McCloud 85

Managed to get a little time in the garage last night.. decided to look into the pedal box. First up was to remove the plate that had been sealed in to block the original hydraulic clutch master cylinder holes in the bulkhead.




Just needs a clean up and that will be good to go for now. Then moved onto getting the pedal box out which is a puma item that's had the Sierra/Escort clutch pedal put on the side.




Then one next to a standard puma box




With that out I'll look to getting the new pedal box fitted in with the master cylinder - seems daft someone went to the lengths to put a cable clutch in when all they needed to do originally was mount the slave cylinder on the side of the box and make up a braided hose.

Hopefully more to come soon.

Caddyshack

Hi Dan, yes it is Toby, thanks for the reply. No worries but do be careful in case a short shift bends the selector fork like Bara thinks mine has (may not be the case), I am going to fit a new selector fork and try a normal shifter. It's a shame as the close ratio box brings the cossie to life on a road car, it makes such a difference.

McCloud 85

Hi Toby, I know what you are saying, I've heard people saying that a 'quick shift kit' can cause more harm than good. Howver I've also heard that something like the link below is all you need and perfectly fine to use. My cradle and gear lever on the old box has had the standard part extended and welded to be something like pictured in the link so I currently don't have a standard item anyway.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Sierr...UAAOxyaURTfhU7

Thanks for the advice!

Caddyshack

Will have a look at those, thanks for the link....need to get the box out and fixed which is a bugger as really enjoying using the car.

McCloud 85

Yeap know that feeling.. was there on my way home with a fresh MOT until my gearbox decided it had had enough!

visa_broke

at this rate there won't be no original bits left on it.

Glad your getting towards the end, car looks good

Caddyshack

Ha, I feel like that sometimes. Probably only my wheels, doors and shell are the only bits left unchanged.

McCloud 85

Yeah there's not too much left untouched now. Still have a full shell restoration on the cards at some point, which will probably mean everything will get looked at again!


I have a funny feeling that's where I'm heading!

McCloud 85

Right an update on progress..

So on with getting the new pedal box in, some slight difference between the two but nothing too difficult to over come, first was to remove the studs on one side as the cosworth master cylinder is boxed out in this locations on the bulkhead so bolts are used instead



Seemed to be a right difference between the two so the bracket from the old was used and the lower tabs cut off



Changes made and standard clutch master cylinder mounted





Pedal box mounted and the standard master cylinder now back in place



So with that done back to sorting out the box

New vs old



The tunnel is right on the car and it even has a cut out where the clutch fork is to release the clutch cable from inside the footwell - so I want to cut back the fork so it doesn't protrude the box as I will be using an external push rod style slave cylinder and still need to utilise it



Cut back clutch fork and a quick tidy of the welded locator tube



With that done I moved my attention onto modifying the brake fluid reservoir.. again - last time this was off I put a provision in for an hydraulic clutch take off.. but not sure what I was thinking as I put it in totally the wrong place. So I bought a weld on adaptor, plugged the old one and then sorted another issue I had with the pot. It seemed to leak out the cap, the standard ford cap. So looked at a standard pot and I think it's because it doesn't have a baffle around float in the cap. So set about putting one in and I hope this solves the problem, time will tell!

Before it came off the car



Modifying it







Fitted back to the car.. hopefully not to leak!




So with that done there's not much more I can do. I'm waiting on a short shift bar from R&B Motorsport for the gear lever but unfortunately they need to be made so not sure when one will be ready. But I've heard that these are worth the wait so hopefully one will be on its way soon. Once that's here I can get the box in and get the car back out and into the sun!

That's all for now, thanks for looking

visa_broke

Nice update

At least the brake fluid should keep the inside clean for when you removed it for emptying/welding. Am I correct in thinking I read somewhere that brake fluid is seriously nasty if it turns into a gas?

I've not been feeling the best today so my minds a bit fuzzy.

McCloud 85

Yeah a quick wash out with water then a wipe over with acetone and it was pretty good to go with the welding. Not sure about that, it's bad enough as a fluid as it will start to strip paintwork on the car.

Hoping that will do it, but I'm not holding my breath!

McCloud 85

Small update..

