Sachs lightweight clutch and flywheel and KW V3 coil overs. The clutch will go in next month at a shop and I'll do the suspension myself over the winter. I'll get Walrod bushings put in along with the suspension to freshen up my steering. I'm already excited for the first spring drive!

ForumRunner_20151128_211400.png

 

I'm super jealous.

 

I have the same setup you posted above. you wont be disappointed, and also will have a hard(er) time waiting for spring. Good luck.

 

Hey Aaron looks like i'll be right behind you on this project
made plan too

What made you decide to go with KW and V3s?

cheers

 

I have the KW V3's on the Turbo - nice shock. Make sure the plastic shock covers (the ones that protect the shock in dirty or wet conditions) is pushed well onto it's mount, mine slipped down, caught the edge of the shock and shattered. Poor design IMHO. After arguing with KW, they sent me another set of covers on warranty, but I will need to nuke the alignment to put them in ..

If you can do the suspension you certainly can do the clutch job -- tackle that too!

Cheers,

Mike

 

Enso,

I looked at PSS10s, got a quote, and took the quote to a KW supplier and they provided me with a lower price. I'm in Germany and both KW and Bilstein are available for a steep discount compared to import-US prices. I also talked to some local autocross guys who all ran KW V3s and the V3s are rebound and damper adjustable while PSS10s are only only damper adjustable (someone correct me if I'm wrong about the Bilsteins).

Honestly, the features of these coilovers are above my driving ability, but I wanted a setup that I could stick with and not want to upgrade a second time if I decide to track the car more.

 

Mike,

Thanks, I'll watch out for the covers. I would like to do the clutch job myself too, but I'm a mechanic novice and will do this in baby steps. My wrench is a Porsche pro and he is letting me work with him on the clutch. Though it would be easier if I spoke Bavarian, he has a crazy accent...

 

Thanks for the tip Aaron
Subscribed

glenn

 

I would say the only downside of the KW's is that one of the adjustments is from the top of the shock - Ok from the trunk, but a bit of a pain in the rear. Once you have them setup you are not going to fiddle with them that much anyways .....

 

That's the plan, though I do have a card for four rounds at the Nurburgring to use before I go back to the States next year. I'd appreciate setting recommendations for street vs track, or lessons in general about suspension setup (I'll still have stock sway bars + 17" Cup IIs).

 

Time for an update:

Sachs Lightweight Clutch + Flywheel installation went pretty smoothly. I was due for an oil change so that was an added benefit. My mechanic dropped the engine and transmission, pulled the old clutch, and black dust rained down when it came out.

It was fun watching my mechanic work, he’s been wrenching on these cars since they were new, and he has everything memorized. One day he pulled out an old photo album and showed me a photo of him in the 2.7RS he used to own! He told me that he heard that they are now quite valuable



Nice way to change oil without spilling



Sneak peak before the clutch came out, full of clutch dust


Out with the old



In with the new


Had the transmission taken off and cleaned, it was covered in salt from two years ago when I picked up the car in February from Bremerhaven. The Germans salt the roads to unbelievable levels over here.



All clean

Once she was put together, I drove the car straight from his garage to my parking garage, where I began work on the suspension. Big shout out to my parking garage neighbors for being cool with me working on my car there every weekend! I met some nice Germans and had some fun car talks with curious people.



My "shop"

My old suspension was definitely on its last legs:





And while I was at it I put Walrod bushings in my A Arms, the shop wouldn't trust me with the torch:





Project notes:
Jackals Racetrack has a great writeup on installing KW V3s:

http://www.jackals-forge.com/lotus/9...uspension.html

Some things I would add to his writeup:

-->The hardware clips on the front suspension for sensor wires can be a PITA to transfer to the new struts. There is a small plastic shaft that runs through the plastic connectors, use a small screwdriver to pry the small shaft up (towards you, away from the strut) and that allows the plastic connectors to compress and pop out. I didn’t realize this at first and had to epoxy a clip back together after I broke it.

--> When you cut through the brake line holder on the front strut, a triangle shaped file + a hacksaw blade made a good team. After the initial cut, the file + a hammer bent the metal out enough to pull the brake line out of the connector.

--> Migrating the top mounts from the old suspension to the new struts was a pain. The bolts get rusted on, soaking overnight in WD-40 and using a spring compressor was necessary. Jackal’s tip with the 21mm spark plug socket and 7mm Allen key was very useful.

--> When punching out old bushings on the A Arms, cut through the steel sleeve of the old bushing in at least two locations before hammering. Removing the old nasty rubber from the metal top hats was a breeze with a lathe and some sand paper.

--> I did the whole project with a small set of tools, in fact all of the tools fit in the frunk of the car while I wasn’t working on it. Try that with a Ferrari! One of my most used tools was a hockey puck + a steel hammer. Really helped getting the A Arms and stuck suspension bits in and out and fit better than a rubber mallet. Box wrenches with a deep offset were also helpful. Three different torque wrench sizes were also needed.

Now I just need to do my ride height and alignment, I’m planning on doing ROW height. Anyone have a kinematic toe gauge to borrow/rent?

 

Did all that suspension work in a public parking garage?
Inspiring...

 

+1 Nice job

 

Aaron,
A few more weeks and we can go on a ride around the Fraenkische to check out your new setup.
Can't wait to take the car out myself.
Ed

 

Beggars can't be choosers and my neighbors seemed to be ok with it. I told my wife when we move to Seattle this year my one "must have" for the house is a garage.