Cheers guys....
Well it's been a little while since I bought my Adub, and It's going beautifully - not a single issue other than a high idle (and upon searching through the old forum for answers to this, found the previous owner was on here too - "Vulpes"). The high idle isn't really much of an issue though, apart from at a cold start when it's as high as 2 grand, and I have to shift into neutral to slow it down... But apparently it's due to some degradation in the cold start system or something - something not really worth worrying about.
I decided it needed a bit more cornering ability (and adjustability) so...
Cheers guys....
Well it's been a little while since I bought my Adub, and It's going beautifully - not a single issue other than a high idle (and upon searching through the old forum for answers to this, found the previous owner was on here too - "Vulpes"). The high idle isn't really much of an issue though, apart from at a cold start when it's as high as 2 grand, and I have to shift into neutral to slow it down... But apparently it's due to some wax degrading in the cold start system or something - something I'll worry about later.
I decided it needed a bit more cornering ability (and adjustability) so...
A new pair of Koni adjustables went in, along with some TRD springs courtesy of JustinMC here on the forums (thanks again mate!)
I decided to do it all myself - something I've never attempted before (haven't even done basic servicing, really) but found a write up and downloaded the BGB - took more or less a whole weekend (including about 4 trips to the hardware store for WD40...then releasing agent...then breaker bar... then monkey wrench... Gland nuts and 19mm strut bolts were *very* frustrating - and judging by the colour of the shock fluid, they all badly needed a change, anyway :S
New and old cartridges next to each other (old cartridge cylinder is perfect as a cheater bar for a socket wrench, too)
New and old springs
strut assemblies back together
"Before" picture
And the result...
An idea of the new ride height. Side skirt can just pass over the can, but the pinch rail will hit it by about 1-2cm.
The result is very satisfying - at shocks set to full softness, the ride is quite compliant - definately stiffer than stock (obviously) but not jarringly bad (until I hit a pothole/a sudden change in road height). At full stiffness, it's stiff. Driving down the M4 freeway in Sydney I'm bouncing around inside the car while people around me think I'm having a fit (maybe not quite that bad, but the car is constantly moving). Any potholes are avoided at all costs. But it handles beautifully on flat roads and feels like a go-kart :) Since it's only a weekend car, it's currently set to full stiffness.
There was still a bit of body roll though..... and since it seemed like a tiny job compared to the struts, a new whiteline front stabiliser went in (was considering a rear as well, but from reports the rear whiteline bar makes the car fairly twitchy, so I've put off buying the rear for now - I decided any understeer I'd try and dial out with the shocks if possible).
new vs old
I ran into a problem that it seems others have had with the whitelines - the whiteline end links sit bloody close to the wheel well, and look kind of precarious:
top of the endlink:
I've got the stock ones in there for the time being but will invest in some from Twos R Us in the future.
And to reward all my hard work.....
Watanabe's!
Nothing crazy, 14x6 with a decent positive offset, so they'll probably sit the same (or maybe a few mm further out) than the teardrops. Two are in great nick, decent paint and no kerbing, the others have quite a lot of paint flaking off and tyres (re-01's) are good on two of them and at the wear indicators on the rears. I'll be getting them powdercoated at some point, either black or charcoal/dark grey - It should look good with the white car. I'll probably replace the tyres all together since I don't know how old they are, and they don't look too fresh. Plus, I'm still waiting for wheel lugs to arrive to fit them. I waited 2 1/2 months for them to arrive from Japan, so this last wait is torture...I'll post pics once I get them on.
The next upgrade is probably an interior mod - new steering wheel. Currently Looking at the Momo Prototipo (and then realised the google images photo I got the inspiration from was, again, Rds's car :)) but would prefer something with a bit of dish, like the Momo Mod 7.... My main concern is that after fitting the new Boss a dished wheel will sit too close to me - does anyone have any experience with fitting a dished wheel in an AW11? and can the Momo boss extend/retract away from the driver or is it fixed? I only ask since the stock wheel has some massive dish going on - I reckon I'd like to keep a bit of dish on an aftermarket wheel.