PREPARING A FORD ZEPHYR Mk II FOR RACING
(Part 4 of a continuing series)
Well, where were we? At the end of Part 3 in January, I had
competed in the Regularity event at Amaroo Park (outside Sydney),
and burnt out the rear brakes by leaving the handbrake on slightly.
The new wheel cylinder, shoes etc only cost 2 RCU's (AUST)!
After that it was a bit quiet. Got to keep the peace on the home-front
regarding outlays of cash, also got to give the boat a bit of use. So
the Zephyr spent its life driving to the train station each day. After
a decent interval I suggested that the remaining bushes which hadn't been
replaced should be done. This included the rear shackle bushes, and made
a big difference! Prior to that, it would lurch suddenly on corners. I
thought that would have been fixed when the rear lever shocks were rebuilt.
(around 3 more RCU's).
After that, I got to thinking about the front Macpherson struts - a bit
soft. I got some seals from the UK (AUD 60 for 6 rubber rings!). Took
them to 'the man' who used to do these years ago. 'No good' he said, 'the
shafts are scored so I can't guarantee that they will seal. I could
get the shafts re-chromed at $160 each' :-O Ah-h-h no, how about new inserts?
To cut a long story short, eventually new Rover inserts were fitted and
a lot of lean taken out of cornering (4.5 RCU's).
Then on to getting a bit more power, so I had the old Sonic extractors
which had been given to me for free, fitted to a new 2" straight-thru
system - sounds great, nice and throaty. Another 3 RCU's.
They didn't make as much difference to the power as I expected; have
any of you seen the infamous 'hockey stick' exhaust manifold? Its
a steel tube with square holes for the ports bolted straight onto the
head (curved). It comes forward about a foot then curves around and
down. Makes a BMC A-series cast-iron exhaust look hi-tech!
Now onto the carbies ... I had a manifold to take two of the original
(ughh) Zeniths. Then the proposed regs for Group Na were changed to
allow SU's, so I thought, thats it. With contacts in the HSRCA, I set
out to get some fitted.
First, a manifold was required. One old-timer made one up for me
(after a false start). Then another member who used to own a speed
shop and who scowers the Swap meets contracted to get the SU's, fittings,
linkages etc. Manifold 2 RCU's, carbies, needles, floatbowls 3 RCU's.
After fitting them (great fun - moving the starter solenoid, voltage
regulator etc etc), had them "tuned" and synchronised, another 2.5 RCU's.
The surge of power was great to experience, even though I still wasnt
getting 100% throttle. The "tuner" had left my bodged setup in place -
I thought he would have worked out the lengths of arms etc ...
Oh, a side effect of the new manifold was that there was no vacuum
takeoff for the wipers, so I was forced into finally doing something
about that. Another saga, long hours spent upside down under the dash,
cutting, drilling, buying more bits and pieces. Finally got it to
work, motor off who-knows what, wiper wheel-boxes and posts turned out
to have come from a Rover 3 litre.
Total RCU's for this episode now around 20! ie AUD2000 or USD2,800.
All this was aimed at getting out to the Historic Meeting at Eastern Creek.
Of this, more in the next installment.
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