Good day today
Started the day by changing my top mount bearings. I had a knock when I installed the V3's, and the only thing I didn't change was the bearings, so I decided to replace them as well, I simply forgot last time around!
When I refitted the top caps, I decided to modify them a little to make them more robust.
The eibach top caps have a little pin welded on that goes down into the lower part of the mount to stop the two rotating together. One of these snapped off when I first fitted them, as the pin wasn't perfectly square and hit the lower plate rather going through the hole in it. D'oh!
I decided to remove the pins from both top caps and cut a thread into them, and drop a bolt down through so I know it's held securely, and I'll also know straight away if anything moves
You can see the angle I've set them at, diagonally backwards and inwards so as to increase both camber and caster
I then moved onto installing the AEM wideband 02 gauge, and jacked the car up:
and immediately hit a problem:
The second lamda bung on my exhaust was FAR too close to the tunnel, it'd never fit!
Thankfully, if you remember back to last week, I'd cut this part of the Decat section off to make it straight:
Which allowed me to flip the decat section over
The flange on the end was at a SLIGHT angle, but it was slight enough to be taken up in the flexi joint on the downpipe.
All refitted and the wiring ziptied up, I know it's an outdoor plug on the WB sensor, but I wanted to tape it up anyway for peace of mind!
Then onto installing it inside, the new pod needed opening out slightly on the back to take the AEM loom plug:
Done:
Onto mounting the pod base, I first tried it with sticky pads, but the thick pads were still visable and white under the base plate, and it just didn't look good enough, so I removed it all again and drilled it to bolt the pod down instead.
few nice dome headed bolts and it's solid:
The bit I hate most, wiring it up!
Behind my lower dash panel, I have the wiring for my boost gauge, my parrot bluetooth, my N75 boost switch, my water meth injection, and now the AFR gauge as well! Basicly, it's a nightmare under there!
Far left stud on the main rail comes live with igntion on (the one with the feed already attached is permanent live or the WMI):
And it's in, so I turned to key to see what would happen, and was greeted by this!
What a load of poo
I'm actually really happy with how the finished install looks:
Even close up it's reasonably neat:
So, I went out for a drive, and decided it was about time I reset the rear ride height, as it has been sitting pretty low. so I went to an industrial estate nearby where I knew of a lit area with decent flat concrete surfaces.
God knows how, it may even have been like it before (I hope not but can't figure out what else), but when I started adjusting the RHS rear spring platform, I noticed that the spring was sat at a crazy angle, and not in it's seat at the to at all, it was just resting against the chassis rail!
No pics at this point, but needless to say, I wasn't impressed! I tried to get it back into place, but ti wouldn't go, so I gave up, locked the car, and walked home and jumped in the megane with my tools!
I had to remove both rear wheels, and drop the rear top mounts to let the beam drop enough to get the spring back in. All in a semi dark carpark behind Pets At Home
All finished:
So, time for a PROPER test drive. Car feels fantastic now, the suspension has really changed the way it feels. I've got a long way to go on setup still, but it's an amazing start. The more aggressive geometry is really obvious too, it turns in MUCH better, and I can keep applying more lock or more power mid bend and it just pulls it round. Very happy