chris.richard
June 13th, 2006, 01:47 PM
Investigated a very small oil leak that was annoying the garage floor, and found a loose connector on the oil cooler pipe take-off. Tried tightening it - it wouldn't. :mad: Turned out the male to male adaptor was a different thread from the hose end. I'd got two pairs from Think Automotive a couple of years ago, and found one pair to be incompatible and got them replaced FOC. The other fitted, or so i thought. This was the source of the leak - the mismatched thread holding by one turn and just holding together. Bugger, but glad it hadn't let go! :o That was Sunday afternoon, and I was booked in for Tuesday morning for suspension alignment, and working all day Monday. Hmmm. :( Internet order to Think Auto for the right bits, with plea for rapid despatch. Phoned them Monday afternoon, and they were in the post. Tuesday morning, 0550 went to sorting office and picked up package (our post doesn't get delivered until midday here in the sticks). Take kids to school, then frantic dismantle of wheelarch inner and replace offending parts, pissing a bit of oil about. Arrive in Duns (20 miles away) at 1100. :) It took them 3 hours to get the suspension geometry setup - glad I didn't try with string and a ruler, it would have taken me days. Well worth £102. They had 4 rally cars in the garage (Scooby, Escort I, two Escort IIs,) plus a MGB V8 and an LSIS of some sort. Mike Horne who did it won the Scottish championship a few years back, so they seemed to know what they were doing.
And on the way home - WHEE!! :D What a difference! Gone was the floaty unsettled under/oversteer feeling in bends, turn in tauter and inspiring much more confidence. The crap front tyres will have to go soon so that I can see what it really should do under braking, the front grip just isn't up to it at the moment.
The dampers (Gaz front, Leda rear) are all :rolleyes: now on full soft, and it doesn't feel underdamped. Should I get them revalved? Maybe I'm luck and the soft settings are OK. Didn't Martin say that softer springs need more damping? If that's right, then if I go softer I might find myself winding them up a bit. I'm pretty sure I won't be going harder on the springs.
And on the way home - WHEE!! :D What a difference! Gone was the floaty unsettled under/oversteer feeling in bends, turn in tauter and inspiring much more confidence. The crap front tyres will have to go soon so that I can see what it really should do under braking, the front grip just isn't up to it at the moment.
The dampers (Gaz front, Leda rear) are all :rolleyes: now on full soft, and it doesn't feel underdamped. Should I get them revalved? Maybe I'm luck and the soft settings are OK. Didn't Martin say that softer springs need more damping? If that's right, then if I go softer I might find myself winding them up a bit. I'm pretty sure I won't be going harder on the springs.