VYK The Russet 78 Sprint

[Bish]

Socket arrived enabling me to remove the crank pulley and then the timing cover. Didn’t know quite what to expect but what I found didn’t look too bad. The slipper of the tensioner was out a fair bit and the straight run of chain was deffinately slack suggesting that it had stretched, but it wasn’t a disaster.



Guides and slipper were a bit grooved.





I have been reliably informed that the tensioner / slipper and guides could be used again. I couldn’t make my mind up on that so for piece of mind I replaced everything for new. It’s debatable whether the quality of some new parts are as good as they could be but time will tell. Guides and gaskets came from Robsport. Quality jaguar tensioner from Alun, Payen crank pulley oil seal from eBay ....





Theres good advice on the forum ( as usual - thank you) and the manual has clear ( ish ) instruction so it all went together well. Took the opportunity to do a proper coolant flush, fresh oil and filter , and a session with the timing light and colourtune. I’m really happy with the results.



The engine bay is so much quieter! Just a light clack from the tappets, the mechanical metallic noise has gone! Plus I now have piece of mind with the new chain and tensioner.

I was so pleased I even did a bit of rustproofing on the front panel and cleaned the engine bay up a little

[dollyman]

Looking good as usual Bish, don't forget that red bit of plastic (sorry) Everything looks nice and clean now

Tony.

[Matt Cotton]

Great result Bish. I had overlooked the crank pulley seal so that is worth replacing when I get round to replacing my chain etc. I'm glad the engine bay is quieter now.

MC

[Bish]

Thank you both. Just had an evening spin out in the sticks of Kent. Very nice too. Beautiful evening light, with the sun just dipping down. The car is in rude health. I am chuffed.

[Bish]

I sold the Momo Prototipo because as lovely as it was, I didn’t think it suited the car. I found a second hand Mountney on eBay in nice condition for a tenth of the price of the Momo. Yes, I am tight!
But I also reckon the Mountney suits the car so much better. Proper period, and feels great.



I’ve also reluctantly decided to raise the cars suspension a little more. I’m still catching the subframe far too often for my liking. This time around though I’ll attempt to get the camber and tracking right. At the moment I have negative camber and toe out which makes for heavy steering. I’m sure it could be much better anyway.

[Bish]

Ok, so it’s a bit crude but it proves the point that there’s too much negative camber. 3 degrees too much according to my cheapo gauge. I’ll add a couple of shims at the top of the subframe this weekend when I take the suspension apart to raise the car - again.

[new to this]

Hi Bish

How and where are you going to get the shims ?

Dave

[Carledo]

I have some of the big shims, but none of the small ones for the front stiffener bracket on the upper wishbone bolt. you need both or the L bracket will be stressed and eventually snap. Not too hard to make out of 1.5 or 2mm steel though.

I'd try 1 each side extra to start, I know it's a faff to do but a little shim makes a big difference at the wheel.

Steve

[Bish]

Hi Bish

How and where are you going to get the shims ?

Dave

I’ve got some of the large ones in stock Dave. They came with a job lot of bits I bought. I’ve spares, if you need a couple?

[Bish]

I have some of the big shims, but none of the small ones for the front stiffener bracket on the upper wishbone bolt. you need both or the L bracket will be stressed and eventually snap. Not too hard to make out of 1.5 or 2mm steel though.

I'd try 1 each side extra to start, I know it's a faff to do but a little shim makes a big difference at the wheel.

Steve

Thanks Steve. I have the large ones and will make something up for the upper wishbone bolt. Thanks for the tip, I will try the one shim to start. I guess raising the car will help a bit too, so may not need two shims.

I’ll have a go and report back.

[Bish]

Operation uplift started today amidst a bit of a hangover, so not much got done, but I did get the rear trailing arms off.





They’re a bit crusty, but in good nick. No cracks that I can easily see, not misshapen, will go again with a lick of paint and new bushes.

Looks like the top spring platform thingy was mounted wrongly though? They were sloping into the centre of the car, and should be sloping to the front of the car? I’m sure I’ll work it out, but as usual past work that has been done looks to be pretty poor. I’ll strip the springs off the shocks and remount everything the right way.

The bushes appear to be past their best...



The bushes came out easily using the drill them out with a wood bit method.

The idea is to lift the suspension an inch, or 25 mm, dependant on your vintage / location. Whilst I’m at it I will sort the camber and tracking on the front end resulting in a better driving car I’m sure. I’ve been a bit reluctant to do this because I’ve always had lowered cars, sometimes ridiculously lowered cars, and it’s always been a case of form over function, looks are everything. But that’s changed, this is about getting the best driving car I can. Plus, lowering for lowering sake doesn’t look good to my eyes anymore. Times have changed...

[Bish]

I’ve been faffing with the suspension parts for a while now.

I gave the trailing arms etc a clean up n a lick of paint. Then fitted some lovely NOS bushes courtesy of the magnificent Tony Mig Welder - thank you Sir

Getting the bushes in was a bit of a ball ache. I made a puller up out of old bits n bobs, and the trusty vice came in handy as usual. I did have to soak the bushes in hot water for half an hour or so to get them soft enough to actually want to budge into the holes.











So I then attacked the front end which went without much fuss. Dropped the car down off the axle stands and shock horror!!






Whoops. Not quite the ride height and gap between front tyre and wheel arch that I had in mind!

Took the car for a spin to see if it would settle a bit. It drove like an inflatable shopping trolley no need to worry about negative camber anymore as it had turned to positive !

It seems I had forgotten that a 25mm adjustment of the shocks doesn’t equate to 25mm of ride height adjustment! It’s more like x 1.2 on the rears and x 2 on the fronts. Whoops.

Back to the drawing board today. Better results to come……..

[Bish]

Better, but maybe too much rake? The photo makes it look worse than it is tbh with the sunlight reflecting under the rear end on the wet drive.









I’ll run it for a while and let it settle a bit. Camber is now at 1.5 degrees negative so still needs a shim.

[Bish]

A final tweak has finally cracked it. I’ve raised the front another 10mm.





The car drives so much better, it’s actually surprisingly good! I’ve got the fronts adjusted about 20 clicks+, halfwayish in terms of adjustment, and the rears 15 clicks +. The car still handles well, but is more comfortable by far. I now have the tracking spot on, and camber at 1 degree negative so can live with that. The steering feels lighter and more direct too.

Happy days indeed.

[dollyman]

Well done Bish, it's been up and down like a brides nighty

Tony.