RE: [MarcosManiacs] Re: (no subject)
2003-09-16 by pauldransfield@iname.com
Hi Dave,
I wasn't intending going to Bronte on Sunday. For one thing, I don't think
the weather will cooperate. The last time I went when it rained, my car
ended up being plastered in light mud from the access road, and it stuck
like concrete. Years later, there are crevices on the car where the mud
still resides and it won't come off even using a power washer. I got most of
it off the parts of the chassis that I could access but I had to use a
scrubbing brush.
I'm also disgruntled that they put our cars in the same concours category as
Aston Martins, AC Cobras, Bugattis and other exotics. I resent paying a
hefty entrance fee and then have to compete against cars which are worth at
least 5 times as much as ours. I and Ron McLeod have both written to the
organizers requesting that they put us in a more reasonable group but they
haven't even given us the courtesy of a response. I actually received 3rd in
class a few years ago behind 2 Aston Martins but when the stainless steel AC
Cobra (valued at a cool million bucks) and the Bugatti started showing up,
we were completely shut out. It's an hour's drive each way from my place and
I don't need the aggravation.
For sure, I'll be at Ancaster next spring in any event.
Regards,
PaulShow quoted textHide quoted text
-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Barton [mailto:dbarton62@...]
Sent: September 15, 2003 7:40 PM
To: MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [MarcosManiacs] Re: (no subject)
Hi Paul
I bet it looks great, are you going to Bronte on Sunday I am
definitely gonna be there this year without a car though ,next year I
hope to bring the Marcos........
Cheers Dave#5577
--- In MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com, pauldransfield@i... wrote:
> Hi guys,
>
> Well, I finally got my new wheels and tires mounted, and they
really do look
> quite spiffy, even if I say so myself. I was changing from
185/70R13 tires
> on 13 x 5.5" rims to 205/45ZR17 and 215/45ZR17 tires on 17 x 7"
rims. The
> slightly larger tires were put on the rear to correct a speedometer
which
> was over-reading. In retrospect, it would have been better to have
had a
> bigger backspace on the rear wheels because the tires protrude
beyond the
> wheel wells a little more than I wanted. They don't protrude beyond
the
> width of the car but they definitely could have been more inboard
by 3/4" or
> even an inch. The front wheels look exactly right. The car tended to
> understeer on hard cornering so I always thought the old wheels
needed a
> smaller backspace. There again, maybe the understeer was due to the
higher
> profile tires. The handling has dramatically improved with the car
feeling
> even more like it's on rails than before. I need to raise the back
of the
> car a little (by adjusting the shock seats) to avoid fouling on the
rear
> wheel arches under hard cornering. I'll then be able to determine
what
> became of the prior understeer.
>
> Even though the tire profile is a lot lower, the only time it feels
harsher
> is when I drive over severe ridges on the road surface. My old
tires must
> have been in a terrible state internally because the new ones feel
like I'm
> driving on glass, without a twitch or tremor, especially on the
highway.
> During a test run, I surprised myself when I was up to 100mph while
it felt
> like I couldn't be going more than 60. In comparison to before, the
car is
> now a pure joy to drive.
>
> Putting it all together was actually a lot more work than I
anticipated. The
> hardest part was replacing the front hubs because there was
insufficient
> clearance for the back of the new aluminum hubs to clear the bolts
holding
> the backplate assembly. On one side, the brake caliper was fouling
on the
> hub as well. I resolved the problems by using my trusty Dremel tool
to grind
> down a couple of mms off the side of the problem bolt heads and
about 1 mm
> from the caliper body to provide enough clearance. I had another
problem
> when I found that the old hub body had threads tapped into it and
the brake
> rotor was attached by bolts. The new hub was drilled and recessed
for nuts
> and bolts. I had to get some stainless steel bolts and cut them
down to the
> correct size so they wouldn't protrude beyond the wheel mounting
face.
> Fortunately the recesses for the bearings were the correct size or
I would
> have had a serious problem. Replacing those was quite
straightforward. It
> took 3 3/4 hours to do the first side and 1 1/4 hours to do the
other.
>
> The rear wheels were relatively easy because the stud holes were
already
> drilled for a 4.25 bolt circle. I just had to drive out the studs
and
> reposition them. The brake drums were also pre-drilled. It took an
hour to
> do the first side, mainly because one of the studs wouldn't
cooperate and I
> had to remove the brake shoes to get at it properly. The other side
took 20
> minutes.
>
> I'll have to get my hands on a digital camera and take a shot for
the web
> site so you can see how it turned out. It may appall purists but I
think the
> car looks significantly better with the larger wheels.
>
> Regards,
>
> Paul Dransfield
> 3 litre Volvo
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