also nice to have another mark I octy there Andy! Had a little drive of his, decided I need a diff lol....

 

 

 

Pete could have brought you the gearbox he has sat at home :P

Pete could have brought you the gearbox he has sat at home :p

we talked about that , but the octy was a result of my extreme lack of money....... wish I could have bought all the bits from his car :(

Lack of cash-I know it well. Last 6 years or so my car spending has come a very far last after the kids/wife/house etc not that I'd change that in for anything! Mind seems like you got a pretty well sorted base car there tho dude! I still see my old mk1 (as now owned by my bro) n miss it-just love their chisel chinned look!!

yeah, its lots of good things done already, I can't complain

You should try starting from a standard car, it's fun spending cash you don't have lol

so... have I lowered the car ?

 

 

nope... its just full of baby stuff and car parts!

 

I got some nice polybushed wishbones for him, and a couple more tyres

 

hmmm he's not well. won't start at all now!

Dude... you're not filling me with confidence about getting a Mk1 with all this stuff you got going on with this chap!!..

meh... it starts if I push it, and the battery is new... it can only be the starter motor, its no biggie. Its with the tame mech now... he will be doing my polybushed wishbones, and new ball joints too.... going to work in the Abarth tomorow! lol...

Edited 3 April, 201610 yr by sharkrider

Grrr, my tame mech gets in the car this morning to check it out, starts perfectly!!! Has a bloody mind if it's own !!

well , I'm really glad I didn't track the car at castle coomb yesterday, as it was too sick! lol.....

 

firstly , thanks to everyone who gave me a push so I could get home! lol.....

 

my tame mech has been working on the car today ....

 

firstly, new starter motor!!

 

 

this has fixed the starting issues....

 

my crappy rainsports are only a about 3 thousand miles old, and bald on the inside edge already ....... so

 

New (to me) wishbones are on from Petes car! polybushes included! this has stopped the movement of the front wheels....

 

2 x new ball joints to go with them.......

 

he did a good scout around, found a worn track rod end, and replaced that (one was replaced at last MOT, I would have replaced them in pairs)

 

so in theory, all my front end is now properly sorted!! just got to get rid of the tyres now for my RSR's!

 

glad I didn't risk the track with all that going on, I could have lost a wheel!

 

anyway, I will report back on how the car feels, and make notes as to how much this work has improved things... lets see of it gives me any confidence now!

 

only thing I couldn't do was replace the corroded power steering pipe, as they had no seals.... another time for that!

 

I firmly believe in preventative medicine! Daddy Phantom should be in fine fettle for now

 

Shark

well, I appear to have a different car!

 

its starts of course, quite an important thing...

 

but onto the handling mods! The difference is like night and day ....

 

gone is that horrible feeling when you go over a bump, even a cats eye, and the steering would move in your hand, but the car wouldn't change direction... horrible feeling of NOT been connected to the road.... its gone completely!! steering doesn't move any more, feels "normal"......

 

handling improved 100% ... I can turn into a corner with confidence! things are not moving the wrong way underneath me! the car is much more responsive, and I can push it in corners.... the grip has improved dramatically, even with the same ****ty rainsports on!

 

in summary, it has gone from , unresponsive horror, that the front wheels are not doing what the steering input is asking, to actually feeling "tight" . Happy bunny.

 

one downside, steering wheel isn't straight at the straight ahead position now... not that I care a damn! lol...

 

plan for tomorrow, get it to the tyre shop, get my RSR's on the front, and get the tracking done! I should be able to corner properly fast then! yay!

 

now then... when's the next track day ?! lol....

Edited 5 April, 201610 yr by sharkrider

That sounds like quite an improvement!

 

Glad to hear it  

Is that just from the poly'd wishbones?

Is that just from the poly'd wishbones?

and new ball joints, and a new track rod end...... basically most of the things that hold the wheels steady! lol.... they were moving a LOT when my tame mech first put it on the ramp and pulled at the wheels, the rear bushes in the wishbones were like chocolate.....

 

to be fair, the steering issue was probably the track rod end.... the tyre wear and handling issues the bushes...

Edited 5 April, 201610 yr by sharkrider

In the tyre garage ....

Tracking was more than 4mm out on one side... Toe out, that would scrub the tyre to **** then !

a picture of the polybushed wishbones in place...

 

 

checked the pancake pipe and connections, previous owner true to his word, has clearly put silicon pipes in with jubilee connectors to improve things...

 

 

RSR's installed and tracking done! still not convinced the tracking is right, but I can go back in three weeks for a free check

 

Top work chap.... I'll be visiting this thread for info when I finally get mine for sure

4mm out?! Good grief.

 

Yep definitely get them re-checked after a bit of bedding in, considering the amount of adjustment.

hehehehehe... been for a blast on the way home from town.... the car now puts a massive smile on my face... I have GRIP , I have TRACTION!!! I was mourning the lack off a diff, but now the RSR's are on, I can accelerate out of corners again, I can push it into corners... the car has come alive! instead of being a sensible cheap replacement for my fabia, it has become a fun car in its own right... actually enjoyable to drive now!!

 

happy bunny

 

(swmbo said "stop it" must have been having too much fun )

well, 800 faultless miles since friday! (ticked past 158,000 now!)  all the way to portsmouth and back.... ran perfectly, really enjoying this car now! especially now the front is all sorted, tracked up perfect now! it even ran on £40 of 95 RON fuel when we were caught without super! lol...

 

also got this from pete cool accessory!

 

Edited 24 April, 201610 yr by sharkrider

Was just thinking about this car last night for some reason. My load space (when I eventually get my money through) will be too full of dogs for a nice cargo net type affair (haven't told the wife that she'll be cleaning the back out when it's dirty - I'm sure she won't mind)

Was the 95 Ron noticeably different?

I run on esso super normally and had to put the normal 95 in a few weeks ago and cant say I felt a difference but im back on esso super now

Was just thinking about this car last night for some reason. My load space (when I eventually get my money through) will be too full of dogs for a nice cargo net type affair (haven't told the wife that she'll be cleaning the back out when it's dirty - I'm sure she won't mind)

Was the 95 Ron noticeably different?

 

 

I run on esso super normally and had to put the normal 95 in a few weeks ago and cant say I felt a difference but im back on esso super now

I took it easy , didn't want any detonation..... it ran fine, but felt a bit flat in 5th on the motorway ... possibly 5-10 bhp down.... nice to know it wont throw a wobbler though if I have to use 95 ! lol... (I had travelled 10 miles with the range on zero, gave up looking for a "proper" petrol station and pulled into Asda! lol...