New happy Vixen owner says hi.
Discussion
Hi !
I just thought I would introduce myself as I have never been on the classic forum before
I have always admired these cars but never thought that I would own one. Christmas came and Santa left me this beautiful Vixen in my stocking, ( well actually it was my wife dressed up as Santa but you get the picture!).
The car is known on here, a 1970 Vixen series 2 that was previously owned by my friend Perry, (77Racing).
He has done a lot of work on the car and it is mechanically very sound. There are of course a small list of bits and pieces that I need to do but this is the nature of the beast.
I already have a chimaera which I habitually fiddle with and use for track days, sprints, drag racing days and of course social use.
The first question I would like to ask is regarding the suspension.
I believe it has Avos fitted all round but the spring rates are unknown.
The suspension is too firm and I would like to change the springs to a recommended road car setup.
What would people recommend?
I have also tried to raise the rear as I believe it is sitting a little low and having raised the spring platforms a few turns I seem to have achieved nothing apart from possibly making the suspension firmer!
There are lots of other questions to ask and in preparation, I have already spent some time browsing this forum picking up snippets of information here and there and committing them to memory, (if that is at all possible).
I just thought I would introduce myself as I have never been on the classic forum before
I have always admired these cars but never thought that I would own one. Christmas came and Santa left me this beautiful Vixen in my stocking, ( well actually it was my wife dressed up as Santa but you get the picture!).
The car is known on here, a 1970 Vixen series 2 that was previously owned by my friend Perry, (77Racing).
He has done a lot of work on the car and it is mechanically very sound. There are of course a small list of bits and pieces that I need to do but this is the nature of the beast.
I already have a chimaera which I habitually fiddle with and use for track days, sprints, drag racing days and of course social use.
The first question I would like to ask is regarding the suspension.
I believe it has Avos fitted all round but the spring rates are unknown.
The suspension is too firm and I would like to change the springs to a recommended road car setup.
What would people recommend?
I have also tried to raise the rear as I believe it is sitting a little low and having raised the spring platforms a few turns I seem to have achieved nothing apart from possibly making the suspension firmer!
There are lots of other questions to ask and in preparation, I have already spent some time browsing this forum picking up snippets of information here and there and committing them to memory, (if that is at all possible).
Thanks guys, looking forward to getting many smiles from this car.
I have many questions to ask but if I can just stay on the suspension topic.
While under the influence of carpet glue while sticking the carpets back in my chimaera I was thinking about the suspension and realised why I couldn't raise the ride height at the rear. The dampers that are fitted to the rear are the wrong length.
They are at their full extension at rest and that is why when you screw up the spring seats it cannot raise the car. Of course a byproduct of this is that the suspension is only working at the top of it's travel and probably riding at full extension or thereabouts!
If anyone knows the correct length of the dampers that I should have, please let me know?
I can see a new set on the shopping list.
I have many questions to ask but if I can just stay on the suspension topic.
While under the influence of carpet glue while sticking the carpets back in my chimaera I was thinking about the suspension and realised why I couldn't raise the ride height at the rear. The dampers that are fitted to the rear are the wrong length.
They are at their full extension at rest and that is why when you screw up the spring seats it cannot raise the car. Of course a byproduct of this is that the suspension is only working at the top of it's travel and probably riding at full extension or thereabouts!
If anyone knows the correct length of the dampers that I should have, please let me know?
I can see a new set on the shopping list.
Edited by phazed on Thursday 29th December 20:12
V6Pushfit said:
Very nice! What's the engine spec?
As far as I am aware, straight Ford 1600 crossflow, single carb, GT guise possibly/probably?Very smooth, quiet mechanically but has a little miss at midrange on anything other then a light throttle.
Need to investigate.
Strangely feels slow compared to my 5.5 chim.
Would like to compare and swap notes with another owner if anyone is local ish?
phillpot said:
phazed said:
Just had 45 mins on the phone with Mr Venn, very knowledgeable chap.
Only 45 mins, you got off lightly! 
The crux of the matter is, he pointed me in the right direction.
I had an approximate measure of my existing springs on the front and the rear and then a meaningful discussion with Adrian, (We are on first name terms now).
it seems that the problem lies in having all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order.
It seems that the single pair of dampers and springs that I have on the rear are correct but they are only one half of what should be there.
The existing dampers are fitted with the correct springs which would be fitted to a four damper and spring set up.
The reason why I was struggling to raise the ride height was because the rear pair were fitted with a weaker , (Half the weight of a twin damper and spring set up) set of springs fitted which are approximately 80 or 90 lb. these were wound right up to practically the furthest point of the thread adjustment on the damper body.
It is impossible to determine what springs are on the front as these have no markings on them and I can only approximate.
Solution.
I spoke to Avo and ordered a new pair of dampers for the front with the correct springs and have ordered four lighter weight springs for the rear which I will transfer to the existing pair of dampers and as well as on to the existing front pair of dampers which I will fit to the rear so I will then have a matching set of four dampers with new springs.
Of course, I am assuming that the valving in my existing 4 dampers is fairly correct. I did mention this to Avo but came away with the thought that at this budget level of suspension, it probably isn't too far out, (if at all) or enough for me to notice the difference.
Hopefully, happy days and at a fairly reasonable price!
Next, sorting out what my friend and I have diagnosed is weak running due to a K & N filter, a free flow exhaust and probably standard jetting.
That , will be a little more difficult to sort out.
Well, after nearly 9 months of ownership I have decided the car is not for me.
Firstly, at 6 foot 3" it really is a bit of a squeeze in there.
Secondly, with everything else going on in my life it is hard enough to squeeze in the odd sprint and track day in my Chimaera, which surprisingly is just so fast by comparison,...... There is no comparison!
I know it is a classic but it really is a driving shock jumping from one car to the other.
The one thing I will say is, visually it looks fantastic and I just love looking at it in the garage but that isn't enough to warrant keeping it.
If it went as fast as my chim, handled as well and looked as good as the Vixen, what a winner that would be!
Firstly, at 6 foot 3" it really is a bit of a squeeze in there.
Secondly, with everything else going on in my life it is hard enough to squeeze in the odd sprint and track day in my Chimaera, which surprisingly is just so fast by comparison,...... There is no comparison!
I know it is a classic but it really is a driving shock jumping from one car to the other.
The one thing I will say is, visually it looks fantastic and I just love looking at it in the garage but that isn't enough to warrant keeping it.
If it went as fast as my chim, handled as well and looked as good as the Vixen, what a winner that would be!
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