Suspension Overhaul

So I cracked on at the weekend greasing up the suspension. I also decided to fit the heavier springs at the front due to the suspension maxing out sometimes.

I fitted a 5kg spring to the front rather then the 4kg spring I currently had. First thing i noticed was seeing as I used the car all last summer and stored it over the winter it was still very clean in the arches.

So I removed and greased up the suspension as well. I used a Lithium grease as the bushes are polyurethane and not rubber. I had to remove the lower arms, the front of the arm is a threaded rod so under breaking pushed on the bush and as the suspension would moves up and down cause the squeaking. I then refitted to move on to the coilovers.

It took me about 2.5hrs per side, not rushing and getting plenty of grease in there and setting the correct ride height.

The difference is like night and day, the suspension on the car is now handling like what a production car would feel like. I don't have to dodge drain covers, large holes etc... the car just glides over them. Its firm but still comfy. The new seats will of no doubt have helped in this with more padding as well.

So for the next week or two hopefully i'll drive it a bit more and just enjoy it and confirm everything is how I want.

If it is I can move on to meshing around the exhaust and continuing to build the wing I want to use on it.

A couple of Journeys, so what issues?

So I've had the car out and the good news is no major issues after doing around 70miles. I've put a new exhaust tip on which Ill show soon and Id been having a problem with it staying still but I've solved that. Ill detail more on that next time.

So I headed over to see my uncle and he noted that he could hear some squeaking and it was quite loud! This will be the polyurethane bushes, when I fitted them I thought there wasn't really enough grease with them. Well its been over 2yrs now and they need re-greasing, so ill do that. At the same time I'm going to fit heavier springs at the front. The suspension is just bottoming out and a bit more resistance should stop this or at least help a lot, I still don't want it too hard though.

Dashboard in and seats test fitted

So the dashboard had to be put in over the centre tunnel. It was a tight fit but in some ways that is good as it wont move. Ive only had to secure it to the cross member with 1 sturdy bolt just to hold it there and being honest I dont think it needed it other than for safety.

Once In I tested the dials and gauges all worked as well as the stereo.

All worked well and the look felt more natural. Next i made the vanity panel to go over the dials and the stereo. I actually mucked this up and got dirt under the wrap as I put it on the wrong side so it will need to be done again at some point.

I also put the buttons too far forward and only the hazard is accessible, lucky I can just drill new holes further back and move them.

The seats also go well with the dashboard and feel much comfier, however I will have to get rid of the seat rails and making them fixed, the extra cushioning has raised the position and the 25mm drop will be a big gain to have.

An update... a long time coming

So the work on the car has continued over the winter but as well as that I've been busy with other things in my personal life. So lets catch up!

The lights got fitted and are working and I had moved on to the interior, making it out of foam...what a disaster. I covered all the foam to stop the resin going through and started to fibreglass etc... but the shape was horrible, so I went back to wood.

As well as this I wanted to give the tunnel piece a lip at the top to make it easier to cover and fit any other panel pieces I might want to fit. I next moved on to making the skeleton of the dashboard. as it was from scratch and was going to be fibreglassed eventually I could use relatively thin wood.

Following this I made two pieces to go on the rear firewall and covered in leatherette. I decided to get rid of the carpet rear firewall as it wasn't easy to secure and I wanted to try something different.

Next I got some cloth and stapled it down on to the dashboard frame. This was to form the base structure. I soaked it in resin afterwards to give a good firm structure.

As well as this I made mounts for the dials and headunit (covered later on). Next was on to the filler, well I used a fair amount to get it to the shape I wanted but suits the car a lot more and when I make the piece to sit over the dials it will cover the ignition as well.

Next was to remove the pieces from the car and cover them in material. So i started with the tunnel and the speaker pod at the rear.

As well as this I've got car mats as my feet were wearing out the carpet quite quickly as it happens! Also I created a vanity panel in the centre console, which holds the 4 previous buttons that were there and a new button to do with a rear view camera. The interior is looking a lot cleaner and more professional like this.

I'm currently now working on covering the dashboard itself with the same material then will fit it and finally the seats.

Whilst doing all this I decided to get a double din headunit. The unit I've gone for is a 7" unit which is pure android. It has a lot of features like bluetooth, usb, sd etc... also GPS maps and wifi. This means I can pull up outside the house and on the spotify app download all the music locally that I want to play or of course make my phone a hotspot.

Once its all back in I can start to use the car again. I've continued work on the rear spoiler although this is 2nd to the dashboard.