Poly or Standard bushes
Discussion
Following my strip and rebuld i am at a point where i am going to send my wishbones to the blasters.
I am trying to work out what is the best route to go regarding bushes.
I can go Powerflex and it works out at just over £200
Superflex is slightly less but i spoke to some guy who sells standard and poly bushes and owns a tvr, he said the following.
Just wondering what the overall opinion is regarding this...i dont really want to build the car up with poly bushes to find out the ride is poor and have to strip the suspension out again...!!!
I am trying to work out what is the best route to go regarding bushes.
I can go Powerflex and it works out at just over £200
Superflex is slightly less but i spoke to some guy who sells standard and poly bushes and owns a tvr, he said the following.
guy selling bushes said:
"I put poly bushes in my chim, drove it about for a few days and then we stripped it down and put new standard bushes back in. This made the handling and the drive much better. Most people replace their bushes with poly and come out with comments like "it is much better, the handlings improved" but if they replaced the worn bushes with new standard ones they would have the same, if not better results..."
Just wondering what the overall opinion is regarding this...i dont really want to build the car up with poly bushes to find out the ride is poor and have to strip the suspension out again...!!!
Undoubtedly some truth in what the man says - same logic applies to shocker upgrades, brake upgrades, you name it. There will always be a benefit from just fitting new standard parts, but then you may as well spend a few more quid and get a bit of extra ...
For me with the poly bushes I care not whether there is any discernable difference in performance, I'd fit them because they are easeir to fit and later replace. Drilling out standard bushes is one job I never want to have to do again.
The fact that I am at this moment having to replace some of said poly bushes because the first lot melted doesn't change that opinion either, just re-enforces it. I removed the top wishbone, pushed out the remains of the bushes with my fingers, pushed the new ones in with my fingers, bolted the wishbone back in, as easy as you like. Had I not spend two weeks stripping and repainting the wishbones it would have been a 15 minute job.
Just be sure if you do fit poly's that the ones tucked up by the manifolds are heat shielded like the PowerFlex ones are now.
For me with the poly bushes I care not whether there is any discernable difference in performance, I'd fit them because they are easeir to fit and later replace. Drilling out standard bushes is one job I never want to have to do again.
The fact that I am at this moment having to replace some of said poly bushes because the first lot melted doesn't change that opinion either, just re-enforces it. I removed the top wishbone, pushed out the remains of the bushes with my fingers, pushed the new ones in with my fingers, bolted the wishbone back in, as easy as you like. Had I not spend two weeks stripping and repainting the wishbones it would have been a 15 minute job.
Just be sure if you do fit poly's that the ones tucked up by the manifolds are heat shielded like the PowerFlex ones are now.
Poly bushes are theoretically longer lasting than metelastic bushes (which degrade over time) ~ albeit some have managed to melt their poly bushes. They are available in different grades of hardness, theoretically they will give a more constant location over time ~ so your suspension geometry will not 'wobble' out of shape.
Many people upgrade to harder compounds of poly bush so that under load their pivot points are fixed much more firmly to assist handling ~ these do really require a different spring/damper setup than the standard TVR parts are designed for. I think the only way you can compare apples is if somebody has used softer grades of poly~bushes with std suspension - but I dont recall any reports of this.
If you want to keep std suspension use metelastic, or if you plan to upgrade your suspension then consider where you would like different bushing combinations.
Dave
Many people upgrade to harder compounds of poly bush so that under load their pivot points are fixed much more firmly to assist handling ~ these do really require a different spring/damper setup than the standard TVR parts are designed for. I think the only way you can compare apples is if somebody has used softer grades of poly~bushes with std suspension - but I dont recall any reports of this.
If you want to keep std suspension use metelastic, or if you plan to upgrade your suspension then consider where you would like different bushing combinations.
Dave
Cheers for the info and a very good point victormeldrew...i am not looking forward to knocking the bushes out...luckily am getting some oxy acetylene bottels so i can heat up the wishbone and use a fly press to drive the old bushes out.
Just for ease i think i will go the poly bush...even though it is twice as expensive....
Cheers Guys
Great help in decision making as normal!!!
Just for ease i think i will go the poly bush...even though it is twice as expensive....
Cheers Guys
Great help in decision making as normal!!!
andy-w said:
Cheers for the info and a very good point victormeldrew...i am not looking forward to knocking the bushes out...luckily am getting some oxy acetylene bottels so i can heat up the wishbone and use a fly press to drive the old bushes out.
Just for ease i think i will go the poly bush...even though it is twice as expensive....
Cheers Guys
Great help in decision making as normal!!!
You know my thoughts on these Andy, you will never look back, and yes they generally last a lot longer, now in the kit you get some heat relective material to wrap round the top wishbones near the manifolds, ditto being much easier to replace, don't forget the droplinks!! Just for ease i think i will go the poly bush...even though it is twice as expensive....
Cheers Guys
Great help in decision making as normal!!!
spend said:
Many people upgrade to harder compounds of poly bush so that under load their pivot points are fixed much more firmly to assist handling ~ these do really require a different spring/damper setup than the standard TVR parts are designed for.
Hmm
I need to replace my dampers and, as usual, was prepared to follow the "because everyone says so" route ... in particular ref to the adjustable dampers.
I had adjustables put on the last Griff and that was improved from the old bog standard ones ... but I bounced around for a bit before I adjusted them to the right loading.
