355 replies to this topic

[Ormes]

Chin up mate I'm sure you are doing it because you love it, and the love will still be there when you get it back

[ChrisS1]

100,000 miles dived by (say) £6000 = 6p / mile.

 

Thats not too bad!

 

Let me know if I can do anything to help

[jules_s]

Cheers Chris, Didn't notice that but thanks for it

 

A loooong day today with not much to show for it (visually)

 

Spent all morning picking bits and pieces up for the cill 'repair'....what i have noticed is that to do this (from scratch) does require a stupid amount of 'bits and bobs' and feck me they add up. Cill repair i reckon owes me about £150 at least.

 

I say not much show 'visually' because there wasn't much progress, however, spending time with the guy doing the suspension is a revelation. I relay the conversations we have on here and he picks them to bits and describes in very clear detail as to what is correct and what is BS. the more I listen to him the more I 'get' (in his opinion) there is a larger divide between track focus and what i'm after, which is a compliant road car which is more focused than the OEM crashy teeth loosening fest.

 

Suffice to say, I think we are begining to reach some middle ground (call it a compomise if you will) we both agree the springs on it right now are far too stiff and short. We've discussed the recent threads on dampers/progressive springs etc as well as all manner of ARB options. And right now I'm happy to settle for a 'different' spring setup to see whether the dampers can be adjusted to deliver what I'm after with the OEM ARB.

 

I'm not even sure if I can relay what i've learned about spring rates/dampers in text today. I fully understand the chassis resonance and damper wishbone offset but that's as far as it goes as far as typing it on here suffice to say I'll report back when the guy has corner weighted it and done some sums as to the rates/lengths and how it drives

 

Anyways. Bodywork.

 

For some reason I get really really enthused on this matter; right up until the point I have to do the bloody work Today was a typical point in fact...it took me two hours to get to the workshop whilst picking bits up (paint, primer wipes etc) which weren't actually needed (less haste more speed - as I keep telling myself)

 

I'd agreed with my 'man' I could work on the cill on his lift...which was bloody lucky given my back. Nice to work on the car at chest level..

 

Start point

 

 

A bit in

 

 

 

A bit more

 

 

Blending

 

 

and some more

 

 

We've decided I'm going to finish that off next weekend and then this lot is getting fitted the week after

 

 

Tired now, so much so I CBA to edit anything whatsoever after hitting return on this so forgive me for the typos etc

[Wreelybro]

Good work there. How itchy are your hands and arms?

[ChrisS1]

Slow and steady.

You'll get there before you know it Jules

[jules_s]

OK then

Jules vs VX220 round 2 (or 10 or 20 - not sure anymore)

It's been a long day, took some pics along the way..

First off, turned up and looked at last weeks efforts. Suffice to say some sanding back was required as I'd not got the fibreglass on the line needed

 

First run of filler, big dent under the curve noted

 

 

More sanding, more filling...

 

[jules_s]

Getting there..

 

[jules_s]

Lots of W&D later..
 

 


Looks pretty bang on after some filler TBH..better than I'd (wildly) hoped




So that's it for today. I'm pretty chuffed TBH, six weeks ago I wouldn't have even considered taking that on...and being a perfectionist doodah I'm happy to say i'm going to be able to sleep easy tonight

Meanwhile, over in the JG corner
 


Not quite to JG's standards but cleaner than it's ever been since I've owned it

[Nev]

Excellent finish on the GRP Jules, really.

[CocoPops]

Yep, very impressed Jules Far more patience than I've got!

[jules_s]

Cheers Guys, much appreciated

I'm not so sure it takes much patience tbh, although in the last year or so I've got more of that (patience)...it started off with taking the back clam off and giving myself a weekend to do it. I failed 4 weeks on the trot, and stressed about it majorly week on week

Which was why I was so stressed about the front one and replacing the radiator. I'm still in lifelong debt to Lee and JG for helping me through that; and it's somewhat enpowered me to take more on (back depending)

This time I was 100% NOT going to stress about this. Take my time and enjoy it was my MO. I cant thank the guy doing the suspension for letting me work on it on his Lift, no chance of doing anything otherwise

Front clam is next on the agenda, I hate twats who leave their broken exhausts on the road for me to drive over
 

 


I now feel somewhat more confident of doing that right now

[CocoPops]

The front looks a piece of cake compare to the sill and you've made a great job of that.

[Darcini]

Pffft, that'll be pibs after what you've already done More than half the battle is having the bottle to have a go, at the end of the day if you fcuk it up you are no worse off than when you started.

[hairy]

good work Jules, admire your patience

[Ormes]

Well done Jules... really respect what you've done there!

[ChrisS1]

Great work there Jules!

[fezzasus]

Great work, you'll find working on the front much easier than the sill because it's flat and you have access to the rear of the damage.

[jules_s]

Well,

 

I've driven it and all signs are pretty bloody good tbh

 

I wont write an essay just yet, as 10 miles doesn't warrant it. However, iinitial thoughts are I'm very very happy with how the car 'drives'

 

We spent an hour or so playing with the damping this afternoon. - the first time I've actually had the opportunity to do this with somebody who can actually explain what you are doing and why. I can't recommend this enough. It still need some tweaking though (and miles) but hand on heart it's better now than I've ever known it in 10+ years of ownership.

 

Some may be surprised (I know I was/am) that after some considerable measuring and corner weighting I have a 225/325 setup on the original Gaz and combined with how it's been set up it's a bit of a revelation (to me) the steering was incredibly direct from the get go, and with some damping adjustments  it's more precise than i've ever known it. I need to put some miles on the new KU39's on the rear but even so, again the change is remarkable.

 

So all in all a very happy bunny picking it up on Saturday and i'm going to empty a tank

[hairy]

Who is your suspension expert Jules, sounds like he's worth a conversation.

[jules_s]

Who is your suspension expert Jules, sounds like he's worth a conversation.

Indeed, Dave Gallop of track developments. He doesnt have a shiney workshop, but he's old school and isnt the sort to bullshit you with a few adjustments here and there to give you some placebo effect. I think he's relatively happy with the result on mine (given the budget) corners weren't cut but he's delivered what I asked for Speaks volumes after all of the work done he took time to spend an hour or so of his time helping me find out the best settings for it, despite (I suspect) knowing pretty much where I would end up anyway - because he wanted me to understand what was happening and explain slip angles etc. And also a big fairplay to him for sticking to his guns/belief/knowledge and not blindly agreeing with my views on spring rates etc. I'll admit at times he lost me with the science behind the set up, and why higher rate springs weren't what was required, but what I will say is that in my limited time in the car I can already tell the benefits - fairplay to him again I'll let you and the locals take a drive so you can get a better idea next time we meet