Aerobat's S4 tune up

[t70]

true... but i generally discuss all other projects on each forum... hehe.. just wanted you to know that you have always been apreciated..

[garry_ludwar@hotmail.com]

consider it noted now please stop thanking me before im to scared to go out to the shop for fear that your going to jump out and kiss me

[t70]

Well... After swapping the suspension, we've discovered the car has a list to starboard. So.. I'm gonna have to take all the suspension off... re-setup the suspension... arghh.. oh well... working is leaning!

[dodgy]

you will have a member of the LEF pit crew on weekends to help you soon Mark sadly no tools as it will take me over any weight limit

Edited December 17, 2007 by Dodgy

[t70]

That will be great! And... there's plenty-o-tools in the shop... so there's no need to pack any at all. We're really excited to have you coming over! Hope you have solid dates soon so we can make arrangements to pick you up and take you out on the town!

[t70]

Gary and I went out on Sunday and got a bit more work done to the V8. Actually, I had to drive to Calgary (280 kms) to pick him up at the airport, and drive back in the morning, then get on with the V8. I had a new brake line made for the passenger front ($80) and installed that. I also spent a long time making sure that the 6-piston calipers were properly aligned... man.. that was a pain in the ass! Once we got all that set up, we bled the brakes and clutch and put her back on her wheels. Unfortunately, she's a little too low in the front... and that's an extreme understatement. The fender flares that are on the V8 actually are a hinderence when lowering the car. I'm going to have to add about 1/2-3/4" to the height of the front end so that the tires don't tear off the flares in a corner. Oh yeah, we also installed K&N air filters -- never seen an air filter box that almost requires that you drop the engine to remove! wow!! Well, we got it done, but holy crap... that bottom rear bolt on both filters... man... wow. I should really get out to the shop with the camera and take a picture of how low the front is right now.. it looks, well, interesting.

[t70]

I've now learned that tuning suspension is a royal pain in the arse! WOW! We managed to balance the front suspension on the V8... or so we thought. Took it for a quick drive, got back and discovered it's high in opposite corners... crap! Not only that, but the new braided brake lines appear to be leaking... double crap! The brake lines themselves are good, but the fitting to the hard line doesn't want to seal.. so, I'm going to have to take it apart, check it all out and put it back together again (and pray... a lot) I'm not looking forward to having to replace the "hard line" should it be necessary. The problem lies in the old lines having been over-torqued and therefore stripped slightly. Anyhow, we've basically not made any bloody progress... we just keep finding more problems... Oh wait... no... I set up the emergency brake! yay! Hopefully Dodgy gets here soon so he can show me the err of my ways

[t70]

Well.... finally the suspension is, for the most part, balanced on the V8. I think it just needs a good long drive to settle it out. I'll re-tune it at a later date, but for the moment, we'll leave it alone. I've also changed the engine and gearbox oil. I used Redline synthetic 10-40 for the engine and MT90 for the transmission. Upon my first drive I did feel a difference, the engine does feel smoother. The gearbox, is slightly nicer too. I've also adjusted the front hood pin to ensure it doesn't open up at speed as it has the same loose feeling as the S4 and the 2001 V8 in town.... hopefully, now, it doesn't fly open at 200km/h!!!

[t70]

Dodgy was out with Gary on Sunday and we finally got the majority of the interrior done. Then on Monday, Gary and I assembled the back half of the car. The shift boot arrived on tuesday, so we will finish the interrior assembly this weekend and take some pictures of the finished product....

[Simon350S]

Nice one Mark

Keep that Dodgy blokey busy, no knowing what he may get up to otherwise....!!!!

Simon

Edited February 21, 2008 by Simon350S

[aerobat]

..... don't kid yourself.

We have an idea of what he can get himself into.......

[bigsi]

the redline MT90 oil in the gearbox will take a little while to work its majic, the box will get smoother as it goes on, i had it in my kaki fairlady and after about two weeks the chenges were clean and smooth.

[t70]

That MT90 I think is just incredible... the power delivery was unbelievably smooth! I'm sure that John will get a lot more enjoyment out of his new v8 with this tranny oil... the engine oil is great too... the whole assembly does feel better!

