Blaze's 86 SVt Vic (The on-going project)

[Blaze86Vic]

And a few more.

[gabegt90]

nics pics johnnie what size brake line did you use?

[Blaze86Vic]

Unknown. My roommate replaced his stainless lines because he is planning to do the rear disc conversion on his CRX. I got his old stainless fronts (which amazingly did not require any adapters or mods to fit right onto the Vic).

[interceptor1985]

Unknown. My roommate replaced his stainless lines because he is planning to do the rear disc conversion on his CRX. I got his old stainless fronts (which amazingly did not require any adapters or mods to fit right onto the Vic).

thank you for that tid bit of info
what year CRX? and woould these parts fit on a whale?

[Nathan in MI]

Unknown. My roommate replaced his stainless lines because he is planning to do the rear disc conversion on his CRX. I got his old stainless fronts (which amazingly did not require any adapters or mods to fit right onto the Vic).

Sounds like a valuable piece of info you stumbled upon, there!

Anyway, it looks good. When's the writeup coming?

[P72Ford]

Wow. Thats fucking sweet.

[Blaze86Vic]

thank you for that tid bit of info
what year CRX? and woould these parts fit on a whale?

Those lines were not original, nor stock, so don't take that info and use it in the wrong place. I just got really lucky.

[interceptor1985]

AAAH OK

too bad you didn't have the box laying around some place

[85crownHPP]

spooge!!!!!

oh, and I was talking about the other you-know-whats

[mrltd]

Man that looks good. Really good.

However, the brakes hoses look illegal for use on the road. They don't look like they have the plastic sleeve to keep dirt from getting under the stainless mesh and destroying the rubber....

They do make hoses for the newer panthers. If I ever get everything else done I'd like to pick up a set!

[Blaze86Vic]

They were free, and stood up well for over 5 years on the CRX, so I don't mind too much. Actually, he just bought a set with the rubber surround, and I think I'm going to use the same guy. He got all 4 for the CRX for $50!

Well, I finished my alignment as much as I can. I need turn plates to accurately measure my caster, but I have setup now -0.15 degrees of Toe In, and -1 degree of Camber. With this setup it's possible to adjust camber from 0 to -4 degrees +. (My alignment rig maxes out at +/- 4 degrees.) Very happy with this, too bad I can't afford to track the Vic anymore.

[mrltd]

Nice deal on the hoses, Might have to have you get a few sets.

While you are doing this, you should check the bumpsteer. I'm thinking it's pretty bad. I'm also wondering about the camber curve of this setup. I've got lotsa caster and -2.0 camber and it still won't wear the inside inch or so of the front tires while racing. And in the pics of the car, you can see the inside tire pulling the outside edge off the ground....

[Blaze86Vic]

The problem you are encountering is caused by the body roll. Because of large distance between the lower and upper control arm mounting points, roll in the chassis results in the upper control arm being pushed out (more positive camber). This a big problem on the autocross course because you are braking hard while turning, this renders almost all of your anti-sway resistance in the rear useless. So all the anti-sway work is done by the front bar which is obviously not enough for a car of your weight. That and the fact that your car is higher than mine in ride height and CG (because your roof is higher).

However, this setup can actually increase your camber gain the more camber you adjust into it. The camber adjustment in the upper ball joint has a secondary effect of shortening the upper control arm. This increases the rate of camber change. Whether this is good or not depends on whether the control arm has a downward or upward angle (up being good, and up being higher at the ball joint end). But in all reality, your body roll will cancel all of this in a heartbeat.

It's not so much of a problem for me since most of my turning in closer to steady state, and I'm lower. I actually wore the Hoosiers pretty even with a little under -1 degree of camber.

[gadget73]

So whats your conclusion on the swap, not really any more work than a stock rebuild? I know you did a stock overhaul at some point. Also, how do you like the braking now vs before?

I did all the same stuff on mine, but I was going from very dead front suspension parts to all new, so it made a huge difference. I also did a pitman arm, a steering box, and an idler arm with the swap. Took a long time, but if I'd had all the parts prepped and ready before hand it wouldn't have been as bad. If I ever do another one, that'll be what I do instead of doing the bushing replacement after dissassebly.

[Blaze86Vic]

Aside from the alignment being off, and having to bleed the brakes it's no different from a stock rebuild.

Suspension Feel Comparison:
I had police uppers before, and ones that were properly adjusted, so I am going from solid upper mount/ rubber lower mount to a full poly mount setup. And amazingly it's got softer. So for comfort, poly is better than police uppers, but for improving road feel the police uppers are the only way (too bad you can't replace them, but if adjusted and greased regularly they will last you way over 300,000 miles as mine did.) Though I feel less of the road now, what I do feel has a distinctly firm and consistent feel, so it's not like a complete loss of road feel. It's a good balance that's for sure.

Braking:
My previous setup had stock rotors with Hawk HP+ pads, where my new setup has drilled /slotted rotors (purely for looks) and Hawk HPS pads. HP+ is track/street pad, where HPS is a performance street pad. I know this may shock some of you, but the car stopped better before. The brakes are working fine, and the car doesn't have a problem at all stopping, but purely on a comparison to my previous setup, it used to stop better. This doesn't mean that the brake upgrade isn't worth it. The brakes are larger, and therefore have more cooling. So low end brake pads will do better on them than the stock rotor because of the extra leverage from the diameter, and especially in heavy use. However, if you want to feel what it's like to have brakes, and mean BRAKES, go buy a set of HP+ pads for an 86-93 Mustang GT. HP+ pads, not only work better the warmer they get, but they work way better than HPS pads (even on much larger brakes). Brake pads are the biggest upgrade you could ever do. In a race application, bigger brakes is like finding gold, you can never get enough. In a race application, I could over heat the HP+ pads within 15-20 minutes. Again I could purchase even better brake pads that would deal with even this heat level, but I likely would not have to now (which saves money). On the street with our cars, it's unlikely that you will over heat them, unless you drag the brakes all the way down Mt. Everest. The HP+ pads are about as extreme a pad as you would want to get for a street car though, the hotter race pads tend to lose their bite when cold, and do not start working till warmed up.

I am not surprised by this result though, as I knew how much of a gain I got going from Motorcraft police pads to race pads, and am very glad that I have completed the brake upgrade. I can change brake pads by removing one bolt on the caliper, pivoting it out of the way, replace pads, and drop it back in place. I can change my rotors without having to redo my wheel bearings (I like not having to deal with grease when I'm working on my brakes, it's not a good combination). And adjusting the suspension alignment is 10 times easier.