Twin Plenum Vitesse restoration
Discussion
Megaflow said:
The caliper does not look right for a 20mm thick disc, a 20mm thick disc would almost fill that caliper leaving no room for the brake pads.
Have confirmed it's a caliper for a vented disc. The carrier fits either side of the disc and the caliper holds the pads so the gap is a bit misleading.Managed to get a couple of hours last weekend, my 2 year old helping me as well.
New flexible steering coupling and new boots on the steering rack, I can now clean the rest of it up without worrying about dirt getting into the moving parts:
Plumbed in the new master cylinder, this has a larger bore to cope with the lager calipers front and rear (reduces pedal travel). I'll take it apart again to clean and paint the servo. On the original the pipes exit on the opposite side:
The rear disc conversion is coming along, the quaife LSD is in and shimmed and the discs are on:
New flexible steering coupling and new boots on the steering rack, I can now clean the rest of it up without worrying about dirt getting into the moving parts:
Plumbed in the new master cylinder, this has a larger bore to cope with the lager calipers front and rear (reduces pedal travel). I'll take it apart again to clean and paint the servo. On the original the pipes exit on the opposite side:
The rear disc conversion is coming along, the quaife LSD is in and shimmed and the discs are on:
I was going to skip right to the final page but boy am I glad I looked through it all. It's a credit to you OP and I can't wait to see it finished.
My dad had a few of these through the 90's when I was still a nipper and I still love them now. I'd love to have one myself some day or even have one as a bit of a project car, but build it as BL should have done in the first place.
Anyway I digress, once again congrats and I'll be following this from now on
I fitted the LSD and disc axle at the weekend, very happy with it I am too.
First I had to make up a handbrake cable to fit, I used the front half of the SD1 item cut down and a bracket to hold it to the lower bolt on the torque tube to body mount. This was then mated to the back half of a Sierra (disc type) cable:
The hydraulic lines use Aeroquip hoses, T'd on the back casing and then brought forward to meet the standard fixed line in the transmission tunnel.
Then it went back into the car with minimal fuss and fully poly-bushed trailing arms (both ends) and Watts linkage:
First I had to make up a handbrake cable to fit, I used the front half of the SD1 item cut down and a bracket to hold it to the lower bolt on the torque tube to body mount. This was then mated to the back half of a Sierra (disc type) cable:
The hydraulic lines use Aeroquip hoses, T'd on the back casing and then brought forward to meet the standard fixed line in the transmission tunnel.
Then it went back into the car with minimal fuss and fully poly-bushed trailing arms (both ends) and Watts linkage:
Front brakes are on, this uses much larger Jaguar discs, the SD1 has quite a larger PCD so it's difficult to see how big they are.
The calipers have been re-built just not painted, can't decide on colour so will leave it for now and see how I feel.
The system has been a complete pain to bleed, both with pressure bleeder, vacuum bleeder and the traditional pedal method. Being all new pipes and completely fresh calipers it's bone dry and full of air. Leaving it to settle overnight and then another bleed was a massive improvement in getting air out, I think another go at some point this week will have a rock hard pedal.
The calipers have been re-built just not painted, can't decide on colour so will leave it for now and see how I feel.
The system has been a complete pain to bleed, both with pressure bleeder, vacuum bleeder and the traditional pedal method. Being all new pipes and completely fresh calipers it's bone dry and full of air. Leaving it to settle overnight and then another bleed was a massive improvement in getting air out, I think another go at some point this week will have a rock hard pedal.
Got a day over the weekend and made significant progress, very pleased 
Power steering rack and cross-member cleaned up:
Power steering pump and pipes cleaned (forgot to take an 'after' picture):
Clutch and exhaust manifolds fitted. Gearbox cleaned, fluid changed and mated to engine, gearbox loom cleaned and re-taped:
The whole lot back into the car:
I managed to re-built the clutch slave and master cylinders one evening last week so they went back in too and the whole lot bled last night.
All in all, a busy but productive day.
