PollyMobiles Rebuild

[h701micra]

Can't wait to see if this improves how my brakes feel. These few days r ticking by but so much to do.

I may also need to book another Blyton session on 11th to get as much track time I can before m8s weddin in may n Germany trip in July.

Feel free to contact me via any means. We'll meet up before Blyton to fit brace n fix Celica n long chat

It should make a huge difference to your braking Paul
As long as the C3 cylinder is sufficient

I think the 11th was good for Colin too, so you wouldn't be alone
Celica in for its mot today

 

[pollyp]

The c3 volume looked a lot more than the tiny k11 so fingers x it'll shorten n firm up the travel.

Nice, good to hear Colins going.
Would be gr8 to have a micra gathering too.

Hope Celica passes, even without a fixed compartment lid

 

[Low Rider]

Apparently the C3 MS' are 20.6mm bore.

 

[pollyp]

Apparently the C3 MS' are 20.6mm bore.

I'll have to measure the k11 n compare what the cross section increase is

 

[pollyp]

ordered 5m of fuel line n heatshrink on ebay other day n got it fast

whilst planning the brake line route, decided to remove the rear washer pipe since I never use the rear window or the washer/wipers now.
for those interested the plumbing goes from the washer tank, have to plug the port too.

along the wing

through the bulkhead into the drivers footwell

across the floor

up the C-pillar

into the boot lid via rubber hose

and into the washer jet

drilling hole in the rear seat well for the brake line

so taking another whole day of planning & routing,
the RH line goes alongside the tunnel

over and behind the seat crossmember

along the top of sills with the loom

through the rear seat well

between the fuel tank & trailing arm mount

and to the brake hose via s-bend

the LH line goes alongside the tunnel

over and behind the seat crossmember behind the battery

along the sill

through the rear seat well

along the trailing arm mount

gonna use this previous brake line clip hole for bolting the rubber mount to it, saves me from drilling close to the fuel filler in the way

then takes this spiral twist into the brake hose due to the massive fuel filler bend getting in the way

will be interesting to make this tomorrow, hope I have enough copper lines

 

[Low Rider]

I'll have to measure the k11 n compare what the cross section increase is

OEM is 19.05mm

 

[pollyp]

guess the Alu body required a thicker wall.
that's approx a 8.13% cross section increase and by my rough calc the C3 M/C will travel 85.52% of the K11 to push the same volume of fluid, which may be enough to prevent the pedal bottoming out n don't need to double pump anymore

 

[h701micra]

The c3 volume looked a lot more than the tiny k11 so fingers x it'll shorten n firm up the travel.

Nice, good to hear Colins going.
Would be gr8 to have a micra gathering too.

Hope Celica passes, even without a fixed compartment lid

Perfect pass, no advisories

 

[Huggy444]

Perfect pass, no advisories

Time to race!!

 

[pollyp]

a relief.
wish mine was like that

 

[pollyp]

Andy I've just caught myself in a dangerous case of staring at the page of Haynes showing the underside view of the k11 for few hrs as my brains imagining all sorts ideas for stiffening the structure, etc till it hurts head. Should be in bed at the mo, gawd help me lol.

 

[h701micra]

I've made good progress on that already. I've a parts list to begin crafting another prototype with some ready available parts

 

[h701micra]

Time to race!!

No racing allowed on track days
Plus give it chance its been stood for a year

 

[pollyp]

barely have enough pipe so one side will be silver chromo nickel colour while the other will be orange copper.
formed the LH line

twas a PITA trying to feed it through the tight confines of the rear susp & fuel filler

rather than remove & wrap tape round the lines, lets use an easier task of heatshrinking it

stuff works a treat

reprinted a new engine bay clip

which no longer cracks apart from the screw mount

ordered a reel of 12v white LED strip from ebay china,ebay #171344180684

applied 12v and weee it's so bright. perfect for the foot well camera lighting and any other dark camera spots, may fit some by the front susp to lit up my susp cam scenes better

 

[l_jonez]

Glad you liked the heat shrink

 

[SuperUno]

Looking good Paul

That LED strip is great and very bright, I have it as a 'marshal' light following the roll cage on the navs side and works a treat.

