| LIFE OF A GT |
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 | |  | January 3, 2011 - Air time!
I drove the MG to work today. This let me check out some of the new sound proofing and generally play with the car. More importantly, it gave me a chance to put the car in the air and take a good look at the underside from a bit of a distance, not from the distance you get using a creeper and jackstands.
Looks pretty good underneath, actually. The exhaust is very clear in this photo, but you can also see the new structure under the front of the car. The original frame rails (or the reasonable facsimile thereof found in the unibody) are cut off at an angle just aft of the control arms. The big new 2x4 box section runs from the transmission support forward, and everything ahead of those cut frame rails is new. The tape holding the heat shielding to the driver's footwell failed on the way to work, so it's missing here.
It's funny, the engine looks so small from this angle. That oil pan is tucked up behind an impact bar and should be very well protected.
entry 526 - tags: underneath | | |  | January 3, 2011 - Here's the view from the rear.
The tight packaging for the mufflers is pretty evident - in fact, that black mark on the right muffler is the insulation from the fuel level wire before I put some heat shielding on it! The new frame members running forward from the trailing arm mounts aren't very visible, but the arms of the lift are lifting from there.
The inspection did reveal a few things. There are a few wires that need to be wrapped up mostly for appearances sake. That fuel level sender wire is still awfully close. The fuel line and main power line also run pretty close to the exhaust (hard to avoid given the giant X!) and really should have some extra heat shielding just in case. But it's pretty good overall.
One thing did come to my attention. The pinion angle seemed a bit off, with the nose of the diff higher than I think it should be. The alignment shop set it, but either the adjustment shifted because the lock nuts weren't tight - they weren't - or they have a different idea of what it should be. The angles of this setup could very well be the reason I'm getting a bit of vibration in the car. Not a shaking, more of a deep rumble that could be the stiff motor mounts, exhaust noise or drivetrain vibration. So I dropped the nose down a bit and we'll see how it works on the drive home. Not tonight, though - a surprise snowstorm marooned the car at work and I went home in a stock 1992 Miata. Regular readers will remember I did almost exactly the same thing two years ago in the Camaro!
entry 527 - tags: snow, pinion, underneath | | |
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