488 replies to this topic

[mandarinvx]

Finally got around to sorting out the ABS light today. I'd already traced it to the NSF wheel, so bought a connector from a breakers; it had already had a bodged repair at some point in the past



And all fixed




Also painted the AP logo on the calipers yellow whilst I was there




And gave the roof a final clean with Autoglym, all traces of green now gone

Edited by mandarinvx, 13 June 2009 - 08:09 PM.

[mandarinvx]

PS, for future reference the front and rear connectors are different types

[TOTAL VX]

Well I have now done it. K&N, Airbox pipe mod, stainless exhaust with precat pipe, standard cat, remap, goodrich hoses, redstuff, silver comps and 888's. I AM ADDICTED. However what difference did the GAZ shocks and Geo make? Was the ride better or worse and turn in? Cheers TOTAL

[mandarinvx]

The Gaz shocks made a massive difference over standard. I prefer running a low ride height, tho I must admit I think I'm going to have to raise it a bit to make bumpy roads a pleasure to drive again (instead of cringing every time I see a large bump!) The geo will affect turn in - My last car had a very harsh geo at Topgear Automotive, and I absolutely loved it I currently have a Guglielmi geo, which is great, but I think I may go back and get the steering arms machined down to allow for extra camber (as they did with the Topgear geo) This does give a bit more tramlining on the straight tho, and seems to enhance bump steer, so if you spend most of your VX time on the motorway it may not be advisable

[mandarinvx]

Playing with Gaz... So far I've had Gaz standard on 8" 325F, 9" 375R - 90mm ride height front 8" 375F, 9" 450R - 80mm ride height front And Gaz Gold on 7" 400F, 9" 475R - 80mm ride height front 8" 425F, 9" 475R - 80mm ride height front And just changed over to: 8" 425F, 9" 550R - 100mm ride height front Must admit all have been great, I've been expecting a point when the springs are too stiff to be unusable on road, but although noticeably firmer the 550's still feel fine. The 325 front springs worked well, and the only reason I started playing was how close the nose was getting to the track due to the low ride height (removing a skim of paint in one instance, and mandarin wasn't easy to match!) The 7" front worked well on a very low car, but do hit the bump stops more regulary I've raised the car ~20mm this time; on the last car the lowest ride height worked best, whereas turn-in doesn't appear to have been affected much going up 20mm this time, maybe something to do with the Guglielmi geo (which will now need to be done again )

Edited by mandarinvx, 21 June 2009 - 07:15 PM.

[_JoE_]

Really nice job Mandarin, car is looking great. How's the engine coming along? I heard that you can remove the lens by sticking them in the oven, i'm guessing using a heatgun is a bit safer? I'm needing to remove the rear drivers unit as somehow i have sand in it.. Joe

[mandarinvx]

Yeah, I'd go for the heat gun option, only use the oven as a last resort I'm waiting for Vocky to get back from his travels so he can help me re-assemble the head - I don't have any valve spring compressors that will fit (and I have no idea where to start )

[aron916]

When the broken wire is that short how have you re-attached it securely? mine was even shorter than that and am expecting the light to come on again pretty soon!

[theolodian]

When the broken wire is that short how have you re-attached it securely? mine was even shorter than that and am expecting the light to come on again pretty soon!

He had another connector with wires. Do you want one? I have the full set.

[mandarinvx]

When the broken wire is that short how have you re-attached it securely? mine was even shorter than that and am expecting the light to come on again pretty soon!

I bought a connector from a breakers with about 10" cable left on the end of it, then cut the existing and connected them together (hence the copius amounts of PVC tape )

[_JoE_]

Yeah, I'd go for the heat gun option, only use the oven as a last resort

I'm waiting for Vocky to get back from his travels so he can help me re-assemble the head - I don't have any valve spring compressors that will fit (and I have no idea where to start )

Vocky sounds like a busy guy, he seems to have a hand in nearly all engine projects.

Ok definitely going for the heatgun approach then as bad things normally happen when I put things in the oven!

[mandarinvx]

After my trip to Hoffmans, found that a couple of things needed doing before I was comfortable taking the car out on track, so Techieboy very kindly volunteered his help, and we (well, he) replaced the OSF lower wishbone ball joint:



The old one was very worn, and the play in the wheel has now dissapeared - real PITA of a job tho!

And the NSF wheel bearing, looks like this may have been the true cause of my intermittent ABS light - the ABS sensor housing had seperated from the hub!



Thanks again to Matt for all his help

[mandarinvx]

As part of the bush refresh I set out changing the ARB bushes for polyurethane ones and the droplinks for OEM replacements - Elise Parts were very helpful on the phone

First off I had to jack the front up - a bit nerve wracking as I've never lifted a car in this way before



The old bushes were looking very tired - cracked through in places -





I undid the drop links first - a true PITA after 7 years of corrosion has taken place - had to get the dremel out for two of the four nuts

Then onto the ARB bush mountings. Removed the front undertray, then cut off a long section of 6mm allen key to be able to get to the top set screw



Then onto the lower one - what a ridiculous place to locate them - slap bang in the middle of the wishbone travel

So had to udo the front bolts of the lower wishbones and knocked them up a bit, as advised in SteveA's thread

Bar replaced and new droplinks fitted (they don't come with washers for some reason, and I had no 10mm ones )



Then bolted back up again, used stainless ones for re-assembly, and a hex head on the lower one so I don't have to move the wishbone if it ever has to come off again



New bushes in place





So overall, a very long winded, PITA process

[theolodian]

Can I PLEASE have one of your old droplinks? I need one intact rubber boot.

[mandarinvx]

No probs One of the drop links is in good (but rusty!) condition, the other had a split boot PM me your address

[mandarinvx]

Changed the sub out for the new box I've made today

Still sounds great (which is a bit of a relief, in fact at sensible volumes it's hard to tell the difference! though I did spend quite some time looking at which 6x9"'s to go for )

[alanoo]

Not sure stainless steel bolts there were a good idea. There's not much much stress, but still unsure

[theolodian]

No probs

One of the drop links is in good (but rusty!) condition, the other had a split boot

PM me your address

Received in good order a little while back. Thanks a ton!

[mandarinvx]

Not sure stainless steel bolts there were a good idea. There's not much much stress, but still unsure

I did wonder myself as a lot of the force will be seen in shear - if I'd used an uprated ARB I deffo would have got some graded mild steel ones

[Anton]

I've been looking through the guide now for the last 30 min. at first i thought i'd give you credit for a few things, but dear christ... You've reconditioned the hole bloody car Got a perfect guide for the roof sealing (mine has started leaking a tiny tiny bit on the passenger side. A bloody awesome guide for speaker box (altho i don't know how to work with fibreglass, i would love to know how tho). And the best part was probably the lighting house, i need to go over those myself. THANK YOU!