The journey of one man and his Mule(s)

[marshiboi]

Your attention to detail is inspiring and makes me want to tidy my 2 up, which at the mo is difficult as she's getting resprayed, but once she's done she'll be getting the full treatment oh yes!

Can't wait to see what you do next, although can you improve on perfection

[Magic Beans]

Kind words, thanks

The next steps have officially started, with the sub, amp, rear speakers and associated wiring all removed. Total weight saving so far is around 25kg It actually gave me the opportunity to sort a little job I'd been meaning to do for some time too, so it's a double winner

**Shameless plug alert**

Here's the bits (of interest) removed:

- Rockford Fosgate Punch sub and enclosure - Provisionally sold, hence it being wrapped.
- Rockford Fosgate Punch P3001 amplifier. A nice polished one at that
- Alpine SXE-1025S 2-way rears.









They'll all be up for grabs in the parts section shortly, it's more a heads-up

[Magic Beans]

I had to take a few crude photos of the wide arches, stock arch removal and wheel fitment for someone, so thought I'd also post details here for anyone who's thinking of doing something similar

Basically in order to take the 10" rears and 275 tyres on my tubby the rear arches had to be cut out. I'm not sure exactly how much was removed however I'd estimate it to be around 2", including the plastic meat behind the metal of the arch. These photos don't show it exactly as the light was poor (garage and camera flash)





Gap wise there's about 2-3" of space between the tyre and the arch and that's running a 275/35/18 on a 10" rim. There's also a 10mm spacer, which I can only assume were put there for aesthetics, as there's a gap of at least 2" between the rim/rear and the rear suspension (Black Billies in my case)

To get an idea of how far out the protrude I took a couple of photos. First off the front:



Now from the rear, which is quite extreme. Ignore the rear spat fitment, I'm tweaking them at the moment



Apologies that they're not the best photos, as they're more about fact than form. Hopefully this might be of use to someone who's toying with the idea of doing this. If not then sorry for stealing 3 minutes of your evening

[pistol pete]

dude your car is going to be super scarey through those mountain roads...

although.. a big powered noble... hmm

[Magic Beans]

If the right foot is kept in check it's a pussy cat, ish

Planning to do a lot of work on the handling before we got, so it should be rock solid for the mountains

I think we'll all have a few squeaky bum moments over the few days we're cruising

[Peter Gidden]

I think we'll all have a few squeaky bum moments over the few days we're cruising

Me and Trevor (in his Porsche) were chasing down a Pyrenee 3 years ago, hairpin after hairpin.... and as i exited one particular hairpin i discovered what the roadworks guys do to protect themselves when they are doing verge maintenance in the mountains....









They park their big xxxx off lorry right across the road...

Our brakes werne't the only things clamped tight at that moment!

[Magic Beans]

*Gulp*

And that everybody is why it's important to service your brakes and not just keep your wheels clean

[Magic Beans]

Despite my best laid plans of getting cracking on the Mule this past few weeks, I've pretty much done nothing on it. Mainly due to us "needing a new bathroom" apparently, so I've been playing builder, plumber, plasterer and all manner of other trades (yay ). I don't trust most tradesman (there are some exceptions) to do a job to the level I expect, based on many passed experiences, so I end up doing everything myself

However... That's now done so there's no excuse, so I thought I'd get cracking. First up it's time to wake the sleeping dog up. I thought I'd make the occasion with a bit of a video, for your viewing pleasure (or boredom? )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHhgaPfZ ... e=youtu.be Needs sound

The first of the jobs on the list is to give it a damn good clean, tomorrow or Saturday most likely. After that it's time to replace those rubbing front tyres. "But what with" I hear you ask. Well, these:







After doing a whole load of reading, along with past experience, I decided on the Eagle F1s. Wear isn't so good on them apparently but I can live with that.

