Cooper - 1969 1600SSS Bluebird Coupe

[KoHeartsGPA]

Ya that's the one not working...where else can I get those?

[hobospyder]

Ya that's the one not working...where else can I get those?

if you get them get two sets I'm sure I'll want one too

[Draker]

Wait a minute... it's that easy to swap the stub axles? 

 

Why have I been let to believe you needed $500 custom stub axles this whole time?

[The Taterhead]

I was thinking the same thing.

[KoHeartsGPA]

if you get them get two sets I'm sure I'll want one too

If I can't find them I'm going to order the original bushings from rock auto, Craig txted me the info..

[KlassicMotion]

You can find David Carroll on Facebook. He has a personal profile, as well as an Experimental Engineering page.

[KoHeartsGPA]

No facebook here...

[q-tip]

Other option is the adjustable ones sold by futofab or t3

[carterb]

Wait a minute... it's that easy to swap the stub axles? 

 

Why have I been let to believe you needed $500 custom stub axles this whole time?

 

I believe that is for the newer Viscous LSD's.  This is one of the old clutch pack types.

[carterb]

You can find David Carroll on Facebook. He has a personal profile, as well as an Experimental Engineering page.

 

That is the best way to get a hold of him these days.

 

He doesn't have any T/C kits in stock right now though, sorry.  :crying:

[Draker]

I believe that is for the newer Viscous LSD's.  This is one of the old clutch pack types.

 

I started googling to find one of these diffs. Not the easiest to find.. maybe I'm just not familiar with Subaru's.

[shacks510]

So does that TC bushing kit just replace the front bushing with the kit contents; leaving a normal bushing on the back side? I replaced my bushings with urethane ones, drilled per DQ specs. I'd be interested in one of these kits just because billet aluminum is nice to look at :)

[thisismatt]

Wait a minute... it's that easy to swap the stub axles? 

 

Why have I been let to believe you needed $500 custom stub axles this whole time?

Oooollld subaru R160 LSD are a bolt in.  Newer (eg STI) subaru LSD are a different spline count.

[carterb]

Okay, so the next day was autocross day.

I drove out to Monroe right after Church and got to the track about 12:45.

There were about 75 cars there, divided into three groups.  Each group would run 45 minutes.  (Basically, you got three runs per session.)

I missed the track walk and first racing session but went straight through tech and then found Jeff and Sam in the stands.  Group 1 was on track.  They were in Group 2 which had a few minutes yet, and I was in Group 3. 

So I got to watch a few cars run before they had to get in their cars and get in line.

 

Here they are waiting to get on track.

 

 

And lined up at the starter:

 

 

It was nice to be able to watch them and a few dozen other cars go around the course, which was all completely visible from the grandstands:

 

 

There goes Jeff in "Hey"

 

 

Followed by Sam in "Freebird"

 

[carterb]

My group was up next.

 

 

I had not been on an autocross course since college, and that was in a 600cc formula car we built. 

 

It was so much fun!  I was fighting for traction everywhere my first run.  I felt more like a drifter than an auto crosser.

 

 

But it all felt very natural, like I'd been racing for years.

 

On my second run I pushed a little harder and found the other side of the limit on the back stretch, looping it off track and into the gravel.  (no cones though!)

 

 

Besides one very dirty wheel, I think I bent my exhaust as well as i have a leak now that wasn't there before.  While in line for the next run, I got out and inspected my car and found no other damage which was great because I wanted to keep going!!!!

 

Run three was much cleaner and gave me a good target for the next session.

[carterb]

Victoria took pictures all day (Thanks sweetie!)  She took over 800 shots that Sam, Jeff and I later had fun flipping through.

 

This shot gives you an idea of the type of car typical at this event.

 

 

But there were cool cars there too.  :rofl:

 

[carterb]

I watched Jeff and Sam do some more laps.

 

 

 

and then we did some bench racing while my group was in line

 

 

 

The sun almost broke a couple times, even giving us a rainbow once.

 

 

But mostly it just rained, ensuring that I had a very wet track ever time I went out.

 

 

[carterb]

The last group was open to everyone at once so it was fun lining up with the guys.

 

 

 

My last run was my best and I ended the day much faster than i started so I felt really good about the day.  Plus I had my car at WOT for half of every lap and it just sounds beautiful!

 

Jeff ended up 3rd in 2wd so that was cool to see him collect his trophy.

