wrighty338

iTrader: (33)

intrigued to know what you do for a living now?!
unit looks good

Danny Boy

iTrader: (2)

Hi there wrighty, thanks for the compliment on the unit, it was a grain shed when we got it and after a lot of hard work and more than a few bucket fulls of paint its come up quite nicely Hopefully this will provide a good home for my business to grow into in the years to come.

I actually work in Live Sound. The pics on the previous page were from the Oasis 2009 Stadium tour. Top one Wembley Stadium and the bottom one Slane Castle just outside Dublin. Its been a bit of a fun time for the audio department lately on that tour, more than a few power issues and most of them not our fault at all! I also run my own PA hire business renting out sound systems to promoters etc. It's not my system in wembley stadium i hasten to add, i would never aim my company to be that big, i'm quite happy servicing regional shows however i do work on the big shows for other larger UK audio rental companies.

Cars has always been a hobby of mine, always enjoyed tinkering but was also always frustrated with working on the drive in the p1ssing rain.
I have always been a right tool for the right job type of guy and now i have some space i can finally do some of the stuff i have thought about for ages

wrighty338

iTrader: (33)

fair bloody play mate sounds more interesting then my job anyway! id love a unit like that with my own business and space to tinker

Danny Boy

iTrader: (2)

One advantage of renting a unit on a farm is that you can usually talk the farmers into lending a hand with a bit of machinery



The Manitou made very light work of what was a very heavy four man lift, that ramp might be old but it was very well built!

Danny Boy

iTrader: (2)

Finished, all in place and wired up. The electrics cost almost half as much as the ramp!



And the test subject is hoisted aloft



Now that has stayed there overnight i'll chance my handywork with the impreza.

wrighty338

iTrader: (33)

jealous lol

Danny Boy

iTrader: (2)

I would have said exactly the same 6 months ago.

Been down to APi to pick up the rest of the parts i'm going to fit with the new struts.

Front & Rear Strut brace
Lower front H Frame
Rear subframe lock kit
Front of diff carrier bushes
Roll centre adjustment kit

Danny Boy

iTrader: (2)

Ive had a front wheel bearing that's been on its way out for a few weeks now but has got dramatically worse over this weekend so i think i'm going to have to advance the plans to get that fixed. Hopefully ill get the front hubs off early next week and down to API to get some new bearings pressed in. I have a feeling that the one that's going has eaten the hub as well though

I have also ordered some POR15 anti corrosion chassis paint from Frosts to tart up the hubs and other grimy suspension bits whilst they are off.

On the tarty front has anyone had any experience with the relatively cheap clarke/sealey parts washers? Are they worth a punt or just a waste of money?

Clarke CW1D Floor Standing Parts Washer - Machine Mart

Danny Boy

iTrader: (2)

I think my car has it in for me at the moment. It ate the alternator belt on the way home tonight. On the plus side i still managed to get all the way home from Junc 9 on the M40 where it went to Solihull on just the battery and no power steering!
Only just made it though the dash stopped working just as i pulled into the drive, turned it off and now she is dead and doing the no battery clicky solenoid thing.
Battery charger overnight and a new belt in the week, hopefully nothing more sinister.

P20SPD

iTrader: (1)

Danny, sounds like our ramp bargain we got.

wrighty338

iTrader: (33)

thats a bugger, maybe just your cars way of saying 'gimme a new aux belt' haha

that parts washer looks alreet wish i had one

P20SPD

iTrader: (1)

Dan, i have that parts washer, and its been great when i have used it. The key thing is the fluid, which really needs changing regularly to get the best effect. Its very good if you have something REALLY messy though, as it contains all the crap.

I tend to use the dishwasher more though Used it 5 times yesterday on quick wash at 40c Good job Emma doesnt mind!

Danny Boy

iTrader: (2)

Hi Steven

Yes the ramp was a bargain, i mean for all the hassle it saves it was worth every penny of the 600 quid. The plaque on the side says installed in May 1990 so its almost 20 years old and still going strong. Built properly, not like the new Chinese rubbish!
Only thing that's a little bit of a pain is that it has a base you have to drive over but for the money you cant complain

Danny Boy

iTrader: (2)

Right, i charged the battery this morning so she would start and got her onto the ramp to begin stripping the front suspension down. Its a bit of a PITA when you have no power steering but we got there in the end.



Whats left of the PS / Alternator belt

Danny Boy

iTrader: (2)

I got a couple of hours at it this evening and got both the front front hubs off, not without incident mind you. In the hub i think is toast anyway the ABS sensor retaining bolt snapped off and more annoyingly in the hub that was probably ok, the bolt that holds the bottom ball joint in sheared off too despite dowsing the whole thing in plus gas and leaving to soak in for a while.
That leaves me with probably having to get two new / sh hubs.

Also the DS2500 pads seem to have welded themselvs into the AP calipers so hard that when trying to remove them one of the pads actually cracked up and its fubar, so it going to need a new set of front pads too. Never been enamored with the DS2500's anyway so maybe ill go back to pagid blacks like i had in the OEM four pots or maybe some PF stuff as i have heard some good things about them. Not sure which ones though.

Spot the missing bits


Oh here they are!


More new shiny bits


So the new shopping list says.

Front Hubs *2?
Split pins
Drive shaft retaining nuts *4
Some new bolts for whatever hubs turn up.
Front Brake pads Pagid / PF.

wrighty338

iTrader: (33)

no joke when you said it ate the belt eh lol!

