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Coalnotdole's Scimitar - Machining work: Speedometer Drive Unit 12/4/19


coalnotdole

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Cheers Honey badger, The mould making was done in a bit of a rush over a short weekend so there wasnt a huge amount of prep time, The PVA is a proper release agent of some sort, I bought it from the local boat builder a few years ago when we were doing some grp work to one of the rebels. The decanted it from a huge drum into a tiny plastic bottle. So I'm not 100% sure what it is or its use by date so possibly its a bit past its best. The cheap greek body filler used to fare the mould was probably far more of an issue as it diddnt want to set. This particular moulding is probably one of the least nice things we've made, still it should do the job ok.

 

I always try to take photos when doing grp work as inevitablty its something that lots of people want have a go at, but are put off after bad experiences using the kits sold in motor factors (which are often total shit.) I buy all GRP supplies from out the factory gates of the local boat builder or the local chandlery. 

 

GRP is surprisingly easy to use once you get your head round it, I agree that it makes a surprising difference when using decent mat and good quality resin, I don't get to do a lot of hand lay now as I mostly work on Vac resin infusion panels.

 

Sealing any kind of mold is a swine, I've seen 5 meter boat hull molds ruined on the first pull when they haven't been through the correct Sealer/Release and the part has stuck. I've used Primecoat a lot for plug building at work with good results.

 

If the filler isn't going off try getting hold of some 10% DEA solution and add 1% to the bodyfiller, it may go off a little too fast then. Scott Bader make one called Accelerator D. Make sure you have decent gloves on though, the stuff is really very nasty.

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This post almost brings things up to date with progress so far.

 

At some point it was inevitable that I was going to have to take the old engine out, Summer shutdown at work seemed like the opportune time, a couple of days messing about soon had the engine bay empty, a bit of cleaning up and a coat of black primer and it looked like this, while cleaning this up wasn’t strictly necessary it made sense to do it now while the engine was out as access is much restricted with an engine in there. The inner wings and under bonnet will get painted when the car eventually gets its respray.

 

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Before I took the car apart I was aware that the car was running hot, however a look at the radiator revealed that it was the most likely culprit. It was new when the car went back on the road but six years later appears to have suffered quite a bit from corrosion, There did not seem to be and stones or debris present, so I'm inclined to rule them out as a cause so that leaves result of poor quality aftermarket parts or the sheer amount of road salt, filth and grime we get in the winter as the most likely cause. Either way there were quite a few missing fins from the front of rad:

 

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Some of this had gone all the way through to the reverse side of the rad:

 

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The end result was that I had a radiator that probably was well passed its prime, so after a bit of research I ordered a new custom made aluminium radiator from coolex of Nottingam, While I was waiting for it to be made I took the heads off my old engine to try and work out why it was running rough. The inlet manifold tuned out to ne quite loose which must almost certainly have caused it to run lean. With the heads off it was clear there was a problem with number one cylinder which appeared to have some unusual marking to the top of the piston:

 

 

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This appeared to have been caused by number 1 inlet valve dropping its unleaded valve seat insert. It looks ok in this photo but the valve seat dropped out when I took the valve out, the most likely cause for this is overheating (and or ragging the tits off it.)

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Just as well I was getting a new radiator then... Well sort of, a mistake made with sample radiators left me initially with a radiator that did not actually fit my car... It was however very shiny:

 

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That rad was based inadvertently on an se6/6a sized sample and was unfortunately too wide for my car.  After some head scratching a few phone calls and another large bill eventually I had this radiator which did at least fit in the car...

 

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With the engine out It was possible to crack on with laying new fuel lines, these completely replace the old fuel lines and use AN type connectors to make the joints.

 

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The new Fuel lines are 8mm Cupro-nickel and are flared at the ends the same as you would with brake lines. I went for solid fuel hose as two lines of high grade ethanol resistant fuel hose would have been much too expensive, I also think solid lines look much tidier and are probably better in the long term. The return line will have a fuel pressure regulator to ensure the correct pressure is maintained at the injectors.

