strut insert installation

[mark]

yes Midnightmaverick...I have over 5k miles on the car knowing the struts and ball joints were no good...I had the rebuild parts for several years now, it's time to get it done.
back to the struts; tools I made to remove old nut and install new nut.
pic 1 tool made to remove the factory nut
pic 2 tool made to install the new nut
pic 3 installing the new nut. After it is tight, I "staked the nut".

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[mark]

here is the set up I used to assemble the ball joints. I put a dial indicator on it to see how much clearance I have....shooting for .003" to .010".
The supplied retaining ring is 0.050" thick while the factory retaining ring is 0.100" thick. I would prefer to use the factory retaining rings ...they are simply beefier. However, one factory retaining rings bent upon disassembly, so I had to use the thinner 0.050" retaining rings supplied and shim up the difference using the thick 0.050" shim they supplied.
The completed assemblies takes a firm push to move the stud around...unlike before where it was loose. All that is left is to put the metal dust caps back on.

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[mark]

I forgot to mention one other item in regards to the lack of quality of the ball joint....the grease groove. You can clearly see the difference in width of the grooves (new on left and factory on the right). The new ball joint barely has enough width and depth to allow any grease to be distributed. Not only that, the groove is only on one side. Note how the factory groove goes all the around the ball.
Not being comfortable with the groove as it was, I used a dremel diamond wheel and deepened and widened the existing groove. I started to go all the way around the ball like the factory groove did, but in the end decided to only widened the existing groove on the new ball. (should I have gone all the way around??)
Struts are assembled and now installed back in the car. I wanted to show how I used motorcycle boots to keep dirt and debris off the strut shafts. Its a snug fit onto the strut tube and loose fit on the shaft. I also added a piece of motorcycle inner tube over the top bearing housing and let it seal the area between the bearing housing and the top spring cap. The top bearing housing already has somewhat of a seal designed into it to press against the top spring cap, but I felt this idea is worth a try to keep out road splash and sandy grit.
Also added note: I did place the notched end of the spring down. However, the notched end of the spring sits down inside its lower plate ...which covers up the notches...so you cannot tell which springs you have unless you removed them to view the notches.
I have a few misc parts coming from England, so this is about as far as I can go with the re-assembly until these parts come in.

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[mark]

Question on brakes:
Now that the front suspension is coming back together, I need to look at the front brakes. The wheel cylinders were previously honed and rebuilt 5k miles ago....and working just fine. This was before I let the car sit for 3 months (fearful of the worn ball joints). During this idle period, the front wheel cylinders/pistons has rusted solid. With some hammering and vise grips, I got one piston out. The second wheel cylinder....well after some effort....I decided I am not going to rebuild... but replace with new. So another order to Small Ford Spares in England, and parts already arrived.

I have had issues with wheel cylinders that I have rebuilt to rust before.... typically on vehicles that can sit for long periods of time. I always lubricate the parts with brake fluid during assembly and maybe this is wrong? (Maybe they should be greased?) I googled this topic and seems some folks have used "brake parts assembly lube". I don't see this product specifically when I search, but I do see "all brake parts lubricant"....however, they do not specifically say for pistons. It makes me think they are for brake shoe contact points, pins, clips, springs, etc. but not parts that may contact dot 3 brake fluid.

Has anyone "greased" the bore and piston prior to assembly? Any tips , tricks, What grease have you used? etc.

[mark]

For lubricating the wheel cylinder bores and pistons, I will be using this "brake paste" which is compatible with dot 3 brake fluid. This has to be much better than using brake fluid as a lubricant!
I made an observation while getting the wheel cylinders and backing plates onto the spindle. I wonder why Ford put the bleeder screw at the very bottom of the system. Not only did they put it on the bottom cylinder, they put it on the bottom port of that cylinder. It seems if they would have run the rubber hose line to the bottom cylinder and put the bleeder on the top port of the upper cylinder, getting air out of the system would have been improved. .....just my mind wandering again

[peteleo]

Ford of England admitted in one of the EnFo books that it was an engineering
mistake to install the bleeder on the bottom. On later cars it was
corrected.
Best way to bleed this type of system is to adjust the shoes tight against
the drum then bleed.

