Atacama Yellow 35is build thread
- Thread starter B21
- Start date
At the summit of the picturesque fens
Scottish Borders
Scottish Borders
B21 said:Reamesy said:Looking good Peter. You will be spending some late nights over winter in there
Hopefully…really looking forward to working on the media systems and engine…and learning to machine polish…
Here’s a useful tutorial, grasshopper
https://youtu.be/Bg21M2zwG9Q
Rob
Smartbear said:B21 said:Reamesy said:Looking good Peter. You will be spending some late nights over winter in there
Hopefully…really looking forward to working on the media systems and engine…and learning to machine polish…
Here’s a useful tutorial, grasshopper
https://youtu.be/Bg21M2zwG9Q
Rob
Not quite what I was looking for
:thumbsdown: 
Well 5 months on and 6,000 miles later I’ve just replaced the back pair of 275/30 19 SC7s….
As you can see the originals were down to the 1.6mm tread wear bar..obviously long past the suggested 3mm replace limit..
So the good news…
Much better feel than the Michelin MP4S…steering much more communicative…you can feel what the front end is doing.
Prodigious grip in both dry and damp / moist roads…never ever slid and only spun a little if applying 400 BHP in first and second.
Seemed quieter to me and Andy McD when compared to the MP4S
The as expected..
Ride comfort more or less on a par with MP4S
Not so good
Very bad trampling when admittedly worn much past their official replacement limit
Very bad in wet conditions when worn, but again, given the width and wear maybe not surprising.
The tramlining got in part may be due to quite large increases in camber..I plan to back those off next week.
With these weekends run forecast to be wet at times thought it prudent to put next seasons rears on…what a transformation…almost no trampling and cope with quite remarkably deep puddles.
Premium rubber at a premium price…wear rates are I guess what you pay for to have enough grip to contain 400 BHP of E89 being flung around..interesting despite a lot of camber evev wear rate…so must be going round corners to wear evenly..
As you can see the originals were down to the 1.6mm tread wear bar..obviously long past the suggested 3mm replace limit..
So the good news…
Much better feel than the Michelin MP4S…steering much more communicative…you can feel what the front end is doing.
Prodigious grip in both dry and damp / moist roads…never ever slid and only spun a little if applying 400 BHP in first and second.
Seemed quieter to me and Andy McD when compared to the MP4S
The as expected..
Ride comfort more or less on a par with MP4S
Not so good
Very bad trampling when admittedly worn much past their official replacement limit
Very bad in wet conditions when worn, but again, given the width and wear maybe not surprising.
The tramlining got in part may be due to quite large increases in camber..I plan to back those off next week.
With these weekends run forecast to be wet at times thought it prudent to put next seasons rears on…what a transformation…almost no trampling and cope with quite remarkably deep puddles.
Premium rubber at a premium price…wear rates are I guess what you pay for to have enough grip to contain 400 BHP of E89 being flung around..interesting despite a lot of camber evev wear rate…so must be going round corners to wear evenly..
Attachments
The winter tear down slated for starting tomorrow is delayed as still waiting for tracking to be revised…local super accurate unit is out of service…looking at a back up version…
I put too much camber on..resulting in great cornering capabilities but twitchy in straight lines and very bad tramlining as tyres wore down.
Awaiting a change to 1.5 front and 1.75 rear to see how that feels….stock was 0.5 and 2.0…did have 2.5 and 2.5
Still amassing various parts ready for the big strip down.
Latest goody is an uprated fuel pump controller…aka EKP…stock units tend to overheat if being asked to pump too much fuel.
A US company takes a stock EKP unit and replaces the main system chip with a later more uprated chip..here’s hoping that does the trick.
https://www.amazon.com/ET3-Design-Inc-16147229173-Performance/dp/B09Y3MT86H
I’ve now secured the good offices of a N54 tuner who will hopefully be able to produce a cracking tune for both the engine and gearbox based on MHD and xHP technologies..
Before we tear down the existing setup we need to do some baseline runs to see how the existing hardware is coping…should be amusing trying to get 400 BHP down in 3rd on damp roads..
I put too much camber on..resulting in great cornering capabilities but twitchy in straight lines and very bad tramlining as tyres wore down.
Awaiting a change to 1.5 front and 1.75 rear to see how that feels….stock was 0.5 and 2.0…did have 2.5 and 2.5
Still amassing various parts ready for the big strip down.
Latest goody is an uprated fuel pump controller…aka EKP…stock units tend to overheat if being asked to pump too much fuel.