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Two brackets were made for each of the ends, one in Aluminium for the engine bay the other is steel and gets welded to the chassis. The ally one was cut from box section and the steel one was a bit of angle that was lying around.

 

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There was then a bit of trial and error spent trying to find a location for the bracket in the engine bay, both lines off the fuel rails on the engine run towards the back of the car so a location on the passenger side bulkhead seemed like a decent spot. Its well to the rear of the passenger side manifold. The heat shield and a bit of the fibreglass inner wing were trimmed a little for neatness and ease of fitting.

 

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To do the bends I bought the cheapest most Chinese pipe bender available on ebay and it helped make the bends a bit tidier than could have been done by hand. 

 

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Once past the gearbox the wiring loom needed to be moved up to allow space to fit the fuel lines. Dave welded new steel tabs on to hold the loom:

 

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The bracket for the tank end of the fuel lines was welded in place, Its nice and high to keep the runs of flexible hose short. This has the added bonus of being lifted out of the oil and filth of the

gearbox tunnel area.

 

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Sorry about the length this post was originally going to be two different posts and it merged into one!

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That's a lovely job.  In years to come when some future owner is laying under the car looking at a corroded outrigger, they'll see that attention to detail and smile.

 

I suppose it's the inverse of what most of us see when we look up and see the corner of the Daily Mirror's sport page sticking out from one of the sills.

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That's a lovely job.  In years to come when some future owner is laying under the car looking at a corroded outrigger, they'll see that attention to detail and smile.

 

I suppose it's the inverse of what most of us see when we look up and see the corner of the Daily Mirror's sport page sticking out from one of the sills.

 

They'll probably have a long time to wait! I tend to think of it as a very long term ownership car... One that I hope I can keep until I'm too old and infirm to drive it. I'm not sure anyone would ever offer me enough money for it to justify selling anyway.

 

The outriggrers and sills have been relaced with galvanised steel relacements, but Its possible they will be on their way out by the time a new owner gets their hands on it!

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  • 1 month later...

Its been a while since I updated this thread, Lots has happened in the meantime...

 

Firstly the new engine was fitted. I've got no photos of this as I did it on my own, assisted occasionally by my dad who doesn’t really do getting your hands dirty on cars. It wasnt that straightforward a fit as I struggled to get the 1st motion shaft to locate correctly in the clutch / fly wheel. In the end I admitted defeat and took the gearbox out and mounted it to the engine before putting engine and box back in the car together. It was a long frustrating day but in the end it went in!

 

 

A week later and Dave had a spare day on the mainland and chose to spend his time covering himself and the car in fibreglass dust glassing in the new cubby hole for the fuel pumps. Unfortunately I had to go to work so the photos are again a bit limited. This photo shows the new box tabbed in place with steel plates:

 

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The bits of wood stretched the new moulding to make up for the slight mismatch between the new moulding and the existing space.

Fibreglass for the first layer was applied to the outside, second hit glassed from the inside and the third hit repaired the wheel arch and other bits that needed an additional layer. 

The finished result was primed, and was then ready for fitting...

 

 

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Holes were drilled for the fuel hoses There are 4 in total: LP From Tank, HP to engine, LP Engine Return to Swirl Port and LP Return to tank.

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The grommets are a nice tight fit and should provide a decent level of protection from the damp, Fuel hoses are all high grade ethanol resistant hose. I've probably spent near £100 just on good petrol pipes!

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I've insulated the bottom of the fuel pump cubby hole to protect it from the heat of the exhaust, not sure if it was really needed but the added protection seemed like a good idea at the time.

 

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Overview:

 

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Stay tuned the next post will cover electrics....

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Ok this next post is mainly about ECU Wiring....

