What's in the workshop this week?

[tc4332]

Michaela,
I am still enjoying the way you use your skills.
Well done.

[MikkiJayne]

Wiper linkage tonight. We decided that now is not the time to re-engineer the linkage as it would delay getting the car finished. Luckily the lovely folks at A8Parts helped out with their last remaining D2 wiper linkage which had the exact piece I needed in good condition to make one good linkage from three bad ones

This is what was wrong with the original:



The passenger side spindle was utterly worn out



and the usual troublesome balljoint was also well past it's best



The linkage from A8Parts had a good link arm (top)



and I had a bunch of spare mechanisms from David which I will use for re-engineering later so managed to use the motor and drive arm from Dean's, one of David's linkages and the link arm from A8parts. All of the spindle arms had one good ball and one bad one. Time to make one with two good ones:

The balls are staked in to the spindle arms like rivets, so grind off the head



and punch the ball out



This is a bad ball removed from a good spindle. I also removed a good ball from a bad spindle.

Heat the good spindle up to expand the hole



Press the good ball in the good arm



Weld it in place



The now-good spindle arm



All the parts ready for reassembly



Balljoint boots



Spindle greased and assembled



Balljoints greased and assembled



Remove the bonnet strut and protect the top of the wing to remove or re-fit the mechanism



Centre in first



Then slide it back in to position



Bolted back in and connected



I'm leaving the cowling off until I get the electrics hooked back up just so I can make sure I got the arm on the motor in exactly the right place before I finish off. Can't do that until the steering column is back in, and I can't do that until its rolling again as I can't open the doors on the lift

Did the propshaft and exhaust too. These are some original cats with custom flexis which we also got from A8Parts. The fitment on aftermarket cats is just nasty, and new ones are prohibitively expensive so these are a good option.

[MikkiJayne]

Calipers are back from Bigg Red. They are indeed bigg, and red

[M-A8]

Very big, very red and very sexy

A bit too much gloss for my liking tho, but they will look the nuts on the very big very red and very sexy car

[Spanker]

So that's where they went

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAPqq67F8wY

They were red before they went away but they needed a bit of TLC so they were repainted in the same colour they were when Tony (big t5) had the car.

Coincidentally, Tony nicknamed the car "Big Red" too so I think that name shall stay.

[MikkiJayne]

Big Red properly kicked my arse tonight, for the first time in this project. Pinch bolt time...

The first one thwarted all normal methods to get it out, so on to the extreme solution.

Cut the head off the bolt at the first arm, and prep a half-washer



Push the half washer in to the slot by the nut - it has to be a tight fit to avoid breaking the strut with what we're about to do next. Yes, I cut the control arms off. They were scrap, and in the way



grease up the thread and stick a couple of chunky washers on the bolt and put the nut back on



The theory at this point is that you start tightening up the nut and the force pulls the remains of the bolt out of the hole. Until tonight this technique had never failed me. This time the bolt snapped in the hole No amount of force in the vice would move it, nor would the air hammer. Time to drill it out.

So, made up a 4mm pilot bushing



and started drilling



once I'd got a good pilot hole started I moved up to a 10mm drill



After the 10mm got a fair way in I put it in the pillar drill to go the rest of the way through. I couldn't get a pic of that since I needed both hands.

This is the stump which remained



2 hours to get one damn bolt out I'm expecting the same with the other side tomorrow.

After that I made a tool to remove ABS sensors. One of Big Red's is bad, and I have two spare on my FE which I'm not using since that's getting alloy struts instead of the depleted uranium 20" versions.

Start with some thick-wall alloy tube



Turn it down to 17.5mm - just smaller than the sensor



Trim to length



Complete



This is how it works

[tonupkid]

Looking at those calipers it strikes me that calipers are very old school engineering. That's a hefty lump added to the unsprung part of the car, where every few grams saved will improve both ride and performance. There must be a better way.
In fact thinking about it there is... inboard brakes. I wonder why they've not been more widely adopted. Cooling and or packaging perhaps.
Apologies for the thread deviation

[MikkiJayne]

The unsprung weight on the 20" cars is just crazy. Not only do they have enormous heavy wheels, but they also have steel uprights which weigh 13Kg each to compound the problem. Add big steel discs and the calipers (these do at least have an alloy piston housing) and you've got the weight of a Polo engine at each corner! Its hardly going to help the vehicle dynamics overcome a quarter ton of engine in front of the front axle.

I think you're right on why inboard discs never caught on. They take up valuable room which could be used for people and things, whereas the space in the wheel is otherwise free.

[Spanker]

Your ingenuity and determination to find solutions to the problems amazes me

Drilling out snapped bolts with a tool to create a perfect guide hole for a larger bit, then creating a mini piston in a very tight spot to push out an ABS sensor! Bravo!
And then doing that when most people are snuggling up on the sofa watching the evening tele

[Delboy]

MJ your talent is wasted in your day job, your problem solving and engineering is impressive. Put most men to shame.