one in the lines of: "What is this clip and where does it go. Post with a pic". I mean, these part diagrams I’ve come across on the net are helpful in a lot of ways, but they don’t tell you exactly where the clip goes and also they have like 100 diff options. Hence relying on others to provide the info I suppose

Let me know about the thread idea or of there is a thread like this already running

Thanks & Cheers

 

Clips are listed on eBay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124196431598

 

No problem, you can tell I was bored that night & the misses probably was in charge of the TV Remote

 

Hi All

Have had some misfortune. My many many years of collecting literature, diagrams, photos, references to bits and pieces, mods and photos of my own vehicle before and during the teardown / dissassembly etc has gone T#TS up and is a major set back for me. Kept it all on a hard drive and the hard drive is inaccesable due to some spike that occured to my PC.

I'm calling and asking for a bit of help please through this thread/forum with cateloguing fasteners and parts that go together, unfortunately during the tear down my photos were my references but are now gone. So any help would be greatly appreciated.

What I would like to do is post a pic of each of these items and maybe somebody knows exactly where it should go. I will try my best to put the correct description down and take a picture of the part. Alot of the fasteners I've got paired, bundled and grouped into ziplock pouches.

Hope i can get through this as its very overwhelming at the moment .

Cheers

 

Just a bit of an update. Fuel tank port hole or access hatch on its way.

Please tell me how thick is the grey foam layer under the matting in the boot/trunk is? I used a 30 x 30mm ally Angle to make the frame. Want to trim it down so it don't stick out above the foam layer?

If anyone is wandering. We were careful in the measuring not to compromise the spot welded beading. We we're almost border lining

Using skid plate as a lid for the time being.

Sticking with the stock in tank fuel pump setup so access is going to be simple now.

47-01 plastic fuel tank



47-02 access hole cut / top



47-03 access hatch bottom view



47-04 access hatch ally framework and tank positioning



47-05 ally frame work taped up


47-06 ally frame welded up


47-07 Ally Frame and lid. Just needs holes drilled, clean up paint and install



Cheers

 

Wow... great work there!!

 

Sorry if I'm jumping around on the project 😅 just doing what feel like. Also will edit thus post a bit later to give a better story and reference. Just to get the pics up for now.

Fuel tank assembly is still on going. I'll update with another post

I've been busy with getting the backend assembly sorted. I have a few combinations and extras of drive shafts diff, wheel hub uprights suspension assembly etc. I'm doing a conversion from non abs to abs so was able to aquire a lot of the running gear and rear suspension etc. Have 2 differentials one for the 2.0 setup and then one for 2.9 v6 setup

Originally I had the push in tripod type diff and suspension setup with drum brakes from a 1.8cvh So I bought the superior setup to use rear disc and abs. Thus meant getting a diff and lobro cv joint setup as wel. Have 2 lobro diffs 3.36, and 3.89 ratio. Both M71 and both same dims across flats and prop shaft fitting

3.89 diff









3.36 diff











This is the ally diff from the 1.8. Not sure what ratio this is. Does anyone know


















You will see some front drive shafts for the 4x4 setup in the mix. That will come later. I had some lugs welded on the arms for the rear arb setup. It was time to remove the abs setup an return the non abs tripod setup back on so I can push the car In the garage if I have too.

























Push in


























































































I still have the drive or side shafts, hubs, and carriers in the soaking bath.

Im trying out a new cleaning program ATM. So it goes hot oil pot. Dirty degreaser bath. Clean degreaser bath then water boil pot. The first stage I'm still testing. This i hope works then I don't waste on degreaser solvent. I would like to know what all are doing to get that old tacky grimey and grease off. You know the crusty old stuff. Then like what are peeps doing with the soft mucky grease that can't be used. It's a real dirty oily job. That why thought of a hot oil pot. Can pour it into a disposal container and take to like an oil recycling station.

Anyway lots of jobs still to do. Still got to teardown another set of side shafts and clean all the bits. Then I'm going to choose the best out the lot and rebuild. Shafts will go in for powder coating as well as hub assembly. Also thinking about upgrading the rear wheel bearing to the steel cage type not the nylon type.

Cheers for now

 

this looks interesting..

 

Where does this diff come from and what size is it, 7", 7.5', or maybe even something different?

I have never seen such a diff on a Sierra. The only ones I know are the ones with the aluminium casing. And as far as I know Microcat also only shows the aluminium diffs. I'm really amazed by this!

 

POLYURETHANE BUSHES

I recieved my polyurethane bushes yesterday and I can say I'm pleased with the products

A local supplier makes them up for a good reasonable price

Front Outer TCA bush







Front inner TCA bush







Rear Main Beam Bush









Rear inner trailing arm bush (smaller)







Rear outer trailing arm bush (larger)







Rear spring mounts. I have the originals if these don't work out. They still in good condition.







I still need
Rear ARB Bushes. Supplier to still make
Rear diff mount. Supplier needs original to make poly
Front ARB
Front shock strut or turret bushes

Then I will have a complete set

Will be interesting to see how car reacts when it's once its on the road

I'll update once I have the Rear suspension fitted. I'm just busy getting all the bits for the rear end sorted. Still quite a bit to do. Trying to source original set or good quality rear bearing and seal kit at an affordable price. VKBA 918 & VKBA 919

Also still preparing bits for powder coating.

Need to check my fasteners as well might need some plating done

The CV's and side drive shafts still need attention.

Has anyone done DIY servicing on lobro CV's. What is the wear tolerances of the cage, ball and inner race.

On the cage where the ball sits in the openings. Must it be a tight fit,

On the inner race where ball makes contact. If there is slight wear marks and scoring can I sand / grind away smooth and grind away any sharp edges (fine paper) and reuse, considering that ball movement slides up and down(Low friction) appose to spinning (high friction)

Do the surfaces have to be polished shiney smooth. My equipment is lost its shine (through long hours of a soap bath) but is still smooth and clean. I could attempt to polish

Cheers for now