[mark]

sorry , somehow my image did not get inserted...this is the brake paste I decided to use...since the seal is on the piston and it will wipe excess grease into the bore where it will mix with brake fluid.

one of the supplier websites says this about it:
-ATE Paste was developed for use in the repair, maintenance and assembly of the internal hydraulic brake parts such as surfaces rolling cylinders, pistons, gaskets, seals,sleeves and guides.
-The brake cylinder paste is used for repair, assembly and conservation of hydraulic brake components.
-ATE Paste is solvable with brake fluid therefore when it gets to the brake fluid, it mixes in without any problem and does not cause any congestion.
-Apply a thin and even layer to: cylinder sleeves, pistons and seals
-Compatible with DOT 3, DOT 4 and DOT 5.1 brake fluids

Pete...I was tempted to put the hose on the bottom and the bleeder on the top. However, everything is assembled now. I am not taking it back apart:) I will try your bleeding suggestions.

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[mark]

finally wrapped up the strut installation, ball joint rebuild, and the front brake job.
And WOW....the strut inserts made a huge improvement in ride. The car feels solid on the road more than ever. Worth the money! I am real happy with the strut inserts!
Last thing to do is get the front end aligned. It was aligned 5k miles ago. But I had significant tire wear in that short period, probably due to the bad ball joints and I am sure the worn shocks did not help either. So new tires were installed up front too.

One more note on the strut inserts...They came with nylok nuts which made it difficult to "feel" when they tighten on the upper support bearings. So I used a torque wrench and set it a few inch pounds above the "break away torque" of the provided nylok nut. I still have not found information how to properly tighten this nut, and like before, I am shooting for just taking up the clearance while trying to not over-preload it. If anyone knows how it is supposed to be done, please advise.
Also, for the inner track control arm bushings and both the small and large sway bar bushings... I waited about tightening the nuts on these until I had weight on the suspension. This should help put these bushings in a "neutral load" at normal ride height. If tightened while suspension is in the air, they could twist when the car is lowered, reducing their life. I learned on other applications to tighten the bushing fasteners at ride height, so I applied that here too.

[Brett Wilkie]

I had those same concerns regarding the potential pre-loading of the strut top mount bearings. I believe the inserts that I used were Cortina parts and they are not a perfect match with the 100e top mount bearing depth when installed, I still use the nylock nut because I just bring the bearing clearance to zero and hope the nut keeps that position. I did check that clearance from time to time and it didn't change much but if it did, it was easy to adjust, it was also a good opportunity to check the grease in the bearings.  As you say, it is important that you torque the other bushings at ride height and also get the track arms on the correct side of the vehicle as they are handed.

[JAN]

Cylinder rebuild kits generally come with a small tube of grease for the hydraulic parts of the system; all that I have seen are a darkish red. I use this quite liberally on the piston, but every two years I also dismantle the cylinders and apply more grease, and change the brake fluid. It's the same theory as changing engine oil and filter.

Brett is right about the track control arms being handed; the greasing point should go to the front.

I've never used a tca ball joint without a split pin hole and always used a castle nut and pin. I don't like Nylocs for exactly the reason you giver: you don't know what the talk is that you've set them to.

I've been following this particular saga with interest - an excellent job well done!

[mark]

Yes, TCAs are "handed". I do remember that posting, worth mentioning here again. I did not know that years ago, when I transferred parts from donor car to this one. Luckily I got it right.
Are the tca ball joints available with castle nut? they sent me the nylock type. Maybe the castle nut type ball joint has better machining?
Good point about changing the brake fluid. And no more lubricating parts with brake fluid for me!
With the heavy 2.3 Lima up front, the car drives and tracks quite well. I can't say it enough, the strut inserts was a huge improvement!
I hope someone can benefit from these bits of information.

[mark]

Can anyone confirm the factory front suspension alignment specs of the 100E? (or in my case 300E)
- toe in
- caster
- camber

I would hope the local alignment guy has that information supplied with his alignment machine, but I want to confirm what he uses.
I realise there is not much you can do on the caster and camber, but I like to compare the actual numbers to the factory numbers. thanks

[JAN]

[mark]

Thanks Jan. As I somewhat expected, the shop's alignment machine did not include the Anglia in its list of vehicles. So the technician had to manually input the values you provided. In the end, Caster and Camber came within the specs and toe-in needed just a little tweaking.
All is good again.