[lincolndanny]

Over the last few weeks I've slowly got a spare rear suspension beam ready to go on.

On the 106 & Saxo they suffer from the rear bearings collapsing in the rear trailing arms. The bearings are easy enough to replace but sadly 99% of the time, the worn bearings mark the bearing surface of the beam(commonly reffered to as "pins") and render the beam scrap. its very hard to find good original beams now, but fortunately over the years, I've managed to put 3 or 4 away for rainy days in the roof of my garage

2021-12-10_12-43-32 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

So I dragged one down from the loft and basked in its manky looking glory. (the important "pins" had been lathered in grease and covered with doggy doo bags to protect them!)

2021-12-10_12-42-45 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

After alot of effort with scrapers, wire brushes, wire wheels on grinders, belt sander , Bilt Hamber Deox Gel etc, I had a completely bare metal beam!

I then coated then end brackets in grey POR-15 and the centre tube in a few coats of Bilt Hamber Electrox.

2021-12-10_12-48-06 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

Once the two primers had a full week to fully cure, I then painted the centre tube in Ford Signal Yellow. The beams themselves were the same on all Saxo's and 106's, but disc brake equipped models had the centre tube painted yellow, with the drum braked models being black.

2021-12-10_12-51-06 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

Finally, the end brackets were given a few coats of Frosts Extreme Chassis black and the pins had the storage grease cleaned off. Im now ready to start building up the rear end to VTS spec

2021-12-10_12-51-34 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

 

[Darlofan]

Good to see more updates and your meticulous work as always. Personally think you should be youtubing it all now. You could rival Binky with the work you do. :thumb:

 

[lincolndanny]

Next update, interior! This is one of the areas where frustratingly, I've lost quite a few of the earlier photos. :wall:

The standard X interior is very spartan being the base model...

2021-12-11_09-39-16 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

Items missing on an X model, that the VTS model enjoyed as standard:

Rev counter, Temperature Gauge, Oil Temperature and oil Level
Passenger airbag and Dash top glove box
Leather gearknob, Leather lever gaitor and different centre console
Front fog light switch and alarm siren switch
A-pillar covers with built in alarm ultrasonic sensors
Cirrus velour covered front sports seats
60/40 splitting rear seat, rear headrests
Cirrus Velour covered front and rear door cards
Electric mirror switches and internal mirror covers
Roof grab handles all round
map reading light
rear speakers
Carpeted boot area with extra sound deadening
Electric windows
central locking

this list goes on and on..

What makes it harder to carry out the conversion, is that the specific parts for the VTS model are exceedingly rare as the cars are now anywhere from 23-26 years old!

For example, the dashboard with the passenger airbag and cubby box on the top...

Dash by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

Dash 2 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

....is uber rare, as only the mk1 VTS was fitted with one as standard. The trouble then though, is that other parts are unique for the fitment of said uber rare part, such as different heater trunking to clear the airbag, cubby box! :wall::wall::wall:

2021-12-11_09-40-28 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

So after a lot of effort converting the whole wiring loom to VTS specification(by using whole wires and clips from a donor loom so that everything looks completely oem) and alot of parts chasing to add to the parts I had in storage, the interior is now complete VTS specification.

Before...

2021-12-11_09-39-16 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

After(yes, needs a final deep clean once the car is finished)

2021-12-11_09-38-40 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

Dash clocks are the correct very early VTS items in grey (Mileage set to 000000 )

2021-12-11_09-39-09 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

In the rear ,seats are now the correct Cirrus material,converted to the 60/40 split with all the correct brackets and headrests. Correct Cirrus rear door cards as well.

2021-12-11_09-39-01 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

NOS genuine VTS gearknob, with the correct centre console and a replica no smoking decal as fitted to the original VTS press launch cars

2021-12-11_09-38-52 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

and the cherry on the top, I managed to find another set of Genuine rubber mats to clean up and fit :thumb:

2021-12-11_10-06-53 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

 

[mgpdoc]

This looks so nice. Very happy you are updating this thread.

