Some help with defects please

[IH8WRX]

Ok I pride myself on making sure my car is 100% legal and always have.

Today I was interviewed by CH7 Brisbane over the car scene and the "hoon" blitz over the weekend. Told them how I support the Police in cracking down on the real dangerous cars and behaviour.

Bloody hell 2km away I'm pulled over. "Pop the bonnet sir and hand me your licence". up goes the bonnet and his reply is "****ing hell this is impressive!" "Come have a look at this guys, our bloody cars engines don't look this smick!" Over walks the other officers, all take a look and nearly fall over backwards.

Then they get down to business :(. My exhaust system is to low. It's about 80mm off the ground at the lowest point. The whole front including the headers and cats. the rest of the system is fine except the very rear where it goes over the diff. The headers are Pacemaker 1&3/4" 4-1's. The system is a single 3.5" one from site sponsor Sureflo. I have only lowered the car 30mm all round over the factory FE2 (Pedders springs all round). I also have 18" wheels.

I was thinking of changing wheels to 19" or 20". Now if I use Fulcrum coilovers all round with 19" or 20"s will that make the car even lower or lift it up? Does anyone have any suggestions? The rest of the car is still 120mm off the ground so it's just this dam exhaust system. I don't want to have to replace the exhaust system as I got the headers ceramic coated and drove 20 odd hours to get to Sureflo for the system.

I got defected for one other thing. I had the battery relocated to the boot, and used a battery box. The guys that installed it didn't use thick enough wiring and now if I switch it off after a run it won't start back up for 30mins as it just seems flat. I get to a servo today and this happens. I undo the strap and jump start it and forgot to do the strap back up holding the lid on. Yep I got defected for that :mad: This is easily fixed by me doing the strap back up :bash:

They couldn't get me on anything else, it was all spot on.

Anywho any help/advice for the exhaust would be appreciated.

[jona]

hey mate
i recnetly took my 383 ss over the pits. the orig twin 3 inch was lucky if it was 50mm of the ground so i borrowed a stock hsv exhaust an had it fitted along with some stock springs just to make sure everythin was fine. my advice is go round to a few werkshops or exhaust places an see what u can dig up :D
good luck
matt

[IH8WRX]

hey mate
i recnetly took my 383 ss over the pits. the orig twin 3 inch was lucky if it was 50mm of the ground so i borrowed a stock hsv exhaust an had it fitted along with some stock springs just to make sure everythin was fine. my advice is go round to a few werkshops or exhaust places an see what u can dig up :D
good luck
matt


Nah bugger that. I'm not stuffing around swapping bits over for an inspection and then swapping them back later etc.

Like I said I want to fit 19" to 20" wheels and then coilovers. I just don't know if that will raise or lower the car so any help from anyone running 19" or 20" with coilovers would be great

[RhysB]

Mate, cant help you with the battery issue, but I definantly found in going 18" wheels to the 20s, my ride height was raised quite significantly. I had to wind my coilovers up a bit, as the front rims were now up in the guards. I then lowered the rear by another 15mm, to get just the height I was after.
I reckon you go the 20s (you know you want to ;) ), and your dillemma will be sorted. If you go the coilovers too, you can just adjust them anytime you like (ie. at shows) to any height desired.
See ya soon. You going the AME show yeah??

[RhysB]

I had big clearance issues with my twin 3 inch system also, and that is now no longer a problem :)

[IH8WRX]

Mate, cant help you with the battery issue, but I definantly found in going 18" wheels to the 20s, my ride height was raised quite significantly. I had to wind my coilovers up a bit, as the front rims were now up in the guards. I then lowered the rear by another 15mm, to get just the height I was after.
I reckon you go the 20s (you know you want to ;) ), and your dillemma will be sorted. If you go the coilovers too, you can just adjust them anytime you like (ie. at shows) to any height desired.
See ya soon. You going the AME show yeah??


Ahhhh I seen you trolling the forum and hoped you would make comment :D . Thanks mate, much appreciated. I can easily fix the battery strap issue, I just had to do the strap back up and not to forget to leave it undone in future :bash:

Ok 20"s sound the go :D . What brand do you have bud? I have been in several cars with Bilsteins, Koni, Eibach and Fulcrum and found Fulcrum the most comfortable ones by far for ride comfort and the vehicle (VU SS) stuck to the road like you know what to a blanket!

Yes sure will be at AME. I have a trade stand there, down near the HSV boys so come say g'day :D

[RhysB]

Ok 20"s sound the go :D . What brand do you have bud?

My 20s are Bonspeeds ;) , the coilovers are Kings Pro Sport. Pretty sure they are with Bilstein inserts. Got them installed direct from Kings on the Gold Coast. They do go alright.



