So, what with the issues I had going on with that front coilover, and also finding out the other front coilover has a small amount of play in it as well, I thought I might as well bite-the-bullet (again) and order up something else silly from Mr Driftworks.
A wild box appears.
Mmm, orange & black & stuff.
Arrived in less than 24 hours, can’t argue with that! I’ll be fitting them this week/weekend. Looking forward to having a direct comparison between my existing coilovers and these bad boys!
Right, this is a huge update so bear with me! Got a load done today and super happy with everything that’s been done to the car.
First thing was to check out what was making a knocking noise from the nearside front corner. I was suspecting it was coilover top mounts, but it appears to be more than that. Shock body/rod seems to have loads of play in it. Not good news at all, as I cannot afford new coilovers! Got a video to show what I mean.
Hopefully I can find a pair of decent front coilovers, or perhaps rebuild them? Will be calling Apex Performance in the morning as I’ve read they sell all the parts separately in order to rebuild the coilovers.
After being disappointed in finding that, we got started on adding the flexi between turbo elbow & downpipe. I’ve taken loads of photos, so I will let mainly the photos do the talking-
Original, before any changes
Elbow & downpipe off, flexi offered up next to it for comparison
My buddy Stu made a kickass jig up to ensure it aligned back on the car when we were done
In the jig, before any changes
Some cutting happened
Flanges cut off
Flexi offered up
And then many welding minutes later, done!
Spot on!!
Fitted back onto the car
Bang on, couldn’t be happier with it. Huge thanks to to “Big Stu” for doing basically all the work! I’m rubbish when it comes to welding/fabricating, wish I were better at it!
Here’s a video with cat-back detached from system to show the available moment in the flexi joint, very cool
While he was busy making things look awesome, I did an oil & filter change
And then, whilst we were waiting for the downpipe to cool down, some wheels/tyre swapping happened. I’m now on 215/40/17 Falken FK452′s on the front, given a LOT more clearance in all areas which is good.
Talking of clearance, some of the on-going issues with having silly GeoMaster lock. DW bent tension rods & whiteline front ARB hitting the tyre/wheel
And only a few mm’s away from tie rod nut
Need to get lock stops fabricated up shortly to avoid doing any bad stuff.
Lastly, I wanted the rear exhaust flange removed, it was scraping/catching on the ground a lot
So whole system cat-back came off
Snip snip
Got a ratchet strap around the 2 pipes to bring them closer together, giving more clearance around diff & rear ARB
Job done, few more mm’s clearance and less stuff to snag/catch on.
Drove down the road quick and took some photos, they came out nicer than I thought.
Rear fitment looks weak, sucks. Need to look at that in the coming months perhaps
All in all, hectic but decent day’s work on the car. Really happy!
Small update, but since my tyres have been completely eaten & destroyed by rubbing on that front brake hose bracket, I needed new tyres. Really wanted some track tyres (AD08 or RSR’s) but simply can’t afford them, even though I’m sure they are miles better. Maybe next time.
I’ve also gone for a smaller profile, 235/40/17 down to a 215/40/17. This will lower the car 8mm, but also increase the arch gap by 8mm, meaning I can drop the car even further on the front which is what I want. I should be able to drop the suspension 4-6mm once these tyres are fitted, meaning overall drop of around 14mm, and still be better off than I am now with clearance.
Shameless photo because I was bored on lunch 
This weekend should see a load of updates on the car, looking forward to getting the exhaust flexi on and whole system tucked up some more. I’m hoping then I can equal the new low’s on the front with a healthy drop on the rear, I aim to drop it around 15-20mm, increasing negative-rake.
Managed to get a higher resolution photo sent to me from Rough Smoke Photographer, Les. Spot on!
