The Rocket ST159

[duratec1999cc]

Apr 7, 2015 8:00:25 GMT casesensitive said:

Handbrake cable

I may have encountered a reason why the rear calipers need to be reversed on a Rocket; look like the handbrake cable would snag on the driveshafts, which would be a A Very Bad Thing. I've never been happy with how they fit anyway, chance for a do over.

I fitted them like you have with the bleed nipple at the top so I don't have to keep removing the caliper and turning it over to bleed the brakes. What I also di though was swap the handbrake mechanisms over from one caliper to the other so the cable points the other way.

just take the nut of the end and remove the Torx bolt, the gently lever and work the brackets from the splined shaft.

[casesensitive]

Rear brakes

Never been happy with these, just not rewound properly, and wheels didn't rotate freely.



Bought a proper brake caliper rewind tool, next to my homemade version.



Comes with two sides for different brands of brakes, but it means that the space in the smallish Lucas caliper is too tight



So I ground down the long ones



Much better





The main reason my paint job on the calipers is so battered is because I massacred them squeezing this bloody clips to get them in. One broke off accidentally, and worked much better afterwards, so I pulled them all out. Much easier to fit, and they don't slide out, so Im struggling to see what they were for.



Ending on a question; the calipers have to be rotated clockwise to rewind them, if they rotate counter-clockwise on use, won't this little nub on the pads prevent that from happening?

[casesensitive]

Wheel choices

My donor's Wolfrace Eurosport 17s weigh 18.9kg each, my soon to be deceased Puma's wheels (15") were a portly 14.8kg shod in Toyo T1Rs, not as light as I hoped, but still a 4kg unsprung weigh saving per corner, and they'll hold until I figure out what wheels I want. Will clean, blast and paint them the same colour as the body panels.

I like how the smaller wheel makes the brakes look less weedy, proportionally.



Tight enough at the rear top of suspension travel, but still ok. RTR rear upright could be trimmed, but it just fits too.





Front fits comfortably top and bottom of travel





New shoes! Vredestein SportTrac 5s @ 6.7Kg apiece for 195/50/R15

[mawdo81]

The rotation is due to the action of the handbrake mechanism. You need to work against it on rewind. Thts why it's only the rear ones that need rewinding and fronts can be pushed back.

Sent from my GT-I8190N using proboards

[casesensitive]

Driveshafts


I ran the thread on my half shaft when I took off it out, so the newly procured not-quite-driveshaft nut wouldn't go. Die'd it to M22 x1.5, ran true afterwards.

[casesensitive]

Gear ends

My MGF ends were 12mm, so I picked up four of M6 threaded 10mm ball sockets. It does shorten the run a few mm, but I'm hoping to go under the gearbox, away from the driveshafts, maybe tap a bracket in.
I have a post in the technical section about the brackets, which are no longer right, I'll update this when I know how to extend them properly.

[bazandgav]

Where did you get the 6mm ends from?

[casesensitive]

Apr 20, 2015 5:07:23 GMT bazandgav said:

Where did you get the 6mm ends from?

£5 from fleabay!
From previous page:

Edit: Ordered some gas strut ball joints, which happen to be exactly the size that MevST reported he needed and about 1/3rd the price. SpringFixLinkages were going to be £20 posted.

Actually, if you have a donor, the ball sockets on the end of the boot struts should fit too, if you can get them off, it'd save you a few quid.

[casesensitive]

It's worth bearing in mind that removing the stock ends leaves the run too short to reach the full travel
All the way 'out'



'In' as far as it would reach.



So, like carlostheoptimistic I've ordered threaded M6 extenders. Needed to order 10, so I can probably spare a set of 2/4 if anyone needs 'em.

Didn't think I'd be needing these again, but forcing the MGF cables into the bracket with no room to swing a hammer called for it, honestly.

[casesensitive]

Clutch line

I still can't change gears of course. Choosing the ST170 leave you with a clutch line problem, so at someone else's suggestion, free I think, I've gingerly cut the Focus clutch line at the last bend, and planned to weld onto one of the many M12 brake and clutch threaded bits left over from the donor tear down. I knew some on this crap would come in handy!

First, second and third welds with my first welding MIG set (SIP 155 with 9L Argon).



Ready to do a real one. Surface prep, lots of sanding, including the vice mating surface where the earth lead went. Lowest voltage setting (for 30A current) , 4 (of 9) wire speed, 0.6mm.



I'm not going to win any prizes any time soon, but it holds the connector on, it's air tight (blew in one end with finger over the other, very technical!), and a rod can pass through it, so I didn't collapse the interior.



and then a little heat shrink, which I really should have slipped over before I started.

[casesensitive]

Mirrors

Picked up a couple aftermarket GSXR-type mirrors with indicators. Masked off the mirrors so I don't scratch the glass.



Drilled out the round bit in the middle to feed the wiring through.



Drilled M6 for the bolts, M3 for the wiring, which fits like a glove.



Left all my sockets at home, so it's not held on properly.

[casesensitive]

Gear selector


Thanks to carlostheoptimistic for the pictures of how this is done.
Squashed selectors from 25 to ~21.3mm in the vice to hold onto the MGF ends properly.





Made a cardboard template to figure out where the bends needed to go.





Felt just wrong grinding off the powder here, and my 2nd outing at welding won't win any prizes, but it is solid.  Initially drew around the bracket, then laughed at my own naivety.  Drilled a 5mm hole and held temporarily in place with a bolt while I tacked it.  
They look very wonky in this shot, but they're perfectly placed to give maximum travel.




Please, don't cut the outers on your MGF cables, it doesn't improve the travel and now they catch, hence all the copper grease.   I'll probably try and fashion a replacement outer out of Sugru.

[casesensitive]

There's no getting around it, the mounts just aren't quite in the right place. Smacked it, pulled it towards the front, removed the nearside half-shaft and loosened the torque mount, couldn't get it anywhere near. Not sure what to do about this. Might just be that the donor manifold is preventing it from moving forward, it is touching the chassis bar.

[Paul (madeye)]

10 mm plate.
See Steve's, he did it to fit the mtx75 box

[Paul (madeye)]

10 mm plate.
See Steve's, he did it to fit the mtx75 box