Hi all,
I’ve been a bit quiet of late, I’ve tinkered with a few things….


And now I’m back at Nurburgring!!!!!!

So me and my lad have done a few laps today. Torque delivery is much improved, some small changes to geometry and tyre pressures, and we’ve been flying the ring

Anyway tomorrow (Sunday), I’m meeting Misha again to let him loose again, so I’ll post the YouTube link afterwards

Cheers Jamie

Have fun Jamie, safe driving!

Last full day tomorrow at the ring, car has been faultless

Since the last round of mods, it’s so much faster around the track

I guess Misha’s video will be up in the next month

Cheers Jamie

You're unstoppable Jamie

Or you soon will be....

Ha ha I’m mad for it Simon 😉

Be interesting how you get on with the new wheel/tyre size. It's the same size as I run/ran on mine. I found it overly crashy and the wheels were really prone to damage from pot holes as a daily. But you've a better suspension set up than mine ever had

Honestly I was expecting it to be a bit crash, but in the short driving I’ve done they’re far better than I thought they would be

What I don’t like about std profile tyres is squidge when driving on track, as it makes the car less precise

I may try 225/35s when I buy something better, but that’s as far as you can go without tyre rubbing with this offset

Cheers Jamie

Hi Jamie,
I ran 225/35 on my 16vt with coilovers and never managed to get it to not rub during spirited driving.
Switched to 215's and it was fine

Hi Daz,
I think you’re right, whilst mathematically the 225s should work I think they’d rub just due to the offset


Cheers Jamie

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bv_IyVF6GCa8Iy3VzYooOsIdeRZLHG4R?usp=sharing

To start with for pictures

and now the stories begin……

So I’ve wanted a quaife diff for some time, and bought a new one from a few months ago. So for £750 you get a new diff, with bearings and the new oil seal plus a 2nd hand output cover from I think an Alfa 147 GTA , which is needed to deal with the gap the viscodrive leaves.

Then you randomly stumble across other goodies on the internet and end up buying a lightened flywheel for £200, and some Motul Racing gearbox oil, and that’s a £1000 spent!!!!!!

I contacted Mick @CG Clutches up in Leeds and they will reline the Valeo OEM friction plate with a Kevlar material for a £100. I might just post it to save me a 4 hour round trip

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve acquired a set of lower subframe to floorpan plates from an Alfa GTA, so during the reassembly I’ll mess around with fixings and get them fitted

So that should be the upgrade part of the project done

For general maintenance, as I needed the gearbox I thought whilst Im there, I may as well….. spend more money!


So as the gearbox for me at least is the crappiest job, I’ve taken both wishbones off, disconnected the hubs so I can change the wheel bearings.

So wishbones come off pretty easy, and likewise removing the hubs is ok, but getting the wheel bearings out is a whole world of pain without a hydraulic press . I spent a good hour with the pullers and various blunt instruments with little success, so I’ve called in a favour where they have a 20 ton press to both remove the old outer bearings cases ( I’d smashed the inner parts out quite easily) and fit some new QH bearings at £50 a pair.

The bearings were definitely the original ones as the grease looked like a Caramac candy bar, so they’ve definitely stayed the course over almost 3 decades. I simply wanted to change them whilst I’d got other work planned, to last me another 20 years

I then moved on to taking the gearbox out, which to be honest wasn’t as bad as I remember, but there’s definitely a load of bolts to remove that just takes time

A tip for anyone thinking about tackling a gearbox out job is to double nut the threaded studs that go from the gearbox to the engine and remove them. This way it gives you a good couple of inches of lateral movement to make getting the box out a lot easier.


So gearbox out and then I can inspect the original clutch and the flywheel…..

So Graham did the clutch job during his ownership, and I’d guess the car has done circa 15,000 miles on that clutch, and on inspection (photos in the google drive link) I’d say it was more than 50% worn. It’s never slipped but there are a few hot spots appearing on the flywheel

Onto the flywheel, I think graham had it machined when he last did the clutch, but looking closely there are lots of what I call fire cracks, which I guess isn’t a surprise with the age of it.

