Nominal

As I read it, yeah. There is a table in the book, and since this is a full size, heavy car, the 1" Sch 80 is the spec. Next size down is 7/8 sch 80. Makes me worry what the links GBRC made for my Minor are. I wonder if the spec has changed over time. They turn out heavy duty, that's for sure. Like stockcar-spec strong.

The one I used initially had a 1" bore (IIRC), so for a particular amount of pedal pressure, the hydraulic line pressure wasn't good enough to really get the discs working. You could stomp on the pedal, but it took a while to stop (car is 2 tonnes). Going to a smaller diameter master gets more line pressure for the same pedal pressure so the brakes work better. The trade off is greater travel at the pedal. There are ways to calculate all this, but I find it hard to approach without some sort of starting point. Andy Smith reckoned at 20mm (13/16) M/C would be best, but I found the Corolla one first so decided to try that out. I might hunt down some better front brake pads too. Right now it has C-Plus pads from BNT. Surely there is something a bit more 'grabby' out there? The actual test is stopping from 100kmh within 4.4 seconds, which it does do (just), and repeating this 3 (or is it 5) times within a certain period to check for fade.

All that list ^^ got done, including new set of plugs. Went for re-check today, and the brake test. That test was quickly followed by a wrecker yard crawl looking for a master cylinder with a 7/8 bore. Pulled one from an AE101 that looked workable. Drove home, slapped together an adapter plate from some 12mm steel and re-did the line ends with metric fittings. Back to Levin for a re-re-check by 4:30pm. Stops heaps better now. I think everything is done, except for the paperwork, and anything that LVVTA might question. Anyone want a 1977 Thunderbird master cylinder? This is the new one. Since the lines have been swapped side to side the bends are even more wonky than they were before.

It's not all US iron either - some pics from last year Back seat randoms

We have gone most years since 2008 or so. Always have a good time. In some ways I prefer the spectating/bands to the driving around in crowds bit, but do both. We'll be on Barbara Ave again, with the convertible if I get it certed, or a Caldina if I don't.

Been up and collected the car for some fix-ups. All minor details - more split washers/nylocs needed, few more clamps and guards on the air lines and parts. Things like that. Also have some new shocks for the rear. Will hopefully get these things sorted over the next couple of evenings and back for a re-check before the end of the week. Also need to pull plugs and see why it's only running on 6 or 7 cylinders. Pretty happy overall.

The chassis mounts for the upper bars are made from some square tubing I had that happened to be the correct size. I've seen this done on the net, and it makes it easy to fabricate and plenty strong. Somewhere about here should work... After the slight setback noted above, where I realised that the housing on the 9" is not centered between the wheels, I got it all together on both sides. Plenty of jacking up and down followed to check clearances, and it all looked good to me. After getting back from camping in late Jan I finally got the 1" all thread and half nuts (those nuts are expensive - $15 each. If I'd known that I would have bought regular nuts and cut them down in the lathe) so it was time to make the bars adjustable. This involved grinding off the tacks and welding the end to a short length of all-thread. Then the link is shorted up and an inspection hole drilled 1.5 diameters down the tubing. I did have to do one of these a couple of times after failed the 'measure twice cut once' test, mainly because the pinion angle was way out on my fixed length bars. One hunky adjustable triangulated 4-bar top link. Since it is for the rear suspension it can be mig welded (by me) and doesn't require crack testing. Hopefully the certifier is happy. With all the links in place I adjusted them to centre the housing in the car and square it up - just done with a tape measure to reference points on the chassis. I had the wheel alignment done yesterday, and the computer said the rear thrust angle was 0.00 degrees - i.e. the housing is exactly square in the car, so I was pretty happy with that. Hopefully the cert man (Andy Smith) is happy with the design and execution.

Backing up a bit, here's something on the rear 4-link. As I read the rules, they needed to be made from 1" schedule 80 steel tubing. This is heavy wall/high pressure tubing and is a bit difficult to get hold of in short lengths. I finally acquired some from an engineering workshop in Petone. The lower links were made to run where the front half of the leaf springs were, from a bracket welded below the leaf mount pad on the diff, to the old spring mount location on the chassis. Again according to 'the book' the through bolts on the links needed to be 5/8". I visited the Mount Shop and trolled through their catalog to find some bushes that would suit. I ended up with some leaf spring bushings for a Mitsi Canter IIRC. These needed to be trimmed for width, and custom crush tubes made up with the correct ID/OD. For the bushing outers I used some normal pipe, 1 1/2 I think. The outer fit is a little loose but will hopefully work out OK. Since I wanted to made the links adjustable, I started up threading the ID of the tube at one end. According to the book, one of the reasons for the Sch 80 tube is that the ID suits appropriate taps without machining. This is a 1"UNF tap going in. After getting the lower links done I could partially bolt the diff back in. Pinion angle slightly off here. I was doing this right before the christmas break and couldn't get any 1" UNF all-thread in time, so initially tacked one end in place to set up the mounts. This is one of the shorter upper links. For packaging reasons - I wanted to keep the upper shock mounts in the stock location to reduce the amount of work needed, it was better to have the top bars angled from the diff centre out to the chassis rails. I made some steel spacers to use for mocking up the mounts. And spent a lot of time getting familiar with the angle grinder and cut-off discs.

It's just a pin for the shock, it can be removed and rewelded fairly easily if that is what's needed, without changing the whole mount. I suggest you get out a tape measure and level/protractor and work out if it is OK otherwise (centered/straight and pinion angle the same as the engine). Another option would be making the top links adjustable to change the angle of things.

