Locost 7 Site

Here is the jig with a test piece of 25mm by 2 wall CDS tubing in place.  Note the pivot tubes in position at the right hand side of the jig and the bent tube in it's housing to the left.  The jig will also have a dowel to pin the upper steel plate into position.  The lower ball joint will be fixed to this plate as will the shockie bracket.

Ignore the upper part of the photograph i.e. the top of the tube. 

The lower part is in position.  The threaded sleave is in position placed in its housing as well.  This offset of 20mm is to  engineer 5 deg of front caster into the geometry.

The caster can be increased by lengthening the front rose joint and shortening the rear.  Camber is adjusted via the outer ball joint itself.

The Jig is adjustable in length.  Here it will make 340mm length arms.  From the centre of the ball joint to the centre of the pivot tubes.

You can see the Solid Steel Bar here that will ensure the Pivot tubes are exactly in line.  Also shown is the Stainless Steel brackets to ensure that fix the above stated bar is held firmly into the jig, and another set that will hold the lower A arm legs equidistant from centre.

I ended up routing 2  slots in the jig to accept this mandrel.  It sits inside the thread sleave and aligns the treaded bush with much greater accuracy than before.  Also it allows much easier access  to weld the actual joint. 

Shown is the Ply template for the 3mm steel plate.  The bolt holes centres have 1mm holes with piano wire coming out of the jig to line everything up (see above picture).  Once the plate is welded to the tube I will drill these out to size.  The square hole is used to position the shocker bracket to the steel plate.  The large diameter hole is for the ball joint.  The round plug has a 1mm hole in the centre to align the 40mm large hole.

Lower arm tube in jig.

3mm steel plate is positioned on the 3 1mm pins you can see in the first photo.

Then place the ply jig onto the same pins.

After making the first A arm I used the tube itself to make this template.  Don't completely trust it
you should always finally fit the suspension tubes to the pivot tubes. Cut 2mm ish away from the line.

Then File with a good Rat tail or round file.  Test and file......... Test and file.......  Test and file......  :-)
Take your time, it needs to be right.

Hack saw the excess material.  Note the soft aluminium jaws in my vice so the material isn't damaged.
Second shot shows the Birds mouth.  It need to be perfect, so take your time.

A arms fitted to the pivot tubes.  Note also the steel bar in the pivot tubes.
This steel bar is fitted to both the pivot tubes, thus ensuring alignment.
The second shot shows the 5mm plate also bird mouthed to the A arm and
will be welded to the 3mm steel plate.

You can really see the 5mm plate here.  It is positioned between the ball joint and
shock absorber bracket.  Second shot shows the 3mm steel plate in position, bird
mouths on the pivot tubes and the steel alignment bar in-between the pivot tubes.

All in place including Shock absorber bracket.  See the stainless clips at the pivot ends
to align the ends of the A arms.  The tubes will be G clamped to the jig to ensure there
is no movement.

Ends of the tubes are fitted with steel threaded plugs.  They are vee ground and have plug weld holes drilled.

Fitting the pivot tubes is a very time consuming activity.  It MUST be right.  no gaps at all.  Hand file is the Go.

Show is the upper arms with bird mouths hand filed.  You can start with a hacksaw and grinder however be very careful not to go within 1mm of your wanted line.  You should finish these off with a hand file.

I didn't like the possibility of inaccuracy in the original jig.  This one is adjustable lengthways via nuts on the tie rod.

Obviously the ROD ends and Tie ROD ends would be replaced with bolts for the purpose of welding the arm pieces together.

You can see I will have to remake the upper suspension arm tubes as these ones unfortunately no longer fit.

However make sure you purchase the correct ones. 

TE422R fit TC/TD cortina.

TE524R fit TE/TF cortina.

Might even replace the screwdrivers for bolts to.

Plate here is 5mm

The shocker is set at 1/3rd compressed at stationary position.

i.e. with 3" travel, I have 2" up on the shocker and 1" droop.  Now this actually equates to a greater movement at the wheel due to the position of the shocker on the lower arm.

Next: to chase bump steer.  Only with the shocker travel obviously.

Front Rack Jig

The Jig I used to hold the steering rack while I sorted out the required position.
I simply clamped it with G-Clamps and packed it with steel to vary the height.

Clamped to perfection.  :-)

The alignment tools are a bit crude however they served the purpose for initial trials.

You can see the shockers don't have the springs on them.  The chassis is raised and lowered via the hydraulic jack.  I ensured the alignment was perfect with the two tapes and then lowered the chassis and checked the measurements.  This entire process took about 2-3 hrs to get perfected.  That included making the Jig and then remaking it as I made the original to tall and couldn't lower it enough. 

The entire setup.

I used a single spherical Bearing in front of the focus column to support it's second uni joint.  It has a larger ID than the shaft so I simply welded around the shaft and machined it to fit neatly inside the joint.

The Uni joint at the rack end and alloy rack mounts are from  http://smckaperformance.com.au/
really worth a look and quality stuff.  And it all fits.

The shaft is from a Mk2 escort.  I had to weld up the grove cut for the ignition steering lock, machine the shaft round and then mill the angles on the end of the shaft to take the Focus Uni joint.