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You've bought wagon drop links again. They have M10 & M8 fittings as the ARBs are different, as are the wishbones, so they align differently.
If you actually looked at the post you quoted you can clearly see the Whiteline links have the same diameter (M10) bolts & the old eBay links are M8 & M10.
Also the Whiteline part number: KLC32 is clearly visible on the instructions. See for yourself...
So yesterday was eventful, family day out to Surrey rolling road...
Which ended up like this:
Can't complain about the figures seeing as the car is still basically standard PPP but I was hoping the remap would bring the power in earlier. It hangs on hard in the top end but there's no gains in the 1st half of the rev range.
I guess that's as good as it gets with a sports cat in & while it probably doesn't sap power at this level a decat would improve spool. As would a set of Harvey-Smith ported headers & a trick up-pipe.
I thought the same originally but, depending upon which whiteline website you go on it does state that they are designed for alloy arms and the fitting sheet clearly shows them being fitted to alloy arms (front and rear) BUT ONLY WITH THE OEM BAR.
However I'd personally stay with OEM,ball joint type or as all the whiteline kits show, the whiteline ball joint version KLC139
Last edited by Don Clark; 05 June 2020 at 05:34 PM.
How did the headliner take the dye? I want to do the manky ex smokers grey headliner in my Bugeye black to match the flocking of the dash and pillar trims and dye would be so much cheaper and easier than flocking the whole thing.
How did the headliner take the dye? I want to do the manky ex smokers grey headliner in my Bugeye black to match the flocking of the dash and pillar trims and dye would be so much cheaper and easier than flocking the whole thing.
Hi Mate,
It went on easy, I just put the dye in a spray bottle & cracked on. The plastic backing of the headliner is like a thin fibreglass & the material itself is also very thin (#SubaruLife) so if you go too heavy with the dye it just runs off & pools
I've seen people Alcantara lining their headliners & I just figured that would be way to much aggro & this was a lot more straightforward. At one point I wondered why I didn't just spray paint it, but that's rough even by my standards
There are 3 screws around the handle & the rest of the panel is glued with plastic rivets. Once you drill / cut the rivets they're basically ****ed as they're cheap **** moldings on the inner piece. I was going to try some short self tapping screws into what was left of the moldings but in the end I didn't bother & just attempted to stick them back together with a £6 comedy glue got off Amazon.
Originally I didn't want to use double sided tape as it would space the panels out but I think that would be the best option. Then drive a few self tapping screws from behind into the area where the arm rest is to add some strength.
Last edited by Kaosone; 15 January 2021 at 05:58 PM.
My rear shocks have been knocking for a year or two & it eventually got so bad the car, couldn't handle weight transfer & basically the whole thing started knocking in an attempt to rattle itself to bits
Points to take from here are...
1. 17 years old & done 110k (assuming they're original) so I got my monies worth out of them
2. Upgrade time
So I ordered these, Meister R Zeta CRD's
Which are nice ...
Beauty & the Beast...
I am ashamed to admit I am more excited to get the pressure washer out & cleaning all this up, than I am currently about the actual coilovers. However I am expecting great things.
Last edited by Kaosone; 15 January 2021 at 06:46 PM.
So with everything torqued & back in one piece, I set the damping to 8 out from softest (of 32 settings), based on feedback from here & off I went
So first up the bumpiest road I know & also one I drive most days. Didn't like it, too bouncy, car was all over the place. I added a couple of clicks of firmer damping followed by a couple more, then another three & finally I added 5 more clicks to take me up to a total of 20 clicks from the softest or 12 clicks out from the firmest setting.
So now the suspension was firm & it felt similar to how it was before, a little softer maybe but also that could be me feeling new smoother damping from a new shock. After a bit of a shakedown test, trying to feel out what was going on I found while the ride was firm, there was now quite a bit of body roll on hard corners (which was one of my first complaints about the car before I fitted the Eibach springs & Whiteline rear ARB).
It's apparent I've been trying to replicate how the car felt previously, so as I drive it more need to focus on improving how it is to get the best out of it. The first thing on the list is to stiffen the rear ARB which makes sense as I've come from a firmer spring to a softer one, so it's less effective so this will factor into the setup too.
During one of my damping adjustment stops I measured the ride height & if I remember correctly it was 330m rear & 340mm front which is 10mm lower on the rear & 5mm lower at the front. I'll keep an eye on in case it settles more & then probably up the rear by 5mm to match the drop in the front, so the whole car is 5mm lower all round...
It does look low in the back, but this setup only requires me to adjust two struts
It'll need an alignment after the ride height is set but no rush (money)
Last edited by Kaosone; 18 January 2021 at 06:44 PM.
Interesting the balance you found with your setup. On my Foz I changed the rear ARB to a 22mm adjustable just before the shocks were fitted and all the end links to solid whiteline ones. Even on something like 8 and 10 clicks it felt totally planted and had more contact with the road than the previous setup by miles. Body roll throuigh corners was almost totally flat but without losing traction, was such a great setup.
On the new MY15 STI I have gone with the same clicks and it feels great. Admitedly I haven't pushed the car as far as the foz yet so don't know if it will highlight issues with the standard arb or not. That's next on the list to upgrade to be honest. I found the arb and endlink combo to make such a difference.
Those Meisters do get some good reviews, I was vacillating between changing to these or getting my KW's refurbished as it's basically the same price.
I'd be interested to hear your feedback once they have settled in.
Interesting the balance you found with your setup. On my Foz I changed the rear ARB to a 22mm adjustable just before the shocks were fitted and all the end links to solid whiteline ones. Even on something like 8 and 10 clicks it felt totally planted and had more contact with the road than the previous setup by miles. Body roll through corners was almost totally flat but without losing traction, was such a great setup.
