As promised, Andy sent out a new steering column last week which SH Autos swapped for the original one. With the old column out of the car it was easy to see just how bad it was. The run out on the spindle was horrific, the bearing shot and generally beyond repair. If only we had checked this more thoroughly first time around. Note to other builders: Double check every component before final fit.
Anyway, the new column was fitted and the car put onto the 4 Wheel Laser Alignment ramp. With updated settings from GD (the old ones suggested positive rear camber not negative!) the car was set up as advised.
Unfortunately the weather wasn't great so I was unable to get out and properly road test the new set up until a couple of days ago. The result I have to say is outstanding - this car does actually steer and handle like a modern car now (apart from at very slow speeds due to the lack of power assistance).
Most of the other little jobs that needed doing before the Le Mans trip have now been completed too and were hoping to be blessed with good weather.
Showing posts with label Steering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steering. Show all posts
Classic Le Mans 2014 - Vehicle Prep (1)
Having gone to Classic Le Mans in 2012 and then the 24 hour race in 2013, I was keen to head back to CLM this year with the Cobra.
Since the car went back to the factory to have the suspension set up, I covered a further 1000 miles or so and I still wasn't happy with the handling and more specifically the steering. The steering is very heavy and the wheel doesn't return to centre after cornering which is quite concerning.
There are a number of other little jobs that need finishing off before heading down to France, so I took the car to my local garage, SH Autos in Bromsgrove and let Adrian, the owner of the business, take a look as he had previously helped out when I was having build issues.
After a few days in the workshop, the fault, or rather the series of faults, have been identified. Firstly, the pinion gear on the rack hasn't been made particularly well and it is quite notchy. We took the rack over to Kiley Clinton who confirmed this but they did say it shouldn't affect the steering as much as it does.
The next thing that was identified as a weakness was the UJ's in the two part linkage between the column and the rack. These were adjusted and lubricated but will probably be replaced with a better quality replacement.
With the rack back in and the car up on ramps it was clear that at every revolution of the steering wheel the rack showed huge resistance. Further investigation pointed to the centre bearing that support the connecting linkage. With this loosened off the rack would operate freely. The dilemma this presented that the linkage and centre bush needs to be tight but this stops the steering operating correctly. Further investigation revealed what we assume to be the route cause of the problem however.
The steering column is a modified Vauxhall Vectra column. Where the spindle comes out of the column it isn't running true and this causes the resistance through the centre bearing.
Just spoke to Andy and he is sending a new column out overnight so hopefully this will rectify the problem.
Since the car went back to the factory to have the suspension set up, I covered a further 1000 miles or so and I still wasn't happy with the handling and more specifically the steering. The steering is very heavy and the wheel doesn't return to centre after cornering which is quite concerning.
There are a number of other little jobs that need finishing off before heading down to France, so I took the car to my local garage, SH Autos in Bromsgrove and let Adrian, the owner of the business, take a look as he had previously helped out when I was having build issues.
After a few days in the workshop, the fault, or rather the series of faults, have been identified. Firstly, the pinion gear on the rack hasn't been made particularly well and it is quite notchy. We took the rack over to Kiley Clinton who confirmed this but they did say it shouldn't affect the steering as much as it does.
The next thing that was identified as a weakness was the UJ's in the two part linkage between the column and the rack. These were adjusted and lubricated but will probably be replaced with a better quality replacement.
With the rack back in and the car up on ramps it was clear that at every revolution of the steering wheel the rack showed huge resistance. Further investigation pointed to the centre bearing that support the connecting linkage. With this loosened off the rack would operate freely. The dilemma this presented that the linkage and centre bush needs to be tight but this stops the steering operating correctly. Further investigation revealed what we assume to be the route cause of the problem however.
The steering column is a modified Vauxhall Vectra column. Where the spindle comes out of the column it isn't running true and this causes the resistance through the centre bearing.
Just spoke to Andy and he is sending a new column out overnight so hopefully this will rectify the problem.
Factory Visits to GD and EDA
Thursday 27th March 2014
After passing IVA, Andy said to me that I needed to put about 500 miles on the clock and then bring it back to the factory to be set up properly once everything had time to settle down.
I was keen to get this done as I haven't been entirely happy with the handling up til now, particularly under powerful acceleration as the car seemed quite 'twitchy' and a bit like a high power front wheel drive car with a bad dose of torque steer.
