MG ZR: Cams & Maps

[lolsteve]

Paul, I didn't weld it (a skill I'm desperate to learn) but the garage down the road did. The same place that fitted the fuel line a while back...although when I say fitted I mean bent to f*ck to make a brand new genuine part direct fitment part sit somewhere near the other fuel lines...unfortunley my options were limited. The only decent garages I know of are in Bradford (seems odd to say that). Will be picking it up from them on Friday, I just hope they haven't warped it as it's already rubbing on the inner cv boot , another problem I'll have to sort at some point

I'm going to spray it in VHT paint, although reading online people suggest stove paint instead as its rated to a higher temp/sticks to rusty metal better. Now to vote silver or black?
Progress is coming along now I have the correct tools rather than just a socket set and can do spirit

Still need to make up the rear strut brace, have the parts just need to check dimensions and weld it

[mr_fish]

Recommend this stuff

I used it to paint the exhaust on the 206 back along.

You would want to give it a couple coats though.

Always interested to see what you get up to with this thing, keep it up!

[Matt-Rallye]

And don't heat wrap it again.

Need some pictures of all your shinies, sounds like you're making bloody good progress!

Heat wrap is the devils bastard itchy shite stuff! My hatred of it runs very deep indeed!

Zakks magnex system was heatwrapped and kept melting mid section rubber hangers, my bets are on that now i've ripped it all off, that problem should cease to exist

[lolsteve]

Thanks man will see if I can get ahold of some but my buying options are limited as the only place in walking distance in halfrauds. b&q would be another 30 minute walk each way and Alicia doesn't get home til late whereas I finish at half 1 on Friday so would be a good chance to get on with it so I can get the rear coilovers on for Saturday and test everything out etc

I just showered up with loads of hair conditioner, seemed to help sort it out.

[lolsteve]

So it seems the weld didnt fix the issue, it's blowing less...but still got a slight blow. Going to try a sealant now as a temp fix until I can afford a replacement was going to use gumgum but seeing people online suggesting silicone sealant but then others saying not to use it pre lambda blah blah blah. Shall I just go for the gumgum? I can't imagine that area will be flexing much to cause it to crack?

Also got the front coilovers on and did a little forward backwards drive on them before going out onto a road. Can already tell it's not going to be comfy ride  

[Toms306]

Shouldn't use any paste etc pre cat/lambda I thought?

[Eeyore]

Looks like there is lots of rust around that arch...

[lolsteve]

It's a rover the whole thing is made of rust Been meaning to get it into a bodyshop but there's just never been a good time and with only 1 week to FCS and me sitting in the student overdraft it's still not a good time.

Would the paste be okay though if it's just to cover up the small gaps in the weld? rather than a full crack/join

[Toms306]

Hmm, fair point, if it can't get inside I guess that would be alright then.

[Matt-Rallye]

Dude if its flexed enough to crack METAL then paste etc isnt going to work for long.

Also dont touch gungum with a barge pole its bullshit.

If you insist on bodging it then use this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Holts-Fire-Gum...27f6322a59 Just make sure you clean the area completely with a wire brush or emery cloth before application.

Crack on steve, i wanna see this on track at FCS

[lolsteve]

Okay how about something like this? http://www.halfords.com/motoring-travel/...poxy-putty


it wasn't the flex that cracked it I think. It will be going on track just want to make sure it's in as good condition as possible so I can wreck the gti's or failing that Rowell  the lambda was quite white as well when I was looking at it , signs of the air getting in I guess?

[Matt-Rallye]

I would of thought something like that should suffice also,

And I wanna see it on track to see it be anihilated by all the gti6's And rowell

[lolsteve]

Drove round to see JP saturday who took it out for a spin, came back with a worried look and told me the car won't rev over 6k and was dead flat at 5k. Oh shi! gave the vvc plugs a looking over and panicking thinking about how fcs was about to be ruined when...

It turns out the cold air feed was not giving ideal flow and has now been resolved  


The firegum seems to have done dick all bar making a mess due to me operating under the concept of more is better!. Perhaps I didn't leave to cure long enough as it just blew up like a balloon  will try again after work this week and leave it until fcs so it has enough time to set and that but will be getting a proper replacement soon enough


Rear coilovers fitted now, car is very bouncy to drive (rear adjustment might need fine tuning) and because I'm hauling all my spare car parts (no garage) I've yet to really push the suspension so can't be like "omg so improve ,much speed"
Also got all the parts of the strut brace welded up so have rear bracing yay! but the front brace won't fit now because it's adjustable but its seized boo!

