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Your patience, dribe and continued effort makes me smile.
Well done for keeping at it, I have seen and done these sorts of replacements and they are soul destroying.
Progress is progress.
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,219
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Jan 20, 2023 17:06:43 GMT
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A good update. Nicely done! I do wonder if you have any transport at the moment ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png) .
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,915
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Jan 20, 2023 18:09:34 GMT
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Thanks guys ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) Haha my transport currently consists of the number 20 and 48C buses for commuting, and my other halfs mighty Peugeot 207 for anything further afield ![(rofl)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/rofl.png) Just over 2 months now without a working car or bike of my own, must be the longest I've gone without in a long time! Did make a little progress the other night though, rear axle is off the stands and rolled under the car on a trolley jack and a couple of dollies. Wheel speed sensors are plugged back in and tucked out of the way for the big lift, and I realised I'd forgotten to reinstate a couple of brackets which the sensor cables mount to which should be bolted on the anti roll bar clamps so I'll sort that. Got this week off work so all set for actually getting the damn thing done. I've got to travel to see family the week after and I'd really rather not take public transport or the 207 if I can help it, so nothing like a deadline to focus the mind a bit ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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Jan 20, 2023 18:21:43 GMT
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without an ever so slightly larger radius on the end of that crush tube I can see 2 things happening, the tube getting jammed on the spigot, and also the bush being able to move up and down the tube as its not being clamped against the body.
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,915
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Jan 20, 2023 19:09:19 GMT
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without an ever so slightly larger radius on the end of that crush tube I can see 2 things happening, the tube getting jammed on the spigot, and also the bush being able to move up and down the tube as its not being clamped against the body. That was my thought initially, but I think it might be fine, it's a bit of a weird bush set up compared to say a BMW rear subframe mounting. The bushes are in two parts, it's a bit hard to explain anyway I'll just have to put it on and see how it looks, if there's any movement or play then it'll have to come back off and some modifications will be made
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,219
Club RR Member Number: 170
Member is Online
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Jan 20, 2023 19:40:22 GMT
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Thanks guys ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) Haha my transport currently consists of the number 20 and 48C buses for commuting, and my other halfs mighty Peugeot 207 for anything further afield ![(rofl)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/rofl.png) Just over 2 months now without a working car or bike of my own, must be the longest I've gone without in a long time! Did make a little progress the other night though, rear axle is off the stands and rolled under the car on a trolley jack and a couple of dollies. Wheel speed sensors are plugged back in and tucked out of the way for the big lift, and I realised I'd forgotten to reinstate a couple of brackets which the sensor cables mount to which should be bolted on the anti roll bar clamps so I'll sort that. Got this week off work so all set for actually getting the damn thing done. I've got to travel to see family the week after and I'd really rather not take public transport or the 207 if I can help it, so nothing like a deadline to focus the mind a bit ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) Ha! Very fun! If you are stuck for a car, let me know. I shockingly have 3 in use, albeit two are taxed.
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,915
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Jan 23, 2023 17:47:10 GMT
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Thanks for the offer ChasR ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) I do miss the days when I had multiple (working) cars to call upon, I wish I'd kept the Yaris T Sport I had last year as it could have been an ideal runabout in the meantime but hindsight is 20:20! A good bit of progress today, the subframe is back up where it should be! Some words and photos will probably make it look nice and straightforward but it was a little bit sketchy doing it on my own With the main jack under the diff the whole thing kept wanting to roll forwards, so had a couple smaller jacks on the sides and just kept checking each side and jacking it up slowly into place. I used a long drift and a hammer to tap the front bush crush tubes up into place and it was fine, the crush tube is a bit shorter than the total thickness of the bushes so everything tightened up fine. With everything nipped up and the bushes checked, I went round and removed one bolt at a time, gave them some thread lock and torqued to spec. So now it's a case of going round torquing the arms etc. To try and not preload the rubber bushes too much, I'm going to install the spring and damper, then jack up on the lower arm to get everything at a ride height before torquing. One spring in then started losing light. Tomorrow I'll carry on with the arms, reinstall the fuel pump etc. on the subframe, reconnect driveshaft, handbrake cables, and brake calipers. Oh and the exhaust! I need to get a couple of bits like a new hanger for the exhaust as one had torn already, and some new screws for the wheel speed sensors. Then I can spin the car round on the drive and get looking at the front
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Jan 23, 2023 17:48:45 GMT
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Massive progress!
