Had this a while but not done a build thread until now. Since I opened The Ironworks i'd been running round in various uninteresting chod and decided that I needed to build something silly again as a bit of a demo car. It's a Mk3 Granada with the 2.5 VM Turbo Diesel and manual box. Bought it off Ryan (rytilkubi) off here at stock ride height but with the banded steels fitted. Within a week I chopped 3 coils off front and rear which left it sitting like this
Better than stock but not great. I then took it for an MOT and got 5 pages of fail, so decided to see how low it will go. First job was to make myself some adjustable coilovers. Took a bit of trial and error with parts from Mitsubishi, Ford, MG and Citroen been thrown into the mix, but ended up with this (compared to a stock shock absorber)
Trial Fit
Wound them as high as they would go and took it for a MOT, which it passed on the 2nd attempt. Ride height was looking like this.
Since then i've chopped another half coil off the rear springs. I've got another pair of coilovers to fit at the rear but work is busy so I haven't had time. The car is still as high as it will go in the shots below and the ride quality is on par with stock apart from over really large potholes as the car bottoms out. Everybody who's ridden in it seems impressed, and it's easy to forget how low it is.
It's great at doing these
However this is only phase 1. Phase 2 involves adding a few extra inches to the wheel diameter, and couple less inches to the wheel width and a number of inches less from the ride height. I've tried it with some skinny front wheels on for steering, and it drives with roughly 1/2" ground clearance under the front bumper. The overall tyre size was the same as what i'll use on 18s, so it should be interesting to say the least. It's also having a bit more boost and fuel shoved through it, maybe the odd trackday, and finally it will be going into paint soon.
Better than stock but not great. I then took it for an MOT and got 5 pages of fail, so decided to see how low it will go. First job was to make myself some adjustable coilovers. Took a bit of trial and error with parts from Mitsubishi, Ford, MG and Citroen been thrown into the mix, but ended up with this (compared to a stock shock absorber)
Trial Fit
Wound them as high as they would go and took it for a MOT, which it passed on the 2nd attempt. Ride height was looking like this.
Since then i've chopped another half coil off the rear springs. I've got another pair of coilovers to fit at the rear but work is busy so I haven't had time. The car is still as high as it will go in the shots below and the ride quality is on par with stock apart from over really large potholes as the car bottoms out. Everybody who's ridden in it seems impressed, and it's easy to forget how low it is.
It's great at doing these
However this is only phase 1. Phase 2 involves adding a few extra inches to the wheel diameter, and couple less inches to the wheel width and a number of inches less from the ride height. I've tried it with some skinny front wheels on for steering, and it drives with roughly 1/2" ground clearance under the front bumper. The overall tyre size was the same as what i'll use on 18s, so it should be interesting to say the least. It's also having a bit more boost and fuel shoved through it, maybe the odd trackday, and finally it will be going into paint soon.
... Enjoying its gradual transformation in your hands, very pleased you managed to recover from it being stolen :/