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Re: Equipe Arden.

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 3:36 pm
by Etienne B.
Paul,
what a fantastic thread ! You lucky man !
I was wondering - foulish questions maybe :
what is this rear toe-in/camber design I can see on one of your pictures ?
also was the central tunnel altered or just distorted - or both ? Looks strange in the picture.
I definitely love this car !

Re: Equipe Arden.

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 5:57 pm
by decarcer
Etienne B. wrote:Paul,
what is this rear toe-in/camber design I can see on one of your pictures ?
Hi there

I am as curious as Etienne about this toe-in/camber design. Indeed, I've spent two days googling and searching rod-ends companies to see if it is possible to get this kind of rod ends with double threads. Unfortunately, I did not manage to find anything similar to this. It is a very smart system for toe-in/camber set up, and looks much more robust than the actual brackets sold by MiniSpares or MiniSport.

Nice pics by the way!!!!

Re: Equipe Arden.

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 9:28 pm
by newtune
It maybe that the one on the side is just a nut welded on the side, my car has a similar setup ?

James

Re: Equipe Arden.

Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 11:22 am
by decarcer
newtune wrote:It maybe that the one on the side is just a nut welded on the side, my car has a similar setup ?

James
James... would you be so kind posting pictures of yur set up?
I am afraid that welding a rod-end is not a good idea. I guess that a huge heat increase, due to welding, would probably destroy the rod-end.
I am right now in the process of restoring a rear subframe for ralling and would like to set up this system...

Re: Equipe Arden.

Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 11:28 am
by guru_1071
it may not be a threaded rose joint?

it looks more like a bit of tube with two threads welded to it - then you could press a threadless rose joint (what ever they are called?) into the tube after the welding was done? and hold it in place with a cap screw maybe?

thats the way i would do it

Re: Equipe Arden.

Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 1:33 pm
by decarcer
guru_1071 wrote:it may not be a threaded rose joint?

it looks more like a bit of tube with two threads welded to it - then you could press a threadless rose joint (what ever they are called?) into the tube after the welding was done? and hold it in place with a cap screw maybe?

thats the way i would do it
I've gone through all the photobucket album of this car (plenty of pics!!!) and there are detailed photos of the restored rear subframe.

What I see in the pic is a rod-end, (or a rose joint... don't know the exact english word!!! :oops: ) with two threads in 90º angle. Then a 90º metal plate welded to the rear bracket where the rod-end is bolted.

Guru... the way you would do it seem fine as well... BUt welds shourl de perfect in order to make the rogh aligment, and suffer the tension!!!

Re: Equipe Arden.

Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 3:01 pm
by GraemeC
After staring at it for a while I am sure I can see two rod ends, one behind the other, with the camber adjusting one at the inboard side.

Re: Equipe Arden.

Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 3:09 pm
by guru_1071
GraemeC wrote:After staring at it for a while

you will go blind graeme :?

Re: Equipe Arden.

Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 3:19 pm
by decarcer
GraemeC wrote:After staring at it for a while I am sure I can see two rod ends, one behind the other, with the camber adjusting one at the inboard side.
Hi Graeme...

To me looks a doble threaded rod end... and no sings if any welding... still wondering where to find such rod-end!!! :roll:

Re: Equipe Arden.

Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 10:41 pm
by Austin Costin
Yes Guru is spot on, it is a bit of pipe welded to a washer and a couple of 5/16 bolts brazed to it, all the suspension mods were made in house at Arden and made so well that they survived the test of time and are still working as well as the day they were put on.
Incedently, I had much help with the detail on this car by Norman Seeney who was co owner of the car with Jim Whithouse,
I sent Norman many pictures of the car and suspension parts so I could authenticate parts, amazingly all the suspension bar the hydro stuff (it had been converted to dry) was all origional.

Re: Equipe Arden.

Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 11:00 pm
by Austin Costin
Etienne, yes the floor had been modified at the front of the tunnel, it had been cut out and a crude bit of ali had been bashed around and riveted into place, I would presume for the exhaust manifold, this was not a Arden mod but a later mod whilst in the hands of Barry Phillips who was also responsable for all the rest of the light weight hole drilling. I believe the work was carried out by Reg Cook ?

Re: Equipe Arden.

Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 11:22 pm
by Austin Costin
A few more pics of the car when we recieved it.

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Re: Equipe Arden.

Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 3:50 am
by Austin Costin
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This was the dry fit of the rear sub frame, it was a right pain making it all fit well with the solid mounts. I would imagine that it would be ALOT worse if you were to do it with a fully built up frame the right way round.

Re: Equipe Arden.

Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 3:54 am
by Austin Costin
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the engine was sent down from Aukland for a dry fit as the inlet manifold had long since dissapeared, it was set up in car to establish the correct positioning of the throttle bodies.

Re: Equipe Arden.

Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 4:04 am
by Austin Costin
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Plenty of room under the bonnet.

Re: Equipe Arden.

Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 7:36 am
by austinisuseless
S'pose someone has to shove some random photos in, sometime,

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Re: Equipe Arden.

Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 7:48 am
by Austin Costin
With a name like yours I would'nt expect anything less :lol: Nice pics though.

Re: Equipe Arden.

Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 10:23 pm
by sandman
Any chance of some close-up shots of the suspension mods both front and rear??

I am also curious about the upper arms and how the damper was fitted.... looks like it had an extra pin???

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Re: Equipe Arden.

Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:55 am
by Austin Costin
Here is the front suspension broken down.

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Re: Equipe Arden.

Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 7:05 am
by Austin Costin
To be honest I have no idea why or when the extra shock tube was added, Norman did,nt comment on it either, if anyone has a good reason i would be interested to hear.

Here are a couple more pics of the fit up.

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