Engine wiring is a hard topic to make interesting (so are fuel lines and firbreglass mouldings for that matter!) Still I'll do my best, Hopefully it will be of interest to someone besides me.  :)

The Engine came with an Omex 710 ECU, and an Omex wiring loom which Northampton motorsport had customised to suit a Capri, Naturally the length and routing are different on the Scimitar so the loom was going to need adapting to suit. There was also the added complication that the loom had been cut in half when it was removed from the last car. A couple of weeks ago Dave had a spare weekend and came over from the IOW to give me a hand as I had a feeling his marine electrics background would be useful and he’s also quite a bit better at soldering than I am!

 

Our objective was to try and get the engine running which seemed optimistic with only two days to spare.

 

A bit of planning meant we had some idea how we were going to route the wiring and meant I was able to stock up on sheaving, heat protection, grommets and connectors in advance. We were working to the concept of keeping the ECU loom separate from the main loom for the car, this means it will be simpler to replace the main wiring loom at some point in the future. It also makes it easier for the new loom can have the benefits of modern spec heat / stress protection.

 

I’ll start with general overview showing the engine finally in the car:

 

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The loom was stripped back:

 

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At this stage there was some thought put in to finding room for the coil packs.

 

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The problem was they took up quite a bit of room and the only available space in the engine bay was next to the wiper motor, where they weren’t a particularly good fit.

Back when I was buying parts to do my own fuel injected setup I bought some FORD EDIS coil packs, which seemed like a much neater fit.

 

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The plan was hatched to get the car running on the supplied coils and then try running it on the EDIS coil, If it ran ok I would use that instead.

 

Here’s a few photos showing the repairs to the loom fixing the joint where it had been cut.

 

 

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My heat gun died stripping wallpaper in my sisters house so I 'borrowed' the hairdryer to do the heat shrink. Probably a use that would not be endorsed by Vidal Sassoon!

 

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Repaired wire being pulled back into the loom.

 

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Here’s an overview of the completed loom. Starting at the top we have: The sensor for the trigger wheel,  Inlet Air Temperature sensor, Then the plugs for the injectors and the throttle position sensor. Then there is the other fork which goes to the coil packs and connections to the battery. The grommet shows the point at which the loom passes into the drivers side footwell to connect with the ECU which will go under the dash just above the steering column.

 

There are 3 Fused Relays, The remaining wires connect to stuff behind the dash such as the ignition switch and rev counter. There is also an inertia cut of switch which will be hidden away under the dash, This will cut the power to the fuel pumps in the event of an accident.

 

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Closer look at the relays: Blue will supply the Radiator Fan, Red will power the Coil packs and Yellow is the supply to the fuel Pumps.

 

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Close up of the engine connectors, note the extra heat proof protection on the loom.

 

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Close up of the grommet / Y Joint,

 

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Close up of the drivers side footwell end.

 

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The Loom was then fitted and the ancillaries like the cooling pipes, radiator and alternator were refitted to test run the engine. A shortage of 8mm Ethanol proof hose and a grommet for the fuel pod meant that the tank couldn’t be fitted so the tank was left off and we setup a petrol can in the boot for testing.

 

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I've not yet swapped the sump and timing cover over so will need to leave those for another time.

 

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Here’s a photo showing how the loom runs into the driver’s side footwell.

 

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The next stage was to connect up the laptop to the ECU for the fist time in order to set the Throttle position sensor. This was done by releasing the retaining screw for the sensor and rotating it until the position matched the zero value already set In the map. While I had the ECU connected I saved a backup copy of the map. The Omex Software was downloaded from their website it seems well laid out but there are quite a few features in It I must admit I don’t fully understand! There’s a reasonable 71 page manual which was useful when starting out.

 

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Close up of the software, sorry about the crappy photo. There was a hairy moment when after grabbing something to eat and leaving the laptop connected we came back to find out that the map on the laptop and ECU were out of sync and the version on the ECU was now claiming it needed a password to unlock it. Which I hadn’t setup and didn’t know! After some messing about a restore to the backup saved the day.

 

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We were then able to try pressurising the fuel system for the first time, which was interesting as a brand new banjo bolt in the high pressure system (fitted to the filter) developed a crack with the result that petrol flooded everywhere. Fortunately I had a spare and after cleaning up we were able to carry on.

