Roxanne - budget milano/75 track car

[Greg Gordon]

Nice work Jes. I am watching this thread as I am doing almost the exact same work right now on a Milano. I am glad to see you replaced the lower A arm bushings. They are a major pain, but it would be a shame to upgrade the suspension and have these bushings holding the car back.

[AR4me]

Thanks Greg. Actually, the lower A arm bushings are not bad at all once you got it nailed down. The other side didn't take long at all. To press the front bushing out first, by itself, simply put a 10 mm deep socket with a short extsion, through the splines, and onto the rod. The 10 mm will clear the threads and is slim enough to slide through the rear bushing. So, you basically press on the rod which presses the front bushing out. All you really need is a decent press and standard assortment of sockets. I then used a deep 17 mm socket through the splines to press the rear bushing out.
Jes

[Greg Gordon]

That's pretty much how we did it. While the press was out of its corner we also pressed in a new SZ Dedion bearing and pressed out every single suspension bushing on the car. We are waiting for a clutch to get here so we can put it back together. The car is also getting the RS racing suspension and Group 2 brakes.

I am pm ing you.

[AR4me]

That will be one nice car! Is that the car that is also getting SC?

A pic of the A arm apart (old bushings removed), and a pic of the left side with A arm back in. The right side is also done The remaining parts will go in when I have the suspension goodies, and the inner wheel bearing seals (luckily Centerline have them in stock).

I lowered both sides 3/4" as planned.

Jes

[tomp]

Say Jes, I noticed an incredible amount of wiring when I pulled the dash back. Did you remove much of that? Seems a lot is related to the ARC system.
-Tom P.

[AR4me]

Yes, but be careful. The ARC actually runs an essential function, even for a race car - THE REAR BRAKE LIGHTS. On the 3.7 I took it all out and wired the rear brake lights myself. However, on Roxanne the ARC was perfect so I decided to leave it in. Even for a race car, some of the ARC functions are quite useful. I'm thinking of:
1. Low oil level,
2. Low coolant level,
3. Possible critical ABS failure (a combination of lights).
I don't run the ABS function, but I have the ABS pump etc run the brakes. Hence, a total failure is nice to know off Oh, and 2. has previously saved my behind on the track...

But yes, I removed some wiring from behind the dash.

Jes

[eddiealfanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AR4me and a few more. 3. The backed out poly bushing that needs to be shimmed. Jes

[AR4me]

No, these were from a different source when I first got the car - looks like you should NOT have any issues with the part from Performatek. Excellent design that prevents the poly from backing out. Hmm, maybe I should just replace them altogether with the ones from Performatek.

Thanks for posting the pic and pointing this out!

Jes

[eddiealfanut]

All the usual riders apply (I have no connection with etc.) but for $50 it seems like an option...

Ed.

p.s. Glad to be of some small help in a mega project :-)

[AR4me]

Ok, made quite some progress on the front suspension. Yeah, got a partial RSR kit going on Roxanne, some borrowed parts, some new parts, ... Although, not strictly budget, I still consider it excellent bang for the buck. Also, this is not the complete RSR, but the 4 shocks and springs, and the front sway bar. Spring rates are 125 kg front, 70 kg rear, and the sway bar is 30 mm.

The front coil over install can be trouble some, but a few simple steps can make it quite simple. It is important to open up the upper control arm for better clearance, though consider structural integrety before going crazy. Secondly, getting the right combination of torsion bar setting and adjuster ring can be a challenge. Make measurements before and have a target for loaded setting relative to the fender line. Then you can simply jack up the lower A arm and see if you have it right while everything is still apart, and it is still a 30 sec job to pull the torsion bar back out and rotate it. I never, ever, count splines. I find it much easier and more accurate to simply measure.

Ok, some pics of the install of the front coil over. I had the front suspension completely apart as part of all various changes. Anyway, here goes:
1. The RSR parts going on Roxanne
2. The starting point with everything apart
3. Bolt on the bracket for the shock to A arm mounting
4. Assemble the front coil over - rotate the rings all the way to the bottom made it easier for

Jes

[AR4me]

RSR continued...

1. It can be a tight fit to get the front coil over on the bracket - this makes it simple
2. Tighten the bolt
3. Put the poly bushing on the top of the shock, and jack up the A arm to verify against your desired ride height and check that the helper spring is almost entirely compressed. The coil of the RSR should just start to take load. If either height isn't quite right or helper spring not correctly compressed lower jack to unload torsion bar and pull it to adjust.
4. Once your happy tighten the top bolt on the shock in the engine compartment. This is a good time to also check that you have sufficient clearance on the upper control arm - move it up and down checking clearance.
5. All done with the front coil over.

Ok, some practical measurements. Compared to my previous ride height I wanted to lower the car another 3/4". To get it right I ended up having to increase the droop height of the lower A arm by 2.5" Don't be afraid to lower those torsion bars. You generally have to lower them more than you think. Anyway, make your own measurements and calculations.

I think we got the RSR install nailed down by now - got it pertfect in the first try. The rear is very simple - will do later as part of other work...

For pics of the front on the ground on wheels see a post or two down...

Jes

[AR4me]

So, part of wrapping up the front suspension required finishing the castor ball joint conversion. As visible in the first pic the castor arm in combination with the ball joint is too long. Studying the ball joint, castor rod, and the adjuster it appeared that the proper solution was to cut the ball joint. Leaving the lock nut on, I got my good friend, the angle grinder out, and cut the ball joint - cut about 1". I rounded the edges to make for easy engagement of the threads. It worked perfectly. The second pic shows the completed install.

Jes

[AR4me]

To finish up the front I am putting a set of new old front rotors on the car. I had an old set of front stock rotors laying around. They were turned and ready to go on instead of Roxanne's rotors with a pronounced lip. So, I go and pull them from the cabinet - what the heck, no wheel studs My second best friend, the press, came in handy. 1o minutes later the studs were pressed out of Roxanne's front rotors and in to the new old rotors.

1. Studs moved over.
2. New old rotor mounted.

As part of mounting the new old front rotors I also completed the front wheel bearings. I had received the seals for the inner bearings from Centerline during the week. The front wheel bearings are straightforward:
- tap out the bearing cups
- clean up the hub
- press in new bearing cups
- pack bearings with grease
- put on inner seal
- put rotor onto hub
- mount ABS emitting wheel and lock ring
- put hub on spindle
- pack with grease and put on outer bearing
- tighten nut with washer and put on cutter pin
Regarding tightening, I first tightened to 18 ft-lbs, spun the hub a bit and tapped the spindle, released the nut, and retightened to 10 ft-lbs, released 90 degrees and put on cutter pin.

Jes

[AR4me]

Before mounting the front calipers I decided to put the car on the ground to verify the front ride height for real. Although, I had measured carefully, it is not unusually having to readjust torsion bars. But, it appears pretty good Only one attempt, I'm pretty pleased, and tired... Perhaps I'll take Sunday off (from working on Roxanne) - exhausted. Though, although good progress was made today, WSR is only two weeks away, and I still got one more MAJOR change! Any guesses?

Jes

[smestas]

Awesome updates Jes.

Your car just keeps getting more bad a** with every post!

Are you going to do the Willow Springs event coming up?