 

[pollyp]

all the lines r now secured n flared

rear lines covered, secured & flared

loom cover fitted

b-pillar sorted

trimmed n fitted the gearstick covers

now removing & overhaul the calipers

re-oiled the handbrake & clutch cables

front pads gettin thin, best replace & bed the new ones in cos these won't last at blyton park

 

[pollyp]

didn't like the look of the old rear discs with pitted rust on bit of the outer rim so ebayed a new pair of lucas discs

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281526238168

and purchased another 5L of morris LSD oil for £70, gee this cars ££ to run

 

[pollyp]

assessing the rear calipers

RH piston quite pitted

LH piston also slightly pitted. think they'll both need replacing

modified an old nipple to clean up the bleed threads

the new nipples are way too long for the rear calipers, still seals but the amount of exposed threads to corrode is a concern

they fit the pulsar fronts fine

overhauling the rear caliper carrier, the guide pin seemed to hydrolock so I drilled a breathing pinhole at the end to release any trapped air

cleaned

the other carrier had a really rusty pin

cleaned rust out the bore with a trimmed wirewheel

rear brakes connected

new front pads

front brakes on

roughly bled the system. think buying 3L was abit overkill cos I only needed bout 700ml but least I have enough for next few flushes.
looked inside n noticed hmm wet spot, ah bumma somethings leaking

ah twas just a loose union under the bias adjuster, tightened no probs.

I know the system ain't fully bled but I'm concerned that even with the pedal at it's highest resting position, there's alot of travel till it firms up just below the throttle pedal. I'm hoping it's just air, otherwise we're in trouble.

good thing I noticed bout the rear brakes after removing the rear compensator is that they no longer stick/drag on, they're fully releasing off the discs. have yet to fit and test the handbrake n see if that mechanisms releasing fully.

finish securing the brake hoses n handbrake cable tomorrow before doing the fuel lines

 

[pollyp]

bit of a debate on what to purchase.

for £66 I can replace the pistons, correct bleed nipples and refresh all the rubber seals but the bolts r still rusty and the handbrake lever shaft is still pitted.

or for twice the price can replace both entire calipers with fresh new ones.

logically I should prob just rebuild both calipers for £66 since they still work fine

...ok just ordered a rebuild kit

 

[pollyp]

connected the handbrake, re-bled the brakes and the pedal's still stopping at the same point with the throttle pedal, engine vacuum will lower it further :/
just hope it'll be ok on the test runs soon.
pulled handbrake few times and wheels no longer binding.

made a second clip for the front hose

this notch was upside down so grinded it off

and now clipped in place

plugged off the rear washer

now removing these old stuck fuel hoses in a tight space was another annoying pita

eventually got it off, fuel running downmy sleeves, Oww it stings my poor hands, house stinks

removed swaybar to drop the fuel rail down but this bit was tricky

cos the steering was in the way, just needed some brute force to yank it out. fitting it back will be interesting

removed rusty old fuel rail

good thing I'm replacing it cos who knows how long this rusty section was gonna last before it fails

unclipped

testing the flare tool on the ends, at the right is fully flared which is too wide and sharp for the hose

here I only compress the tool partially and that closely matches the original

I seem to be making less progress recently, hope I finish it in next few days.

 

[pollyp]

new rear discs this morning

rear caliper rebuild kit, pistons r empty so would have to swap bits from the old pistons

more LSD oil for the next few trackdays

just look at the fuel restriction from when some garage previously jacked up accidentally from the wrong point and kinked my lines

flippin gawd I hate making copper lines at this moment. had to scrape the old gunk off the lines n wipe clean with carb cleaner and then the difficult tedious task of using the bulky tool to form each bend at exactly the right point and angle while the tube kept flopping all over the place. was so hard but its done

pipes formed, reusing the breather line

flared the ends

oh gawd the 2nd annoying task of the day is heat shrinking it.

the pipe is 8mm and the heatshrink I brought was 9.5mm so imagine the huge amount of difficulty I had in trying to slip it on through all the tight bends
I had to wriggle sections of the sleeve through the entire 2.5m mm by mm like a worm till my fingers loose skin, its like trying to fit some super skinny leather trousers on wet legs.

finally covered and fine tuned to closely match the original lines

 

[Huggy444]

Getting sorted for the 9th then, looking good
Got a few things I need to sort out too... I'd best get started actually!

 

[h701micra]

You have a week gents

If it's makes you feel better... I'm sorted

 

[pollyp]

I better get a move on. last few days been painfully slow

 

[pollyp]

fitting the fuel lines was such a faff. had to feed one by one through the steering rack gap, hook up the rear to the tank, hook the front connections, clip them in place with gr8 difficulty, but this front clip near the tight confines of the rack was an absolute pain. u can guess I pretty much really hate doing hydraulic lines by now

may as well service the rear brakes now rather than later. disc was abit rusted to the hub n needed afew whacks

disassemble the calipers

I thought the bleed screw ebay listing was for single nipple so ordered 2, instead it was actually for a pair so I got 4 nipples. meh

so in the seal rebuilt kit I get new handbrake lever shaft seal

handbrake actuaction shaft o-ring

piston seals

& 1way seal for the plunger inside the piston

time for tea

 

[pollyp]

wirebrushed rust off the dust boot lip edges

odd that the newer LH caliper has a nylon bush sleeve

while the older one has an Alu sleeve

fitted the handbrake lever & shaft

making sure this rectangular slot on the washer & shaft lines up with the dimple hole in the bore

inserted the c-clip. to push it all the way down to the groove slot squarely I use an old hollow piston

push down till it clicks in place, double check it's secure all round by tapping it down with a rod

new piston seal

new pistons marked 3018

all assembled

connected. finish it off tomorrow

 

[pollyp]

the old rusty rear disc has worn the upper & lower edge of the pads. I sand flat the pads to ensure a flat full face for the new discs

fit new discs

clean the rust off the exposed driveshaft before capping it

grinded this petruding block off the fuel reg and bent the return pipe down slightly to clear the MC

what a silly lazy design nissan. these plastic fuel rail spacers are so annoying when they easily keep getting knocked off n fall down the engine n not to the floor, have to use another spare one.

reg now clears the MC

assembling the bay

this ABS loom needs deleting

this messy loom will need re-doing in future but gonna tie it to one side for now

battery now at 12.45v so just enough to start.
refill coolant, primed oil n fuel, checking for leaks, hmm smell abit of fuel. looking under see some fuel drip, ah it's the return line that's loose. retighten em up, no leaks.
start and it fires up initially running 3cyl and then clears up. keep running to bleed coolant & charge the battery.

test the brakes with vacuum. hmm even with the pedal adjusted at it's highest rest point, it stops just below the throttle, so either there's still bubbles in the lines, the normal rubber hoses are too spongy than the previous braided ones or this C3 MC actually has a smaller bore than the K11

it's too early to tell without further testing but from what I see,
although there's a longer initial travel from rest to fully firm at 1/2 way, the C3 has more total travel till the pedal hits the floor compared to the shorter K11.
when it stops it feels very firm n solid with little movement between medium & hard pressure vs the spongier 5-10mm movement of the K11.

I'll find out once she's ready for test drive tomorrow.

 

[ba_dm_tsh]

Hi Paul,

I've been following this thread for years and have just signed up so I could post...

Firstly - what you have achieved since you started this saga has been epic! Congratulations!

Secondly - I'm just wondering if you brake pedal issue has something to do with the 'new found' return position on the rear calipers. If they are returning too far you will be wasting pedal effort to bring them back in contact with the discs a bit like a badly adjusted drum brake.

