DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Gary71 wrote:Have you considered something like this?

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorspor ... es-slip-on

I wouldn't fancy trying to machine a thin walled damper tube.

It talks about no welding at all on that one - but then I'm not sure how it would fit. I've been very happy with the quality if the elephant racing stuff in the past so I'm sticking with that (now I've ordered and paid for it!). There is another one that you weld but presumably the shocks would need rebuilding after that as I wouldn't think weld would do the shock internals many favours. In either case there's no provision for or mention of an upper perch which I've got with the Elephant kit. I know it's just a metal hat that I could probably source from somewhere but I'm happy going with Chuck's R&D.

I might contact Mike Bainbridge about he engineering part

I think elephant make good products, so I'm sure all will be well.
I've only seen the tubes welded before because there is no 'land' for the tube to sit on close to the lower mounting at the rear.
The front strut is easy because the tube sits on the factory stub axle casting.

Please detail the installation, it will be interesting.

Will do. I've just spoken to chuck and the kit will be sent out today. The springs arrived today and look good ( if springs can look good)

For a bit of light relief I though I'd whip out the torsion bars as I'll no longer be needing them. I then started thinking about them - on the G50 box the torsion bars extend out quite a bit so even with no actual torsion bar in there it might be close to the bodywork. I therefore decided to cut them down a bit.

Also just like with the fronts, a fair bit of 'weather' had got into the rear poly bronze bushes - I wanted to try and stop, or at least reduce that for the future.

I started by marking the torsion bar holder


And cut the end off - look how thick that steel is!


I then wanted to seal the end. If you look at the bit I cut off there is a plug set into the end


This just taps out


When you get it out, it's quite cupped- the very end piece is of a slightly smaller diameter than the rest of the tube.
Cupped:-


After introduction to "the persuader"


After a very slight bit of grinding I was able to tap it into the end of the tube


Then welded it in and ground it smooth


So now we've got shorter torsion tubes that will be much easier to remove to get at the bushes in the future

Next I wanted to put some sort of weather shield over the outer part of the bushes. At this stage I normally turn to bike inner tubes and cable ties (working well for the fronts) - they are cheap and easily replaced.

First I did a few drizzly welds to make sure the cable ties didn't slip off


Then mocked this up


I'm quite pleased with the end result - I'll be able to get it a bit neater and I reckon it will keep the worst of the weather out from the poly bronze bushes



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Hi Mark

Nice modification for the torsion tubes....just a thought, what about welding a circular steel collar onto the main bracket so it overlaps the torsion tube cover, the overlapped joint could be filled with any kind of non setting mastic or silicone...or even use a CV boot joint as a ready made circular dust cover...?

Just my 2C worth...... glad to see your making progress..

Jp

CV boot kits (universal size) are available off bay cheap and are comprehensive with greases and clips etc.
Just fitted one a week ago.
Convoluted so you can cut to the right diameters etc.
Come in pairs and some without the large installation cone so for about £6 all is done.

Thanks guys - good ideas and I might look into that - for the moment I wanted a solution within a day and I'm happy with the results so far - I can still improve on it without having to dismantle everything again


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If you are using arch liners is this area still exposed?

Hi Mark,

The CV boot ideas are neat. You could also try a cross-sectional piece of innertube, then you wouldn't have the end gaps to let dirt in.

Build is looking good

Jamie

Indeed, an off-road mountain bike tube would start at the right dia and stretch the diameters with ease.
We seem to be experts in thin-walled rubber tubes.....

To the overall car: are we nearly there yet?

More good ideas - thanks - I'm going to order a cv boot kit and adapt it

Nige, yes it is still exposed even with the arch liners in place - there's a gap in front of the liners and this sits above that gap


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A bit more progress:-

Firstly on the coilover conversion - this has been a nice diversion from the bodywork side of things.

I got the shock bodies suitably machined


And then turned this



Into this


The white stuff you can see is masking tape - I've covered the ends to stop them marking in case I need to swap them for a different spring rate.

Oh and I did a bit more on the bodywork

Impact bumper area after I'd started cutting out



As usual I made the same mistake as previously and tried to take into account too many curves


I eventually found that the top bit was just fighting against the rest of it too much so I cut it off


and did the top bit as a separate sheet


Then the front bit


Then a coat of epoxy mastic

Did the MOT man ever find any of this rot?

Keep in pluggin' away and you'll be doing the paint before your know it.

Nope - never found a thing. I've known about the two holes in the front inner wings for a couple of years now so it feels good to get them sorted.

Yep I keep plugging away - hoping to get to respray late spring