mk2cossie
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,976
Club RR Member Number: 77
|
|
Oct 19, 2012 23:19:51 GMT
|
Nice to see someone else having a go at coil overs on that ford suspension setup ;D 1 thing i would suggest is going for longer springs though. In the picture you have posted, the current ones look almost coil bound They are pretty much the same on the front of my granada at the mo. Nice and comfy ride most of the time, but no reserve travel for bumps or hard cornering Think I'm running 750lb 9.5inch springs at the moment, though soon to change to some 2.25 coil overs for better spring choice ;D
|
|
|
|
|
slot
Part of things
Posts: 363
|
|
Dec 11, 2012 12:53:04 GMT
|
Hey Chris, any updates on this bud ? Are the wheels on ?? Also is there any chance you still have the part number for the Gaz shocks ? Been on rally designs site and the measurements are baffling ;D Look forward to seeing what you've been up to Dave
|
|
Last Edit: Dec 11, 2012 18:33:49 GMT by slot
|
|
|
|
Dec 11, 2012 17:52:58 GMT
|
Really shouldn't have opened this thread, really makes me want to keep my mk5 when I saw how easy, relatively it is to change to coilovers. They have the potential to look so good when on the floor
|
|
|
|
mrluke
Part of things
Posts: 237
|
|
Dec 11, 2012 20:18:40 GMT
|
Nice work, be interested in seeing exactly what you went for from gaz as I need to do the same on mine As above tho springs look coil bound
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 20, 2013 20:17:32 GMT
|
Long time no update!! Cheers for the comments guys, apologies for not replying sooner I havent looked at this thread for ages! Progress has been made though! I know what you mean about the spring getting towards coil bound, I went for 400lb springs as the v6 ones are 275lb so appx 30% uprated. They are the longest ones I could get at at that rating so I will just have to see, I might need to uprate them further but Ill decide once the car is on the road and driving. The shocks were 120/085B12 ones however I suggest if your doing the conversion you should go an inch shorter (depending on the desired ride height) as these ones don't have as much travel as id like. The shocks do bottom out at about the same point as the original bump stops however id prefer them to have a bit more ravel in them anyway. This is all an experiment so I'm learning as I go but Ill share what I learn so others can do it right first time! Anyway on with the updates: Things have been happening, rear arches have been rolled in preparation for the new wheels (no pics sorry..!) The wheels have been tried and look BADASS!! They are staggered fitment so the fronts 7.5in and the rears 8. The fronts are going to line up perfectly with the wings and the rears will stick out by 10-15mm but I'm going to use 195/50 tyres so a little stretch should bring them back under the arches without too much problem. Ive had them redrilled so now just need to get the spigots made up and they can be fitted! Excited doesnt describe!! Anyway pics: I also got hold of some white 13x8 wellers with really good dunlop tyres to try, they look awesome but are pretty wide! might hold on to them and think about arches unless anyone fances making me an offer on them?! So after getting all excited with the wheels I turned to rust sorting mode on the LH sill. don't have many pics of during but I replaced a section of the sill which had rotted out. I'm pretty pleased considering its my first real body repair along with the rear arches! Suspension work.... The latest work on the suspension has been to rose joint the trailing arms for the rear axle. The cortina upper links are angled so they serve to locate the axle laterally as well as fore and aft, due to the angle they twist when cornering so soft void bushes are needed to maintain axle mobility. As we all know soft bushes don't do anything for handling so my plan was to rose joint the body end, leaving the axle end bushed to keep some compliance and not increase the NVH too much. After loads of research I learned that nissan s13/14/15 rear toe rods were about the right length and had the right sized rose joint and u bracket at each end. Someone at Nissan must have worked for ford! They can be bought from Driftworks but are £120 which is pretty hefty considering I would be modifying them straight away! Luckily I saw a set on ebay and got hold of them for £60 in p&p which wasnt too bad! When I got them I compared them to the cortinas originals and they are absolutely bang on! The rose joint and spacers are the same width as the old void bush, the U bracket is exactly the same width as the original and they are only about 40mm too long! Awesome! A short date with Mr Colchester and they are ready! I also have been investigating front splitters. I alway feel the front needed something more and I think a duck bill style splitter would suit it well, its period with a hint towards muscle car and old school JDM so makes a nice addition. I bought a MK1 Golf splitter and am in the process of trimming it down and building some custom brackets to fit it but heres the first test. The bottom is going to be pulled forward a bit more to get the right angle but you get the idea! More posts coming soon!!
