Zx Beam: Is Anything Else Worth Keeping?

[Stu 18]

Howdy all,

 

I managed to drop lucky on a disk braked ZX beam over the weekend, not seized, but i havent got it apart as yet so what its like inside is anyones guess! Couldnt get the bonnet open on it and there were no badges, but the rev counter started to redline at 5k so im guessing it was a Volcane rather than a ZX16v.

 

All i want to know really is if anything else is worth keeping bar the trailing arms; are the t/b's or arb any use? does the tube fit anything else?

[welshpug 1,657]

no wheelarch trims = not 16v.

 

as you noted, red band from 5k wont be the valver, it starts at 6.5k on the valver.

 

ARB may be useful, it'll be a 22mm one if it was a volcane, 1170mm long, dont know if 22mm would be too narrow to be shortened.

 

torsion bars will be 20mm, good for the DTurbo crowd!

 

tube, only good for a 306/zx/xsara, or a widetrack 205/309....

[Stu 18]

Hmm.. i might keep the t/b's for the D tub then! I didnt realise they were that wide! So how do they compare (length wise) to the 306 stuff?

 

Do you know what size the 309 GTI arb is Mei?

 

Off topic, ive got the dims of that Mi exhaust donut, ill get the pics uploaded onto the 'other' forum early tomorrow mate.

[welshpug 1,657]

309 ARB is something like 20.5 offhand Stu,

 

Citroen did like making the rear ends stiffer that peugeot! my ZX has 21mm T/B's as opposed to the GTi6's 20's

 

306 is identical to the ZX in all but bodypanels and trim, and small details like these.

 

cheers for the flange gasket/ring of fire details

[RossD 44]

Redline at 5k? Could have been a TD version then.

[Anthony 1,003]

Yup, sounds like a Volcane TD to me.

 

Keep the arms and brake setup, and the ARB should be a 22mm one that can be shorterned by 205 Parts.

 

Rest of it can be scrapped really.

[Stu 18]

Coolio..

 

Im thinking of using the arb in my 309 beam, but im also toying with the idea of building another 309 beam with the zx arms and arb now..

 

Decisions decisions..

 

Has anyone done a beam like this? for a 205 anyhow?

[Anthony 1,003]

Coolio..

 

Im thinking of using the arb in my 309 beam, but im also toying with the idea of building another 309 beam with the zx arms and arb now..

 

Decisions decisions..

 

Has anyone done a beam like this? for a 205 anyhow?

I've run 309 beams with ZX arms on various sized ARB's (including 22mm) for around 18 months now.

[Stu 18]

How did that behave Anthony? Did you/do you keep the stock front arb?

[Anthony 1,003]

How did that behave Anthony? Did you/do you keep the stock front arb?

I've tried both 205 and 309 front ARB's - decided on a 205 one in the end, as I found the 309 one whilst better balanced in faster corners (coupled with a 24mm rear ARB) tended to reduce traction on the inside front wheel far too much.

 

I personally like the 309 beam and ZX arms combination, coupled with Group A mounts and Challenge dampers gives a planted confidence inspiring rear end that works well on road and track. The thickness of the rear ARB is down to personal preference I'd say and conditions - 22mm works well on the road and doesn't seem to get twitchy, whereas a 24mm gives you awesome turn-in and noticeable improvement on track, but can start to feel nervous on fast sweepers with a poor road surface.

 

Currently running a 22mm ARB and 22mm torsion bars, although I'm thinking about reverting back to 20mm TB's and 24mm ARB as that was slightly better suited to the use the car primarily gets at the moment.

[Stu 18]

At the rear im running a standard 309 beam with stock t/b's and arb, grp A mounts, and adjustable koni's, so it looks like it might be worth swapping the arb into my beam as an intermediate step while i build another beam.

 

Im toying with the idea of swapping to coilovers on the front so building a new beam with the zx arms and bigger tb's/arb might be something for the future.

 

Depends what the trailing arm shafts are like really, if they're good then it might be worth swapping across now!