RobSA project Bella

[RobSA]

rod,
the stock springs I took out measured 400mm, the manuals on the web site (scanned pages) say the spring should be 367, 378 or 384mm (page chassis 8-2).
The shorter springs are 325mm, which means a drop in free length of 75mm (3 inches), but wait there's more.......

...the std ride height with stock springs (400mm) is 23 inches (584mm) from bottom of rim (stock 13 inch rim) to lip of guard wheel opening (yours maybe same or less depending on what springs you actually have in the car).
With the shorter springs (325mm) it is 19.5 Inches (495mm) ... a drop of 3 1/2 inches .... note it has the potential to sit on the bump rubbers, these may need to be changed to provide adequate suspension travel.

Still have to do the rear setup yet, so stay tuned.

Note: before attempting any changes to a vehicles suspension beware of the road traffic rules in your state and the Australian Design Rules (or the county/country), these changes are at the discretion of the owner.

gt orphange,
the problem is I don't have the samples to take in :S , sad but true. Will need to pirate or borrow to be able to do that (get stainless ones).
also I don't really want to use stainless on the engine to transmission bolts.

Cheers
Rob

[Farmer]

Hey Rob,
nice to see work getting done to this car, it looks like not too big of a project to get her back on the road . I'll look forward to seeing you at Coonabarrabran (NSW) for the 2010 nationals!!!
Cheers, mate.
Matt.

[Farmer]

Hey, Disc brake front end - tres cool!
I know I'm a long way away, but I do have better doors, if you don't want to fix those. Lets know of any other bits you need.
Cheers, Matt.

[RobSA]

Thanks Matt.
Dave is going to see me right with a couple of doors.
Brakes have a really good pedal, and the handbrake works !!

Biggest headache at the moment is the missing nuts, bolts, screws and throttle link to pedal.
I'm going to have to check Chris's Bellett to figure out what nuts and bolts I need to get, to bolt the engine back up to the transmission.

The engine runs, I just didn't have enough fuel to run it more than 15-30 secs. Sounded okay though.
Original plan (Plan A) had been to put it back together, register and drive it in a couple of weeks. Plan B ?????

Next couple of days will see the rear springs changed, new shocks fitted and find some rubbers (missing) and nuts (missing) to bolt the rear transverse spring back on.

Then the final ride height will be set, looooowwwww and sweeeeet

Cheers
Rob

[Farmer]

I have plenty of bolts, nuts, rubbers & etc. Fun bit is finding the right ones! If you list all you need, I'd be happy to put em in a Milo tin & send em over. Just to see another Bellett gracing the streets!
Good to watch.
Cheers, Matt.

[RobSA]

Firstly, thanx Matt for the offer.
I have nearly found replacements for all the missing bolts.

Got the rear springs in now, and how sweet the ride looks now.
Bella sits really nicely.



Also was able to get hold of a really nice horn button to tidy the interior a bit, LOL.



I was going to put the new steering column cover on, however ...
since the car is an ex-column shift the spot where the floor shift cover sits has a bracket for the column linkage : (
Was just going to cut it off, but think I better replace the column at a later date as someone may want a column shift column !!

Cheers
Rob

[mrflibbles]

looking good mate love the height, looks ready to race! ill be talking to you soon about the other bits for her!

[Farmer]

Good on you for thinking of others with the steering column, mate. Gotta save those rare spares! The "Barn Find" is missing the gearknob. I don't expect to find one, but it's a simple torpedo shape so I should be able to adapt something. If anyone has one, though, I'd be happy to know.....
Cheers, Matt.

[rod]

robsa regarding your perdder springs just took mine out they mesured 370 mm from my 68 gt so the ones you got from pedders was 325 mm so they would be good have to look in to it cheers rod

[RobSA]

Rod it is probable that yours are the 378.5mm springs with a bit of sag, not bad after 40 odd years.

I will post the part numbers for the springs, shocks and isolators under the suspension section within the next week.
It is many thanks to Paul for finding all this in the Pedders technical data.

The only part needing modification or replacement are the bump stops.
If we can find a stock replacement ones I will update them at a later time.

Cheers
Rob

[RobSA]

The little Bell runs, a change of carby, bit of oil flush some 40W-70 and off she goes.
Only sore spot is the leaking welsh plug in the back of the head, doh.

Clutch works though is a bit low on the floor and hopefully the little zing from the throwout bearing is just coz it not run for so long.
Few niggly little bits to sort out (aren't there always), then some tyres and away we go.

Hopefully 3 weeks, though I've said that sort of thing before and it ended up more like 3 months so .... watch this space

Cheers
Rob

[mrflibbles]

thats great mate! looking forward to going for a ride in her!

[Farmer]

Hey, Rob - Good news! The first drive is real sweet!
That's some heavy oil - does it need that thick? Should be O.K. for summer, but I'd probably go a bit lighter for winter.
Just a little note you may already know - If you change the gearbox oil, make sure to use straight 30W oil. As this is uncommon in 'boxes, many garages use 90W gear oil - this will make the synchros drag & seem like the box is worn out!
I noticed the fan/demister control in your interior shot - Rare item! Is it a goer? These were restricted to imported Deluxes.
Keep the updates coming, mate!
Thanks, Matt.

[RobSA]

Yep the heavier oil controls the breathing.
As this is an early 68 or late 67 car it has the open crankcase system, I'm going to update it with the recirculating system as parts become available.
Thanks for the tip with the gearbox oil, it will be interesting to see what it's like when I get to drive it on the road.

Yeah a fair bit of the interior is about 69 deluxe, someone swapped it in at some stage of it's life.
Along with the disc brakes : ) which is also pretty cool.

Found out early Falcon Fairmont (XK-P) had 14inch 4 stud wheels.
Anyone seen any, hahahahahaha ... just thought i'd ask

Cheers
Rob

[Barney]

Loving the height Rob, I'll go on the lookout for some similar front springs for Barney I think!

[RobSA]

Not a problem mate.

Check the suspension section of the forum for the part no's if you got a Pedder's over there or at least you'll know what car to get them out of.

Cheers
Rob

[RobSA]

Well Bella's been on the road ... well for 5 minutes or so. Nearly there.
Ride height is absolutely awesome.

[mrflibbles]

Looks great Rob!

[dave]

The Falcon 4-stud (4 x 113.5 or whatever it is) is a 13" I think, but they are stacks wider than a Bellett rim and therefore means you don't have to go out of your way to get them widened. I could be wrong; they could be 14", but either way they're widies.

BUT you can't fit your phat stocky hubbies on them! No bingo!

Yeah Rob the Bella looks pretty good dropped to that height! <insert jealousy here>. Coz I've got club rego on two of mine, I don't think I could get away with that level of dropped-ness, however the GT might just be able to do it.... pending.

[RobSA]

Glad you all like Bella's stance.
The good news is I have some early Skyline wheels 14 x 5.5 with some worn out Yokohamas (185/60 & 55 for test fitting)
Just have to check what size tyre will work best up front, back will be 185/60 or 65 maybe.
Watch this space