Thought id start a thread for my recently acquired Indyblade.
Probably going to be questions that have been asked before, but at least they will be here in one place which might help someone in the future.
So its a 2004 IndyBlade that needs a fair bit of TLC, but i got it cheap and it came with 2 engines, numerous top and bottom ends plus wheels and
other boxes ive not even looked through yet.
Not the best pics -these were from the seller.
Glad you got something
Started stripping the rear end down today.
The wishbones need powder coating and its all rather creaky back there. Shocks also need replacing.
I was mindful of the advice id been given here regarding the lower hub/wishbone crush tubes and the possibility seizing.
I was pleasantly surprised to see the bushes seem in ok condition. Nothing was seized and i could lift the whole hub/suspension by hand.
The crush tubes slide out with just hand force.
So it seems Polybushed already and i wonder if they were fitted dry and that might be the cause of the creaks?
Another positive thing was the fact the handbrake mechanism seems fully function of my sticky caliper. I can also turn the disc by hand. So i bet it
is just the sliders that need servicing, but will look at the brakes late.
Was thinking of getting the shocks rebuilt - seeing as AVO only charge £25 each. But ive read some pretty shocking things about them recently, so not
so sure.
Hoping something will turn up on here - otherwise its £500 Protechs.
Seemed to my eye the rear springs dont sit perfectly upright... Is this postive caster intentional?
[Edited on 17/9/16 by Banana]
[Edited on 17/9/16 by Banana]
Cheers Mick 
Looks like a nice car
Best colour by far 
Surprised at the lack of rust on the crush tubes considering how rusty the wishbones are,atleast it's saved you buying new bushes!
Yep, yellow ftw!
The sensible side of me says to replace the bushes since ive got it all apart - but as you say they look ok. And being a kit car, i doubt they have
seen many miles.
Might just pop them out and clean them up, refitting with slight amount of grease or wd40 (Seems to be differing opinions on this though)
Everyone I have been in creak, seems to get worse in hot weather. I give mine the odd squirt in WD40 and the quieten down
quote:
Originally posted by Banana
Yep, yellow ftw!
The sensible side of me says to replace the bushes since ive got it all apart - but as you say they look ok. And being a kit car, i doubt they have seen many miles.
Might just pop them out and clean them up, refitting with slight amount of grease or wd40 (Seems to be differing opinions on this though)
Perfect for the winter
Removed the front lower wishbones this afternoon.
All straight forward. Spent more time faffing around blocking it up so i was happy it can sit there for some time.
Its so nice working on these cars - easy access and no rusty bolts.
Noticed there was a washer in each of the upper wishbone mounting points to take up the gap. Is this normal?
Once again the bushes were all free and previously copper greased. Still not decided what grease i will use when reassembling though..
Rubber boots dont look too bad
Tucking away for the night.
From what ive read online. powder coating may not be the best way to go.
Seems POR15 gets a lot of positive mentions. May just get parts shotblasted and then try this paint out.
Well im happy. I've just ordered my Protechs.
What a helpful outfit they are, the owner had all the time in world to chat about kit cars and answer any questions.
Hopefully be here by the weekend.
I just had a leaking Protech shock in my part built stylus, as the car is 13 years old, although never on the road, I sent the four back to Protech just to get them checked over, they charged me for one repair,shaft and bushes, checked the rest over and sent back to me within a week. Top service.
I recently bought a yellow indyblade too so will be following this.
Out of interest does yours have a drivers foot rest, finding it odd not having one but it looks tight so not sure there is room to fit one
No footrest for me either.
I agree that it could do with one!
Wanted to address some of the rust at the rear end this afternoon.
Thankfully just surface rust it seems. So this has been wired brushed back, ready to be degreased tomorrow ready for painting.
For the first time in my life i wish i didn't have a full tank of fuel! That was pretty heavy..
Discovered i have an adjustable brake bias valve on the rear (are these standard?)
Wishbones back from the shotblasters today, and my Protechs arrived
Can someone tell me what this is above the drive shaft? A speedo sensor?
quote:
Originally posted by Banana
Can someone tell me what this is above the drive shaft? A speedo sensor?
