Because I can or I have lost the plot

Outstanding Barry. I really admire that you’re not frightened to tackle these major projects on your car. 👍🏻

Those uprights look impressive.

Paul

OK Barry, simple test - can you tell us where the plot is?

Because if you can’t, well...

Very nice work, though. Looking at the castings, I take it you’re not going for FIA-style transverse leafs?

Some people are just too clever 🙂 ... uprights are the wrong shade of black though.

Posted by: Roger King

Very nice work, though. Looking at the castings, I take it you’re not going for FIA-style transverse leafs?

Yes Roger you are correct I am not going for the transverse leaf springs, this is because I feel that the gains to be made with double wishbones out way the authenticity aspect, as the car is not an aluminium body replica I see that ride and handling is more important at this time. I hope this dose not disappoint anyone as I like to think of my car as quite authentic.  

It certainly doesn’t disappoint me Barry. I’m just looking forward to seeing the end result.

What is the current rear suspension setup?

Paul

The current suspension is a modified Jag set up, and it was something you said in Italy Paul, made me realise that trying to make my car more original could be detrimental to the enjoyment factor.

Always happy to help Barry.  😉 

Paul

I'm curious as to what will make the new setup more comfortable Barry. Will it have more travel than the Jag setup?

Paul

I never had any particular issues with my Hawk's Jag rear setup - I did re-engineer it to outboard discs about 2 years after the car was first on the road, but that was purely for aesthetic reasons with wire wheels.  

I didn't have any travel issues with the Jag arrangement in either configuration, and I don't think Barry weighs any more than me...  Gladys isn't exactly big, either!

Authenticity carries a big price.  The transverse leaf arrangement was way out of date when it was new - read the comments in the recent Hugus book for contemporary opinions on that - so I think the Jag arrangement is far superior.  The leafspring parts are expensive and require very high levels of maintenance, which some modern-day owners may not be used to giving.  Barry's mods will no doubt improve on that as well, and it gives him something to fiddle with.  Just don't spoil it, Barry!

I will try to answer both in one go, yes I will have more suspension travel up to 6" where as the Jag set up only has 3" of movement (at the damper). My suspension crashed on full droop. Also (and this is pure engineering) I do not like the idea of all the suspension loads going through the diff bearings as well as the rotational forces. This mod will also allow me to mount the diff on metalistic bushes to eliminate diff wine and associated noises and vibrations, I know the last comment seems a bit strange for a noisy open top car but diff wine can become tiring on a long trip. And if you do the maths the Jag geometry is wrong for a high speed cornering car, it dosn't give enough camber change in bump so to compensate I needed to run a lot of camber, which wears out the tyres unevenly, it's was a compromise that I thought I could improve on. I am not using original wishbone lengths or piviot points, this will be all my own calculated geometry. I just hope I have got it correct! I think I have because I can generate 5 deg camber change in bump for 3" of wheel travel, by comparison Cheng's race car (standard Jag geo) only changes 3 deg for 4" of wheel travel, and he runs 1.5 deg camber on a short circuit race car.

Posted by: Barry Jones

I will try to answer both in one go, yes I will have more suspension travel up to 6" where as the Jag set up only has 3" of movement (at the damper). My suspension crashed on full droop. Also (and this is pure engineering) I do not like the idea of all the suspension loads going through the diff bearings as well as the rotational forces. This mod will also allow me to mount the diff on metalistic bushes to eliminate diff wine and associated noises and vibrations, I know the last comment seems a bit strange for a noisy open top car but diff wine can become tiring on a long trip. And if you do the maths the Jag geometry is wrong for a high speed cornering car, it dosn't give enough camber change in bump so to compensate I needed to run a lot of camber, which wears out the tyres unevenly, it's was a compromise that I thought I could improve on. I am not using original wishbone lengths or piviot points, this will be all my own calculated geometry. I just hope I have got it correct! I think I have because I can generate 5 deg camber change in bump for 3" of wheel travel, by comparison Cheng's race car (standard Jag geo) only changes 3 deg for 4" of wheel travel, and he runs 1.5 deg camber on a short circuit race car.

I know all about diff whine and you're right Barry it's amazing how loud and tiresome it becomes over a long journey, even in a loud car.

As for all the rest .... I'm glad you know what your talking about, because it all went over my head  🙂

Will you fit a rear anti-roll bar Barry?

Im assuming not, but I never know what you’ll get up to. 😉😊

Paul

I do intend to fit an anti-roll bar to the rear, I've got one made ready to fit. Got the top wishbone pivot point mocked up and the battery box relocated this weekend pic's to follow, but it mostly involves removing old panels and fittings at the moment.