Danny Boy

iTrader: (2)

Most of the shopping list is now complete, the hubs have been weighed in and got some s/h new ones with new bearings from API. As usual, great quick service from David and the guys at API, i just turn up with a list of what i have broken and new stuff just appears in Davids office whilst i drink tea
Just got to get some split pins and some lithium grease tomorrow to lube up the existing poly bushes and track down the delivery of paint that was signed for my someone on the farm who seems not to exist!
Then its the big push at the weekend, we will see how far i can get before something else breaks

Danny Boy

iTrader: (2)

The last day and a half has seen quite a lot of progress even though most of it has been late into the evening.

Got the new front hubs all painted up and also removed the lower front wishbones and painted them up too.



It was looking a little sorry for its self with all the front suspension missing.



Whilst the paint was drying on the front hubs i whipped the rear ARB off which is a whiteline adjustable one, it's been on there for a good 5 years and it's finish has not fared very well at all.



about 45 mins later after a lot of attacking it with an angle grinder fitted with a wire brush wheel it looked more like metal again.





It's now painted black and does not look like a bag o sh1te anymore
i also tarted up all the ARB mounts whilst i was there too.

Danny Boy

iTrader: (2)

It was then time to start putting stuff back together, refitting the bottom wishbone and re greasing everything as we go.
You can also see the whiteline roll centre adjust kit fitted now along with the new Exe-tc struts.

Roll Centre Kit


Coming back together


I got both sides all fitted up just FT, that's Finger tight not the other FT!
Then got the top and bottom strut braces on too. One of the manuals i had downloaded from somewhere had all the torque settings in so the next job was to torque everything to spec then look at getting the brakes back on.



The bl00dy brakes took me most of the rest of the day as they were intent on hindering me every step of the way. Eventually i got both sides fitted along with some new PF pads. At the moment the drivers side pad retaining bolt is missing as i need to get a new one on Monday as the thread was fubar.



The last thing i managed today was to strip down one rear quarter and paint up a few bits. Decided to call it a day as it was 11pm.



Hopefully tomorrow will see most of the rest of the rear end done and hopefully i can see it on the floor at its new ride height

wrighty338

iTrader: (33)

good work mate, what do the roll centre kits do?

Danny Boy

iTrader: (2)

The roll centre kit uses a set of longer ball joints to retain the steering geometry when you have had a drop in ride height. I was going to renew the ball joints anyway with the suspension refurb so i thought it would be rude not to do this

Danny Boy

iTrader: (2)

The car is now back together and running again, off for its MOT and laser alignment and corner weighting on wednesday.
Initial impressions are that the suspension is firmer than i was expecting (first set of proper suspension on any car i have had) but with the damping set fully soft it's still very composed on bumpy back roads and not crashy by any means, still perfectly usable for day to day driving.

Now all the bits of the suspension that are supposed to move do move the car feels great, the available cornering speeds on my daily drive to work are way up, some very sharp corners that i could only take at 30 before are quite happily being taken at 45 with no tyre squeal to speak of yet.

The brakes also feel great with the new pads in, but again i think a lot of the improved feel has to go go down to the fact that everything is working 100% again rather than bits being stuck and rusted up etc.

The only thing i don't like in the refurb are the Sub frame lock kit at the rear which will be coming off again as it makes it sound like the rear diff is fooked.

Going to hopefully get some time now to have a fiddle with the damping settings, i was hoping to get to SSO next weekend but i dont think thats going to happen due to family commitments. Hopefully i might get a bit more chance at some competition next year.

Danny Boy

iTrader: (2)

This week i have been mostly practicing my 4 wheel drifts in the snow

wrighty338

iTrader: (33)

dammit i thought we had an update full of pics then

with the roll centre kit, did you have to press the ball joint things into the wishbones?

trails

iTrader: (41)

thats what I was hoping

no you don't need to press them, they just fit Jon

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

It is a bit of a shock the first time you get some "proper" suspension on the car isn't it?

You hear all this talk about kits being soft, but the truth is that "soft" is a relative term: soft compared to some of the ruinously hard kits out there, certainly! Soft compared to a regular run-about, not a chance!

The pay off is superb body control and higher cornering speeds though.

Hope you continue to get on with them ok when the weather improves.

Ns04

Danny Boy

iTrader: (2)

Hi Wrighty

The roll centre ball joints just fit straight into the wishbone end and are secired with a castle nut and split pin, to get them into the hub end you may need a large screwdriver or pry of some sort to open up the split in the hub so they drop in. You will see what i mean when you get it in your hands. All in all a pretty easy job.

Danny Boy

iTrader: (2)

Hey i must say its a surprise so many people are watching my thread!
The Farm entrance has not been gritted since the start of the snowy period so its really icy there now, all compacted snow. Just perfect for 10mph 4wheel drifts, its really a shame its only 100m long as i could carry on all day

The car went straight though the MOT again, phew and has been back on the road since.

I think when this snow is over ill have to get back underneath it and clean off all the road salt off the coilovers as i don't want them corroding in the first 6 months of ownership!

Your right Ns, 'soft' is a relative term, but i must say that this Exe-tc kit does seem to strike a very good medium between road use and performance. Most of the people who saw the kit before it went on said it looked very nice but i would have no teeth left in a few weeks time. Everyone of them who have been in the car afterwards has been very surprised at the ride quality.
I just hope they last well.

Next job on the todo list is to recalibrate the wideband as its been eating more fuel again latley for no apparent reason. I have a feeling that sensor is on the way out as its been in there for at least two years now.

Anybody got any good contacts for Bosch LSU4.2 sensors?
Got the last one off ebay for less than 50quid new, i think it was a VW oem part but i can't for the life of remember where.

Danny Boy

iTrader: (2)

No interesting Pics at the moment, just work ones.
London O2 Arena, inside the Millenium Dome.
It's bloody huge and that wasn't even taken from the top seat!

nie

good work