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Cooper - 1969 1600SSS Bluebird Coupe


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Ok buddy I'm going to need that coupe

 

Love the roof and lid

 

 

Why??

 

You'd just sell it anyways..... :rofl:

 

 

Sweet ride Carter.....saw it at Canby this year....

 

......can't remember if we met cuz I always end up with some memory loss after Canby.....

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If I keep them u guys would call me a horder, not going to b that guy.

 

 

Ummmmmmmmmmmmm...............

 

 

Your screen name................the510....KEEPER.......

 

..........your title.....................The Coupe KEEPER..............

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

........what you do..........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anything but.....................................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

......just sayin'.........

 

 

 

 

...you know I luv u..... :blush:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fuckin' keep one.......................just one.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 4 months later...

Jeff and Sam have been bugging me all Winter to go autocrossing with them.

I really did want to join them but work obligations were constantly in the way. 

It looked like I was going to be able to make the last race of the season though but first, there were some things that needed to be done to the car.  One of them, desperately!

 

Stomping on the brakes in Cooper often results in half a lane change right or left so to fix that, I installed one of Dave's T/C kits.

 

03062015_cooper_tc_kit_install_1_.JPG

 

It's super easy to do.  Jack up the car and remove these parts from the end of the T/C rod.

 

03062015_cooper_tc_kit_install_2_.JPG

 

03062015_cooper_tc_kit_install_3_.JPG

 

03062015_cooper_tc_kit_install_4_.JPG

 

Then add the UHMW ball and aluminum socket and tighten down the nut 'till the gage fits over the assembly as per instructions

 

03062015_cooper_tc_kit_install_5_.JPG

 

Add the stock nylock back on the end for good measure.

 

03062015_cooper_tc_kit_install_7_.JPG

 

Then stand back and admire your work.

 

03062015_cooper_tc_kit_install_6_.JPG

 

The difference is night and day.  Stomping on the brakes now is rewarded with perfectly controlled, straight line, deceleration.

 

Funny that apparently all these years possibly hitting another car, pedestrian, or curb wasn't enough motivation to fix this issue but the thought of clobbering a cone and receiving a time penalty was too much to bare!  :rofl:

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Due to a little mix-up in the advertising, I though I had 'till the 20th to get ready.  Turns out I only had 'till the 13th!  One week away!!!!

 

Yikes!

 

Lot's of things I'd like to do before taking to the track, but one thing that I absolutely must do...  Buy a helmet.

 

I got one with a SA2015 rating so it should be good for years to come.

 

03092016_helmet_time_1_.JPG

 

03092016_helmet_time_3_.JPG

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Besides the date, there was also some confusion with signups.  Jeff and Sam were initially on the outside looking in and I wasn't even on the waiting list.  Since I wasn't going to be able to get to the track 'till after Church, I figured I'd just get a couple late runs if someone went home early and turned in their transponder.  But Thursday the other guys got news that they were confirmed entry and then on Friday, I obtained a confirmed spot as well.  Game on!

 

My car has not been running well this Winter - regularly dying at stop lights once off the choke unless I roll my foot over and keep the revs up.  Add to that a little on-throttle stutter from low revs.  I feared that might be a little frustrating to deal with on the track, so - time to get off my butt and finally swap over to electric ignition, and either tune my carbs or swap over to the Z-Therapy units i installed on Trouble last summer.

 

But....

 

The forecast was for rain.  And lots of it.  With one wheel drive (open diff) and an unnecessary amount of negative camber on the rear wheels, I didn't figure I'd ever have to worry about having too much traction.

 

Hmmm...  You know, I've been meaning to get around to installing that LSD in the shed.

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It's Saturday morning the day before the autocross.

 

Jeff convinced me it only takes an hour or two to swap in a Subaru LSD so if I get right on it, I might be able to complete that, the ignition, and the carbs!

 

So car in the garage and let's go.

 

03122016_cooper_LSD_install_1_.JPG

 

While I'm at it, I have a set of wider, more aggressive looking rubber.  I know my current tires have no rear grip in the rain, so I can't imagine I will be worse off with the other set. 

 

03122016_cooper_LSD_install_2_.JPG

 

On the right, coming off the car - 175/60R14

 

03122016_cooper_LSD_install_3_.JPG

 

On the left, going on 185/55R14

 

03122016_cooper_LSD_install_4_.JPG

 

Besides, the rims are "Jilba Racing" so you know, I kind of had to put them on!  ;)

 

03122016_cooper_LSD_install_6_.JPG

 

Here are the rear tires after being run for 3 years or whatever with excessive negative camber.

 

03122016_cooper_LSD_install_19_.JPG

 

I am actually impressed with how well they are wearing.  It's a testament to the light weight of our cars.  They are pretty easy on the equipment.

Either way, you can imagine why I have so little traction when only half of the tire is in full contact with the road.  I really need to get those "Byron Brackets" installed.

 

Not today though....

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Okay - once I start, there's no turning back right?

 

03122016_cooper_LSD_install_5_.JPG

 

03122016_cooper_LSD_install_9_.JPG

 

LSD on top, stub axle donor diff on bottom.

 

03122016_cooper_LSD_install_7_.JPG

 

Not pretty but it's what's inside that counts.

 

03122016_cooper_LSD_install_8_.JPG

 

I had no idea how easy it was to swap out the stub axles.  Pneumatic gun required.

 

03122016_cooper_LSD_install_10_.JPG

 

510 stub axles and bolt on the left

Subaru stub axles and bolt on the right.

 

03122016_cooper_LSD_install_11_.JPG

 

A 1/4" drive 5/16" or 8mm 12 point stocket fits the Subaru bolts perfectly and makes them simple to remove.

 

03122016_cooper_LSD_install_12_.JPG

 

Stub axles swapped.  This is going to be easy!

 

03122016_cooper_LSD_install_13_.JPG

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Next step was to remove the drive line from the nose of the diff.  No problem there.

 

Turns out that was the end of the easy work...

 

All the main suspension bolts in the back of the car still had yellow inspection paint on the heads but for some reason, the nuts holding the half-shafts to the stub axles were mostly rounded.  They are difficult to get to on a good day, and with the corners rounded off and/or displaced, it made getting a wrench on them and breaking them loose a total pain.  After much filing and creative methodry of applying torque while keeping the wrench from slipping off the nut, I finally got them off, only to find that I could not collapse the half shafts enough to free them from the stub axle studs. 

 

No problem, I'll remove the half shafts from the trailing arms.  That job went pretty smooth actually, and was much nicer to do in the garage than on the side of the freeway like I had to do with Racecar a couple years ago....

 

Now I removed the nuts holding the mustache bar to the diff cover and under-body posts.  Then the four bolts and nuts holding the diff to the crossmember.  Well that's all done but the diff isn't going anywhere.

 

Turns out I can't support the car with the jackstands under the crossmember.  So I re-set that to the back of the floor and crawled back under to try again.  It definitely came down further but still not far enough for the mustache bar to come loose from the mounting posts.

 

Looks like the crossmember can't rotate down far enough to drop the diff because the trailing arms are held up by the coilovers.

 

With the coilovers released from the shock towers and dropped down, the diff can finally be removed!

 

03122016_cooper_LSD_install_15_.JPG

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Now then, installation should be a easy right?

 

Well it would have been had I checked the condition of the threads on the mustache bar mounting studs on the back of the cover on the LSD.  After getting the nut started, it would go no farther.  And of course, it wouldn't loosen either, without taking the stud with it anyway...  Sure glad I had that spare rear end.  Not only did it give up it's stub axles but now I got to extract one of the mustache bar studs as well.

 

03122016_cooper_LSD_install_16_.JPG

 

03122016_cooper_LSD_install_17_.JPG

 

6 or 7 hours after starting, the diff was finally in.

 

03122016_cooper_LSD_install_18_.JPG

 

Along with the other things going on that day, there was no time left for ignition and carbs.  This would be it.  So it was off for a quick test drive to make sure nothing fell off or froze up.

 

03122016_cooper_LSD_install_20_.JPG

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Jeff and Sam have been bugging me all Winter to go autocrossing with them.

I really did want to join them but work obligations were constantly in the way. 

It looked like I was going to be able to make the last race of the season though but first, there were some things that needed to be done to the car.  One of them, desperately!

 

Stomping on the brakes in Cooper often results in half a lane change right or left so to fix that, I installed one of Dave's T/C kits.

 

03062015_cooper_tc_kit_install_1_.JPG

 

It's super easy to do.  Jack up the car and remove these parts from the end of the T/C rod.

 

03062015_cooper_tc_kit_install_2_.JPG

 

03062015_cooper_tc_kit_install_3_.JPG

 

03062015_cooper_tc_kit_install_4_.JPG

 

Then add the UHMW ball and aluminum socket and tighten down the nut 'till the gage fits over the assembly as per instructions

 

03062015_cooper_tc_kit_install_5_.JPG

 

Add the stock nylock back on the end for good measure.

 

03062015_cooper_tc_kit_install_7_.JPG

 

Then stand back and admire your work.

 

03062015_cooper_tc_kit_install_6_.JPG

 

The difference is night and day.  Stomping on the brakes now is rewarded with perfectly controlled, straight line, deceleration.

 

Funny that apparently all these years possibly hitting another car, pedestrian, or curb wasn't enough motivation to fix this issue but the thought of clobbering a cone and receiving a time penalty was too much to bare!  :rofl:

I need this, do you have their phone number? Webpage is under construction...

 

Thanks.

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I need this, do you have their phone number? Webpage is under construction...

 

Thanks.

Vg30.com will get you experimental engineering but I'm not sure Dave is doing that anymore. Quick type into the ol Google shows that the site is being updated.

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