It's been a while since I last posted, but that doesn't mean I've been idle. (Well, mostly; I did get really sick in February for weeks, so that did slow things down... sigh.) In any case, I've been driving the car every weekend, taking it on group rides, and a few car shows. Generally having fun with it--and making lists. This week, started tackling some of the items on the list.
First up is prep for the car's first autocross, which is this coming Sunday. Lots of little things to do, plus a few big ones. The most important of these is excessive body roll and some "bottoming-out" that's been happening on hard cornering and in roadway dips. The solution is twofold: first, am ordering stiffer springs for the rear coilovers. Going from 200# to 300#/in units. Might be overkill, but it should fix the problem. (I can always drop back down to 250# if required.)
The second fix is installing a front swaybar. The one I had on a back shelf in the garage came out of a competition MG Midget from many, many years ago. It might be too stiff, but like the springs, I can always back down if it proves to be too harsh. The only real issue with mounting it is (like everything else on the car) finding space for it. In the end, it's getting mounted below the frame rails behind the front tires. I'm a little disappointed in losing a bit of ground clearance, but it should be OK overall.
The other two things happening this week are: a) re-installing the front tow hoops (which were removed last year for a variety of reasons); and b) relocating the shoulder strap mounting points to higher up and further back in the car to provide better protection/compliance for the driver.
Really looking forward to the A/X on Sunday-- but, yes, with some trepidation about breaking things or embarrassing myself on track. One way or the other, it's going to be an interesting weekend....
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