This is a read-only archive of the old Madabout Kitcars forum. New posts and replies are no longer possible, but every thread is still here to browse and read.
I have tried to pick up any old post on the problem that Patrick had on page 1 of his build diary where the rear spring bump stops do not align. Patrick wrote that he must contact Marlin for their thoughts.
I did so a few weeks ago and was told "The misalignment does seem to minimal. I would just give the threaded bar a knock in the right direction. If you have problems with this then give me a call."
Is this the same response Patrick got. I note that Patrick resolved his problem by using coilovers - but that is quite an expensive route especially as you only seem to be ablwe to but the as a complete set i.e fronts and rears.
Anyone any ideas? My alignment looks as good as Patricks did!!!
Robin cut his spring seats off the trailing arms, repositioned them and welded them back on so they aligned with the threaded rod. A much better solution than hitting the threaded stubs with a hammer!
Unfortunately I had my trailing arms powder coated, so to carry out that fix would result in the finish being ruined and a major job removing the remaining powder coating.
I did note something somewhere about the trailing arm bushes and using ones with an offset? Would this be the answer? I have renewed the bushes with standard BMW rubber ones - lots of profanities involved!
Forgot to say off to the Biggar Car Rally in next few minutes and sun is shining! Hopefully lots of interesting vehicles to view and maybe even a kit car or two!
The only option if you don't want to use coil overs is to chop off the threaded bit on the chassis and re-weld it. I was told that my trailing arms were probably in an accident but that was not the case, the spring plate was not welded on in the right place - was easy to measure with a ruler.
I suppose that's the easier option but I suppose the big question is if they got the spring mount wrong, how do I know the trailing arm brackets are in the correct position?
Have you still got the cross bar from the donor car that they were attached to? If so I'd do some measuring on that and compare. If not it ought to be easy enough to locate one via e30zone. I unfortunately scrapped mine about 8 months ago.
I suppose that's the easier option but I suppose the big question is if they got the spring mount wrong, how do I know the trailing arm brackets are in the correct position?
So let's assume your trailing arm brakets are in the right place as the chassis is built on a jig. You'll not know they're not until you've got the car built and have it aligned on a 4 wheel alignment table, but its more than likely they are OK.
It's more likely that just the threaded rod is welded in the wrong place, which leaves you two options (maybe three?)
1. Just crack on and leave it alone and see if it causes any problems once the car is on the road. It doesn't affect the vertical motion of the trailing arms and unless its a long way off I can't see it doing much than maybe wearing out the rubber spring seats prematurely.
2. Move the lower spring seat, like Robin did. Just respray it with hammerite smooth finish and you won't notice the difference once its all bolted up again (honest!)
3. Maybe hit it with the BFH, as Mark suggested. But that is effectively the same as option 1. above.
I wouldn't use the eccentric bushes as they are to correct toe in, which could just make your handling worse.
Thanks for you thoughts. Having had a good look at it I think you are right and the trailing arms are in the correct place as they are accurately located on the outside mounting. I think i will relocate the screwed rod - my son can weld and has all the tackle; so I will cut them off and repostion and make good with black satin Hammerite (That's the best match for the powdercoating?) Where it is positioned it will not be seen unless crawling about underneath.
The car rally was good weather wise - I haven't been there for three years but it was made up of mostly the same vehicles that are there every year. Only two kits that i saw - an old Pilgrim Bulldog and a Spartan. My dream car was there though - a gorgeous white Jensen Interceptor one of the last 50 oiriginal Interceptors.
Hope to go to the Selkirk show in September that is far bigger - no pun intended; and has had more kits in past years.
Weather back to normal and pouring this morning!
It's as hard as nails, and will be more resiliant than the matt hamerite. Matt hamerite is great for touching up the odd ding or scratch in the powder coat topside though.
Thanks for that - I've heard of this but not come across anyone who has used it. I'll get some and give it a go.
Thanks
Yeah - it's good stuff.
I used it on my trailing arms, diff case & drive shafts. One thing to note is that it's not UV stable, so it's good for stuff that's not in direct sunlight all the time (hence use on the running gear and any scratches or dings on the underside of the chassis).
You can top coat it with something that is UV stable if required - I did this with my front uprights. Bottom coat was POR15, then a top coat of Matt Hamerite to match the powdercoat of the suspension wishbones.
I also used POR engine enamel on the block which is holding up very well.
