Introducing . . . Porky

In reply to Warriormotorsports18 :

Mike? If so, we spoke around December or January, when I thought I’d spend another month on a little spit and polish. Meanwhile, everywhere I look, there’s more stuff to do. I inadvertently glanced at the shocks, so now those have to come out. Top and bottom rubber bushings have petrified, and aren’t holding the shock in place. Both sides. 

Maybe it’s like a superpower; I look at car parts, and they turn to crap. 

Hi ,No but Mike is a nice guy ,I took those pics at his shop in 2018 ,I was looking for somebody across the lot and spied the racecars and Mike working on an old corvette and got a small tour of his collection and actually bought the old steering wheel from your car .I wanted to buy the car and bring it back to Eastern Canada  but was cost prohibitive.Good luck on the project.

Scott

In reply to Warriormotorsports18 :

Hi Scott, 

if you could post a photo of the steering wheel, I’d appreciate it. What did you use it on? 

Hi ,Its going on a 84 red devil f440.I spied it hanging on his wall in the collection of lotus posters and other stuff   and he said it was off that car .

Thanks! That’s great, because it’s going to be replaced by this: 

A friend of mine generously gave it to me. Ironically, it’s off his Lotus Europa. 

Also, this:

I remembered that I have a bunch of urethane bushings laying around. Tried one. They’re a perfect fit in the bottom eye of the Konis, up front. The rubber ones they’re replacing were turning to dust. I guess it’s what happens, when you subject little pieces of charcoal to shock loads. 

And in addition, this shock felt pretty good. 

Baby steps. 

This one felt worn out. No resistance in the first 7/8” or so of compression. 

Ikon: “Please note: We do not service Koni Automotive products and we cannot service Koni 76-series shock absorbers due to lack of parts availability.” 

(Edit: Removed negative, and apparently very untrue comment regarding Koni.)

I was hoping to rebuild these myself, but they’re gas shocks, and when you factor in the lack of parts availability, I think I’m better off buying new. 

Many of your thanks for this theme, will follow up with great interest in this theme

Would seem you may have a canoe-theme going in your thread here.

Bummer about the bad shock and lack of service options.  All the cool kids are ordering GAZ units from the UK right now...

Will Truechoice service these? They did a bunch of Konis for me a few years ago. Formula 5000, McLaren M8F Can-Am, and Lotus Elan rear strut insert.

Thanks for the contact. 

I started a conversation with Performance Shock, in Sonoma, this morning, and also received an email from someone at Koni. 

The age of these units is perfect for the car, and the part of me that likes a challenge wants to see them fixed and back in place. 

The part of me that likes tweaking stuff wants units that are individually adjustable for jounce and rebound. 

Back when I decided on Aldan Eagles for the TVR, GAZ were coming of a streak of selling Golds that were prone to failure. It’ll be interesting to know who can do a decent product at a price that isn’t ridiculous.  From memory, Adrian Venn used to swear by Ledas. 

I don't know enough about damper internals to know what parts need to be replaced when serviced, but I do know a bit about hydraulics.  A friend owns a hydraulics business and was mentioning that one of his companies (Parker-Dayco?) can now offer any size & profile o-ring/seal on demand, just give them the specs & material choice. 

Round, square, reinforced, whatever.  So if those are the sorts of components that are NLA, it might be worth reaching out. Send me a PM if you'd like his info.

I reached Lee Grimes, at Koni, via phone this morning. He was generous beyond measure, with his time and with his knowledge, not to mention his patience. 

Considering that we’re talking abut items that his firm manufactured 43 years ago, that’s shocking (sorry about the bad pun). He explained where these units fell within the product line (lower end), and the fact that they’re not gas filled, but standard twin-tube. They are rebound adjustable, but not compression. 

Lee also mentioned that Koni may be able to assist with basic parts, like o-rings, but that the seals would likely not be something I could find replacements for. He offered to provide information regarding the volume and type of fluid I should use, as well. 

In all, my experience with Lee Grimes and Koni is fantastic. Lee, if you or your coworker read this, I want to reiterate my heart felt thanks! 

Decided that the urethane bushings will allow for too much deflection, for which there’s not enough clearance, so: PTFE impregnated Delrin. 

Also, I finally found bump stops. Too bad that Energy Suspension’s website is such a E36 M3 show. 

Some modification required. Although it should go without saying.

Or I could try to jam these 2” OD bump stops inside my 1-7/8” ID springs. 

PTFE impregnated Delrin. 

Looks good.  With the right fit, those should be spot on.

Polytetrafluoroethylene impregnated Delrin bushings making their way into the shock absorber eyes. A light press fit. YAY! 

I just found out, that the SCCA number stamped cages, when they first issued logbooks. I didn't get a logbook, when I picked up the little Porker, and only hit resistance, since then.  So of course, I ran outside like a nut job, and lit the cage tubes with my cellphone flashlight until I found it. (WOOOOberkeleyINGHOOOOO!!!!) I'm under the impression, that the first numbers are suppossed to be the SCCA region code, but was expecting to see a number in a different format. The post said XXX-XXXX, whereas mine is XX XXXX. 

From what I read, if I can identify the region, the Chief of Tech can review their records to get initial logbook info.

I don't know if that's an avenue to getting a logbook, but DAMN, it feels a hell of a lot better than where I was with it. 

If any of you have any experience, with this kind of thing, PLEASE chime in! I'd really appreciate the help. 

In reply to Slow_M :

Many regions have 2 digit IDs. When I stamped cages at tech the first year they were issued we (NNJR) did 023-XXXX. So when you approach National use 019-XXXX because someone was preserving their "0" stamp. OK, lazy. Note that many log books were issued at the track by people in a hurry.

In reply to TurnerX19 :

Bill, thanks a lot! I’m pretty excited to find out what region 019 is, and try to get in touch with the Chief of Tech! 

Do you know if they reissue logbooks? 

Edit: 

This matches what I thought I knew about the car!

Talk to the regional chief of tech in the region you belong to. I expect he will issue you a new one. He also may want to examine the car.

In reply to TurnerX19 : 

Thanks again. Yeah, I started calling the number for CalClub at 8:00AM. They’re going to be sick of me pretty quickly. 

Clecos would sure be handy, right about now. I’m preparing to rivet a new floor panel into place. The original is being used as a template for hole placement. The original will probably return as the upper floor panel, that provides a flat surface for heels. As it is, the various pieces of structure would have the driver do a step dance routine (see previous photos), to move their feet around, and I’m a lousy dancer. 

And riveted in place.  

I’m pretty happy with the level of work I did on this repair, but very happy, when I compare it to what came out. 

Happy Christmas, from Porky, the red-nose race car. 

Or, if you prefer, . . . 

BSA’s to the right of me, Kawasaki’s to the left, here I am, stuck in the middle at Yule.