Greek Guys' Garage Roadster Build #9509 (Nice shoutout on Insta about my build)

[mosh1999]

I just started reading and it looks like a quality build. I see you are using the double adjustable shocks, don't they use the upper rear mounting hole?

[JohnK]

I just started reading and it looks like a quality build. I see you are using the double adjustable shocks, don't they use the upper rear mounting hole?

Well... yes, they do. I'm blaming the FFR instructions. The manual does have a mention of mounting the silver double-adjustable shocks in the top hole but the supplemental Koni IRS instructions available on the instructions page make no mention. I must have been relying on the supplemental instructions as taking precedence over the manual. In any case, thanks for catching that (after I spent a couple of hours tweaking ride height yesterday ). Anyway, they're in the top holes now, and I've gotten really good at adjusting ride height.

Since I had the wheels off, I decided to install the spinners. Big thanks to SJDave for his beautifully machined spinner hub locks. These things are brilliantly over engineered. They have three pointy-tipped set screws that tighten into the wheel, and another three flat-tipped set screws that tighten against the spinner hub to lock it in place.



Installation is very easy. You put the spinner hub in place and then the lock ring and tighten down all the set screws with a little dab of blue loctite on each one, and you're good to go.





One more thing checked off the to-do list.

[compuatic]

John, Which DMV did you go to?

[JohnK]

I went to the Los Gatos DMV. It's the closest to me, and according to other builders this DMV has done a lot of SB100 registrations and was supposed to be more familiar with the process than other DMV's in the area. I don't know if they've had turnover recently or if I just got unlucky but everyone I spoke with, from desk clerks to managers, didn't know the process well at all.

[compuatic]

Thanks. I've been dealing with Los Gatos as well and am dealing with several issues. People are trying to be helpful but unfortunately don't have the knowledge to do so.

[JohnK]

We had a few sunny days last week before the rain came back, so I've had a chance to take the car out for a few short drives now. I've been mainly focusing on getting ride height dialed in before I take it in for alignment on Friday, but I had a chance to get a few other items sorted out as well. First off, after heat cycling the engine a few times, I re-torqued the header bolts and installed the locks on the Stage8 fasteners.

One item I've noticed in this short time I've been driving it is that the pipes are starting to sag a bit. When I was installing them I was worried that this might happen. Even when I tightened down the collars on the ball flanges as much as I dared, the pipes could still be moved fairly easily by hand. Sure enough, after a few drives they had definitely shifted from where I had set them. I remembered that Dark Water Customs made an exhaust hanger to support older j-pipe/catalytic converter setups that also had a ball flange. Their website indicates that they're not currently taking orders but I figured it couldn't hurt to send Chris an e-mail asking if he had any exhaust hangers sitting around that he wouldn't mind selling to me. He replied within a day and offered to build me a set. I wasn't sure how they would fit, as they weren't intended for the newer-style ball flange headers. I was hoping I could modify them in some way to get them to fit, so imagine my surprise when I discovered that they were almost a perfect bolt-on. I needed to replace one of the eye bolts on each side with a longer one from the local hardware store and adjust the angle of the brackets that bolt to the collectors, but other than that they fit right up and work perfectly! Now the header end of the pipes is far more stable. The back end of the pipes is still not as solid as I'd like. I think I may play around with heavy-duty replacement rubber isolators on the side pipe hangers under the floor to see if I can get the back end of the pipes to not droop, but this is a definite improvement already. Stay tuned for more...

[egchewy79]

I put some tension on the end of my pipes when putting on my under-car hangers, just to make sure there was some tension on the rubber isolater, when drilling the bolt location.

[Ted G]

Hey John,

Take a look at FMan's post regarding sagging pipes. I think he also added a strip of aluminum to this. I think this will help you out as well:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...l=1#post454638

Ted

[Jeff Kleiner]

Well done John! You might consider adding a bolt or stop to prevent the "U" portion of the upper hanger from moving. I've gotten some cars in with Darkwater hangers which have a similar upper loop and on at least one of them it was able to slide down (forward) on the angled square tube which released the tension and let the pipe droop.

For anyone else who is considering adding a front hanger I've made similar ones that attach just a little differently:





Jeff

[JohnK]

Thanks so much Jeff! Adding a stop to that upper U bracket to keep it from sliding is a great idea. Much appreciated.

Ted - yes, I saw Travis' mod and he also PM'ed me yesterday. That's definitely a good option to consider.

egchewy - I actually did that, but apparently not enough. Those hangers are just too stretchy to be effective, IMO.

