SHOCK ABSORBERS

Technical lowdown on shock absorbers,what to look for and what to buy Having introduced the fairly unknown Kayaba (KYB) range to the mini market in 1997 I am still amazed how gullible people are when buying cheap dampers. I have tried every type popular type available in the last 35 years, Armstrong including their adjustables, Girling, lockheed, Koni, Spax., Avo, Bilstein,Monroe,Boge,Gabriel and GMax The best to date were probably the very expensive special design Koni adjustables that we had built for the Monte Carlo rally. I also used the spare set on my 8 port car. You get what you pay for? For a non adjustable, Bilsteins rate highly although like the Koni specials are expensive, but you get what you pay for. The essence of a quality damper is to upgrade performance by using more sophisticated higher quality component build in the valving, piston, rod and seals etc along with a performance upgrade to improve the cars road holding.

Suspension - Dampers, basic knowledge

The damper's job is very simple to explain - to keep the tyre in contact with the ground wherever and whenever possible...

IMPORTANT NOTES ON FITMENT OF ULTIMATE GPA DRIVETRAIN - C-BTA1270

Fitment of the Ultimate Drivetrain Kit is as Cooper ‘S’ Drivetrain assembly except for the following points:-

1 When fitting driveshaft to CV joint it is always advisable to Tig weld CV joint inner race to thick circlip in two places.
2 When installing large alloy side covers please ensure a flat and spring washer are used in conjunction with 5/16 unc x 11/4” bolts, so as bolts do not bottom out in gearbox casing
3 When connecting Hardy Spicer joints to output shafts using 3/8 unf bolts, a small amount of grinding will be needed on one of the bolt flats to enable location and locking on to output shafts.
4 Before sliding driveshaft into Hardy Spicer coupling ensure splines of both are thoroughly oiled and greased.
5 Centralise steering rack and set up steering geometry
6 After installation of kit remove suspension units and CV joint nuts and move suspension through full bump (ie up) and rebound (ie down) and check that in both p...

11.08.07 - Snetterton Report by Keith Calver

Having made some improvements and progress at Croft the decision now was – what to do next? The increase in toe-out on the rear, despite being a small amount, seemed to help get the car turned better. Should I add more? In my 'softly softly' approach to getting the car sorted so I don't loose my way I contemplated this for a while and decided that on the whole it would be better to go to Snetterton with the car as it finished at Croft....