1987 3.2 Carrera Backdate project - Sladeys hotrod

sladey · Post by **sladey** » Sat Apr 30, 2016 11:26 pm

I haven't removed it but it's been removed from the ones I bought - think I'll order a new pair rather than try and get them off my old ones

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Nige · Post by **Nige** » Sun May 01, 2016 8:01 am

Great stuff Mark.

sladey · Post by **sladey** » Sun May 01, 2016 10:03 am

Thanks Nige - appreciate the comment

Thanks for the comment James - yes I know 19mm is the limit

Now anyone know the answer to this question?

sladey wrote:Which brings me on to my first question

On Jon's spindle-raising he added these additional fillets in

However Jon's Coilover kit involves a collar being welded higher up the strut, which gives you space for these fillets. However my coil-over kit is different and uses these spacers

Therefore no space to weld in the fillets as per Jon's kit. I think the fillets give additional support to the strut. Whilst I'm not racing or anything, while it's all apart I'd like to strengthen it as per Jon's kit.

I was thinking of maybe added a couple of additional welds to the underside of the collar - what do you think?

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DustyM · Post by **DustyM** » Sun May 01, 2016 11:14 am

Why can't you weld on your collar and the add the fillets to the side of it in a similar fashion to mine?

To be honest though I doubt you need the extra support for a road car...

sladey · Post by **sladey** » Sun May 01, 2016 7:07 pm

That's a fair point - I might buy some appropriate tubing and weld on a collar as per your conversion - but as you say probably not needed for a road car - it took 20 tons of force to move the spindle and that was with the weld already cut through.

The plan was to put it all together and see if that was an option but then I've hit another snag - the threaded tube won't fit over the strut

It felt tight and by twisting it, it would move down a bit but eventually got stuck. Tried a few times.

Then looked at the instruction sheet again

Worryingly it says Boge struts up to 85.5 (mine is an 87) - with a female thread on the end. My end is threaded but on the outside.

I'm going to take it up with Elephant Racing - this was never mentioned at the time of purchase so not great news but not the end of the world - I'm sure there will be a solution.

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DustyM · Post by **DustyM** » Sun May 01, 2016 7:21 pm

Yep there are different size sleeves for different struts!

Looks like you'll be walking to work a bit longer..

Nige · Post by **Nige** » Sun May 01, 2016 8:02 pm

Bummer, hope that's not another pair of struts assigned to the bin.

sladey · Post by **sladey** » Sun May 01, 2016 8:46 pm

Hope so too Nige. I can't believe that in all the years they've been selling the kit that I'm the first person with Boge struts Later than 85 so I've got my fingers crossed

Nige · Post by **Nige** » Mon May 02, 2016 7:57 am

Defo nothing mentioned at point of purchase regarding model years?

Take a screen grab just in case they change it any time soon.

Nige · Post by **Nige** » Mon May 02, 2016 8:02 am

The instruction leaflet adds to the confusion as it lists to 85.5 but then references -89 model further down.
http://www.elephantracing.com/documents ... ctions.pdf

Be surprised if they don't sort it out for you.

sladey · Post by **sladey** » Mon May 02, 2016 8:48 am

I'm hoping so - they've been good to deal with in the past (I've got screenshot though).

Worst case scenario is I remain with torsion bars and get a refund/alternate product - so the spindle raising/bump steer hasn't been a waste of time

Gary71 · Post by **Gary71** » Mon May 02, 2016 9:05 am

Could it be your strut tube is slightly oval if it goes on partially then binds?

Does the ID of coilover v OD of strut match? Do you know what should the clearance should be?

sladey · Post by **sladey** » Mon May 02, 2016 10:16 pm

Pretty certain it's not that Gary - when try to get it off I was hitting it in different planes (with rubber hammer) but it was just as stuck in each plane. I suspect the issue is that this part isn't designed for this strut.

Anyhow, cracked on a bit more today

Welded my tabs on for the RSR anti roll bar

Cleaned up my crossmember

But when doing so I found a few bits had corroded (from memory they were pretty much like this when I last did this job in 2007)

I think it's still usable but I've put out a wanted ad for a better one. Design911 are selling new ones for 375. While it's apart it would be nice to know it's all going back together in as good a condition as possible.

Then started to piece together the parts for the RSR anti roll bar. The holes ion the big discs are meant to line up perfectly with the backing plates

But they weren't. They were juuuuuuust slightly out. The holes themselves were the right size, but they were positioned fractionally too close to the centre of the bracket. I ended up drilling out the holes from 8.5mm to 9mm. That made them a perfect fit - but still with no slop.

I then went to install the strengthening backing plates onto the car. This is all that's there at the moment

I'd no idea what to do next as when I look inside the bonnet I can't see there's anyway I'd get access to the other side of that hole.

I've emailed elephant racing again, but in the meantime found a useful thread on Pelican. Basically if I can find someone with ET's hands I can install them, otherwise it's best to take out the petrol tank.

Looks like that's next week's project taken care of......

In the meantime I can send off my struts and A-Arms to be E-coated.

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DustyM · Post by **DustyM** » Mon May 02, 2016 10:36 pm

Mark,

You will need to take the tank out and you will also need to reshape the intrusion into this space that the pedal box creates, to give clearance for the bar.

Cheers
Jon

sladey · Post by **sladey** » Mon May 02, 2016 10:52 pm

Thanks for that Jon - nothing's ever easy is it!?

It'll be worth it in the end

DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker