Winter jobs - suspension rebuild
Discussion
OK. Question time again.
Should I put this back on the car or replace?
It's the O/S rear brake disc, it has been rubbing for about the last 1500 miles on the inner face (centre edge only) due to corrosion build up. I had planned to jack up and rub back but you can see my work area and I prefer not to jack it unless I absolutely have to, so decided to wait until the winter.
Both rear discs are practically new, less than 5% thickness worn, but this surface is quite pitted and scored. I'm not concerned about safety and the braking characteristics as these have been fine, more the MOT which will need done as soon as the car is back together.
If not to go back on, where can I get a pair of grooved 273mm discs that won't cost the earth? Project is on budget ... but I hadn't budgeted for new discs.
These would appear to match
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TVR-Chimaera-4-5-V8-5-0...
And these pads
https://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/TVR_Chimaera_4....
Should I put this back on the car or replace?
It's the O/S rear brake disc, it has been rubbing for about the last 1500 miles on the inner face (centre edge only) due to corrosion build up. I had planned to jack up and rub back but you can see my work area and I prefer not to jack it unless I absolutely have to, so decided to wait until the winter.
Both rear discs are practically new, less than 5% thickness worn, but this surface is quite pitted and scored. I'm not concerned about safety and the braking characteristics as these have been fine, more the MOT which will need done as soon as the car is back together.
If not to go back on, where can I get a pair of grooved 273mm discs that won't cost the earth? Project is on budget ... but I hadn't budgeted for new discs.
These would appear to match
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TVR-Chimaera-4-5-V8-5-0...
And these pads
https://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/TVR_Chimaera_4....
It's taken a long time due to other commitments but the rebuild starts on saturday/sunday. General plan is to get the suspension and front brakes back together over the weekend, have the rear calipers off for painting during the course of the week and put them back and bleed the system next weekend... engine start and maybe oil change on sunday, then off for alignment and MOT the following week.
To say I can't wait would an understatement. Should be just in time for the 5 days of spring we usually get at the end of March!
Question time - the AP pad anti-rattle shims, am I right that the arrow indicates the disc rotation for re-fitting? Have photos but not of that exact detail !
Caliper bolt torque, bearing in mind uprated calipers, is this the same 58-60 Nm as given in the torque settings list for both caliper to spacer and spacer to upright? I have new 12.9 HT steel bolts so should be good for a bit extra if needed
FInally, I assume it is good practice to remove paint from the mating surfaces lest it soften and allow the bolts to loosen
To say I can't wait would an understatement. Should be just in time for the 5 days of spring we usually get at the end of March!
Question time - the AP pad anti-rattle shims, am I right that the arrow indicates the disc rotation for re-fitting? Have photos but not of that exact detail !
Caliper bolt torque, bearing in mind uprated calipers, is this the same 58-60 Nm as given in the torque settings list for both caliper to spacer and spacer to upright? I have new 12.9 HT steel bolts so should be good for a bit extra if needed
FInally, I assume it is good practice to remove paint from the mating surfaces lest it soften and allow the bolts to loosen
Day 1 of putting stuff back together, worst day of the job so far.
Spent 2 hours trying to connect a shock to a front lower wishbone. Packed it in.
Even with the holes run through and the powder coat on the inner mount faces ground back its still too tight to get stuff properly aligned and of course you can't see in there properly can you?! Bolt goes through the first collar and shock bearing but cannot line it up with the second collar. Can't see properly, too dark (working by work lamp and the PIR lighting) and no space to get a drift or any sort of
force on the bolt to drive it in. Has to be lined up EXACTLY right!
With the weather closing in again I think that's it now for a couple of weeks, I'll get what I can done off the car like building up these little sub-assemblies but no more assembly until next weekend at the earliest, and I've got family over the following week.
s
tting weather. stting February.
Spent 2 hours trying to connect a shock to a front lower wishbone. Packed it in.
Even with the holes run through and the powder coat on the inner mount faces ground back its still too tight to get stuff properly aligned and of course you can't see in there properly can you?! Bolt goes through the first collar and shock bearing but cannot line it up with the second collar. Can't see properly, too dark (working by work lamp and the PIR lighting) and no space to get a drift or any sort of
force on the bolt to drive it in. Has to be lined up EXACTLY right!
With the weather closing in again I think that's it now for a couple of weeks, I'll get what I can done off the car like building up these little sub-assemblies but no more assembly until next weekend at the earliest, and I've got family over the following week.
s
tting weather. stting February.Bolts supplied by Powers, they're right. I'm taking a couple of the old ones into the machine shop at work tomorrow and getting them tapered as pp said. Might have a stab at it in the garden during the week but itll be barely above 0 C and meant to snow...
Wouldn't be the first time
Wouldn't be the first time
Edited by 2gins on Sunday 25th February 20:41
Paulprior said:
I think when I did mine because of the difficulties I had removing the front lower shock bolts I put those bolts in while still on the bench, so mounted lower wishbone and shock together
That's the plan. I now have 2 tapered bolts. Turns out there's a tool for this, called a podger.Did a bit better this weekend, still not a quick process though. Getting the rear lower wishbones in was a battle, probably much easier with the drive shafts and uprights out too. Utter nightmare using the jack to lift the upright out of the way while trying to slide the bushes into the chassis brackets while not losing the thrust washers, then using the weight of the upright to drive them home... I'd say Paul's tip about using a ground down bolt is essential.
Problem now is that Powers supplied 5 1/4" bolts for the inner wishbone hole but they need to be 5" as per the ones that came out. Another trip to the machine shop at work this week.
Back end is built, front will hopefully be a lot easier, then its just the brakes. The wrong crossover pipes were sent out because it seems AP have a number of different CP6600 calipers and ours are wider than the standard ones so beware if ordering crossover pipes for AP calipers - make sure its the right TVR fitment!
Problem now is that Powers supplied 5 1/4" bolts for the inner wishbone hole but they need to be 5" as per the ones that came out. Another trip to the machine shop at work this week.
Back end is built, front will hopefully be a lot easier, then its just the brakes. The wrong crossover pipes were sent out because it seems AP have a number of different CP6600 calipers and ours are wider than the standard ones so beware if ordering crossover pipes for AP calipers - make sure its the right TVR fitment!
I'm done. Pretty epic weekend working on it til 9 or 10 each night since Friday to get it into service and MOT today. Fiddled my hours to get most of Friday at it but only got a few hours in in the end, frustrating but family first.
Thanks again to everyone who's posted advice on here, it took a lot longer than I expected but very satisfying result. I've decided not to underseal it for now, see how it holds up over a few months and if the stone chipping starts to take its toll I might look for a more flexible white finish (epoxy mastic?) or have it undersealed ahead of next winter.
Pics...
On axle stands in a car park!!!
Thanks again to everyone who's posted advice on here, it took a lot longer than I expected but very satisfying result. I've decided not to underseal it for now, see how it holds up over a few months and if the stone chipping starts to take its toll I might look for a more flexible white finish (epoxy mastic?) or have it undersealed ahead of next winter.
Pics...
On axle stands in a car park!!!
Time to go at it again! Thought I'd just update here rather than start a new thread.
On inspection it's held up very well, back end looks clean and the front just has a couple of decent chips out of the paint on the end of the outriggers. Easily cleaned and touched in. I have a cunning plan to have a look at the bits you can't see but that'll have to wait until Amazon send me my present.
This winter's tasks make more of a disparate list. I want to get the courtesy light working and have the booster brackets to lift the passenger seat a touch. First though I have a leak into the drivers footwell and I noticed on a Car Limits day over the summer that the brake fluid reservoir cap evidently isn't sealing very well as it began weeping. I have a damaged outer sheath on the throttle cable so that's another one. Essentially I need to replace all the grommets and seals on the O/S inner wing. So how hard is
(1) new brake fluid reservoir (and where to source - its a Ford part is there a model / part No for the Ford dealer to go on?)
(2) throttle cable?
On inspection it's held up very well, back end looks clean and the front just has a couple of decent chips out of the paint on the end of the outriggers. Easily cleaned and touched in. I have a cunning plan to have a look at the bits you can't see but that'll have to wait until Amazon send me my present.