A US company takes a stock EKP unit and replaces the main system chip with a later more uprated chip..here’s hoping that does the trick.
https://www.amazon.com/ET3-Design-Inc-16147229173-Performance/dp/B09Y3MT86H
I’ve now secured the good offices of a N54 tuner who will hopefully be able to produce a cracking tune for both the engine and gearbox based on MHD and xHP technologies..
Before we tear down the existing setup we need to do some baseline runs to see how the existing hardware is coping…should be amusing trying to get 400 BHP down in 3rd on damp roads..
Attachments
After several months of work on both the new garage and seemingly interminable time spent organising, cleaning and sorting I’m please to declare the B21 Zed overhaul and repair facility open!
The flatpack garage kit went up pretty fast and all seemed well in the summer.
However as the autumn came on, I was surprised at how quickly mould started to develop….in part due to the warm conditions and in part to the untreated wood which the manufacturers did state need treating.
Also surprising a number of leaks from knots, damp proof course layout issues and even through the gaps in the tongue and groove timbers.
Systematically we worked our way through the leaks and sadly had to say goodbye to the fresh pine look…we used Sikkens wood stain in two shades to try and blend the old structures with the new..so a lot of painting took place.
In parallel one of the shed sections was converted into a pony shelter as part of the overall negotiation with SWMBO.
So I’ve now got a 4 section facility,..
A ‘hangar’ for the car]
A dirty room for any cutting n grinding
A clean room for assembly and maintenance of sub assemblies
A lab for work on fine details, programming and IT support
No excuses now not to get on with things…
One very big garage would have been nice..sadly just not feasible from where we started…
The flatpack garage kit went up pretty fast and all seemed well in the summer.
However as the autumn came on, I was surprised at how quickly mould started to develop….in part due to the warm conditions and in part to the untreated wood which the manufacturers did state need treating.
Also surprising a number of leaks from knots, damp proof course layout issues and even through the gaps in the tongue and groove timbers.
Systematically we worked our way through the leaks and sadly had to say goodbye to the fresh pine look…we used Sikkens wood stain in two shades to try and blend the old structures with the new..so a lot of painting took place.
In parallel one of the shed sections was converted into a pony shelter as part of the overall negotiation with SWMBO.
So I’ve now got a 4 section facility,..
A ‘hangar’ for the car]
A dirty room for any cutting n grinding
A clean room for assembly and maintenance of sub assemblies
A lab for work on fine details, programming and IT support
No excuses now not to get on with things…
One very big garage would have been nice..sadly just not feasible from where we started…
Attachments
Alignment part 4..
After having fitted a variety of suspension / steering parts..Ohlins R+t, M3 steering linkages, monoball steering bushes, M3 trailing arm bushes, H&R ARBs, Meyle HD steering arms, Powerflex rear camber arms, front camber plates, I've had the guys fitting them re-align things, but not very well..the last guys got the ride height fairly well but I could see visually the rear wheel cambers were off.
They were so bad in the end I used a spirit level against the tyre wall and an iphone app to try and get them closer to OE spec.
Having failed locally to find anyone up to it /willing I was recommended Automek in East Kilbride.
Had a happy morning there today..top notch folks with state of the art kit and very very knowledgeable.
As you can see (although the red colour is not necessarily an overall indicator) the front cambers were different, the front LHS toe was out not in and the rear LHS toe was massively out.
Despite lots of adjustablity from the parts I fitted, we couldn't get the rear camber in on both sides without assymetrical rear toes..so we agreed to focus on rear toe and let the camber come out a bit.
Have to say the drive back from East Kilbride down to Moffat and then past Marys Loch was sooo much better..
I'll return next year to have adjustable toe plates fitted to bring it all into my line /liking..
After having fitted a variety of suspension / steering parts..Ohlins R+t, M3 steering linkages, monoball steering bushes, M3 trailing arm bushes, H&R ARBs, Meyle HD steering arms, Powerflex rear camber arms, front camber plates, I've had the guys fitting them re-align things, but not very well..the last guys got the ride height fairly well but I could see visually the rear wheel cambers were off.
They were so bad in the end I used a spirit level against the tyre wall and an iphone app to try and get them closer to OE spec.
Having failed locally to find anyone up to it /willing I was recommended Automek in East Kilbride.
Had a happy morning there today..top notch folks with state of the art kit and very very knowledgeable.
As you can see (although the red colour is not necessarily an overall indicator) the front cambers were different, the front LHS toe was out not in and the rear LHS toe was massively out.
