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General SEAT Terra van

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General SEAT Terra van

So what I needed was a plan of attack for fitting the suspension.
It was never going to happen (front and back) all at once, so knowing that the fronts will be a right pain (as I have to alter the top turrets) I looked for a day and a half window to change the back end over and sort any probs.:cool:

This is of course my daily driver which is working fine and it is only my warped mind that reckons the suspension needs lifting.:D

So last weekend saw such an opportunity and no rain forecast. OK go for it. After all. "WHAT COULD GO WRONG..?"

If I tell you that I'm still working on it and that I havent used a single part of the rear suspension I had prepped and painted then you might get an idea of the depth of despair which is still unfolding.

Saturday morning; back the van under my bit of cover; get some axle stands under some strong bits, pop the wheels off, disconnect the brakes (don't worry clamping off the lines this wont take long) and unbolt the springs to pull the whole lot off as one.
Strangely all the bolts were undoing nicely....... Except one front spring mount.
With brake fluid dripping, this Recalcitrant little rascal got the full long ba;r bash with big hammer; trolly jack under a rachet wrench treatment. Just when I thought it was starting to turn, I realised that it was the insert turning in the rubber bush and that the bolt was in fact permenantly rusted in place.

So how bad can it be.? I'm changing the spring and the bushes in the 4x4 leafs are OK. So I saw through the bolt either side (inside) the mounting bracket and the blighter is off.

1st fundemental error. Not measuring the length of the 4x4 springs when I know full-well that the van is longer than a car by some 10".
Well they aint 10 inches longer but they are significantly longer. Bug*er bug*er.

OK so I'll use the original leaf springs... Oh yeah that bush that didn't matter five minutes ago.:eek:

I try drilling it out in situ. Not a chance.

I manage to drive the entire bush out with a couple of sockets and a sledgehammer.
Saving grace.............. I have a small lathe............. I put the bush into the lathe chuck and manage to get a pilot hole through the saw off bolt.
I'm really in with a chance here. "WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG.?"
The final size brill bit manages to push the insert right through the rubber bush.
Bug*er bu*er.

OK; so I have the lathe, I can turn up a new insert and Tiger Seal it back into the rubber bush..... Oh yeah and I'll make another bolt to replace the sawn off one cos no one has any in stock and what I have are an inch too short.

THERE AREN'T A LOT OF PICS IN THIS COS I WAS A TINY BIT MIFFED

I'm off to a beery quiz night so proceeding are halted in the face of impending alcohol.

...........................................................................................................................

It's Sunday. I decline my usual regieme of laying in bed and listening to the 'Archers' omnibus on the radio and get stuck in.

My head hurts and if I lean forward I feel nauseous. I begin to regret sending the girls home and us boys having a 'late one'.

Right; now I am in a position to replace the original rear leaf springs which I didn't actually need to be removed in the first place.

Perfect; back in place, unbolt the two little bits which locate the axle, which undo after WD40 and a deal of patience, and refit them the opposite way so the axle can now be 'hung'.

Unbolt shiney painted axle from 4x4 springs and 'U' bolt it into place onto the Terra springs.
Everything is going very well. The handbrake cable locates perfectly and works better than it did originally.
Time is passing fast, so I just unbolt the brake back plates etc from the Terra axle and fit it onto the van as one unit; leaving the shiney painted items disguarded.
The rear damper are fitting very badly; but I can live with that. This is my daily driver and I need it.

I'm supposed to be going to a family do in the afternoon. Jan goes on her own and I promise that I only have to bleed up the brakes and I'll catch up.

Connect the brake lines and jack up the van off the new (relocated axle) to give myself more room underneath.
With a bang one of the twin fluorescent lights bursts as the roof rack hits it.
Bug*er bug*er. Fortunately the other one still works.

Strangely the brakes bleed up OK. I'm used to bleeding brakes on my own ever since I shouted at someone who was punping the clutch pedal..

All I have to do now is fit the wheels and I'll sort out better damper mounts another time. After all; "WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?"

Did you know that a Terra van axle is 30mm wider than a MK1 Panda or SEAT Marbella one.? NO; nor did I.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:mad:



The wheels bolted up against the leaf springs and didn't turn.

Jan came home from the family do and I moaned and made some templates off the 4x4 axle I have.
I realised that I was going to have to convert the original Terra back axle to fit upside down and might as well make some suitable damper mounts.
On the 4x4 these also carry the handbrake anchor points.
I hate it when I can't do it my way and have to do what the manufacturer designed:mad:



This is a 4x4 damper /handbrake mount



This is my crude copy.