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Steve
Posted a lot
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Making progress in small, easy to handle chunks of awesome
Posts: 2,033
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Jan 25, 2023 12:18:56 GMT
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Enjoying reading this, got a bit of a soft spot for Crossfire's
Any thoughts as to any engine/power upgrades at some point?
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,915
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Jan 25, 2023 13:18:25 GMT
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Enjoying reading this, got a bit of a soft spot for Crossfire's Any thoughts as to any engine/power upgrades at some point? Thanks I've been doing a fair bit of reading about the M113 V8 swap, quite a few have been done in the US. If I did go that route, I'd likely end up with either the 5.0 from the S500, CL500 etc. or the 5.4 from the S55, CL55 etc. which would boost power from the V6's 215bhp to around 300 or 350 bhp respectively. The 5.0 engines seem to be available from as little as £400 whereas the 5.4s are a bit more scarce and are nearer £1500 or more, so I'd proabbly lean towards the 5.0. That said I would likely have to find myself a runaround in the meantime as putting the car out of action for months again probably wouldn't go down too well here ![(rofl)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/rofl.png) I've also been looking at brake upgrades, should the need arise, it looks like there are a few options from within the Mercedes parts bin that I could take advantage of ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) A quick update on yesterday's progress while I wait for a rain shower to pass. Basically spent the day going round the suspension each side torquing up the various bolts, fairly tedious as there are quite a lot of them! Torque wrench used where it would actually fit, others had to be done by feel with my calibrated arm haha, also found the solution for getting to some of the 12 point head fixings in tighter spots I could have done with taping it in place really but the bit in a 10mm long spanner worked perfectly. I finished up the day by getting the brakes back on both sides, with new hoses and chucked some fluid in to try and let some air bubble out overnight as the lines had gone dry Oh and while trying to refit the fuel pump to the bracket on the subframe, one of the metal hooks for the rubbers nearly came off in my hand. There are a couple of brand new replacements on ebay in eastern europe and while they're a bit pricey, I think I'll get one for peace of mind. Jobs remaining at the rear end are reattaching the propshaft, reconnect the handbrake cables, bleed the brakes, refit the rear section of exhaust, screw in the ABS sensors when new fixings arrive and remount the fuel pump, then I think I should be OK to tackle the front suspension
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,915
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Jan 29, 2023 16:57:40 GMT
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It's been a pretty successful weekend as all the parts are back on the car and it's back on the ground, I've not quite done everything yet but I need the car next weekend to go see family, I would have taken the train but it's expensive and there's another strike ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) Following on from last post, it was fairly plain sailing putting the rear end back together, had a bit of a frustrating time trying to get the spring back on the handbrake equalizer But with the help of some new pick tools courtesy of amazon prime it was easy, always nice having the right tools! Refitting the ehxaust was a little bit of a juggling act as I was trying to improve on the rear mounting rubbers, one of which had already failed in pretty short order after having the exhaust fitted. Long story short, I managed to get it sorted ![(rofl)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/rofl.png) it's nicely tucked up in the aperture and feels pretty solidly mounted, time will tell how well it lasts. So that's how last night ended All done, just needing taking off the stands. Now today I was initally intending on just getting the thing off the stands and off the driveway so I could change the front brakes on the 207 which I've been meaning to do for months. With needing my car later in the week, I didn't really want to go the whole hog with the front suspension arms etc. but then I thought that actually driving with the Eibachs on the back but the TA Technix still on the front, might not make for a particularly pleasant driving experience. So I compromised and changed the front springs over today I've done it before so it's not too challenging a job but it does take time. Also it gave me a chance to bleed the front brakes after having done the rears. Taking off the front right wheel, I was reminded why it's probably a good idea I changed these springs as well That rather blurry photo is of the inner arch where the tyre has worn right through the paint! I did touch that up with some fresh paint to stop any rust getting any ideas. Other than that, pretty usual job of getting the springs out, a quick comparison of the new and old side by side shows that the Eibachs have about an extra half a coil or so, also they came with new top spring mount rubbers which are 5 dot rather than the 3 dots that were on the car so those give a bit of a ride height boost as well. I'll run the car for a bit and see what the height looks like, if it's a bit high in the front, I can swap out the rubbers for the 3 dots when I come to do the rest of the suspension refresh work which will bring it back down a little. Bit more spannering and it was soon back together It was a bit warmer today than it has been over the last few weeks, it's only a few degrees but it certainly makes a difference to how pleasant or not it is working out on the car That's the off the jack shot, a little bit higher than previously but doesn't look horrific, I'll give it a bit of time to settle and see how it goes. Rear wheels still look to have a fair bit of negative camber, so might not be too long before I get the adjustable upper arms!