 

[pollyp]

noticed the front calipers leaking slightly, same as what skinner had recently.
notice the tip distance on the new screw is shorter than the original one

so on the pillar drill

grinded 2 threads off till it matches the old one

now its sealed.
bay assembled

glued the windscreen trim down

fit the seats back

this line abit close to the seat but eaily nudged away

wheels on, testing the handbrake and the rear brakes no longer bind anymore. ready for test drive.

driving out the garage, the pedal has a huge empty light gap between resting & getting firm just below the throttle, it's very concerning when I was driving around.



at 12:00 tried adjusting the bias forward to shut off the rears and see if only sending pressure to the fronts will shorten the initial gap, nope still bites just below 1/2 way.
tried quickly double pumping, no effect.

initially thought maybe this cylinder has a bigger travel between resting and when the master piston seal passes the reservoir port n begins building pressure, so maybe the pedal needs a rest point stopper to bring the pedals resting point closer to when the piston just about passes the reservoir?
and then move the throttle pedal lower to match the brake pedal bite point?

but then thought what if there's still air in the system judging by the massive empty gap to reach the bite point, which is abnormal.
then saw this informative ytube vid and yea it's very likely that I've still got trapped air in the MC cos I didn't bleed it when I fitted it.



so tomorrow I'll be bleeding the MC as mentioned @20:20 in the vid.

 

[pollyp]

made bleed hose ends with the spare primera unions, cut n flare some tube and stick clear hose on it

swapped the hoses. put a rag under the MC cos fluid will pour out below

noticed that with the pedal fully rested n exposing the reservoir port, I can blow on the tube n see the level move freely. I can use this to judge how low I can adjust the brake pedal resting point till just before the piston passes & closes the reservoir port.

measured the pedal range

so the full travel of the MC is 16.5cm and it took 3cm from the resting point till the piston closes the port n I couldn't blow through the tube.

used a ziptie to lower the pedal & prime the MC so that when I begin to move the pedal it immediately closes the reservoir & builds pressure

with the lower pedal, I need to adjust the switch but simply bending the bracket didn't work

so rather than trying to move the switch bracket, lets move the pedal end stop towards it. threaded the hole

and screwed a bolt to adjust the length

now lets plumb the hoses into the reservoir and begin bleeding the MC.
pumped the pedal few times till there's no bubbles.

replumbed it all back, properly bled the lines with help from dad and now oh yea, it's so much better.
initially touching the pedal I can feel it's pushing viscous oil rather than fluffy air.
and then it gets firm just above the throttle pedal, how I like it.

went to test how it feels and then began bedding the pads.



it felt good n firm.
before starting I was wondering what this clicking noise was when I was pushing the pedal firmly, turned out it was this ball check valve in the bias adjuster.

gradually warm the brakes with gentle 45-20mph and then moderate 60-30 till I can smell the brakes, was abit busy around 5pm.

@31:20 I began to push the hot brakes harder and began to oversteer with too much rear bias on a light rear end poking up high at low speed on the dirty tarmac so turned the dial to close off the rear bias n try again till it stops getting tail happy.

ended up having to turn the dial all the way off so it was a 100% front bias to stop the rear sliding
on circuit will obviously be different.

well that's the brakes done ready. next is finish the catch can

 

[pollyp]

blyton park booked for 9th & 11th april now

 

[h701micra]

That's a busy week for you

 

[pollyp]

That's a busy week for you

aye trackdays sandwiching my bday
just measured the k11 head bolt 4 u, drawing...

ah no need to cad draw it silly, just photo my drawing

 

[h701micra]

aye trackdays sandwiching my bday
just measured the k11 head bolt 4 u, drawing

Flipping heck

Ta Paul, you're a good man

 

[pollyp]

Flipping heck

Ta Paul, you're a good man

glad to help

 

[Huggy444]

Looking forwards to having a good rag together at Blyton

 

[h701micra]

It's soon coming up

 

[pollyp]

was thinking that rather than printing a custom sealing lid for the soup tin, why not find a screw top sealed can and attach the ports to that?
was looking all over supermarkets & bargain stores to try find a container the size n shape of a soup can, has a resealable lid, preferably transparent to view the liquid and a flat lid top surface to drill & bolt the ports onto.
the only ones I found suitable were a jar of coffee but the glass might shatter, and a plastic clear can of sweetener, got the 85p sweetener.

had a square flat top but I question the seal

card seal was too thin n leaking

so tried some spare gasket sheet but the flimsy plastic can leaked badly. certainly not using this nor consider the fragile glass jar so I'm gonna continue making the lid for the soup can..