More to follow after it's clean and the jobs begin

[Magic Beans]

Another job done. This time it's the shifter bearing kit which Peter's put together. A cracking kit for the money



There's actually more to the kit than above, it's just that I'd "misplaced" them and not realised at the time of taking the photo The rest were in my "To fit" box

Simply remove the old bearings from both shifter cables and clean.



Grease and install the new bearings, et voila



Peter includes great written instructions, however I also had this guide to hand for visual reference - http://www.mr2oc.co.uk/know-your-2-know ... bartid=117

The result is a solid feeling shift which feels positive and tight. Not had an opportunity to actually test it on the street though, as the car's currently SORN'd and it's raining (shocker!).

Here's a quick clip of the results. Sorry about the damn irritating beeping, it's the oil pressure gauge grumbling (no pressure due to engine not being fired up).

http://s1072.photobucket.com/albums/w37 ... 7fde9e.mp4

[Magic Beans]

Been a while since I put any words here so thought I'd throw a few up, with the obligatory photos of course

I've finally got around to borrowing some axle stands, so I can get these wheels off and sort the tyres. I was going to buy some but thought about how often I'd use them, against how much space they take up. Borrowing won out

One of the pitfalls of having a lowered car with aftermarket skirts on is that the package isn't particularly jack compliant.

Problem:



Solution:



Result:





Now it's up let's get it locked down, ready for work to begin. Need that double garage right about now, as it's a little cramped in here



So I've mentioned in the past just how much 245/18/35 tyres don't work as fronts, at least without spaces or coilovers. Now here's the reason why. It's not pretty





They were on the car when I bought it, before people question it.

After discussions with people we've worked out that when they went on new they must have been so tight against the strut show that the wheels wouldn't have turned. So there must have been a period of miles driven with smoke pouring out of the arches and must have felt bl**dy awful

They no longer rub, mainly due to the fact that there's about 4mm ground off the inners of each tyre. Makes you wonder what the thought process was though..

Anyway, moving on.. Now the wheels are off I can sort all the jobs I've piled up. First off is swapping the tyres to the new F1s I've bought. I also need to custom fit the arch liners, as this is how it currently stands (again, bought this way)





Then a custom front undertray needs to be made, calipers need checking over and cleaning up, tyre pressures checked and out for a test run around the farm.

It does all mean I can finally correct the last of the issues I inherited, meaning it should run as well as it really should.

More to follow soon.

[stephano]

No coilovers?

[ashley]

Those tyres must have smoked like a b'strd!! At what point would you drive down the road with new tyres on fire and think it was ok? Unf'kin believable

And yeah....coilovers

[Magic Beans]

Boggles the mind doesn't it

The diameter of 225s has been calculated and it works out that there should be around 4mm of clearance between the top of the inner edge and the strut show, so no rubbing on my watch

Yep, I need coilovers. Just waiting for the right solution to come along The idea of EDFC appeals but it also seems like a bit of a gimmick, given that most people should never really need to change their settings on a day to day basis.

[Magic Beans]

Add adjusting the headlight beam pattern to the list.

I'm not sure how I'll go about adjusting these frog eyes to meet MOT requirements though? Some reading needed me thinks.

[ashley]

Just saw your comment on Steve's thread- if you do decide to go over to MoTeC give me a shout first, might be able to save you some cash

[Magic Beans]

Oh really. Well I would like traction control and that would free me up to maybe add just a little more power

I might just be in touch on this then, thanks

[stephano]

does yours have ABS? were using the front and rear abs sensors for the trac control...... i think.

[ashley]

That's exactly how I'm planning to do it as well

[Magic Beans]

I'm not sure to be honest

*Scours old photos*

Nope, don't know for sure

I wonder if Peter can remember, unless there's any other way to check?

*Ponders again*

There should be sensors on the front hubs if I remember correctly?

[ashley]

If you've got ABS hubs there will be sensors on the hubs, and wires coming from the sensors up through a grommet and into the car