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Documented: The 1970 FF-1 Project car...


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Day 3

 

Alright, I had an hour or so with nothing to do so I lowered the back, adjusted the ride height so the wheels would fit in the back, and put the front wheels on...

 

I decided to leave it up so I could take some photos and clean underneeth later. Ill take pics this weekend with it on the ground completely.

 

So here are some good pics of the front suspension as it is, along with underneeth the front of the car. Its quite complicated compaired to Macphereson setups isnt it!

 

ff1day3front1.jpg

ff1day3front2.jpg

ff1day3front3.jpg

ff1day3under3.jpg

ff1day3under4.jpg

ff1day3under1.jpg

ff1day3under2.jpg

ff1day3frontsuspension1.jpg

ff1day3frontsuspension2.jpg

ff1day3frontsuspension3.jpg

ff1day3frontsuspension4.jpg

ff1day3wheelsuspension1.jpg

ff1day3wheelsuspension2.jpg

ff1day3innerfrontfender.jpg

ff1day3badrust.jpg

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But of trivia if you want to know, when designing the FF1, Subaru with TKM bearing designed the CV joint that we have and know today, prior to this all front drive cars used a uni joint.

Also if you ever get the chance to study the FF1, the car was not designed by car makers but by aircraft engineerers, i had my cars low flying a few time, had a guy on a motorbike followiung me once and said he say the underneath of my car as it went over a hump in the road.

Just wanted to let you know

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The FF1 has a great front end, fully adyustable for castor and camber as well as ride high, only problem i had was finding replacement front shockers.

Thierry

Shouldnt be much of a problem, they are a pretty generic design. I found a recent photo of an FF-1 with the front shocks replaced. The rears shouldnt be difficult either, they might even be simular to other 70's model Subarus.

 

What I'm REALLY concerned about replacing are all the completely worn out bushings that need replacing, and the ball joints on the tie rods...

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But of trivia if you want to know, when designing the FF1, Subaru with TKM bearing designed the CV joint that we have and know today, prior to this all front drive cars used a uni joint.

 

Sorry maudsland but I must disagree. Subaru certainly helped with the development of the 'Japanese' CV joint but it was the 1959 BMC Mini that used the first 'modern' CV joints. All modern CV joints are based on the same design (by Alfred H. Rzeppa in 1928 who worked for Ford in the US)

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Here are some part numbers that might get you going;

lower BJ assembly: 6232 20011

boot : 6232 07021

clip : 6232 08021

 

upper BJ assembly: 6232 20001

boot : 6232 07021

clip : 6232 08021

 

Tie rod assembly rh: 6315 00000

boot : 6315 04000

clip : 6315 08010

 

Tie rod assembly lh: 6315 00010

boot : 6315 04000

clip : 6315 08010

 

couple of days ago i saw those parts forsale in yahoo japan but i can't seem to locate them now, i think they ran there time because it was near the top of the list when i saw them

Cheer Thierry

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Day 4:

 

Well I spent today cleaning up the engine bay and under the engine bay with water, simple green, and some brake cleaner...

 

I also washed the car for the first time, and removed the "P.O.S." painted on the trunk.

 

I lowered it onto all four wheels finally too... The fronts clear fine so far, but the rears once someone gets in the car hit the fenders...

 

Anyway, heres some pics from today!

 

ff1day4engine1.jpg

ff1day4engine2.jpg

ff1day4engine3.jpg

ff1day4engine4.jpg

ff1day4engine5.jpg

ff1day4batterybad.jpg

ff1day4under1.jpg

ff1day4under2.jpg

ff1trunk2b.jpg

ff1day4trunk1.jpg

ff1day4trunk3.jpg

ff1day4wheels2.jpg

ff1day4wheels1.jpg

ff1day4front1.jpg

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Thrilling!!!!!!!!!!!! :banana:

 

Hey,I'm pretty sure I have those fabric wrapped hoses for you.

 

Oh man,thanks for posting those "clean" shots. As soon as I can get this current parking vs. cars issue overwith and caught up on the windshield gasket and parts shipping I'm going to focus on getting to the boxes with ff-1 parts out of storage and begin to help make this resto happen.

 

Unfortunately I couldn't make it up to Charlie's this weekend,but that ff-1 will be there,don't worry. And I'll get every solid piece there is for you.

 

Did I mention the ff-1 dashboard? :burnout: ........uncracked.

 

Charlie freakin' rules ! :banana::headbang:

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Day 5:

 

So today I didnt have much time to work, but I managed to get the rotten rear seats out and vacuum up back there... Didnt take much time or work, but it did give me a MUCH clearer idea of what i'm working with..

 

For reference, this car doesnt seem to have frame rails. And that black cover on the rear seat is the top of the gas tank. That rear strut-bar looking thing is basically just a seat brace. VERY different chassis from most modern cars.

 

As you can see, the floor board definatly has to go. I'm not sure what to do about that yet, I need to get in contact with some sort of restoration shop in order to deal with the bodywork this car needs...

 

Anyone have any local references in my area??? (Sacramento, CA)

 

Anyway, heres the pics...

 

ff1day5beforecleaning.jpg

ff1day5rottenseats.jpg

ff1day5fromtrunk.jpg

ff1day5fromtrunk2.jpg

ff1day5afterrear1.jpg

ff1day5underseatgastank.jpg

ff1day5rightgastank.jpg

ff1day5floorboardrust.jpg

ff1day5ebrake.jpg

ff1day5seat.jpg

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You better get over to ebay. There is a guy selling NOS parts and I saw at least 1 turn signal lens for that car there. It was a front one though. Guy has 35 things for sale. I imagine Paul could probably identify the part number as to what they got to. I will just give you a link instead:http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Subaru-68-69-70-71-72-Amber-Marker-Lens-NOS-NEW-Star_W0QQitemZ180165140679QQihZ008QQcategoryZ10076QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

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You better get over to ebay. There is a guy selling NOS parts and I saw at least 1 turn signal lens for that car there. It was a front one though. Guy has 35 things for sale. I imagine Paul could probably identify the part number as to what they got to. I will just give you a link instead:http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Subaru-68-69-70-71-72-Amber-Marker-Lens-NOS-NEW-Star_W0QQitemZ180165140679QQihZ008QQcategoryZ10076QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
$27 + $7 for a lense? :rolleyes:

 

Thats more than the original MSRP for it! (FYI, it shows that part number as still active).

 

I cant find the other FF-1 stuff he has listed though...

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