[trackday_prep] Bigtimmys Track Hack

[Bigtimmy 1]

Hi Guys,

 

I thought it was about time to post up some info about my first (but probably not last) 205 track car build.

 

I was a bit ambitious first time round and ended up buying a very green 205 that had been built for the 205 challange a few years back. It came on 4 wheels, had steering, cage, dash, suspension and a few other bits. (Team Kermit)

 

For the money I paid I wasn't too fussed about the overall condition, and it looked like a good place to start. One of the lads locally to home prepares a few of the road rally cars so I took a trip to see him and sorted out a newly rebuilt 1900 engine and box...bingo I thought it will be easy enough to sort out and get on the track.

 

We sat down and came up with a list of things that I needed to buy to get the project on the track, like a rad, oil cooler, exhaust, you get the picture.

 

During this time I had stripped and refurbed the front hubs (1600) and bottom arms ready to go back on, tarted up the engine bay with some paint and given the underside a good clean up and underseal so I was feeling quite pleased with myself!

 

In looking for the bits I needed I found a full car with lots of spares on fleabay and after a couple of questions to the seller I decided to bid. It didn't make it's reserve so I came to an agreement with the guy and picked it up and brought it back to The Wales.

 

The intention was to take some of the nice parts off the full car, snaffle them for the track car and then replace the parts I had taken off with some of the spare bits. However after looking at the new car (Team Whitey) I quickly came to the conclusion that it would be better to take the cage out of Team Kermit and weld and bolt it into Team Whitey.

 

A week after buying Whitey it went for a cursory mot at our local garage and came back with a list of 12 points 4 of which were tyres. There was also a wheel bearing, some lightbulbs, a seat mounting and a non working seatbelt. So with a set of Toyo Proxes PX4's and a couple of new wheel bearings pressed into the newly refurbed hubs we now have an mot.

 

Next is the engine side of things which will involve pulling out the old lump and after some engine bay tarting we will put in the freshly built 1900 from the man down the road, I'll probably fit a catch tank, possibly an oil cooler and maybe some nice silicon hoses.

 

Then I'll run it all in for a few hundred miles and check everything is ok on the road before taking it to the track on Anglesey in mid Feb.

 

It also appears that the bottom arms on Whitey are from a 309 and with the 1600 hubs it makes it very wide at the front and to be fair it does look hard as nails.

 

I'll need a seat as well and I'll have to strip some of the interior out to get the cage in.

 

Keep an eye out for updates and when I work out how to link to a photobucket doofy I'll post a few pictures.

 

Any advice or comments are more than welcome.

[Bigtimmy 1]

Right then, as promised I have worked out the photobooty thing and here are a couple of photos of the Track Hack project as it stands now.

 

Team Kermit as bought

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...18102009214.jpg

 

Team Kermit as bought 2

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...23102009220.jpg

 

Team Kermit engine bay tart up after cleaning

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...22102009216.jpg

 

Team Kermit engine bay tart up during

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...22102009218.jpg

 

Team Kermit engine bay tart up completed!

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...23102009219.jpg

 

Nicely cleaned up and painted front hub

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...27102009232.jpg

 

Team Whitey on its way back to The Wales

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...04112009238.jpg

 

Team Whitey back in the shed

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...06112009242.jpg

 

Booty shot

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...04112009241.jpg

 

Side shot

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...04112009240.jpg

 

Polished and moted

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...07112009243.jpg

 

Hope you like these photos so far!

[Batfink 201]

The green one looks better!

Its also had more than just a cage fitted. Its got re-enforced top mounts for starters so I would be inclined to have a good look and see if there is more strengthening and seam welding. Could be a better base in the long term

[Bigtimmy 1]

Hi Batfink,

 

You are correct with your observation, it has indeed been seam welded and gussetted, but it was also a sunroof model which has been craftily diguised as a non sunroof model with lots of filler.

 

I take your point as it being perhaps a better base for a project, however for me at the moment I am going to get going with Team Whitey which will suffice for a track day car at the time being. It is my intention to do some racing in a year or so and I might build up Team Kermit with that in mind.

