Andy B's Fast Road/Track build

[AndyB-Redtop]

Hi guys, as mentioned above, My Astra has been off the road for nearly 3 years now due to a gearbox failure and damage to the front bumper from reversing over a speed bump which tore the bumper off the car!! I also had other commitments preventing me concentrate on fixing the car.

Anyway, I got a new gearbox and bumper from the same person a couple of months ago and have been busy putting everything back together, including a new clutch. The bumper I bought was a red one and I bought a fibreglass splitter section to put on it too as I’ve always fancied it….








And the results……

 

[AndyB-Redtop]

Took the car for an MOT on Saturday and got it through alright. Here she is…… I’m so happy and proud to have her back

 

[AndyB-Redtop]

I’ve still got some serious issues with the rear brakes locking up. When I built the car during restoration, I’d forgotten to fit the brake proportioning valves on the rear brake lines and thought the locking was just due to that. I’ve fitted the valves now and I’m still getting the rear brakes locking up on hard braking! What’s strange is that I’ve got no ABS warning light on the dashboard. I’ve got 2 brand new ABS speed sensors on the front. These are the brake proportional valves…..



Can anyone give some advice on this? Note that I haven’t got Astra GSi standard brakes, I’ve got upgraded Vectra B Gsi 288/280 brakes all round on it. I’m not sure if this has anything to do with it. I remember the ABS pump worked when I first bought the car, so it’s been ok at one point.

I’m going to flash the ABS fault codes when I get home this weekend, see if I can pick anything up from that. But otherwise, I’m really unsure how to get about this problem so any advice will be appreciated guys.. thanks.

 

[DavebGsi]

Does the abs do a self check when u start it up? e.g light come on and goes off again? Sounds stupid but are they deffo locking up? like smoke out the rear wheels lol

 

[AndyB-Redtop]

Yes! Definitely locking to the point that the rear end has snaked towards me. Definitely smoke and feel like a handbrake turn…
The ABS ligdid com on every time. Bud has vanished overnight the other day! How weird

 

[gizzard1533]

Don’t post on here often but always come back to check threads now and again,

Could this issue be because there is no weight of the rear wheels with it being stripped out so much, and under heavy breaking they just loose traction and therefore lock up

 

[AndyB-Redtop]

The ABS should over-ride that regardless of how much weight is in back?

 

[gizzard1533]

Can you feel the pedal trying to modulate when under heavy breaking?

 

[AndyB-Redtop]

I have a a very strong and hard pedal however upon hard breaking it just locks the rear wheels. ABS pump doesn’t even activate. The ABS light has completely disappeared off the dash now

 

[AndyB-Redtop]

Got my new GAZ 5”x 400ibs delivered yesterday and will hopefully get them fitted this weekend . I tried fully increasing and decreasing the dampers on it with its current 600ibs. No comfort to be had. See how these 400ibs silldo fmthetri kon

 

[DavebGsi]

how is the ride with the new springs?

 

[AndyB-Redtop]

how is the ride with the new springs?

It’s noticeably different and is softer, but it’s still a bit harsh on some roads. I’ve tried the dampers on various settings, but can’t find the sweet spot. Any recommendations? Currently in the middle with it and soft on rear. I’m thinking of going softer to 300 maybe. But the crashing could be a combination of things like low profile tyres, solid bushes, solid top mount, strut bar and so on. On very nice smooth roads, it’s nice, but I live in a place where roads are like the flinstones! I dunno, I wish I could have it set nicely.

Ohh I took it to the local scrap yard last week and had her on the weigh-bridge…. She weighed in at 960kg without me in it and with around 10 litres of petrol in it. I was chuffed, I’m sure I can shift a few more kilos. The sunroof mech is on my list to remove.

I had the power-flow middle silencer box removed last week and had a straight through section of pipe put on. So it’s currently a large bore 4-2-1 manifold, straight through to the rear box. Thought it would be horrifically loud but it’s not at all. Sounds awesome in higher revs. Very happy with the engine’s performance at the moment.

 

[AndyB-Redtop]

I’ve always wanted a sunstrip for a finishing touch, so had one installed over the weekend and boy, I’m so happy with it. May not be to everyone’s liking, but it’s my car and I really do think it looks the piece….. Inspired by John Cleland’s BTCC touring Cavalier. Speaking of which, I’m going to the super touring at Donnington Park in this Astra on September 23-24. Anyone else?

 

[AndyB-Redtop]

Does anyone know where I get the signal from the dizzy/coil to make my rev counter work? Please?

 

[TomF]

Pretty sure the green wire for the rev counter comes from the coil amplifer plug, pin 1

 

[AndyB-Redtop]

Advice needed from the guys running the compbrake top mounts. So I’ve gone from 600ibs down to 400 and I’m still feeling like they’re a bit too stiff. With extreme bouncing and very harsh feedback from the road. TomF & DavebGsi would the solid top mounts contribute to very harsh impact on bumpy roads? I’m trying to find the happy medium setting where I can have a stiff yet some comfort from the suspension. I’m currently experiencing very uncomfortable ride. I’ve got 40mm sidewall’s on my 17” and the ride is very crashy. Would going back to OEM top mounts eliminate this? Or would trying 300ibs be more of a different? I’ve got the dampers near full soft. Would OEM top mounts with a very low ride height create camber issues? I’ve got the passanger side front wheel looking much more defreed than the driver’s side for some reason. If I went 300ibs up front, what rate would be adequate for the rear? 350-400? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Todd100]

Have you played with shock settings very much? It sounds like you have them set too stiff possibly? Are you running poly bushes too? Even now I've gone back to shocks and springs OEM top mounts mine has the occasional harsh crashing sound if you go over a bad bump, I've put it down to poly bushes, plus stiff shocks, anything solid is designed for track not the shocking UK roads really

 

[AndyB-Redtop]

Have you played with shock settings very much? It sounds like you have them set too stiff possibly? Are you running poly bushes too? Even now I've gone back to shocks and springs OEM top mounts mine has the occasional harsh crashing sound if you go over a bad bump, I've put it down to poly bushes, plus stiff shocks, anything solid is designed for track not the shocking UK roads really

Hi Todd…. I’ve got the front dampers set 3 1/2 turns anti clockwise from full stiff. I think there’s only about 2 turns left until fully soft. Compbrake top mount and yes, fully polybushed. I’m really thinking of going back to standard top mount, but will this jeopardise the camber angle?

 

[DavebGsi]

before you get too involved, you should measure the distance from your driveshaft thread to your arch at your choosen ride height. then take the wheel off, and jack up the lower arm up to the same ride height then have a look how much travel you have. I figured out the harshness I was gettin from mine was the fact that I only had about 15mm of travel!

I sold the gaz stuff to andy cotton only because he said he won't use the compbrake mounts.
The Kw stuff I had custom made, the damper is alot shorter. giving more travel

 

[TomF]

Raise your front ride height 20mm and see how it feels, from your pics it looks very low, lower than mine infact, so you probably dont have alot of travel in the shocks like Dave says, If thats no better then try 350lbs springs.