So sparrow needs ball joint extenders? Is it not easier to fab the lift into the wishbone with three points of contact rather than using a pin extension ? Just a thought as this is a common problem
nope - needs a pin extension as the balljoint itself has to be lowered - fundamental issue with lowered cars with uprights built for regular road ride heights
So sparrow needs ball joint extenders? Is it not easier to fab the lift into the wishbone with three points of contact rather than using a pin extension ? Just a thought as this is a common problem Plates and ht bolts 12.9 are going to be stronger than pin extenders and easier to do IMO
Yup. I knew it would be out, but I didn't expect it to be that far out!! Yup, I have them already. I was going to fit them before I crashed the car. I'm now taking the time to measure everything properly, so I know where I start from. I can then make changes, measure them, and feel the differences. There are two things that need fixing on lowered cars, bump steer and roll centre location. These are both fixed by making the suspension arm and tie rod level again. So you've either got to lower the ball joint and tie rod end, or lift the steering rack and sub frame mounting points. I can do the first, but not the second, so I am.
I'm still a beginner on all this technical stuff so that's why I fire off simple fabrication solutions lol Those charts and articles make my head hurt if I read them so I usually don't lol I've got to get my car to the track a few more times before I'm on you guys level " in my dreams lol" But my race driver mate says I've got a good race line perception and know how to take advice so I'm hopefull and he's coached proper race drivers for a living Works been mental busy but made some good money so hence my new purchases lol Keep the awsome work and advice up guys thanks
Could we do a group buy and have a load of ball joints with extra long pins? On as everyone with lowered suspension has this problem ? The ball joint same both sides ? And fits so many different Vags it must be worth looking into ? If a few of us got together and stumped up a few hundred quid we could get a couple of hundred made and don't think they'd be difficult to sell? Just an idea as this comes up a lot on here never mind any other forums
I got mine in a group buy. If I was looking to get some now, I'd get the SCCH ones. They are weld in only though.
The new centre silencer was fitted a couple of weeks ago. However, the piece of pipe cut out wasn't long enough to fit at the back, so I've got another piece coming this week. I was going to pull the hubs off today, until I remembered I have a RR day at Badger5 on Sunday, so have left it for now. I'll pull them off next week. I bought a pillar drill, but it was awful so I've sent it back. I'll have to pop down to Stealth to drill out the hubs for the tie rods. I was going to fix the arms where the ball joint fits, but it looks like the bump steer will be less if I leave them as they are. To be confirmed. Not ideal as there will be a moment generated as the suspension arm isn't directly in line with the ball joint, but that didn't break when I hit the barrier, so that will do for now. I've ordered some Carbon Lorraine RC6 brake pads which will be here this week. I might run them at Curborough, but will probably leave them for Donington. After this weekend at Bill's, I've got 3 weekends to work on the car before Curborough, of which I'm away for one of them. I want to sort the ball joint extenders, tie rods and helper springs before then. Hopefully the wheels will arrive in time too. I've also found a cheap set of 888s in 195/50/15 which will do for Donington. I've got a set in 205/50/15 that are basically slicks, but they'll do for Curborough and arch clearance checks. I've also picked up a full set of 15mm wheel spacers to test scrub radius changes. I would also like to create a new camera mount. I have a piece of 1/4" aluminium tube that should vibrate a bit less than the crushed copper pipe I currently have. The pillar drill would have made this easier, but I'll have to use a hand held drill instead.
Took the car down to Badger5 for the dyno day today. The car was faultless on the run down, and back, but is running a bit rich at the top end. It made 300bhp on Bill's Dastek roller, down close on 10% on Stealth's rollers. There were a few other cars there today that behaved the same. Here are the graphs: The top end needs a bit more air to move the AFR closer to 11. I'll book it in to Stealth to see if this correlates with what they saw when they mapped it earlier this year. If not, I've either got a boost leak at WOT, the wastegate spring is softening, or there's something up with the turbo.
Prep for Curborough is in full swing. The car's been on the drive the last few days so I can work on it in the evening. Wheels arrived, tyres sorted, so I fitted them. I took the rear suspension off, and fitted the helpers. As I was winding the collars down, I thought I would end up just winding them up most of the way again. I wasn't far off. With the car off the ground, the gap from the arch to the top of the rim is: FR: 134 FL: 131 RR: 124 RL: 125 The car is on the drive, which isn't 100% level, and measurements done roughly with a tape measure, hence the slight variations. Accurate enough for now. With the car back on the ground, the values are: FR: 100 FL: 98 RR: 70 RL: 70 So I'll raise the rears 30mm each. That should have the car roughly level. That's for tomorrow night. This will give me roughly an inch of droop all round. I'm working on about 10mm of the front droop is play in the top mounts as they move when the car is off the ground. This means there are no helper springs on the front at the moment. I need to see how much travel is being used before I look at add front helper springs. If there's enough travel left, I'll then see if there's enough adjustment on the shock bodies to add some more droop. If not, I'll wait until I put adjustable top mounts on, which will give a bit more travel back as they move the damper down a bit. I also fitted the front studs tonight. The rear caliper bracket bolts are pretty solid. I expect they'll shear when trying to undo them. I'll give them a go, but I don't think I'll be able to shift them lying on my back under the car. They need to be done, as once the studs are fitted, the only way to change the discs is by removing the caliper bracket. That's Sunday's job, along with fitting the ball joint extenders and redoing the camera mount. I'll also look and see if the oil feed restrictor is plug and play, but I don't think it is. Stealth's wheel alignment machine is broken, but they'll do the following: - Up boost at top end to lean out AFR to around 11 - Drill hubs to fit tie rod flip kit - Fit ball joint extenders if I don't get that far - Fit solid steering rack mount - Fit oil feed restrictor if I don't get that far, and it's possible without a new hose I'll then get the wheel alignment done somewhere else, ready for Curborough.
**** down at 70mm: Raised up 30mm to 100mm: The bolts holding the brack caliper brackets were tight, but all came out with any drama. Copper slipped up and refitted. This meant I could do the studs, so they're on as well. I've only had these since 2007!! lol Tomorrow morning I'll fit the ball joint extenders and do the new camera mount. It's square aluminium tube instead of round copper tube that just squashed as soon as I tightened the screws.
That's why I've measured. It also looks that way because the front wheel is forward in the arch compared to normal, as I've gained camber from the front wishbones, so that gap at the front appears smaller than it is.
Having it slightly higher at the rear will help with turn-in. It stands out a mile on some of the Mini Challenge cars:
Boost back up to pre crash levels, and reading 359bhp on Stealth's rollers. Picked the car up this afternoon. I need to get the tracking done on Saturday, check the oil, change the studs, and that's the prep done. I'll swap to the road tyres for the trip up. I didn't get a chance to take pictures. I've decided to change the studs. The shoulders are too deep for these wheels. I had one stud fitted for a while, as the retaining screw is stripped, and the disc kept moving when trying to fit the wheel. I didn't lock tite it in at the time. However, the first time I removed the nut after fitting the new wheels, the stud came out. The nut was right at the end of the thread. None of the others came out, but I'm not comfortable with that, so I've ordered some of these: 1.65 + VAT, 10.9 strength. Will see how they get on. I'm also trying to get the logging working on DTADroid before Curborough on Sunday.
Sound a great Alex! With another ~40bhp and sticky tyres since the last event, I can see this being very fast on Sunday!
