Improving performance of Hunter brakes?

[gouldsborough7]

Re: Improving performance of Hunter brakes?

Hi Peter
Only my front shox are GAZ adjustables. I don't think the rears have any adjustment facility. I'll have a closer look. If it wasn't for the good quality leather seats, my car would not be all that comfortable on our duff roads (and I'm a Highways Engineer, soon to retire). It does bounce a bit too much for my liking.

I'll experiment with the front GAZ ones first. I'll also look at Derek's rear wheel tracking. I imagine mine is set up per Sierra.

As a result of one of my earlier topics, I did identify that the front wheels were not vertical when I checked with a string-line. The top of each wheel is about 12mm IN compared with the bottom. A member suggested shimming out the mounting of the top suspension arms, but with the total absence of space, I couldn't undo the nuts. Tried all sorts of spanners, but had to give up in the end and moved on to the brakes & steering stuff. I don't know what the penalty on handling is to have the front wheels non-vertical. Any thoughts?

Cheers
Mike

[b_caswell]

Re: Improving performance of Hunter brakes?

Thread record so far, Oct Pit stop 71 and last year Donnie with his bloody hockey stick got a mug for 70. But if you add up all your(Mike G) postings for the Berli and your new toy I think you are the Champion so far.

How sad am,I going back and counting up all the old threads?

[greyV8pete]

Re: Improving performance of Hunter brakes?

Hi Mike. My rear GAZ shox were from Burton Power. Part number GZGT5-2066 Sierra / Sapphire / COS /XR4x4 as that suited the rear end set up that I have. You need to check the lower securing bolt diameter as the above are 10mm dia, therefore larger than the standard Sierra which are 8mm. Burton Power have a good website to check this. I replaced my rear clapped out AVOs with the GAZ a while ago and the difference was amazing. The choppy ride became a very controlled damped ride.
My front wheels are also 12mm further in than the bottom. I'm no authority on suspension geometry but I've always understood that this was a good thing. I think that originally the top wishbone brackets must have been fitted to my Hunter before the front wings! I think I was going to try and attack the nuts from underneath, from "inside" the front bumper struts with a modified (bent) combination spanner but I gave up trying to undo them when I found that I didn't need to replace the bushes :-)
If you do try using shims cut the holes through to one edge (like a letter E shape) so you can fit or change them without completely removing the nuts. Peter.

[gouldsborough7]

Re: Improving performance of Hunter brakes?

Thanks Peter
Not sure if the piggy-bank can cope with any more outlay for the time being, but I will keep you info on the rear shox just in case. In the meantime, I'll have a dabble with the front ones, and go from there.

Regarding the 12mm measurement, I am glad somebody else's car uses the same figure. This probably means that the factory used this as a standard. As you mentioned, getting the nuts loose would have been OK before the wings were fitted. I bought a set of ratchet cranked rings spanners for this job, but got no further forward. Fortunately, I didn't get as far as cutting the shims, just scrounged the raw materials, but I had in mind to cut slots to allow them to be changed over quickly. Wont bother now!

By the way, I am very pleased with the way the car goes around corners, and stops in a straight line. All worth the effort & cost. Thanks again for your advice.

One more area I want to try and improve is to do with the fuel injection. I don't want to visit a tune-up shop at great expense if I can avoid it. Have you any knowledge on this area? My problem is the way the engine picks up from low revs. Around 1000-1500 rpm in say third gear, pressing the accelerator fairly hard can cause a hesitancy of the engine and slight jerking of the transmission. Once above 1500 rpm, it goes as sweet as a nut. Never any problem with starting the engine either (apart from a lazy starter solenoid - on the future jobs list)

Also (possibly the same fault) when manouvering the car at the same sort of revs in first gear up a slight gradient, there is a lot of vibration through the bodywork. Is this something a DIY guy can tackle? I have been used to the quirks of carburettors for some years, but fuel injection is a bit of a science in my book.

Regards
Mike

[greyV8pete]

Re: Improving performance of Hunter brakes?

Hi Mike. Sounds like you have nearly cracked it! Ask Santa for some new rear shox ;-)
I have the V8 3.9i (L/Rover Disco) engine. What is yours? I had all sorts of problems, including jerky pick up, but cured 99% of it by fitting the Optimax chip to the ECU and Lambda sensors to the exhaust downpipes. With this set up mine will drive at 1000 RPM in 5th gear! However there are many other basic things to check first like static timing correct, vacuum advance working ok, centrifugal advance (weights) not sticking, decent set of plugs and leads. The list is endless!

Have a look at my Rich running saga on the forum and the sequel in one of the Pitstop issues about a year ago. If you need really detailed explanation of any of it give me a call on 01392 446928 and let me have your email address.

Also have a look at the V8 section of the RPI engineering website http://www.v8engines.com/

Just a suggestion. As this original thread has "mutated" and now reached record proportions, why not re-post this latest engine query as a new thread? That way you will get maximum chance for others to read it and add their words of wisdom :-) Peter.

[greyV8pete]

Re: Improving performance of Hunter brakes?

Hi Mike. I see from an earlier post that your engine is a 1998 Ford Sierra 2 litre DOHC injection so please ignore all my ramblings about the Rover V8 3.9i. Even more reason now to post a new thread on the forum and let the "Ford experts" in the club advise you. From memory, my friend had a Sierra with a fuel injected engine and I remembr that he had to replace the idle control valve on that to cure a similar problem as you describe, so maybe that's the first port of call for you too. Peter.

[gouldsborough7]

Re: Improving performance of Hunter brakes?

Yes Peter
I was just being lazy. Will post a new topic. Thanks for the quick summary of ideas.

Cheers
MIke