Lennie Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 As promised an update on how the pushrod suspended car is going.We have now put a few miles on it and so far nothing has broken and Gary is feeling pretty chuffed with himself. The ride on the road is a definite improvement with a unexpected bonus that the steering has been transformed. We know why but are keeping it to our self at the moment as we are looking at putting a conversion on a standard car. One benefit is we can at last put some preload on the springs without compromising the ride height we knew this would be the case but are amazed at the affect it has had. The roll bar is no longer preloaded which means that setting the corner weights is a much more straight forward affair and the car should react to left and right hand bends the same. It is not all plain sailing we do have some clearance problems with the rockers but this is due to the dampers fouling on full droop because AVO have changed the shockers slightly so it is just a matter of changing the rocker dimensions. Now to name drop we had the son of a mates mate who just happens to work for a leading F1 team down at the workshop, we were told in no uncertain terms that we must not mention the team, he stayed three hours and was very impressed with the chickens coming in and out but still gave us a lot of aero advice for the car so we have now got stacks to be getting on with. You will find out next season which team it is, it’s the one that’s front engined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiF Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Len, Great to hear you have been able to get some testing under way and all is sounding very promising. Can you not enlighten us as to what is transformed on the steering without giving away any secrets. Keep in touch with me as I will be needing to decide on the suspension within 3 weeks. Oh it is getting close now 😬 to delivery. Good luck Richard in France Delivery from Caterham in only three weeks, my Duratec 7 is getting closer 😬 😬 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe 90 Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 That sounds sooo tempting . Have you posted any pictures anywhere? 99,000 miles so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain chaos Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 I am getting quite excited ( no, Kylie has not entered the room 😳) Len, how long before you expect to be able to start selling the setup? Are we talking 4-6 weeks or 3-4 months? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordy Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 keep up the good work Len and keep us informed of the progress. Sounds mighty interesting. Pleased as punch with the lightweight ali dampers and springs BTW. Very easy to fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tight fart Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 pics here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 I already wanted the suspension before. Now can you tell us more about the chickens ? 😬 Marius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennie Posted February 4, 2003 Author Share Posted February 4, 2003 Just got back from the workshop. We are trying to get a track day soon so we can get some track miles on the car. So far the road miles have been fine, no crashing and banging, which with all the spherical joints is very encouraging. The handling seems fine we are trying to be subjective but the steering is a big improvement and the ride seems to be a lot more composed, we ran the car with no nose and bonnet to observe how much work the dampers are doing and they are certainly working a lot faster. The road is probably a better test than the track especially considering the state of the roads in Kent, compared to a smooth track. The steering mod should be relatively cheap and Gary and I are currently working out the best way to produce it. When I say working out don’t imagine wind tunnels, computer simulations and stress analysis, no we have a cup of tea and a donut and try to tear each idea apart then Gary tells me what we are going to do. Marius the chickens are fine, first egg was laid Friday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennie Posted February 4, 2003 Author Share Posted February 4, 2003 Sorry did not answer all the questions we hope to have it all signed off in early March. But then Arch will need time to jig all the ancillary parts as only the wishbones have been done this is about two weeks to a month depending on work load, hopefully they wont have to many crash repairs on as the race season will not be in full swing. The rockers are all done on a cnc mill so the mods only involve changing the numbers. We have not get any pictures on the web because we are not sure how to do it, perhaps we could send some pictures to one of you computer literate people [Fred are you reading this] and they could get them on Blat Chat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver 21 Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 Len Remember my offer: standard width adjustable anti roll bar in exchange for sorting your web site out 😬 😬 Len just looked at your site, don't you have the ability to load some pictures onto there?, if not if you can get me the pictures I can get them put up on one of my pages, let me know Graham Competition Secretary Lydden, Curborough, MIRA, Llandow, Loton Park, Curborough, Aintree...What more can you ask for? Edited by - Bacon Butty on 4 Feb 2003 20:41:40 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxy Smith Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 What goes around comes around. Without detracting from what Len and Co are doing ( I think it looks wonderful ) Lotus did just this in 1961 with the 21. Top wishbone became a bellcrank acting on springs mounted inboard. My guess on the steering mod is to raise the track rod in line with the top wishbone??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennie Posted February 5, 2003 Author Share Posted February 5, 2003 That is not the mod. But I will give the first package free to who ever can come up with the answer. One clue, it will help those with 22% racks more than the standard 8%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMMO Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 Different length or position of steering arm on hub? AMMO Edited by - ammo on 5 Feb 2003 09:58:51 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tight fart Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 Adjustable pickups on the front hubs for the steering arms, trackday and road settings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Biddle Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 Len, does the suspension fit cars with the pre 96 front moutings set up? Regards, Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Perry Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 How about properly optimised Ackerman settings ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurence Wilson Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 You've mentioned spherical joints already ... could it possibly be that you’ve replaced the joints at the ends of the top and / or bottom wishbones with spherical joints that are causing less friction / providing greater feel / stirring magical powers? Peardrop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 I reckon the steering track rod ends have been replaced with proper rod ends getting rid of a bunch of friction and marginally changing the geometry WRT the inboard location. This is of more benefit to 22% rack owners who are running currently running widetrack with the spacers. Am I right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tight fart Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 You've got to wait while he feeds the chickens. 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiF Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 WARNING LEN 😳 One big problem with your new push rod system that has not been thought about. The Club will have to redesign it's logo 😳 ☹️ 😬 Richard in France Delivery from Caterham in only three weeks, my Duratec 7 is getting closer 😬 😬 😬 Edited by - Richard in France on 5 Feb 2003 21:40:09 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennie Posted February 5, 2003 Author Share Posted February 5, 2003 And the winner is Peardrop. We are going to measure how much turning force the top ball joint takes to move. If peardrop gives me an address as soon as they are available I will get the package off to you. And t.f was I that drunk in France that I told you all our secrets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurence Wilson Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 😬 Thanks Len ! I best hurry up and buy the Seven 😳! I'll be in touch soon . Peardrop Edited by - Peardrop on 5 Feb 2003 18:39:44 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawrence_Z Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 Huh! missed that then, some of us have to work away from a pc ☹️ I seem to remeber Len mentioning the top joint last year.....PC's idea would be good Len, I hope you engineer your wish bones for non pushrod cars too...... BTW Am I the only one that gets blank email replies from Len? Lawrence Edited by - lawrence_z on 5 Feb 2003 20:23:42 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tight fart Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 Not me I don't drink 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveK Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 Damn heres me thinking that there's another mod I can make and it turns out ive already bloody done it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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