Yes sure will be at AME. I have a trade stand there, down near the HSV boys so come say g'day :D

See ya there. :D

[IH8WRX]

My 20s are Bonspeeds ;) , the coilovers are Kings Pro Sport. Pretty sure they are with Bilstein inserts. Got them installed direct from Kings on the Gold Coast. They do go alright.



See ya there. :D


Thanks mate. Now do you have any issues on full lock with scrapping the plastic guards? I'm guessing you needed to roll the lips of the guards too? I have my eye on a set of either Show wheels 20"s, the same Bonspeeds as yours or a set from Tempe tyres in 20"s.

[JMEVXSS]

Appologies for getting a bit side-tracked ............... but when is the AME show?

Cheers

[IH8WRX]

Appologies for getting a bit side-tracked ............... but when is the AME show?

Cheers


2nd & 3rd of July 05. Only a few weeks away :(

[RhysB]

Thanks mate. Now do you have any issues on full lock with scrapping the plastic guards? I'm guessing you needed to roll the lips of the guards too? I have my eye on a set of either Show wheels 20"s, the same Bonspeeds as yours or a set from Tempe tyres in 20"s.

I had all the inner guards cut out. With the size of the rims + my ride height, I had to. Also had the front and rear guards cut right back, with only about a 2mm lip retained to keep the rigidity in the actual guard. All sweet now.
Only prob I have is the tyre slightly scrubbing the guard lip when you hit a bump mid corner, but thats to be expected. That could be easily avoided if you kept it at a reasonable ride height thou. :cool:

Well you cant copy me for the Bonspeed Clutches now can ya! :D Go the "Ramone" or "Intense 5", or the Show wheels. They have some real nice styles available.

[HSVREDSLED]

As for the battery box,

In NSW I was sure that you could not get defected for anything if immediate repairs could be done at the scene. ie, In your case, strap the battery back up immediately.


Another example would be a bald tyre. "..Sorry officer, I can change that for you right now with the spare from the boot..."

Maybe the rule has changed or does not apply in oither states, but I was sure that we had gone to a national set of road rules to overcome the problems between the states.

On another issue, was the problem with the exhaust caused by the exhaust itself or by the after market lowering?

[IH8WRX]

I had all the inner guards cut out. With the size of the rims + my ride height, I had to. Also had the front and rear guards cut right back, with only about a 2mm lip retained to keep the rigidity in the actual guard. All sweet now.
Only prob I have is the tyre slightly scrubbing the guard lip when you hit a bump mid corner, but thats to be expected. That could be easily avoided if you kept it at a reasonable ride height thou. :cool:

Well you cant copy me for the Bonspeed Clutches now can ya! :D Go the "Ramone" or "Intense 5", or the Show wheels. They have some real nice styles available.


Ok mate, do you have yours lowered a lot? If you don't want to say on here just PM me bud. I want to make sure I have the 100mm clearance as I pride my car on it being 100% legal, but at the same time I don't want it looking like a 4wd. I also don't want to go down the route of cutting up guards etc. Bloody hell why can't the Police pick on the reall idiots!

I'm looking at these few styles:-

http://www.showwheels.com.au/images/wheels/wheel-0036_med.jpg
http://www.showwheels.com.au/images/wheels/wheel-0044_med.jpg
http://www.showwheels.com.au/images/wheels/wheel-0105_med.jpg
http://www.tempetyres.com.au/content/products/CRW_1150_RT8.jpg

[HERCULES]

Hey, I think the third ones you posted would look unreal on your SS. :)

[ratter]

befor you go buy/borrow a set of 20's check what your state allows as far as changing the diameter of the wheels/tyres.

When a bigger rime is fitted normally a lower profile tyre is fitted to keep the diameter of the tyre the same size or near enough to the same size.
In vic there was a rule that said you can only change the diameter by "15mm" amount which means if you fitted these compared to standard size tyres it would only raise the car 7.5 mm

If you keep the diameter the same it will not increase your ride height no matter what the size of the rim



:D

[ratter]

Not sure how much room you have, but another option may be to get a good exhaust shop to bend the pipes/extractors closer to the floor to give you more room, but this probably would leave some marks in your exhaust, but it still may tidier than having to raise the car



:D

[qik_sv8]

befor you go buy/borrow a set of 20's check what your state allows as far as changing the diameter of the wheels/tyres.

When a bigger rime is fitted normally a lower profile tyre is fitted to keep the diameter of the tyre the same size or near enough to the same size.
In vic there was a rule that said you can only change the diameter by "15mm" amount which means if you fitted these compared to standard size tyres it would only raise the car 7.5 mm

If you keep the diameter the same it will not increase your ride height no matter what the size of the rim



:D




i thort u could only change the size of ur rim up or down 2" from the size that came out on that perticular make/model
i.e.-VT SS came on 17s can go up to 19s
VY SS came on 18s can go up to 20s
not sure how reliable my sauce is but thats what iv heard many times before

good luck 'IH8WRX'

[ratter]

In vic you can only change the rim by a certain amount but also the diameter of the tyre 15mm

[chillicatqld]

Hi IH8WRX - just a question about 100% legalities of your car - do you have a Mafless tune at all?
Speak to you soon re: paint refinish - thanks for the PM ...

