A bit of an update here.
Opted for yet another suspension upgrade and back to the familiar now AST workshop up in Gloucester. This time to get the AST top mounts, shorter hoses and softer springs at the front and digressive pistons.
You see, my initial request was for shorter hoses at the front and longer at the rear, however a wire crossing moment occurred and Curtis did it the other way around. I didn't have an issue with the rears but the fronts - and given how small our engine bay is - was a pain to tidy up. The thing is that you can not simply replace the hoses as such, you have to dissemble the whole shock, put it back together and of course, dyno it. Since the labour would be covered by AST it would be rude not to drop a pair of digressive pistons in and of course get the mounts as well at a shockingly good (trade) price. Win.
Spending time in the workshop (literally the whole day) I realised why these kind of shocks are expensive, how long it takes to get it right and that
since companies do not provide dyno plots for every single shock you buy there is NO way the items perform the same. Simply no way. Even after using the exact same high precision shimstacks, oil quantities and nitrogen pressures there were still some differences in between the shocks. Only after fiddling and actually matching them on the dyno the shocks were absolutely bang on.
Also I was glad to find out that the top mounts add positive caster by adding negative camber which is a bonus. Springs used were Eibach 70N/mm which replaced the 80N/mm I had before. I preferred this as I can always play around with the compression should I wish to, obviously that was within the valving range which in fact is now wider with the use of such pistons (not that I'll be changing springs every day...). Geo was then done in the traditional way and found my way back to London. Immediately I felt the front more compliant with the softer springs and on the motorway the car is day and night, less high speed damping you see due to pistons' design
I can't wait to test the car in Anglesea and ride some kerbs! I lost a slight bit of the initial turn in sharpness but the shocks were in full soft and I also didn't fit the front strut bar. Not something the up coming bearing conversion will not resolve
Canisters also relocated, a pair of silicon hoses bought from ebay just to protect them from the engine bay temps and a couple of holes on the scuttle to run the hoses through. Few cable ties and a velcro strap, 2 AST stickers on the hoses to show off the brand and job is a good un. Happy days
Enough of the talks, some pics then.
AST 5200 with digressive pistons Eibach 70N/mm springs by
YiannisR27, on Flickr
AST 5200 with digressive pistons Eibach 70N/mm springs by
YiannisR27, on Flickr
AST 5200 with digressive pistons Eibach 70N/mm springs by
YiannisR27, on Flickr
AST 5200 with digressive pistons Eibach 70N/mm springs by
YiannisR27, on Flickr
dyno_graph by
YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC07500 by
YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC07502 by
YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC07505 by
YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC07508 by
YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC07512 by
YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC07513 by
YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC07516 by
YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC07517 by
YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC07518 by
YiannisR27, on Flickr
Also, a bit of a progress with the dash pod. The spare one I got from ebay has been cut, modified, fiber glassed and it's reasy to be covered in alcantara and then accommodate the gauges!
DSC07520 by
YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC07521 by
YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC07522 by
YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC07523 by
YiannisR27, on Flickr
Thanks