Time for some new spark plugs and while I’m at it an upgrade to a cooler running plug in preparation for more boost, more on that another time. From what I read, the spark plug to go for is the NGK ILFR7H. This is more of a job than with most other cars due to […]
home mechanic
Forester STI – New Rear Discs and Pads
I had already bought a set of rear discs and pads when I bought the set for the front from Godspeed. I didn’t fit the rears at the time I did the fronts as there was a decent amount of life left in the pads. Now it was time to fit the Godspeed G Hook […]
Forester STI – MeisterR Zeta CRD Coilovers
While I didn’t have a major problem with ride and handling on the OEM STI springs and inverted dampers (the stiffer rear ARB and subframe locking bolts really helped, see here and here) and I didn’t mind the STI ride height with the Prodrive GC-010E wheels either. But with the Rota Grid Drifts, the standard […]
Forester STI – Fitting Longer Wheel Studs
Having trial fitted the Rota Grid Drift wheels I was happy I wanted to fit them properly. The first thing to do was to fit some longer studs on the front due to needing 5mm spacers for the wheels to clear the Brembo calipers. I boought a set of these Hardrace studs. Time to get […]
S1 Elise – Suspension Refresh – Fitting New Ball Joints
If you happen to have arrived here looking for info on how to replace a ball joint with the wishbone still on the car then check out my other post here. Having fitted the Elise Parts wishbone bearing kit I could move on to pressing the new ball joints in but just before getting stuck […]
S1 Elise – Suspension Refresh – A Few Other Parts Get The POR15 Treatment
The POR15 treatment went pretty well on the wishbones and various other parts of the running gear so I thought I’d go over a few other parts on the car. Firstly, I should have removed these lower rear wishbone brackets and put them through the whole process with all the other parts I’d removed. No […]
S1 Elise – Cleaning the Tub and Inner Arches
With all the suspension components out of the way for the suspension refresh I took the opportunity to clean everything I could get to. A few years worth of grime had built up. Cleaner, warm water and various cleaning tools. After some wiping and rinsing, being careful to clean gently as I didn’t want to […]
S1 Elise – Suspension Refresh – Wishbones etc POR15 Rust Preventive Paint
With all the preparation done. Finally it’s time to actually get some paint on these parts. Obviously the wishbones are a bit of an awkward thing to paint so I attached a bit of fishing line to each of them so I could hang them while painting and to dry. This was a great idea […]
S1 Elise – Suspension Refresh – Wishbones etc POR15 Metal Prep
As I’ve shown in previous posts I’d removed any loose rust with various wire wheels and brushes and used the POR15 Cleaner Degreaser to thoroughly clean any grease and dirt off all surfaces. So the second stage of the process was to apply POR15 Metal Prep. This is what they say about their Metal Prep: […]
S1 Elise – Suspension Refresh – Wishbones etc POR15 Cleaner Degreaser
As I said in my previous post I decided on using POR15 on the wishbones and other steel parts. The main reason I chose it was that I could do it all myself. I am also not a fan of powder coating which is one of the other common options. In my experience with powder […]