288 replies to this topic

[El_Freddo]

Are you running an external oil cooler or a remote filter setup allpaw?

And did you have the sway bar links upside down or the sway bar hanging down? I’m not really following what the issue was there that stopped you getting full lock.

Cheers

Bennie

[allpaw4]

Running both. Filter sits down on the drivers side chassis rail extension steel work (the bolt in triangluar black steel piece that bolts from the bottom of the chassis rail to the lower radiator mount). This makes the filter sit in the front corner of the engine bay, in front of the cam cover, but behind the radiator. Nice snug little location that is a lot easier to change a filter compared to in amongst the exhaust. Cooler sits between the crash bar and the AC condenser. You can see the cable ties and the top of the cooler in one of the photos. It is a very agricultural mount, but it works really well. I'll be replacing the cooler once I put the engine etc back into the track car, because one of the hose connections is bent from the towbar incident the previous owner had with the B4. I'll get some photos when I get a chance, but this probably won't be until I do the oil change etc.

Sway bar links were actually sitting horizontal, with the bar pulled down towards the front of the car. Undid the links, swung the bar and the links up, then bolted them up again. The rubbing at full lock (well, anything past 1 full turn) was the link scraping on the inner edge of the wheel. Because the link was horizontal and pointing towards the front, it pushed out into where the wheel would be with lots of steering. The left hand wheel would rub at left hand down steering, and vice versa on the right hand down. Hard to explain.

Kong! Long time no see in the forums! Hows things going?

Cheers,
Ben

[El_Freddo]

Yeah the sway bar issue make sense!

The oil filter relocation sounds good too.

Cheers

Bennie

[allpaw4]

Ok, so after looking at my Billies with pink springs for a while now, and thinking about things, I finally pulled the trigger on them today. They're going in tomorrow morning, and I've booked a proper alignment in for next week off (they're fully booked this week, so it has to wait until I'm not at work). Will do the poor mans alignment in the way of checking the camber bolts and marking them, although the FSM has all the info there on how to do it, I don't have the gizmo's to do it myself.

The Cusco rear strut brace will also make it back onto the car as well. While I have everything out for the rear suspension, I might as well put it in. I'd put the front strut brace in as well if I still had it, but it got sold a while back. I've got a carbon one from the Gen 2 sitting there, but it doesn't fit the chassis - Bolts look like they will line up, but it also looks like it will be hard up against the firewall, so that's staying in the shed for the track car.

If I'm feeling enthusiastic, I may put the leather door cards in too, but we'll see how I go, missus gets home from work at 2, so I want to be done with the car by then.

Friday's job is going to be trying to seal up the thread on the AN fitting that goes into the oil filter plate - O ring is crushed and it no longer seals correctly. Thinking that a new O ring and some liquid PTFE (plumbers sealant for water pipes and the like, and a paste, not tape) should do the trick nicely. The AN part of the fitting is not leaking, its the standard thread that goes into the filter block. More than likely going to need to dump the oil to get the fitting off the plate, but we'll see how that goes...

 

Next break will probably find the brembo's re-installed, as the first drive each evening after being at work sees the front brakes go 'clack' the first time they're engaged, and its starting to shit me off. Besides this they work fine. Rather than find the issue, I'll just stick the good ones back on. Probably should have the brembo's on anyways due to the turbo install. While I'm at it, the braided lines will go back on after a bit of a clean up... This thing is getting more and more B4 by the week.

Should mention that while I was fiddling with the sway bars a while back, the S401 front sway found its way back onto the car! Another one of those items that I should have recovered from the B4 - the rear sway bar, as the RX one is tiny...

 

Cheers,

Ben

[bobbyjimmy]

the first drive each evening after being at work sees the front brakes go 'clack' the first time they're engaged

 

Pad knock?

Do they then do it when you go in reverse and use the brakes too?

My front Brembo's did this with 2 different sets of pads (Stoptech and Akebono's), gave me the shits then I couldn't be bothered and left them alone.

[El_Freddo]

Got all the shims installed? They’re the little pressed metal pieces around the brake pad. You should have a set for front and rear buffering too (rotation direction buffering).

Cheers

Bennie

[allpaw4]

Could be pad knock bobby, its annoying as shit. I'll try the reverse thing tomorrow probably, but last I remember, I don't think they do it in reverse, its almost as if the pistons release pressure over the day while its left in the car park, and the first time I drive it forward, and apply the brakes, it goes clack. Calipers probably just need some grease, but if I'm going to remove calipers, I'll put the brembos back on rather than reinstall the shitty slide calipers. Turbo motor probably needs the bigger brakes to be honest.

NFI if the shims are all there bennie, haven't ever had the brakes apart on this bucket of bolts. I figured if it ain't broke, dont touch it. Passed roadworthy fine, and they work ok. Just the clack when they first get applied.

Bilstiens installed today, as well as the rear strut brace. Was missing the bolts that hold the bar to the mounts, as I misplaced one in the shed, and I'd given the other one to one of the mechanics to grab a second one from his place yesterday. Had the bar just sitting in the mounts. Never knew how much flex was actually in these cars. There was some serious clunks coming from the boot as I drove it round to pick up the bolts. Holy crap!
Bolts now installed into the bar and tightened nicely. No more clunks. Haven't given it stick yet, but it certainly feels tighter even with just the bilstiens. Old tired suspension must have been past it, as I haven't noticed a difference in ride height at all.

Tomorrows mission is the leaking AN fitting.

Cheers,
Ben

[Barbbachello]

Probably worth rebuilding the brembos as well while theyre out. Seals arent super cheap but good maintenance. Dont even bother with aftermarket ones. OEM only. Ask me how i know

[allpaw4]

Fair point Barbs, I'll jump onto Partsouq later tonight and get the respective part numbers. Probably have to go find an FSM with the brembos in it too, the 98-03 FSM has the rebuild of the slide calipers, but obviously not the brembos.

[Barbbachello]

For front 26297FE010 
for rear 26697FE000 

Super easy to rebuild. Plenty of guides on youtube and the like as well

[RX25SE]

Do the guides suggest splitting the housings Barbs?

I was always taught never to split fixed head calipers unless unavoidable.

[allpaw4]

I didn't think it was too bad really, 90 bucks for the front kits, and 58 for the rears. Only issue is no rear kits in stock, and only 2 kits left for the front.

Do I need 1 kit per caliper, or is it 1 kit per set?

 

I too have heard that calipers are not to be split Jase. Will be doing this without splitting.

 

Cheers,

Ben

[RX25SE]

Usually it's a kit per caliper Ben. Certainly with non OEM anyway.

[Barbbachello]

Do the guides suggest splitting the housings Barbs?

I was always taught never to split fixed head calipers unless unavoidable.

Depends what guide you read, but i wouldnt split them as the internal seals are impossible to get afaik. Can only get ones that sort of fit

1 Kit for both front calipers

[RX25SE]

1 Kit for both front calipers

Well there you go!

[allpaw4]

Ah ok, thats some good news at least. Will probably order a kit in a few days once my rental income hits. Hopefully they get stock of the rear kits soon, but if push comes to shove I'll just put the calipers on and pull them off again once the kit arrives. Not like they're overly difficult to pull. Cheers for the info fellas, certainly helps!

Cheers,
Ben

[allpaw4]

Logged in and checked stock levels on the kits this morning and they suddenly had quite a few kits, so I put the order through this morning. They say 7-18 days postage, but I reckon it was 5 or so days with the last item I bought from Partsouq. Will rebuild them and then stick them on. Hopefully the brake fluid doesn't destroy the paintwork on the caliper... Really cant be fagged repainting them as well.

[allpaw4]

Pulled the plate off the car today where the oil filter usually goes, as one of the hose connections on this was where the oil was leaking from. Cleaned up the threads (covered in dirt and crap), replaced the O-rings on both AN fittings, wiped down various parts of the underside that had oil drips appearing, and then re-assembled everything. Thankfully didn't need to drain the oil out. Only lost ~50-100mL from the plate and hoses, which is happy days. Plenty enough oil in the sump to allow for that. Took it for a decent drive to get it up to temp and thinner to check for leaks, and all is good!

 

One less thing to worry about! Just need to wait another week or so for the oil on the exhaust etc to burn off, and it'll be all good again! No more leaks!

 

 

Added some images of the underside after fixing the issue, shows the location of everything oil related...

First one shows everything coated in a thin layer of oil

 

Edit - Wow, maybe these need to be resized...

Don't worry about the drop on the filter - I topped up the radiator overflow with a bottle and spilled some. Due to the location of the remote filter, it gets coated if I miss...

[allpaw4]

Went and got the door cards from the B4 today, will install tomorrow, and depending on how long that takes, I might put the B4 rear bar on as well. This one looks shit due to whatever the previous owner did to it. Check out the first post for the damage on the side of it. Probably change the towbar out for the other one I have in the shed too, 50mm square rather than the long tongue one thats already fitted. Hopefully stop smacking it when I leave the driveway each morning.

[El_Freddo]

I once saw one of those long tongue style tow bars folded up vertical! The rest of the rear end looked ok as I assume it was someone with a tough (but now not so good looking) bull bar. I couldn’t believe it.

Keep up the good work!

Cheers

Bennie