My initial (short term) plan is to get the Roc on the road with the 1.6 in it but make the handling impeccable, stiff, tight, no weird noises, good brakes etc. This is mainly to get an MOT out of the way. Plus I can see what a really light Rocco feels like.
Started with the back end.. This car didn't have anti roll bars! I was amazed to find that out, I thought they all had them. The GT must be the basic spec?? Anyway I set about installing the OK parts I have from my crashed red Herman. I dropped the rear beam to fit rear beam poly bushes, and a KW 26mm anti roll bar, which needed some holes drilling for fitment. Such a good design in the fitment department.
Off with this crusty suspension. I've got the receipt for this, the set cost £140 new!
On with Weitec GT coilovers with 325lb springs.
One of my old rear 15mm stub axle spacers/drop plates had been bent slightly from the crash so I decided to make a new set and try and shave some of the weight off to reduce the unsprung weight of the rear axle.
We had some 16mm bright bar lying around at work so I used it for my new plates. I cut it out with a 9" angle grinder. To get the holes in the right place I welded an old stub axle to the plate and drilled a center mark with a 10.5mm bit. This meant I could drill the pilot holes absolutely central. I repeated for the other mounting position and then drilled some holes to reduce the mass. Much drilling/tapping/countersinking later..
I had to sharpen a massive drill bit for the countersinking. Need a proper c/s set!
So! My old drop plates tipped the scales at..
And the treefingers drop plates version 2.0 tip the scales at... [drumroll]
Saving 600g! Get in Lewis.
Fitted with 10.9 bolts and threadlock everywhere
This photo shows the spacing of the rear wheels. I think Roccos look a lot better with the fronts and rears properly proportioned to the arches.
Steering rack was sloptastic so that was the next job one evening later. Fueled by microwaved sweet potato and hobnobs (not microwaved) I set to it. The job was going very well until I actually had to get the clamp brackets off and found out someone had put a 4 branch mani in the way, how nice of them! Much wriggling and thinking later, I ended up removing the front and rear engine mounts to twist the lump and withdraw the beastie!
Cause of failure.. bad boots, crap ingress, and a failed pinion gear
New bushes to go in! Needs new boots too! In the post, they are.
Rack in! The steering is great now, when you move the steering wheel the wheels also turn! A plus! And it would have been plain rude not to polybush the rear engine mount when it went back on. So I did.
