Working the Punch List

[Don Giovanoni]

:driving: Working down the list of finishing touches on the Siggy. Still have a long list but here is my progress today: Urethane bushings in the stock shift rod coupler to the trans works WONDERS! The new replacement rubber bushings (the two retangular bushings on the coupler) were JUNK. I was initially having shifting problems and removed the cover to watch what was going on. With the rubber bushings the shift rod was moving about 1/4" before the trans connection moved! That 1/4" at the coupler is about an inch or two at the shifter. Kept the stock coupler but replaced the rubber with the urethane ones (lubing with the nasty urethane gel lubricant) and WOW!. After a little adjustment the NOS Hurst shifter suddenly became awsome - extremely positive shifting. You can FEEL each gear. No noise or vibration that I have picked up on yet. The Siggy was wondering badly after her computer alignment and was extremely easy to steer. White knuckles! Put in caster wedges this morning and took it out again. MUCH BETTER! The steering feels more like the SR in effort and the stability is night and day better. The Siggy is significantly higher than the SR so it feels a little different but it is confidence inspiring now in the twisties. I have kept adjusting the SAW adjustable spring plates looser a little at a time. The ride is getting dialed in now. I had to remove almost all preload as I replaced the long IRS torsion bars with early shorter torsion bars which are stiffer (cosmetics). Dialing in the tire pressure (current setting about 14 front and 18 back ) I suspect will help. Probably the Tokiko silver shocks are too stiff as well, I might need to move to stock oil shocks later. What are your experiences with shocks? Sorry for the long rant but wanted to pass my experiences along for others...