Instruments usually work off a regulated voltage. As the sensor is a resistance, the meter is probably indicating current, so as the car battery voltage changes (charging/load/engine rpm etc) the reading will fluctuate. No idea where you would get the correct voltage on a Corona. Are the gauges new and specced for 12V? Some work on 5V maybe? Something like this would get you a 12v supply (so long as the actual car voltage is >13v) http://www.jaycar.co.nz/productView.asp?ID=ZV1564

What is you pinion angle like? If the whole axle is tilted back like that you will have bigger problems. If it is just the shock mounts then they can be cut off/rewelded to get them straight. Regarding the panhard rod, it should be level at ride height so the side-to-side movement is minimised. Moving the whole thing up and down will change the roll centre.

HT by the grille. Cool though - Most have long ago rusted away.

Dud compressor clutch bearing extracted. Pictured (on the left) next to one I got from another compressor (with a different style clutch) I had in the shed. It seems to be a fairly common part to the york/tecumseh compressor. Have ordered a new one from Mana Bearings to pick up on Monday. Put the other old one in for now, which seems to work fine, so took another test drive, and actually made it home OK. Need to tinker with the brakes in the weekend, but it's time for a beer now.

That is serious power - good job!

Ideally for the Beach Hop. I need to fix the compressor then get a wheel alignment. Brakes were working, but felt not great. I only bled them by the drip method as missus was out last night - will get her to do some pumping in the weekend. Might need to steal the Wilwood proportioning valve off the Morrie project. Otherwise only needs a couple of brake line clamps and a cover for the wiring hole in the boot for cert (at least that is what I hope). Exhaust is just tacked in a couple of joints and is banging somewhere over the axle too. Might be at Andy Smith's on Tuesday if I can sort the compressor.

Exited the shed last night, first time since May 2014 (I need to work faster!) First test drive went 'ok' ish, until the compressor clutch locked up and the air line blew out with a big bang Cue slow drive back home on bump stops. So, need to sort that and fit a one-way valve to the compressor line. Had a beer after that episode, and left the car outside. Washed it today, need to clean up garage then get it back in to pick up the issues. Looks cool dumped though. Before wash And after.

Me too. And my photography sucks - need sheepers around here.

Been slaving on this the last few days and weekends. Found some suitable hex-drive self tappers are Mitre 10 (oh the shame). Bought some more airline only to realise that there are two systems - imperial 3/8, and metric 10mm, and they are not interchangeable (even though 3/8 is 9.5mm). Luckily I hadn't put much of the wrong line in place. Found that to fit the rear wheels I need to deflate the tires, and pump the bags right up - bit tricky before the system is working. I'll have to pack some fittings and an inflater in the trunk in the future - along with the deep socket for the wheel nuts. Also found that it is hard to get a jack out from under a lowered vehicle. Luckily the lift allowed me to drop it onto some jackstands. Aired out the chassis rail sits on the upright flange of the lift deck. Got it started (engine-driven compressor), and tried the auto-level cycle, but it behaved oddly. I tried manually, but couldn't control all the corners correctly. It turned out that the cable to the VU4 valve assembly wasn't fully plugged in - worked better after that, and the auto-level seemed OK. I stopped eventually as it was past midnight, and the shed was full of fumes. Next I need to sort a few minor brake issues before a test drive - Caliper brackets need re-drilling to provide a little more wheel clearance - Brake lines on diff housing need to be replace/rerouted to clear new brackets and for exhaust clearance - Bleed brakes and ROAD TEST

It's on computer these days. Some googling suggests you can get a replacement at VTNZ or other WOF issuer, but they may charge a fee (like $10)

BC is correct, according to the new manual also 1.5 * size of thread screwed in. I went with ¬40mm for the 1" thread I used.

Been busy busy working on the suspension. Rear triangulated 4-link is built, airbags set up at the back. Currently all out of the car so I could weld the brackets (done now), and re-route the exhaust (partly done). Have gone back to the front end to sort some disc brakes and plumbing/wiring. BA Falcon caliper and disc. Hopefully the brakes will work OK when driven, I have a big M/C from a US ford (77 t-bird or something like that). Keeping the standard drums on the back. Only just fits inside the wheel, with a tiny bit of filing on the caliper. I cut the caliper bracket like that in case I needed to pick up the third boss on the spindle. I think it will be OK with two though, because the big 1/2" bolt on the upright part took the main load of the drum brakes. Adding the third point would mean getting more tig welding and crack testing done and I am short of time. This is tonight, one side pretty sorted. The Falcon flex hoses should work too. New upper balljoint fitted. New shocks on relocated mounts. Height sensor fitted. Have to do other side next, which needs the shock mount welded on then assembling. Then finish exhausts and reinstall diff. Finish plumbing, mount air tank, hook up some power and test it out. Hope to have it all working next week for cert prior to Beach Hop. Clipping the air lines every 300mm is a pain. Any suggestions on easy ways to mount the clips to the chassis rail? I have done with a pop rivet, but I think that is crappy. Maybe some hex headed self tappers? Drilling and tapping is difficult due to clearance issues.

The swap bar pivots inside the mounts on the diff.

When the suspension moves up/down relative to the chassis the bar pivots in the mounts on the differential housing. Any alignment change in the links is handled by the rubber bushings. When one side drops relative to the other, the bar is twisted, and tries to keep things level. Why are you fitting the bar anyway?

Highly unlikely that you will get anything welded to a forged spindle certed. It doesn't really matter that they use laser cutting and cnc machining - no better to the cert man than cut with a hacksaw or machined on an old clunker lather.

I don't think you'll fiind much for a Minor in these. Wolseley 1500 or Riley 1.5 are what you need.