This winter's tasks make more of a disparate list. I want to get the courtesy light working and have the booster brackets to lift the passenger seat a touch. First though I have a leak into the drivers footwell and I noticed on a Car Limits day over the summer that the brake fluid reservoir cap evidently isn't sealing very well as it began weeping. I have a damaged outer sheath on the throttle cable so that's another one. Essentially I need to replace all the grommets and seals on the O/S inner wing. So how hard is
(1) new brake fluid reservoir (and where to source - its a Ford part is there a model / part No for the Ford dealer to go on?)
(2) throttle cable?
Great tips, thanks. Basically when I bought the car 2 years ago near enough, it had bubbling paint on the inner wing from the front of the reservoir down to the black. I thought just a careless fill, and no sign of anything sinister until Car Limits in August. Having given the brakes some punishment it is now weeping fluid from the cap. Fluid collects in the mastic channel (which has now been undermined) and comes back when mopped up. Maybe a new cap is all that's required, but if it were a case of a common as muck old Ford reservoir for £20 or something, may as well do the lot. Presumably Ford didn't have a bespoke cap for the XR2i ....
Thread update and some new questions.
After 2 seasons and around 6,000 miles the underside is looking much like it does above. A few chips to touch in last winter and this, and now the new track rod ends and upper ball joints have started to corrode but otherwise it is all good. I will put some pictures up in due course.
I found a Mk2 Fiesta brake fluid reservoir and master cylinder on ebay for £40, it wasn't exactly the right one but went in OK. The in/out pipes were in a different location. The problemw with the old one was not the cap but the reservoir itself had split under the bonnet vent, presumably 20 years of UV and heat.
Currently I'm on the Suburu PAS rack conversion, then it will be valley gasket, coolant system overhaul, fuel hoses and oil change.
Question: sealants for the rocker covers and valley gasket. I have some VAG white silicone from my TT days (was used for sump, but the same stuff goes on top too), and some red Elring rocker cover sealant from the current Saab which is much fresher stuff. Can I use this or do I need to buy yet another tube of a RV8 specific sealant?
Is there anything else I will need:
Rocker cover gaskets (pair)
Valley gasket (kit)
Oil
Filter
Sealant
Oh and here's another one: The mesh slam panel is untidy and needs replacing. Does it just slide out or is there a windscreen bottom seal problem?
After 2 seasons and around 6,000 miles the underside is looking much like it does above. A few chips to touch in last winter and this, and now the new track rod ends and upper ball joints have started to corrode but otherwise it is all good. I will put some pictures up in due course.
I found a Mk2 Fiesta brake fluid reservoir and master cylinder on ebay for £40, it wasn't exactly the right one but went in OK. The in/out pipes were in a different location. The problemw with the old one was not the cap but the reservoir itself had split under the bonnet vent, presumably 20 years of UV and heat.
Currently I'm on the Suburu PAS rack conversion, then it will be valley gasket, coolant system overhaul, fuel hoses and oil change.
Question: sealants for the rocker covers and valley gasket. I have some VAG white silicone from my TT days (was used for sump, but the same stuff goes on top too), and some red Elring rocker cover sealant from the current Saab which is much fresher stuff. Can I use this or do I need to buy yet another tube of a RV8 specific sealant?
Is there anything else I will need:
Rocker cover gaskets (pair)
Valley gasket (kit)
Oil
Filter
Sealant
Oh and here's another one: The mesh slam panel is untidy and needs replacing. Does it just slide out or is there a windscreen bottom seal problem?
Edited by 2gins on Sunday 9th February 09:52
Classic Chim said:
Mesh panel, fixed to bulk head via usually 2/ 3 rivets, look under your windscreen base rubber and you’ll find them. Drill them out and bobs your uncle.
It just slides out from under the windscreen rubber. I used plenty of washing up liquid when feeding it back in.
Dab some sealant into holes before using new rivets and it won’t leak into car from there. Mine was just riveted so yet another leap point from the day it left the factory. Small things like this are really unforgivable considering what it takes to produce the car.
I was hoping it was just the rivets (and washer hoses etc), good stuff thanks!It just slides out from under the windscreen rubber. I used plenty of washing up liquid when feeding it back in.
Dab some sealant into holes before using new rivets and it won’t leak into car from there. Mine was just riveted so yet another leap point from the day it left the factory. Small things like this are really unforgivable considering what it takes to produce the car.
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