This episode was not too smart of me......
While I was waiting for parts, and fooling around with
details over the last few months with my roadster, I
read the Bob Sharp manual, and did many things to the
suspension. Well.....
Off with the stock sway bar, on with the comp bar (that I was
urgently planning on putting on more than a year ago for an
autocross). Out with the stock springs, in with my spare
stock springs, collapsed and welded to a height of 9 inches
(stock is 10.5 inches, more or less). Tested the shocks,
they are painted black and are Tokico, and seem very
firm, so I kept them.
Off with the stock steel wheels and caps, and slippery
(P.O. supplied) Firestone Arrivas, 185X60X14. On with
the 5.5X14 used Libra wheels, and Falken
Azinis very cool unidirectional 195X60X14 tires.
(they discontinued making this tire in a 185 width).
Out with the hack saw, and off with a bit or so of the front
snubbers (IAW the competition manual).
Well, car running fine last night, took it off the jack stands.
Holy smokes, there is only 2 inches or so and the front tires
will smack the fender lip on a bump, and the rear tires fit
up into the wells, but with only less than an inch to the
fender lip. So, I rolled the rear lips with a pipe against
the tire like some list members recommended,
this worked well except in places
where previous extra metal or fiberglass was present. In
the hard spots, I ground off material with my air cutter.
In the front, the tires clearly hang outside a lot of the fender
(especially if wheel is turned). Nothing to be done, the lip
was already rolled by some P.O.
So, it was with great trepidation that I drove off very early this
morning to my favorite safety inspection station. Well, nothing
hit. After the inspection, I drove at increasingly high speeds
on increasingly winding roads. On one big dip, going fast
something rubbed somewhere, but I don't know where.
No marks on any tires.
So, surprise ending to this rather
somber sounding title, the mods work OK (so far)
.....but I was lucky. And....I am not sure
I can autocross the car like it is, the fast sudden transients
at low speed are likely to cause a tire to grab a fender lip
somewhere and rip it outwards.
But wow, does the car look sharp. Nailed to the pavement.
I will have some pics in a few days. The cornering limits
are much higher, I have not made the car drift or slide yet,
so not sure what it will do. Most of the mods should
increase understeer, but the snubber cut is supposed to
bring things back toward neutral, with overall higher limits.
What I would do different: same mods, (one at a time with
testing in between) but maybe go with
a 185 performance tire. Too bad the Falkens are no longer
made in that size, because they are very sticky and
very cheap.
If anyone else has done similar mods to a low windshield car,
and can verify that although it looks like fender destruction is
imminent, it wont happen, I would appreciate it!
Perhaps some modest fender flares are next, but I hate to
screw up what I consider are the very nice lines of the stock
roadster body.
Best Regards,
Jim
Chesapeake VaGet more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download :
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