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 Syd's MK 1 Taylorspeed Jem (currently 1,950 views) |
| Syd Crawford |
| Posted on: October 21st, 2008, 01:32:24 |
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Big Member
Location: Canberra, Australia
Posts: 252
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OK, so I thought I would start a thread (like I have seen on other forums) updating the progress, share idea's and ask questions concerning my car.
Here's a pic so everyone knows what we are talking about:
I finally got it registered last Monday so it is great to be able to drive it around finally! This really helps to identify faults and improvments that I need to do.
I spent last weekend sorting out all the suspension geometry. I hadn't bothered doing this until after I got it passed for rego (I had to jack up the front to get it through). It was wandering over the road quite badly so it was a bit of a priority to get this sorted. After I lowered it to a more suitable height I checked the castor and found it was way out! 0 deg on one side and -~5deg on the other (no wonder it wasn't holding holding a staight line to well  ) So I set both sides to a more reasonable 3.5 deg. The camber on the front was 3.5 and 3 deg negative so I set both these to 2.5 deg negative. Did the toe in and the car was much better, still seemed a but taily though so I strung the car and found the rear drivers wheel was toeing out 7mm and the rear passengers toeing out 2mm! Both rear wheels had .5 deg positve camber as well. So I fitted some adjustable toe/camber brackets and managed to get both wheels aligned and toeing in 1mm and the camber to 1deg neg on both side's. Car is 20x better but it does seem to bump steer/wander slightly still so there are still improvements to be made.
Next thing I need to sort out is the fuel pickup from the tank. It has an enlarged van tank so it now has around 50 litres capacity but when it is at about the 22 litre mark it starts to suck air/fuel. This is about the height that the fuel pickup goes into the tank so I would say that there must be a crack or something in the pipe to cause it to suck the air. Does any one have any idea's on this and if the internal pipe can be replaced at all?
Edit: Shadow removed
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Last modified October 21st, 2008, 23:52:54 by Syd Crawford |
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| Neil KilBane |
| Posted on: October 21st, 2008, 08:40:58 |
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Maximum Member2
just a little fine tuning left to do.
Location: Newtown Forbes, Ireland
Posts: 1,420
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| Car is looking well Syd. Have you got rose jointed suspension on the front or is it just standard adjustable stuff, how did you adjust the castor ? |
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Reply: 1 - 57 |
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| admin |
| Posted on: October 21st, 2008, 22:02:23 |
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 Administrator
Location: Maidenhead, UK
Posts: 2,380
Reputation: 1 (tot: 1) |
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Looks like COTM for November is sorted! Just need to paint out that shadow at the front
You adjust the castor angle by using adjustable tie bars in conjunction with adjustable bottom arms. It needs a bit of juggling because changing either affects castor, camber and tracking. How are you measuring the castor angle?
I don't think you can do anything about the fuel pickup without opening up the tank. You might be able to cut a hole around the outlet union big enough to withdraw the pipe and filter, and then weld it back in when you've corrected the problem. It might be easier to block off the current outlet and fit a new pick-up pipe from the top, with an external filter. |
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Reply: 2 - 57 |
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| Syd Crawford |
| Posted on: October 22nd, 2008, 00:12:14 |
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Big Member
Location: Canberra, Australia
Posts: 252
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I got a set of these Neil:
http://www.minispares.com/Product.aspx?ty=ki&pid=38488&sku=0#submenu
Really good value I reckon. Didn't get the rose joints as historic racing won't allow them (but they can be bought seperately to add later).
To set everything up I also got this:
http://www.minispares.com/Prod.....ER%20GAUGE%20see%20n...
I had a bubble guage originally but had trouble with getting the hub adaptor for to fit. The MS guage is a bit pricey for what it is but is much cheaper that any bubble guage. I like it's simplicity and it is still very accurate.
As richard said, to increase the castor angle you shorten the tie rods. The only problem now is the L/H front wheel is fouling on the front of the guard on cornering (same problem as you are having Neil) so I'm going to have to cut a little off the front of the guard  .
Good idea Richard - Shadow gone 
I put the car on the ramps last night and the fuel pickup is brazed onto the tank so it isn't really an easy fix. Your probably right Richard, it would be easier to block it off and install a new one.
I am also considering biting the bullet and just replacing it with something like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/FUEL-CE....._trksid=p3286.c0.m14
and some foam to fill it.
