390 suspension rebuild complete

[sphs2]

hi all, here are a few pics of my freshly completed work.

[sphs2]

and another one.

[sphs2]

sorry can't get them all on one post!

[sphs2]

last one.

[grahamw48]

Very smart Simon...lovely car too, and bound to improve the handling.

I do so enjoy watching other people work.

[Waynester]

Looks some nice work there.... What make are they?

Edited by Waynester on Friday 17th July 21:48

[Campbell]

That looks very good under there, are the shock from SH.
I see you have the SH remote rear blead kit, it makes life a lot easer for bleading.

Cambelt

[Brap_Brap]

Looking good, and a source of inspiration. TY.

[V8TVR1978]

Brap_Brap said:

Looking good, and a source of inspiration. TY.

Mikey is going to compare those pics to his.

[GV]

Nice work....which front coilover setup did you use?

[sphs2]

thanks for your praise, here is a list of components fitted:

steve heath front and rear gaz coilover conversions
steve heath front a.r.b. joints
steve heath rear tie bars
poly a.r.b. bushes
standard upper and lower front wishbone bushes
front wheel bearings
mintex front brake pads
track rod ends
upper and lower front ball joints
modified (tvr car parts) bulk head steering bearing/bush
rebuilt (new u.j's and balanced) halfshafts and prop (propshaft clinic bradford)
rear brake calipers (ward engineering)
poly rear wishbone bushes
poly diff bushes
steve heath rear brake remote bleed pipe
rear wheel bearings and seals
diff gasket
new steering column
steve heath rear suspension bolt kit

thats just what i can remember!

As well as fitting the above i also removed the sills and cleaned the whole chassis with a knotted wire brush fitted to a die grinder, then cleaned it with marine clean, etched it with metal ready, painted it with por-15, then chassis black top coat and have now completely covered it with wax oil.

The diff oil was changed (the castrol hypoy ls stuff) as was the gearbox oil (again castrol but fully synth stuff) new engine oil and filter (mobil 1).

The car is now booked in to be set up by prestige performance at melton next week.

[sphs2]

Forgot the stainless exhaust and poly front tie bar bushes!

Edited by sphs2 on Saturday 18th July 09:34

[Comadis]

was the (front) lower-wihsbone strengthend on the fixing points for the coil-over? or is the coilover fixed with the 2 studs as the original damper?

[GV]

Comadis said:

was the (front) lower-wihsbone strengthend on the fixing points for the coil-over? or is the coilover fixed with the 2 studs as the original damper?

Good point - I had to cut away completely the upper mounting point because the turret had warped badly making up new brackets in the process. As for the lower wishbone - I'm in the process of re-designing the mounting point as the original studs began snapping off!

I don't want to put anyone off going for the coilover conversion but to have peace of mind I would reconfigure the setup to be able to take the conversion without using the supplied brackets unless of course the mounting platforms are structurely sound unlike mine with had suffered from being weakened by the onset of rust.

[Wedg1e]

GV said:

Good point - I had to cut away completely the upper mounting point because the turret had warped badly making up new brackets in the process. As for the lower wishbone - I'm in the process of re-designing the mounting point as the original studs began snapping off!

I don't want to put anyone off going for the coilover conversion but to have peace of mind I would reconfigure the setup to be able to take the conversion without using the supplied brackets unless of course the mounting platforms are structurely sound unlike mine with had suffered from being weakened by the onset of rust.

I was thinking you'd have fun trying to do any serious welding around that upper spring platform, when I had my front suspension in bits the other week. I managed to shear one of the lower shock studs off with a 3/8" drive socket, dread to think what forces you could load them with using coilovers. Funnily enough as I was tightening the nut I was thinking "Hah, all those people who shear these studs off, they must be real apes to do tha... doh."
I tried braying the old stud out but it wouldn't shift so I got the air drill on it. Had to drop the shock out again to get fingers through the spring to put a bolt in but not difficult. Had I known it'd shear I'd have drilled them both out while I had the lower arm off and welded a couple of bolts in. Ah well, job for next time, when I drop that crappy old Ford part and have it shot-peened, titanium nitrided and chrome plated...

[Brap_Brap]

V8TVR1978 said:

Brap_Brap said:

Looking good, and a source of inspiration. TY.

Mikey is going to compare those pics to his.

Mmmm nope. Apparently shpub is prevented by his insurers from sending coilovers (or anything else) across the pond. I'm going to have to replace the shocks, powder coat the springs, uprate the bushings, and that's as good as it'as going to get.

Luckly Marshall does have a set of ARB r/j'd DL's for me, and out-pace.com the rear r/j trailing arms.

On another note,...

Nice job fella.

[GV]

I was thinking you'd have fun trying to do any serious welding around that upper spring platform, when I had my front suspension in bits the other week. I managed to shear one of the lower shock studs off with a 3/8" drive socket, dread to think what forces you could load them with using coilovers. Funnily enough as I was tightening the nut I was thinking "Hah, all those people who shear these studs off, they must be real apes to do tha... doh."
I tried braying the old stud out but it wouldn't shift so I got the air drill on it. Had to drop the shock out again to get fingers through the spring to put a bolt in but not difficult. Had I known it'd shear I'd have drilled them both out while I had the lower arm off and welded a couple of bolts in. Ah well, job for next time, when I drop that crappy old Ford part and have it shot-peened, titanium nitrided and chrome plated...
[/quote]

What I did was to drill out all the studs to secure a lower mounting plate inside the wishbone and bolting it into place - a much better and stronger solution. The shock attachment is also bolted on to the plate though my intention is to weld the mounting and the plate ogether for extra strength and stiffness. I'm getting there - having driven the car prior to the lower wishbone mods - it feels so much more planted and easier to drive. The exercise was to get a decent ride height with stronger suspension mounts...

[sphs2]

hi all, the lower shocks are mounted to the two standard studs, and yes strength had crossed my mind but my lower wishbones had no rust or corrosion and took the force of a 1/2" drive on tightening.

I have to assume that is is all down to the wishbone condition because if it ok on steves 500hp racing car i can't see me causing a problem on the road!

The other point is to make sure that the supplied brackets fit onto the correct mating surface and don't hit the inside edge of the wishbone, otherwise you'll never tighten them up properly and may bend the studs.

Edited by sphs2 on Thursday 23 July 15:36

[Campbell]

I think you will find that the lower wishbones on Steve race wedge are not standard and he is running a different shock setup on the wedge at to what were are putting on our cars

Cambelt

[GV]

Campbell said:

I think you will find that the lower wishbones on Steve race wedge are not standard and he is running a different shock setup on the wedge at to what were are putting on our cars

Most definitely. When I explained that upper mount had warped Steve emailed some pics of his set up. I can email pics showing my warped upper mount for interest. Interestingly enough though, Steve had chopped away on his car the upper mount and welded in a bracket to allow the shock to be fitted directly to it. My approach copied a Tasmin race set up whereby I made a template and had 2 pairs of brackets fabricated and welded into place.

I must stress - the problem I have is not to do with the product but the condition of my car before I decided to fit the coilovers. Steve has been supportive and has gone out of his way to help me solve my problem even though I have decided to do away with the factory setup completley in a bid to get the right setup..

Cambelt