Some Restorative Work

[The Rovering Member]

Well my suspension has been refreshed & a few other tasks have been attended to. A set of factory springs were sourced, brown/green for the front which matched what was replaced & violet/white for the rear which replaced red/white items (both broken). I think my car may have left the factory with pink rears but it seems to be the case that there is barely any difference in the Saloon rear springs despite the colour codes. A new pair of upper rear arms are holding the springs up, the old ones turned out to be extremely corroded on the upper sides under the springs though looked fine from the bottom. New drop links were fitted front & rear & new Monroe shocks were fitted all round along with new bump stops, dust covers & rear top mounts. The front top joints were replaced earlier this year. The front wishbone bushes were also replaced.
Under the bonnet the collapsed hydramount was replaced along with the top & bottom engine mounts. I had two bottom mounts, one quite a bit harder than the other so the softer one was used this time. An occasional power delivery issue turned out to be a duff cam sensor.
My ABS issue turned out to be the rear hubs & luckily amongst the parts l recently bought from Steve (Arctic) were a new pair of cast hubs, so that sorted that problem. Both backplates are still serviceable. The car was also tracked up.

Kevin in Wickford did all the work & he said she fought him every inch of the way. Amongst the seized nuts & bolts were the rear arm pivot bolts (l had bought new ones) & a front hub bolt snapped & had to be drilled out. All in all it took him around twelve hours to get through the work.

I will say that the ride is quite firm, still compliant but firm. Obviously everything is new & l don't know how the cars rode straight from the factory but l'm wondering if the Monroe's are a bit firmer than the factory shocks, despite all being listed for the 1.8 75. The car definitely feels more planted though & takes bends with hardly any discernable roll whatever. The engine mounts have made for a smoother take up of power too, as you might expect.
A few weeks ago l had my spare wheels fitted with secondhand tyres at the tyre shop behind Kevin's workshop. 225/55/16's, a pair of Michelin all seasons & two winter tyres, another Michelin & a Hankook. Hardly any wear on any of them, one even has the remains of the manufacturer's sticker on the tread. I changed the wheels over yesterday, the all seasons on the front. I was wondering if they would change the ride but if they have l haven't noticed as yet. I must say, they fill the arches much better than the 215's & the speedo reading is 2/3mph more accurate too, compared to the Google Maps reading.
I haven't been out on the motorways with them yet, l'm looking forward to it.

[tourer]

I didn't realise you could mix winter and all-season tyres.

[The Rovering Member]

As far as l know it's not unknown to just put winter tyres on the driving wheels in harsher climates though it doesn't seem to be recommended for actual winter driving by the tyre companies.
I'll see how they perform before winter hits.

[Arctic]

Hi Gary.
Lots of nice good maintenance work carried out, sounds like Kevin did well all that work carried out in 12hrs including a snapped front hub bolt, also nice to hear the bearings came in handy after all, so you were spot on when purchasing them.

What's next for you, maybe try and source some more winter tyres if you could or have four all season ones on the car.

[The Rovering Member]

Hi Steve. Yes my purchases from you were very handy & all used. Even the rear shocks which l sold on to Kevin for £40 which contributed to the bill & meant l paid half price for the top mounts compared to the online price. He actually used them on a following job too.
I would recommend Kevin highly, he knows the cars as well as anyone & gets stuck in. The final bill was £420 which equates to £35 per hour which is very reasonable these days.
Including all the parts the whole project came to around £1350.

I'm not too concerned about the tyres at present, they were very good value at £30 a corner including preparing the wheel properly, fitting & balancing. I may give them a call & have a decent pair of Winters fitted on another pair of wheels when they get some in but for the moment l'll keep my attention on roadholding & see how we go.

The next thing is to fit that door finisher l bought from you.

[The Rovering Member]

Actually most of Kevin's money came from some Rover P6 seats l sold a couple of weeks ago. They made £250 & then on Saturday l won £70 on the bingo at our local Trades hall.
A couple of nice little tickles just at the right time.

[The Rovering Member]

I've just driven to work in Watford via the M11 & M25. These tyres are very smooth-running & extremely quiet. Roadholding is very good too, in the dry at least. You easily notice the larger circumference of the 225's, the ride is just more relaxed & over a well known dip on the eastbound North Circular slip to the M11, the offside mudflap which used to scrape it now doesn't (it did with the new suspension too, though less so).
The whole exercise has been transformative but l think the larger tyres have really put the cherry on the cake. She's still firmer than l expected but what a ride.