lowering a 1986 340 1.4

Post by **V6 Man** » 16 Nov 2004 11:43 pm

As redline says, the first introduction to Snr Fandango was in an advert, but I think I'm right in saying that The Goodies then did a sketch about him and his 'boyracered' car.........

Post by **Janitor** » 17 Nov 2004 05:17 pm

i think it was a yellow anglia ?

Post by **Lonewolf** » 27 Nov 2004 05:56 am

i'm going to lower just the front end of my 360glt by 30mm, not lowering the back end, IMO it'll look slightly meaner but not over the top, and l8r if i can find/fabricate some, polyurethane bushings.

Post by **foggyjames** » 27 Nov 2004 02:34 pm

Just out of interest, what spring / shock combination are you going for? Care to chip in on that point too Janitor? It's something that's appealing to me more and more...

cheers

James

Post by **SteveP** » 27 Nov 2004 03:48 pm

I will certainly be tempted with suspension upgrades in the future, I've seen the KYB shocks, which seem to be very well priced (theres a link on the forum somewhere). But haven't seen any uprated springs? What sort of setup are you using Janitor.. your 360 seems to handle very nicely!

Steve

Post by **foggyjames** » 27 Nov 2004 04:47 pm

I've heard talk of 220lb escort mk2 springs....

cheers

James

Post by **SteveP** » 27 Nov 2004 04:49 pm

So have I

Can anyone confirm?

Post by **foggyjames** » 27 Nov 2004 05:06 pm

Yes. http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/360s/kevin.html

Having said that...don't believe everything on that page....VMX cam?!?! It's a VX3...Kev's memory plays tricks...I still have the e-mails from around the time he put it in!

cheers

James

Post by **Ali** » 27 Nov 2004 09:19 pm

Hi guys, new to the forum but pretty sure ive met steve p before (and no not in that carpark!), just wondering what you think lowering the front end would do to handling? increased oversteer? any ideas on where to get rear leafs made up? Would this definately require new shocks as ive been in a new car with just different springs and it handles as well as i'd want, is that just because the shocks are newer and so can take the drop? cheers
Ali

Post by **SteveP** » 27 Nov 2004 11:01 pm

ahh, you finally joined mate!

already read the thread that foggy started grr sm72

Post by **foggyjames** » 27 Nov 2004 11:28 pm

Welcome Ali! We've heard a fair bit about you already!!

Just lowering the front...hmm...well assuming we're doing shocks and springs, the front will offer marginally better grip, and significantly tighter body control - less roll, less 'rebound' when you straighten up - the transitions should be smoother. But the rear will still be sloppy, and that will result in inbalance handling front / rear - not a good thing. More oversteer yes, but nasty, difficult to control oversteer. You really want to lower it all-round.

Do you realise you don't need to get new leaf springs made up to lower the rear? I want to get stiffer springs made, but it's not essential. The 'standard' cheating way is to put blocks between the spring and the axle - I can point you towards some sources...

Little known fact...shocks have more influence than springs on body control. If you can only afford one thing a time, put sports shocks on before springs. You can get a set of 'performance' gas shocks from various online retailers. I wouldn't recommend doing springs without shocks, but the only reason you may *need* to do it is if the original shocks are too tall for the shorter suspension travel.

That's quite a major boot build you have there. Looks to me like a 10" or a 12" in a vented enclosure, with a pair of (8s?) for mids, and peizo horn top end....configured in 'cruise showoff' mode! I'd be interested to hear your reasoning behind the system design...and what else is in the system! Why the peizos - price or output reasons?

As soon as I get around to ordering the comps, my rig will be Pioneer CD HU > Maystar 4x50w power amp > Alpine SPR comps. I'm running JBL GTO comps as the moment. Custom stealth (ie: small) sub-bass to follow at some point...

cheers

James

Post by **Ali** » 28 Nov 2004 12:02 am

I was quite confused about the rear but presumed the springs needed shortening, if you can point me in the right direction for the blocks that would be great, on a budget so might be better to lower the rear first because understeer would be less dangerous to cope with! My install is a 10" jbl sub, 2 8"ers and a 250w amp, 8"ers and horns came as a boxed enclosure from a carboot for £15, jbl was £30 and amp was £15 from carboot, jvc head unit £25 from scrappy and jvc 12cd changer off ebay for £12 so the whole lot came to about £100 including all the wood(cheap chipboard!), i need to get some more pics uploaded but havent got easy access to a digital camera, done the usual 400series alloys, induction kit (£7 off ebay) and peco backbox (£15 from scrappy!) so pulls a bit better now probably due to more air after carb was running rich, had plenty of problems with blocked idle jet on carb and never got the carb re-tuned so any help on tuning would be greatly appreciated
cheers
Ali

Post by **foggyjames** » 28 Nov 2004 12:17 am

Sounds like a bargain setup! I tend not to think too much about what mine has cost...

Man...that sounds like the kinda logic my flatmate uses: My carb is tuned rich....so I'll fit a free-flow air filter and straight through exhaust box to lean it out!

I wouldn't like to give you any advice regarding tuning - carb tuning is a complex business, with the carb having multiple circuits. It's certainly not a case of turning a screw. If you really want to get it sorted, you can probably get it tuned properly on a rolling road for under £50. There may be a group-RR-session coming up, so keep your eyes peeled. You also get a BHP/torque graph, which is pretty cool to show off with!

cheers

James

Post by **Ali** » 28 Nov 2004 12:30 am

Any ideas on where to pick up lowering blocks then because im quite interested, only problem is insurance due to the cis not covering modifications but i dont know if i could get away with it anyway! yeah i know my exhaust was a bodge but it did work ok in the end! Easy solution to lack of knowledge!
Ali

Post by **foggyjames** » 28 Nov 2004 01:13 am

Dave Slater...
http://www.volvorsport.co.uk/

cheers

James