Hi Paul,
What I great idea this post is, and an amazing and super useful resource, to have all that information and experience you have accumulated during you time with Kasandra is truly invaluable.
I have often gone back to your original blog to find info or help with specific jobs or problems, but of course with it being so huge, that can be time consuming in itself so this new "blog breakdown" is awesome.
May I ask a couple of questions Paul ? Firstly, this month I am hoping to get myself a set of BC coilovers, your car seems to sit at a perfect height to me, low enough without being impractical and in your fitting section you mention setting the rears at 45mm but I can't seem to find anywhere where you mention the front setting you settled on, can you remember what this was ?
Secondly, maybe something you haven't covered yet ? My Super S has a manual tilt slid sunroof ( not electric like yours I know ) but have you ever had need to maintain yours ( other than the drains of course ) mine tilts fine, but the sliding part can be a bit stiff, any recommendations for cleaning and lubing ?
Thanks again Paul for taking the time to document all this amazing info.
Steve
Hi Steve, Thx for ur compliments
indeed the blog diary is soo huge now after 9yrs of updates and finding specific info/pics is a mission itself, even with a half updated index page.
plus pointing ppl to my blog to look for kasandras current spec at shows is daunting.
I dream of one day being able to organise all the info and build a dedicated website for her, sorted into sections of engine, exhaust, intake, body, suspension, events, etc
since her spec is mostly complete & steady now, thought twas best to write a specific list of her configuration as seen so it's easier for ppl to understand.
abit like a manufactureres final spec list for any make model.
getting a set of adjustable coilovers properly setup for each unique car is a very important step to achieve the best compromise of performance vs comfort vs safety from them and it's the whole point of buying adjustables. asthetics is a secondary byproduct.
each car has a different weight, distribution, wheels, tyres, application, user preference so copying other ppls setup is only as a rough guide. tis upto the user to fine tune it.
as I wrote on my blog bout setup, I first configure the bumpstop point via front strut lower ring and rear damper lower screw (removed spring) so that nothing fouls the body or exhaust throughout the suspensions range of travel.
then I roughly set the front & rear upper preload rings (keep left/right rings equal) on a flat platform till all the arch gaps are close to target value (with 15" rota grids I preferably maintain a 100mm rim-arch gap).
then using my scales I fine tune the preload till all 4 scales are corner balanced and equal arch gap.
haven't logged what the current preload ring settings are cos nowadays I just turn the rings according to what the scales & balance program say but when I first began balancing, the rings settings with 4/3kg front/rear were:
93mm front (top of damper body - spring seat), 45mm rear (top of spring seat column - spring seat).
my sunroof was modded from the normal manual handle into an electric by fitting a sunroof motor unit from an almera.
the tilting mech doesn't have much friction but when you wanna slide the glass back, this requires sliding a pair of long bristled cables plus the whole glass sliding rails. both have high friction, especially when the grease dries (very likely since sunroofs are rarely slid open).
only remedy is to disassemble the sunroof assembly and overhaul/regrease the sliding rails/bristles
https://www.micra.org.uk/threads/pollymobiles-rebuild.35251/page-5#post-398750