S1 Rebuild(s)

[Dave Adams]

some pics of the rebuild process,

the top trailing arm bracket is broke......

the diff is sloping back a little (looking up) so that will need sorting.......

As you can see there isn't a lot of bracing in an S1 chassis, that will be sorted.

[Dave Adams]

O/S rear shocker has curled its toes up......i thought i had some spares......but what i actually have are two 14.5 inch shockers and two 15 inch shockers.....one of the 15 ones is shot and one of the 14 inch ones has been modified to make it closer to 15 inch (its about 15.2 inch) (maximum extended length....) but the mod isnt very good.......might do for now.

shockers are quite expensive.....unless you own a VW beetle in which case a pair of coil over shockers are £75 the pair. they come in at 423mm or just over 16 inch long. it might be worth modifying the lower mounts to accommodate them.

[Dave Adams]

might also have to replace the N/S rear shocker....its a little weak.

the inle plenum is still giving me troubles...AIR LEAKS.... i have nearly got them all but a quick go on a professional MOT gas tester shows the fueling is almost but not quite there. the hydrocarbons are a little high at 150 ppm, the oxygen in the exhaust is a little high....both could be related ...there is a slight miss fire. turns out that the spark plug gap is 1mm but if you fit NGK spark plugs they recommend 1.2mm........all mine were 1mm, not helping so i widened them. but pin hole air leaks are driving me nuts....

i have again sealed them (I hope) and refitted the manifold...the fuel trims immediately changed, the long term went negative by about 10%. an indication that the fueling is leaning from a too rich setting. tick over dropped by about 150 rpm, hopefully further once everything has settled out.

[Dave Adams]

well my speedo was a little erratic and reading about 25% over.....so i thought remove one of the 4 magnets and it would be about right....nope its now closer to double speed now 60mph is showing 100mph....the speedo is now rock steady....i think all the magnets have to be the same polarity on the car, which i also changed from the random north / south alignment it had...

if i could just find the manual to program it it would be fine.

Anyway i went for a 60 mile jaunt today (after work) and it is quick and very nice to drive if a bit stiffly sprung. once the sump pan is modified it will get softer springs, the steering is VERY light. Much lighter from memory than the triumph set up on my last S1...odd as the Geometry is fairly similar. it should be about 5 degrees castor 0.75 negative camber and 15 minutes tow in on tracking. i think the camber needs a little more to about 1.25mm negative. That will alter the tracking, so it will be reset to about 30 minutes toe in. it wont make much difference to the cars feel but is a little to light on steering and is squeaking on tight turns when manoeuvring a sure sign its "out". the brakes are also bedding in nicely. i may have got the master cylinder spot on.....its all coming together.

[Dave Adams]

In here are loads of pictures on fitting a 5 link set up........