 

Cheers for the comment.

 

Tim

[Bigtimmy 1]

Right then, a brief update for you all.

 

I am currently gathering some shiny bits for the car and have a nice collection which will be making their way onto the car next week.

 

The shiny bits consist of the following.

 

1 x Grp N top engine mount

1 x Uprated other engine mount

1 x OMP adjustable strut brace

1 x set of polybushes for the 309 bones

1 x set of uprated exhaust mount rubbers

1 x shiny blue rocker cover

2 x Gaz Golds with eccentric top mounts and 300lb springs (Thanks a million James R)

2 x 24mm torsion bars for the rear beam (Thanks a million Anthony)

1 x Mocal oil cooler kit

1 x freshly rebuilt 1900 engine with new clutch etc

1 x seam welded subframe

1 x Safety Devices roll cage

2 x Sabelt 3" 4 point harnesses

1 x new rad

1 x 2600kg Brian James AD series tilt bed trailer (a friend owed me a favour!)

1 x K&N 57i induction kit (free from a friend so why not!)

 

So that little lot will be making its way towards the car quite soon.

 

I need some other bits to finish the job which include

 

2 x Tarmac comp spec rear Billies

1 x Thicker rear ARB

1 x fat mans bucket seat

1 x set of samco or similar hoses

1 x set of rose jointed gear linkages and possibly a quickshift.

 

Then I'm off to Ty Croes (Anglesey) my local circuit on the 20th Feb for a first blast round.

 

The only other thing I might want is a set of slicks or similar and I want to ask for your help with this.

 

I am currently running 15's which are lovely and nice, but would I be better running a set of 14's on the track. I'm just thinking about the roll involved and the possibility of tyres rubbing etc. Plus the fact that 14 inch tyres are cheaper to buy.

 

A lot of the rally boys round here run 14's and there must be a reason for it.

 

When looking for 14's are they the same as 15's in the respect that the earlier ones were Speedline and the later ones were SMR?

 

Any help with this would be appreciated.

 

Cheers

 

Tim

[Bigtimmy 1]

So here we are a week or so later from my last post and things have moved on somewhat!

 

I have bought a bucket seat (Sparco Pro ADV) should have been £504 from the Demon Thieves people, but they had an online auction as it has been sat in their shed for a coulple of years and I picked it up for a measly £245.

 

Went to collect on Saturday and bought a helmet as well which makes me look suspiciously like Wallace from Wallace & Gromit.

 

I also managed to pick up some nice Gold wheels and some hoses from the ever helpful for sale section on here.

 

So today is the big day, off for an engine!

 

Hopefully that will be done in a couple of weeks then its cage time over Christmas, (saves having to spend time with the in laws!)

 

Then in early January I can start running the car in ready for the track.

[Bigtimmy 1]

Hi guys,

 

Well there was a slight hiccup with the engine going in, (the guy is busy for a week or two with other work)

 

So no dramas, I decided to strip out the interior and put the seat and cage in.

 

I have put a few photos below of the progress so far. I got the seat in on the original rails with Sparco sidemounts and it all worked well until I tried to get in, which I did, but then got a great view of the sunvisor rather than the windscreen, boo hoo. After deciding that I'd be better off making rails for it we fabricated a set of seat bars which fit nicely, although a little off centre on the steering wheel but not much.

 

Today is the cage. I cannot bring myself to pay Safety Devices nearly £125 for a set of weld in plates to mount the cage onto so I'm fabricating my own for somewhat less money.

 

Anyhow a few more piccys below.

 

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...15122009287.jpg

Stripped

 

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...11112009245.jpg

Little Tim helping out with a wheel change

 

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...15122009288.jpg

Original idea with original seat rails and sidemounts = bad neck

 

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...15122009289.jpg

Nice blue seat

 

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...16122009291.jpg

Seat bars in with a bit of vertical strengthening.

 

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...15122009290.jpg

Cage in to get position

 

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...23112009256.jpg

Perfect 2 car garage, unfortunately its all at work in the shed, but being the boss makes it ok!

