VYK The Russet 78 Sprint

[dollyman]

Just trying to be helpful

In other news, loving this thread, think Chestnut is a very underrated colour.

I will see if it works Shaun

Tony.

[dollyman]

I am useless at computers Shaun as you can tell

Tony.

[shaunroche]

In other news, loving this thread, think Chestnut is a very underrated colour.

Thanks, me too!

Maybe I like it because I was born in 1970 - the time when it was all the rage to pair brown and orange together! I love all those retro colours now, reminds me of my youth I guess?

When i was looking to buy a sprint I wasn’t going to be too fussy on colour. They are all good colours to my eyes because they reflect that period in time perfectly.

Haha, I know what you mean - I was born in '69 and as a young dude in the '80's, tried to denounce everything about the '70's as worthless or very uncool. Now, I can't get enough of it and play loads of '70's music and have Heart70's as my go to radio station (after Radio 4 obviously, I am 51 after all! )

I think this, ahem, brown colour is really set off with the shiny wheels, more so than any other colour, it looks very sexy!

[Bish]

I saw this wallpaper n thought maybe I’d do my garage out in it. VYK will look right at home in there!!



As cool as a cucumber

[shaunroche]

I saw this wallpaper n thought maybe I’d do my garage out in it. VYK will look right at home in there!!



As cool as a cucumber

Ahhhhh My Eyes!!!

[shaunroche]

I am useless at computers Shaun as you can tell

Tony.

Haha, get away mate! Every day's a school day!!

[Bish]

I’ve been finishing off with the last few jobs on the list (for now)!

To my massive relief, the new oil pressure switch extinguished the oil pressure light on start up!
New horns are on and working so well - I can now raise the dead.
New coil fitted - not very exiting it works and looks better than the old one.
Exhaust bobbin on the rear box mount was shot,and the silencer was a bit wobbly, so it had to go. In typical fashion, it wasn’t just a case of swapping the bobbin over for a new one - the welder had to be dusted off for a cameo apprearance....









The gearbox oil leak had started to bother me.It wasn’t leaking too badly - I’ve seen worse, but the oil spots VYK was leaving behind wouldn’t be appreciated by anyone with a paved drive, and the spots were becoming a patch in the garage. With the car up on axle stands it’s difficult to see where the oil is leaking from. The overdrive sump looked like it could be the source. So, I whipped it off (after draining the oil of course) and set about trying to flat it off, to get it as true as possible, with a sheet of wet and dry.





New gasket with a light smear of hylomar blue, and all seems to be well - so far - time will tell.

A bit more faffing with the airbox and pipework saw the work in the engine bay finished (for now)! Still needs a good clean up. Actually, so does the whole car.



What to do next? Get out on the road of course! I whipped the iPad out and got on the DVLA website to tax VYK only to find that I need to go to the post office to send my log book away to have the tax class changed to historic. Bugger. How can the mot be changed to exempt automatically but not the tax to historic?

Anyway, I’ll just have a cheeky spin around the block I thought, no one will ever know. I do have insurance so if anything happens “I'm just on my way to the mot station officer, honest”. I’m sorry if anyone reading this is aghast, but I just couldn’t resist it any longer. Just around the block with one A road thrown in for a few hundred yards, just so that I could get up to 3rd and check the overdrive.

Well happy days are here. VYK drove really well in that short burst. Pulls well, smooth acceleration, suspension seems comfortable for a lowered car and rides the local speed humps fine, drives straight, stops straight - initial thoughts on the trackerjack brakes are excellent, no knocks, no rattles, all gears good including overdrive, exhaust sounds sweet, everything electrical seems to work. Wow.

I’m chuffed. It’s been a toil at times, but these are the days we all struggle under our projects for. All the blood, sweat, and swearing IS worth it!

I’m sure it’s just the start of the journey with VYK in many ways, and if this is the start long may that journey / feeling continue.

I will report back when I’m fully leagal and had the chance to put some miles under VYKs belt. The car will not leave the garage until the tax is sorted. Gonna book an mot too.

[dollyman]

I bet you are are still grinning Bish, well done mate The post office will sort everything out for you there and then.

Tony.

[Awaiting Repair]

Congratulations! Another one saved! Well done Bish, I have enjoyed following your progress. I hope it gives you lots of smiles per mile!

