Steve W's Build Diary

[stevew]

It's a rear wheel Rob not front.


The spacer puts the tyre contact point in exactly the same point as a small spacer and reduced offset so the load on the hub is exactly the same. The spacer bolts to the hub and has its own studs to mount the wheels, it does not use extended studs.

Cheers
Steve

[buildityourself]

Did it do this before you put the driveshafts through with just the hub on?

[kiwicanfly]

Ah, makes a big difference to my suggestion then if it is the rear wheel instead of the front

I appreciate the spacers are actually adaptors, to be honest Im not sure why we have the limits of 27/25mm over here its nothing to do with the bolt length though.

As to your actually problem I'm stumped, any change the bearing is rocking in the housing? I know my bores were oval and I re-machined them but I doubt the ovality I had would give that much rock.

[Stiggy]

drive shaft hub nuts torque required depending on donor age;
Up to 2001 174 ft lbs
2002 on wards 233 ft lbs

[stevew]

Stu - I only noticed it once I put the driveshaft in, but that's not to say it didn't already do it.

Rob - I think the housing may well be oval and causing the problem. I'll strip it off today to see if I can get a better idea of what's going on. How did you machine them? Did you have to use oversize bearings?

Cheers
Steve

[snowbird1]

Difficult to believe the bearing is that loose in the housing, I suspect the hub/bearing/driveshaft assembly is not champing to together correctly, are they all standard parts including the nut?

If it is the bearing housing - did it get distorted when pressing the bearing in?

If I remember right there is a Loctite product called 'bearing lock', I don't know how much clearance it will take up.

[stevew]

Feb 18, 2019 14:19:49 GMT snowbird1 said:

Difficult to believe the bearing is that loose in the housing, I suspect the hub/bearing/driveshaft assembly is not champing to together correctly, are they all standard parts including the nut?

If it is the bearing housing - did it get distorted when pressing the bearing in?

If I remember right there is a Loctite product called 'bearing lock', I don't know how much clearance it will take up.

The hub is tight on the driveshaft and moves with it as it rocks. The inner bearing moves with the hub/driveshaft also, but I can't see whether the outer bearing does. Yes they are all standard parts.

If the housing is distorted I can't see how it would have happened when the bearing was pressed in. I had them pressed at a local garage.

Not sure about bearing lock, I'd be worried about seizing up the whole bearing!

Equilibrium are going to take a look at them to see what is going on.

Cheers
Steve

[kiwicanfly]

Feb 18, 2019 9:57:55 GMT stevew said:

Rob - I think the housing may well be oval and causing the problem. I'll strip it off today to see if I can get a better idea of what's going on. How did you machine them? Did you have to use oversize bearings?

Mine were oval because they were machined to size THEN welded into the plates, you could see the discoloration from the heat. This resulted in undersize areas which I was able to machine out, some areas were then oversize but I had enough contact area to keep the original bearings.

However despite mentioning it it wasn't enough to create that much rock, more an issue with creating bearing damage over time.

strip it down and go through it methodically is all you can do.

[snowbird1]

Feb 18, 2019 15:32:45 GMT stevew said:

Not sure about bearing lock, I'd be worried about seizing up the whole bearing!

The Loctite should not be able to get into the sealed bearing - wipe off any surplus after the bearing has been pressed in.

[stevew]

Well, after Equilibrium pushed out the bearing they couldn't find a problem, thought it must have been a duff bearing. Put the upright back on the car, inserted the driveshaft and the same thing happened!

Couldn't believe it but I stripped it all down again and tried to work out what was happening. I had been using washers to 'extend' the driveshafts and I realised that their outer diameter didn't cover the bearing. I though no that can't possibly be it but removed the washers and tightened up the hub nut and all the play disappeared!

Will probably need to replace the bearing again at some stage but I'll see how it goes. Now to get some larger OD washers!

Cheers
Steve

[stevew]

Due to circumstances I won't go into here I had a break from the car but I've been doing a bit more and the car now drives under its own power. Still some jobs to do, most notably get an exhaust!

The gear change is not very positive (to say the least) and a bit strange. Without the engine running I could select all the gears (after packing the engine mounts so the selector cleared the chassis) but once started it wouldn't go into any gear. My first thought was the clutch severely dragging, so I put it in gear before starting the engine, expecting the car to lurch as I hit the starter, but it started fine and then I was able to select the other gears. Not sure what was happening there but it is still difficult to initially engage gear when the engine is running.

Another issue is the auxiliary drive belt moves over one rib on the crankshaft pully and there bits being worn off the belt. Anyone have any ideas what may be causing that?

Don't look too close at the gold stripes, they are cheap self-adhesive vinyl that doesn't bend to the curves very well and are only to see if it looks OK before doing a proper job. I'll be taking the wings off for the IVA but wanted something to do to keep busy so I fitted them.

Cheers
Steve

[equilibrium]

The car is looking great, IVA can't be too far away.

It sounds like one of your pulleys may be out of alignment? It wouldn't need to be far out for the belt to drift.
I had a similar issue, where the tension in the belt was bending the prototype bracket used for relocating the standard Zetec tensioner, eventually causing the belt to come off completely. As you are using the Duratec tensioner, I doubt that is bending, but high belt tension could be twisting the pulley enough out of alignment? As your belt is now damaged, maybe try a slightly longer belt as a replacement to reduce the tension.

[stevew]

Thanks Angus. Yes just the exhaust to sort out and I can apply for my IVA. The two custom exhaust manufacturers near me are both busy until next year, the best I could find was a fabricator who is willing to do it in "about six weeks", how long it will end up is anybody's guess.

There is still a bit of adjustment left on the tensioner so I don't think it should be that, but I can't think of anything else so I'll give a longer belt a try, if nothing else it will reduce the misalignment angle if the tensioner pully is further away from the crank pully (if that makes sense). Do you have any recommendations for belt suppliers?

I was looking at the windscreen today and how I might go about fitting it. I was thinking of using well nuts, aka rubber rivnuts, but the windscreen is much thicker than I was expecting when I unwrapped it, so I'm not sure if they will hold. Any tips on fitting the screen? Trying to put it in place on my own is difficult and it looks as though it may not sit against the lip away from the centre. I made a hardboard template the shape of the bottom of the screen so I could mark where to drill but I'm not sure this will bend in the same way as the screen so the holes may not then line up.

Cheers
Steve

[stevew]

After trying to find someone to fabricate an exhaust system for me for a couple of months, I finally gave up. I bought the following parts off the shelf, although the silencer was made 50mm shorter than standard.





These will be assembled something like this with some trimming of fittings to length and only three welds required.





Now just need to find someone to do the welding.

Cheers
Steve

[stevew]

Forgot to add 304 Stainless Exhaust Parts Ltd manufactured the custom length silencer and shipped all parts to me within 24 hrs of ordering. Pretty good service.