 

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There’s a bit of a gap in the photos here, we spent the next 4 hours trying to get the engine to run. After quite a bit of fault finding we worked out the new loom was ok, the engine had fuel and sparks but when it span it was just turning over without showing signs of firing. We spent quite a bit of time trying to optimise the spacing of the trigger wheel sensor with seemingly no effect. By this time it was about 11:30 Sunday night and the engine still wouldn’t go. It was beginning to look like we wouldn’t hear it run that night. Almost out of ideas I suddenly remembered reading something in the manual about the trigger wheel: That the missing tooth should be pointing at the sensor when the crank is at 90 degrees before TDC. A quick check revealed that the trigger wheel was 90 degrees out in relation to the crank. I moved it round to the correct position and the engine fired up first turn of the key!

I can only assume the trigger wheel came off when the last owner had the engine removed and someone had put it back in the wrong place. Here’s a very short video of it running, its a touch loud as one rear silencer was off but it was a high point to hear it go!

 

 

The final stage was to try running it on the Ford EDIS coil pack which worked so I'll use that instead of the coils that came with the car as its a much neater solution. I'll buy a set of custom Magnecor ht leads for it which should be a good long term option as none of my existing leads are long enough.

 

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Cheers

Joe

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Cheers, I really must do a better video of the engine running, Its got a working clutch now so It can actually be driven, ( though not far still as there are still a load more jobs to finish. Biggest outstanding barrier to using it is the lack of any kind if air filter, everything I've tried so far hasnt fitted due to rear bulkhead / bonnet clearance.

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Inspirational thread! Do you think the fuel consumption will improve?

No idea if it's better than mid 20's I'll be pretty pleased.

 

Because we all know what that results in.

Low oil pressure...? I'm not looking at messing about with it too much as its already quite well tuned and I'm not about to start messing about with it. To get more than 200 Hp out of an Essex I think your into the realms of forced induction and I'm not in a rush to go there...

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  • 1 month later...

Back in September we heard the engine run briefly but there was still plenty more work to do before it was ready for the road, so over the next week I spend some time doing some of the finishing off jobs. Sorry the pictures are not mega exciting but as they cover the final completion of lots of differend jobs I thought they were worth including...

 

This photo shows the refitted silencer underneath the fuel pump cubby hole, there is a kunifer drain tube, clearance is tight but you can still get your fingers behind it so there is a bit more of a gap than can be seen in the photo. The multiplug you can see on the right has been replaced but as the loom is due for replacement It was decided not to mess about re-routing it through the box at this stage.

 

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The petrol tank was refitted and this picture shows the final routing of the fuel lines.

 

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As they come through the bulkhead:

 

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Heres a picture of the revised filler neck, The hose running off to the neck leads to the breather which is under the boot floor drivers side.

 

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Breather mounted in place:

 

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The fuel pump cubby hole with the lid on, The pumps are a bit noisy at idle / low speeds so the underside of the lid will be insulated as will the boot carpet that goes over it, The cubby lid should be able to take a layer of insulation of about an 1" Which should go a long way to suppress the noise.

 

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Fuel pumps, swirl pot and HP fuel Line all connected up, brass washers on the fuel filter were swapped for fiber ones as they provided a better seal .

 

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Around the same time I swapped the later type timing cover for an early one. This was a priority as without making this change I couldnt refit the stut brace between the chassis turrets, I will cover swapping to an early type sump in an a seperate post.

 

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Old timing cover

 

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new timing cover

 

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These final few photos show the making of the coil pack bracket, this photo shows the evolution through from card template to thin steel mockup and competed item.

 

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The folds were done by a local firm (Riverside Sheet metal and fabrication) who I use for a lot of my custom and one off jobs you see in my build threads ( They made the stainless dust sheilds, A posts, Sill reinforcements, Galvanised lower shock plates)

 

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And here it is on the car:

 

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Thats all for now, Hopefully I'll sort some pictures of sump baffling out later in the week.