Anyway these parts take 10 minutes to remove, it’s the gearbox that is the pain element

Onto flywheels so my OEM flywheel weighed 9 kilos, and the new chromolly one weighs 4 kilos, so it should make the engine more responsive both in terms of accelerating and braking

A quick spray with brake cleaner and I fitted it in 5 minutes

The next job (Saturday 14th June) is to remove and replace the inner tie rods, purely as a load of stuff is out of the way and I’d say there’s a tiny amount of play there.

Bought a pair of new rods for £30, plus a £10 for the tool to remove them

Never done this job on any car , but I’m not expecting any pain

Tune in for more updates

Cheers Jamie

So just got my hubs back with the new bearings installed. It took 17 tons of hydraulic pressure to shift the old ones, but they’re all good now

Also split the cv joint from the driveshaft as the rubber looks cracked, still fit a new one this afternoon

Currently working on getting the bearing out of the power steering pump and whilst it is taking some effort, I can definitely hear and feel noise in the old bearings, so it’s a job worth doing

Cheers Jamie

Right folks, need a hand with sourcing the correct bearing for the power steering pump

I’ve read elsewhere on the forum that Fiat 128 rear wheel bearings were the same, but it’s not

The bearing I took out was knackered, so a job worth doing, the OD is 60mm and the ID IS 30 mm

Thanks Jamie

If it's the support bearing that that pump shaft sits inside then it's the same as a Tipo (old one)front bearing. But to be fair if you can find a bearing factor then if you ask for the dimensions you have in dual ball race then you should be fine also.

Should add that I seem to recall there being 2 sizes available (one 66mm?) And it also fitting a Punto. Which makes sense as bearings typically come in standard sizes

Cheers szkom

I’ll search the tinternet now

Thx Jamie

Possible misremembering from. I think I mean Fiat Uno. It was over a decade ago I changed mine

Thanks for the update Jamie and the photos.

I was telling a guy at our local car show today, all about you.
Your efforts and successes, mainly done in your home garage, driveway and now patio. Then I mentioned the Nurnbergring !

Keep it up !!!

Paul

No worries Paul, I’m a sucker for punishment

Anyway I think I’ve got most of the crappy jobs out of the way, albeit putting the gearbox back in is the one I’m not looking forward to

I’ve only got a bit of time in the next couple of weeks as I’m away on holiday

The challenge is to get it all done for about the 20th July, as the new clutch needs a 500 mile bedding in period due to it being Kevlar , and I’m looking to go to Cadwell park on Sunday 27th July

Cheers Jamie

Great thread Jamie.
No easy on the driveway.
Looking very good so far. 👍

Just fitted the new CV boot and and cleaned the pump shaft as it had a bit of surface corrosion on it

Pictures added to the google drive along with some new wishbones

Cheers Jamie

I couldn’t find a Fiat Tipo bearing that was dimensionally correct, so I’ve ordered a bearing BA2B 633667 online which looks correct from Simply Bearings Ltd.

Hopefully that works a treat for you. Like I mentioned l must have been thinking Uno, which does seem to check out.

Much better option to buy the size and type as it'll likely be new stock.

Well I've fitted the new bearing into the housing, I'd say it was a gnat's xxxx smaller meaning it went in without massive effort but is a good fit. However the ID compared to the OD of the shaft is a bit tight, so I'm looking at how best to get the pump shaft into the bearing without damaging anything

Cheers Jamie

That's quite interesting as it should be a good tight fit, and the dimensions on that part number you found suggest a standard interference fit. Hopefully just the difference between old and new?

On the shaft can you dress it up with some emery cloth? I recall it being an exact fit, but not an interference fit

I'm going to have to dress the shaft I think, as it's bit too tight to 'force' into place

Cheers Jamie

If you go down the emery cloth route, add some grease as you go. It'll act like a cutting/polishing compound and you should be able to avoid too deep a scratch as you clean it up

Good shout on the grease

I’m on holiday now for a couple of weeks , but will be on it when I’m home

Cheers Jamie

Put it in the freezer overnight Jamie - or even better put it in dry ice if you can get your hands on any, as you know handle with extreme care and thick gloves!

Will see if I can fully disconnect the pump and chuck it in the freezer

Cheers Jamie

It just wants to be cold enough to shrink a bit, make sure you have everything laid out for a quick 'insertion'

and that it's aligned before tapping it in - if you need to.

Can you put the bearing into a bench vice to keep it rock steady while you drop the pump in?

You'll need to work quite quickly before it expands to normal size.