[vytwo]

i have 20s on my vy ss ute, lowered 1 1/2 at front, 2 at rear]
235/35/20 tyres, guards rolled,no problems with rubbing.

[IH8WRX]

Hi IH8WRX - just a question about 100% legalities of your car - do you have a Mafless tune at all?
Speak to you soon re: paint refinish - thanks for the PM ...


Yes mate I do have a MAFless tune, which was done by site sponsor Powertorque. It's legal for me, as I'm N.S.W. regitered and I don't come under that Q.L.D. rule "if you have more than 10% power increase over a factory output you need a mod plate". Q.L.D. cars tho will need it. I needed an engineers certificate in N.S.W. for my airbox, but if I was Q.L.D. registered I wouldn't. Different laws for different states, but the 100mm ride height is an ADR law.

[VFast]

...Different laws for different states, but the 100mm ride height is an ADR law.

Are you saying that this 100mm ground clearance rule applies in all states...?

[IH8WRX]

Are you saying that this 100mm ground clearance rule applies in all states...?


Yes as far as I am aware, this is an ADR law so there for covers all states etc.

[ROARZ]

Rick - always but a phone call away mate... ;)

I've got 19's so that I didn't have to cut and roll. Marginal points difference I imagine at our shows (in terms of judging), given that there is no strict judging criteria anyway (and you've won VX SS twice with the rims you have). A damn nice 19" wheel, combined with your damn nice car could do the job just fine...

My coil overs are a custom blend; custom strut housing, bilstein dial adjustable shock, and eibach spring. I have a TON of range in my adjustment, and I've been deliberately running it high on the street to both address the exhaust issue you mention (mine is low too) AND to ensure that I don't catch the cats on speed bumps and in the parking garage in the city. If you want to go that route, you know who to call for the setup.

What guage wire is supposed to be used on the battery to ensure that it'll recharge? Zero? Are you going to get that fixed before AME?

I'm really surprised that the rear of the exhaust was too low. From memory, it's pretty easy to tuck that part up and away. Or, in my case, just let the dyno grind it away for you (ahh... memories of HvF 2004 in Brisbane). :D

Bad luck on the defects mate, but you'd have thought that the 80mm exhaust should have been caught by either your engineer or your installer. It's not like they don't know that you're pedantic about legalities.

If you need to discuss any of this further, just call me.

[smoke]

What about air-bag suspension? Not sure if it is legal in certain states.

[IH8WRX]

Rick - always but a phone call away mate... ;)

I've got 19's so that I didn't have to cut and roll. Marginal points difference I imagine at our shows (in terms of judging), given that there is no strict judging criteria anyway (and you've won VX SS twice with the rims you have). A damn nice 19" wheel, combined with your damn nice car could do the job just fine...

My coil overs are a custom blend; custom strut housing, bilstein dial adjustable shock, and eibach spring. I have a TON of range in my adjustment, and I've been deliberately running it high on the street to both address the exhaust issue you mention (mine is low too) AND to ensure that I don't catch the cats on speed bumps and in the parking garage in the city. If you want to go that route, you know who to call for the setup.

What guage wire is supposed to be used on the battery to ensure that it'll recharge? Zero? Are you going to get that fixed before AME?

I'm really surprised that the rear of the exhaust was too low. From memory, it's pretty easy to tuck that part up and away. Or, in my case, just let the dyno grind it away for you (ahh... memories of HvF 2004 in Brisbane). :D

Bad luck on the defects mate, but you'd have thought that the 80mm exhaust should have been caught by either your engineer or your installer. It's not like they don't know that you're pedantic about legalities.

If you need to discuss any of this further, just call me.


Thanks mate. Very dissapointed in the exhaust issue and you're dead right with it not being picked up. What's more annoying is that I'm supposed to be given a copy of the engineers report according to Q.L.D. Police. The engineer tells me BS and the RTA has it on file and they have to do a rego check (the police) that way they can see it's all there. Q.L.D. Police tel me the next time I'm pulled over and don't have it they will fine me (which is a load of crap), the engineer refuses to give me a copy.

Yes the memories of that 700hp angle grinder brings back memories :D I'm not changing the headers or system as it came in at 91bd but they said it would quiet down with more driving as it only has about 150-200km on it. I needed an excuse to put bigger wheels and coil overs on anyway :D

The battery issue, well yes someone got a blast over that this morning and it will be getting rectified this week without excuses.

The joys of modified cars :(

[HERCULES]

Yes, a set of 20's + some air bag suspension is the go. :)
Although I think air bags is Illegal in QLD.