Charlie Brown's NC

[Charlie Brown]

Well I got the rear Tein’s and stock sway bar fitted on Saturday morning, set them on the 3rd softest setting, similar to the fronts, keeping in mind that they have the Jap Spec valving, and went for a quick spin around the block. The car felt completely different. Well planted on the road, not to jiggery but still a lot firmer than the stock shocks and Kings.

Back at home I decided that rather than having to pull the boot trim out in a weeks time for Eastern Creek, I’d save a bit of time and set the rears on 8 (ie half full) and drive with it that way for the week.

A big mistake. A setting of 8 on the Princes Hwy’s aging cracked concrete roads at Kogarah / Carlton resulted in my kidneys feeling like they were being pummelled by Mike Tyson. I’m sure if it was set on 16 that my balls would have explode out the top of my head.

No way could I drive with it for a week to and from work. So out with the rear trim which was easier than I thought as I could get to the shocks with just the centre trim removed and I backed it off to the lowest setting. The ride at this setting is still firm but fine for day to day driving. The front is still set on 3 so I’ll back that down tonight and see how it feels there.

Time will tell if I need to send them of for revalving to Aussie spec.

Height wise the rears are the same as what I had but the fronts are down, so I'll need to do some adjusting over the next week to bring it up to my desired height.

[greenMachine]

CB, when I put the PSS9s on my NB8A I also did a little weight reduction program ... not sure about the NC, but I tinsnipped some of the boot trim to enable me to get at the adjusters. No way was I going to have adjustables that I couldn't adjust every time I wanted to do a bit of 'mountain driving'.

You might also think about the possiblity of fitting 'extenders' to the adjustables (I am assuming they are similar to the PSS9 - knobs on top) if that is not an option.

[bruce]

my balls would have explode out the top of my head.

That would be messy.

[Charlie Brown]

Tein Flex’s

Well the Jap spec valving got to me. I figured that there was no way that I could do the run to McLaren Vale Natmeet and the return sight seeing trip (total around 4,000 kilometres) with the shocks as hard as they were so I sent them off to Fulcrum for a revalve.

The revalve turned into a revalve and rebuild, I still can’t fathom why I needed a rebuild as they didn’t have very many K’s on them in the first place, seemed like double $$ dipping to me. Anyway they are now brand spanking new.

I’ve gotten pretty good at removing and replacing the shocks. 2½ hours from starting from scratch to finish. I’ve posted a “how to do it” in the Technical Section for those wanting to remove and fit any type of shock, spring system to an NC.

The Tein’s have been back in almost a week and the revalve certainly improved the ride over the previous valving. It’s still very firm with 7kg front & 5kg rear springs and only time will tell if I keep those spring rates or drop it down a kg or two.

I spoke with Fulcrum about what was the best setting for the dampers and was told #8, which is the mid point of the settings. This is what Chris indicated he uses on the track and I’ve found that setting's a bit hard for Sydney streets.
I’m going to start the run to McLaren Vale on 6F, 4R and see how that goes. If it turns out a bit hard for our outback roads I’ll change it at our first stop as it only takes a few minutes. I'm sure that when I have Mrs CB in the car for the return trip that they will need to be dropped a click or two for a more comfortable ride.

[sliq]

yeah, it sounds pretty duplicitous that you got a rebuild and a revalve

if you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost for the revalve?

did you also have your springs changed on the teins as well?

[broady]

yeah, it sounds pretty duplicitous that you got a rebuild and a revalve

if you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost for the revalve?

did you also have your springs changed on the teins as well?

I would also like to know - if you could PM me a ballpark figure please CB!!

[Charlie Brown]

yeah, it sounds pretty duplicitous that you got a rebuild and a revalve

if you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost for the revalve?

did you also have your springs changed on the teins as well?

Revalve is $150 per shock.

The springs are the same, 7kg front and 5kg rear.

[broady]

And rebuild?

[sliq]

cheers charlie brown

[CoffeeBoss]

And rebuild?

PM if you prefer.

Did Fulcrum offer the Japanese-spec valving as a replacement, or do you have to revalve to the AUDM spec?

[MINX]

CB testing the suspension on the soft stuff!

[track_addict]

Just read the whole thread. Hats off to you Mr. Brown! Love it! I like how you seem to take time and care in picking what has to go on the car next. Keen to see how the car progress's!

Ash.

[broady]

And rebuild?

PM if you prefer.

Did Fulcrum offer the Japanese-spec valving as a replacement, or do you have to revalve to the AUDM spec?

Thanks Matt, I got the reply back via PM from the other CB ;)

Are you rebuilding your Teins soon?

[CoffeeBoss]

Cool shot, MINX.

Aldinga beach?

[Charlie Brown]

Back from Natmeet. We had a blast. Over 5,000 kilometres travelled and 499 photos taken.

Many thanks to the SA Club for the wonderful job they did.

Here’s a couple of shots “On the Beach”

A trio of Galaxy Greys To bad I couldn't get the woman to move in the background.



And not to be left out, a Winning blue.






I had a great time on the Willungah Hillclimb which was far steeper than any of the photos or video’s I saw before arriving there.

Here a shot borrowed from Andrew’s (MX-5 SP) gallery, of the “straight” section of the track, which when looking at my in-car video (will post later), showed I was at 6,900rpm in 3rd or around 125kph.



I managed to set my FTD on the first run up the hill and this put me in 2nd place overall after the first run, behind the SA hillclimb champion in a SP. To say I was surprised was an understatement as it was only my second run up the hill, the first being a reccie the day before. Plenty of spots to make up time in the following runs, even with just the road tyres onboard, but poor gear changes and experimenting with hanging onto second gear and bouncing off the rev limiter put paid to that.

Over all I ended up winning the modified 1850 -2000 class and took out the most consistent trophy, so the newly installed Teins must have worked.