Changing the Pop kingpins

Jonny69

Jonny69

Jonny69

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Got the nod from a mate that there was a space in his garden to do the kingpins on the Pop so blatted over there this morning. There was a bit too much play in one side which makes the steering a bit vague and it wanders about on the road. For anyone that doesn't know kingpins are what the wheels steer on and you just replace them when they get worn.

Fitted a new condensor because the other one I bodged on was playing up a bit but I couldn't get the engine to fire at first because there was no spark. Then all of a sudden it kicked into life so the old one must have charred the points up a bit or something. Also noticed a loose stud in the head was spewing out a bit of water, did it back up real tight and the engine suddenly has a lot more power and is a bit quieter. Bonus.

Spent the afternoon stripping down the front end and I now have two very diddy very grubby Pop spindles in my small toolbox, yes they are that small, ready to clean up for some new bushes. They were a sod to get off, the securing pin was jammed in and wouldn't have come out if it wasn't for my mate's comedy oversize splitter and the kingpins themselves needed some serious beating with my big hammer to shift them.

I was expecting the bushes to be knackered but actually there is heavy pitting and a step on the actual kingpins. Ironically the new pins are a good fit and I could probably get away with not changing the bushes, doing the reaming etc but for the sake of doing things properly and doing things once I'll go the whole hog. It was surprising how much movement there was so I've got my fingers crossed that this is really going to tighten up the steering. Someone tell me it will be so...

Spose you'll be wanting some substandard overexposed phone pics...

Pop spindle complete with wheel bearings:
kingpin1.jpg


Top of the kingpin, you can see the pitting:
kingpin2.jpg


Old kingpin next to a new one, you can see the step and the wear:
kingpin3.jpg


Hopefully will drop them over to another mate on Tuesday who's good at this sort of stuff who can press in the new bushes and line ream them for me, then it's back on the road again.
 
MrSix said:
So what's the plan for this pop then? Keep it standard or big power 'rod?
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Standard-ish as it's my daily. I'm going to build another engine for it with some tuning goodies, I'll mill the head down to up the compression, turn the valve stems down to aid flow and use a bumpier cam, twin carbs and I'll weld up a tubular manifold. Just enough to motorvate it a bit better and sound nice and healthy. Not got any plans to gut it for an 8 as that's major conversion work and I like it how it is :D
 
Probably 45-50hp, not a serious amount but 50% up on the standard 30 :D
 
lol - how much does the thing weigh?

Is it really worth doing all of that for such minimal gains?
 
The power gains are relative to the original power and the weight of the car, so it probably is worthwhile.

It's the equivalent of taking a Sierra Cosworth to just over 300bhp if you like.
 
Mathematically yes, but there's a difference between a 50% gain on a Seirra Cosworth and a 50% gain on a sewing machine.
What engines do they transplant in to these when making the hotrods?
 
MrSix said:
What engines do they transplant in to these when making the hotrods?
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Flathead Ford V8 if you just want to do lots of work, small-block Ford/Chevy if you want to do lots more work :)
 
Yes it is worth it because it builds a lot more power across the rev range and the maximum rpm goes up from a measly 4500rpm to a better 6000rpm. As it stands I have to rebuild an engine anyway so lathing down the valves and milling the head (which is about an evenings work) is no beef to me. At 750-800kg it isn't very heavy and 45-50hp puts it into a small new hatchback acceleration bracket. I wouldn't put any more through it because I don't intend to change the braking system. You can almost direct swap in the engine from the 100E and that can get 60hp+ but it needs extra stuff like a cut-up sump, different hoses, alternator doesn't then fit etc. With a hot pop engine I can just swap it in one evening or weekend and drive it to work the next day.

Because of the vintage suspension system you can't swap just the engine and box to a more modern 4 pot. The axle is mounted on an A frame with a torque tube rather than a prop and that all pivots off a huge eyeball on the back of the gearbox. Swap one bit and you have to change the lot, then you have to change the braking system to hydraulic which means a different pedal box, sort out some kind of clutch mechanism etc etc etc. This is why you see a lot of V8 pops because if you do it you might as well go the whole hog.
 
sniper007 said:
And it's called one because? ;)
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Same reason a Focus or Mondeo are called what they are. Ford though "Popular" would sound good. They sold around 150,000 of the buggers so the name was reasonably accurate.
 
sniper007 said:
And it's called one because? ;)
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Ford Popular 103E, generally known as the Ford Pop :)

Edit: Popular was like their poverty spec range that they used up to the bottom of the range Mk3 Escort I think.
 
Zip said:
How many are still alive? :confused:
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No idea. Nowhere near as many as were built, but they aren't ultra rare. A lot have been chopped up and V8'ed of course :)
 
I would say it would be quite fun with that amount of power. Just right I bet for it.

So that will increase the top speed from 62mph, so hopefully you can do 70. :D

Those extra revs should help a lot with the long difference between 2nd and 3rd gear, especially up hills.
 
Oh man gotta love old cars and their simplicity, its nigh on impossible to work on new cars now, opened the bonnet on the ST today to see what i could easily do on it, pretty much nothing is easily accesible.
 
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