 

We headed back to the cars to gather up our tools and stuff.

 

 

And we were joined briefly by this guy in his V8 Z car. 

 

 

It was a beast!  Definitely way more power than traction.  He was all over the track!  Sounded fun though.

 

Can't wait to go back!!!!

[KoHeartsGPA]

I love it, thanks for sharing!! :thumbup:

[q-tip]

Looks like a damn good time. I need to get off my ass and finally finish my suspension so I can go autocross without worry.

[Draker]

Now then, installation should be a easy right?

 

Well it would have been had I checked the condition of the threads on the mustache bar mounting studs on the back of the cover on the LSD.  After getting the nut started, it would go no farther.  And of course, it wouldn't loosen either, without taking the stud with it anyway...  Sure glad I had that spare rear end.  Not only did it give up it's stub axles but now I got to extract one of the mustache bar studs as well.

 

 

 

How did the diff do at the track? What did you think of the 3.7 gearing?

[carterb]

How did the diff do at the track? What did you think of the 3.7 gearing?

 

It's kind of hard to say I s'pose since I never did an event like this with an open diff but I can say that with any moisture on the road before hand, with the old diff and old tires, I would just sit & spin when leaving any kind of stop or coming out of a slow corner.  I KNOW I had much better acceleration with the LSD.  And the gear ratio was just fine - actually probably helped a little in the wet.

[carterb]

In the days after the autocross, driving back and forth to work, I noticed three things:

 

1)  Every time I'd hit a bump I would loose more gravel.  I can't believe how many souvenirs I picked up from that little off-course excursion!

2)  Along with the gravel, I'm pretty sure I picked up an exhaust leak.

3)  Maybe I was being hypersensitive but I was certain I had a more severe vibration than before the weekend.

 

As for #3, Sam and I drove to Renton one day and it was BAD in a few places during our trip.  Usually the car just vibrates bad under acceleration when the rear end squats down while you are putting down the power but now it seemed to do it even at cruise sometimes.  And it seemed to get worse as the days went on.

 

The next weekend I pulled the wheels to investigate where I had trapped so much gravel so I could clean it up.  In the process, I think I discovered the hiding place as well as a likely source of the worsening vibration.

 

 

There was gravel stuck to the perimeter of a coupe of my wheels on inside (I had already cleaned up the outside) and on this one in particular, there was a massive concentration around the wheel weights - probably destroying the balance and causing the vibration.  I swapped back to the Longchamps to be certain.

 

I also looked briefly for any obvious exhaust leak and did notice my muffler is giving up the ghost - so I guess I'll add that to the list...

 

[carterb]

We understood that the next Autocross was not going to be 'till mid July but then all of the sudden, they posted one mid April!  Better get a move-on then!

 

Time to complete a couple more tasks that I had hoped to complete the first time 'round.  I hoped to have time to change back to the Jilba Racing wheels and tires, swap in the electronic ignition, change to the Z Therapy carbs, and mount a Recaro bucket seat to help hold me in place.  The carbs and Recaro are currently mounted in Trouble.

 

The days kept flying by until finally, it was just a couple days before the event.  How does this always happen?!

 

I was determined to change the ignition of nothing else but first swapped the wheels and tires, then I grabbed my trusty SUN 7501 and recorded my base timing.

 

 

Then took pictures of all the ignition wires and connections and looked for anything that might cause issues during the swap, like the clamps on the intake water hose contacting the old distributor which is smaller in diameter than the new!  Fingers crossed, as I didn't want to open a can of worms loosening the rusty clamps on the brittle water hose.

 

 

Then I labeled everything to aid in swapping back if something didn't work out, plug wires too!

 

 

Then I noted the clocking of the rotor relative to the plug wires.

 

 

This way I could try to get everything aligned as close as possible with the new distributor and at least be *close* when I crank it over for the first time.

[carterb]

Here is the new distributor with electronic ignition next to the stock points and condenser distributor.

 

 

Next step was finding a pedestal and timing plate combo that would allow me to clock the new distributor as close as possible to the old.  It's times like this that make me glad to have buckets of old L-motor parts.

 

 

I found a set-up that was pretty close and got everything bolted in.

 

 

This left a short *hopefully* list for the next evening - connect wires, clamp down coil (old screw was too short for slightly larger diameter coil), set timing, test drive.