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I decided to go ahead and I picked up the entire front end kit from MevoTech. Got all new compression rods, lower and upper control arms with ball joints pre installed, inner and outer tie rods all for just over $400 shipped. once again.. go rockauto.
the car feels SOOOO loose lately.. like the rear end is swaying over bumps. I know the diff bushing is shot, but the front end was starting to get a little wiggly too. The passenger front lower bj is purging grease for months now, so it's time for a refresh. I will also replace the steering rack bushings while I'm under there. She should feel like new very soon.
Tomorrow or Saturday will be a car day and I plan to knock out the install on the Whiteline rear diff bushings, the rear camber arms and the toe bolts. As well as some quasi performance related/cosmetic changes I have been wanting to do. Adding a bit to the exhaust..advancing the theme of the build.
I also need to get to installing this wideband so I can datalog for the Osiris tune. No one has volunteered info as to the wires to tap, so i'll get out the multimeter and figure it out. I just hate testing wires and laying under a dash. but the work will be worth it once I finally get an actual tune on the car.. I've been blasting around here for 10k miles on the tweaked base map. The car smells rich and I know that means that I have plenty of opportunities for better power AND economy once I get some true A/F data to tune with.
Removing the nuts and bolts to start replacing the front control arms and tie rods, THE STUD BROKE. The one for the compression rod bushing. Holy caca..
The bushing was so bad I just twisted the compression arm off and had to work on the bushing sleeve a while to get it off. Major corrosion.
I tried to get in to the side and maybe drill it out and tack a nut on the other side.. nada. it runs thru the frame.
Finally decided to go into the Magic Bolt Box that was built over years of stripping cars to race. I found a suitable size bolt and nut. A little grind cut and weld and I'm back in business.
I got it all back together on the passenger side tonight before coming in. I still have the drivers side to do tomorrow, but I have already removed the stud nut on that side, so it should go smoothly. These things were shot..no wonder the car felt jittery over bumps lately.
The fix on the subframe stud is holding just fine.
The MevoTech stuff looks great. I got the car aligned Monday morning after installing new front end parts (upper control arms, lower control arms, lower ball joints, compression arms, inner/outer tie rods) and new rear end parts (SPC camber arms, and toe eccentric bolts)
The alignment specs look great on paper, but driving the car doesn't feel right, it is very twitchy, especially over bumps or rough road. It is also pulling to the left a bit, more than just road crown adjustment. I have an appt Friday morning to have the alignment touched up under warranty and try to figure it out.
It is definitely not the fault of the parts though, they look and feel like top quality. It is all in the suspension tuning I'm going to start another thread for people to share their alignment specs along with whatever modifications they have.
To best explain the way driving the car feels at the moment.. where it used to feel like it was on rails tracking thru the turns.. right now it feels like the train wants to jump off the track in the turns.. very nervous and the back end wants to follow every bump in the road.
It is a strange feeling, almost like being very top heavy.
Any input is welcomed. I used to set up suspensions, and do alignments on the rack but it has been years and I'm a little fuzzy. Look to my next post with my alignment spec sheet.
I did some research and part of the reason my car feels like an elephant on ice skates is because it was in the air when I installed the SPC camber link arms. The suspension was at full droop, and I tightened the bolts like that. I bought the arms used and never thought to look up the install instructions since it is pretty straightforward. The arms tightened down at full droop will then hold the car up higher than normal on the bushing and spring and not allow it to settle or for the shock to do its job.
I noticed today walking up to the car in a parking lot, there was alot of rake..much more than normal. I went right home, jacked it up, loosened the control arms and links, put the wheels on ramps and under full weight I tightened them down again.
That solved alot of the height problem. The rest of the nervousness and twitchy handling over bumps is all slignment. I'm expecting good things since I can see the visible toe in on the rear wheels so much that I can see the face of the wheel tilted toward me while standing in front of the car.
Alignment touch up at 8am tomorrow.
Stay Tuned Way toed in.. I have toe eccentrics so that should go away. I'll run very minor rear toe in when it's done.
Decided to do some work on the exhaust. Finally found the tips I wanted to update from the bent tips.
I need to refit the diffuser grate to finish it off.
BlueD... the car feels great now. The handling is tight as a drum and the alignment is _near_ perfect, but I have some ideas to improve it some. I like driving the car again, that's why I'm showing love on the exhaust today.
Handling sucks. Going to reinstall the rear adjusters both camber and toe. Wondering if the toe cams could be 180* out to start with.
Then I'll go to the front and work on the caster by "adjusting" the stud that the compression bushing rides on. I need to get the alignment dialed back in..this is ridiculous. I need new rear tires and I'm not putting new ones on til this is done.
Cold wet weather and the alignment still as it is means I'm shifting all over the road on pavement joints. A real white knuckle ride at times.
Shopping rear tires so I need to get it dialed in soon. It is such a disappointment considering how the car handled before, even on the old bushings and ball joints. The handling was so predictable, just a poke of the gas in a turn and I could rotate the car thru the turn, hanging the tail and return to center. ( my commute is on pretty empty roads since I'm on 3rd shift) Now it has a tendency to tank slap back and forth, which I can deal with, but just doesn't feel as rock solid and stable.
Question for those of you with upgraded sway bars. Does it stop the side to side rocking motion over rough pavement?
I know the purpose of a sway bar in a turn, but this feeling is like rocking back and forth, not a lot but enough to be unsettling. This motion was there before the new suspension parts btw.
All the shocks are in great condition and damp oscillations well, but that rock back and forth at low speed on rough roads is annoying.
I've only driven one other coupe recently and he is on stock suspension so nothing real to compare to on this.
Also finished the grill trim for the exhaust on Sunday, so that is a positive update.
Got bored at work Sunday night waiting on a patient to get to the room. Decided to design some logos for the project GT35RS. And some carryover from my old company and custom parts branding.
I figured out that the side to side jumping was in the rear toe primarily. I removed the rearcamber adjusters and lubed the bushings and did a racetrack alignment to get the rear toe back in close. I want as near to zero rear toe as possible. the ride is definitely dbetter, still not 100% but its getting there.
I have a business trip this weekend I need to drive for, so new tires are being ordered and the alignment needs to be finalized this week.
I also installed a new OEM fuel line pressure damper, thinking that maybe it had an issue that was causing the car to smell so rich. I really just need to install the wideband already and get the a/f #s instead of guessing though. And that final tune would be great too.
02-23-2017, 11:59 PM