looking at different lid sealing profiles. this one has an outer securing ring to hond the lid & seal on while I tighten the clamp but its too complicated to print accurately

the inner lip of the can was actually tapered so included that feature to make it fit

to prevent the plastic printed ports from snapping off, they'll be reinforced & screwed to the lid by a metal threaded tube.

initially tried tapping some 12dia x 1.25wall tube but the thin wall made it very weak

so instead lets cut a length of m12 bolt

and drill the hole through it

perfect

the ports are bolted to the lid and at the end of the outer port is a 90deg elbow to make the flow swirl/cyclone inside the can before exiting via the middle port.
printed & fitted the first elbow

but whilst tightening, the weak printed layers split so I'll have to stiffen the elbow part

testing if I could ziptie the lid on rather than clamping.
what I soon found was that trying to push the lid onto the can to squeeze the seal is rather inefficient.

instead, what if we seal the elastic band "along" the smooth bore of the can like an o-ring?
reprofiled the lid

made a test lip and it seals gr8

modelled the 90deg elbow into a hex nut so I can tighten it on the lid without cracking it

printed the final lid

test fit the ports and fit fine

sealed & tightened all the fittings with threadlock

assembled together

 

[pollyp]

now lets look at where & how to mount it.
was initially gonna mount it here on a flat side of the strut tower but there's only enough space for one can, the hoses at the top are too close to the bonnet so with either touch or kink.

this empty cooler space on the chassis rail after removing the ABS unit looks ideal

fit the cans like this

move the gearbox grounding lead elsewhere and perhaps use the same bolt holes

ziptied both cans on for now and test there's no vac leaks

the primary catchcan is plumbed into the front crankcase breather ports like this to capture most of the vapours

tailored the hose lengths to prevent kinking

the first mount was gonna be bolted to the side of the chassis rail with existing bolt holes BUT turned out my small printer couldn't print it

so I have to print the mounts seperately, then thought why not combine the lid clamp and chassis mount together.

clamped in place

fitted new hose clamps

and finally bolted onto the chassis. looks ace

well thats the brakes and catch cans done. pop down to Andys tomorrow to fit a lower brace and see how much vapour we catch this time around on the return trip.

 

[pollyp]

replaced the spark plugs

and finished off andys celica lid hinges

 

[h701micra]

My celica has been missing its lid

 

[pollyp]

popped down to andys. fitted the new lid to his celica.
while I was checking the catchcan, the thin mounting snapped so will have to reprint another beefier version.
then he made a lower brace for me, thx. I measured n fitted

 

[Huggy444]

popped down to andys. fitted the new lid to his celica.
while I was checking the catchcan, the thin mounting snapped so will have to reprint another beefier version.
then he made a lower brace for me, thx. I measured n fitted

View attachment 40931

You staying up there for the trackday tomorrow or coming back down?

 

[pollyp]

You staying up there for the trackday tomorrow or coming back down?

set off 5am to the track, return home on the night, check n service car on friday and go back to the track on sat then return back home

 

[Huggy444]

set off 5am to the track, return home on the night, check n service car on friday and go back to the track on sat then return back home

Blooming heck... That's a lot of driving!

I'm up at 6 so I'm not much better, see you tomorrow

 

[pollyp]

redesigned mount & printed

 

[pollyp]

Blooming heck... That's a lot of driving!

I'm up at 6 so I'm not much better, see you tomorrow

indeed back n forth afew times.
early morning with drowsy eyes eh

 

[h701micra]

popped down to andys. fitted the new lid to his celica.
while I was checking the catchcan, the thin mounting snapped so will have to reprint another beefier version.
then he made a lower brace for me, thx. I measured n fitted

View attachment 40931

Still needs tidying, finishing and painting. Another day

 

[pollyp]

just a brief update summary.

these last two trackdays has been the best bday fun eva and the car setup has been successfully dialed in to perform how I like it.
I'm back home now still in one piece, me n the car really really worn out.
there's a huge amount of video n data to collate n assess over the few days