Update 20. Februar 2005

OK, so its time to post the latest progress on the rebuild of the front end. I recently showed the re-assembly of the strut

assemblies and Camber Plates so to continue on from there, here is the next stage.
Whilst disassembling some of the balljoints, I damaged a couple of the joint boots so I removed the old ones, washed out and

repacked the joints with fresh grease and then fitted replacement boots with new clips.



To make front wheel alignment easier on completion, I replaced the two steering arms and copper greased the threads of the

balljoints as my old ones were very tight and needed locking grips to adjust and as my new ones were powder coated, I didn't want to

damage the surface finish.



Firstly, I chased the threads in the newly powder coated X-brace with a M14x1.5 tap.



The rear arm was loosely fitted into position and left hanging with the M14x1.5x90 bolt.



The front arm was similarly fitted and left hanging with the M12x1.5x75 bolt and locknut.



The balljoint on the front arm was then inserted into the front carrier and a new locknut fitted.



The balljoint has a tendency to turn whilst trying to tighten, especially with a new locknut, so a piece of wood under the balljoint

allows you to apply pressure to the joint, hopefully locking it in the wedge to allow you to tighten.



Apply threadlock to the 3 M12x1.5x25 carrier to strut mounting bolts.



And refit carrier to strut.



The rear arm can now be refitted to the carrier as shown.



The steering arms mentioned earlier can now be fitted to the steering.



And torqued to 40NM.



Both ends.



The hard plastic cover, which goes over the rubber gaiter covering the ABS and pad wires can now be refitted over gaiter and clipped

into position on the suspension leg.



With a generous coating of copper grease, refit the ABS sensor into the suspension leg.



Securing sensor with a 6mm bolt.



The backplate can now be secured with the three M6x10 bolts and washers with threadlock.



The hub can now be refitted with a new hubnut and torqued to 290NM.



Staking nut for a positive lock.



Gently tapping a new bearing cover into the hub.



The disc can now be refitted with a new shouldered bolt.



Apply threadlock to the two M12x1.5x40 caliper mounting bolts.



Torque to 110NM.



Applying "BREMBO" competition caliper lube to pad backings, sliding edges and retaining pins.





A new set of nylon coated, stainless steel braided hoses are fitted.



Assembly is now ready to bleed. The wheels can then be refitted and the cars weight lowered onto the suspension to settle the arms

into their "neutral" position before tightening the inner arm bolts. (Generally referred to as pre-loading) In my case, as I do not

have the transmission in yet, I have left off the front anti-roll bar and drop-links for now, to give better access when refitting

the "box".



Hope this has been of interest, if there are any queries please feel free to ask.
Regards to the board, Gerry.

Update 11. März 2005

Hello there fellow 8-Series Enthusiasts.Here we go on the "mother of all big posts" hope you enjoy.

Following the total destruction of my clutch and flywheel by persons unknown, I decided to attempt to replace them with some uprated

parts. I did a great deal of clutch and flywheel research and finally decided on a six-puck ceramic/semi-metallic set-up rated at

700bhp and 800 ft/lb of torque.



After researching into the flywheel and seeing how that the stock CSi flywheel seems to wear badly, normally requiring replacement

every clutch change, I decided to replace it with a stronger, lighter item. After a good deal of searching it was apparent that such

an item was not available in the aftermarket, so I decided to manufacture my own. I decided that a lightweight flywheel with a

replaceable friction surface would give an extended service life, as the wearing surface could be replaced as necessary, and the

lighter flywheel would decrease inertia and increase power delivery to the rear wheels, as the engine could use more of it's power

to accelerate the car, not the 23lb flywheel. After researching some materials, I finally decided on an HE30 aircraft spec aluminium

alloy, and some EN9 carbon steel for the friction surface. The ring-gear is not a seperate item so I had to machine this from the

stock flywheel. I purchased the materials in minimum available quantaties, 5 discs of alloy and 6 discs of EN9 and set about

production.
The HE30 disc blanks start at 1.5" x 14". Here, the CNC lathe is being prepared and programmed ready for the first disc.



The discs are machined down to size





Here are the first two completed blanks.



As my ring-gear showed signs of wear, I used the automatic flex plate from my spare engine as the ring-gear donor. The flex plate is

trepanned and then plasma cut to isolate the ring-gear.



The ring-gear was then machined on a lathe out to size, to produce a .020" interference fit on the alloy body.





Until This happened!!!!! Since then, they are machined out on a CNC mill.



Seen here ready for fitting.



This is how the EN9 blanks were supplied, in 8.6mm thick discs.



Having been 'Normalised'.



The EN9 rings are then turned and faced to fit into the recess left in the alloy blanks.







Here they can be seen being test fitted into the flywheels





They are now ready for fitting



The flywheel is now clamped to the CNC mill ready for drilling



Here we are drilling the flywheel mounting holes



With the mounting holes now drilled, the clutch attachment and alignment dowel holes are next



Here the clutch attachment holes are ready for threading



The EN9 friction plate attachment holes are now drilled



With the clutch mounting holes completed, the EN9 plate attachment holes are ready for drilling and tapping



The heated ring-gear is now fitted



And locked into position in all planes



With 6 high-tensile fasteners



After recessing the back of the flywheel to remove more weight, the EN9 plate is bolted to the flywheel with 20, 5mm high-tensile

counter-sunk Allen bolts, giving the same effective shear strength as a 22mm diameter high-tensile bolt!
The 8.6mm EN9 discs are now machined down to thickness, whilst bolted to the flywheel so that the friction face is running

absolutely true to the flywheel.
All that is left now is to check and adjust the balance of the flywheel up to 12000 rpm.
Here is the completed flywheel front view



And here the completed rear view



The new flywheel weighs in at just 12.5lbs! compared to the MASSIVE 23lbs of the original flywheel, (almost half)!
Try doing this with one finger on your stock manual flywheel!!!



With a 46% decrease in flywheel inertia, the mass loss on the flywheel allows more engine power to be used to accelerate the vehicle

rather than the flywheel. Although a lightweight flywheel does not make the engine produce more horsepower, it does transfer more of

that power to the wheels. It will give better throttle response and a harder "pull" out of corners.
With 295/35x18 tyres, a 3.15 diff and a 4.23 first gear ratio, this equates to a 240lb loss of vehicle mass, or approximately

equivilent to a 25bhp power increase seen by the car from the engine, with less strain on the engine components, especially the

crankshaft.

I will do a further post on installation of the flywheel and clutch assembly later, when I post the refitting of the transmission.

Did anyone actually get to read the whole post without going to sleep half way through?

Regards to you all, Gerry.