Lowering pictures....
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 7:34 pm
Hi chaps,
Well a long day was had down in Dartford today over at Tickover but deffo worth it as I finally got the suspension sorted and its now sitting so much better than before. Hope you can see by the "before" "after" pics below its been done just right without slamming it to the floor
All I ever really wanted was a nice drop over both wheels which Clive and Gus have achieved so I am very happy indeed.
But I had some very 'interesting' info from Clive to say the least when I went back to pick up B112 which deserves a new paragraph of its own !!! The old multi leaf springs were not great quality aftermarket ones but...get this....they were not only both different brands (!!!) but more worrying they were bleedin different sizes !!!!!!!!!!!! Yep, no joke, Clive had them laid out on the floor and one deffo had a bigger arch by a good inch easy !!!! They were two completely different springs ffs !!!! I always thought B112 had an uneven stance from the back but I just kept on putting it down to possible road camber so my gut feeling all this time was right...but two different springs !!! I was gonna keep them to give them away to someone who might need a decent secondhand pair but due to the poor quality and different sizes they will be scrapped !!!
Now the front suspension I bought some new front struts/legs from CCI and as the old ones had the shocks bonded inside Clive fitted nice new oil filled ones in the new strut/legs.I misunderstood him as I thought he had fitted gaz ones Also the dust screens fitted to the bottom of the old struts/legs had corroded a fair bit so Clive did not really want to fit these old rusted ones to my nice new set up so new ones were fitted. Now the front springs is a bit of a story too as Clive had not seen these for a long time. They were not the right ones for a Laser and were very very hard and the wrong size too so he fitted shorter 145lb springs just to tweak the front down a tad to get it as level with the back as he could. The pics don't show this as much as on a slope but yep he did a great job considering all the old stuff was quite poor and wrong sizes etc. He pretty much had to start afresh with it all.
Anyway, just took a couple of pics when I got home hope you can see the comparison even though my garage road is a bit of a hill !!!!
BEFORE - Back end sitting very high, front a tad
20180426_151427 by nicholas bowler, on Flickr
AFTER - Back end deffo sitting so much better over the wheel without being slammed, and front tweaked down nicely too
20180621_172604 by nicholas bowler, on Flickr
20180621_161401 by nicholas bowler, on Flickr
The back is sitting soooo much better now. Looks like my bumper is all mashed in but its the reflection of light
20180621_161418 by nicholas bowler, on Flickr
20180621_172616 by nicholas bowler, on Flickr
You can really see the difference with this pic compared to the 'before' pic at the top
20180621_172611 by nicholas bowler, on Flickr
So all in all I am very happy with it all. When I get a chance I will whip a front wheel off to show the new set up
Had a great drive home. Yep its a firmer ride which I actually like and the capri deffo has a real 'planted' feel about it especially cornering at any sort of speed. So am very happy indeed with the drive now...very happy indeed !! Thing is now the Capri is covered in dirty dust from the tickover workshop so a decent wet wash now be required then the whole pic will look even better as I can only see a filthy car at the moment which is doing my nut in
Anyhow that was my day, Very worthwhile and a long time coming. Not only is it great to have new parts fitted but a big relief that I have got rid of what was there !!! I am still finding these secrets of B112 and as I want to drop out the axle, prop and gearbox to refurbish God knows what secrets I will find with these too
Oh....one last picture...Jason's stunner of a Laser sitting in Tickover as I was leaving, waiting to be seen by the chaps. I was lucky enough to get a ride in it with Jason earlier on. Lovely lovely Capri
20180621_160223 by nicholas bowler, on Flickr
All the best
Nick
Well a long day was had down in Dartford today over at Tickover but deffo worth it as I finally got the suspension sorted and its now sitting so much better than before. Hope you can see by the "before" "after" pics below its been done just right without slamming it to the floor
All I ever really wanted was a nice drop over both wheels which Clive and Gus have achieved so I am very happy indeed.
But I had some very 'interesting' info from Clive to say the least when I went back to pick up B112 which deserves a new paragraph of its own !!! The old multi leaf springs were not great quality aftermarket ones but...get this....they were not only both different brands (!!!) but more worrying they were bleedin different sizes !!!!!!!!!!!! Yep, no joke, Clive had them laid out on the floor and one deffo had a bigger arch by a good inch easy !!!! They were two completely different springs ffs !!!! I always thought B112 had an uneven stance from the back but I just kept on putting it down to possible road camber so my gut feeling all this time was right...but two different springs !!! I was gonna keep them to give them away to someone who might need a decent secondhand pair but due to the poor quality and different sizes they will be scrapped !!!
Now the front suspension I bought some new front struts/legs from CCI and as the old ones had the shocks bonded inside Clive fitted nice new oil filled ones in the new strut/legs.I misunderstood him as I thought he had fitted gaz ones Also the dust screens fitted to the bottom of the old struts/legs had corroded a fair bit so Clive did not really want to fit these old rusted ones to my nice new set up so new ones were fitted. Now the front springs is a bit of a story too as Clive had not seen these for a long time. They were not the right ones for a Laser and were very very hard and the wrong size too so he fitted shorter 145lb springs just to tweak the front down a tad to get it as level with the back as he could. The pics don't show this as much as on a slope but yep he did a great job considering all the old stuff was quite poor and wrong sizes etc. He pretty much had to start afresh with it all.
Anyway, just took a couple of pics when I got home hope you can see the comparison even though my garage road is a bit of a hill !!!!
BEFORE - Back end sitting very high, front a tad
20180426_151427 by nicholas bowler, on Flickr
AFTER - Back end deffo sitting so much better over the wheel without being slammed, and front tweaked down nicely too
20180621_172604 by nicholas bowler, on Flickr
20180621_161401 by nicholas bowler, on Flickr
The back is sitting soooo much better now. Looks like my bumper is all mashed in but its the reflection of light
20180621_161418 by nicholas bowler, on Flickr
20180621_172616 by nicholas bowler, on Flickr
You can really see the difference with this pic compared to the 'before' pic at the top
20180621_172611 by nicholas bowler, on Flickr
So all in all I am very happy with it all. When I get a chance I will whip a front wheel off to show the new set up
Had a great drive home. Yep its a firmer ride which I actually like and the capri deffo has a real 'planted' feel about it especially cornering at any sort of speed. So am very happy indeed with the drive now...very happy indeed !! Thing is now the Capri is covered in dirty dust from the tickover workshop so a decent wet wash now be required then the whole pic will look even better as I can only see a filthy car at the moment which is doing my nut in
Anyhow that was my day, Very worthwhile and a long time coming. Not only is it great to have new parts fitted but a big relief that I have got rid of what was there !!! I am still finding these secrets of B112 and as I want to drop out the axle, prop and gearbox to refurbish God knows what secrets I will find with these too
Oh....one last picture...Jason's stunner of a Laser sitting in Tickover as I was leaving, waiting to be seen by the chaps. I was lucky enough to get a ride in it with Jason earlier on. Lovely lovely Capri
20180621_160223 by nicholas bowler, on Flickr
All the best
Nick