Had a busy weekend... (56k no)

[agw_01]

Went down to rover220's this weekend with the intention of finally fitting the lowering kit that I bought from a mate on Rovertech some time ago.

I set off from my house just after 8:30am on Saturday and made it down in about an hour. Good going methinks.

Anyway, once we had got ourselves sorted, we cracked on straight away.



The tools we used and new suspension... 50mm springs on GSi-Turbo shocks

Front of the car before lowering

Old Strut removed from hub



Shortly after this point Cableguy and benno_bro turned up to lend a hand. It actually ended up with Cableguy taking over and doing the rest of the work.

Here he is getting jiggy with the 'persuasion bar'

The fronts were done in about an hour, so we moved onto the rears... starting with the drivers side first. One of the bolts on the rear arm that holds the strut in place decided it would weld itself to the metal shielding in the bush causing the head of the bolt to snap

Errr, I think we may have a problem

 

[agw_01]

With no way of getting this bolt out with normal methods, we had to resort to other plans. Someone had the great idea of drilling the bolt out. One trip to Halfords later and we were equipped with the drill bits needed to get started.

The offending bolt



After grinding the remaining end of the bolt, Cableguy then proceeded to drill the rest of the bolt out of the bush. It wasn't going to come out any other way!

About 5 hours and 3 drill bits later, we were getting somewhere

Mike couldn't find the chuck key for the drill, so we had to use our initiative



After finally getting the strut fixed into position on the drivers side, Cableguy then attempted to slowly and gently get the passenger side strut released. 5 minutes later, we ran into the same problem... one snapped bolt

Day Two

After another trip to Halfords and a return of some Faulty Drill Bits we were back in action. Cableguy went at the bolt a little too hard with the first drill bit... causing this to happen

In a last attempt to drill the bolt, Cableguy set out again to attack it... however we'd exhausted the drill bits and nothing worthwhile was taking place.

It was decided to return to Halfords once more (most business they'd had all weekend) and purchase a complete set of drill bits. That way we could use them to gradually increase the size of the hole, instead of going straight in with a much bigger bit hoping that it would grind through.

Attacking the bolt

After a lot of swearing, joking, crying, sweating and a trip to B&Q... we finally got somewhere. Out came the bolt and in went the new strut



The final strut, fitted and bolted into place after 6 hours of ******* about with a steel bolt.

 

[agw_01]

So there we have it... it took a while but we got there in the end! I'd like to thank Cableguy for putting in so much effort. He just wouldn't give up until the job was done! Benno_bro for showing up and offering his support and rover_220 for putting up with me for the weekend. I owe all you guys a very big pint!!


Anyway... on with the completed pics!

Front Clearance - Rear Clearance - Side Clearance

 

[agw_01]

Doesn't handle too bad either

 

[agw_01]

Did it affect your insurance much?

Ohh, I actually totally forgot about telling my insurance

And tbh, I doubt I will bother. I'm TPFT anyway so if I do have a smash, they won't send anyone round to check the car out to get a quote for the repairs.

I might give them a call and just ask them how much it'll be if I 'was' to lower it.

Thanks for the replies guys. The pictures really don't do it any justice! The exhaust sits about 3 1/2" from the ground

 

[agw_01]

T series is Turbo only isnt it?

Its a Rover so die in hell

cymatty - I have become Death, the destroyer of worlds says:
why you being nice lol
Lee says:
im in a nice mood
cymatty - I have become Death, the destroyer of worlds says:
you shold say its a rover die in hell lol

Nope, the T series was released a 2 litre NASP and 2 litre Turbo... 136 and 197bhp accordingly.

I've come to ignore cymatty now He's started getting on my nerves with the whole Rover bashing thing. And yes, I know he'll read this

 

[agw_01]

Thanks Lopez

The bushes are knackered now. Actually, they were knackered even before we drilled them so I'm going to treat the car to a nice complete set of poly bushes. The front ARB-links also need replacing as well, so I'll get some replacements for those too.

Freefaller, I didn't actually do much work at all. rover220 did the fronts until Cableguy turned up, who then did the whole of the rears.

I really can't thank him enough! He's such a great guy. He even sold me an almost new radiator for next to nothing

ZG2002, yep, you're right mate. I'll give my insurers a call this week.

 

[agw_01]

Is it fwd or rwd?

FWD

Goatyman,

Freefaller, I don't think I actually did much apart from take pictures and look worried the whole weekend, lol.

You'll be quite suprised just how calm I am with this car. The first few days I was flooring it everywhere and just basically driving like a loony (not in 5pm traffic though, hehe, I'm talking late at night). I'll give it some beans while I'm out at night, but not for long. I'm more worried about a police car coming around the corner than losing control and smashing into a post.

Oh, it's amazing how much you actually feel the road with stiffer springs. I try and dodge as many pot holes as I can otherwise it just feels like someone kicked you in the back.

 

[agw_01]

How much were the parts.

I bought the suspension a couple of months back. Cost me £50 for the lot It's been sat in the back of my car since I bought it... as I'm sure paradigm can confirm.

Tinkerbell, thanks Yep, I love it. Has a lot more appeal with it being so low. It actually makes me smile when I look at it.

 

[agw_01]

Thanks for the comments guys

Simon, I'd love to see how well yours handles. Even with ****** bushes I'm yet to feel even a hint of bodyroll. It just feels so planted.

On the way back, coming off the M60 onto the M61 there's a lovely tight bend which I would normally take at around 55-60 and be on the edge. I looked at my speedo mid-corner to see it reading 75mph It had plenty more left in it!

In fact, the difference is that much, that I've actually had quite bad understeer while cornering Obviously I'm taking corners faster because the roll is less and my crappy P6000's can't cope.

I'm going to get either low profile Eagle F1's for these wheels and refurbish them, or I might even try and pick up some 16" Hairpins. I think they'll suit the car pretty well.

Aaron, at the end of the first day, Cableguy did try to remove the lower arm so that he could take it with him and drill the bolt out. The furthest bolt from the hub came out fine... but the bolt that held the arm to the hub, the same thing was happening. The bush has welded itself onto the bolt which would have caused it to snap if we'd tried to undo it.

 

[agw_01]

Is the strut to arm bolt the only one with a captive nut, or do all the bolts on the lower arm have them?

That was the biggest problem with having it snapping. The only way to get it out was to drill

Oh, how do you guys find speedbumps? I went out tonight on my normal route home from work (full of speedbumps) and I have to literally crawl over them with the clutch out in 1st gear.

Anything more and the exhaust catches Guessing I'm going to need adjustable hangers.

lol Si! I just hate the noise it makes. It sounds/feels like you've cracked something.

Zip, thanks very much Next on the list is a stainless exhaust and de-cat. And it's already been paid for... just for anyone who might want a moan about spending money.

 

[agw_01]

It will love MM roads then.

haha, Coco nearly obliterated a bucket... next MM he'll have to dodge an exhaust centre pipe

 

[agw_01]

That's the problem with lowering with standard dampers, the ride suddenly becomes very crashy

Ahhhhhh, gotya

In fact, you'll probably be able to tell me what springs these are. It's Nash's (from RT) old setup.