Congrats on finding a car.
What's your plan since winter is looming? Full strip down?
OK, im a bit confused about my polybushes/crush tubes.
The tubes seem barely any longer than the bushes- crush tubes clamps up ok, and the wishbones moves freely.
So all good, but i can see the mount is pulling in at the bottom. Implying the crush tubes are slightly too short.
How tight should the poly bush be in the mount?
As i was tempted to shave a little off the end.
[Edited on 5/10/16 by Banana]
Ideally the crush tube should push into the bracket and stay in place without being held,if you know what I mean!Then when you tighten up the bolt you
are not pulling in the wishbone brackets at all.
As long as the poly bush can move easily once the bolt is tightened they will be ok,you just don't want them to be crushed in place when the bolt
is tightened.
Ref your brake bias adjuster above,they are handy as the Sierra set up used in these cars can often give you more braking to the rear than the
front.
Pain is you are not allowed any in line adjusters for IVA test,but your car must have been SVA'ed as they were allowed then
[Edited on 5/10/16 by CosKev3]
Yes i thought as much, but having tubes that fits that precisely all round the car, might be bit optimistic in this case.
On the offside rear alone - one mount would hold the tube snug, whilst in the others it would have 0.5mm play.
So if a get a batch of tubes made up, i will end up with some mounts pinching in slightly potentially gripping the bush - and some mounts having to be
flared out, resulting in play for the bush.
[Edited on 5/10/16 by Banana]
[Edited on 5/10/16 by Banana]
Think im going to get some new tubes made up.
I can TRY and address this issues, whilst also getting a 12mm ID instead of the sloppy 1/2 ".
Are all your tubes now exactly the same length?
If not that's why some of your brackets will need tweaking if you get all tubes made up exactly the same size.
If your current ones are MK supplied they look to me like they are just sawn off to length,so never going to be exactly the same(or cut straight)
The ones on eBay by the latheman are bang on machined perfectly the same as each other
Ok so the ID of the mounting bracket is approx 45mm.
The width of the PolyBush is approx 43.80mm
If i get some new crush tubes made up at 45mm, this will eliminate any pinching, but will leave 1.2mm of space for lateral movement of the bush along
the tube (although in theory they shouldn't able to, should they?)
Suppose I could use some 0.5 thick washers to take up any slop.
[Edited on 6/10/16 by Banana]
Yes the current tubes are pretty much the same length, give or take 0.1mm.
The prob is they are 44.40mm, which pulls the mount in and pinches the bush.
But they do look a bit ropy and saw cut, as you say.
quote:
Originally posted by Banana
Ok so the ID of the mounting bracket is approx 45mm.
The width of the PolyBush is approx 43.80mm
If i get some new crush tubes made up at 45mm, this will eliminate any pinching, but will leave 1.2mm of space for lateral movement of the bush along the tube (although in theory they shouldn't able to, should they?)
Suppose I could use some 0.5 thick washers to take up any slop.
[Edited on 6/10/16 by Banana]
quote:
Originally posted by Nickp
quote:
Originally posted by Banana
Ok so the ID of the mounting bracket is approx 45mm.
The width of the PolyBush is approx 43.80mm
If i get some new crush tubes made up at 45mm, this will eliminate any pinching, but will leave 1.2mm of space for lateral movement of the bush along the tube (although in theory they shouldn't able to, should they?)
Suppose I could use some 0.5 thick washers to take up any slop.
[Edited on 6/10/16 by Banana]
I'm currently assembling the wishbones on my Haynes and have opted for stainless washers either end of the polybush to take up the gap, 1.5mm in my case. I've opted for ones just slightly bigger than the crush tubes. These should stop the bush sliding along the tube but keep the friction / creaking to a minimum. I'm using copper grease btw.
Regarding AVO. I know it's too late as you've ordered the Protechs now, but I had a set rebuilt and they offered a very good very reasonable service TBH. I also had them commission a set for my Lancia Montecarlo which were very very good
[Edited on 7/10/16 by Nickp]
quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
quote:
Originally posted by Nickp
quote:
Originally posted by Banana
Ok so the ID of the mounting bracket is approx 45mm.