The dimensions are very similar to what I have in there already. |
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Reply: 3 - 57 |
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| admin |
| Posted on: October 22nd, 2008, 20:17:43 |
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Administrator
Location: Maidenhead, UK
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Reputation: 1 (tot: 1) |
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| I've just realised that yoiu sent me that photo back in April, but I didn't use it at the time because I'd already got lots of pics on its web page. I probably had it in mind for the home page and forgot - anyway it's a cert for November. |
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Reply: 4 - 57 |
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| Syd Crawford |
| Posted on: November 1st, 2008, 20:57:41 |
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Big Member
Location: Canberra, Australia
Posts: 252
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Well I don't think it is the pickup in the tank. It started spluttering again the other day and the tank was virtually full. It is intermittent so I still managed to make it home. Took it to the skid pan yesterday (which was great fun  ) but afterwards the pump went totally quiet (dead). So I might put an order in for a Facet and Reg. At least that is a fair bit easier than stuffing around with the tank . |
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Reply: 5 - 57 |
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| admin |
| Posted on: November 3rd, 2008, 00:17:37 |
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Administrator
Location: Maidenhead, UK
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Reputation: 1 (tot: 1) |
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| If you have an SU pump they can usually be coaxed back into life by cleaning the contact and if necessary adjusting the point at which it flips over.. |
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Reply: 6 - 57 |
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| Syd Crawford |
| Posted on: November 4th, 2008, 11:15:44 |
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Big Member
Location: Canberra, Australia
Posts: 252
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Thanks Richard it's actually a 'FuelFlo' solid state one.
I pulled it off to have a look and found the flow from the tank was pathetic, so it is acctually the tank that is the problem and the pump has just died of natural causes (ie.. skid pan).
So I've pulled out the tank and fount this.
mmm... almost looks as if the filter has melted somehow  there's heaps of rust and junk in the bottom of the tank as well so I'd say the pickup was getting pretty blocked.
At least with the tank out it is a good opportunity to fill the old tail light holes and fit my new ones
I didn't get any photo's of the skid pan day but I have taken some caps of the video footage, so appologises for the quality:
Syd |
Last modified November 4th, 2008, 11:17:34 by Syd Crawford |
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| Neil KilBane |
| Posted on: November 4th, 2008, 13:17:05 |
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Maximum Member2
just a little fine tuning left to do.
Location: Newtown Forbes, Ireland
Posts: 1,420
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| That's a fair sized tank Syd, there must be some distance between the petrol stations in Oz. |
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Reply: 8 - 57 |
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| paul harcourt |
| Posted on: November 4th, 2008, 17:13:50 |
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Big Member
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 363
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| It looks like the tank has had a enlarged top welded on and probably melted the pick up filter at the same time. |
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Reply: 9 - 57 |
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| Syd Crawford |
| Posted on: November 4th, 2008, 22:37:49 |
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Big Member
Location: Canberra, Australia
Posts: 252
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| Could be Paul, hadn't thought of that. |
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Reply: 10 - 57 |
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| Syd Crawford |
| Posted on: November 23rd, 2008, 20:32:27 |
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Big Member
Location: Canberra, Australia
Posts: 252
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OK, a bit of an update. I've been busy over the last couple of weeks getting my Jem back on the road. What started off as just replacing the fuel tank turned into doing other things while I was at it. Seeing as the tank was out it was a good oportunity to replace the tailights (ex VW combivan) with some nicer ones (I think anyway) that the number plate would fit between. So I fibreglassed up the old light holes (first time fibreglassing), hi-filled, repainted (Black), and fitted the new lights. Then I had to remake the rear wiring harness because the new lights were further apart. While I was enthused by fibreglassing I decided to make up a properly sealed battery box:
I'll glue it into the current box and drill holes to vent it to the outside.
Have also fitted one (of the 2) new fuel cells. Which sit down either side of the exhaust. Also fitted a new facet fuel pump (regulator, yet to be fitted) and modified the fuel filler neck to work, Also, re-routed the battery cables and wired in a battery cut off. Just in time to get it to Marques in the Park yesterday:
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Reply: 11 - 57 |
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| Syd Crawford |
| Posted on: December 2nd, 2008, 05:36:42 |
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Big Member
Location: Canberra, Australia
Posts: 252
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Took my Jem for it's first decent trip on the Weekend. Travelled up to 'Eastern Creek Raceway' for the historic racing (~500km round trip). Went like a Jem (literally) and didn't miss a beat.
stopping for a wee break:
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Reply: 12 - 57 |
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| Tertius van Zyl |
| Posted on: December 2nd, 2008, 18:56:53 |
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Big Member
Location: Johannesburg South Africa
Posts: 289
Reputation: -1 (tot: -1) |
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| I see you need a Garmin to find all those Blue Gum trees Syd! Nice pics. Great that she went so well. |
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Reply: 13 - 57 |
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| Tim Neal |
| Posted on: December 7th, 2008, 04:28:00 |
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Posts: 102
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great looking Jem Syd!. That dash boards a busy work space though! Hows the leg room climbng in? I've fitted a quick release hub so I don't have to contort my self to much.
Next time your out for a drive head over the bridge so we can meet up.....well when they get around to building that bridge to connect the west island to the north island that is LOL |
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Reply: 14 - 57 |
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