Lowering block removal, and finding standard u bolts to replace long ones?

[PeteRS8084]

Hi all,

As you may know, if you have seen my other threads, I am looking to replace my standard 6x13 rs wheels with something larger, 7x13. I have had all your assistance in relation to possibly having my rear arches rolled, and that's not an option. So this morning I went to my garage to check whether she has been lowered - and yep she is sitting on 2 inch blocks and longer u bolts. So my idea is to remove the lowering blocks, does not seem like much of a job as she is already on axle stands with the wheels removed. I have looked for standard length u bolts but have only seen long one on flea bay, that will need cutting down! So anyone know where I can purchase standard length u bolts for my mk2 rs2000?

As always your assistance will be greatly received. Cheers Pete

[Ray]

if you find a good source let me know, ive been looking for std u bolts for a year, but to no avail

[PeteRS8084]

Oh that does not sound promising!

[Hotspur]

Google Old Ford Autos. Then give 'em a call on Monday. Really helpful guys.

[walsh253]

You have pm

[katana]

What's so wrong with using long and cutting down?.......That's what I did!

[meXEco]

Probably not enough thread.

[Vista]

Probably not enough thread.

Easily addressed with a die & wrench

[HotRodMatt]

You could try and find a local engineering supplies firm and see what they have in stock?

[PeteRS8084]

Many thanks for the response, I could check if there is enough thread to cut down, some of the flea bay ones say they can be cut down. Tap and die, no chance lol.

[Ray]

What's so wrong with using long and cutting down?.......That's what I did!

if you take a look at the car im restoring and to the standard i am doing it, (its a show car), you will see why that really i would prefer genuine ford new old stock

 

but if you need it explaining its as follows

 

you cut them down, you create bare metal that will rust, they are highly tensioned, so its not a good idea to replate without knowing the manufacturers spec for heat treatments, the cut down ones arent actually the correct shape around the curve, therefore dont actually sit correctly, they are also the incorrect thread and as a result you cant but the correct style nuts

[katana]

if you take a look at the car im restoring and to the standard i am doing it, (its a show car), you will see why that really i would prefer genuine ford new old stock

 

but if you need it explaining its as follows

 

you cut them down, you create bare metal that will rust, they are highly tensioned, so its not a good idea to replate without knowing the manufacturers spec for heat treatments, the cut down ones arent actually the correct shape around the curve, therefore dont actually sit correctly, they are also the incorrect thread and as a result you cant but the correct style nuts

 

Whilst your being precious and wanting every nut and bolt to be correct.........and keeping the car in the garage up on blocks - i'll be out driving! And for info they are 3/8 MS shackles that aren't HIGHLY tensioned else the bolt plates would bend - they clamp a plate to another plate with a locating pin between. Good luck finding the Holy Grail!

[Ray]

Whilst your being precious and wanting every nut and bolt to be correct.........and keeping the car in the garage up on blocks - i'll be out driving! And for info they are 3/8 MS shackles that aren't HIGHLY tensioned else the bolt plates would bend - they clamp a plate to another plate with a locating pin between. Good luck finding the Holy Grail!

 

firstly everyone to their own, you like driving the car, i like looking at a piece of history thats correct, yes a museum piece if you like, my personal belief is that modifying cars over a certain age should be illegal, and restorations over a cetain age should be to original spec, but thats personal opinion and preference, on the other hand, the more modifyers wreck a car, the rarer and more valuble an original car becomes

 

now, the cut down ones for lowering blocks i have that came with my car, and a set i bought on flea bay, are metric, they are meant to be UNC thread, im not saying they are all like it, but it seems that way as we live in a metric world now, and they are just bent round bar thats been threaded, they do not fit round the bump stops properly as they are round, if you look at a genuine ford one, they are flattened around the U, to fit the bump stop plate, the nuts used originally were off the shelf aircraft spec nuts that are still in production, as aircraft in the main ave not gone metric, regardless of tensile steel or not, the job they do, any plating work needs to be stress relieved properly, if you dont, then they will snap, they will have to have a degree of tensile strength, if too soft they will stretch, but yer agreed if too hard they will snap

 

the whole point of my original post was pointing out that genuine ones are rocking horse droppings

[PeteRS8084]

Blimey I was only looking for some standard u bolts! It does make me laugh how heavy some of these posts can get, mind if you want to see heavy you should go onto the rs owners club forums.................never seen so much bitching lol. Happy days, at least you get answers to queries on here, you just get some boring spotter telling you how wrong you are for doing anything different to your car on the rs site!