Given up waiting for R&B Motorsport, so as I've missed enough good weather already I've got hold of a standard gear shift and will be fitting that. It might actually put the gear lever in a closer position to the drivers seat.



Stripped out the part I needed - old vs new - could anyone confirm if that is a Sierra/Escort cosworth gear shift or not?!?



So with that I'll now start getting the box together and get this thing moving again!!

Thanks

rooos

the clutch job is really inspiring...
well done and keep us posted mate

Caddyshack

The shifter on the right is exactly the same as the standard one that I bought. Are you going to swap the rubber mounting "bushes" for the solid ones that people use?

McCloud 85

Thanks Toby, at least that confirms I have a standard shifter. Undecided at the moment, the cradle I'm using has poly bushes fitted to it, the reason I went for this was because I wanted some vibration taken out as it's still a road car. However I've fitted solid steering rack bushes so wondering whether it's worth doing it to this as well. Have you had any experience with them? Are they much better or not over the poly bushes?

Caddyshack

When I spoke with Bara about my Oppliger box jumping out of 4th they seemed to think that the Oppliger short shifter doesnt have any slop at all in it and it may have bent the selector fork...I asked what the point was of replacing the fork if the shifter was going to bend the next one and they suggested the next step down was a standard shifter but with the rubber bushes replaced with solid. (people refer to it as solid bushes)

I know what you mean about the vibration side of things, my rear beam is all solid mounted and spherical jointed and the front end is pretty much WRC solid throughout and oddly I do not get much vibration at all, it thumps a little over cats eyes. My springs are still too stiff for the road so softening as I go which seems to help...I am about to try 160 / 180 rear and 200 front (currently on 240 front and 200 rear) as the car is very light.

I do not have solid mounts on the steering rack but may go that route if / when I swap to manual rack and elec power steering and maybe the WRC crossmember.

McCloud 85

That's interesting, as I know a fair few have said not to fit a short shift at all to the 4x4 box. I'm also about to fit a straight cut Bara box so don't want any damage to occur to that. I have ordered the short shift from compbrake as the standard gear throw is enornous. I'll see how that is with maybe the solid bushes.

McCloud 85

Thanks very much 👍

Caddyshack

It is tough as surely if all Oppliger short shifts bend the forks then they surely wouldn't sell them.


I know of another box produced around the same time with the same shifter and that is jumping 4th too.

McCloud 85

That doesn't sound like a great track record. Does make me worry about any short shift on this box.. which doesn't bode well for my next update.

McCloud 85

Bit of progress from the last few nights... fitted the standard shift into the cradle and mounted back to the box for a test fit.. I see what people mean, the throw is enormous!

This is it in 4th gear!



So decided to take a punt and order the short shift from Compbrake, which arrived very quickly which was a nice bonus!



New vs old home made short shift



Shows it a little shorter than the old item so it may be a little kinder on the box. So with that I got it fitted into the cradle and fitted to the box




This has reduced the gearstick 'throw' by 5cm so instead of 15cm from say 3rd to 4th, it is now only 10cm. Not a huge difference but enough to put the gearstick in a similar position and function as the home made short shift I had on it previously.

Also managed to get the slave cylinder mounted on the side of the box



Which means the box is now ready to go in.. finally!




Will hopefully get the box in over the weekend and with any luck back down on its wheels.

Thanks for looking.

McCloud 85

Little update..

After the first attempt of getting the box fitted didn't go too well due to the slave cylinder hydraulic hose fouling on the tunnel, an adjustment with the slave cylinder (turning up the other way) saw the box fitted and the car put back together.

Back down on its wheels and took it out for a drive Sunday afternoon for the first time in 9 months!

Slave cylinder mounting changed so the bleed nipple faces down and the hydraulic hose faces up



Needed to shave a tiny bit of the casing to give better clearance around the hose fitting



So with the box in I could fit the other end of the hydraulic hose and the reservoir feed to the master cylinder



Once the turbo heat sheild was in, I decided that the reservoir feed pipe was a little close so covered it with a heat proof material I had lying around the garage. Not very pretty but it does the job for now, I will re-visit this at some point down the line.



