I am thinking of reproducing cast steel cortina uprights
do you think there is still a market for them or are builders moving away from
that design and using other uprights.
The big question at what price do you
think they will sell at

[Edited on 18/6/07 by nealg]

why dont we use triumph ones like catering van, if they use them they must be good.

[Edited on 18/6/07 by graememk]

Cortina is often prefered over sierra. Sierra is used because they are more common and are free with your donor car, if you buy a complete car. Good cortina replacement uprights would find plenty of homes if the price is right. Therein lies the difficulty.

quote:

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Originally posted by nealg
I am thinking of reproducing cast steel cortina uprights
do you think there is still a market for them or are builders moving away from
that design and using other uprights.
The big question at what price do you
think they will sell at

[Edited on 18/6/07 by nealg]

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I think the fact that an individual or company hasn't done it already suggests it just isn't viable or worth it. The tooling and manufacturing costs would be beyond the reach of most individuals and even if that money could be found, the selling price would then be too high for most potential buyers. This would reduce the volume demand and drive the unit price even higher. Have you looked at the Race Leda alloy versions of the Cortina and Sierra uprights - they're not cheap!

Also, if the money and inclination were available I would imagine a purpose designed upright would be the better approach rather than to copy something that people use because it's readily available and cheap.

[Edited on 18/6/07 by nick205]

interesting ... so why not improve on the original, say going for aluminiium alloy - same strangth but lighter.

rally design - recleda? - sell uprights, I believe to be alloy.

I thk there is a market but since old cortina have not totally dried up, then people will be interested.

find out how mcuh the alloy ones are and if you can sell you cast ones for say 1/4 -1/3 the price, then it is vaialbe.

My ex-brother in law worked at an engineering firm and when he saw the Cortina front uprights I was using he remarked that they were practically identical to some replacements they were making at the time for Massey Ferguson tractors.

and bear in mind that chevette/manta/mk1 cavalier uprights are not exactly hard to come by and are a very similar design to cortina

Cortina Stub Axles.

These were made by more than one company. At least one supplier is no
longer in business. However, SDF
forgings, in Kiddermenster, is still in business. Tel 01562 823451
The may still have a set of dies for
producing them. If you look at a stub axle with SDF stamped on it, the die number will be next to it. There will be different numbers for RH and LH versions.
Try contacting them to see if they have any remaining dies and if so what the economics are. Don't forget that the
raw forgings will have to be machined also.

Mal.

Would there be any advantage in making them out of steel? Aluminium Cortina replacements are already available, MNR do powder coated versions of the Raceleda upright for £155 a pair for a complete kit http://www.mnrltd.co.uk/p_parts_suspension.htm
By the way did anyone else not know that MNR have taken over Raceleda? or am I a bit on the slow side?Seeing as this happened last September

quote:

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Originally posted by 40inches
Would there be any advantage in making them out of steel? Aluminium Cortina replacements are already available, MNR do powder coated versions of the Raceleda upright for £155 a pair for a complete kit

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Right! missed the fact that they are steel