How does your car feel at speed.

[4jagsjohn]

Hello Fellows. Just a Question for you. I do drive my car fairly fast at times! On the way back the next day from our nice Snetterton meet I was driving for about 6 hours. Not actually physically tired but gets ones eyes suffer from more than anything I find. My question finally is towards the end of my journey I resorted to some motorway runs doing speeds of around 70 to 80 mph. At these speeds I get what I would describe as scuttle shake. It could of course be down to wheel imbalance or maybe my imitation brake drums need better balancing. Just wondered if any of you have had your own experiences in this area. Nice photos Roy thanks for posting. John.

[NATONEIL]

John

I have no shaking like that/ If I hit a bump I can get a high frequency steering shack for about 1/2 a second but nothing at higher speed. 1930 aerodynamics could cause all sorts of low frequency resonations. I would check your wheel balance first and ensure that your man has the balancing cones which will allow him to centre our types of wheels on his machine

[4jagsjohn]

Thanks Niel I'll go down that road first and get some good re - balancing done and test it out from there. John.

[RoyC]

I find that the ride gets slightly smoother above 70mph (that's with the screen down, as I dislike all the eddies and vortices you get with it up).

[4jagsjohn]

Thanks Roy not yet ventured out with screen down must have a go.Got the proper goggles etc. John.

[lowebird]

John,
I can't really comment on your problem as I rarely go above 60 m.p.h., we just don't have those sort of roads in deepest Norfolk however, the proper cones for the wheel balancing sounds a good place to start as does a simple check on bearing adjustment and tyre wear.
Do have a go at screen down driving, it's great but can be difficult to breath!!!!!.
As I have just returned from 2 weeks sitting in the sun, I am catching up so, anyone thought about or interested in that trip to the Laon Historic next year as per my 'mail ?

Reg

[4jagsjohn]

Thanks Reg your reply. My tyres are new this year but I think the problem may well be with the wheel balancing. I am going to purchase a set of cones etc and have my wheels rebalanced. Also I shall have my imitation brake drums professionally balanced by a company here that balances turbo charger rotors. When all this is done I shall put the screen down don the googles turn the cap around and go for the ton well maybe 90. Will look into the Laon trip it sounds good, maybe do it in my E- type as Kath would be a lot happier. Cheers John

[lowebird]

John,
Funny you should mention the Laon trip along with your e-type. I am currently looking into the purchase of an e-type. We are going to see a few in the coming days plus a visit to the NEC to see what's on offer. I think it will be an eye opener !!

Reg

[4jagsjohn]

Good luck Reg on your quest for an E -type they are a loverly machine. Take your time and be careful with your viewing there are still some visually nice but underlying poor ones out there. The model I have 1969 2+2 4.2 which I bought a couple of years ago when I was 34 is I think the best one for grand touring as they are built on the same longer wheelbase as the V12 coupe and roadster so the doors are longer and allow for much easier access, also there is much more luggage space. John.

[RoyC]

I've just had two new Blockleys fitted on the rear axle. At the same time, I had the fronts balanced. The tyres were visibly (on the machine) out of round, but the fitter managed to rotate the tyre on the wheel to help (along with re-balancing) to correct this.
Although I keep the tyres a few pounds over normal pressure when not in use, the fitter opined that the only way to avoid flat-spotting is to keep the car on stands (not possible in my narrow 1930s garage).

I've been running the pressures at 24 psi (front) & 28 psi (rear), but the fitter at MWS thought the front pressures should be higher. Of course, on our cars the tyre wall is a significant part of the suspension, so that is also dependent on how hard the suspension of an individual vehicle is.

Any thoughts / opinions on tyre pressures?

[NATONEIL]

Roy

Since destroying my front suspension bushes in 7000 miles I have been running my tyre pressures at the lower end of the spectrum like you 24 front and 28 rear.
Despite knowing there was a little damage caused by metal to metal contact when my first suspension bushes wore through I dressed up the worst of it, re-bushed the coilovers and drove the car again. When I changed the dampers this time I discovered that the damage to the bushes was significantly less and suspect it was the lower tyre pressure which had made things better. Apart from the tendency to wander if I run over cats eyes or over-banding I am very happy with the handling of my car. (I will be moving away from Blockleys at the next tyre change however)

[RoyC]

I've been able to use my car a bit more this summer, although, as I said before, I've kept to Roger's recommended tyre pressures of 24 & 28 psi. I pump them up to 30 & 35 psi when not in use (MWS recommend a maximum of 40 psi).
Today, as an experiment, I left them up while driving a couple of miles for petrol. The ride was noticeably smoother and I'm considering using 28 & 32 psi on a longer journey (100 miles to VSCC Mallory Park next Saturday).
Has anyone else tried higher pressures?


at VSCC Prescott last Sunday

[NATONEIL]

Roy
I have tried the higher and lower pressure I agree the ride is more stable with less squirming with the tyres at a higher pressure but I also know the coilover bushes are getting a kicking.
I will probably see you at Mallory

[Brunel100]

Roy
I’ve never thought of trying higher pressure to improve the ride. I assumed a lower pressure would allow the tyres to be more compliant and therefore soften the ride.
Two weeks ago I tried a different tack and replaced the front springs. I also ordered now polybushes as I assumed they would need changing. First surprise was that I don’t have polybushes. My bushes and rubber and steel bonded similar to what I would call Silentbloc. Next surprise was that the original springs supplied were 9” on Avo 8” shock absorbers. I’ve no idea why but my pal, a fellow Suffolk owner had exactly the same set up. The new springs are rated 135 lbs as opposed to 150 lbs of the originals. The ride is way better than before. Of course if track days were your thing then you may want to stay stiffer. It took me half a day to change over the springs at a cost of approx. £35.00 so I think it was well worth it.

[NATONEIL]

I think the bushes are what Suffolk started fitting after they discovered that the polybushes were wearing too quickly. By AVO 8" dampers I assume that is the length of the damper body? What is the number stamped on the body of the damper at the lower end?