[Healeys] Adjustable Shock Mount Kit -

[Bob Spidell]

I got my cambers bass-ackwards: our BN2 had excessive NEGATIVE camber when we bought it; the nominal camber is, of course, 1deg POSITIVE. 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Bob Spidell" <bspidell at comcast.net> 
To: "Jean Caron" <vintage_roadster_restoration at hotmail.com> 
Cc: "healeys" <healeys at autox.team.net> 
Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2016 8:13:55 PM 
Subject: Re: [Healeys] Adjustable Shock Mount Kit - 

Hi Jean, 

We ordered these direct from Kilmartin a few years ago. Unfortunately, we got a couple from a 'bad' batch; the plates have some caster due to a 'slant' on the base and they were reversed. I wrote Kilmartin and their suggestion was to 'reverse' the plates; i.e. put the left one on the right and vice versa, which we deemed unacceptable for a near-concours resto.. We got an apology, but no attempt to make good on THEIR mistake. We had to do some welding and fabbing to fit the plates to their correct sides. 

That was the second time Kilmartin screwed-up an order from me; they also sent us a front wing repair panel for a BN1 when we had ordered one for a BN2. That time, they told us to keep the panel and they credited us for the cost (anyone need a front left wing lower repair panel for a BN1?). 

I can't attest to the handling characteristics as we set up the front end with a digital level after installing the plates (we bought the plates to compensate for excessive positive camber, for which we never figured out the cause). I think we're pretty close as the tires are wearing evenly so far, but it seems to me the car needs a bit more effort to 'turn in' to a corner than I expected--but this is the only 100 I have driven--and after the turn is started it feels like the car oversteers. Plus, the car feels a little squirrelly in a crosswind. I'm taking this car to an alignment shop soon, will consult with the shop and see what they recommend but expect I'll end up with nominal 1deg neg. camber and just a smidge of toe-in, unless the shop recommends something else to mitigate the initial effort for turn-in and the tendency for the rear to want to pass the front. 

Check these out (bottom of page): 

https://www.bighealey.co.uk/front-suspension 

95% of the functionality for 25% of the cost. If I'd known about these--and assuming they were available then--I would have bought them instead of the Kilmartin parts. 

Bob 







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