[lolsteve]

Still trying to get these rear coilovers adjusted correctly. The ride is very bouncy like its underdamped would much rather a stiff ride than being bounced about and feeling sick after an hours drive

Uploaded remap last night as well so will have the uprated rev limiter etc for combe.
Put some firegum and a new gasket on the manifold/cat connection. I know you shouldn't use firegum upwind of the cat but the gasket wasn't enough and my patience wears thin. However the blowing has reduced a lot which is nice.

Also made myself a spec sheet to stick on the car while it's on the stand just so people don't assume it's a 1.4 with cut springs

[Piggy]

shame it won't prove its not a 1.4 on track

[Eeyore]

shame it won't prove its not a 1.4 on track

lolSteve report to the burns unit... zing.

[Midnightclub]

Still trying to get these rear coilovers adjusted correctly. The ride is very bouncy like its underdamped would much rather a stiff ride than being bounced about and feeling sick after an hours drive

Uploaded remap last night as well so will have the uprated rev limiter etc for combe.
Put some firegum and a new gasket on the manifold/cat connection. I know you shouldn't use firegum upwind of the cat but the gasket wasn't enough and my patience wears thin. However the blowing has reduced a lot which is nice.

Also made myself a spec sheet to stick on the car while it's on the stand just so people don't assume it's a 1.4 with cut springs

Can you adjust the preload on these coilovers steve? I had a similar issue with mine where essentially they were set too short meaning they'd basically be tapping the bumpstops = bouncy ride. 

[lolsteve]

Sam that just means you'll be wrecked by a 1.4 like car
I'm not fully familiar with coilovers but these are just spring height adjustable there's not bottom collar for the shock? Wonder if the rod protectors I put in is making it boucy

[Midnightclub]

Ahh okay.. in which case i think that means basically the lower you go the more pre-load there will be on the springs. Have you tried turning the damping up?

[lolsteve]

Yeah I've been turning it up and up but doesn't seem to do much. Although now I'm thinking the bits I put in on top of the bump stops to protect the rods might be acting as an extended bumpstop of sorts

[Midnightclub]

Any pictures of these rods? They 'extendable' as such or are they solid? Sounds like that could be it, damping adjustment should be noticeable

[lolsteve]

The rubber rod "protectors" , looking back it seems a stupid idea but when I was assembling it seemed very smart   anyway theyre all off now but havent test driven. 
Also went round measuring the corner heights. Rears seem more of less bang on but front driver is 1cm higher..will claim it's to compensate for driver weight  

[lolsteve]

Still very bouncy

[Midnightclub]

Are they supposed to have helper springs in originally?

[Poodle]

Possibly need a rebuild then, or perhaps different springs, what weight are they?

[lolsteve]

They're freshly rebuilt by gaz back in December. Only just put them on the car
no idea on springs it's just whatever they are that came with it . Dobt think they have helpers

[lolsteve]

Phoned gaz they said the rears are too stiff for road and I should be making then softer for road.

[Poodle]

Well there you go then lol. What's the answer then, different springs? At least you know they'll be good on track at combe, assuming you're going this weekend..?

[lolsteve]

Answer was to dial the damping right back XD mg lot said 10 clicks is about right so thats where I started and kept adding more until I reached max damping. Gaz said 6 clicks is enough for road and they were unsurprisingly right  


FCS Writeup:
I didnt sort the damping out before driving down so that meant driving with "race" spec damping for 5 hours. According to Gaz with the settings I was on the only damping was from the tyre so very bouncy/shit. So as you can imagine by the time we arrvied to FCS I was peaved and really hating on the MG. A good nights drinking and bantering helped relax that though.
Next morning after getting on the stand I managed to get the dials to move and set them to 6 clicks. What a difference! Car now has much less body roll but is comfier than stock suspension.  Also thanks to Dom & Sid (sorry if that wasnt your name) who were trying to sort out their own 205 monster thing We got the front strut brace unsiezed and on the car. So by 9:00am I was loving the MG once more.

Come 11:45 and on the track we go with a good amount of the 306oc  and then...... I BEAT ROWELL! Took me a couple of laps since in a very un-combe like fashion we didnt have to wait in the pits long so the engine was still stone cold having only been on for 5 minutes. So I had to mince it round for a bit waiting for it to warm up/get hgf  




Rest of the track session was largely successful engine pulls well and is reaching some good speeds. Brakes were causing some seriously wobbling under load so was really not giving it my all after a previous lesson of finding the brakes failing me a lesson I learnt again later on .....

Still not 100% on what happened as it was over quick but think i was having a good lap and the brakes just were not there for me. Luckily just missed the barrier.

Show was so/so not many stands or much else going on wouldnt have been nearly as good without the 306oc/camping

[Eeyore]

its only taken a new car to beat the 1.8 But well done. I believe its officially 3 - 1 to me. I was just happy to make it there, do track time and make it home!