Resurrection of my CQ20V

[Bowie69]

Oh, and I went direct, arrived quickly, Demon Tweaks wanted 3-4 weeks before dispatch for some reason:

https://ukwhitelineperformance.com/

[Bowie69]

Thank you

Stuck it in the centre hole for the moment, and left it there, will adjust in the future for sure, but it feels good for the mo.

[steve briance]

Excellent reporting!

I've subscribed this post to come to in the future at some point.

I've also been contemplating the whiteline ARB. you experience the same positive results everyone else does - there must be something in it! Which of the 3 holes did you bolt the drop link to for your first drive?

[Bowie69]

I replaced my arb with the same whiteline one today on my 3b , it fits exactly like yours but is slightly closer to the wishbones ( pressed on the s2 ) , I had to use larger washers on the brackets and hence reduced adjustment, imo the slots are too wide , as you allude to

That's really helpful, thanks, so in other words, identical fitment to the S2!

I wonder why they don't market them for the CQ, could sell a few more.

I drove it again tonight, about 20mins, the car feels so much lighter, but it was wet, and I didn't want to slide into a kerbstone and ruin a wheel, so I was a good boy

[Bowie69]

Re those unobtainable bolts. If they are the same as the Ur Diff, they are still available from TPS. I bought a few earlier this year.

Yeah, there are a couple of lengths, these are 94mm and the less common version, when I could find then, it was ~£15 a bolt, plus carriage from Europe, was beginning to get silly!

So not unobtainable, but certainly made of unobtanium.

[simons2]

I replaced my arb with the same whiteline one today on my 3b , it fits exactly like yours but is slightly closer to the wishbones ( pressed on the s2 ) , I had to use larger washers on the brackets and hence reduced adjustment, imo the slots are too wide , as you allude to , the handling is so much sharper with better turn in and a more tail happy balance, however I have also replaced the inserts with Koni adjustables plus top mounts , bump stops and gaters so I’d expect an improvement , lol

[Tractor Dave]

Very nice clear pics. Makes me want to pull mine apart just for the sake of it.
Re those unobtainable bolts. If they are the same as the Ur Diff, they are still available from TPS. I bought a few earlier this year.

[Lago Blue]

Thanks Bowie for taking the time to add those diff damper photos sir, quite illuminating. I had no idea that it might one day come apart like that (one more thing to go wrong!), good to know!

Cheers.

[SteveH]

Nice write up and pics

[Bowie69]

The eagle-eyed amongst you may have spotted one or two misty areas under the car....

Seeing this yesterday made me realise I did absolutely the right thing getting a replacement rear diff:

IMG_20200927_175335.jpg


I'm seeing:

• Left output flange seal
• Right output flange seal
• Left Inner CV leaking
• Right inner CV leaking

Oh dear

[Bowie69]

Another small, on-vehicle job I tackled, was a £184 experiment:

IMG_20200927_172203.jpg

People tell me the Whiteline BAR14Z is designed only for the S2, including people on here. After much poring over OEMPC, I couldn't find a justifiable reason for this for a 1990-on coupe. The earlier vehicles, such as Alex's, has a different arrangement, attaching to the lower wishbone, but not so on mine, and from what I can see, not so for any post 1990 coupes.

First hurdle was just a heavy dose of scepticism :

IMG_20200927_172336.jpg
Grease free, silent, friction free, maintenance free, all the things that sound like snake oil.

The lubrication is apparently PTFE based and sits in here on the fluffy innards:IMG_20200927_172409.jpg

Apologies for the quality, very tricky taking that!

No matter, after some deliberation, I slapped them on the bar, and fitted it up:

IMG_20200927_175314.jpg

It werks!

One issue I had was the factory bolts weren't really quite long enough, plus they were a bit past it, so I found what I had in the garage to make it work:

IMG_20200927_175328.jpg

These will be replaced with something with a larger head, quite soon.

You will notice, that the brackets are shoved as far back as possible, this can best be explained by the following photo:

IMG_20200927_175258.jpg

Initially, the bar was really quite close to the wishbone, now, it should have been OK, as everything moves with each other, and should really only get shorter, I wanted to be sure.

