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ian65 wrote:yeah Cliff, the bushes were quite horrible...

Holy Cow! ....If the Titanic had suspension arms.... Dreading what I'm gonna find under mine when I finally get the chance to start pulling it to bits. Damn, too many inspirational threads on here, you guys know how to make someone feel lazzzzzyy

took this car for a test drive today on the new polybushed rear suspension and the difference is UNBELIEVABLE.
Instead of oversteering wildly and feeling like its just resting on its suspension, the car feels firmly planted on the road and all the 'rubber banding' has gone.
When pushing the car really hard through the gears, the back end stays where it should be on the road. It used to kick slightly sideways as I changed gear and lose its balance but now its solid and surefooted, even with the turbo on boost.
The old tired diff has made way for a nice quiet rear axle and the brakes now work fine.
Happy days

So what you're saying is that the chassis is now not fussed about the current power level?

Sounds like a good excuse to give it a workout.

RamoNZ wrote:So what you're saying is that the chassis is now not fussed about the current power level?

Sounds like a good excuse to give it a workout.

yeah, on the old bushes the engine outperformed the suspension meaning I couldn't enjoy the cars true potential.
By the time the front bushes are done and I've dropped some of these on it, it should handle great...



I'll need more power then.

ian65 wrote:yeah Cliff, the bushes were quite horrible...



but it's all back together now on new polys...

I've put my freshly skimmed discs, that Keith very kindly sorted out for me, on the car as well together with a rebuilt NS caliper and new pads...



just need to bleed to brakes now and it should be good to go ( and stop)

.

Yep - I've certainly seen better bushes than that (and a few worse ones to be honest).
It's when you strip these out and realise just how far they are gone that you start asking yourself - have I been pushing the limits with the suspension in that state!
Well at least you found the problem before putting it all back together again and will be able to sleep at night.

So following the test drive, did it take you back and you recaptured the feeling of excitement when pushing in and out of the corners? - cool!

Hi Ian.... just been reading thru the thread, absolutely proper stuff with a lot of tips and ideas. I've had a good old look at my watts and it's looking none too flash. Same handling symtoms as yours which is quite disconcerting, particularly when I recall how these used to handle back the the proverbial day.

Really liking your work though..... wish I had a garage to myself.

KiwiDave wrote:Hi Ian.... just been reading thru the thread, absolutely proper stuff with a lot of tips and ideas. I've had a good old look at my watts and it's looking none too flash. Same handling symtoms as yours which is quite disconcerting, particularly when I recall how these used to handle back the the proverbial day.

Really liking your work though..... wish I had a garage to myself.

thanks Dave,

as the sun was shining for a while this morning, I took the car for a blast to a nearby village..... the difference in the handling is like night and day.... it actually feels like it's turning corners now rather than dragging its back end around.
I'd definitely recommend changing old rubber bushes for polys on these cars, a job that will reveal any seized links /pivot points as well.
I'm looking forward to driving it when the front has been polybushed as well now ( but not actually doing the job).
A task for later in the year I think.

Any tips for getting the old bushes out?
I had no luck getting the old bushes out of my old chevette suspension. Had to take it down to the local bentley garage and slip the boys some beer tokens

It tried a few different ways and the one that worked best in the end was to use an old bit of exhaust and a socket in a vice, and clamp the arm between the two. The socket applied sideways force on the bush and the exhaust tube / giant socket held the outside edge of the arm.

Then I applied a bit of heat with the blowtorch and they popped right through in about 2 mins of heating.

Glad to hear the bushes have made all the difference to your 7 Ian

I used a slightly different approach.
After getting the suspension arms off the car, I heated the bushes up with a blowlamp.... this made the bushes harder / crisper to work with. I then chain drilled a series of holes through the bush, around the sleeve. This made it easier to get the sleeve and the rest of the rubber bush out. I suppose there are plenty of other ways but this method worked for me.