January 17, 2010 - Touchdown!
A bit of time cutting and welding, and suddenly I had full suspension on all four corners. Naturally, the only thing to do was to bolt on some wheels and drop the car to the ground. The spring rates (250 rear and 375 front) were chosen simply because they were handy, and the ride height was set to "no preload on the springs". It actually turned out pretty well after I dropped the nose down slightly!
When I tell someone about having the car sitting on its wheels, they don't seem to share my excitement. This car has a completely new suspension, not just a bolt-on setup! This is a huge step!
After having the car up in the air for so long, it looks much smaller sitting on the ground. Janel thought it looked like a Hot Wheels car with the wheels poking out of the wells.
Turns out my initial measurements for droop travel were accurate - there isn't much. I think the smart way to fix that would be to simply move the lower suspension mounting point up by an inch or so. Of course, I had the car a little tall today because I can't compress the rear suspension much without cutting the rear fenders. That'll happen soon enough, but I'll probably concentrate on the other big jobs first.
Less than an hour after touchdown, the car was in the air again. And I was dragging the engine hoist towards the car...
tags: suspension |
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