Soo bit of an update.
Got back from uni early friday and cleared the tools and stuff out the clio to take it for tracking and fit my new Toyo T1R's, went down to ABC Tyres about 3 and got a phone call about 5:45 saying it was ready - went in and the guy said that the tyres were fitted but they couldn't do the tracking because there was too much play in the steering rack. I said to him "okay well I'll get the rack changed this week and will bring it back - bit of a pita because I had the engine out last week would of been ideal to change it then" his face looked sheepish and a bit stunned - I later found out why...
Went to work and one of the girls I work with (Lydia) her bf is an aa mechanic around here - apparently ABC has gotten a s**te reputation for not having a clue with what they are doing - really surprised me because they used to be THE place to take your car too, anyway this made me want to get a second opinion. We know one of the owners to another local garage (Cridges, they don't do tracking or I would of gone there to start with) I finished work at 4 am went to bed and woke up at 10 - my dad and gdad also were talking while i was at work and thought there was nothing wrong with my rack, they did some testing on it and took it to Cridges for a second opinion - he also told us it was fine and ABC were talking s**t.
Anyway I was rushed out of bed because my dad took the car down to Bassett tyres to get the tracking done (under Cridges recommendation) only the car was too low to get the laser thing on, so dad brought hte car home and woke me up to raise the front end. Did that and took it down there - they did the tracking and its AMAZING to drive.
REALLY REALLY REALLY can tell the diff between a valver rack and a 172 rack - its so much tighter and being quicker rack by 1/2 turn is very noticeable.
So got home, and was about to chill for an hour when my mum and gf decided they wanted to go to cabot circus in Bristol - I naturally thought it was an appropriate run out for Nicole and so went to wire the speed sensor in and re-build the interior of the car and take out all my remaining stuff like wires and brackets etc out of it - re-fitted the top dash and steering cowling and realised my speedo didn't work because the cable wasn't pushed in properly gave it a bit of a push and it went straight in - then the speedo worked yay
Really happy with the 172 box - sits at 3k rpm at 70 on the motorway, it really is going to be a good box for economy - although the soft pedal clutch is taking some getting used to!
Got to the car park and was really happy with how she was driving:
Filled her up with Shells new V Power 99 RON as I know the F4R's like 98 RON - got home and went to work last night and it was running like s**t, got a proper mis fire going on :/
Started the car up today pressed down on each o the leads on the coilpack and got an almighty electric shock from number 3 - has a slight split in the top - new plugs and leads on teh cards then me thinks. Put some leccy take round it and it was better but not cured.
As some of you will have noticed in previous pics, we bodged an air filter on just so it was driveable I thought today I would fit the standard airbox and filter on - however this meant putting the battery back in the boot. Last time I tried this it didn't really work and the battery wasnt being charged - I bought some proper 25mm2 wire instead of the 13mm2 s**t I had originally.
Tried showing the diff in this pic but you cant really see it - it really is a noticeable increase:
Got it all wired up:
Started first time - spot on. It kept cutting out straight away and eventually figured out I had tripped the inertia switch and hadnt relised - pressed the red button it was running again.
Got the airbox fitted after turning the pip round 90 degrees and took the plastic engine cover off as the bonnet is damaging it - will have to modify bonnet some more so It clears as I really like the way it looks with the plastic. Here 3 pics of the bay:
Took her out for a drive, doesnt look too fast in the vid but it was
- used iPhone on a mount that suckers to the windshield so its a bit crappy because of that:
I've noticed the zorst is hitting the arb after I let off from accelerating, JayKay in the post above tells me the 172 ARB should fit my car - in which case might actually give me all the clearance I need! More investigating needed
And thats all for now folks! More updates over the next week or so after I finish dissertation - I'll also be doing guides on F4R conversion and keeping PAS with F4R also 172 steering rack in a mk1 after I move back home (18th May)