S-Club Reserve Plan

[mk1fan]

Trying some rose joints for arb drop links. Had the arb ends tapped to 1/2 inch so these match. The turnbuckles and rose joints need to be trimmed to provide the 100mm eye to eye length so a bit experimental. Turnbuckles are cheap so happy to experiment.

[phillpot]

Are you putting boots on them or going "au naturel"?

[mk1fan]

Once I'm happy with the length of the turnbuckle I'll probably get them triple passivated. Then liberal copperslip.

[glenrobbo]

Hi Stewart,
The turnbuckles on Percy fabricated by Shaun are each 40mm long, made from 3/4" SS round bar, with spanner flats at each end if that:s any help.

I would consider Phillpot's suggestion of using rubber boots. They are used on rose-jointed linkages to critical pneumatic valves on railway rolling stock. When I worked on the trains, I was impressed by the level of protection they offer from grit, dirt and water ingress.

A bare rod end coated in grease would just be a grit magnet IMHO.

If you don't use the boots, better to keep it clean by wiping frequently and spraying with WD-40

[mk1fan]

The 1/2 unf size made Shaun's links v expensive.

The eyelets will be dry lubed. The threads will be copperslipped.

The longer turnbuckle is pretty much bob on to allow some softening of the arb if desired. Cheap enough to experiment with.

[phillpot]

mk1fan said:

to allow some softening of the arb if desired.

Won't adjusting the length of them just rotate the arb in its brackets?


To soften the arb you'd have to physically reduce the diameter of it.

[mk1fan]

Soften in the sense of adjusting the point at which it starts to act in relation to the suspension movement of the wheels.

[phillpot]

Still don't think it'll make any difference



No matter the length, once a wheel (wishbone) moves that movement will be transferred into the anti roll bar and react at the other end.

[GreenV8S]

I use antiroll slide bar clamps to attach the drop links on mine. They came from Merlin Motorsport but I expect there are plenty of alternatives. These attach to the thick part of the bar which means the bar is effectively shortened and stiffened; eliminating the rubber stiffens it up further. In theory the clamp can be moved along the bar to adjust the leverage, but in practice the clamp needs to be kept close to the end of the bar to keep the drop link geometry reasonable. I used good quality PTFE-lined rod-end bearings with boots to keep the muck out, and they are as new 100,000 miles later. There isn't much load on them as long as you dial out the preload, so they should last practically forever.

[mk1fan]

Attention turns back to the Reserve.

Having spent the week refurbing mounts and other bits ready for a blitz this weekend I promptly left the parts behind.

[mk1fan]

So cracked on with the small jobs.

Used some offcut of tube to stop the rear lamp clusters popping out during enthusiastic driving.



Then added an anaconda of my own.



Stripped out the stereo and wired in the fan override switch - blue lights. Just the speakers in the doors to go. Interchanger removed from the boot so some more space.

[mk1fan]

Then renewed the heat shields in the engine bay.





Then decided on the relocation of the coil - shown in photo above.

Final other bits were to raise the rear shocks a smidge and added one click of damping.

[mk1fan]

I'll collect the parts I left behind tomorrow evening and prep everything for fitting on Friday. A couple of bits I can do on Monday is square up the engine and fit the PU engine mounts. I want to trim the seat mounting bolts too.

Happy days.

[mk1fan]

Collected the bits last night but discovered the arb had dropped off the hangers and the paint ballsed. So will touch that up one evening this week.

So started with a few bits.



Swirlpot pot and battery tray first.

[mk1fan]

Added some penny washers between the swirlpot base and the chassis to allow the battery tray mount to sit under the pot. It only needs to last until after S Club Tour before being swapped out.

[mk1fan]

Then on to the engine mounts.

Painted the mounts with bbq paint so should be sound for heat and oil. Managed to get the engine squarer than it was. This, coupled with the different construction of the PU bushes should help prevent ripping of the mounts.

[mk1fan]

Then extracted the CD interchanger control cables before sealing up the bulkhead hole previously used by the fresh air supply pipe on the passenger side.

I used some heat shield in the engine bay and then built up the inside using off cuts. Glued up and should be air tight as well as flame resistant

[mk1fan]

So, Hethel trackday is this Sunday. The eagle-eyed amongst you will see that the heads are still not fitted, nor the ARB!

Well, I'm taking Friday off to build up to top end. Mr Zigazaga is lending a hand. So, if all goes well, should have the car running sweet and freshly flushed through on Friday evening. Test run on Saturday. Track on Sunday.

[TVRees]

mk1fan said:

....I used some heat shield in the engine bay and then built up the inside using off cuts. Glued up and should be air tight as well as flame resistant

I'm also going to be doing this soon. How did you manage with the heat-shield around those bulky bulkhead ballast resistors on the driver's side ?

I might take them out and bin them - is the dashboard light dimmer function really required (on sunny afternoons) ?

[Oldred_V8S]

TVRees said:

I'm also going to be doing this soon. How did you manage with the heat-shield around those bulky bulkhead ballast resistors on the driver's side ?

I might take them out and bin them - is the dashboard light dimmer function really required (on sunny afternoons) ?

That is what I did, they only make the very dim lights even dimmer