Of course the new damper mounts meant that I had to make inserts to fit the existing bushes



I had bolts but they were too long, so I had to extend the thred down the shank



I ground off all the original fittings from the Terra axle and tack welded the 4x4 style damper mounts in place.

I refitted the axle to check the damper mount positions.
Close but no cigar.
10 PM too late for grinding.
So what was I going to do tomorrow anyhow.??????????????:confused:

 
damn.. i feel your pain man. being a person that somehow attracts continuous strings of bad luck when working on things, i know how you felt.

least you have that little gem of a lathe. man i want one..

ahh so the old saying came true.. if it aint broke, dont touch it.. sadly that does not stand for guys like us. we just cant help ourselves. :D

hope it goes all smooth for you tomorrow!
 
Brilliant story bro(y)It reminds me my struggles with swapping the engine from one bigger fiat to the other smaller , or other funny ideas I had and still have..... It will fit, its "fiat to fiat" transplantation anyway, what can go wrong? Why to bother and read the manuals or compare the data from it? etc ....:D:D

Most rewarding is when "it" finally works:slayer:
 
Wow it fought back right to the end, had to make new top plates (where the 'U' bolts come up through) to clamp the spring to the axle because the old damper mount got in the way (and I wasn't prepared to cut them off the original.

Then, can you believe, turns out I had fitted one Fiat Panda rear hub bearing, in place of the original Terra item, and it was thinner. The brake drum rubbed on the brake back plate.



So this is the result; a 3 to four inch lift. Yep the back wheels are the same size as the front which I haven't raised yet.
Still got that joy to come and I did reckon that the back end was going to be the easy one.

Would I recomend doing this.

Well honestly you would have to be nuts to spend every spare hour for 4 days of solid graft and working until 10 every night.
But as Panda owner, 'nuts' is a natural state; so yes of course it's worth it. Yeh:slayer:
 
Alixcompo said:
Would I recomend doing this.

Well honestly you would have to be nuts to spend every spare hour for 4 days of solid graft and working until 10 every night.
But as Panda owner, 'nuts' is a natural state; so yes of course it's worth it. Yeh:slayer:
Click to expand...
'Course to get properly nuts you now have to stand back and look at your 4 days graft and go 'nah, think I preferred it how it was before, now where did I put that socket set?':devil:
 
I was making some brackets to fit on to round tube the other day and I though it may be of interest how to cut out curves with a grinder.



First job design your brackets using a cardboard template which you can adjust or re-make very easily.

Then mark out (draw around the template) onto your steel trying to reduce any wastage as much as possible.

Not having the funds to own a Plasma cutter I use 1mm cutting discs. Needless to say these cut straight lines only.



So this is what you do. The discs wear down quite quickly so start from the middle (deepest cuts) and work out to the shallow ones as the diameter of the cutting disc reduces.
Then just cut out all the little bits and get on with a vice and a file.


I was making 4 brackets so clamp them all together and they all end up the same size..... In theory...............
 
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Alixcompo said:
I was making some brackets to fit on to round tube the other day and I though it may be of interest how to cut out curves with a grinder.



First job design your brackets using a cardboard template which you can adjust or re-make very easily.

Then mark out (draw around the template) onto your steel trying to reduce any wastage as much as possible.

Not having the funds to own a Plasma cutter I use 1mm cutting discs. Needless to say these cut straight lines only.



So this is what you do. The discs wear down quite quickly so start from the middle (deepest cuts) and work out to the shallow ones as the diameter of the cutting disc reduces.
Then just cut out all the little bits and get on with a vice and a file.


I was making 4 brackets so clamp them all together and they all end up the same size..... In theory...............
Click to expand...

Ingenious! I love it!
 
Well I haven't been doing much to the little van other than driving it recently.

I do keep thinking about changing the front suspension legs to Fiat 4x4 ones.
Hell I've bought new springs.

So tonight I took the next step and made a pair of replacement turret tops as I will be having to cut the present SEAT ones off.



That is the two 3mm discs and the cardboard template I made them from.

For the record I chalked around the template. Cut the shapes out roughly with a grinder.
Clamped them together and dillan 8mm hole in about the center.
Put a nut and bolt through. Held the head of the bolt in my lather chuck and turned the outside round.

