Boing

The 325lb springs are much better.

Still far from soft.

Suspension has been totally changed in an effort to "calm" down the car :)

Raised the rear by removing the spring block but leaving it on the 2" down uprights holes.

Raised 1/2".

Front end raised a bit to match.

Camber at the back 3.8deg neg on each side (car aint a banana!)

Camber at front 1.4deg neg.

No toe angle at the front.

Adjusted rear toe angle to "more toe-in" setting was 1/32nd of an inch, made it 1 turn more toe-in on the rosejointed track arms.

Been trying to fine-tune the car a bit before more surgery. It got a bit "race" and without a 4cyl boat anchor at the front it's a different animal. I am now trying to find a good allround feel.

Pretty happy with the front-end now. Got alot less wheel movement transfering into chassis and tub movement on the new springs, probably got more grip with the 1.4neg camber over the more extreme levels before. Feels similar at lower steering angles but the lack of camber seems to have improved the grip deeper into the corner/steering angle, like mid corner when you often get understeer in the triumphs, especially 6cyl ones!

I was finding the rear-end a bit nervous with the extra power so I gave it more toe-in, which seems to have chilled it out a bit, especially lifting off and turning or braking and turning.

Best its been by a longshot. Went to extreme, just dawned on me oneday that my first spitfire was probably alot softer and more relaxed to drive.....Now there is no need for rock-hard springs cause it doesnt have an inbuilt handling /problem/imbalance with a 4cyl iron lump.

If the dampers had adjustment on the bump (AVO are just rebound, half the reason racers like 800lbs springs, cause they use shit dampers!) I reckon you run 250lbs springs. Problem is then running out of movement on the balljoint on the top wishbones at extreme bump. Ideally the top-wishbone mounting pivot needs moving upwards 1/2".

Either way a step forward.

Still enjoying occasional blats and not overly keen on taking it off the road yet!

Done.

Need a few fasteners to finish off but hardwork is done.

Happy with it.

Think it's cage time next. I've some interesting plans I drew up today. They are quite radical. A real move into a new level and should add ALOT of stiffness into the centre of the cabin and I can join this new stuff to the new suspension at the back...That's all I will say! ?I think I can bend the CDS with a hydraulic pipe bender would make my life much easier if I can go it alone.

Time to gather materials and take a break!

Annoyance Remedies

Bit sick of the dash reflecting on the windscreen so time to fix it. I've wanted to "sort" the dash anyway as I never really finished it.

Going for a simpe and sleek look.

Also neatens up the corners by the cage. Time to add a little vanity to the car.

Pretty easy work. Couple of bits of alloy, bit of drilling, sanding, cutting. The groups of 3 holes are there to let some warm air from the heater (thats not plumbed in yet) onto the window. Minimalist.

Made it in two parts cause that suited the piece of alloy I had to work with.


Trimmed up.


Aye.

Just fills over what was an ugly gap. Powder coating on the cage was crap tempted to whip it out and get it done properly once I have done some mods to it.

Kind of impartial looking, that was the idea, not styled as such.
Gotta stick a bit more leatherette on the remaining white bit infront of todays panels.

Quite happy with that...I got an urge to carpet the car again, some of that thin stretchy stuff that you stick on with 3m spray glue. Not to worried about every gram now....Plus it's easy to deal with compared to white paint...

Intend to "finish" off numerous areas of the car like this dash business. Some of the stuff is a bit scrappy still. Plus I actually enjoyed making those panels..Wasted 8hrs on it.