Not catching by much tho right?

Tiniest bit. Probably get worse as the calipers warmed though.

 

5mm spacers will sort it out.

Spacers fitted and the wheels go round properly Should I space the rears out at all to match when using the steelies?

Spacers fitted and the wheels go round properly Should I space the rears out at all to match when using the steelies?

 

If you prefer that look, yes.

If you prefer that look, yes.

 

I was thinking more to maintain a consistent offset front/back. I don't think I can even see the difference on the front with 5mm

I wouldn't bother.  I used to run 15mm fronts, none on back.  Doesn't make any difference.   Is just an appearance thing on the back ultimately. 

I found that rear spacers improved the handling of my previous car, due to a narrower rear track than the front as standard

Pretty poor day.

 

Went to get my new tyres fitted on the TDs, however the paint was so soft it was damaged on the first one. More paint came off when the tyres came off. Paint had breached the beading and so had water... quite a lot of it in one wheels case :(

 

I knew the paint job wasn't the best, but was happy to live with it until I got bored of cleaning black wheels or I scraped them myself. But now they are off for a proper refurb job, just means I have to wait a week :(

 

In other news I took another look at the front end to try and figure out what was causing an odd knocking sound, have spotted that the 2 larger coils on my APs have been rubbing/touching each other. In the case of the drivers side there was only a small gap while static between these two large coils, the gap was slightly larger on the passenger side. The coating is rubbing off where they have been touching. Doesn't seem right. No idea if its the cause of my noise though.

So APs 'fix' for the issue of the coils hitting each other is £15/side worth of silicone pipe that you put over the spring... which of course means quite a lot of work and paying AP more money... not happy!

 

I'll be buying the pipe elsewhere and fitting it, then of course getting the alignment checked at my own cost as well :( Won't get around to doing this before combe so I'll put up with the noisy suspension.

 

 

Meanwhile my wheels are back from the refurb and looking all shiny with their new tyres fitted:

 

 

But... the balancing weights hit the calliper. I really should have thought of this and told them not to stick them right near the spokes which is raised quite a bit compared to the rest of the inner wheel. So I'll be having two rebalanced somewhere else tomorrow (as the place I used isn't accessible for me during normal work hours, I had a half day today so grabbed the wheels and swung by the fitting place on the way to the office). Argh these bloody brakes!

 

Also grabbed some more wheels for winter which I need to test fit:

 

 

TD Jets. Not keen on the multi hole design but they are light and I'm hoping will clear the brakes without spacers like the 1.2s.

regarding the pipe/spring

 

cant you jack up the car and loosen the adjuster ring all the way off, then just fit the pipe in situ?

 

those springs do look different to the ones i had on my AP coilies on my vRS (constant spring rate) so it may not work. but a suggestion

cant you jack up the car and loosen the adjuster ring all the way off, then just fit the pipe in situ?

 

 

Nope been tried before by members who've had the same issue. :(

Wheels are now on.

 

The front wheels have been staticly balanced and the weights placed in the middle. Can they be dynamically balanced without the weights being right on the edge? May need to get it done by someone more flexible...

 

Rear callipers are so so close to the weights, hadn't even considered it but due to the design of the calliper it protrudes quite a bit from the disc, so the rears may need the same treatment (preferably anyway as I like to do front>rear swaps to even out wear).

 

Went out for a quick spin and the difference in the ride is amazing over these rough roads. Wheels feel like they stay on the ground now over the bumps out of corners and under braking.

 

Will get the tyres nicely scrubbed in before trying silly stuff

And just to add to the frakencarness of this... a 3rd Ibiza joins the parts donor list:

 

 

From a 2005 Ibiza FR Hopefully I can get the wheel controls working with an aftermarket stereo... but first I need to liberate parts of the loom from the donor car. Even without them its a decent upgrade, more shapely and slightly smaller

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Castle Combe Action Day Sept 12th:

 

 

Sadly popped the pipe off the turbo twice, lap 3 of the 1st session just as I was starting to figure out where I was after letting everyone else go on the first couple of laps and lap 1 of the 2nd session (no spare clamps ). Bit of a let down for my first track session. But the car performed well except for the boost pipe issue, doing 600ish miles over the weekend and dragging a spare engine up from Worcester on my way home 

 

MOT booked for the 9th of October, will be sorting out the AP issue next weekend and fettling a few bits so it passes (reversing lights aren't a requirement are they?).

Castle Combe Action Day Sept 12th:

Sadly popped the pipe off the turbo twice, lap 3 of the 1st session just as I was starting to figure out where I was after letting everyone else go on the first couple of laps and lap 1 of the 2nd session (no spare clamps ). Bit of a let down for my first track session. But the car performed well except for the boost pipe issue, doing 600ish miles over the weekend and dragging a spare engine up from Worcester on my way home

MOT booked for the 9th of October, will be sorting out the AP issue next weekend and fettling a few bits so it passes (reversing lights aren't a requirement are they?).

Reversing lights aren't so you should be fine

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Well today marks the 1st anniversary of my ownership, totalling 4 months on the road and 4000 miles and she decided to celebrate by throwing a rod :(

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nah not really, everythings fine

You ******, was worried until I read to bottom

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Haha had me too.. I was waiting for a pic to load on my phone. Doh

Finally got around to sleeving the springs on my APs. Ordered 3M of 16mm ID silicone pipe from ASH, used 1.5m per side. What a job... smothered the spring in rubber grease and slowly massaged the pipe on. Was really tough and really messy. Kept hvaing to spray GT85 in to the pipe as the grease rubbed off the spring as the pipe went on. Second side was more difficult as I couldn't remove the top mount. Actually twisted my torx bit trying to undo the nut on top before it rounded off :(

 

Hopefully the result will be quiet suspension, atleast until the pipe gets eaten away (if it doesn't last long then the APs are going and I'll get some bilsteins, am not doing this job again)!

 

 

1.5m spot on, means the ends are free to sit properly on the strut/top mount but all the rub/contact points are covered.

 

Also test fitted the TD Jets... 10mm spacers required to clear the spokes. May not bother with winters this year...

Finally got around to sleeving the springs on my APs. Ordered 3M of 16mm ID silicone pipe from ASH, used 1.5m per side. What a job... smothered the spring in rubber grease and slowly massaged the pipe on. Was really tough and really messy. Kept hvaing to spray GT85 in to the pipe as the grease rubbed off the spring as the pipe went on. Second side was more difficult as I couldn't remove the top mount. Actually twisted my torx bit trying to undo the nut on top before it rounded off :(

Hopefully the result will be quiet suspension, atleast until the pipe gets eaten away (if it doesn't last long then the APs are going and I'll get some bilsteins, am not doing this job again)!

1.5m spot on, means the ends are free to sit properly on the strut/top mount but all the rub/contact points are covered.

Also test fitted the TD Jets... 10mm spacers required to clear the spokes. May not bother with winters this year...

I can't see it going in a while, Clio has conduit on springs, done 2000 miles since still 0 wear to it

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So much quieter this morning, even with me hitting the rough bits to test it

 

Progress!

Hope my APs dont do this. They were cheap so only temp but it will annoy me.

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Hope my APs dont do this. They were cheap so only temp but it will annoy me.

 

If they are used and there is no sign of rubbing on the springs already you should be fine. Also I think older versions have linear springs and don't suffer from this issue,

 

I'd send them back to AP if it didn't mean buying another set just to keep the car on the road (dam daily driver requirements...) :(