Can anyone help please.

Picture of front suspension
Another front suspension picture

I've had a look through the DOC website and think it's Dutton top wishbone, escort MK1 lower arm, MK1 escort upright (cut down?).
The damper looks like it might be a Spax (or similar) adjustable, but what car?

Also, any idea what calipers these are?

Any help would appreciated.

Looks like a Dutton standard modified Escort upright - need to see is steering rod is cast or bolted to confirm exactly.

Calipers are Ford Escort/Capri/Cortina M16's

The Coilovers are off a motor cycle - not a car type coil over or adjustable in the car sense of damping - Just has a pillion ride adjuster.

Escort modified track control arm has been pretty poorly modified IMHO.

Upper wishbone is standard Dutton welded part.

Cheers

Andrew

Thanks for the help.

Will have another look at the steering rod.
Thought they might be M16 calipers, but wasn't quite sure.

For the coil overs, I'll try running with what's there to start with and change if needed. Presumably the manual will give suggestions about ratings etc...

I thought the same about the bits of tin stuck to the track control arm and a cheapo bolt through them. Time for some better mods methinks. Has anyone got any pictures of a decent modified arm for some ideas.

The manual offers very little on the spring rate front which is why it comes up quite regularly on the forums. And most of the advice given is terrible like using 450lb fronts and 300lb rears or other such nonsense

The original specifications were 185/210 front and the standard leaf poundage at the rear or 175 if using the coil-overs. But it very much depends on what engine you are using and what your intended purpose is. I have seen quite a few modified lower arms and each bracket has been in a different position offering significant changes in the apparent spring rate - not good. An leverage ration of about 1.25 to 1.3 is correct.

Cheers

Andrew

Yikes :blink: on a car this light ??????

That sounds more realistic, as you say, varied by engine weight and usage.

Is there anything in the manual about how to modify and where to locate the brackets?

Cheers,
Nick.

Advice on the lower arms is - provide them to Dutton Cars Ltd for modification

As I say - weld brackets on to give leverage ratio of 1.25 to 1.3

leverage ratio = Distance from ball joint to bush / Distance from bracket to bush

So divide the ball joint to bush distance by 1.25 to get your bush to bracket dimension.

Aim to get the bracket as close to the ball joint as is practical without binding and fouling so that you can use the lowest spring rates to get the desired wheel rate.

Have a read about springs and the like on my website under the technical section

Oh and the cars are not exactly light - not by the current standards of light anyway.

It would be hard work to get a PheatonS3/4 Melos under 800kg with fuel and driver

Your 1300 will give about 60BHP - so all in about 75BHP/TON - significantly less than my Diesel Estate car.

You will need 150BHP/TON for the car to be entertaining 300/T is considered to be near perfect.

Cheers

Andrew

Thanks Andrew, had a look at your website the other day - some interesting stuff on there.

I haven't been near the car for a couple of days - will get some pictures of the steering arm, pretty sure it's cast, from memory, but I could be wrong :unsure:

No problem with the lower arm and leverage ratios, thanks for the info.

Has anyone got any pictures of a "correctly/properly" modified lower arm? I have some ideas, but would be interested in seeing some others.

Having messed about with Escorts and Minis at club level many years ago, I'm happy to stick with the 1300 for now (unless a 1600 comes along in the mean time) and be able to get a reasonable power to weight ratio.
Interestingly, the Dutton catalogue gives 500kg as the weight of the Melos, but I guess it depends on trim, engine etc...

With James taking such an interest in the car I think sticking with the 1300 for now will be good for him to learn with and I hope he'll be able to learn the basics of driving in it (cut off switch in reach of passenger switch :rolleyes: )

Have taken some more pictures at last. New pictures can be seen here.

The steering arm is cast into the hub, so I reckon that makes it a MK2 Escort unit.
Similarly, the steering rack is therefore MK2?

I'm not happy with the quality of the mods to the lower arm (the welding doesn't look good, nor does the thickness of the brackets), so I'll probably be sourcing replacements and re-doing them.

Am I correct in thinking the upright is cut down and a Maxi?? ball joint fitted. Presumably the manual details this work? Not that I intend building new uprights, just interested. But will probably be fitting new ball joints, along with every other ball joint and/or bush (front and rear).

On the subject of bushes. Is there the normal added benefit from fitting Poly bushes - I would assume so. I've fitted them to various other (heavier) cars and the difference has always been well worth the cost and effort.