[Baz 421]

Coming along nicely!

 

Did you get the hoses? I have some Sd C12 cage Mounts in stock too mate! (Alot cheaper than SD's!)

 

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f255/205...FS/DSC00646.jpg

Edited December 17, 2009 by Baz

[Batfink 201]

i have garage envy lol

[Bigtimmy 1]

Cheers Baz, No hoses yet, I guess Mr posty is busy delivering cards and junk mail!

 

Have those cage mounts got nuts welded in place already? How much?

 

Batfink, I should have the shed full of boats, but I couldn't see the car getting wet over the winter. Next door I've got some more of the "fleet", The Landy and the beetle are in for Xmas along with a tractor!

 

But really it should be full of boats...honest!

[Baz 421]

Cheers Baz, No hoses yet, I guess Mr posty is busy delivering cards and junk mail!

 

Have those cage mounts got nuts welded in place already? How much?

 

Ahh, well i guess they should be with you hopefully!

 

The mounts do have the nuts in place yes they're exactly as the pic, i'll PM you now.

Edited December 17, 2009 by Baz

[Bigtimmy 1]

Right then, it's time for an update.

 

Before Xmas I was hoping to take the car to my man for a new engine, but was waiting to get a full collection of shiny bits so it could be done quickly and with as little pain as possible to the old wallet!

 

However it didn't happen, and my list of required shiny bits got longer and I'm just about there now.

 

The lad who does my welding at work also broke his kneecap over xmas and is off work for 8 weeks, so I have had to reteach myself to weld again with the old mig which has been fun...Always wear gloves, I have ended up with a great Cheshire permatan on my left hand!!

 

After welding some bits of steel together I thought that I was god and I should really have a go at doing the engine swap myself, in the words of Mr Clarkson, "how hard can it be..........."

 

Not very as it turns out. It took about a day to get the engine out and I've now spent a very cold day steam cleaning and grinding and painting and will finish that tomorrow and start prodding the new engine in on Monday complete with shiny bits!

 

I have been quite methodical with it and have marked up most of the loom as it came out and taken a good number of photos of wiring and plugs etc as I've gone on so the refit should be quite a smooth affair next week. Modern technology does make all the difference these days, and taking a couple of photos is so much easier than stopping and drawing a picture of which hose went where...genius!

 

The only problems I found whilst getting the old unit out was the clutch cable nuts had seized and were taught a lesson with a grinder and the front crossmember had rusted through on the drivers side. I have sorted that out by making a repair panel with some fresh steel and have migged it into place and painted with some primer.

 

There are photos but they are on the phone so I'll put them up tomorrow when I have completed the rattlecan enginebay marathon!!

[Bigtimmy 1]

Right I've completed phase 2 of the engine swap.

 

Went into work this morning and masked up the engine bay and blurted a couple of rattlecans at it and a bit of underseal on the newly welded front crossmember.

 

It doesn't look too bad, I was hoping for a better finish, but it is baltic in the shed and at the end of the day its a feckin track car not a bloomin concourse jobby!

 

So as promised yesterday evening.....some photos!

 

Most of the bits and bobs stripped off and the engine loom off and marked up

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...07012010313.jpg

 

Engine out and we are left with a cruddy engine bay to tidy up

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...08012010314.jpg

 

There we have it an engine dangling on an engine crane.

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...08012010315.jpg

 

A bit of grinding and some primer

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...09012010316.jpg

 

Masked up and ready to paint

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...10012010317.jpg

 

And hey presto a nice shiny engine bay, still masked up whilst the paint dries.

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...10012010318.jpg

 

So there we are, I'll go and collect the new engine in the morning and start to transfer some bits over and bolt on some shiny bits woop woop!

[Bigtimmy 1]

Wednesday evening update!

 

Collected engine on Monday morning.

 

Decided to do the rear beam whilst waiting for a few last bits so got that off the car and onto the bench.

 

Followed the useful beam guide on here and removed the bars and replaced them. Bolted on the billies, checked all the bushes, bearings etc, replaced the mountings with the solid items front and back then bolted it all back onto the car and replaced the rear brakepipes because I had some!

