Sunday, March 29, 2009

front brakes now actually work -

indeed pressing the middle pedal seems to make the car slow down, a lot easier and quicker than before. I still really need to clean up the discs as they are not fully polished like they should be. A wee back road trash should sort that out nicely. Need to give the car a good run to clear both it's and my cobwebs out.

Must also fix the banging exhaust! It's hitting the subframe, bloody thing

Saturday, March 28, 2009

front brakes looked at -

inside passenger pad and outside drivers side pad jammed solid in carrier. So with a file I removed some metal from the pad edges and now they move freely inside the carriers. Once the retaining springs are in place they are snug, but still movable. Nothing left over after putting it all back together again, I'll test the brakes tomorrow - was too hungry to do it straight away.

Looks like the S02 plan all round for replacement tyres is no go on the fronts, they just won't fit. The rears still should but what the heck do I put up front?

Sunday, March 22, 2009

horn works -

and it's a bit loud. Far better than before. Going to have to look at the front brakes, something not right there :(

Saturday, March 21, 2009

115k completed -

er that's it lol. Lots of miles on the car but it still scrubs up nicely.

Been looking into tyre choices as I'm not really happy with the F1's. Goodyear just aren't making them like they used to and I'm not the only one to feel this. The new Asymmetric or however you spell are not lighting many fires either and the old GD3's just well aren't cutting it. So the current thinking leads me to Uniroyal Rainsports 2 which have an excellent set of reviews for dry and especially wet road holding / Hankook RS2's a track based tyre but is pretty good in the dry or the daddy of road tyres Bridgestones very own S02. With a little massaging of sizes I could get these puppies on the car again and motoring heaven should be returned.

When I talk about S02's I mean these beauties, the Porsche OEM N3 KZ
bridgestones fantastic s02 tyre with symetrical tread and solid centre band. Copyright www.tyretown.com
I had a set of these on the mr2 when I bought it, previous owner fitted them and dear god did they grip. Wore down pretty quick too and even today they are not the cheapest of tyres but they grip like sh1t in the dry and aren't shabby in the wet either. But they stopped making them for the std 15inch wheel size so I eventually went to Goodyear F1's. See 1st paragraph for circular discussion lol.

It's not an issue at the mo because the current fronts are really not looking used (clearly I'm a straight line junkie with no corner speed that oh bugger moment ) but the rears, well they could be finished by end of summer. Straight line boosting does wear them down lol. So who knows, might even buy new wheels for them heha

Monday, March 16, 2009

not much news -

er weather's been pish, roads are slimy and the brakes are squealing now. Might actually need new pads! Decided on a 2nd gear pull to see what boost it was after turning down the Gain on the EBC - got a bit squirrely but bugger me it was feeling quick . Nothing like modern cars though, old and clunky

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

fun fun fun -

so I had a new passenger sill fitted and painted to replace the bubbling old one. Turned out the underseal on the car had trapped some water against the sill and we all know what happens given enough time after that. Pah

Also had a wee play with the boost controller as it didn't seem to be spooling as quickly as I'd like it.

Pre change:
Gain : 18
Ratio : 35 => ish 13psi
Ratio : 58 => ish 17psi

The above settings held a steady boost and all was good but watching the boost gauge you could read the boost as it came in like 10, 12, 14, 17 psi. Which is fine but loses out that instant hit not to mention midrange acceleration. After some playing I now have

Post change:
Gain : 40
Ratio : 35 => ish unknown - never tested it
Ratio : 58 => ish 18psi certainly hold high 17's

I think I may have to turn the Ratio down but bugger me does it hit that boost level real quick. 10, 17, 18 lol I think 16 or 17 should be enough for a 115k mile motor. Besides, now it's snowing lol. First week of spring too