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Jan 30, 2023 11:39:45 GMT
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Gr9 progress!
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Steve
Posted a lot
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Making progress in small, easy to handle chunks of awesome
Posts: 2,033
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Jan 30, 2023 11:55:27 GMT
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Looking good dude ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) stance ain't far off either
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,915
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Jan 30, 2023 13:13:18 GMT
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Cheers guys 😁
I forgot to mention in my last update that when I went to fire it up for the first time there was a bit of smoke from under the bonnet where oil had been leaking...
Guess I'll be doing the rocker cover gaskets sooner than later 🙃
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Steve
Posted a lot
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Making progress in small, easy to handle chunks of awesome
Posts: 2,033
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Jan 30, 2023 14:57:58 GMT
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Cheers guys 😁 I forgot to mention in my last update that when I went to fire it up for the first time there was a bit of smoke from under the bonnet where oil had been leaking... Guess I'll be doing the rocker cover gaskets sooner than later 🙃 Yea.....what a lovely job ![:))](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/cheesy.png) just done the n/s one on my C32 and need to do the other at some point Take your time to clean out the breather chambers too, they don't have a seal and need to be built up with some semi-setting rtv-esq stuff to "make" a seal properly
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,915
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Jan 30, 2023 15:09:06 GMT
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Cheers guys 😁 I forgot to mention in my last update that when I went to fire it up for the first time there was a bit of smoke from under the bonnet where oil had been leaking... Guess I'll be doing the rocker cover gaskets sooner than later 🙃 Yea.....what a lovely job ![:))](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/cheesy.png) just done the n/s one on my C32 and need to do the other at some point Take your time to clean out the breather chambers too, they don't have a seal and need to be built up with some semi-setting rtv-esq stuff to "make" a seal properly Must be fun with a charger in the way as well 😅 Ah are those breather chambers the separate bits bolted onto the covers? I'd been wondering why the gasket sets don't seem to have anything for those. I think I've got oil leaking from both to be honest, I need to hit the engine bay with some degreaser so I can see what I'm working with
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Steve
Posted a lot
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Making progress in small, easy to handle chunks of awesome
Posts: 2,033
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Jan 30, 2023 15:53:50 GMT
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Yea.....what a lovely job ![:))](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/cheesy.png) just done the n/s one on my C32 and need to do the other at some point Take your time to clean out the breather chambers too, they don't have a seal and need to be built up with some semi-setting rtv-esq stuff to "make" a seal properly Must be fun with a charger in the way as well 😅 Ah are those breather chambers the separate bits bolted onto the covers? I'd been wondering why the gasket sets don't seem to have anything for those. I think I've got oil leaking from both to be honest, I need to hit the engine bay with some degreaser so I can see what I'm working with Yup that's them! Usually they both leak together so worth doing all at the same time. C32 isn't any harder to do than an N/A thankfully as all I need to do is remove the air filter boxes and in the case of N/S a fuel pipe needs disconnecting but otherwise straightforward
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,915
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Feb 12, 2023 18:30:39 GMT
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Right, this could be quite a wordy update, so I'll do a shortened version at the end also ![(rofl)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/rofl.png) So from last update, the car was back on the ground with the rear bushes done and the Eibach springs on all round. I used it for commuting to work and immediately found a couple of issues. Firstly, the rear spoiler had just decided to stop working. It wouldn't raise on it's own, and wouldn't raise manually, with a flashing light on the switch. There were a few potential causes for this so I left it for the time being. The main issue is the thing is bloody horrible to drive ![(rofl)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/rofl.png) Now clearly I hadn't had time to sort the rear alignment and had just eyeballed it, but it didn't look particularly miles out. It's worth also mentioning that the oem wheels have ancient Chinese budget tyres and that just didn't mix with the cold, greasy weather we've been having of late. The steering also has a noticeable amount of free play around the mid point of travel, which makes sense given how I haven't done anything to the front yet. Anyway, commuting survived and then had a trip to Suffolk to see family. Was taking it easy around 65mph as although the spoiler doesn't do much, I was still trying to build confidence in the car. Found that the exhaust booms a fair bit more around