Blue Invader

[spegru]

Thanks Gavin. In fact I have both wishbones off now - mainly for repainting TBH. The thin plates were barely attached TBH two of them just came off while i was investigating with a bit of levering
Seems a bit of an odd way to go about it though. I was thinking of making them boltable in some way so I am interested in any ideas on that

[cminvader2]

Hi Steve,
Regarding the "keep plate" I have attached 2 pictures that may be of help. The clearer one looking square onto the bracket was taken at a car show, I believe Shepton Mallet, and few years ago, and may even be Gavin's car, but not sure. The second picture which is a bit dark and not quite so detailed, is my own mark 2. My solution was to use a bit of right angled steel, cut from an old steel racking beam, and weld a keep plate to the bottom and up the side. Probably a bit of overkill when you look at the original solution. Needless to say each bracket was unique, having made 2 for one side, using measurements for the front arm, I found it did not quite fit the rear arm.
Regards
Colin

[spegru]

Thankyou Colin and Gavin. I will have to come up with something like that I think.
One problem I have is that the new superflex style bushes I have (from Moss) want to squish out of the wishbone tubes, making it difficult to get the wishbone into place with the end plates on. Maybe this why the original end plates were seemingly welded on after fitment.

By the way, since the exact position of these wishbones is what determines Caster angle (for self centring & feel of the steering) does anyone know what the Caster angle is meant to be? I have read that MGBs have 6.5-7 degrees but I'm not sure if it would be the same as that anyway. Presumably by the use of shims at these wishbone mounts, Caster could even be adjusted? (NB this is a Mk2)

thanks
Steve

[Gavin McArdle]

Hi Steve, the reason these plates were welded on afterwards is because the bolts are too long to fit or remove with the plates in place. Making a removeable bracket as I have means you can first clamp the bushes in place then fit the bracket bolt thru' the chassis afterwards.
I have seen figures for steering set up somewhere but cannot remember where, it could have been at Philip Ivimeys as he has all the specs to build new chassis.
Gavin

[spegru]

By the way I have decided to stick with the original steering rack. I have modified its input shaft, using a couple of UJs and I can now steer it from the Corsa electric PAS column with the shaft passing around the side of the AJ30 v6. I still need to finslise everything but it looks good.

spegru

[spegru]

One thing I need to get this rolling is replacement spring/dampers - or at the very least springs to get me going. Unfortunately one of my front (original) spax coilover springs was broken and although I hoped I could cut the other down to match, that's not going to work as the end part is not going to sit into the coilover seat.
No markings on them that I can see so I've no idea of poundage etc.
I think the jag/mazda engine/box is going to be a bit lighter than (at ~183kg) the original but probably only by ~30kg or so (unfortunately although I have the Essex weight at about 190kg I dont have the weight of the box).
What springs are people running? - esp at the front

[keithgilbern]

On my Estate with Essex V6 I have 14" 225 pounds springs with AVO dampers on the front and 14" 150 pounds with AVO dampers on the rear with uprated bushes from Merlin Motor Sport.
Regards Keith

[Gavin McArdle]

Brian(New Spares) can supply both the correct springs and s/abs for a standard car. Can't remember the poundage off hand, he may know, PI definitely will.
Gavin

[spegru]

Thanks for those. keithgilbern do you know the overall length? It could be 14" but it could also be still compressed even at full droop?

One thing I noticed, asp at the back if I remember correctly is that spring seats were at their lowest possible setting. If that memory is correct (unfortunately I've now dismantled them) that would seem to imply that the springs were a bit too long? I suppose the coilovers mountings could be moved to create more of an angle ~shorter.
Does this ring any bells with people?

[keithgilbern]

My springs are ones I purchased new so I know they are 14"
Regards Keith

[spegru]

keithgilbern, the thing I am trying to understand is the length of the spring part of the coilover body. ie were the springs still compressed at full droop (ie off the car) or were they relaxed?
thanks

[Gavin McArdle]

Hi Steve, I seem to remember being able to fit either front or rear springs by hand with no compressor and winding the base screw up afterwards. I think I may have needed slight compression to fit the other pair.

[keithgilbern]

Hi Steve
They are 14" before fitting to the damper and they were fitted without using a compression tool unlike the front ones.

[Blackpool Plastic]

Hi Steve

I installed a Vauxhall Corsa EPAS system last year into my 1971 Mark 2 Invader and have been very pleased with it. It is fair to say that it totally transforms the driving experience. The difference to your situation is that I have the original engine and gearbox.

Over the years there have been articles on PAS in Rarebit but as you are a newish member you may not have seen them ? The latest was mine in May 2020.

I have been following your You Tube videos and I must say you are making remarkable progress in a short space of time. Well done and keep up the momentum.

I see you do not yet have a dashboard yet and this is where you may have clearance issues if you get a Gilbern one rather than making your own ? My dashboard is a one piece fibreglass moulding with a separate front section for the instruments. I had to bring the whole unit forward quite a bit so the speedo and rev counter did not foul the PAS motor. However, this is hardly noticeable I think.

Below is a link to a photo of what I currently have. I hope you can access it ? If not PM me and I will attach it to an email.

Keep up the good work. I am sure lots of members welcome all the information and videos you are providing so thanks !

Mike

https://photos.app.goo.gl/uQS7cY8biS7HTqGW8

[spegru]

Thanks Mike. The advantage of having a base car in such poor condition is that it's a blank page to a large extent. Fortunately I previously did something like this (incl the EPAS to a Dutton Phaeton). However I shall not consider the conversion in any way complete until I have an exhaust!

Thanks for watching the YouTube. It takes a lot of time and I know the quality is not quite there, although a recent new camera should help.

Check out Spegu's Garage. This is the very latest: https://youtu.be/k16mWN4CTSw