Keith

[Bish]

Thanks chaps for the kind words.

Got the tax sorted today at the post office and went for a longer spin tonight. Great fun was had bombing around, and VYK is behaving well. I think I may be raising the suspension a little at the front soon though, just a half of an inch or so I hope will help with the rougher roads. VYKs suspension has settled down more resulting in an even lower stance, it doesn’t crash about and rides quite well considering, but I would like to strike a better balance between looks and comfort and don’t want to be worrying about grounding out. I must be getting older and a little wiser?!

Gearbox is still leak free, and that makes me happy!

MOT is booked for Thursday.

Thanks to everyone on this forum for all of your help over the last couple of years. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the forum, and that’s a fact.

[Carledo]

If you are running Gaz ASPs or one of the similar brands, you can expect some initial settling and adjustment will be required. I reckon about 3 weeks from install, then another at 6 months then a final tweak and levelling off at about a year. That's assuming you don't do a lot of alterations for trackdays etc.

Steve

[Bish]

If you are running Gaz ASPs or one of the similar brands, you can expect some initial settling and adjustment will be required. I reckon about 3 weeks from install, then another at 6 months then a final tweak and levelling off at about a year. That's assuming you don't do a lot of alterations for trackdays etc.

Steve

Thanks for that Steve. I’m going to raise VYK a little on the front, rears are perfect. VYKs got a slight nose down stance at the moment. I’ll level the car out for now and have a play with the settings ( at the moment they are all set around the middle of the clicks on the knurled adjuster ) and see how I go. I’m running GAZ. Any recomemdations on the position of the knurled adjuster and tyre pressures? I was thinking 28 psi front and 26 rear? Just looking for the right settings for road, for now.

[Bish]

Fresh MOT! No advisories and a clean slate.
Happy days indeed.



Deffinately need to raise the front end a little. The subframe just caught on that little step up into the workshop



Could be worse though, I have had cars in the past that were too low to go onto the MOT ramp without a variety of wooden blocks to help. But, those days are gone. I love the looks but need the comfort more, and I can’t be arsed dodging every pothole. It’s good that there’s room for improvement and still jobs to do, that way I won’t get bored. Plus I’m sure VYK will throw me a curve ball or two.

Cleaned and polished, VYK looks the part.

More miles = more smiles

[yorkshire_spam]

Fresh MOT! No advisories and a clean slate.
Happy days indeed.

Brilliant result! Always nice to have somebody else validate your hard work and fail to find anything to quibble about!

[Carledo]

If you are running Gaz ASPs or one of the similar brands, you can expect some initial settling and adjustment will be required. I reckon about 3 weeks from install, then another at 6 months then a final tweak and levelling off at about a year. That's assuming you don't do a lot of alterations for trackdays etc.

Steve

Thanks for that Steve. I’m going to raise VYK a little on the front, rears are perfect. VYKs got a slight nose down stance at the moment. I’ll level the car out for now and have a play with the settings ( at the moment they are all set around the middle of the clicks on the knurled adjuster ) and see how I go. I’m running GAZ. Any recomemdations on the position of the knurled adjuster and tyre pressures? I was thinking 28 psi front and 26 rear? Just looking for the right settings for road, for now.

Wow! just seen the pic and, allowing for you having smaller wheels than my 15" F rims I reckon that's well lower than the Carledo!

At least you don't have my Vauxhall created problem, where the sump plug is the lowest point of the car! Which can have nasty consequences! Fortunately (for ME anyway) I learned this the easy way from a colleague with a redtop powered car and the same Carlton sump, he ripped his plug clean out! Which has made me more than a touch paranoid about getting my car too low!

I would say it needs to lift maybe 1.5" at the front and maybe a 1/2" at the rear for comfort, though it depends a lot on where you live and the pothole count!

For Shox, a very base setting I would consider 3/4 hard at the front and 1/4 hard at the rear, this is a RWD standard, keep the front hard and the tail soft for best results, on tyre pressures I run 28 all round, which works for me but my car is so far from stock, it's not really a good indicator. I have to drop the rear pressure to 12 psi on the dragstrip, it's worth nearly a full second on ET and stops it lighting the tyres in 2nd gear as well as all the way through 1st!

But congrats on getting it back on the road, it looks terrific!

Steve