biffy1984 Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Thought I’d share a few pics of my latest mods on the old girl. Bought some brand new daytona check material and had the centres of a pair of leather Escort RS Turbo recaros retrimmed. So much comfier than the GM seats. This past weekend has been spent fitting my new air ride set up which I’m glad to say I’m very happy with. I was sick of being pissed off with my ride height so thought this was the only way to go😎 Has anyone else got air ride? If so I’d like to hear what you think of it...good or bad... Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®evo03 Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 (edited) How can it be so clean, in such muck! 😟, looks boss! Height is perfect, some hate lowered, but looking at the photo, being lowered only enhance the lines, in mmy eyes cant make a manta look better, saying that i understamd purists with standard 4x4 ride height, Just look at most modern standard rwd, mercs, bms, all low, at trying to achieve this look, or modern 4x4s they are no higher than standard manta height, anyway, each to their own, as always. I am currently researching how to lower a manta more than 60mm from standard, it involves rising spring seats, adjusting bump stops, shorter shocks, harder shocks, even rising the front subframe in three places, reason is im fitting 13x9 rostyles, on lowish tyres, so dont want the 4x4 look, but taking into consideration, hut change and wheel change to 15x8 inch five stud volvo rims, looking at urs, 13 inch will bring base, floor even lower, oval 2 inch exhaust it is! Top work biff, any chance of linking where you got your airbags, and what was involved in fitting them? More photos Edited January 14, 2019 by ®evo03 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monaco Blue Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Love the seats! They look spot-on. Not so keen on the lowered look though. It's a bit too low IMHO but each to their own. Is it still drivable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ems Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Like the look of the car lowered, is that the parked height - do you drive at a higher setting? It's something I had thought about doing to mine, but need clearance for speed bumps and gravel roads. My old Sportshatch had 60mm lowered springs and Spax adjustables, the handling was excellent but it always scraped the exhaust over speed bumps, etc. Love the seats, did you retrim the back seats as well as they look like new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®evo03 Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 55 minutes ago, Ems said: My old Sportshatch had 60mm lowered springs and Spax adjustables, the handling was excellent 😀 but it always scraped the exhaust over speed bumps, etc.☹️ Reverse pot holes, eh! Flat oval exhaaust it is then, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffy1984 Posted January 14, 2019 Author Share Posted January 14, 2019 Thanks for the comments🙂 These photos are parked height, bags deflated, so not really driveable since the back tyres are about 2mm from touching the arches. I will run it about 30mm higher in the front and 10mm higher in the back so it’s level which works out to be 5.5bar in the front bags and 2.5bar in the rears. Could easy be higher but I prefer the low look. Slightly lower than it was with the -60mm springs. The front bumpstops have to be cut away to get the bags to sit in. The bags are a piece of piss to fit, one bolt up through front wishbone into the middle of the bag and the top just sits in the recess the old spring sat in, although I’d prefer if they were fixed so will do something with that next. Rears just bolt in from the bottom again with a large machined washer on the bottom of the axle to keep the bag central, again no fixing at the top, they locate themselves when you pump them up. Routing the pipes and figuring out the management was the biggest pain. The kit came from on air ride system, a company in Croatia. I found them on Instagram. Management is very basic with 4 valves, 2 inflate (front and rear) and 2 dump. 2 switches in the centre console and a digital dual pressure gauge in the dash but it just took me ages to figure it out having had no experience with air suspension before. I do have a remote as well which I’ll maybe wire in sometime. Ideally I’d like to get the Airlift 3p management, so much more advanced than this with preset heights, phone app etc but it’s so expensive....maybe some day! First I had it out for a run after fitting it all was yesterday, I was quite worried it would be bouncy and soft but it’s quite the opposite, a fair bit harder then the spax springs I had fitted before. Has anyone figured out how to delete old photos on the forum yet?? I do have plenty of photos of the fitting but my attachments now is 99%😫 1 hour ago, Ems said: Like the look of the car lowered, is that the parked height - do you drive at a higher setting? It's something I had thought about doing to mine, but need clearance for speed bumps and gravel roads. My old Sportshatch had 60mm lowered springs and Spax adjustables, the handling was excellent but it always scraped the exhaust over speed bumps, etc. Love the seats, did you retrim the back seats as well as they look like new. You’ll get your clearance just by pumping up the bags. I no longer have to use blocks of wood to get on the 2 post ramp, just pump her to full height and swing the arms in. Back seats are still standard. They’re in good nick apart from a bit of sun bleaching going on at the top. I have enough new material to do them so they will be on next year’s list of jobs! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ems Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 What dampers are you using with the airbags? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffy1984 Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 3 hours ago, Ems said: What dampers are you using with the airbags? Jamex shortened shocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legin500 Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Hi, I am very interested in doing this to my manta also. Do you have part numbers or a kit number that you used to order this? maybe a link? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent A Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 Where did you buy Daytona Check Fabric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffy1984 Posted March 2, 2019 Author Share Posted March 2, 2019 On 26/02/2019 at 14:11, legin500 said: Hi, I am very interested in doing this to my manta also. Do you have part numbers or a kit number that you used to order this? maybe a link? No numbers unfortunately. Look them up and send them a message on Instagram as their website is not up and running yet. On 01/03/2019 at 20:52, Kent A said: Where did you buy Daytona Check Fabric http://classiccarservices.co.uk/shop/oem-materials/vauxhall-nova-sport-daytona-seat-fabric-detail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent A Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 biffy1984. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooie811 Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 Anymore pics of the air ride install please ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffy1984 Posted April 29, 2019 Author Share Posted April 29, 2019 On 09/03/2019 at 22:26, shooie811 said: Anymore pics of the air ride install please ?? Yeah I'll upload more once I figure out how to get them on an image hosting site from my phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mepbowles Posted November 15, 2022 Share Posted November 15, 2022 Did you ever sort your photo problem? I'd be interested to see more photos of the setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTEPETE Posted November 15, 2022 Share Posted November 15, 2022 Looks like he has not been back to this forum since 2020...I am looking at air bagging my rear suspension to aid going over speed bumps and make it easier to get on and off ferrys, without ferry staff helping me with pieces of wood... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mepbowles Posted November 16, 2022 Share Posted November 16, 2022 That's exactly why I don't want to lower mine. It already struggles when fully laden. I've seen some airride kits in reasonable condition for a reasonable price but I'm a little cautious to drop £600+ on some kit that might work right. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted November 17, 2022 Share Posted November 17, 2022 Lower and go slightly larger diameter wheels to up clearance again 😎 But air ride can be pretty good. But seem some crappy setups over the years too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.