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K-Series Gbs Zero


brumster

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Well for reference, a chopped up Exmo and a sierra rear subframe and drums/etc isn't worth a fat lot because the stainless isn't really of a high grade to warrant being considered anything special... so I'm £36 better in pocket now but that's all. Hardly worth the trip to the scrappy really! But at least it's out of the way.

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Bit of faffing today getting the suspension temporarily on so I can eventually sort out ride height and damper lengths. The wishbones/etc got painted and then I went through the usual process of pressing in the bushes and inserts, which was all fairly painless.

 

One thing I will need to do is weld in this supporting brace on the front; another chassis mod that my car hasn't had compared to the later chassis....

 

IMG_20131020_174947+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Ran out of time to drop it down on some wheels so I'll do that in the week, so I moved on to quickly checking out the pedal positioning. I've got the clutch about as far left as it can go, the brake tight up on the centre bush, and the throttle pedal hanging off the (currently too short) bolt all the way to the right....

 

IMG_20131020_175012+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

...which looks a bit like this....

 

IMG_20131020_175035+%25281280x960%2529.jpgIMG_20131020_175107+%25281280x960%2529.jpgIMG_20131020_175121+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Now I'm only a size 8 (7.5 if I'm being pedantic!) but it's a bit tight down there and I'm not entirely happy with this pedal layout. The pedals seem massive and I've got a very good chance of stomping on brake pedal and throttle at the same time with this layout!

 

I think the answer will possibly be to drop the use of their throttle pedal and make something up that moves it over a bit - or try some pedal bending first. Nothing insurmountable, just a bit of faffing to do - but I expected it to be honest. Pedal positioning is very rarely how I like it on most cars these days.

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You have the accelerator pedal on the wrong pivot point

 

you appear not to have the later pedal setup

 

the early pedals are normaly fitted with a spacer between chassis mount and clutch + spacer the other side to prevent the pedal sliding along shaft

 

have you the brake stop plate to weld on (another chassis mod)

 

tunnel panels are not correct, they should cross the chassis.

 

you will fine that everything improves

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Yes it's the earlier type without the pedal stop (something to weld on). Didn't realise about the spacers, although figured some would need making up because of the obvious gaps on the bush insert! I'll get the panel out of the way, put some spacers in and see how it looks. Didn't realise the throttle pivot was different, doh! Thanks for the tips - exactly what this thread is all about ;)

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you might have modestly proportioned feet, but can i suggest more delicate footwear than your clod-hoppers? It's much easier in narrow shoes!

 

I drive in a set of £20 trainers form sports direct. Only as wide as my feet with very flexible soles.

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Got the ride heights done tonight (120 front, 130 rear, that's right isn't it?) so I could measure the laden lengths of the coil-overs and get the shocks/springs ordered from Procomp. For reference, I get 280mm pivot-to-pivot on the rear and 320mm on the front. Had a lengthy chat with Matt and Ivan at Procomp, we sat talking about car setup for ages and I do feel confident they know what they're doing (clearly from other peoples opinions, they do). Ordered up springs and dampers, should be a few weeks but no major rush on them anyway, just nice to get the big expenses out of the way...

 

Tried my old 13" Weller wheels on the car - the front is no problem but the custom offset on the back is no good and the rims aren't big enough to clear the lower arms where they bolt up through the upright (interferes with the rim), so basically my old wheels are a no-go. Which is a shame as I'd quite fancy 13" rims, but it turns out I have a far better option....

 

IMG_20131025_142221+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Now I'd suspected for a while these would fit but I only got round to trying them today. As luck would have it, my competition wheels off the Pug are perfect - 15" rims, ET15 offset, 195/50 tyres, and I've got a vast choice available to me - from these road tyres (for MOTs) to various moulded slicks of different compounds, and some Pirelli N3 full wets. So this is perfect - I can share wheels with the rally car and save a few quid. The only time the road tyres go on the Pug is for MOT time, but during a competition I never use them - so for the rest of the time they can sit on the Zero. And if there's ever an odd occassion on a track day that I fancy wacking some super-sticky Dunlops onto it, then I've got that option....

 

Weekend it's get the engine and gearbox out, finish off some welding around the engine bay, then get started on the piping and cabling through the tunnel.

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Tickled away at another little job today - the steering column bush. Or rather, getting shot of it for the very common pressed flange bearing that has been common on Hoods for quite some time (search SLFL25 bearing on google/ebay for it). I had one kicking about that was supposed to go on the Exmo but I never got round to it, so might as well put it to good use here :)

 

IMG_20131026_153618+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

IMG_20131026_153637+%25281280x960%2529.jpgIMG_20131026_163451+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

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The bracket needs taking out a little to fit one of the two flanges that clamp together and hold the bearing in place. The bearing is spherical on it's outer race, so it can basically be positioned at an angle in the flanges. When they are clamped up the bearing outer is held tight. The inner obviously spins still :). The Ford plastic bush with the triangular inner cutout for the steering column fits just snugly into the inner bearing - perfect.

 

IMG_20131026_164424+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Engine is back out and I've decided I'll invest in the QED bellhousing rather than chop any chassis bits away.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Forgot to put an update on at the weekend, got so carried away :). So the additional front wishbone brackets are now in place (flatted off and sprayed over since this photo was taken); I suspect these are pretty vital and wouldn't want to run without them. Obviously to get them into correct position you need to fit the wishbone, bolt it up with the bracket in place, tack weld it on, then remove the wishbone out of it to complete the work - unless you fancy melting the bushes :)

 

IMG_20131101_162134+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

Also faffed around sorting a right-angle drill, which took a while, but once arrived I could do the cable tie mounts for the wiring loom and fuel lines down the left-hand side of the tunnel. The brake lines will go the other side but I'll use P-clips for those; in the meantime I figured I'd get these out of the way - I plan on doing the wiring loom fairly early on in the build. It also necessitated that I fit the front-most inner panels of the tunnel since they go on the tunnel side (as I learnt from above - thanks to Knights Templar!).

 

IMG_20131101_162231+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

 

I also made up a speedo sensor bracket while I was thinking of it - lot easier to do now, obviously. Will pick up off the propshaft/diff join.

IMG_20131102_134633+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

Also fitted the master cylinder in readiness to run the brake lines - it's a Ka m/c so needs slight chopping in order to get it to fit, and drilling of new holes, but nothing major. It's a small diameter piston so should give slightly more pressure at the slave cylinder end, at the sacrifice of pedal travel, but there are a number of people using them on Zeros. My finger-in-the-air'ometer tells me a slight drop in the m/c piston size is not a bad thing with the loss of the servo.

 

IMG_20131102_145642+%25281280x960%2529.jpg

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From the underside, do you mean? Could have done I suppose, would have left some of the sensor/wiring exposed on the underside though. No matter, bracket was no real effort, just a bit of flat steel.

 

Procomp just been on the line; my coilovers will be ready later today :drinks: yay!

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