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Fantastic job, as ever.  I'd consider a heat shield over that silencer to protect the wiring and the fibreglass (I know you've got heat resistant lining over it already).  After a long run when the exhausts get nice and hot you'll stop at a roundabout or traffic jam and all that exhaust heat will have no airflow carrying it away and it'll cook what's above it.

 

I can't tell if there's a gap between the coil outputs and the wiper tube but it needs one, you can never tell how good the insulation is especially once it's been heated up a few times and got dirty.

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Fantastic job, as ever.  I'd consider a heat shield over that silencer to protect the wiring and the fibreglass (I know you've got heat resistant lining over it already).  After a long run when the exhausts get nice and hot you'll stop at a roundabout or traffic jam and all that exhaust heat will have no airflow carrying it away and it'll cook what's above it.

Hi Gareth the wiring and connectors you see are actually in the factory location, On later cars they revised it and moved the connectors inside the box which I've filled with fueling components. Reliant moved it to protect the lucas plugs from the weather than for any worries about heat. I'm intending to revisit the main wiring loom before too long as I'm hoping to replace the home made one thats in there at the moment with an origonal that has been treated to some restoration / connector upgrades. So the location of the connector may be changing anyway. In my expereience The back box on the GTE doesnt get that hot but I'm considering some heat shields for the midboxes as you can feel the heat from them in the car in the summer. So either way I'll definately be keeping an eye on it / looking at it again in the future.

 

 

I can't tell if there's a gap between the coil outputs and the wiper tube but it needs one, you can never tell how good the insulation is especially once it's been heated up a few times and got dirty.

There is a gap but its tight, I've actually got a set of custom made Magnecor KV-85 Leads on there now so that should hopefully ensure things remain nicely isolated.

 

My current proity is very much to get the car back into regular use. As I'm bored of driving the rebel van and borrowing my dads S type! The pictures and write ups always lag behind a bit so I'm actually already at the running it stage now. But I'll try and get the next couple posts on sumps and air filters out the way before I talk too much about running and driving....

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Sump baffling,

When it left the factory my GTE would have had the early type Essex, (commonly distinguished by having a Front bowl sump and the dipstick tube at the front) The chassis has bolt on tubular a crossbrace that runs underneath the sump which cannot be fitted if you want to use a rear bowl sump on an earlier car.

As I wanted to keep the crossbrace this would mean fitting the early type sump, the big disadvantage to the front bowl design is that oil can surge back under acceleration and from side to side in hard cornering. This can result in oil starvation when the pickup pipe is temporarily starved of oil, its most common for this to be a problem on track but I did notice it with the old engine fitted on the road particularly on roundabouts, some slip roads or other long high speed curves. On a sharp enough bend the oil pressure gauge could occasionally reach zero!

Ford mush have been aware of this limitation and that’s why when they introduced the uprated Essex they switched to using a rear bowl sump.

Here’s a comparison of the two types of Essex sump, Late type on the left (In use from Late 1972) Early type on the right.

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Heres a close-up of Fords baffling on the late sump which looks like a pretty good effort.

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With the old engine out of the car I had reasonable template to work from,

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After a bit of messing about I had a rough card template...

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For the rear bowl sump ford had made a nice pressed hole with radiused edge to help stop oil surging up and to add strength, I was keen to replicate this on my baffle but the few companies locally who had pressed had no suitable dies. After a bit of research online I decided to drill the hole out with a holesaw and make a tool to fold the edge down by hand out of a bit of roundbar:

Curve bending tool (MK1)

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Close up, The slot was cut with 2 hacksaw blades in the saw to give the right thickness for the 1mm steel.

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With the steel mounted in the vice it was easy to work tool round bending a small amount at a time. I worked round it about 3 times in total to get a bend that looked like this:

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The plate was then cut to shape and Dave welded it in... Notice its also got a hole for the dipstick to run through!

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Cheers,

Joe

 

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