Scarlet

[NZTiger]

When the longer TCA's were fitted the Brake reaction rods and mountings also changed which would have been done to keep the camber angle.

However I have used the longer TCA's with the early Brake reaction rods, but swapped the mountings right to left and then reversed them which reduces the camber change.

Or on my rally car I still use the early BRR and mounting in std position as this increases the camber angle which is good for gravel.

BUT more important is you need to change the steering rack to the Chrysler rack as the arms are longer, the early racks do not have enough thread on the ends to set the toe in with the longer TCA's

[Scarlet]

Thanks for that )

[Scarlet]

The dash was in quite a sad condition when I bought Scarlet, which was typical for a 40 year old dash.
There were two major cracks at each corner where the speaker grill goes on top and a major crack on the drivers side end, along with a number of other minor cracks.
I wanted to keep the dash as it did not have a hole cut out for the radio or any other switch cut-outs, so my only option was to have a go at repairing it.
There was no information on the net on how to do a home repair on the dash so it was a lot of experimenting to see what worked and what did not
The best results was fibreglass and a skim of filler putty then sprayed with flat black vinyl spray.
The only trick is to dig out the foam from under the good vinyl so the fibreglass fills it to give the vinyl a firm base to stop it from flexing, otherwise the join will expand and crack as soon as the sun hits it.

[Scarlet]

This was the worst area and the hardest to get right as the dash had bowed up where the two splits were

[Scarlet]

The engine will be last on the list of things to do, but in the meantime I have gathered the bits and pieces necessary to build a fast road spec engine. as well I am still gathering information written by David Vizard on how to build one.
Scarlet has done about 75000 kilometres and is fitted with the original 1600 single carb engine, but it appears to be a hybrid Alpine/Super engine, and as best as I can tell it has never been apart.
It has the duel valve springs and the Lucas 43D distributor fitted, it also has the wider duplex timing cover but is fitted with simplex gears (Ross took the sump off to have a look when he owned it) I am hoping it is fitted with the Alpine spec camshaft as David Vizard says they are the weapon of choice.
In the photo are the compulsory twin carbs, exhaust and fuel line T piece, duplex gears and chain, new old stock connecting rod bolts.
Of interest are the new old stock 1.55" inlet and 1.34" exhaust valves as fitted to the Tiger models.

[Scarlet]

I am installing the front suspension Superpro poly busk kit, after reading NZTiger advice I decided to keep the original brake reaction  rod in the original set up position, in theory to give more caster for straight line stability.
Mum cat checks it out.

[Scarlet]

Photo of Scarlets TC style dash and rev-counter, I once thought these rev-counters were specifically made for the TC/Tiger models and would be almost impossible to find one.
But they were just an after market rev-counter made by Smiths in 1969, there were three on eBay when I bought mine and judging by the bidding, are still highly sought after.
The oil pressure and volt meter gauges were only made for the earlier Smiths panel not the later Veglia panel that was originally fitted.
Other addition is the ribbed handbrake cover that some models were fitted with.

[Scarlet]

The parts manual calls this a "transmission guard" ,they were not fitted to every model-including Scarlet.
The bolt holes were already there, so it was simple to fit
The reason I fitted this item was to tie the two underfloor chassis rails together, my theory was to add a bit more strength to the chassis?

[Scarlet]

I found some factory "heavy duty" Avenger front springs.
Heavy duty spring is on the left next to the standard spring, both are for the right hand side, if the paint code were still visible it would be Green.
Heavy duty spring is 100 lb/inch ,standard spring is 80 lb/inch.

For the scrap yard hunter ,as the paint code will probably be long gone and you probably cant measure the free length as it will be compressed in the strut ,this is what you are looking for (R/H spring) number of turns is 7, standard is 7.6, wire gauge = 12.3 mm, standard is 11.5.

[Scarlet]

After a lot of thought on what style wheel I should put on Scarlet, I chose to go the sleeper look and decided to use the standard 5J x 13 steel rims and standard hubcaps. They came up quite nice with a coat of silver wheel paint.
Tyres are Toyo Proxes RA1 185/60/13

[Scarlet]

The front suspension is fitted with the superpro poly bush kit.
One thing I changed since I posted the photo of the brake reaction arm with the poly bush fitted (has cat in photo), I changed the mounting block to the later Chrysler item. I do not know if the bush was made specifically for the later mounting block, but the bush fits a lot better, they look the same on the outside but are different internally.
Another thing I did not realise is that if you retro fit the cross-member reinforcing bracket you also need to add the spacer between the sway bar and the bracket as seen in the photo,you will also need the longer bolts that are used.

With the longer Chrysler lower arms the camber worked out at, Left +0.36 degrees ,Right +0.38 degrees, accurate set up is made possible by the factory slotted cross-member bolt holes.

I still have a lot more work to do to the front and rear suspension, but as it stands Scarlet has come a long way in the handling department, the front end is now quite sharp and accurate.
The biggest difference to the front suspension I noticed came from reinforcing the engine cross-member and fitting the heavy duty springs.
The biggest difference to the rear suspension came from fitting the superpro bush kit.
At this stage front and rear shocks are still standard.    

That rust coloured tie rod end is brand new, it was silver when I installed it        

[Scarlet]

The late model Chrysler steering rack, also necessary if the longer Chrysler lower track control arms are used.

[Scarlet]

My little stash I scored off an Avenger GLS that was being broken down for parts.
Twin carb air-filter and fittings.
Twin carb throttle cable and fittings and the Twin carb choke cable.
Sport steering wheel that was fitted to some Avenger models. (I have given it a freshen up.)
Gingerbread Man posing with the parts.

[Scarlet]

The Sport wheel fitted to Scarlet.
I think this wheel suits the strip panel better than the round gauge panel that it was originally in.
Although you cannot see it in this photo, but since the last interior photo, I have replaced the passengers door pocket with one that had  a better chrome strip.

[vitamin c avenger]

Hey cool mods on scarlet! Where abouts did you buy all your replacement suspension bushes? Cheers