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


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Day 8.5:

 

A continuation of yesterdays work...

 

I spent most of today re-organizing the parts i've taking off the car so far into boxes and labeling everything along with dismantling the bumpers and a couple other things. I also worked on the grill a bit including painting it and i've started working on that front logo too ;) No pictures of that yet, but I'll post a picture soon...

 

I went ahead and removed more bits off the front for preperation, including the headlights, corner lights, and lower bumper cover. As you can see, theres really nothing holding that stuff on, the bulk of the chassis is on the side in the front and there is really no lower support in the front! If I do decide to go with a single radiator, this setup makes it extremely easy to build a custom radiator support that will work just perfect for the car. It also makes it really easy to remove the engine when the time comes :)

 

Anyhow, heres a couple of interesting pics:

 

day8point5two.jpg

day8point5one.jpg

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Just some quick historical comments...

 

In this photo you can clearly see the cam adjusters for the front ends of the torsion bars (two of them) on the front of the car. No struts on these guys. And unlike VW beetles, there is a separate torsion bar for each side. Together with the two in the rear, there are four independent torsion bars for the suspension. Perfect in their simplicity.

 

The cam adjusters are nice, and there is an equivalent adjustment (allen bolt) under a rubber plug in the trunk for adjusting the rear torsion bars. These are useful for leveling, but if used to raise the car, cornering stability will suffer.

 

You can also clearly see that there are no heavy rotors, drums, or calipers on the wheel or knuckle (inboard brakes). The portion of the car that "floats" with the wheels and tires is extremely lightweight. I used to run 145-13s on the original 4.5" steel rims, and I could run my FF-1 over speed bumps and rocky country roads with ease at any speed (tiny unsprung weight).

 

Also, the second radiator is actually a heater core, mounted under the hood to make more room in the cabin. The fan on this heater core (the only one on either radiator) has a damper control. The fan can kick in on hot days, deflecting the waste heat outside. If the heater core is removed, no heat inside for winter. The FF-1 had a little extra in the radiator department, but no need for a large fan otherwise (more power for locomotion).

 

The FF-1 had a lot of really innovative design features, many ahead of their time for a production car. Of course, it is just my opinion, but most "modernizing" would be a step backward from the original.

 

Anyhow, heres a couple of interesting pics:

 

day8point5one.jpg

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Sort of surprised that you haven't cracked open the books and gotten some answers on your own. Do you need a parts manual? I'm not sure,but I thought you said you had gotten service and parts manuals....too lazy to look back right now. I can scan whatever you need if I don't have a double.Pretty sure I have only one.

 

As has already been mentioned,these cars are light.The 1100 won't blow doors but it'll deliver what you need.

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Also, the second radiator is actually a heater core, mounted under the hood to make more room in the cabin. The fan on this heater core (the only one on either radiator) has a damper control. The fan can kick in on hot days, deflecting the waste heat outside. If the heater core is removed, no heat inside for winter. The FF-1 had a little extra in the radiator department, but no need for a large fan otherwise (more power for locomotion).

Honestly, I don't need a heater... It never gets that cold here. Never snows, and rain is almost too much of a rarity. If anything, I need A/C for the hot summers.

 

But really the reason for using a single larger radiator is the fact you cant get replacement radiators for this car, and the radiator resevoir is in poor condition and needs to go.

 

Right now, I've basically decided I want to keep the 1100. I like the idea of having such a SMALL engine in the car :) Of course, i'd like to improve it as much as possible via upgrades: Cams, distributor, coil pack, carburator, possibly a different intake manifold, headwork, maybe higher-compression pistons, etc.

Do you need a parts manual? I'm not sure,but I thought you said you had gotten service and parts manuals...

I have the two service manuals, but no parts manuals.

 

I'm putting together a more thorough list as I go along, but it won't be complete until I've got the dash apart and the engine and suspension out of the car.

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Now i've been doing some wheel/tire ressearch the past couple hours in my free time...

 

I can't quite find the correct offset number for the 15" pugs, but they do appear to be about ~+20

 

Idealy, I'd like to run as large of wheel as possible with as wide of tire as possible while keeping the tires as tucked in as possible. It was mentioned earlier in this thread that one of the JDM cars with the "superlite-like" wheels was running 185/55/14's, but we don't know the offset on those wheels.

 

I'd like to stay with a 6" wheel if possible, and from what I see in the Pack Racing Superlite wheel information, there was a 14x6" wheel that Subaru's had stock at some point, and those had a +42 offset. The 15x6" Superlights that are still availible are a low +24 offset, not much better than the Pug's I currently have...

 

There is Superlight with a +33 offset with the 15x6" wheel, but it only comes in a 4x108 or 4x98 bolt pattern for old Alphas. It may be possible to have that wheel made with a custom bolt pattern, but its still not that great of an offset.

 

So right now i'm not sure what options I really have (and i'm sorry, I refuse to run 13x4.5's with 165 series tires on this car, and I don't want ugly wheels like the 14" alloy pugs).

 

 

As for tires, I did some ressearch on that too. I plan on running summer-only tires on the car, but I need tires narrower than what I have now for sure...

 

Right now, I have Hankook Ventus HRII's in 205/50/15. They were a cheap tire and what I could get at that time. They work great though. Their specs are:

 

Hankook Ventus HRII 205/50/15, Section width - 8.3", Tread width - 6.7", Diameter 23.1"

 

I found a good option for 15" wheels that is slightly smaller and may help with clearance, but might not be small enough...

 

Khumo Ecsta SPT 195/45/15, Section width - 7.7", Tread width N/A, Diameter - 21.9", Weight 17lbs, Cost - $90.00

 

I think those would work well with a 15x6 wheel with a +35-40 offset wheel, should clear the rear fenders better, and clear the suspension good enough too.

