Uprated 3500 suspension - Rear anti roll bars anyone?

Guy Engelsman

New Member
Those who have read my report on my new 4l V8 will know the saga of putting a modern version of the Rover V8 in an old car, BUT, while I am at it I want to uprate the suspension.
I found an article in Classic and Sportscar from about 1992 about a mob that produced a handling kit for the 3500. This consisted of a new roll bar arrangment at the front, and a roll bar for the rear. I have tried to get more information on this and have drawn a blank. I dont want a full race setup, but I wish to be able to hustle the car around corners without wearing out the doorhandles!!!!
Any help will be much appreciated. :)
 
I think a stiffer anti roll bar at the front would make a lot of difference without altering the basic ride of the car in any way. Should be a simple task to get one made up or there may be on the market. I'd leave the back of the car alone as an anti roll bar here will increase the tendancy for the inside wheel to lose contact with the road and spin. Only really for full race set ups with LSD.

Bennet
 
Guy

Sorry to say, when looking quite hard last year, I never found anyone selling upgrade kits.I once was able to mail a chap who races a P6 in the UK (sorry lost his address), his basic advice was to forget rear roll bars and be modist in uprating the front (otherwise loads of understeer). He had uprated the springs allround and lowered the car a lot, but he was'nt going to tell me specs !!, all the work was done as one off's by engineering firms.
As you have probably observed the P6 is very french in that it has soft long travel suspension, and quite a high ground clearance. As BB say's a roll bar would fight the soft springs and probably lift wheels very easily.
My desires and solutions were quite modest compared to yours, I shide away from shortening the springs (how much to take off that odd front ?), but lowered the car a bit with low profile tyres, and fitted adjustable Koni's (still sold for the P6, see a recent thread). I've recently replaced some worn rear bushes with polybushes. The car has a lot less "slop" with sharper steering and it leans slowly, but it will still lean a lot on fast long curves (passengers turn white about 1/2 way round a cloverleaf junction), but it allways seem to hang on and is always progressive (just like any P6, just tighter).

Now........how did you fit that dual exhaust ??
 
:) For anyone interested I managed to track down Nigel Yorkston who produced a handling kit for the P6 as well as mods for altering front caster/camber.

I am waiting to hear back from Nigel to see whether he still has the jigs to re-make anti-roll bars.

It is true that adding them in isolation would upset the car but with any suspensionmods they have to be compatible with each other ie. springs/dampers/bushes/roll-bar.

Nigel tested his on a racing P6 (see article in Transport road test book) and seems to have got the balance right to cure roll and understeer!

On another tack there is a fascinating article on Rudiger Wicke's website about the Vintrim Rover produced by the company of that name in NZ. I will see if it can be published in the club mag. Vintrim's is a car interior specialist but they joined forces with other auto specialists and produced fantastic one-off P6 special editions to customer orders.

Each car sold for between £20-£30 NZD (inc cost of donor car) = about £10-15,000. I am contact with them to find out more but one of these cars is coming up for sale shortly.

Will post more details idc.

jpe
 
jpe

Look forewards to any updates on Mr Yorkstons suspension. As you've probably guest I have neither the time, nor expertise to start fiddling with things like ride hights and spring rates, I've always bought off the shelf kits in the past. I have been suprised on the lack of one for the P6, especially since I have been pleasantly surprised by the speed (especially the V8) of the car, and and the sportiness of many owners ! The only people who think a fast P6 is unseemly appear to be people who don't own one. I don't spot many P6's on my travels, but when I do they always seem to be going somewhere at a rapid set of knots !

Yours Ron

PS I think I talk to much one this site, so I'm going to try to be mute for a few weeks.
 
I'd be interested to hear if uprated anti roll bars are available.

After my experience with lowering my Jensen Healey and making it a pretty unpleasant experience to drive except on a race track I'm not interested in changing the springs.

However I am planning to fit Koni or AVO adjustable shocks and a stiffer anti roll bar. One available off the shelf would be great.

Like Guy says once the door handles start getting scuffed you know you need to do something!

Bennet

PS don't stop posting Ron it's quiet enough in here anyway! Where did you get your Koni's from?
 
I have asimilar problem upcoming, except mines to be a 4.6 V8. Don't claim to be an expert in this field but a few basics to guide:

Hi front roll stiffness low rear = understeer

Reverse = oversteer

Roll stiffness is obtained by a combination of spring stiffness and roll bar stiffness. Increasing either increases roll stiffness.

I intend to tackle with a pair of HD rear springs to sort out the back and an uprated front roll bar to sort out the front. I reckon the latter should be quite easy to get run up by a local engineering shop.

I'm afraid balancing the two is trial and error unless you have a brain the size of a planet or a suitable computer programme and a lot of (probably) unobtainable data.

I shall therefore start with a big front bar and progressively turn (machine) it down till the balance feels about right. Happy days to come down country lanes with one front wing off! (to allow the roll bar to be drawn out sideways)

Dampers are an essential. They serve two functions: the obvious is to stop the wheels pattering and losing grip. The not so obvious is important for a Rover - they limit cornering "lurch", the initial rate of build up of lean which can distort a tyre and cause it to lose grip (understeer). Compare the cars behaviour doing sudden swerves (eg round a cone chicane) to how it is when nicely "settled" into a long corner.

That'll do nicely on the Koni's then.

Last but not least is front wheel camber. Std spec is quoted as 0 + or - 1 degree. Negative camber (ie wheels splayed at the bottom) promotes quicker turn in. Brothers Rae and Graham Davies of Moto - Build famously transformed the handling of the sluggish MGC by increasing negative camber at the front from 0 to 1.5 degrees. But beware, one persons quick turn in is another's twitchy straight line. That said I'm sure the P6 would benefit from a moderate effect. Judging by the + or - 1 degree then -1.5 degree sounds about right. The Davies's also gave the front of the MGC a little extra toe in to boot.

That still leaves me very interested indeed to hear how Nigel Yorkston tackled camber change and any photos of his rear roll bars.
 
In reply to chrisyorks post, I have engaged the services of Pedders Suspension to assist with the mods. They are specialists in handling mods, and the Rover represents a real change from the old live axle Fords and Holdens they are used to.
They are looking forward to the challenge and when the work is( finally) complete I will let the world know and hopefully publish specs where possible.
Dont stop dreaming up new schemes, I sure as eggs wont.
GUY. :p
 
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