Thought it was time for a well overdue update, not had alot to shout about, Car is pretty much part of the family now
Just been using her as intended, for work, play, towing cars, removals etc, all without a single moan or grumble, just put oil and water in now and then, pumped up tires, fill the tank etc. Even sailed through the last mot with a few advisories (more on that later). Still brings a smile to my face when i annoy those flashy rep mobiles on the motorway and beat the local chavs off the lights
Well now shes getting a little raggy round the edges, engines still going strong (service coming up) but the bodywork, brakes adn suspension are getting tired through the abuse, so whiles the suns out she's gonna get a bit of tlc. Mostly on the mechanical side because i want to keep it looking a little tatty, gives it a sleeper feel
One of the advisories from the MOT was the suspension, i had lowered it a while back using those dodgy spring clamps you get, yeh i know i mustve been mad but i didnt want to throw expensive suspesion on back then. Looked pimp but squashed springs combined with knackered shocks made for a real bumpy ride, like riding a bouncy castle lol
So it was time for new suspension
Out with the old and in with the new
Originally i had gone for a full suspension kit from Wietec, but just recently they have stopped making the suspension kits for the 6 cylinder carltons
So in the end i bought spax springs (35mm), Bilstein front struts and Wietec rear shocks for the Omega estate
Fronts
When i first fitted these the car sat too high for my liking, even though side by side to the old springs (still clamped) they were slightly shorter, guess it must be just where they are uprated? so i got the grinder out and chopped a coil off em, sits much better now and still plenty of travel for the strut to work normally
Also while i was under there i sprayed underseal over the seams and chassis rails, even in the strut mounting area as there didnt seem to be any paint under there
Rears
Fitted easily? yeh wouldve done til the n/s side lower shock mounting bolt sheared
Took three hours to drill out the remains of the bolt, now has nuts and bolts fitted to each side. I left the springs as they were as she sat reasonally low, plus im use her for towing trailers and carrying stuff so dont want the back too low, she looks good with the rear slightly high anyway
Also while i was there i replaced the worn out rear suspension donuts
and for the results
looks nice eh? might not notice from the pics but shes now running on lower profile tyres, 195/50s at the front and 205/60s on the rear, they were free ones i had lying around on other wheels, so worth the experiment, am probrably going to put 205/50s on the front and 225/50s on the rear in the future to see what she looks like, one things for sure i will never put standard size tyres on her again, just looks over tyre'd imo
So how does she handle, very well, like shes on rails and defo launches off the line alot better, only downside i can see is the front tyres wear out really quickly on the inside, even though ive had the tracking redone
but i only run part worns anyway so i can afford it
Possible mod for the future?
Its a strut brace from an old cavalier, perfect size, fits over the engine and yes the bonnet does shut properly
Next ups gonna be a full service, with new plugs, leads, dizzy cap etc, got a new K&N panel filter to fit and hopefully some new exhaust centre sections to make her run better