[Vista]

There's room on this forum for both points of view and types of enthusiast Ray, but you're unlikely to get any support from anyone on here for making car modification illegal.

 

As to wreck a car? Strong words! If improving its performance, handling, and braking is wrecking a car then I'm happy to be branded a car wrecker. In fact I have no desire to stick with the original compromised parts that Ford was forced to fit in order to make the cars affordable and hence marketable.

[Vista]

Blimey I was only looking for some standard u bolts! It does make me laugh how heavy some of these posts can get, mind if you want to see heavy you should go onto the rs owners club forums.................never seen so much bitching lol. Happy days, at least you get answers to queries on here, you just get some boring spotter telling you how wrong you are for doing anything different to your car on the rs site!

It's been a while since we all had our handbags out . Healthy debate is good though.

 

Agree with your last point, variety is the spice if life and each to their own

[Ray]

There's room on this forum for both points of view and types of enthusiast Ray, but you're unlikely to get any support from anyone on here for making car modification illegal.

 

As to wreck a car? Strong words! If improving its performance, handling, and braking is wrecking a car then I'm happy to be branded a car wrecker. In fact I have no desire to stick with the original compromised parts that Ford was forced to fit in order to make the cars affordable and hence marketable.

 

i wasnt meaning to get handbags out at dawn, its just my opinion,

 

personally, im more for keeping originality where possible, i see it as when a car gets to a certain age its a heritage car, however, if all you have left is basically a shell, then its not original and in my eyes cant be classed as a heritage car, or even an old car for that matter, you may have well bought a kit car

 

but thats my opinion, everyone to their own

 

im gonna sit back and let the fireworks fly now lol, as i know im in the minority

[Vista]

There won't be any fireworks Ray, the positive feedback you got when posting the pics of your 1300e should tell you we like a standard car just as much as a modified one? As to the car being stripped back to the shell means it's no longer a heritage car, that's a whole new can of worms.

 

The usual discussion is about whether a car with a replacement shell is still the original car or not (and I must point out that back in the day you could purchase shells as a spare part as given their simplicity, it was economically viable to repair crashed cars by re shelling with a genuine shell. In fact Ford did it regularly for their period rally cars) but here you're suggesting that even with the original shell it isn't a heritage car if it doesn't have the original parts bolted to it?

 

Well if using a shell from the manufacturer means that a car doesn't qualify for heritage status anymore, then surely the same applies if you're to replace all the original ancillaries with NOS OEM ones? They're either original or they're not.

[accord83]

They are only original once, I love to see an original car, but a concours restored car that is a trailer queen, I'll walk past it. That said, how ever owners have their cars, they are their cars, so their rules apply, not mine. A highly over restored car to a better quality than that which it  left the factory, or with NOS factory extras it would not have had new, well what's the difference between that and one which has been modified. I'm not talking Bullnose Morris's or Model T Ford's here, just mass produced chod from the 50's onwards.

Any way back on track, if they are not for a concours car, just cut the buggers, if they are, cut them, use the car, and keep an eye out for the correct ones. The non standard ones have been used competitively for years, so I would assume are up to the standard of the Ford ones. 

[Danish]

i wasnt meaning to get handbags out at dawn, its just my opinion,

 

 

But when you publicly post phrases like "modifying cars over a certain age should be illegal" and "modifyers wreck a car" that's pretty offensive to those of us with modified cars. 

[Ray]

There won't be any fireworks Ray, the positive feedback you got when posting the pics of your 1300e should tell you we like a standard car just as much as a modified one? As to the car being stripped back to the shell means it's no longer a heritage car, that's a whole new can of worms.

