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Learning how to build Lotus Seven replicas...together!
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PostPosted: July 23, 2021, 11:19 am 
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Joined: August 27, 2005, 1:04 am
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Location: Kamloops, BC, Canada
Well, so much for my car running good the way it is. I had it out last week on a pretty hot day, and was really enjoying a relatively twisty bit of road. Unfortunately my engine oil wasn't enjoying it so much. I've never pushed it that hard for that long before, and my reduced oil capacity may have bit me. The road I was on is a pretty decent climb, and I was between about 130-170 km/h for probably 20 min or so. Being a really hot day didn't help either. I slowed down when we got into some traffic, and had some pretty significant rod knock. I haven't really done anything with it yet, but I guess I'll cut open the oil filter and see how shiny it is. After letting it cool down the noise didn't go away, so I'm guessing at least new rod bearings are going to be in order. Luckily these engines are pretty much free. I guess I'll have to increase the oil capacity a bit, and maybe run something a bit thicker than 10w30. It's not like I drive it in the cold anyway.

The reason for the drive was that a local guy that's trying to get his name out there as a car photographer put a call out on Facebook for interesting cars so that he could boost his portfolio. So he rode along with me and we went to a few spots where he likes to take pictures of cars. I brought my camera along too, and it was a good time. He hadn't been in a locost before, and even though he used to ride sportbikes, he thought it was a different feeling to be that exposed, that low, and going that fast. I'll attach some of the photos from the day, I almost think I like my own better than the ones he took though.
His shots;
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I like this one, but it would be even better if the shadow of the roll bar wasn't cut off. Oh well.
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My shots;
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And of course I had to see if it would fit underneath.
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Kristian

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PostPosted: July 23, 2021, 11:40 am 
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Location: Kamloops, BC, Canada
Miatav8,MstrASE,A&P,F wrote:
turbo_bird wrote:
Plus a Ford Explorer parts vehicle with a V6, and an EDIS ignition system.
Kristian


No interest in a 4.0l ohv and M50 5spd? The top end lube can be fixed with a better pump and less rockershaft leakage while the head cracking can be fixed with a lower operating temp.

A little carbide rotary file bowl work with a drill does wonders in most older fords.

I never really considered the engine out of the exploder, it has a dead cylinder, but from the sound it makes its most likely an exhaust valve that's not sealing. It just sort of fell into my lap a few years ago, and my wife was daily driving a similar one at the time. I figured it couldn't hurt to have spare parts sitting there. They're both just sitting now, and I would like to have some sort of family friendly 4x4 for getting up in the mountains and stuff, so the gears have been turning. My first thought was to swap an exploder body onto a shortened F150 chassis with a long travel TTB front end and linked rear axle, but that would be a pile of work. The much easier version would be to leave it on the exploder chassis and do a solid axle swap and link suspension at both ends. I would build a suspension design similar to my brother's off-road toy. And probably buy a set of similar coilovers. These ones are 16" Kings. He's built an F350 diesel with 12" King's and a similar suspension setup, but that one uses airbags in the back rather than coilovers.

Image

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PostPosted: July 23, 2021, 1:26 pm 
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I think the ford 5.0l filter PH8A will fit the 3.0l block. The thread is the same at ¾-16 and the o ring looks to be the same but the 5.0l body is larger and slightly longer. For a lot more capacity, use a block adapter to connect a remote filter mount that accepts a 2 quart sbc 4wd filter.

There were many changes to nearly every part of the ohv over years so not much interchanges across the full production run. When they drilled the rockers to bring oil out to the pushrod cup passage, they didn’t plug or restrict the hole in the end so enough would be forced into the cup. You may be able to find the cups and rebuild the old rockers or run more volume or pressure. Nice looking engine imho without too much plastic.

Sohc is it's own subject.


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PostPosted: July 24, 2021, 8:39 pm 
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Location: Kamloops, BC, Canada
Not a locost update, but it's still in the vein of cheap and fun vehicles, so I'll post about it here. So much for building one of my Explorers into a family 4x4, at least for now. Bought a beater Ranger from a friend today, and the test drive was the back way home. About an hour and a half on some fairly overgrown old roads and trails, this thing is awesome. It's got 6" lift coils in the front with cut and turned beams and extended radius arms. The rear is just leaf springs and longer shocks. My brother did all the suspension work way back when for the guy I bought it from, so I know it's done fairly well. It's riding on 32" BFG all terrains, they're old but have lots of tread, so hopefully I won't need tires right away. I probably won't venture too far on my own anway, at least not to begin with. I don't think it's got a straight panel on it, it's got lots of miles and burns a bit of oil, but I only paid $500.

