This might be a long post but not really informative as I've become really bad at documenting mods; I get too excited to get them done and don't bother with photos!
In April I was offered my dream job as a Powertrain Engineer for a motorsport company that starts in September and finished my degree in the first few days of June. The plan for this summer was to enjoy my last ever proper summer with a massive road trip around Europe but COVID19 happened... So I decided to focus my energy and funds into further improving my car. Here's the result:
I submitted my last exam on the 2nd of June at 1pm, I pulled an all nighter to finish it so after a good nap I went straight to the garage to remove my differential! At 6:30pm that evening I was under my car attempting my biggest mod ever. My mum being the lovely lady she is came to the garage around 9:00pm to bring me some dinner and probably took my favourite photo ever:
She and my dog ended up staying in the garage watching me work and helping where they could. Rusty just chilled in the duvet that I was lying on while she handed me tools and manned the jack when I attempted to drop the diff. Here's a photo of me draining the diff oil after it had been removed:
Everything ///M3s supplied a Wavetrac ATB and fitted it inside the housing for me. I figured Darragh fitting it would end up being cheaper than buying all the tools to do it and a lot less hassle. He's excellent at what he does, but after seeing what went into actually fitting it, I regret not doing it myself for what I paid.
After a thorough clean, bolting the LSD to the crown wheel, installing new seals and bearings:
Here's the only thing an open diff should be used for:
My friend [ref]jhpgram[/ref] drove me and the diff to Everything///M3 and helped me install it the same day:
If you have a lowered car and are removing the diff, it would be a crime not to install
adjustable camber arms while it's easy! I installed DriftWorks' own E46 adjustable camber arms, they are rose jointed and did not add any noticeable NHV to the cabin.
Since I decided to focus on improving the handling of the car, I decided to pull the trigger on a set of BC Racing coilovers! I couldn't be happier with them for the price, response is superb and even though much firmer than my previous set up, still comfortable and daily-able. I was very impressed with the build quality as well.
I figured it would be a good ideal to add top mount reinforcement to the chassis to avoid cracking due to the new firmer suspension. I also remembered how much of a difference adding braces made to NVH of my old MK2 MX5 - a lot less noise from the solid top mounts of coilovers. So while the rears got reinforcement plates, I went with a 3 point Ultra Racing strut brace for the fronts, not expecting to feel any significant difference on the directness of the front end but hoping for better NVH. I believe I was right!
I thought about poly-bushing the RTAs but after inspecting my bushes and realising they were in perfect condition, I decided not to and ordered some limiters instead. After reading many forum people saying how much of a difference they made to the rear end, I'm disappointed to say that this is the cheapest mod here and the one I wouldn't recommend. Made f*ck all difference to the rear end. I believe they only felt any difference because of the alignment that got done afterwards or because their bushes weren't in great condition. Or because I have so many other mods, it's effect is just not noticeable.
Once all upgrades were made, I thoroughly tested my LSD to get used to the new handling characteristics. And I mean that:
After working so much on the car and inspecting every single nut and bolt on it,
I decided to refresh the front end bushes. The N/S F lollipop bushing was starting to collapse and I could feel/hear a bit of a knock, the components didn't have any branding on them so I assumed they were cheap aftermarkets and replaced the whole lot with new MEYLE HD parts.
I finished installing the wishbones/tierods 15 minutes before it was booked for new tyres (Good Years Asymmetric 5s) and a four wheel alignment - the adjustable camber arm did its job, no more excessive rear camber!:
Apart from changing the tyres and alignment everything else was done by myself. Many thanks for my friend [ref]jhpgram[/ref] for giving me a hand to finish the diff job and installing the coil-overs. Can't even tell how many cuts and bruises I've had in my hand in the last few weeks and how much I've literally bled for this car. Including having the eccentric camber bolt snap and I get a 22mm spanner to the face almost breaking my nose (looked more jewish for a couple of weeks) :rofl:
oke:
