That mount is too nice to be hid underneath.
Looking forward to a rebuilt head picture. Good luck with the clearance issues.
 

Hi all
Not a lot happening with the RS but a lot going on in the background.
I was looking at the USA for some performance bits for the Zetec and couldn't help myself
I came across the Tilton master cylinder kits and as they were reasonable money i thought I'd buy and compare to the Wilwoods i have.
These kits retail for <$90 and come complete with a universal reservoir kit including the hose. I will be using the remote mount "spiggot" adapter to run the hose from my reservoir mounted ontop of the bulk head (see earlier posts).
A primary reason I looked into thses was the push rod is threaded further down the shaft which allows more adjustment as the "nose" on the Tilton ballance bar is 15mm longer than the Rally Design gear. I could easily run the thread further down the Wilwood one if I pleased.
They're also much shorter than the Wilwood item although you still need to include the pipe fitting on the end of the Tilton.
I thought this may also provide some info if others are looking at alternative options.
 

Well it's been over 12 months since an update!!
After scrapping the previous gearbox cross member I moved onto a more universal approach not unlike the WCXM.
I found some decent sized rubber bushes and machined the threads from some pipe fittings to house them.
16mm dynabolt sleeves proved to be ideal crush tubes for the bushes and with some square tube it was all fabricated to adapt to the original steel case mounting plate.
Laser cut and bent 2mm plate for the chassis pickup points although the underside of the shell is a little flimsy - they're only tek screwed at the moment to assess fitment. When it comes time to secure the shell side of the mounts I will plate a larger area of the underside and extend this to the verticle faces of the tunnel - this will provide a larger area to distribute the load.
All tacked up into position so I can now remove the engine to continue with the body work
 
 
 

Looks the biz Paulie - very nice work!

Good work mate, and nice to see some progress.

Cheers

Thanks!
At least that takes the pressure off posting progress for another year
 

OK, now the gearbox mount is done I spent today removing the engine and gearbox to continue on with the rust repairs.
Images of what I started with and after a few hours I have removed the damaged panels and now I need to rebuild the layers.
More to come.
 

Yerp, just like my mk1 van... Check at the top of the splash guards too above the drip rail . That's the area where the bonnet release lever lives , this spot might be swiss cheese as well :'(.
Nice to see yu back into RS mode again Paul .

Hi Marty
I have had a good look to see what else is lurking and can't see anything else so hoping this is the end of my "surprises"!

Well made a small step forward by making the repair sections for the bulk head to repair the rust in the above post.
Decided to do it in 2 sections to match the original panels. This meant making a section which is the extension of the firewall which extends up and over the top of the inner wing and also forms the drip channel. Then the 2nd which finishes the drip channel and goes over the lot. I will then rivet to hold it all together and then plug weld each panel in position as per the original spot welds.
There is a small section of the bottom repair which is bent @ 90 deg to meat up with the original firewall section which will be welded from inside the shell. I then need to repair the mounting point for the bonnet hinge and attach said hinge.