The width of the PolyBush is approx 43.80mm
If i get some new crush tubes made up at 45mm, this will eliminate any pinching, but will leave 1.2mm of space for lateral movement of the bush along the tube (although in theory they shouldn't able to, should they?)
Suppose I could use some 0.5 thick washers to take up any slop.
[Edited on 6/10/16 by Banana]
I'm currently assembling the wishbones on my Haynes and have opted for stainless washers either end of the polybush to take up the gap, 1.5mm in my case. I've opted for ones just slightly bigger than the crush tubes. These should stop the bush sliding along the tube but keep the friction / creaking to a minimum. I'm using copper grease btw.
Regarding AVO. I know it's too late as you've ordered the Protechs now, but I had a set rebuilt and they offered a very good very reasonable service TBH. I also had them commission a set for my Lancia Montecarlo which were very very good
[Edited on 7/10/16 by Nickp]
I think what your describing is not ideal, this is going to cause binding if the washers are pressing on the outside edges of the bushes. The washers need to be no larger than the tubes imho
Also I would not use copper grease. I was an advocate of this myself, but found on 2 applications that it dries out.
I am now using (shoot Me down in flames) normal lithium type grease, to good effect
If the crush tubes are slightly longer than the bush, then it shouldn't matter how big the washer is.
I guess the other option is to get slightly bigger bushes and use the 50mm crush tubes without washers.
This is becoming a PIA.
quote:
Originally posted by Banana
If the crush tubes are slightly longer than the bush, then it shouldn't matter how big the washer is.
I guess the other option is to get slightly bigger bushes and use the 50mm crush tubes without washers.
This is becoming a PIA.
Your crush tubes need to be a fraction longer than the bush. The tubes get clamped by the force of the bolt, allowing the bush to hopefully rotate freely around it.
quote:
Originally posted by Banana
Your crush tubes need to be a fraction longer than the bush. The tubes get clamped by the force of the bolt, allowing the bush to hopefully rotate freely around it.
Anyway, bit of an update.
Been spending hours working on the car recently, but not as much end result as id like. However, got lots of little jobs done.
Finished treating the rust on the rear end and generally tidying up.
I decided to order S/S crush tubes from Latheman and went for 44.70 x 19 x 12.1mm crush tubes.
Hope is that the 0.4mm increse in the length will reduce the pinch effect from the mounts. I can always sand down if some are too tight.
Inner diameter will be tighter than the original 1/2" tube, eliminating the chance of wishbones being slightly misaligned.
Thats the plan.
Discovered one of my lower wishbones is slightly bent. can this be straightened?
If not - does anyone have one?
Removed the seats to see whats going on beneath. Treated the surface rust and replaced the puny 6 and 8mm bolts with (slightly ott) 10mm bolts.
Found that an m10 bolt fits perfectly in the seat rail, and acts as a captive head. So makes it alot easier to fit and remove.
Drilled the runners and floor, nice and easy upgrade over the original.
Made up some plates to spread the load on the seat and harness mounts. Probably overkill, but ive got no roll cage, so want to do all i can..
Also ordered some new eye bolts for the harness. The ones on the car had stripped threads and barely came through the nut. (can't believe it
passed the mot tbh)
Old and new seat bolts
Captive head
Bolts yet to be trimmed down..
[Edited on 11/10/16 by Banana]
[Edited on 11/10/16 by Banana]
Are those the harness original "eye bolts" in the picture with the seat out? If so those are shockingly insufficient. In an accident they'd just straighten out.
Yep. And the thread wasn't even protruding through the nut underneath. (A plain nut at that!)
Im starting to wonder if the MOT on this was done by a 'mate'.
Nevermind, im sorting things out as i find them. Not too much to go wrong on these things..
Also did some shopping..
K&N filter element.
929RR clock/digi display.
Yokohama A-032 semi slicks
Protech shocks
And some carbon wrap... going to redo the dash with it somehow.
quote:
Originally posted by Banana
Yep. And the thread wasn't even protruding through the nut underneath. (A plain nut at that!)
Im starting to wonder if the MOT on this was done by a 'mate'.
Nevermind, im sorting things out as i find them. Not too much to go wrong on these things..