It is possible that the cast wishbones on the S2 (they did have them on the rear as well, right?) are a little narrower at this point, and would give better clearance, and no necessitate the shoving of the bracket. That said, the brackets are slotted, and they must be for a reason. Unless it is to standardise them between kits?

Be interesting if anyone has a photo of their whiteline setup on their S2 to compare?

Just to confirm to people, it looks an identical path to the old one:

IMG_20200927_175248.jpg

SO......... is it any different.......? Oh yes, none of that initial lean in you get with these cars on stock suspension, just sharp turn in, and when you hoof it in second, the back definitely wants to come round more, while the front just sticks and carries on turning in.

I find myself not having to turn the wheel as much as I used to, which I wasn't expecting...

All that within just a 3 mile test drive

[Bowie69]

Now, the input, ready, for a seal:

IMG_20200927_162155.jpg

Sealed, with a 52mm socket, and a smudge of grease:

IMG_20200927_162247.jpg

Nut installed, torqued to just past where it was before, with home made flange restrainer:

IMG_20200927_163139.jpg
Nut was re-staked.

And then you end up with a hole in the bottom needing filling. I found something to do the trick:

IMG_20200927_163605.jpg
As above, from a classic beetle, mit magnet, from JustKampers.

A nice hole stopper, sitting flush:

IMG_20200927_163656.jpg

Then you end up with something looking like:


IMG_20200927_163858.jpg

Couple of other things to note, I have a hose clamp on the difflock lever, I will likely change it out for a stainless fuel pipe clamp style one, which was what was on there before, well, that was what the remnants of it showed me it was.

Couple of marks to the paint, will touch up before installation.

Now I need to find somewhere to store it while I get the rest ready!

[Bowie69]

Now, the other side.....

IMG_20200927_155048.jpg
Drop in what ever this is called....

IMG_20200927_155119.jpg

And then the difflock lever:

IMG_20200927_155139.jpg

And then the locking collar, this is what moves to lock the first bit you fit, with the inner part of the drive flange, at this point, screw in the two locating bolts for this arrangement, one of which you can see the pin of at the bottom of this picture:


IMG_20200927_161009.jpg

On the outside of the case, two of them go here, and one more the other side, I have since cleaned up the bolt heads!

IMG_20200927_160956.jpg

Put this little plunger in here, followed up by the mangey difflock indicator switch:

IMG_20200927_155647.jpg

Not forgetting to de-mangey the switch:

IMG_20200927_155910.jpg
Next, the mahoosive seal for the other side:

IMG_20200927_161222.jpg

No seal drive I had was big enough, so went old school:

IMG_20200927_161400.jpg
I think I need to tap this one in a little more, it is just rubbing on the back of the drive flange once fully assembly thankfully, the outer edge of the seal is not hidden, so will be able to tap it in easily enough.


The drop in the other flange, and shove the unobtainium bolt in the middle and it is done....

[Bowie69]

So, on with the diff reassembly, lots of lovely cleaned parts, paint came out well:

IMG_20200927_152651.jpg

Drop the diff centre in, and slap the side cover back on:

IMG_20200927_153841.jpg
Yes, new fasteners! Old ones were rusty, and some heads had got damaged. I sourced these 8.8 rated bolts from my favourite supplier -Ebay

Once they were snugged down, and diff was rotating smoothly still, the new seal went in:


IMG_20200927_154542.jpg

Manual says to half fill the groove with grease, waterproof stuff was smeared in:

IMG_20200927_154733.jpg Slide the drive flange in, and do up the unobtainium retaining bolt, and yes, that is flash rust inside the flange:

meeee.jpg

[Bowie69]

So, one for Lago Blue , the transmission damper, or at least the rubbery bit of it:

IMG_20200927_150501.jpg
So, looking more closely at it, there is a runner bushing, and on the outside of that, what appears to be a cast iron ring, and it is *heavy*.

Here, is the new one attached to the TorSen housing:

maap.jpg
You can see the heads of the bolts, and the snap ring that holds it in place.

IMG_20200927_150400.jpg

As you can see, the output shaft, once fully home (waiting on seal) will sit slightly inside the damper.