On the new MY15 STI I have gone with the same clicks and it feels great. Admitedly I haven't pushed the car as far as the foz yet so don't know if it will highlight issues with the standard arb or not. That's next on the list to upgrade to be honest. I found the arb and endlink combo to make such a difference.
I am sure I was just trying to replicate how firm the old setup was as that's what I was used to...
I had a suspicion I could feel each shock working independently & I confirmed this again today, where as before it would just jar through to the otherside of the car.
When I fitted the springs a test drive revealed the car was much stiffer & this cut down a lot of the body roll I wasn't happy with (& I recall thinking if I'd need the rear ARB). However I'd bought it & had it powdercoated so on it went along with the Whiteline droplinks. Test drive #2 the car was noticeably stiffer again, but also much harsher as a bump on one side of the rear would now jar through the car to the other side.
I am missing that jarring. The shocks feel well damped but the mildly bouncy & loose feeling is down to needing to up the anti-roll bar to get that side to side rigidity back (which was also apparent via body roll when cornering hard).
Maybe once the ARB is cranked up the shocks will feel too stiff & need backing but I'll need to pull my finger out & sort it first
Originally Posted by adam.pah
Those Meisters do get some good reviews, I was vacillating between changing to these or getting my KW's refurbished as it's basically the same price.
I'd be interested to hear your feedback once they have settled in.
I'd image the KW's (assuming they're Variant 3's) are in another league. Do they have high & low speed compression damping?
Last edited by Kaosone; 18 January 2021 at 07:12 PM.
I'd image the KW's (assuming they're Variant 3's) are in another league. Do they have high & low speed compression damping?[/QUOTE]
I believe they are variant 3 yes. They have always been very firm but I haven't played with them at all. I'm guessing they were set up with track use in mind.
My mechanic has kind of put me off getting them refurbished. He said that technology has moved on a lot in recent years and there are plenty of nice nice option now (he may just be after my cash though!)
KW told me they are 12 years old, they haven't done much mileage in that time and they feel good I just feel that anything that old needs a refresh!
Getting them refurbished is £174+vat per corner, so around £840 all in!! I thought that was pretty steep while they still feel good so have left it for now.
If I can get it on track this year then I will see how they feel. I've got a day at Snetterton booked for early March but I don't think that'll go ahead now.
I believe they are variant 3 yes. They have always been very firm but I haven't played with them at all. I'm guessing they were set up with track use in mind.
My mechanic has kind of put me off getting them refurbished. He said that technology has moved on a lot in recent years and there are plenty of nice nice option now (he may just be after my cash though!)
KW told me they are 12 years old, they haven't done much mileage in that time and they feel good I just feel that anything that old needs a refresh!
Getting them refurbished is £174+vat per corner, so around £840 all in!! I thought that was pretty steep while they still feel good so have left it for now.
If I can get it on track this year then I will see how they feel. I've got a day at Snetterton booked for early March but I don't think that'll go ahead now.
If they feel fine, just crack on. They may be 12 years old but they're a high quality item & low miles like you say
Admittedly I watch a lot of YouTube so I am biased, but KW's seem to be the coilover to have & while the refresh is about the same cost I think you'd end up with a better product refreshing the KW's (or sell these & buy a new set & cost might work out about the same if you could get a grand for them).
Good to see you're still contemplating throwing money at it anyway
Last edited by Kaosone; 19 January 2021 at 12:09 AM.
If they feel fine, just crack on. They may be 12 years old but they're a high quality item & low miles like you say
Admittedly I watch a lot of YouTube so I am biased, but KW's seem to be the coilover to have & while the refresh is about the same cost I think you'd end up with a better product refreshing the KW's (or sell these & buy a new set & cost might work out about the same if you could get a grand for them).
Good to see you're still contemplating throwing money at it anyway
The throwing money at it doesn't stop!
I just wish I had the time (and knowledge) to work on it myself, I'm always paying someone else which doubles the costs.
If I'm honest, I don't think I'll be driving it much once I've collected the spec c so it could very well be for sale again in a couple of months time.
The wife wants to upgrade the family car and she wants a VW caravelle. My eyes dropped out of my heads when I saw the list price for what is effectively a van, so the cash would come in handy too.
So 3 weeks after fitting the coilovers it's finally time to pull my finger out & work on the setup. My rear Whileline ARB is on the "*****" setting...
Moved it to the big boy one
Finally my I raised the car 5mm on the rear (the front dropped by 5mm on the coilovers & the rears dropped 10mm, so now they're equal). Original measurement of the threads was 82mm...
So 82mm + 5mm = 87mm & the car's now level (or whatever)
So still with the damping on 20 (20 out from softest or, 12 in from hardest) I went for a thrash. Initial impression: Car is very harsh.
It wants to oversteer & the back feels like it wants to come round. Backed 5 clicks off the damping & continued my "research"...
Car is still noticeably harsh. Hard(ish) cornering in 3rd & it still "feels" a little tail happy, but less so as the shocks soak it up nicer (rather than loading up the opposite side). Further research in a controlled environment (an empty industrial estate) reveals it wont actually break loose at the rear while loading it up out of a corner.
Maybe it would have in 2nd but if I do feel like testing that, it’ll be after getting an alignment / geometry adjustment now the car's lower & level (& also as I fcuked up the front camber while swapping the shocks ).
Last edited by Kaosone; 07 February 2021 at 12:40 PM.
Nice write up bud 👍
A good geo can make a massive difference so it’ll be good to here how it feels after that. Have you got any plans to get it on track?
01 June 2020, 07:49 AM
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