Cheers

 

[Andyblue]

Cracking updates there and lovely attention to detail :thumb:

 

[lincolndanny]

Thank you for the positive feedback and comments all :thumb:

Managed to finish off the next part of the rear suspension over the weekend. The rear radius arms are being changed over to the VTS Disc and ABS equipped items as the car originally had rear drums. Sadly no shots due to phone melt down, but they were cleaned up with the usual combination of tools before before left for a week in a bucket of Deox C to get them back to completely bare steel. Couple of coats of the usual Electrox and Frosts Chassis black later and we have items ready to go back on the car

2021-12-13_09-13-29 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

2021-12-13_09-13-55 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

Fortunately, among my spares stash I had managed to locate a full set of Genuine bearings and seals..

2021-12-13_08-50-56 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

All fitted :thumb:

2021-12-13_08-51-28 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

All progress isnt it :tumbleweed:

 

[James_G]

Pleased to see you back on this Danny and great work as always :thumb:

 

[DC240S]

Great work!

Nice to see someone else not opting to blast and powdercoat suspension components and using same products a myself:thumb:

 

[WaxIsForWinners]

Super work! Great to see the older parts getting a refurb.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

 

[lincolndanny]

Thanks all :thumb:

Great work!

Nice to see someone else not opting to blast and powdercoat suspension components and using same products a myself:thumb:

I find it very hard to find a Powdercoaters who are interested in doing a good job for automotive products rather than the usual bang it on thick for industrial purposes. This particular car isn't a genuine VTS, so I'm trying to not be too anal with it, but I still want it to last if it gets caught out in the rain for example. I want to get some mileage in with this one when it's done

 

[lincolndanny]

Nice chunk of progress in the right direction over the weekend..

Things started off positive on the Friday, with a message from a friend who had spotted a set of the original 14" wheels close by. I don't have enough of these wheels(I require 24 in total :tumbleweed

2021-12-20_10-49-51 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

Can't really complain at that price so arranged to go and collect them that evening. Turned out to be the foggiest night ever and in the middle of no where

2021-12-20_11-12-57 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

A nice surprise the following morning was that I had fluked it by obtaining a set of the rarer mk1 wheels. The mk1 versions had flat bolt recess rather than tapered, so a nice little detail to keep my inner geek happy.

2021-12-20_11-21-40 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

After a good clean, i'm over the moon with them. No damage from kerbing, so they are the perfect set to have refurbished. I just need to find a company locally now who will actually do a decent job!

2021-12-20_11-15-44 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

2021-12-20_11-19-21 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

Moving on to the rear suspension, the old rear beam was removed. You can now see how the bearings eat into the "pins" and render them fit for the bin.

2021-12-20_11-33-08 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

2021-12-20_11-33-18 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

Refreshed beam bolted up with the original bolts for now(more on those in a mo)

2021-12-20_11-36-24 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

Then on with the greased up radius arms. I've used the original 1.1 17mm Torsion bars for now, as I dont have any spare 19mm VTS items. Easy enough to swap out once I obtain some, so I simply cleaned the 17mm bars rather than painted them.

2021-12-20_11-36-49 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

New ABS spec rear hubs were then fitted up with the correct washers and spacers. Just need to stake the nuts once they have been torqued up.

2021-12-20_11-37-27 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

2021-12-20_11-38-00 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

I've ordered quite a few bits from the dealer today,(brake disc screws, hub nut covers etc) so should be able to get the whole rear end built up over the Chrismas break.

Beam bolts by the way, managed to find a full spare set in my spares stash, so they are currently going through the strip and bath in Deox-c process before a bit of paint. :thumb:

2021-12-20_11-47-33 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

2021-12-20_11-47-46 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

2021-12-20_11-47-56 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

2021-12-20_11-48-10 by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

 

[sbrocks]

Mega updates and so very pleased to see this thread reincarnated.......one of the members on here whom, if I see a new post from, I immediately pounce on the thread knowing it will contain great content! Best of luck with the "X" and wishing you every success for 2022 buddy

 

[a1topdog]

Hi Danny, did you ever finish this car?

 

[lincolndanny]

Really odd that you should ask that actually, as this week all of the parts turned up for the front suspension.

296111336_822390145414826_3416841632730037528_n by Danny Whitworth, on Flickr

Engine etc is all in and nearly ready to start. I just need to get the front struts built up, so that I can fit the driveshafts, which then allows me to fill the gearbox oil, which then alows me to try and get it started...

Ill try and bring this thread up to date soon.

 

[Andyblue]

Ooooh, got to love new bits 👍