Power steering rack and cross-member cleaned up:
Power steering pump and pipes cleaned (forgot to take an 'after' picture):
Clutch and exhaust manifolds fitted. Gearbox cleaned, fluid changed and mated to engine, gearbox loom cleaned and re-taped:
The whole lot back into the car:
I managed to re-built the clutch slave and master cylinders one evening last week so they went back in too and the whole lot bled last night.
All in all, a busy but productive day.
I'm watching this in amazement , back in the day I had the skills to contemplate trying to do what you're doing but somehow years of company cars have robbed me of any DIY gene..much to my shame
I also have fond memories of my old SD1, sadly I managed to set fire to it whilst learning to weld
Please post a video with naughty V8 noises when you finally get her to life
I also have fond memories of my old SD1, sadly I managed to set fire to it whilst learning to weld
Please post a video with naughty V8 noises when you finally get her to life
More progress!
Prop shaft and exhaust system are back on:
The prop is the black tube with the green paint in the first picture, good clean and it's in great shape.
After cleaning I'm amazed how good the condition of the exhaust is, the stainless parts particularly so. It cost Dad a fortune years back and still looks like it'll do the business. Odd in the last picture the underside looks all dusty, it's not, it's under seal but it looks grey - must be the flash.
Picture of the fuel pump, shields and tank, all back in a little while ago but forgot to take picture:
I also filled the engine oil, changed the filter and primed the oil pump via the distributor drive using the special tool.
Prop shaft and exhaust system are back on:
The prop is the black tube with the green paint in the first picture, good clean and it's in great shape.
After cleaning I'm amazed how good the condition of the exhaust is, the stainless parts particularly so. It cost Dad a fortune years back and still looks like it'll do the business. Odd in the last picture the underside looks all dusty, it's not, it's under seal but it looks grey - must be the flash.
Picture of the fuel pump, shields and tank, all back in a little while ago but forgot to take picture:
I also filled the engine oil, changed the filter and primed the oil pump via the distributor drive using the special tool.
I took the inlet manifold off as it meant I could get the block lifted much higher on the engine crane and make putting it back in the car, whilst 2 foot in the air, much easier.
As such I had to replace the inlet manifold gasket, easy job and reassuring to see that the engine I built nearly 15 years ago still looks to be clean and crud free on the inside:
New gasket and (very ported) inlet manifold back on:
Fuel rail and sundries fitted:
I'm adapting a very swanky aluminium radiator from a Impreza super turbo special thing, hoses in the wrong place though:
Adjustable fuel pressure regulator, water hoses, fuel interconnects, new HT leads, distributor cap and rotor arm on:
Trumpet base (ported from 38mm to 45mm each and extra air valve on:
Twin Throttle plenum on, also full injection wiring loom:
Y piece and air flow meter back on:
I have another plenum top and pair of rocker covers which I'm going to clean up and replace the ones on there at some point, 15 years of sitting about have left them looking a little scruffy. They'll clean up perfectly but it'll mean I can just swap one set for the other.
As such I had to replace the inlet manifold gasket, easy job and reassuring to see that the engine I built nearly 15 years ago still looks to be clean and crud free on the inside:
New gasket and (very ported) inlet manifold back on:
Fuel rail and sundries fitted:
I'm adapting a very swanky aluminium radiator from a Impreza super turbo special thing, hoses in the wrong place though:
Adjustable fuel pressure regulator, water hoses, fuel interconnects, new HT leads, distributor cap and rotor arm on:
Trumpet base (ported from 38mm to 45mm each and extra air valve on:
Twin Throttle plenum on, also full injection wiring loom:
Y piece and air flow meter back on:
I have another plenum top and pair of rocker covers which I'm going to clean up and replace the ones on there at some point, 15 years of sitting about have left them looking a little scruffy. They'll clean up perfectly but it'll mean I can just swap one set for the other.
Needs sounds for full experience:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN7df0QPReM&fea...
Video was taken over quite some time and edited, plenty of time to warm up and allowing for initial cam bedding in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN7df0QPReM&fea...
Video was taken over quite some time and edited, plenty of time to warm up and allowing for initial cam bedding in.
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