What I'm considering at the moment are these exhaust hangers. The cutaway view shows a stainless steel band around the perimeter of the hanger, which would prevent them from stretching while still allowing the hanger to provide some vibration isolation. I haven't checked the dimensions of this hanger vs. what I currently have so I'll need to confirm that they'll fit but for $10/ea they seem like they're worth a try.

61446Rm4uBL._AC_SL1500_.jpg

[JohnK]

I went to the DMV today to get my SB100 sequence number. I need the certificate from Sacramento in order to schedule an appointment with the BAR referee station for the smog check. After waiting for an hour and a half, I had the pleasure of speaking with a lady that knew nothing about SB100 and frankly couldn't be bothered to help me. After another 30 minute wait while her manager called Sacramento, I was told I need a brake and light inspection before they'll issue me a sequence number. I explained to her politely that I've never heard of this requirement to get a sequence number. B&L comes later in the process. She was unmoved and insistent that "this is what Sacramento said." And that was that. There goes two useless hours of my life I won't get back.

I'm now 2 for 2 on taking the car out and getting caught in unexpected rain showers. At least I know the wipers work well now.

On a positive note, I did get the car aligned today. Here's the before and after specs that demonstrate pretty clearly that I have no future as an alignment guy. This explains why the car felt so squirrelly before. Even in just the short drive home (that I got rained on) I could feel a massive difference in how stable the car felt. I can't wait to get it back out for a proper drive. In addition to aligning the car, the shop re-set ride height with my driver weight accounted for (and a half full tank of gas). Here are the specs I requested:

Ride height (with 170# driver weight):
Front: 3-3/4"
Rear: 4-1/8"

Front alignment:
Camber: -0.75*
Caster: 7* - 8*
Toe in: 3/32" total

Rear alignment:
Camber: -0.5*
Toe in: 1/16" total

[Jeff Kleiner]

Perfect numbers John!

Jeff

[compuatic]

John, where did you go for alignment?

[JohnK]

I went to BR Racing in Los Gatos. Definitely not the cheapest for this sort of work, but very knowledgeable. They do a lot of tuning and race prep for all the exotics and European cars around here (tons of Porsche work) and they also do all the alignment work for Panavia so they have a lot of experience with cobra replicas of all sorts as well as GT40's and other cool stuff. They also run their own race team. Bruce is the guy you want to talk to there.

[JohnK]

I've been making some good progress on the CA SB100 process over the last several days. Thanks to Daniel's (facultyofmusic) recommendation for a shop that will do a brake and lamp inspection on a kit car, and another visit to my good friends at the DMV, I now have a SPCNS sequence number. In case anyone is wondering, I'm #74 out of 500 for the year so I'm guessing there's no risk of them running out of sequence numbers this year.

In between all of that, I've been chipping away at other to-do items and taking the car out for progressively longer and more spirited drives. I still need to properly bed in the brakes and set front/rear bias so I'm still being a bit careful.

One item I'm happy to have wrapped up is the exhaust system mods to get rid of the saggy pipes. In a previous post I showed the DWC exhaust hangers on the headers. These really helped stabilize the ball flange on the headers, but the pipes were still drooping at the ends. After experimenting with a few different approaches I think I've come across a solution that will work very well. I picked up some heavy duty stainless steel cable ties and a tensioning and cutting tool from Amazon, and wrapped each of four rubber isolators.



Here's the front rubber isolator on the DWC exhaust hanger:



Here's the rear rubber isolator with the cable tie reinforcement.



Now all the rubber isolators still provide vibration absorption and allow some play, but they have no stretch so the pipes are more constrained in their ability to flex vertically. I'm calling this one done!

Some good friends of ours sent me a very thoughtful gift recently, and they will come in very "handy" (sorry) on those chilly morning drives in the Santa Cruz mountains. What does everyone need in the glovebox of their classic British-styled roadster? Why, a pair of Dents leather driving gloves. These are even touchscreen friendly. That's pretty much all that will fit in this glovebox anyway.

[Ted G]

I like the isolator tips and may use this. Also, love the gloves!!!

[compuatic]

looking great John!

[JohnK]

Got this nice little shoutout tonight from the wonderful folks at BR Racing in Los Gatos, who did my ride height setup and alignment the other day. They've seen a ton of cobra replicas come through the shop, so this means a lot.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CsUv5JRhPo1/

[toadster]

wow John that's awesome - such cool pics too!

[460.465USMC]

Well deserved, John. You set the bar really high on your build. It's been so much fun (and so much help to me!) to see it come together these last couple of years. I'm a bit jealous of the shop: they got to see it up close and in person.