[t70]

Today was almost monumental! Dave and myself headed out to the shop at 11:00am and began the final re-assembly of the S4. It took us 2 hours to put in the new shift boot.... which should have taken 20 minutes.. oh well... After that was in, we had a quick 2 hour interruption (Andi's mom came to town to deliver our, somewhat late, christmas gifts) Once that was done, we headed back to the shop and completed the reconstruction. We took it for a quick little run to make sure all was in running order and discovered (somewhat expectedly) that the brakes need re-bleeding. So, other than the brakes and one spring needing a bit more tension.... the car is done! Here's some pics (occasionally with a pic of Dodgy and Andi)

[aerobat]

I really can't believe all those pieces fit together again! You're sure then, that you don't have a small bin of leftover parts?

Thanks to you, Garry, Andi, and Dave !

[talon]

Looking good!

[t70]

I haven't posted in here for a long time... but we've been working on the S4 almost every sunday since my last post. Dave is gone now, which sucks, but I still have Garry. We have done the passengers oil seal in the transmission now 3 times... the drivers side twice.. and finally used a bunch of silicone to remedy the issue. There is still a small leak... but I'm unsure of where it is coming from as I have not checked it yet. We've also changed the timing belt recently and fixed some air locks in the coolant system. I've also been trying to level the car a bit with the suspension, which has only been moderately successful -- the wheel bearing temps are higher on the drivers side which is the side that seems to have the most weight/pressure and is sitting lower.

Now.. This sunday, Garry and I went out and begun the removal of the radiators to see if they were clogged with dirt. OH MY GOD!!! I wish I had my camera with me... I've never seen so much dirt on a radiator in my life. It was nearly 1/4" thick in some places. I wonder why I couldn't feel the air flowing from the fans when they were running?

We didn't get the job finished today, but we only started at noon... and we left at 8:30. I would say that the removal, cleaning and replacing of the rads is about a 10 hour job, but hopefully it is well worth it!

[lotusross]

Thats some nice work you guys did there.

I have to stop looking at those pictures, because it is starting to tempt me to get a Stevens Esprit.

I must say though, I am going to have the car painted this winter, or maybe next spring, I was thinking of changing the color, but seeing all that red has me thinking.

How did the Redline oil work out anyway, does it really make that much of a difference?

[aerobat]

Ohhhhh ---- be tempted..... !

Did we say this one is for sale????? And with Mark working on it - you gotta know it's just about perfect.....

B)

[t70]

The redline in the transmission was quite an improvement... other than the fact that it seems to seek out leaks better The best way to describe the Redline in the trans... is that it's quite a bit smoother in power delivery. It doesn't seem to shift much different... but when the power is on, there's less vibration.

As for the Engine... The redline 20-50 is necessary in the 4 cyl esprits and you can use the 10-40 in the V8.

[jonwat]

I believe synthetic oil has a substance in it which causes the seals to swell & so reduces leaks.

I've certainly experienced this whenever I've put synthetic in transmissions.

Cheers,

John W

[t70]

Interesting about the swelling of the seals.. I'm still going to have to do the o-ring again I think. Anyhow.. I've now driven the car again after cleaning the rad... and I can't get it warm on the highway! John had mentioned that the previous mechanic had put a colder thermostat in the car... I'm going to replace it with the stock one this weekend (I suspect I will discover that the thermostat was simply removed.) There are a couple of other discoveries that I've made though... now that the engine is running much cooler and the fans are working properly... the famous 3k stumble is seriously reduced. The car is one hell of a lot more driveable and it has a whole lot more power... oh yeah... and the fans actually turn off after a couple of minutes running!

[jonwat]

If she runs too cold you won't get full boost so I doubt the thermostat has been removed.

Cheers,

John W

[t70]

I know... and I can't get full boost on the highway... the engine temp drops to about 40 degrees... and then i cant get past 0.5 bar.. untill i get into the city... where the engine temp can come up... and I get full boost then. Hence... why i think the thermostat was simply removed... i will find out this weekend anyway.

[Artie]

Removing the thermostat would do exactly that, keep the engine temps below optimal and keep boost from hitting full boost. I have done this to my RX7 and if I am doing any hiway driving, I have a plastic shield I slide in between the radiator and the opening in the nose of the car to block about 50% of the air flow so I get full boost and timing! If the car isn't being tracked regularly there really isn't any need to put a lower temp thermostat in it. IMHO!

Artie