Despite lots of adjustablity from the parts I fitted, we couldn't get the rear camber in on both sides without assymetrical rear toes..so we agreed to focus on rear toe and let the camber come out a bit.
Have to say the drive back from East Kilbride down to Moffat and then past Marys Loch was sooo much better..
I'll return next year to have adjustable toe plates fitted to bring it all into my line /liking..
Attachments
Given the price of electricity now and lacking the desire to use an open flame type heating device I’ve bit the bullet and bought an integrated ie no separate condenser wall hung air source heat pump / air conditioner…
With temperatures here is the winter at freezing or below and with several big overhaul / upgrade projects on the Yellow Peril the prospect of snapping plastics and fingers in the cold weather was too much.
Plus on the 5 days of the year where the temp here goes above 30c then it would make a nice place to chill.
Bought this unit for £775..I’m not able to cope with connecting a unit that has a separate condenser so too the risk on this baby.
For around 800 watts of power it generates a theoretical 2.8 k watts of heat..
I have to stay with the outside at -11c and the inside starting at -7c it seemed to take quite a while to warm up..but with 24 sq metres of concrete and over 60 cubic metre of space I guess that would be a challenge.
Today at -2c and with a run at it we hit 11c after 3 hours which felt positively toasty.
Quite noisy from the fans..so the music needs a couple of notches up….
With temperatures here is the winter at freezing or below and with several big overhaul / upgrade projects on the Yellow Peril the prospect of snapping plastics and fingers in the cold weather was too much.
Plus on the 5 days of the year where the temp here goes above 30c then it would make a nice place to chill.
Bought this unit for £775..I’m not able to cope with connecting a unit that has a separate condenser so too the risk on this baby.
For around 800 watts of power it generates a theoretical 2.8 k watts of heat..
I have to stay with the outside at -11c and the inside starting at -7c it seemed to take quite a while to warm up..but with 24 sq metres of concrete and over 60 cubic metre of space I guess that would be a challenge.
Today at -2c and with a run at it we hit 11c after 3 hours which felt positively toasty.
Quite noisy from the fans..so the music needs a couple of notches up….
Attachments
Scissor lift part deux..
I bought a scissor lift a few months ago and have been using it now for a while..so time for some post purchase evaluation…
So the good bits…
It’s very sturdy and works pretty well…access to front and rear wheel arches is great and any work in and around the arches is easy and unfettered. Similarly the front and rear access is good..in my case with limited roof height I have to resort to sitting on a small Hilka wheeled seat to work comfortably.
What’s not so good is accessing anything in the centre of the car over quite a wide area…which I was well l aware off prior to purchase..however, what I didn’t realise till I started reading the instructions for many of the overhaul / update programs I had was the phrase ‘ remove the complete exhaust system’ which is a no no with this system
So..
I’ve made 4 very chunky wheel supports, the idea being to lift the car on its jacking points, then place the wheel supports in place, lower the car down do the wheels rest on the supports, then continue to lower the car scissor lift to the floor.
I’ve made out of marine ply a new floor to rest on top of the scissor lift so I then have a reasonable amount of space to work under the car to get the exhaust system off.
Then the car can be lifted to work on say the turbos or fuel tank…if the worse comes to the worse then I just have to work in a prone position but I’m not pinned in and it’s warm an d flat on the thick marine ply board.
Here’s the video..
https://youtu.be/IYvJ1I7Z1ZU
I bought a scissor lift a few months ago and have been using it now for a while..so time for some post purchase evaluation…
So the good bits…
It’s very sturdy and works pretty well…access to front and rear wheel arches is great and any work in and around the arches is easy and unfettered. Similarly the front and rear access is good..in my case with limited roof height I have to resort to sitting on a small Hilka wheeled seat to work comfortably.
What’s not so good is accessing anything in the centre of the car over quite a wide area…which I was well l aware off prior to purchase..however, what I didn’t realise till I started reading the instructions for many of the overhaul / update programs I had was the phrase ‘ remove the complete exhaust system’ which is a no no with this system
So..
I’ve made 4 very chunky wheel supports, the idea being to lift the car on its jacking points, then place the wheel supports in place, lower the car down do the wheels rest on the supports, then continue to lower the car scissor lift to the floor.
I’ve made out of marine ply a new floor to rest on top of the scissor lift so I then have a reasonable amount of space to work under the car to get the exhaust system off.
Then the car can be lifted to work on say the turbos or fuel tank…if the worse comes to the worse then I just have to work in a prone position but I’m not pinned in and it’s warm an d flat on the thick marine ply board.
Here’s the video..
https://youtu.be/IYvJ1I7Z1ZU
