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Conrod's 1972 Mk1 V8

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Re: Conrod's 1972 Mk1 V8

Postby conrod » Tue Apr 27, 2021 10:45 am

buxvan wrote:Bloody brilliant. I bet you are quite chuffed. & much better engine than my 1.6 pinto !


I had a 1.6 Pinto engined Mk2 when I lived in the UK in the early 90's, it went much better than I expected it to! :)


Neil wrote:lovely finish, does look a tad jacked up with the wheels but its your van to do how you like it, maybe period alloys ?? or just standard steels its that line between stock or customised


It has sat quite high since I have owned it, rather than because of any planning on my part. Made a bit worse recently by removing such weighty items as the towbar, roll bars (as in roll cage!) and rear windows - probably 60kgs out of the rear. It has always been the plan to lower it a bit, but I am not interested in the slammed look that seems to be fashionable these days. :roll:

The wheels are period, albeit new; US Indys. Even the back of the wheels is the same as the originals from the 1970's. It was a choice between these and Ansen Sprints, but the new Ansens have some detail which is not the same as the original wheels, which put me off. I am thinking about an alternative set of wheels, what do you all think about these?

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Re: Conrod's 1972 Mk1 V8

Postby dumper » Tue Apr 27, 2021 12:50 pm

They look brilliant a bit like minilites that the rally escorts used
MK 8 L4 H3 Motorsport campervan
Past camper vans
1974 mk1 v4 with 2.0 pinto fitted
1986 mk3 2.5 di swb
1990 190 lwb 2.5 di
1998 100 lwb 2.5 di
2006 350 jumbo 135 tdci
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Re: Conrod's 1972 Mk1 V8

Postby conrod » Tue Apr 27, 2021 8:02 pm

dumper wrote:They look brilliant a bit like minilites that the rally escorts used


That would be because they are genuine Minilites ;)
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Re: Conrod's 1972 Mk1 V8

Postby Chug » Tue Apr 27, 2021 8:02 pm

Yeah I like the minilite wheels, that looks good with them on. :D
1991(J) twin wheel tipper 2.5di
1994(L) twin wheel tipper 2.5di
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Re: Conrod's 1972 Mk1 V8

Postby dumper » Tue Apr 27, 2021 9:23 pm

conrod wrote:
dumper wrote:They look brilliant a bit like minilites that the rally escorts used


That would be because they are genuine Minilites ;)

Yes I wasn’t sure as you see them advertised as in the style of minilite but they do look good .
MK 8 L4 H3 Motorsport campervan
Past camper vans
1974 mk1 v4 with 2.0 pinto fitted
1986 mk3 2.5 di swb
1990 190 lwb 2.5 di
1998 100 lwb 2.5 di
2006 350 jumbo 135 tdci
dumper
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Re: Conrod's 1972 Mk1 V8

Postby conrod » Wed Apr 28, 2021 6:27 am

dumper wrote:
conrod wrote:
dumper wrote:They look brilliant a bit like minilites that the rally escorts used


That would be because they are genuine Minilites ;)

Yes I wasn’t sure as you see them advertised as in the style of minilite but they do look good .


yes there are a lot of copies out there, some are quite good, others not so....... :o
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Re: Conrod's 1972 Mk1 V8

Postby NogE » Mon Jul 19, 2021 5:29 pm

Lots for me to catch up with here...
.fantastic....well done
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Re: Conrod's 1972 Mk1 V8

Postby conrod » Mon Nov 08, 2021 8:56 am

I have been trying to sort the ride out a bit lately on the Mk1. I replaced the rear multi leaf springs which were really stiff (5 or 6 leaves? ) with a pair of 2 leaf springs I nicked out of one of my Sundowners. This lowered the rear 40mm, and softened the ride up at the same time. At the front, I replaced the multi leaf springs which again were really stiff, with a pair of single leafs out of Mk2. This lowered the front about 20mm. The rear already had an ARB fitted, so I fitted an ARB to the front axle to give some balance to the front/rear roll stiffness. I had to fit the front ARB virtually inside the front axle beam, to clear the sump pan, but it all seems to works well. It drives and rides much better now, and grip has improved somewhat. Okay I probably won't be able to load 600 kgs of cement bags in the back now, but its working days are long over! A few pics of the front end:

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I also got rid of the hydraulic throttle, which was always getting air bubbles in it, and limiting throttle opening. Being bottom hinged made it feel quite awful to drive, a bit like an old VW or Porsche with bottom hinged pedals. I replaced it with a Lokar pedal, and fitted a matching pedal pad to the brake pedal.

