At the 2002 Stoneleigh Show, I noticed that my car sat lower at the rear than most of the other Xtremes on display. After a few enquiries, I learnt that later Xtremes had stiffer rear springs fitted than the first cars (100lb instead of 80lb). Some owners of the earlier cars have also changed the rear shock absorbers (usually to adjustable AVOs), but John at Quantum told me that there's nothing wrong with the original shock absorbers, they just need stronger springs. As Quantum had the latest springs in stock and I didn't have any spring compressors, I arranged to take the complete shock absorber assemblies to Quantum, where Paul removed the old springs and fitted the new ones for me in his workshop.
The new springs have raised the rear of my car by 30mm, curing its previous nose-high stance. Despite the stiffer rear suspension, the car seems to ride just as before and it does seem to absorb the bigger bumps better. I think this is because there's more wheel travel available now - the car must have been nearly riding on the bumpstops before. I've also gained some valuable extra ground clearance!
On the 5th of June, I received the renewal schedule and invoice from my insurance broker, Footman James. To my surprise (and delight!), the premium had dropped by almost £40.00 to £142.80. This is for fully comprehensive cover with a maximum of 3,000 miles per year, 4 named drivers and an excess of only £100.00. This seemed such a good deal that I didn't even bother phoning around for other quotes. Footman James have been very efficient in dealing with all the paperwork so far and I've not heard or read any bad reports of their claim handling, so I'm happy to give them my business again.
After the shows at Donington Park and Tredegar House in mid-September 2002, I was keen to do something about the exhaust jackets, which were looking very dirty and scruffy. I had managed to clean them before with reasonable results, but this time there was no improvement after washing. New jackets are very expensive to buy, so I decided to remove them altogether and to make a heat shield to protect the master cylinder from excessive heat. Not unexpectedly, the chrome finish of the header pipes under the jackets was completely ruined and one of the header pipes was cracked, both due to the extreme heat contained under the jackets, I suspect. I ordered a new set of four header pipes from Quantum, which weren't quite as expensive as I'd feared and they arrived complete with a new collector box and side pipe section, which was a bonus.
With the old headers removed, I made several card templates until I was happy with the shape and fit. The shield was then cut out of a spare piece of 16-gauge aluminium sheet I scrounged from my local friendly Locost builder (Thanks Allan!). After three hours of cutting, shaping and polishing, it was bolted in place. I drilled a hole in the bulkhead just below the pedal box and inserted a 6mm rivnut for the rear mounting. Helpfully, there was a spare 6mm rivnut in the side of the chassis which was used for the front mounting. The top mounting hole is P-clipped at the rear to a brake pipe, using fibre washers to reduce any heat transfer.
The heat shield works well - the master cylinder cylinder only gets moderately warm now. When the car was first built without the shield or jackets, it got so hot that you couldn't touch it! The bare, chromed header pipes look rather good, though I now have even more shiny bits to polish! With hindsight, I should have made the heat shield during the initial build of the car and not bothered with the exhaust jackets at all. Having said that, I've seen plenty of similar kit cars that have no exhaust wrap, heat shields or bonnet vents whatsoever, so perhaps I'm being a bit too cautious. Still, better safe than sorry!
Clearance with the old springs...
...and with the new.
The heatshield ready for fitting and the template I used to make it.
The fitted heatshield viewed from the side...
...and from above.
The new header pipes viewed from the side...
...and from the front. No, my car isn't turning orange - this new-fangled digital camera just doesn't seem to like red!