Turns out the canopy wasn't actually bolted on, and it didn't stay put for long. Oops.
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From the drive home.
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Kristian

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PostPosted: July 25, 2021, 10:40 am 
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Good deal. Is that a ’94? Chassis is basically the same as my ’83 5.0l ranger and bronco II. Can't tell the radius arms are longer but it looks like the mounting crossmember is dropped a bit. I removed the rivets and fit bolts. Made it a lot easier to work on. The spindles have come with top and bottom loaded tierods and a few different pitmans to level the linkage at ride height. Spacers or more leafs on the back? 4.0L?

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Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
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LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
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PostPosted: July 25, 2021, 6:36 pm 
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Location: Kamloops, BC, Canada
Miatav8,MstrASE,A&P,F wrote:
Good deal. Is that a ’94? Chassis is basically the same as my ’83 5.0l ranger and bronco II. Can't tell the radius arms are longer but it looks like the mounting crossmember is dropped a bit. I removed the rivets and fit bolts. Made it a lot easier to work on. The spindles have come with top and bottom loaded tierods and a few different pitmans to level the linkage at ride height. Spacers or more leafs on the back? 4.0L?


Yup, 4.0 pushrod engine, 5 speed manual and manual shift transfer case Registration says it's a 94. I don't know what year the chassis is, but they were the same for a long time. My brother built up a ranger for the guy I bought it from, which he eventually rolled. He bought this one to replace it, and didn't realize that it was a 2wd one. So my brother swapped the good body onto the frame of the one he'd rolled. I'm pretty sure the radius arms are extended, and they attach to a custom cross member. The rear is re-arced leaf springs, and I'm not sure if the blocks were added or stock. They look like the typical Ford axle spacers that come from the factory, so probably stock to a 4x4 Ranger, but not on a 2wd one. The whole truck is pretty crusty, but it should be ok. It was reliable for the guy I got it from when he used it. I'm going to have to have a look at the rear diff though, lots of oil seepage around the cover. Probably wouldn't hurt to change all the fluids anyway.

Image

Image

Image

Kristian

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PostPosted: July 26, 2021, 8:19 am 
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Thanks for the pics. Looks all stock except for the well made crossmember, longer arms, front coils, and shocks/dampers like you’ve said. Nice rig. So many different applications will fit the ranger spring seats.

My beams are the older design inverted joints and eccentric without a pinch bolt; a hassle to adjust.
They also have eccentric radius arm bushes that allow for independent caster adjustment.

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Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12


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PostPosted: July 26, 2021, 6:47 pm 
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Location: Kamloops, BC, Canada
My crappy cell phone pics don't really show it, but the beams have been cut and welded to fix the camber from the lift as well. My brother built it on the cheap way back when, now he's trying to talk me into buying a set of King coil overs for it. Maybe eventually, we'll see how it rides the way it is now. Hopefully I'll get to go for a proper test drive on Sunday in some rough stuff. I'm not planning to do anything too crazy with it, a 6" lifted Ranger with no sway bars isn't exactly the most stable truck in the world. I'm sure a full width Dana 44 TTB would help with that, and I've got the perfect parts truck if I ever decide to go that route. Skinny is good too though, it's amazing where this little thing fits through.
Kristian

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PostPosted: July 26, 2021, 8:25 pm 
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Please resize your pictures.

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PostPosted: August 9, 2021, 11:57 pm 
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Location: Kamloops, BC, Canada
Sorry about the pictures, I'm not sure why they turned out so huge here compared to other places I post stuff. I still haven't fixed the Locost yet, but I've been working on the Ranger a bit, getting it ready for a little overnight trip this week with the kids. We took it out last weekend and had a couple little issues come up, but that shouldn't be unexpected with a $500 beater. And being a 4x4 I had to take a couple poseur shots.

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The rear diff had enough oil on the outside that I figured I better see if there was any left inside. It was pretty grungy, so I changed that, and in the process found that the diff cover was fiberglass or something and had a leak where it had hit a rock or something. That was easy to fix with some epoxy, but I was glad I took the time to clean it up properly.

Image


The front wheel bearings where a touch wobbly, so I had a look there too, lots of grease everywhere except where it needed to be, and the adjusting lock nuts were nice and loose. So I got to show my son how to properly pack a bearing at least.

Image

I figured I should also check the front diff oil, and it looked like a chocolate milkshake.

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Changing the diff oil on a TTB Ranger turns out to be a pain, seeing how the cover is the control arm, and there's no drain plug. So the easiest way to do it is suck it out, but I didn't have a big syringe to use. I had one of my rare good ideas, and modified an old oil pump from a trashed engine and spun it with my drill. That worked like a charm, but I didn't take into account how much torque there would be once the gear oil made it to the pump. It ended up flailing around on the drill. I'm not sure how it got so far, but from working at the front of the axle, it sprayed oil as far back as the transfer case. I still smell like gear oil.

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I also put the canopy back on, so I can potentially sleep in the back rather than a tent if I'm on my own.
Kristian

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