 

The usual discussion is about whether a car with a replacement shell is still the original car or not (and I must point out that back in the day you could purchase shells as a spare part as given their simplicity, it was economically viable to repair crashed cars by re shelling with a genuine shell. In fact Ford did it regularly for their period rally cars) but here you're suggesting that even with the original shell it isn't a heritage car if it doesn't have the original parts bolted to it?

 

Well if using a shell from the manufacturer means that a car doesn't qualify for heritage status anymore, then surely the same applies if you're to replace all the original ancillaries with NOS OEM ones? They're either original or they're not.

 

where i was coming from more on this one is as follows, if you take a mk1 escort mexico for example, take the running gear out, drop in a pinto, change the carbs, axle etc to suit, in my book you no longer have a mexico, same applies to any heavy mods, ie put a zetec in it, change all sorts else etc, in my book its no longer a MK1 Escort, its a kit car, and should be treated as such, and pay full road tax

 

my 1300E came with capri struts and front brakes, but luck would have it the guy stopped there, so it was easy to change back, the engine was its original matching number. i accept 40 years down the line that a lot of the anciliaries get replaced, but take an anglia (accepted genuine parts are probably hard so source) but to make them like hot rods at this stage of the cars life, to my mind is ruining a bit of our history, but as said, just my opinion

 

what i have tried to do with my first 1300E, is to replicate, as close as possible, to what its production line state would have been, just a tad better here and there like the paintwork for its own preservation, and yes, that has involved a lot of NOS parts, and yes i would accept not original, but they are the parts that would have been fitted from new, and not an aftermarket part, i also accept, that with so many new parts, then perhaps it shouldnt qualify for free tax (heritage status), but then again i have not done it to get free tax, i would hope that one day it may end up a museum piece, but at least outlast me and give my kids something to remember me by

 

i know re-shelling went on back then, it stil does today in rare instances, but could we say that the amount of welding some shells are having, can the shell really be regarded as original with so much new metal, it cant be far removed from making one from two (avoiding those dreaded words), if we re-shell a car say after 2 years old, then perhaps it should be a re-registration case, or at least marked on the log book

 

everything is down to personal opinions at the end of the day, but like buidings, i feel there should become a stage where the car is protected, and restoration mean restoration, not just modify for the sake of it

 

i understand wanting the car to drive like a modern car if its used every day, but should a car of this age be used as a daily (just asking the question) as its putting it at a lot of risk

[Ray]

But when you publicly post phrases like "modifying cars over a certain age should be illegal" and "modifyers wreck a car" that's pretty offensive to those of us with modified cars. 

 

no offence was meant, as i think we are all agreed, its just down to personal opinion,

[Ray]

They are only original once, I love to see an original car, but a concours restored car that is a trailer queen, I'll walk past it. That said, how ever owners have their cars, they are their cars, so their rules apply, not mine. A highly over restored car to a better quality than that which it  left the factory, or with NOS factory extras it would not have had new, well what's the difference between that and one which has been modified. I'm not talking Bullnose Morris's or Model T Ford's here, just mass produced chod from the 50's onwards.

Any way back on track, if they are not for a concours car, just cut the buggers, if they are, cut them, use the car, and keep an eye out for the correct ones. The non standard ones have been used competitively for years, so I would assume are up to the standard of the Ford ones. 

 

original untouched cars are rare, i have one in my pic above, but even then you need to generally do a lot of work to get the car back on track, so in most instances still ends up heavily restored

 

re-back on track, thats exactly what ive had no choice but to do

[PeteRS8084]

Think I will look to cut them down lol. Or just leave it with the lowering blocks, I'm sue I will make a decision either way. Cheers guys. Pete

[accord83]

I can see your point Ray, my Escort has been built to how I would have liked it when I was 18, I am in the position where I could build it with an engine that would suck the knickers off a Mother Superior into its bell mouths thorough the Convent railings as I passed by, with brakes that would stop a Jumbo jet mid flight and give the Stewardesses a good pounding, but I don't want to. I want a fun car that doesn't so much walk the walk, just limps quickly on B roads with a little xflow, I've had the highly original cars that I dare not drive the way I wanted to for fear of stone chips and scratches. All I want from my Escort is a fun car, and that is what it is. You do it your way, I do it mine, and if we met I hope it would be mutually amicable.