HOWEVER ...
as a PHer far more knowledgeable than me pointed out when he was inspecting my car last week ... adjustables are great if you do a mix of road and track work (which i don't).
So then the new Bilsteins (which are a fine damper in their own right) offered by TVR Power which are apparently specifically designed for TVR and set for fast road use should, in theory, be perfect for my needs especially when matched with a full GEO set up.
Anyone got any sensible thoughts on why this may not be the case? Let's face it, once set, I would never alter my adjustables anyway!
Edited by burriana on Thursday 8th March 16:45
i was thinking of going down the ceramic route for the manifolds as well...i am going to completely dress up the engine, braided hoses stainless pipe work...you know all the usual 'go faster' bits... 
I cant decide about the bushes....yes i have adjustable shocks...i think i might just go for the poly bushes...the main thing that sways it for me is the ease at which they will come out when they need replacing...
I cant decide about the bushes....yes i have adjustable shocks...i think i might just go for the poly bushes...the main thing that sways it for me is the ease at which they will come out when they need replacing...
Podie said:
andy-w said:
Following my strip and rebuld i am at a point where i am going to send my wishbones to the blasters.
How much are new wishbones...? IIRC they come with bushes already installed....
Edited by victormeldrew on Thursday 8th March 20:18
spend said:
The heat from the manifolds destroys so much in your car.... Just ceramic coat them ~ its got to pay for itself in reduced component (& even bodywork) failure very quickly in addition to performance upgrade (cooler temps) IMHO
Dave
Mine melted the bushes AFTER the manifolds were ceramic coated, so it's not a complete cure. To be fair though my ignition was a tad out and the headers were glowing cherry on the London Thunder, so it did get pretty warm. Dave
burriana said:
I need to replace my dampers and, as usual, was prepared to follow the "because everyone says so" route
So then the new Bilsteins (which are a fine damper in their own right) offered by TVR Power which are apparently specifically designed for TVR and set for fast road use should, in theory, be perfect for my needs especially when matched with a full GEO set up.
When I was changing mine I was put off by Bilsteins only having 6 months warranty for a lot of money. I don't know if the new ones are 12 month. After reading up on here I bought
which were garbage. Now got nitrons on. However if I was doing it now and they had a decent warranty Bilsteins would be going on as I 'm in the same position as you i.e no track days and no fiddling with settings burriana said:
So then the new Bilsteins (which are a fine damper in their own right) offered by TVR Power which are apparently specifically designed for TVR and set for fast road use should, in theory, be perfect for my needs especially when matched with a full GEO set up.
How much are those Bilsteins then, burriana?
sparkythecat said:
burriana said:
So then the new Bilsteins (which are a fine damper in their own right) offered by TVR Power which are apparently specifically designed for TVR and set for fast road use should, in theory, be perfect for my needs especially when matched with a full GEO set up.
How much are those Bilsteins then, burriana?
£801 fitted
... and about £450 just for the dampers.
Check out TVR Power's website as they have been advertising them very recently.
here you go
On the warranty ... even if the Bilsteins only had 6 months and then went wrong, I would be very surprised if Dom at TVR Power didn't sort a genuine claim out.
Check out TVR Power's website as they have been advertising them very recently.
here you go
On the warranty ... even if the Bilsteins only had 6 months and then went wrong, I would be very surprised if Dom at TVR Power didn't sort a genuine claim out.
Edited by burriana on Friday 9th March 09:49
Hello Joolz... It's getting pretty confusing Pods me old mucker.
I want to upgrade the front bushes and all 4 dampers. At the moment I am torn between getting a set of bushes and TVR Power Bilsteins and letting my good mate Talk Wrench fit them.
THEN, I will need a full GEO set up.
Or, letting Jools do the whole thing with his dampers ... but I think that might be cost prohibitive ... but then he might be able to tune it properly too ... oh I dunno!
It's times like this that I really miss that perfectly sorted 911!
I want to upgrade the front bushes and all 4 dampers. At the moment I am torn between getting a set of bushes and TVR Power Bilsteins and letting my good mate Talk Wrench fit them.
THEN, I will need a full GEO set up.
Or, letting Jools do the whole thing with his dampers ... but I think that might be cost prohibitive ... but then he might be able to tune it properly too ... oh I dunno!
It's times like this that I really miss that perfectly sorted 911!
burriana said:
It's times like this that I really miss that perfectly sorted 911!
Have they finally put the engine in the right place now then?
I thought it was still hanging over the rear axle???
I was talking to a guy yesterday who makes poly bushes and has apparently had dealings with TVR, he said he is going to give me a price on making up a full set of bushes for the chim, all two peice bushes with a stainless steel tube liner..he said they can be made to varying grades of hardness and if the right material was used then you cold have bushes that would last the lifetime of the car. The only thing that might increase wear would be salt water getting in between the stainless and the poly...think i might be going down this route if his prices are good enough.
andy-w said:
Have they finally put the engine in the right place now then?
I thought it was still hanging over the rear axle???
I thought it was still hanging over the rear axle???
arf
Seriously Andy, you would not believe how planted that car was or how much feedback it gave through the steering ... In truth, the Griff is very solid and in fine condition, I'm just sore at having to spend a load of money to get the handling anywhere near what it should be, when what I was trying to do was swap one sorted car for another, just without a roof!
Edited by burriana on Friday 9th March 14:45
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