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Re: Conrod's 1972 Mk1 V8

Postby NogE » Tue Nov 09, 2021 9:10 am

Looking sweet Conrad :D ....so neat, very professional stuff going on there....
So would you recommend an arb in my camper...is it something that makes sense for me to look into to?...and it's getting parts needed..
Always look forward to yr updates mate..thanks for posting them..
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Re: Conrod's 1972 Mk1 V8

Postby NogE » Tue Nov 09, 2021 9:51 am

Also... can you please advise me on changing my front drums to disc..thank you
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Re: Conrod's 1972 Mk1 V8

Postby conrod » Tue Nov 09, 2021 7:05 pm

NogE wrote:Looking sweet Conrad :D ....so neat, very professional stuff going on there....
So would you recommend an arb in my camper...is it something that makes sense for me to look into to?...and it's getting parts needed..
Always look forward to yr updates mate..thanks for posting them..


ARB's work especially well on high COG vehicles like campers. I fitted them to a 1992 Econoline camper with a high roof, they made a big difference! Cut down the body roll massively. Be sure to fit one to the front AND rear if you decide to though, otherwise you end up with a handling imbalance if you fit it to one end only.
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Re: Conrod's 1972 Mk1 V8

Postby conrod » Tue Nov 09, 2021 7:07 pm

NogE wrote:Also... can you please advise me on changing my front drums to disc..thank you


The drum front axle is the same as the disc as far as I know. You need the calipers, discs, and caliper mounting brackets from a late Mk1 or Mk2. A brake booster helps too if you don't already have one. Mine are from a Ford Falcon, but that is a lot more work than you need for a camper, and was done to change the stud pattern among other things.
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Re: Conrod's 1972 Mk1 V8

Postby NogE » Tue Nov 09, 2021 7:56 pm

Thanks ....I now need to know what roll bars to look out for..inc links and bushes...
That first...then I'll be looking out for calipers etc...recon I'll post a threat here for help on parts and links...thank you for good advice again..
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Re: Conrod's 1972 Mk1 V8

Postby conrod » Thu Nov 11, 2021 8:51 am

Photoshoot on Tuesday at the Whitford Wharf for NZ Classic Car magazine. These are a couple of my crappy iphone pics, no doubt the magazines photos will be much nicer, but you get the idea :)

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Re: Conrod's 1972 Mk1 V8

Postby conrod » Thu Nov 11, 2021 8:52 am

Pickapart reopened yesterday in Auckland, and there was a mad rush for all of the good stuff! I have never seen it so busy, queueing to get in, car park full, big queue getting out. Bloody hot day too, I think I suffered a bit of sunstroke in my mad rush to grab the good sh*t! (this was only a small part of my parts haul below BTW, lots of parts for my race car were had too!)

Anyway, the point of this trip was to get some better brakes for the Mk1. They have always been a bit scary - anything more than moderate pedal pressure will lock up the rears, not ideal! After some measuring, I discovered that the rear pistons on the Lincoln calipers were 65mm, whereas the fronts on the old Falcon XA calipers were only 61mm. The brake discs are similar size front to rear. So it actually has more braking on the rear than the front, which explains its tendency to lock the rears, not ideal for any car, especially a van with a relatively light rear end !

So, the solution I reckon will work is Mk4 Mondeo rear calipers with integral handbrake, discs and cables for the back end, and AU3 Falcon 2 pot front calipers, which will fit nicely on my existing slotted DBA rotors. I will rebuilt and paint them, and need to make some suitable mounting brackets, but hopefully that should sort the brake issues! All for around $250 :)

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