Postman came today
New seat belt bolts
Slightly over sized SS crush tubes, from Latheman. Great service and price.
Excuse the flakey upright - that will be addressed..
I offered up the Protechs today, and it's been so long since i dismantled the car that i forgot how many washers were needed as spacers for the
shocks.
Is this normal?
Secondly, the rear shocks dont seem perfectly vertical when mounted (as in the start of the thread)
If i let the shock hang, it wants to sit towards the right of the upright in the picture below.
If i had one washer on the right and three on the left it would be perfectly upright.
Would i be better doing this, or packing it so its central to the upright but not perfectly upright? As i have below.
Could someone advise?
[Edited on 14/10/16 by Banana]
Mine are the same on my Mac1,I prefer the shock straight and have odd spacing either side in the upright.
Looks a better way imo
Thats good to know - cheers Kev.
Bit of an update.
Car is back on all fours, and despite being nowhere near finished, ive been making the most of the nice autumns weekends and driving it!
Probably done about 50 miles or so, and the basics seem good.
I fitted the new SS bushes, and was pleased i went for the fractionally over sized ones (see above for dims). This gave the bush a nice tight fit in
the mount, and the narrower inner gave less slop for the 12mm bolt to move around in.
Very satisfying to reassemble and pack with grease.. No creaking anymore.
Protechs fitted. Not adjust them at all, but currently give a surprising smooth ride.
Changed the diff oil (can someone tell me what the numbers mean on crownwheel?)
2001 Fireblade silencer purchased. (About half the weight of the original beast) I made an a flange to go from the 50mm downpipe to the 3 bolt
silencer fitment. Lovely TIG welding, but sadly not by me..
Next i wanted to address the lack of rev counter or speedo. As i have no idea, other than the sound from a nasty end can, as to how high up the rev
band im taking it. Hopefully ive still got along way to go in each gear.
I really struggled to find anything on fitting a 929 cluster to 919 engine.
I got the clocks, got a 929 harness - but found it barley matched the 929 wiring diagrams i had.
Anyway, manged to get the illumination and rev counter working, after using the 919 and 929 diagrams and a bit of trial and error.
So once i had those basics going, i felt happy to whip the dash off and start removing the rather random lights and switches.
Labelled each wire, with the plan of attaching these to the 929 clocks... Hopefully.
From the back of the clocks i have some unidentified wires if anyone can help?
Blue/White, Red/White and Brown/White.
[Edited on 8/11/16 by Banana]
Not sure what to do with the dash.
Im thinking to carbon wrap the whole thing might be a bit... carbony
So seeing as i have holes in the original i dont want, i leaning towards something like this.
An ally sheet, carbon wrapped centre console, to cover the holes and at the same time not over do the carbon look.
What do you guys think? Will a middle console piece look odd?
Also, whats the best way to actually mount/hold the clocks?
Description
I went full carbon on mine,and did the tunnel top to match
Ref the spare wires,the clocks are from an injection and the engine is carbed?
If so this is prob why you have spares,ECU light etc on the injection engine I would guess
I like that. Did you wrap it yourself?
Good point about the wires, yes this is a carbed engine.
How did you retain the clocks in the dash?
Yeah wrapped it myself,difficult on the curved part and it's not perfect on the underside as I overheated it a bit ! 
My Koso clocks have holes in the rear for self tapping screws,so I made a bracket out of some alloy that overlaps the hole in the dash from the
rear,then screwed into the rear of clocks through the bracket,so clamped the clocks to the dash
So i've finally pulled my finger out and pretty much finished the dash. (apart from redoing the wiring)
Id like to add some edging to go around the bottom, but struggling to find any wide enough for 10mm mdf.. Any suggestions?
Im fairly pleased with the final result. Added a USB port for the mobile phone and a slightly pointless voltage indicator.
I managed to change the gear lever from a 'pull to downshift' to 'push to downshift'.
Made a new mount from ally and some 10mm stainless rod, and moved the pivot point up. So after a few months of driving the other way round, ive got to
re adjust to what i felt it should have been originally.