I had discussed this with Andy and he was confident this would be resolved quite easily... and as usual he was right!!!!
Having had several consecutive days of early Spring sunshine, it was no surprise that on the day of the factory visit the forecast was horrible!!! So, arriving at the factory with the car on the new Brian James Race Shuttle and one eye on the weather, the trailer was unloaded and Andy was straight out with his various gauges and spirit levels.
First off damping was adjusted slightly on the front suspension. Then the rear alignment was adjusted, adding a fair bit of toe in. Next, rear ride height was dropped about 10mm and damping adjusted. The final tweak was then to set the rear camber angles correctly as there was a quite a bit of variation between left and right wheels.
Having made these adjustments, it was off up the road with Andy at the wheel. As a passenger, the car seemed stable and responsive through the various bends and roundabouts and was pulling up in a straight line under braking.
Andy then asked me to drive the car to see how it compared. Literally a mile up the road I could tell that the changes had make a huge difference. The car now went in the direction it was pointed, it didn't twitch under acceleration and it didn't follow the camber of the undulating roads as it had previously.
We got back to the factory just before the heavens opened and loaded the car back on to the shuttle for the short ride up to EDA in Castleford to have the carb set up. Ken rang just as I was leaving to say he had been called away to Donington, but 'Dyno Den' his colleague would be there to sort out the carb issues I had been experiencing.
Arriving at EDA, Denis decided to change the plugs and increase the plug gap to .040" from .025" before looking at the carb. This didn't seem to make too much difference so the carb was swapped for a brand new one. Float levels were checked and adjusted and vacuum was set up. Several tweaks later I headed back home hoping that the slow running problems were now a thing of the past - unfortunately I am still getting lumpy tick over and uneven performance sub 2000rpm particularly when coasting. A further trip back to Ken is required.
After passing IVA, Andy said to me that I needed to put about 500 miles on the clock and then bring it back to the factory to be set up properly once everything had time to settle down.
I was keen to get this done as I haven't been entirely happy with the handling up til now, particularly under powerful acceleration as the car seemed quite 'twitchy' and a bit like a high power front wheel drive car with a bad dose of torque steer.
I had discussed this with Andy and he was confident this would be resolved quite easily... and as usual he was right!!!!
Having had several consecutive days of early Spring sunshine, it was no surprise that on the day of the factory visit the forecast was horrible!!! So, arriving at the factory with the car on the new Brian James Race Shuttle and one eye on the weather, the trailer was unloaded and Andy was straight out with his various gauges and spirit levels.
First off damping was adjusted slightly on the front suspension. Then the rear alignment was adjusted, adding a fair bit of toe in. Next, rear ride height was dropped about 10mm and damping adjusted. The final tweak was then to set the rear camber angles correctly as there was a quite a bit of variation between left and right wheels.
Having made these adjustments, it was off up the road with Andy at the wheel. As a passenger, the car seemed stable and responsive through the various bends and roundabouts and was pulling up in a straight line under braking.
Andy then asked me to drive the car to see how it compared. Literally a mile up the road I could tell that the changes had make a huge difference. The car now went in the direction it was pointed, it didn't twitch under acceleration and it didn't follow the camber of the undulating roads as it had previously.
We got back to the factory just before the heavens opened and loaded the car back on to the shuttle for the short ride up to EDA in Castleford to have the carb set up. Ken rang just as I was leaving to say he had been called away to Donington, but 'Dyno Den' his colleague would be there to sort out the carb issues I had been experiencing.
Arriving at EDA, Denis decided to change the plugs and increase the plug gap to .040" from .025" before looking at the carb. This didn't seem to make too much difference so the carb was swapped for a brand new one. Float levels were checked and adjusted and vacuum was set up. Several tweaks later I headed back home hoping that the slow running problems were now a thing of the past - unfortunately I am still getting lumpy tick over and uneven performance sub 2000rpm particularly when coasting. A further trip back to Ken is required.
Steering
As the dash is back out, its important I get all the various bits and bobs in and around this area sorted before doing the dash final fit.
An area that was left really rough for Blyton was the steering wheel/shroud set up. Ive been using an old Vectra steering wheel while the car is still in build and I had planned to just cover over the centre boss with padding for IVA as I have a nice wooden Mota-Lita replica wheel to go on once everything is finished - for some reason you cant have a wooden wheel for IVA - but I'm seriously thinking about buying a leather trimmed wheel for use on track days. If I go with this option I will use this for IVA rather than the scruffy old Vectra one.
