Build Problems
	Rear Axle: Mine came from the Mk2 Escort I bought. Ford don't service many of the parts any more (no bearings, no pinion oil seal, though they did have a differential gasket), but the brake parts were available from the local motorspares shop. I replaced the cylinders and shoes: to make the rear brakes dual circuit, I used two cylinders which have bleed valves - the original axle is on one circuit with only one cylinder having an inlet, the other one being fed in-line from it. The only problem I came across with the axle, was the location of the shock absorber mounting: I put mine in the top of the bracket which I made up as per the book, but when I assembled the axle and suspension I found that there was no clearance between the bottom of the axle and the frame: the suspension units (14" extended, as the book specifies, and very expensive - they are AVO units) were too long for the space available. The solution was to cut a slot in the back of each bracket and weld a 1/2" bolt into it, projecting inwards - this forms the bottom mounting point. The top of the bracket then had to be trimmed to allow clearance for the bottom of the shock absorber.
	FU2 I wondered about Ron's choice of name for this piece, and I can still only think that it was deliberate. FU1 and FU2 are the two tubes which form the rear mounting point for the upper front wishbone, and there is no mention in the book of where they are supposed to be located. I left them out for as long as possible, only adding them after most of the frame had been finished. When I came to doing the suspension mounting brackets, I found two things: first, you can't line up the lower wishbone brackets with the FU tubes in place because they prevent you from putting a guide rod through the brackets. Second, if you line up the top outside edge of the FU tubes with the outside of the chassis, the top wishbones are out of line. So both tubes had to be cut out and new ones made. You will have to combine the fitting of the tubes with the process of aligning the front suspension. It's great fun, I can assure you.
	Rear Suspension mounting: not my idea, I think it came from the Newsletter. Use a section of 50 by 50 by 3mm RHS instead of two fabricated brackets: it makes the whole job faster and easier because you can fix it to the frame more accurately. NB: drill the holes before you cut off the open face of the bracket, otherwise the walls bend as you drill and the holes don't line up properly.
	Suspension brackets. I thought I would make up my own brackets from 3mm strip. It took me about an hour to decide this was not a good idea - I could not make them accurately enough, and the thought of making 24 brackets was enough to send me to the Newsletter to check out Sculptural Engineering, who sent me my brackets almost by return. Life is definitely too short for some things.
	....But not if you read Ian Carter's message which details a much faster and more accurate method - Click here