Then clamped the two on the table of a bench drill and cut a 57mm hole through the center (using the bolt hole I drilled ) with a 'Starret) cutter.
I forgot to take a pic of that. They cost from about a fiver each and make an easy job of big holes in metal. Just good quality hole cutters.

So when do I cut the turret tops off my suspension......?

After the fun and games with the back end I might have to be pushed before I jump:yuck:
 
I meant to post a pic of a 'Starrat' cutter. Err; so here it is



Best used in a bench drill, cos these thing really bite in, slowest speed possible and lubrication albeit WD40, engine oil anything really just to take the heat away from the teeth which can blunt in seconds.



Of course you have to have a 'carrier' as well. The cutter is just the yellow bit.
You only ever need the one carrier so it is worth the investment.
Yes I have two but that is because I am showing off.
Buy these from tool shop, hardware stores and I think even B&Q used to do them.
You can buy cheaper versions. It's up to you(y)
 
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Not a great deal of change on the little van. I seem to have a few things on the go at the moment so I'm spreading myself thinly. (It isn't often I mention me and thin in the same sentence:))

However; I managed to grab 'Liquid Knights' Fiorino door mirrors before the rest of the van went off to become a Nissen or a drinks can.



Finally I seem to have a pair of mirrors which fit properly and I can actually see something in.(y) Hurrah
Perhaps more importanly it is now possible to shut the doors without then having to re-adjust the mirrors every time.

I mentioned somewhere else that I had stripped the late 'Purple Ronnies' rear (Omega axle) brakes and they turned out to have real, grown up, proper adjusters, just like real cars (I hate those sandwich things)



These are the different back plates



It was a fairly straight forward to swop the late Omega axle brakes onto the 'Live' axle of the van; if you don't include having to re-drill the back plates for new mounting positions and having to make a new handbrake linkages on both sides.

I had the hump and there are, therefore, no pictures.

I am pleased to announce that having spent six hours on this modification (and hearing the gratifying sound of the rear brakes actually self adjusting) that my long travel brake pedal is............ So marginally improved that I hardly notice it.!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The pedal is firmer but the brakes have always been good; just that damn pedal travel.
Each little thing I do does improve them though. Eventually I will end up with a proper 'pedal'.

I just hope I am still young enough to hold a driving license by then:bang:
 
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Had a bit of a scare today.



After a day of shifting cars about the little van was developing a distinct steering wobble and clonk from the nearside front hub.

Today when I was using it (without the extra weight of towing) the wobble and knock was, if anything, worse.

So by now it was radio off to listen, how was I going to cope with the van off the road and......... "Where was it I saw that driveshaft advertised?"

And then I thought "It could be a loose wheel.."

So after 30 minutes angst and driving at 20 mph, I pulled over, took the trusty wheel wrench from under the bonnet and 'blow me' got half a turn on 3 of the n/s front wheel nuts.
How does that happen..? Wheel hasn't been off for weeks..?

But doncha just luvit when a crisis fades into an amusing story(y)
 
Wow, ages since I posted anything for the little van.

I've done over 20,000 miles in it now and still haven't changed the clutch,.

I had to fit a new starter during the last cold snap and the exhaust fell off...

Well that doesn't say it all actually. Three or 4 day a week I do a 120 mile round trip up some big roads.

So one day while cruising up the dual carriageway I noticed the exhaust suddenly sounded a little bit louder. AsI slowed nearing my destination it was much much louder.

When I stopped and looked............... no rear section exhaust.... Gone.. Rubber mounts still in place just no tinware.! Not a bump, ting or crash or thud. That's what raising the rear suspension can do for you......... Normally it's a pain in the arse wiggling the back section box and tailpipe out.

The only thing which seems to have stood in its way was a brake line union which it cracked as it passed.

But the greatest irony by far was the fact that I had noticed, while I was changing the starter motor, that the flexi joint in the front exhaust section was looking a bit threadbare and ragged. So I had ordered and new one. But the rear section and silencer were really good so I was going to reuse that.....

Anyhow. As of today it's on it's third set of secondhand wheels and tyres.

1st set were 165 x 70 14s on Punto steel rims. Then I went for a set of 13" Cinquento alloys (which will be migrating to another Panda) but these are 165 x 70 14s on Punto Alloys for £50. A mint set of matching tyres which should last a very long time. The little van really prefers 14" wheels and drives very nicely on them.

So here it is

 
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