this speed than at say 70, but oh well. When pulling into Cambridge Services, heard an odd noise behind me and noticed the spoiler was going down! So it had clearly fixed itself and deployed at some point in the journey and I hadn't noticed. While the car was off the road, the battery had gone flat and I'd recharged it, so I'm assuming the odd behaviour of the spoiler was something to do with that. Got back to the midlands without too much drama, did some more commuting and other bits, then an evening this week I was heading to my gf's and the back end stepped out randomly. With the rubbish tyres it's very easy to get some slip and the TCS light flashing away with ham fisted driving but I was accelerating normally at this point and it really caught me out. It also felt like the car behaved oddly around another bend a bit further up the road. It's likely this is still related to the tracking not being done etc. but it then dawned on me that between needing to use the car, it was going to take me ages to get round to finishing up the jobs on it, and it would be a pretty miserable thing to drive in the meantime. So I started looking for something of a "stop gap" daily, to give me time to do the Crossfire properly. I had been half looking for something like this since about 2/3 weeks into doing the rear suspension, but any cheap car for sale these days looks like it would come with more problems than the Crossfire has anyway ![(rofl)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/rofl.png) On Wednesday evening I spotted something that might have potential, it was ending the next morning, so I chucked a bid on while sat at work and that's how I now own a Nissan Almera ![(rofl)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/rofl.png) Now I fully appreciate this is not an exciting car, it's a 1.5 base model S (although it does have electric windows and air con) but for the money I paid, I think it's an absolute bargain. 2 previous owners from new, first one was Enterprise rent a car for a year, though I'm not sure it was actually a rental car; then the second owner has had it for 21 years until I picked it up today. It's got properly full service history, every receipt, MOT going back to year dot Was even serviced at a main Nissan dealer until about 10 years ago. Some of the interior plastics are showing their age a little but it should be an ideal runaround while I sort the Crossfire, and if nothing else, it currently drives better ![(rofl)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/rofl.png) The Chrysler is back on the drive and SORN'd, I've parked it round the other way so I can focus on the front end. That's suspension, headlight refurbing, cam cover gaskets (which I have now) and the drivers side engine mount which I couldn't get to previously. So yeah TL;DR Crossfire drives like poo, bought clean Almera to daily, will now fix Crossfire ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png)
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Feb 12, 2023 21:42:28 GMT
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If you read the faults there's a very good chance a code is logged for ABS/TC, as I presume the rear spoiler uses the wheel speed via one of ABS sensors and you may have had the rears disconnected at one stage. The spoiler might have been slow to start operating due the electronics going through a relearn mode via either the ECU or a body control module. Avoid letting the battery go completely flat as this could damage the ECU. Going marginally flat is usually not an issue.
As for your handling issue, incorrect rear toe could do it course as you mentioned the tyres are not helping. Get those two sorted and that will give you a good indication on what's happeneing. Do you think the larger rear A/R/B has had an effect on handling?
Keep up the good work.
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Still learning...still spending...still breaking things!
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,915
Club RR Member Number: 58
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If you read the faults there's a very good chance a code is logged for ABS/TC, as I presume the rear spoiler uses the wheel speed via one of ABS sensors and you may have had the rears disconnected at one stage. The spoiler might have been slow to start operating due the electronics going through a relearn mode via either the ECU or a body control module. Avoid letting the battery go completely flat as this could damage the ECU. Going marginally flat is usually not an issue. As for your handling issue, incorrect rear toe could do it course as you mentioned the tyres are not helping. Get those two sorted and that will give you a good indication on what's happeneing. Do you think the larger rear A/R/B has had an effect on handling? Keep up the good work. I think you're right, when I did the first start after reconnecting the battery, it did throw up the ESP light for a bit, but that went away fairly quickly. I did have both the rear wheel speed sensors unplugged for a while so it was probably relearning, and the spoiler just took a while to catch up! Yeah was my own mistake with the battery, I hadn't really considered it might be getting low until I noticed one time that the interior light was flashing rather than staying on.. I'll just disconnect the battery now I know it's going to be off the road for a while. Yeah I'll certainly get the alignment done once I've done the front end as well, as I've no idea when the front was last done anyway so it could all be out of whack! The mismatched arb's could well be having an effect as well! It's not all doom and gloom though, the front springs/spring cups are certainly better than before, can go over speed bumps without the wheels bottoming out in the arches 😅
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