Cordiastar
Mitsubishi Cordia GSR Turbo Modification and Automotive Restoration information.
Mitsubishi Cordia front strut before upgrading with VR4 Galant 276mm slotted disc brake rotors, twin pot calipers & K.Mac camber adjusters. The K.Mac camber adjusters permit quick easy adjustment of camber, the main reason for fitting these was to remove the fixed factory camber setting to improve handling by providing a better camber angle resulting in a larger tire contact area with the added benefit of extending tire life. The struts where recently fitted with adjustable Koni dampers & King springs. Performance brakes are a must on any capable street or track car so these puppies are off to the farm.
After 15 minutes with the air spanner it's ready for the reverse procedure with the new parts.
Trial fit of VR4 stub axle assembly into the front wheel after all the measurements are made parts procured it's time to see if it fits into the wheel for real.
It's a close fit with less than 5mm clearance between the rim and caliper the wheel weights rubbed some paint off the top of the caliper. A lightweight set of forged wheels would reduce rotating weight while providing proper clearance between the rim and caliper. An added bonus will be improved acceleration, braking and handling. The lower rotating weight allows the suspension to react faster to undulations in the surface of the road or track by allowing the damper and spring to more accurately control suspension movement.
Here is a comparison of the VR4 Galant stub axle (Left) next to the Ac Cordia stub axle (Right). The VR4 stub axle is thicker in cross section and has a larger bearing compared to the AC Cordia unit. New bearings where packed with grease then pressed into the stub axles. This is the second set of stub axles as the first set where bent on the tie rod connection better to find out now as this would be extremely difficult to fault find once this part is in situ. The twin piston calipers where re built with new pistons rubbers & fasteners. It is evident here that the VR4 pads are the same length as the caliper mounting bolts giving them a substantially larger surface area in contact with the disc. A squirt of Epoxy Enamel for the stub axle and gold oven paint for the calipers now they're ready for active duty. 5 Star CV Joints built a custom set of drive shafts with Magna CV joints on the stub axle end with the OEM CV joints on the gearbox end. You've got to love Mitsubishi interchangeability.
While the strut was out a set of Super Pro Polyurethane lower control arm bushes where installed, they help maintain accurate steering geometry under high cornering, braking and acceleration loads. They are harder(have a higher Durometer rating) than the factory Mitsubishi bush they also work in a different way.
On the factory bush the inner and the outer steel sleeves are molded together using rubber as the inner sleeve is rotated the rubber has to deform to allow the movement to take place. The polyurethane bush is pressed into the lower control arm for a tight fit against the control arm the inner is lubed with lithium grease and the inner bush slides into place, this bush is able to rotate inside the polyurethane acting working like a bearing unlike the factory bush.
If the car was being built purely for competition use solid aluminium bushes or composite aluminum/polyurethane bushes could be used in this application another option would be to fabricate rose jointed components all aimed at minimising deflection to improve suspension response to varying track conditions. The later options will be very hard to live with on public roads and reduce the life of the car and driver as most of the roads I drive on are far from billiard table smooth.
The old bush can be pressed out using two large sockets one as the receiver with the smaller of the two used to press the rubber along with the metal sleeve into the larger socket using a large vice to press it all together. After cleaning the remaining rubber from the lower control arm the new polyurethane bush can be inserted a small amount of Sikaflex can be applied if the fit is a little loose , The steel sleeve is now lubed up using the lithium grease supplied with the super pro parts kit, the lower control arm is ready to be installed.
A set of custom Australian Design Rules ADR approved braided stainless steel brake lines where manufactured from a set of drawings. The car they are fitted to is registered and used daily so ADR approved components is a no brainer. These brake lines are the flexible part of the braking system the OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer supplied rubber brake lines apart from the fact that they are near the end of their service life tend to swell under braking pressure giving the brake pedal giving vague feedback to the driver or a soft feel to the pedal.
The replacement stainless steel brake lines have a inner Teflon® PTFE tubing surrounding this tube is a sheath of tightly braided stainless steel wire this provides both reinforcement to the inner Teflon tubing as well as protective shielding. Finally it is covered with a coloured tough polyurethane cover. The upshot of all this is that braking performance is improved by transferring pedal force to the pads instead of swelling the brake lines.
Brake system upgrades add another level of refinement to any chassis giving a precise feel to the vehicle enhancing confidence along with driving pleasure.
Back soon C'ya!