|
|
Last Edit: Jan 20, 2013 20:18:53 GMT by Crallen
|
|
slot
Part of things
Posts: 363
|
|
Jan 20, 2013 20:35:35 GMT
|
Fook me you have been busy Chris Nice one for the part number, that makes it a lot clearer as i'm weeks away from ordering Collies ! Them Rim's & that splitter work's a treat, Please don't leave the updates so long next time ! ;D Dave
|
|
Last Edit: Jan 20, 2013 20:36:40 GMT by slot
|
|
|
|
Jan 20, 2013 20:50:43 GMT
|
Cheers Dave, Just remember to get the coilovers an inch shorter, you loose a bit of full extension but if your lowering this shouldnt make a difference!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 20, 2013 21:08:33 GMT
|
Lovely looking car mate!
|
|
|
|
79cord
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,609
|
|
|
Nice idea to have the rose jointed trailing arms. Assume you are keeping rubber bushes elsewhere or changing other arms around too since obviously 4-link rear ends don't have good enough geometry for 'solid' joints all round. Like the Golf air-dam look.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Update Time! So Ive been busy working on the rear suspension, after waiting for a paycheck and doing some internetting I ordered some 2.25" shocks for the rear. The reason I went for 2.25" is that they are a bit bigger so should be a bit better for handling that heavy rear axle and higher spring rates are available. As the coilovers are located on the damper mounts they are at quite an angle at ride height. I estimated they were at about 30 degrees which will greatly reduce the effective vertical force on the mounts therefore higher spring rates are required to compensate for this. So after I ordered the shocks I got a phone call from Rally Design saying they didnt have it in stock and it was a four week lead time. As I want to get it on the road I opted for the one inch shorter ones hoping i might get away with it! So after a couple of days a heavy box showed up.... On installing one of them it looked like they were going to be too short as I thought they might there wasnt enough downward travel. The rods were also right at the end of their travel which is a very inefficient but a quick drawing sent to my dad and a few days later these turned up: Some beautifully made stainless steel extensions! Its a 7/16" UNF thread on the top there, one thing I really don't understand is why they use a 12mm rod and then imperial thread! So the extensions installed (locking nuts will be fitted when they arrive..) I then refitted the shocks and set the ride height. A small spacer on the lower end bolt and the springs clear the axle perfectly! I then removed them again to see how much travel there was after the springs were fully extended. It turns out to be a fair bit! the springs dislocate and the rod travels for another two inches....back on interweb and some helper springs have been ordered! after that they should finally be able to be installed! In other news the spoiler has been trimmed and fitted, i made some small brackets out of some scrap steel and bolted them to the body and the spoiler. I think it looks awesome..... Coming soon.......Machining brake discs for better brakes on the cheap!
|
|
|
|
|
unitybonez
Part of things
Blowing Pintos
Posts: 870
|
|
|
Ooh man!!! I so love your car. And I'm so happy tosee a TC slammed on coilovers. B4 i got bit by the hydraulics bug, that is exactley the set up i wanted for mine, and I'm so surprised almost nobody does it as its the best possible solution to lower these unibodies. As for the rear, i see you had some concerns on the upper shock mount not bein able to carry the whole weight, and if you don't mind cuttin some i have the perfect solution.
Take the rear bench out. Locate the upper coil seat. Torch it out.Take a piece of pipe and "sleeve" the new hole. Builda braket for the coilovers and if you don't mind losing the rear seat, or having to make one from scratch, join the two brakets side to side like a spreader bar. Reinforce the whole area around the new braket with plate and gusset. Go ride low as frekk butwith an amazing ride quality.