 

However, for 14" tires, there seem to be better options...

 

Yokohama ES100 185/60/14, Section width - 7.4", Tread width - 6.4", Diameter - 22.7", Weight 17lbs, Cost - $75.00 (These should clear everything fine with a ~+35-40 offset wheel)

 

Dunlop SP Sport 8000 195/55/14, Section width - 7.7", Tread width 6.9", Diameter 22.4", Weight 16lbs, Cost - $99.00 (Might still clear fine, also cost more and have less diameter but a higher cost)

 

And I also found this option... Kind of crazy being race tires (not 100% slicks, but R-compounds) and are on BLOWOUT through Tirerack for $59.00 :eek:

 

Khumo Ecsta V700 185/55/14, Section width - 7.6", Tread width - N/A, Diameter 21.9", Weight 18lbs

 

I really dont plan on driving the car that much, and at $56.00 a tire thats just insane cheap for a sticky tire that would be fun to drive around! (I probably wont drive the car in the rain either, so no biggie there)

 

So anyway, if you guys have any wheel suggestions for 14" or other 15" options, or someone willing to buy my pugs + tires for $300, let me know...

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It would look great if you could find a wheel/tire combo that lets you lower the car slightly, maybe an inch or so. The 185 55 14 kumho sounds like a good choice. I think a wheel that matches the time period of the car would be best, I'll look around and see what I can find.

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i think these 5 slots are still floating around somewhere, they'd look great but are definatly wide. i sold them to mick, not sure if he resold:

DSC02327.jpg

 

or something like these

soooob008.jpg

 

fd7e9d44.jpg

 

honestly, some ea81 steelies (regular or wagon wheels) painted black or silver with chrome centers and chrome trim rings would be your cheapest, easiest to find route, and they would definatly fit the theme of the car very well without rubbing being an issue. plus you could sell the pugs, buy these, and have a couple hundred to put back into the car.

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Couple quick things...

 

Forgot to take a good picture of the radiator support/setup with the hood up for reference, so here we go:

 

day8point5three.jpg

 

Anyhow, back onto wheels.

 

I took a closer look at my wheel clearances in the back. The fronts have almost zero clearance problems other than the fender of course, so the primary concern is the rear.

 

That washer that holds the rear suspension on has an odd bend that sticks out for no apparent reason... Loosing that will net a little more clearance, so I measured it based on removing that. It looks like theres only about 1cm of clearance right now between the tire and the end of the tie rod/joint of the trailing link as you can see here:

 

ff1tireoffsetanalysis.jpg

 

The wheel has less than 2.5cm (about 2.35cm) of clearance from the suspension. So a simular 6" wide wheel with say a +50 offset would HIT the suspension (being that offset is based on milimeters). An offset of around +35-40 seems to be about right IF I used a narrower tire.

 

As for the fender clearance, right now the rear tire sticks out about 2cm from the fender, but will need between 3-4cm less width in order to fit (3cm would be with a bit of fender rolling/tweaking but not cutting, 4cm would be clearing without any modification probably)

 

Now, according to my not-so great estimates, running a +35 offset 6" wide wheel with a 7.7" or less section width tire would clear the suspension fine and bring the tire aproximatly the 2cm inwards to the fenders...

 

In order to get clear of the fender (~3cm), the 6" wide wheel will need aproximitly a +40 offset wheel with a 7.4" section width or less... A 5.5" wheel with a +45 offset would also work with that simular section width of tire AND bring the tire in even closer under the fender.

 

Idealy, i'd use some other wheels/tires to check these results... But I think the best option would be to find out which wheels are availible and with what offsets.

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honestly, some ea81 steelies (regular or wagon wheels) painted black or silver with chrome centers and chrome trim rings would be your cheapest, easiest to find route, and they would definatly fit the theme of the car very well without rubbing being an issue. plus you could sell the pugs, buy these, and have a couple hundred to put back into the car.

 

To build off of this..if you do go this route i will GIVE you my old steelies from my sedan. They have all the center caps and are in fairly good shape for there age. Some rust but they are early 80s steelies. All you would have to pay is shipping.

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Oh, and i've been browsing the 4x140 wheel page...

 

I think my favorite two 14" wheels (OTHER than the 15" speedlines) are:

 

1) Enkei Wirespoke "look" 14x6" (whats the offset on these?)

 

14-gold-enkei.jpg

 

and

 

2) 14x6 SMSG (Subaru Mortorsports Special Group) Full Fins [offset might be too high actually for these]

 

rally-2-14x6.jpg

 

 

So if anyone has any comments about those or more info, let me know...

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To build off of this..if you do go this route i will GIVE you my old steelies from my sedan. They have all the center caps and are in fairly good shape for there age. Some rust but they are early 80s steelies. All you would have to pay is shipping.
Size/dimensions and offset? Pictures?

 

But really, I'm not that interested in steelies... There are far more, better options out there still.

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So after doing a bit more ressearch, It appears that non-Pugeot 14's are next to impossible to find or even find any information about... Those SMSG 14"s and 14" Enkeis are basically out of the question.

 

So right now, its probably down to possibly having those Speedlite wheels custom made with a proper offset, or steelies...

 

Unless someone else has another option (still don't want 13's... ever)

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Welcome to the wonderful world of 4x140 :)

 

There is always a possibility of finding a set of stock 14" subaru rims at the junkyard... however, you would probably have to visit the yard every weekend until you are 60 and still may never find a set.

 

There are stories of people getting lucky though.

 

I think the Superlite will be your best bet, and i think 14's would look good on that car. Its tiny, and anything larger would look like your trying to "Pimp your FF1"

 

-Brian

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