Back in beige

[jamie]

Does anyone have any advice on swing-arm angles for SWB cars?

I had mine set at 22 degrees, which may have been correct, but the suspension hadn't settled and it looked high.

So I reset the arms to 18.5 degrees, which should have given me a drop of an inch. Now the suspension is 3/4" low on one side, and 1.5" low on the other. Arses!

[jamie]

This evening I fixed the little oil leak that was coming from somewhere at the top of the engine. I suspected it may be the crazy plumbing for the oil pressure and temp switches. I replaced the copper washers in there, but the weep remained and appeared to be coming from the core plug that had been installed right next to it. F****** core plug - the same POS type that had filled the bellhousing with oil, and caused me to install and uninstall the engine four times when I was putting the car together a few months ago.

I pulled it out, cleaned it up and added some Loctite 545. Then I ran the car down to Tesco so my girlfriend could buy some potatoes - exactly the same kind of mundane shite I used to do in my 72T - things which made a very boring task sort of bearable. At Tesco, someone said nice car, but I couldn't get past how baggy the back end looks - desperately needs sorting out.



When I got home, I found the plug was still leaking. So I knacked it off into the bin and installed the same type of plug that had solved my bellhousing issue, wrapped neatly in a couple of turns of PTFE tape.



After dinner, I ran it back down to Tesco, this time in the rain. We had forgotten to buy margarine, you see. Bertolli was on offer - £1.

I checked the engine bay in the car park - the plug was holding and the bay was drip-free. Snag list item removed!

As I pulled out of the car park I noticed a clunk from the front left suspension. Snag list item added.

Ooh you git.

[Gary71]

Still looks awesome though if maybe a touch on the droopy side!

[jamie]

Quote to align and corner balance coming in at around 600-700 quid.

I don't really need a corner balance, but I do need the alignment. I have access to a set of scales so I can at least get the fronts balanced up afterwards.

[jamie]

Also looking at getting a shorter registration so I can fit a US license plate. I've found an innocuous five-digit reg for £300.

New speedo drive is about £150, then there are a few other odds and sods to put right. So all in all, another £1000-£1500 to get it finished-off.

[Northy]

Jamie, if you've got a level garage floor, it is doable at home. You can use the triangulation method in the ray Scruggs book. Might be worth trying that first? If you've got a spare day.

[johnM]

Jamie, if you've got a level garage floor, it is doable at home. You can use the triangulation method in the ray Scruggs book. Might be worth trying that first? If you've got a spare day.

I used this method for mine and it seems fine. Handles a treat.

[jamie]

Thanks guys - will look into it.

[Barry]

Yes, I used a string box method for tracking and a cheap caster gauge.

For corner weight, I simply got the back where it looked right in the arches with my weight (batteries, chunks of steel etc etc) in the driver's seat.

After that, I put the front end on a beam (bit of RSJ) with a pivot (1in round bar) between beam and floor. Then I just tweaked until I had the wheel-arch to tyre clearance I wanted, and the beam was level.

Can't help but be square. Oh yes, I've looked back at all the costs and laid them out below for your consideration.

£0.

It is a fiddle, but frankly it's quite a nice clean(ish) job, and keeps you in control. If you don't like the feel of something, you can tweak it as much as you want. If you've just driven 100 mile round trip, paid £500 or so, and then after a couple of weeks you begin to think it's not to your taste, you've got the hassle of booking it back in etc. DIY if you can afford the time to research and do it. It's much more rewarding.

[Darren65]

You guys are all way cleverer than me and fair play to those that can.....

...but I would always recommend Chris Franklin at Centre Gravity - admittedly an investment of circa £500 although what you get is a perfectly set-up car that performs and handles exquisitely just as it should. Straight out of the box so to speak.

Worth it imo after all the pain and heartache of full restoration.

[johnM]

You guys are all way cleverer than me and fair play to those that can.....

...but I would always recommend Chris Franklin at Centre Gravity - admittedly an investment of circa £500 although what you get is a perfectly set-up car that performs and handles exquisitely just as it should. Straight out of the box so to speak.

Worth it imo after all the pain and heartache of full restoration.

I would expect Chris at centre of gravity would indeed set the car up better than a homer, but if I were to pay to get it done on a freshly rebuilt car I would wait until the suspension had settled with a good few miles under its belt before getting it done.

That’s what I was going to do but as I seemed quite happy with it decided I just wouldn’t bother.

[jamie]

I have access to a set of scales and a clinometer (app, on my phone), so I'm already in a more favourable position than Barry and his RSJ. I therefore think it'd be rude not to give it a go.

Whether I do it myself or take it somewhere, its still a day of my time...

[sladey]

Have you got the Bert Scruggs guide Jamie? There are a number of links floating around

[jamie]

Nope, but if you do I'll be your friend forever.

[sladey]

Have a look here

https://sites.google.com/site/rdmothena ... rschefiles

And it's Ray not Bert