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RobinJI
Posted a lot
"Driven by the irony that only being shackled to the road could ever I be free"
Posts: 2,995
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That was my initial plan, but having seen the A3 ones they look spot on for it. The small hole slots over the strut, resting on the bottom of the pillow-ball (or any spacers under it), and then the spring platform sits up against the bottom surface which rotates. A friends been using them on an A3 for over a year and loads of track days as well as 7000+ miles on the road with spherical bearing top mounts without issue. The best bit's that they're less than a fiver each.
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Apr 14, 2014 19:53:07 GMT
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forgive me father i have broken the first commandment "thou shall not say you'll keep the engine standard to concentrate on the chassis, then go and buy second hand 45mm throttle bodies, MBE and loom"
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qwerty
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,410
Club RR Member Number: 52
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Apr 14, 2014 20:35:33 GMT
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That is going to make this old girl fly......and possibly more importantly, sound fantastic.
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Awesome read this thread. Given me some tips and hints for myself too so thanks for that.
Had a Silk violet 16v myself some years ago and loved it.
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Enjoy the ride
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finally got off my backside today but as i look back over the photos it doesn't seem like 6 hours work does it? bash bash cut cut weld weld swear, it swallows the hours deceptively. so just to recap i am moving the turrets rearward to gain some much needed (positive) caster, and thus dynamic negative camber when each side is loaded up and turning. from memory astra has about zero caster to start with then goes slightly into negative when suspension compressed, yuck. heres the turret in position, clamped and tack welded in. its gone 30mm rearwards, and 10mm up at the front card template made transferred to metal with rudimentary bends then it was taken away to the pillar drill to make spot weld holes, on the last hole the drill jammed and helicoptered the whole patch into my hand slicing it open. so that interrupted play while i administered man-aid, which consists of....dab gushing wound with blue roll, spray isopropanol into wound, dry, it stings but we can take it because stinging means its working (nods) apply man plaster of blue roll and gaffer tape, put another pad of blue roll over the man plaster, put on a nitrile glove to apply pressure to man plaster, put another glove on over the top of the first glove, carry on bashing stuff. turret spot welded to the patch, patch spot welded to the inner wheel arch, then i put the stich welding back which is why it all looks like a scorched mess cleaned up with a spritz of primer then i fitted the strut brace to the nearside turret and got it level, just to show the difference on the standard offside turret
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Last Edit: May 3, 2014 18:38:33 GMT by darrenh
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Aug 21, 2014 10:11:50 GMT
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mulling over the lack of enthusiasm and faced with replacing the bottom 12 inches of the entire car, i made a decision to strip the rest of bits from the shell and scrap it. however, this is not the end of project track day its actually new beginning, along with a massive shortcut in the restoration... step up to the plate rust free 48k miles donor shell, a.k.a the former project OAP. plus points 1) its already the colour i wanted to paint the gte, 2) no restoration 3) a quarter of the cost of points 1 and 2
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Last Edit: Aug 21, 2014 10:14:27 GMT by darrenh
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Aug 21, 2014 11:41:48 GMT
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Good move, are you planning on doing a full scale re-shell with kit etc or just having a sleeper?
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Aug 21, 2014 14:33:55 GMT
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thanks i was aiming to keep the merit styling, even the mud flaps and caravan club sticker already have a set of 15 inch vectra steels (look identical to the 13s on this now) that will fit over the big brakes and keep it poverty spec will probably paint the gte bumpers and spoiler white, then if i ever wanted to sex it up later i could
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sal
Part of things
Mk2 Cavalier CD
Posts: 240
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Great thread Darren makes a good read Probably for the best using another shell. I had similar experience with a m2 cavalier which was previously "restored". In the end I got so fed up with undoing previous bodges that I stripped it and bought another one. Don't get me wrong it needs lots of welding, but other than a few mot patches on the sills it's never been welded so at least I know all the rot is being properly removed. Look forward to seeing the project develop.
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Last Edit: Aug 22, 2014 8:17:40 GMT by sal
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Aug 22, 2014 11:06:01 GMT
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thanks sal
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bstardchild
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,891
Club RR Member Number: 71
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Aug 22, 2014 17:11:49 GMT
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First I was sad the GTE project had come to a premature end but then I was happy because I quite like the sleeper approach and the project had an update and it pinged up to the top of my bookmarks...
In for the long haul please thankyou
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stevietuck
Posted a lot
Never argue with idiots,they drag you down to their level then beat you with their expertise!
Posts: 1,348
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Just read this from the start, great project any updates?
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Good luck with the reshell/conversion - sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and move on to more stable foundations - I think the red shell would rot from the inside out in the box sections even with all the work you were planning on putting into it.
Look forward to the strip down/ build up !
Joff
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Jun 27, 2015 19:10:43 GMT
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updates! holy grail, group A front suspension adjustable for camber, caster and track width
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Jan 14, 2016 14:40:53 GMT
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another result, found a vintage opel-sport front anti-roll bar (top) which is 25mm (standard is 22mm). also got a generic 22mm saab/astra/vectra-A rear anti oll bar (bottom) from ebay i'm not really a fan of going mad on anti roll bars as most of the work should be done by spring rates themselves, however i'll be running relatively modest spring rate (i.e street spec eibach pro) plus the sruts modified so ride height is standard ish (to keep roll centre happy and retain some travel) so the bars will help with roll while not detracting from compliance and handling in the for/aft direction
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Last Edit: Jan 14, 2016 14:42:54 GMT by darrenh
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Jan 14, 2016 14:47:53 GMT
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err, I really wouldn't put a larger arb on the front, unless youre an understeer lover!
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Jan 14, 2016 14:48:54 GMT
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Definitely more rear though!!
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Jan 14, 2016 14:59:12 GMT
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err, I really wouldn't put a larger arb on the front, unless youre an understeer lover! on a standard astra i would agree. but one with 4 deg of caster added, 1.5 of neg camber, medium compound R888 and LSD, but a relatively soft vertical spring rate, it will benefit
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