Hey up.

well it that time, 20th may SVA day!!
can any one give me any pointers that MK escort based kits may fail on??

so far im aware of the lack of self centering steering, so from other threads i gather that you give maximum toe in and run front tyres at approx. 16psi?? am i right??

Also i have the older style MK nose cone which leaves the front of the chassis exposed beyont the nose cone. Spoke to MAC1 in sheffield (Dam helpfully guys, cheers!) and they say that the projection is a fail but the inspectors usually let it through?? what have other people done.. or have you just left it???

if there are any other usual fails for the MK escort base kit i would be realy greatfull for some pointers.

thanks for your time

bob

Bob I am in the same position as you but mines on the 7th of may
I covered the bits that stick out of the nosecone with 3mm stickyback foam and hope i get away with it.
I also went into the sva centre to meet the blokes who were going to test the car and chatted about some of the grey areas they were very helpful and were interested in looking up this site.
One area i am having trouble with is the stowage of seat belts got to have some velcro or something to hold the 4 point harness out the way when getting in and out!
also they pointed out that some new wheels may not pass due to fairly sharp edges!!
anyway i,ll let you know how i get on.
heres hoping we pass!.

I thought it was toe out for self centreing

[Edited on 29/4/04 by barrie sharp]

Barrie

hum... im not too sure about the toe in / out for self centering... have read that you take it out as far as you dare... i take that in 2 ways, either toe out as far as you dare or take the track rods out as far as you dare resulting in max. toe in??? confused!! can any one (hellfire!!) set us straight!!???

The foam was one of my thourghts... can you let me know how it goes!!

The wheels im ok with, they are all curvey!!!

stowage of harnesses?? will it fail on the harnesses not been pulled out of the way!!? ive not heard of the reason before... if so that is a stupid fail reason! ok they are a little fiddley to get on but its not rocket science!! so long as they can be operated single handed, stay on you shoulders and have the E mark then i would have thourght that all would be fine... dam SVA!!

but yeah good luck with the SVA!! think im taking a bag of trim, tools and large pack of wire wool to stuff in the exhaust
for the noise test to reduce the dB!!!

Oh by the way, MAC1 said that the top suspension mount ont he front will fail because ther is a sharp edge which that sphere can contact, ive not looked at mine as its away for tuneing but may be worth a look.....

bob

Where have you guys been?
I was beginning to think i was the only mk chassis escort builder still here! lol
I have the same probs as you regarding chassis protruding out of nose cone! mines all nicey rounded, so didn't think it was a problem, but it obviously is! although i cant see why! I will be away on hols when yours goes through Barrie but good luck and post all the details!
Its quite early for me at the moment, so I am unsure what you mean by 'toe-in/out' being a possible fail, why should that be? I have done my goemetry/camber settings, and haven't noticed anything peculiar. Can you please enlighten me? I want to send for my sva when i get back which will be towards the middle of May, so any tips before Sunday will be most appreciated guys.
Again, great to read your posts,
ATB fozzie

Hey up Fozzie!

yep us escort builders are a dieing breed!!

well i cant speak for you but it must be summat to do with the very long build times... im at 2yr 9mts now and still counding, that must be a record build time......??

the escort base doesnt have sufficcent caster to result in self centering so you have to adjust the toe for the SVA and the reset it after to prevent your tyres been scrubbed to notthing!! but as you may have guessed im unsure if it toe in or out!!??

I believe that the indy (serria hubs) have adjustable caster so they dont have this issue.

will be more than happy to pass on my fail notes to you!! well im hopeing there wont be any!! gonna go OTT with the edge trim etc...!!

well if there is anything else i can help with just yell!!

bob

Cheers for that Bob

MK delivered my chassis in November 2002, they said it was the last one they were making! So my build hasn't been too long really, as I made all me panels too! I did build it once made all me holes and things, then stripped it to paint it, and now its all back together again!

That is really interesting about the self centering, it is not sommat I had even considered, so ta very much, I shall be on to it this weekend!

Hopefully, you will pass first time, so there won't be any fail notes!
As you say we are a dying breed! LOL

When I do go for sva, I am going with the attitude that yep it will fail, but hope its not on anything too drastic, and at least I will have just those points to put right for the retest! lol

ATB fozzie

Bob the grey area on belt stowage is

From sva book section 5

"check each lapbelt,passive belt,or three point belt has provision for the safe and convenient storage of the belt when not in use.
Note:An independent belt storage facility is only necessary where it is needed to ensure the belt is always accessible for use"

at my sva centre there were two guys with two different ways of looking at it .
my belts wedge into the side between the tunnel and seat and the side of the car and the seat one said its not independant and might slip down the other said its ok.?????????????
wonder who,ll i will get

Take a look at the top wishbones if MK they are aparently asymmetric -- they can be flip over to give 2 different castor settings.

The over way to self centreing is negative camber to give a higher kpi (king pin inclination)

Wow, top tips!

Ta for that 'Trident!

Bob, I fly back the day before your sva!

ATB fozzie

yeah saw that at detling, is it true? if so, it would save a lot of hair pulling! lol

has anyone tried it?

ATB fozzie

Hum... i had noticed that the MK top wish bones are asyentrical but in my mind if you flip them over the bolt holes will not line up (not that ive tried this!) because for arguments sake one of the arms is say 20mm longer than the other because the chassis tapers to the front making the front arm longer to reach the chassis, so if you turn them round wont this mean that for the now shorter arm to the front the wishbone will have to rotate to allow it to reach the bolt hole thus making it near impossiable to get the bolts through...

or am i just spouting loads of S**t!!?? well that how it works in my head, but saying that my mates do wonder what is goining on in my head some times!!!

Cheers fozzie for the well wish, will keep you posted, if you need anything yust yell!!

bob

Barrie

my mate suggested curtain tie backs for the harness belts!! in thinking that the frilly bits may get in you eyes when driveing!! will not fastening that buckle and tighting the straps fully so that it cant move be ok??? velcrow isnt goining to hold them that secure, not at speed

still thinkning for a good soloution.....

bob

p.s. just called MK, yep it is toe out for self centre!! will experiment at the weekend!!

[Edited on 30/4/04 by Bob da builder]

just spoke to MK and he said that the SVA inspectors dont seam to like foam on the front chassis protrusion past the nose cone and you need to use hard plastic with the radius.. yet another job for the sva!!


bob

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bob da builder
Hum... i had noticed that the MK top wish bones are asyentrical but in my mind if you flip them over the bolt holes will not line up (not that ive tried this!) because for arguments sake one of the arms is say 20mm longer than the other because the chassis tapers to the front making the front arm longer to reach the chassis, so if you turn them round wont this mean that for the now shorter arm to the front the wishbone will have to rotate to allow it to reach the bolt hole thus making it near impossiable to get the bolts through...

or am i just spouting loads of S**t!!??

---

cheers,

wishbones are the least of my troubles.... went to the rolling road and MOT yesterday to be told that i need an over bore and new head....and 14days till my SVA!!! ARGH, as if i didnt have enough to do prior to the test!!! well i cant afford the overbore etc so looking for a new engine....!! its supprising how quick (1hour) you can get an engine out when you need to!!!! gona take this `opportunity` to make the engine bay shine to hopefully blind the inspector so he cant see any of the fail points!!!!

On the up side i found out to day from the DVLA inspoector (chassis inspection) that for a kit build you do not need a MOT to redgister the car, just the SVA is OK.. but you will need a MOT to re tax the car in 6 / 12 mths time. But as ive found the MOT can highlight a few SVA fail points like emmissions!!!

any way back to the tools and alu polish

a stressed bob!!