DUNE BUGGY

[Baloo]

so at this point it was mainly tacked together , well at least on the top and being an old git i wasn't going to be lying on my back welding upside down, so off to find my old rotisserie that was up at the barn somewhere
well i found it behind one of the shipping containers but some bugger had pinched the wheels and fittings off it

so i dragged it home to use
last thing that was on it was a lwb vitara so it was too long but a quick chop and that was sorted

 

[Baloo]

now i needed wheels, wow they are expensive

then i happened to look down at the wheels on my bench it was me who had nicked the wheels of the spit duh

oh well

 

[Baloo]

then i had to make some fittings to connect the chassis to the spit, just some bits of tube and bumper brackets that bolt to where the tow balls will eventually live

and that was that underside welding just got a whole lot easier

 

[Baloo]

plan A was to use the mx5 pedals i mean i had them and i knew they would be matched to the brakes, i wasent trying to biuld a light weight special i wanted it strong so as it wouldent need to come back into my garage to be fixed so lots of 5mm plate to make the brake servo stay where i put it

i did try to use the stock accelerator pedal but it was to far over to the right as was the brake pedal

too much room to the left of the brake pedal, useful if you have a clutch pedal i suppose

so the first thing to go was the acc pedal in favor of something more stream lined , and further over

brake was still too far to the right so i modded that as well

 

[Baloo]

but alas shortening the wheelbase was a mistake as the sharp end of the servo was wanting to live right where the front suspension tower also wanted to live

so out with the trusty grinder and get rid of everything and biuld my own pedals, decided i didn't need the servo that would save some space

a rummage in the old stuff draw turned up a mk2 escort brake master cylinder, so thats sorted its what im using, will make the brake pedal 4" longer to help make up for the lack of servo

 

[Baloo]

and then it was time to practice origami

 

[Farside]

will make the brake pedal 4" longer to help make up for the lack of servo

It's probably light enough to be unassisted, plenty of vehicles in the dim and distant had no servos with front discs.
If you discover the brakes aren't all that, a remote servo would work quite well.

 

[Baloo]

It's probably light enough to be unassisted, plenty of vehicles in the dim and distant had no servos with front discs.
If you discover the brakes aren't all that, a remote servo would work quite well.

hi
im not expecting it to be a problem they wont be able to get to much above 30 and as you say its light enough, beside as its for use on the back lawn i think the tyres will lock up and slide easy anyway
and brand new cars can still be bought with no servo take for instance the brand new Mk1 escort recently launched, a snip from £295,000 no servo but it does have led lights so i guess its worth it

Road, Race and Rally, Remastered

Boreham Motorworks is committed to launching some of Ford Motor Company’s most historically significant icons.

borehammotorworks.com

 

[Baloo]

slow progress has been made, the chassis is in colour, post office red although it dosent look it in the pictures
most of the suspension has been shot blasted and is now grey ready to bolt on

 

[Baloo]

so for those of you who know about tyres can i squeeze a 255 tyre on to a rim that is currently fitted with a 205 tyre im guessing its 8" wide but will check that in a minute i can get a pair reasonably cheap, i just want to do the back 2 to make it look more go karty

ive got these and 2 are bald and wont be much use on grass

and these are available , 255 so 50mm wider i guess, might buldge out a bit but that will protect the rims from those nasty trees ?

 

[Baloo]

oh and i will be spraying those blue wheels silver, i cant be having red and blue it upsets my ocd to much lol

 

[Morris]

Not according to this site. But you're not going on the road so

Loading…

www.tyres-pneus-online.co.uk

 

[Baloo]

Not according to this site. But you're not going on the road so

Loading…

www.tyres-pneus-online.co.uk

thank you
i just had a gander

it seems to suggest
that 245 should be the maximum for an 8" wheel as its only going round the lawn i dont think another 10mm is going to matter

will try it and see

 

[Morrisman]

When you see what the hot hatch mob do, stretching tyres to fit rims 2” too wide, I don’t think going 10mm too narrow will make much different to nothing, even if it’s actually noticeable.

 

[Baloo]

calling Morris
was it you who was fitting the ford dohc engine in a pop or something ?

 

[Morris]

calling Morris
was it you who was fitting the ford dohc engine in a pop or something ?

'Tis I, guilty as charged.

 

[Baloo]

excellent lol
i have questions about the ford dohc engine, mainly is it easy to wire up, does it need an ecu, i guess it must,
i have 2 under my bench that i bought yonks ago one manual and one auto,
burried deep in my barn i have a jago jeep well more than one if the truth be know, however one of them is a non q reg that is registered as a historic vehicle so the road tax is free ( that appeals to me lol) its all complete except the pervious owner kept the engine and box so l need something to put it to either use or sell and was looking for something around 2000cc as thats what the v5 says it was, clearly i dont want to buy an engine and box when ive got these 2 sat here doing nothing, i dont every remember seeing an ecu with either of them. do you think its likely i would find a second hand one and how hard was it to wire up, do they have an immobilizer or any thing else likely to make my life harder ?

 

[Morris]

@Baloo I'll try and help, if I don't explain well just ask, I don't mind at all.

There was a carburetted version of this engine but they are rare now. Finding a manifold would be a problem and personally I don't think it's worth the effort.
The stock ecu has a few variants depending on what it came in, manual vs auto being one distinction, edit, just remembered that air-con is a factor as well. The wiring is "abundant" with a lot that appears to do little. It also seems that not connecting it all can cause issues. It was for that reason (plus the fact that space was at a premium and the Ford ecu is big and The MAF is huge)) that I went for the Microsquirt. I made use of the MS ability to control ignition and removed the Ford distributor (somewhat archaic on an engine with an ecu) and used a logic level fired VW lost spark coil. All of this removed a large amount of wiring. Using a MAP saved lots of space as well.
There is no immobiliser as far as I know in the ecu, later eec units had PATS but not in the Sierra and Granada as far as I know (could be in late units).
I have two ecus here but no looms now. You are welcome to them but It's not a path I would take given how easy the Microsquirt is. I may also have some wiring diagrams.
I can chuck up some photos of the engine if you are interested.

 

[Baloo]

Hi thank you
Yes I'm interested chuck up any pics you have or wiring do a and will try and learn about this engine, I will try and get up the barn tomorrow and get some pics of what I've got, or if anyone has any ideas of what I could put in this jago geep around the 2 it size and auto gearbox I'm all ears, l would like to be driving it around next summer

 

[Morris]

At the risk of taking this thread even further off topic I'll get some photos up tomorrow plus any further info I can think of.