wahoo, recover truck is on the way and we will be off to Mocom in half an hour...can't wait for the drive home

 

How was the drive home???

 

well in a word; slow

Started off well; top transporter with a full lowering deck got me to Mocom in style. The driver Ken was a top man and he spent the journey telling me about his mkI 3.0 Granada and a mint 22k mile Granada Coupe that was coming his way


Zak, Luke and Frayz had been working through the night to finish the ESC TA car...and Frayz doesn't even work there


We didn't start on my car until gone 7 so first we (well mostly Zak to be fair!), re-tapped the thread for the gearbox cross member bolt and re-attached the cross member. Then we moved onto the knocking suspension, Zak noticed that I hadn't replaced the large bearing washers over the rear wishbone mounting point With some loan items in place the only noise left was from the n/s top-mount, which was a suspected mis-aligned top spring seat. It was far too late to remove it and check it so I decided to forego the geometry set up -as it would need doing again once I'd removed the knocking strut- and drive home slowly. It also gave me the opportunity to burn off the oil that had soaked into the up-pipe from the leaky rocker cover gasket, at a gentle pace. Even poodling home off boost there was lots of smoke, I got flashed a few times I guess people thought I was on fire

I decided to remove both struts just in case on Saturday and sure enough the n/s was about 30 degrees out of alignment. Put them back on and went for a drive, (gently of course!), there is still a slight knock but its inconstant and I don't think its the strut top. I should be back at Mocom next week to get the geometry sorted, before which I'll get the suspension looked over again. But, even with a nasty pull to the left i can feel how much tighter the car feels and am really, really looking forward to driving it now

Started sorting the gauges out today, removed the old Defi senders for the SECS unit and fitted my new Autometer senders. The Defi stuff is over priced in my opinion but it has made the Autometer stuff look a bit agricultural

Oil pressure.


Oil temp.



I will continue fitting the gauges after work tomorrow. Something else I need to do is replace the hose for my catch can; I noticed there was some oil in the fmic hard pipe...after checking the oil catch-can and finding it empty I was reminded of a conversation I had had last September (eek); Zak told me to change the hoses to larger bore or the catch-can wouldn't work properly. That's what you get for tarting things up; it worked perfectly well when I used garden hose pipe

 

Dammit, knew i got caught at some point... by this time i had been awake over 35 hours lol

 

I have another couple I'll post on the ESC thread this evening

 

I replaced the catch-can hose this evening with 13mm hose and after a bit of research decided to block the PCV. I don't expect an running issues but I can always T it back into the catch can if required.

old hoses with T for the PCV


new hoses in place


I also removed the last breather connected to the carbon cannister and cable tided it to the fuel tank vent which is already fixed in place behind the drive shaft. I removed the non-return valve from the carbon cannister, split the fuel tank vent and attached it. Seemed to make sense.

Carbon cannister, non-return valve is the grey thing


So I then moved onto repairing my circle of earth; two cables were missing and one was broken. I replaced the broken one and re-attached it, then made up and ran the cable to the os turret. Then I tried to undo the nut on the top mount and the bloody stud snapped. The only thing I can think of to type is f**king f**k.

 

Just spoke to Zak, he has some studs spare I can use if I can't find the right size tonight...so twith a bit of luck should still be running by tomorrow night

 

Nice thread Trails, like it.

Ha ha check Frayz out!!! He does it for the love of Scoobies, thats dedication!!!

 

cheers Rich

not sure he was feeling the love when I took that pic

 

Lol, not sure what i was feeling then.

I was in complete shut down mode... computer says no lol

 

lol, just keeping going until collection mode iirc

 

Looking good Trails.

 

Cheers dinges...getting there

 

Zak found a donor Cusco top mount for me and we replaced it in situ, found the likely cause of the knocking; I'd not put the washers back on for the rear bush for the wishbone mount Anyway all sorted and geometry set up, I took the car out for a test run and it felt fantastic The roads were a bit greasy after a very little drizzle so it was easy to provoke the back end, its now sooo easy to pick back up and no understeer whatsoever

I have however developed a small boost leak, Zak took the car for a run and confirmed I was right. He also recommended backing the rear ARB off to the slackest position until I can source an uprated front ARB to balance out the car a little better. I shall be taking his advice...

We also tided up my catch can arrangement (thanks to Luke for spotting my poor plumbing), Zak happened to have a prototype catch can available he said I could test. No picks of it fitted as you can't see it but here's one from my phone...very cool looking thing, thanks Zak


Today then is find the boost leak and finish fitting my gauges...I may even have the car done for the ESC poser cruise

 

Get the larger front ARB and you will smile all over again. I started my 22/24 arrangement at soft, but moved the rear to middle keeping front soft. Where as before the front squeals, on the latest setting the turn in is much quieter and gripping much better. Glad your knocks are sorted

 

have been keeping an eye out in the classified but they go damn fast and have missed out so far Still a couple of knocks on full lock but relatively quite for most of the time

Spent some of today on my gauges, sadly when I moved to the Apexi I had to get rid of my SECS unit.


I knew I wanted to try and replace it with gauges that were as close a match as possible and found Autometer Phantom II's which were almost perfect shame I couldn't get them over here for love nor money, so I settled for Phantoms. I replaced my boost gauge first, nice and simple reusing my old A pillar pod and all the existing connections.



I also wanted to re-use the OEM pod and even brought a spare...after some test fitting and looking at the mods I'd have had to make to make it a good job I changed my mind


I sold on the OEM pod and did the sheep thing and brought a defi style pod.


I've made up some mini looms and have some the sender wires in the cabin ready to connect.


I'll finish it up tomorrow as all I need are illumination and earth feeds...anyone know what colour wire corresponds to which connection on the hazard switch?

 

Ha ha ha haha

 

lol, thought you'd like that

 

Is it fitted then yet mate?

 

yeah, we plumbed it in on Friday...fits perfectly and all the connectors are just the right size

 

You running aeroquip fitting with it mate or standard hose?

I need to know how well its working if you can tell me?

 

standard for now, we just used what Zak had laying around...not sure how well its working but post NBO (drive to North Yorkshire and return trip), I'll strip it and see what's been caught...I'll be reporting back to Zak anyway

 

Ideally you wont find anything in there. It should all be returned to sump

 

have to be honest and say that I can't remember whether it was plumbed to return to sump or as a traditional catch-can...proof of concept and all that, before its connected properly.

 

lol, in that case, anything its has caught will of been drained out via the bottom hole nearest the bracket on the can. This is the return pipe.

 

pretty sure Zak plugged it before fitting...I think

 

Ah okay, fair enough

 

I had a report deadline so didn't really pay a huge amount of attention for the first couple of hours I was there...hence the lack of detail, sorry Frayz

 

gauges in and working, which is nice shame about the crappy pod fixings; they are supposed to line up with the hinges from the old centre cubby top...they don't and the fixings are too small.

Not the best of pics but you get the idea...

 

I just went out in it to get some petrol and whilst out noticed the oil pressure is fluctuating like mad when the throttle is applied but seems stable at between 25-50psi on idle...

I have also noticed a terrible rattle\knock from the n\s strut (again ), and boost is capping off at 10psi. I'm away on a residential course for the next three days and then due to drive to North Yorkshire for the NBO. Not a happy bunny at present.