[Edited on 27/12/16 by Banana]
[Edited on 27/12/16 by Banana]
Looks good
The volt gauge is well worth fitting on a BEC,as they have no charging/battery warning light on the standard clocks you have no idea of your charging
state etc until the car starts to misfire
Been there and done that,car started to misfire then a mile up the road the battery was totally flat and it was a break down.
Ref the MDF I think people shape the thicker stuff with a router to round it off.
Have you put the gearstick back in the same place as it was before?looks quite far forward compared to where the steering wheel will be?
Yes gear stick in the same position, not found it to be an issue. Mind you, i have long arms..
Took my brother and sister in law for passenger rides this weekend, it was hilarious. I don't think i went much above 60mph, but she was
screaming. haha
I like to take mine up to about 7000rpm threw the gears then say to them 'goes well doesn't it?'
Then hit them with a WOT run up to the rev limiter 
Not updated this in a good while, but have been busy with the car.
I've been focused mainly on mechanical aspects since ive had her, and really need to start addressing the cosmetic side of things.
Would like to replace the canvas boot cover, get new rear lights and powder coat the roll bar and wheels black.
Got some black cycle wings to go on, as its all a bit yellow for me atm.
Any suggestions welcome..
Lots of little jobs done, but these are the things i remember.
Oil and filter change.
New throttle pedal and stop. Original stop was on the floor, so i made a new one behind the pedal.
New bike battery with 180 CCA, to replace the car battery (10kg saving)
D1 spec quick release acquired from a helpful person on here..
Got some carbon stone protectors and carbon look cycle wings. To reduce the yellowness of the car.
New steering bearing fitted to remove play. I couldn't see a satisfactory way of fitting it inside the bulkhead, so its gone engine bay side.
(studs to be trimmed still..)
Exhaust silencer wrapped, to cover the bracket i had to cut off. And to stop passengers burning themselves.
Battery relocated to footwell, and footrest made up to hide it.
Finally got the speedo working! Got some M8 tab washers, and fitted to diff output.
Took a trip to AB Performance, to get get carbs jetted to 132 and balanced. Compression is even across all four cylinders, and it pulls SO much better
now.
Did a snowy/sleety trackday at Woodbridge - car ran faultlessly, but handled like a pig. Shall be looking at the geometry next.
Well many more jobs done over the past few weeks, but struggling to remember half of them.
Pleased with myself, as all dash/speedo/Gear Indicator etc are now working.
Sorted the rectifier issue - it was purely down to them being shite, basically.
I found a YBF 125 reccy in dads garage (twice the size of the Blade one?!) stuck this on and it works fine.
Before i burnt out the final Chiese reccy, i wanted to ensure it was as cool as possible. So fitted a fan/heatsink to the underside on an ally sheet,
however it still only lasted 5 mins.
No matter, the new reccy is now getting nicely cooled.
Sorted a dragging rear brake - screwed the piston in a quarter turn and all is well. No more black rear wheel.
Rear stone guards and front cycle wings Tigersealed on, which really improve the look in my opinion.
Yoko A032's fitted. and a new gear lever purchased. Not sure how im going to fit this though, as there seem to be a prop shaft in the way..
Really need to get he geometry looked at tho, as it really doesn't feel planted or predictable on road. Apparently MK are getting a flat floor
and corner weight facilities setup over the coming weeks, so will probably go there.
[Edited on 19/3/17 by Banana]
Looking good
Sorting the jobs out nicely
Cheers Kev.
I noticed on another thread you posted a pic of your gear lever in relation to the prop.
Ive just bought the same lever, but my prop is way higher than yours and no way the lever will fit as you have mounted it.
I wonder if my engine has been mounted higher or something.. Is yours a Blade?
No mines a R1.
I've converted mine to from a car engine to BEC so not a very good comparison really!
It's strange though how high your prop is,how is the centre bearing mounted?
Can't remember, will have a look tomorrow and post some pics.
Looking back towards diff
Looking foward under current gear lever
New Lever sitting on top of prop
[Edited on 20/3/17 by Banana]
Will it fit on the passenger side of the tunnel?
Nah, the prop is central, with barely an inch either side of it... Bit of a bugger.
Maybe it's a a large diameter prop.