With that done I could get the car down on its wheels and it's nice seeing a bay without a flapping clutch cable!

Before



After




So for now I'm going to drive it about and enjoy it for a little bit, so far I'm really loving the noise the box makes and it's good to be back out in it.

Back from its first journey out




Thanks for looking

Caddyshack

Is it worth coating the reservoir with some heat proof material too on the side? I have some spare in silver that I can post to you.

Did you put the poly bushes on the shifter mountings, if so where did they come from?

McCloud 85

Well so far it seems to be fine, I've never had any issues with boiling brake fluid ( as far as I know). The pot has run like that for years now. But I will keep an eye on it and may well take you up on your offer, thank you very much ��

Yes I went with the polybushes and compbrake short shift in the end. Had the polybushes from the last cradle but originally for them from Burton Power. Seem to remember actually driving there for them.

McCloud 85

Little update! - although I'm getting sceptical as to how long this will last now with photobucket playing stupid games with everyone.

So I have now managed to get the original spoiler for car back courtesy of the previous owner, haven't yet bolted it on but will do so in good time.

This is the S1600 spoiler designed by Ford at Boreham when they built their two versions of the car.

Few photos of it resting in place




Would be interested in people's thoughts on it - it's definitely a marmite thing! Personally I did not like them originally but I think the car looks 'bald' without it in place and it is part of the original Ford kit.


I've also started looking into another issue that's been bugging me for a while - there is no gear gaitor around the gearstick, mainly because I think the tunnel is tighter around the gearbox than usual and so needs a box built around the gear cradle so a gaitor clears sufficiently. So here's what I've started










Will look to getting the box welded into the car and once the gaitor is fitted that should stop some of the noise and also the hot air and smells blowing into the car!!

That's all for now, comments welcome as always!

Thanks for looking

massivewangers

iTrader: (1)

Definitely put the spoiler on in my view. As you say, it looks naked without it.

McCloud 85

Thanks mate, I'm glad I'm not the only one!

Caddyshack

Looks great, I would say no spoiler.

visa_broke

no spoiler for me, looks too "max power" rather than motorsport

McCloud 85

Ok so that's a few strong votes the other way! It is easy to take on and off so wouldn't be difficult to take off if it got a bad reception!

Caddyshack

It's your car mate and we are all different, loads of people see my car and say it needs a high roof spoiler, I will add one if I can get one I like. If you like it then keep it, or just change to suit your mood.

McCloud 85

Yeah I think your right Toby, I'll bolt it on and see what I think - I can see my mood changing though, I was unsure at first when I saw these spoilers!

Mad_Mat

The spoiler would look a lot better if it followed the line and shape of the bootlid imo.
As it is I am also thinking it's a touch to max power.
The choice is yours. Stick it on for a bit and if you decide it's not for you take it off

Proper cool car by the way.

McCloud 85

Yeah I'd agree with that. The straight line doesn't suit well to the curve of the boot lid - it has supposedly been designed to perform rather than looks so I don't know whether this has something to do with the shape of it in that respect. I've been calling it the 'bent ironing board' - I can definitely see the reference to Max Power, it is from the late 90's!

I think this is what I'll do, bolt it on and look at it for a while and see if my mind changes.

Thanks very much by the way 👍

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

Sorry not keen on the spoiler, looks like it will create more drag than downforce!

massivewangers

iTrader: (1)

I can't believe people are saying that the spoiler looks Max Power. That spoiler was used on the Cosworth Puma rally prototype and later on the Puma Super 1600 rally car. How much more motorsport do you want?

jonfoc

Get that spoiler banged on that car. It's pure function over form.

McCloud 85

Well there is some truth to that I believe, some do say that it does create a little drag if only used for straight line runs.

Yeah I agree, this is what Ford put on the car. It has an embossed Ford logo in the middle of the spoiler underneath. It's a bit like leaving the WRC spoiler of a Focus when you've fitted the rest of the kit.

I think this is what will happen 👍


It's definitely got mixed reviews that's for sure! Thanks for all the comments guys.

Caddyshack

I think most spoilers cause drag, they wouldn't be working if they didn't?

McCloud 85

I think you're right especially if F1 is anything to go by.