For Blyton, I had fitted the column shroud in place without trimming in leather and it was a bit of a tight fit so I have opened up the hole for the ignition barrel and the deburred the apertures that have been cut for the wiper/indicators stalks. I also had to cut an opening for the column rake adjuster. It looks like GD have enhanced the shroud lately as some of the earlier builder seem to have had to cut all of the holes out.
In order to trim the shroud, I taped the joins together and then sprayed all over with contact adhesive. I then lay the leather (starting at the bottom so the join wouldn't show) onto the shroud then slowly wrapped it around. I then trimmed the edges where they met and waited for it all to dry before fitting the stainless facia to see what it would look like
An area that was left really rough for Blyton was the steering wheel/shroud set up. Ive been using an old Vectra steering wheel while the car is still in build and I had planned to just cover over the centre boss with padding for IVA as I have a nice wooden Mota-Lita replica wheel to go on once everything is finished - for some reason you cant have a wooden wheel for IVA - but I'm seriously thinking about buying a leather trimmed wheel for use on track days. If I go with this option I will use this for IVA rather than the scruffy old Vectra one.
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| Old Vectra Steering Wheel |
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| Note aperture at rear left for the steering column adjuster stalk |
A slight concern I have now is how i actually fit this over the column with it all in situ :( Oh well a problem for another day..
Talking of problems, another one identified at Blyton was with the way I had fitted the dash and steering column there was no room to allow the column to tilt and as a consequence the wheel was sitting much too high and partly blocking the driving view. This will be rectified by putting spacer washers between the steering column and screen support bar. The aperture for the steering column in the dash will also be opened up by cutting a lower bottom edge of the opening before doing the final trim.
Dash 4
Finally got the dash fitted for the first time and its a bit of a squeeze and will need some fettling to get it to be just right but its a good start.
It will also need to come back out in order to finish the wiring for the courtesy lights which I have fitted into the dash undertrays, to fit the heater ducting and to stick on the piping which finishes it off really well.
Its only going in now so that I can get the car running for the track day at Blyton.
With the dash fitted, I then did a temporary first fit of the column shroud. There is a plastic surround that comes with the steering column that fixes in place with two cap head. The stainless shroud facia is then fitted to it. To do this I drilled through the plastic and fitted a pair of Rivnuts to allow the shroud to be held in place with stainless cap heads.
The aluminium frame will need some trimming to fit properly around the column rake adjuster and ignition barrel and the edges will then need rubbing down before I can glue on the leather cover but it will do for now.
It will also need to come back out in order to finish the wiring for the courtesy lights which I have fitted into the dash undertrays, to fit the heater ducting and to stick on the piping which finishes it off really well.
Its only going in now so that I can get the car running for the track day at Blyton.
With the dash fitted, I then did a temporary first fit of the column shroud. There is a plastic surround that comes with the steering column that fixes in place with two cap head. The stainless shroud facia is then fitted to it. To do this I drilled through the plastic and fitted a pair of Rivnuts to allow the shroud to be held in place with stainless cap heads.
The aluminium frame will need some trimming to fit properly around the column rake adjuster and ignition barrel and the edges will then need rubbing down before I can glue on the leather cover but it will do for now.
And this is what it looks like fitted...
Steering Column
With the dash and screen support now in place, I was able to tackle the steering column today.
This was another straightforward job and once that when finished made the project look even more like a car!!
The modified column supplied by GD comes in a bare metal finish so this was masked up, primed and then finished in gloss black paint.
The column is passed through the large hole that had already been made in the bulkhead (this did however need a little opening up) and then connected to the screen support bar inside the car. A 'U' clamp is then used to fixed the column to the chassis. The same sort of grommet as used for the roll hoops is used to make a neat finish.
This was another straightforward job and once that when finished made the project look even more like a car!!
The modified column supplied by GD comes in a bare metal finish so this was masked up, primed and then finished in gloss black paint.
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The column the connects to the steering rack via some UJ's and connectiing rods. These all need bolting up tight to eliminate any play in the steering once fitted.
A cheap old steering wheel (off a Vectra) was picked up for a tenner off eBay and fitted which will allow me to move the car around a if necessary.
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