I did this b4 i fitted adjustable suspension. I made an inner crossmember to sit an almost full coil and ride about 2" from the road. The ride was incredibly good.
Anyways, hurry up and show me that thing sittin pretty with its new wheels with some awesome stretch. This could very well be my favorite thread.
|
|
Sent from my ouiji board.
|
|
|
|
|
Lots of impressive work going on! Love the uses of those S13 arms and the wheels inspiring.
|
|
Sierra - here we go again! He has an illness, it's not his fault.
|
|
|
|
|
This is really inspiring work!
I didn't think the golf splitter would work but in that last shot it looks quality.
You sir, have some serious skills!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cheers guys the positive comments really keep me going! unitybonez - I have thought about turrets if the rear mounts cant support the weight, its a bit of an experiment really so we will see how it goes! I'm dubious as to how well it will cope but as I don't plan to run any back seats the weight over the rear should be reduced so it might be ok! If it does need changing I have a plan forming involving pushrods, bell cranks and inboard mounted dampers!
Robin - Cheers, Ive been following your sierra thread and it looks awesome! Thinking I might give this a go at some skidding when its done!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
That looks the nuts !
|
|
.
|
|
unitybonez
Part of things
Blowing Pintos
Posts: 870
|
|
|
You mean like a cantilever set up? If so i sorta hope you'll have to do it, haha..no really, in all honesty, those upper shock mounts arent goin to break, there is so much stamped sheet metal back there its insane! Worse case a spot weld gives, but those too have supernatural strenght. Ask me how i kno....
Anyway, i should thank you for finding out about those nissan uppers as i need adjustables to avoid snappin an u-joint when very low, just like u i suppose, and i was gonna make them from scratch...so i'll spend the money gladly.
|
|
Sent from my ouiji board.
|
|
|
|
|
Haha, thats good to know, the shock mounts were the only bit I was worried about! I'm hoping the upper arms help the axle location a bit and tighten it up...loads of research to find them but cant believe how close to the measurements are!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Yet another update...! Finally got the helper springs and 7/16 nuts I ordered for the rear shocks so got them fitted. I had to make some sleeves for the top mounts as the bolt is a slightly different size to the bush sleeve, I ordered what I thought was the right size tube but I think they sent the wrong size so I stuck it on the lathe and drilled it out. Anyway its all finished and fitted now and I'm really happy with the result! So on to brakes......I fitted some AP 4 pot calipers (princess ones) a while ago with some capri drilled and grooved discs, the brakes work well and I'm happy with them apart from being really heavy! Theres not much I can do about that though until I upgrade to some bigger better calipers but that wont happen for a while. One problem with the setup is that the capri discs are about 10mm too small so the pads overlap at the top, this really annoyed me and since the old discs seem to be a bit worped I thought it would be good to change them. Rally Design sell special discs which are the right diameter (257mm) but they are hella expensive! £35 + VAT EACH plus delivery! So thats like £95 for a set of plain discs! TOO MUCH! So I thought id make my own.......... Much research later I found that Renault 21 front discs from a 1990 2.0 are the same offset, roughly the same size, bore and PCD...also they are £7.89 each! Winner! So in a morning of lathe work I turned down the diameter by 8mm and opened the centre bore by 7mm and had me some properly sized brakes for under 20 quid! Anyway pics.. Fresh Disc... Bore opened up.. Action shot! Old disc on the hub Disc comparison Aaaaaaaaaaand FITTED! Seriously pleased with that outcome...wonder if it will make any difference to the brakes! Over and out
|
|
Last Edit: Feb 9, 2013 17:35:53 GMT by Crallen
|
|
unitybonez
Part of things
Blowing Pintos
Posts: 870
|
|
|
I'll be honest. Seein your car makes me wanna get a second one to static drop on coilies and give it a "Japanese" look. Really cant wait to see a full shot of it.
|
|
Sent from my ouiji board.
|
|
|