![]() So, with my wallet feeling substantially lighter, I should have been happy, right? Well, no. With all the rust patches cut out, new metal welded back in, new bushes and rear anti-roll bar fitted, and a fresh coat of underseal, plus freshly painted suspension arms, the end result was that much of the underside now looked better than it probably had done for the last 14 years! First things first, I needed to get the geometry set-up done again though, so I popped into AmD and got a base set-up dialled back in. It looked like it had been recovered from the Titanic! It was soon joined in the bin by a host of other nuts and bolts that just didn’t want to come off as intended.Ī few weeks later, all of the work had been completed and I went to pick the car up. Even with the mild leak, I don’t think anybody was prepared for the state of the thing when we took it off. This is another notorious place for rust, and I’d noticed a few drops leaking when I’d fill up, so a quick hunt around saw a brand new replacement being fitted. There was another bit I wanted tackled too – the fuel filler neck. With a diameter of 24mm – a 3mm increase over the standard bar – I hoped to dial out a little of the Evo’s characteristic AWD understeer. SuperPro doesn’t have one for my model Evo, so an uprated Whiteline equivalent was ordered. My rear anti-roll bar wasn’t looking too healthy either and it’s an upgrade I’ve been considering for some time. These neat little bushes enable the fulcrum point to be offset to enable extra caster to be dialled in. The Evo’s steering is quick and precise but I like something with a bit of weight, and being able to adjust the caster past its normal setting not only increases this, but also improves straight-line stability and helps to increase camber gain on turn-in – a definite plus on track. A quick call to SuperPro and a full poly bush kit was ready for the car, including caster adjustment front bushes. Having popped down to inspect the issues, the fact that the entire rear sub-frame was coming off made me wonder if I could at least supplement the work with some nice additions. But there was nothing to do except (wo)man up and get it all sorted. “We’ve found some more rust.” As well as the two bits where the sub-frame bolts up, rubbing down the underseal had revealed holes in my rear chassis legs and a spot in the sill under the driver’s door. Ok, not great news but better to catch it now rather than later, right?Ī few hours later, the phone rang again. “Yeah, the rust is worse than first thought.” As that area is double-skinned, peeling back the upper layer had revealed a patch on both sides about three inches long. ![]() “Um, your car…” Now there’s never been a good outcome to any phone call that begins with that sentence, so already I knew it was bad news. With this being a notorious spot for rust to start, it went straight off to the lovely guys at Dynotech to get it put straight.Ī few days later, I had the call you really don’t want to get. But after a quick oil change, and an attempt to track down an annoying squeak, a small web-like crack was spotted where the rear sub-frame bolts to the chassis. I’d come back from my most successful Nürburgring trip yet and then gone on to do some driver training. But I’m getting ahead of myself, so let me start at the beginning…Īt the time of the last update, everything was running great. I’m now finally at the end of the whole saga, so feel able to talk about it now without wanting to smash/burn something, but it’s not been pretty. In case the title hadn’t given it away, my experience with my own car recently hasn’t exactly been all positive. They can serve to inspire, tantalise your senses and offer thrills and spills. They can also be a royal pain in the arse. They can bring you joy, help you to meet new friends and offer up new experiences. By warrant of being here, I’m figuring that you’ll know that cars can be a source of great pleasure.
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