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Had the evening on the car last night but didn't actually get that much done (spent most of it on the phone). I thought this might be of interest to some folk. You know how you spend lots of money on adjustable suspension. Its normally good quality stuff but hasn't had much attention in the corrosion prevention department. After just a few years of reasonably regular use you can kiss the threads goodbye and the adjusters might even be seized too. I've got a plan. I've bought some "layflat" plastic tubing that you might imagine a curtain rail to be wrapped in, except this is the thickest I can find. Its 0.25mm thick, similar to the that blue sheet you lay down in building foundations. First I cleaned the units up, and copper greased the threads, Then I put lots of sealer round the neck Then cut an appropriate length of layflat (I had to buy 82m of the stuff ) And cable tie it tight around the top ensuring the sealer goes into all the creases in the plastic The length is about as long as the unit, so will be longer than necessary when the suspension compresses. It sits loosely around the bottom end and should stop the majority of road muck from getting to the damper spring assembly Refit and repeat I only got three done, but I'll be done tonight and will be able to drive the car in all weather and not sorry about ruining my expensive new GAZ dampers More to come
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Feb 17, 2014 13:09:26 GMT
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There has been steady progress made over the last few weeks. I look the wheels back for re-balancing as there is a vibration at high speed, £20 later there was no difference The track is 3.8 miles long and should suit the car quiet well, but there will be lots of time spent above 80mph, so this vibration will inevitably damage something. So I took the propshaft off and asked the chap who mate it to check the balance for me. It's hard not to sound rude asking someone to re-check their work, but I'm glad I did. He found that the prop was slightly bent!!!!! I can't recommend Proptech near Kidderminster enough, they're excellent! Derek (of proptech) made the prop up near enough from scratch for under £150 (I think it might have been £120?). This time he checked it, straightened it, re-balanced it, and repainted it for...... free! (he didn't repaint the damage so I could see where it was under the car) I'd like to think I'm reasonably thorough with this sort of thing, but it turns out the oversize propshaft was hitting the extended handbrake bracket with the suspension is fully compressed. So I chopped it about a bit and as the photos show it now clears the handbrake bracket all the way through the suspension travel. Tested the car and no vibration, its super smooth all the way up to a high speeds. I slapped some paint on it then to see if there are any witness marks later on. I also said goodbye to the second omega around Christmas time. I think the 3.2 engine, stronger gearbox and shed load of other spares ended up costing between £200 and £300 after selling and scrapping the remainder of the car must'n grumble! I'm very excited and very worried about the trackday which is less than a week away. It's so much harder on the car than anything it's done so far. I've got a list of things that could go wrong in my head. There are fewer people coming now than I thought, but its probably a good thing as Bedford isn't that great for onlookers really. All the bucket seats and harnesses are now in. I've just got to change the diff oil once again and clean the car and it should be ready. More to come
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Feb 24, 2014 20:54:14 GMT
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Well then, a much needed update folks. The trackday at Bedford went really really well, in fact I can't believe how well it went. It got me there with no hassle, did a full track and got me 2 and a half hours home too. It managed 118mph but we subsequently limited ourselves to 110mph as there was a fair bit of vibration near 120mph. It burnt its way through £125 of fuel on the track alone It covered 250 miles on track alone And I'm confident in saying it was the single most used car of the day. My two brothers and I drove the car, it came into the pits, was left running while we swapped drivers and went out again, non stop until lunch then again afterwards with a fairly early finish at 4 ish. The engine behaved perfectly, the cooling system is up to the job, the brakes didn't overheat or fade or boil. The handling was awesome, this was a worry of mine as I've done all the calculations but never pushed it. It was so predictable, full of feedback, and really well balanced, I'm over the moon with the handling. And it performed really well, there were some serious cars there and I think the Scim and the three drivers were about a third of the way up the field, with plenty of vx220s, lotus', a GTR lots of BMWs etc being pretty dam fast. The Scim showed up lots of hot hatches, the odd elise, a 944, an E36 M3 (although I'm sure that's more about the driver). Suffice to say I'm really really pleased with how it went. There were a few points to work on. The rebalanced propshaft has meant that the vibration at 80mph has gone, but there is still a vibration at 120mph (this will be a little harder to sort out on the road). The front discs have cracked too. I'll go on about this a bit more in another post, but I won't be buying cheap drilled discs again. And that's about it really! Anyway enough of that. Here are a few snaps of the car on track, firstly my younger brother pushing on just a little too much Next the car is off the road for a couple of months until funds allow. In the mean time, an inspection of the important bits, new discs all round, road seats back in, and try to locate the vibration problem. More to come
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Great project, a full day on the track's hard on any car! Hats off to you for building such a reliable machine.
Look forward to seeing the blown 3.2 come together. Are you thinking Eaton-rootes, Lysholm or Rotrex?
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Feb 25, 2014 12:05:52 GMT
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V8 Capri, I remember having a good look over your thread some time ago, in fact I believe it contributed to my enthusiasm to do the scimitar (that is unless there are many BMW powered capris and I'm geting confused ) I'm thinking of going with the M62 from a Mercedes, maybe with a clutch and a bypass so it can be switched off too The 3.2 is still sat patiently waiting to be stripped down, it won't be a little while yet, I've got to mess about making an economical car first. How is the V8 capri?
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Feb 25, 2014 12:09:04 GMT
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Oh I see a massive build thread, Looking through it now
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Feb 25, 2014 12:56:34 GMT
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the capri bides well but needs money-absorbing things to make it handle well - LSD, coilover conversion, a better gearbox, bigger brakes.. will get around to it all eventually, but got sidetracked rebuilding the motor. Judging by the trackday pics your scim' looks to have all that sorted & nice to see Alan Staniforth's book getting put to good use! Know what you mean about 'the fear' when your motor's on the dyno rollers at 6000rpm, i nearly had kittens
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Yeah I have tried my best to sort it all out. I was under the impression the calculations on the suspension from the book, would get the handling pretty close, but it would remain a game of trial and error after that. But I couldn't fault it! Perhaps I'km just not a good enough driver to know any different
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Feb 26, 2014 10:13:27 GMT
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looks well round bedford. its a tricky track as being an ex airfield its completely flat, i found it hard to judge corner apex/ and breaking points because you cant see them ! annoying cross wind too
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Last Edit: Feb 26, 2014 10:14:13 GMT by darrenh
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Feb 26, 2014 20:29:27 GMT
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Yeah it certainly is flat. There was a bit of a breeze but it wasn't too bad when I went. I bet it can be quite bad though.
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May 31, 2014 15:21:50 GMT
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