 

Then sorted the bottom engine mount, "removed" the mount from the housing then pressed in the new uprated one.

 

Tuesday saw a hassle to get the baffled sump into place, and that took most of the morning, then sorted the polybushes for the bottom arms, "removed" the old ones crusty ones then replaced with shiny new ones. Also put rose joint on the subframe and made it ready for installation.

 

Today was a bit of a messy day. Sorted a couple of perished cv boots, replaced the clutch cable, fuel filter and replaced the fuel feed and return pipes with braided hoses to make it shiny!

 

Also prepped all the gear linkages for the rose jointed ones. Drilled and tapped the gear selector on the box and put an M8 bar in there ready to put the joint on and welded on some bolts to the L bracket.

 

So everything is going along quite well and tomorrow first thing the new engine will be going into the hole to be followed by lots of connecting up and swearing as things don't quite fit!

 

I had a look at the new engine and it looks quite nice, it has had a new clutch, waterpump and cambelt and with the sump off I had a quick look inside and from what I could see with the maglit it all looks A ok.

 

As usual I've forgotten the lead for the phone so I'll post some photos tomorrow.

 

Onwards!

[Bigtimmy 1]

Friday evening and the engine is in AND it runs!!

 

Thursday morning saw a 9am start and by 10am the engine was in and bolted up on its mounts, the rest of Thursday was spent connecting up all the various looms and connectors and working a few new bits into the mix whilst trying hard to keep the whole lot including the engine bay clean and tidy.

 

 

By 1530 on Thursday we were ready to turn the key, with most of everything plumbed in apart from air filter and rad, fans etc.

 

Battery connected.

 

Key turned

 

Fuel pumped

 

Engine turning over

 

No spark

 

Bugger!

 

We spent another hour looking at it and testing one or two things before declaring that it would be better to go home!

 

Friday morning 9am and we were back into it and by 1030 we had substituted dizzy, coil pack, ignition module, rotor arm dizzy cap, tested leads etc and no joy.

 

My mate Roger who has been a great help all week has been grumbling all week about the redundant alarm loom that was in the car and it turns out that one of us (probably me) undid an earth that connects the alarm loom up and allows it to complete its circuit and produce sparks!!

 

So by about 11am we had go go go and it sounded great.

 

Then we spent most of the afternoon connecting up new rose jointed gear linkages and making them work.

 

Tomorrows jobs will include rad, fans, air filter and tidying up some more wiring.

 

Meantime here are some photos.

 

New engine in

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...14012010330.jpg

 

Plumbing in

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...14012010331.jpg

 

More plumbing in

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...14012010334.jpg

 

Oil Cooler plumbed in

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n398/Bi...14012010333.jpg

[Bigtimmy 1]

Sunday evening and I have had a bit of a lazy weekend with the car and have spent a wee bit of time with the Mrs and the dog to keep them happy!!

 

Still I've managed to do quite a bit of "finishing off" work so I should be done and on the road again by the middle of the week I reckon.

 

I put the rad in and added the fans, added the driveshafts, hubs and suspension, sorted out the routing for the K&N and plumbed that in too. I then decided to look at the crusty wing which pretty much fell off in my hand so I replaced it with one from Kermit which as you'll see from the photo is slightly different in colour, but I think I'll get away with it!

 

Tomorrow will see some more prodding and poking of the bumper and valence and maybe a bit of roll cage work.

 

More photos below, now with thumbnails...because I can!

 

Rad and fans back in

 

Nice shiny engine bay

 

Nearside suspension mount with datum markings

 

Some shiny rose jointed gear linkages courtesy of Miles...excellent quality

 

Shiny Gaz struts

 

I'm sure no one will notice the difference in colour.....

[Sandy 191]

Nice work Tim!

 

Familiar backdrop

[Bigtimmy 1]

Tuesday Update!

 

Nearly there!

 

Everything is pretty much back in place now

 

 

Before making sure everything was tight and ready to hit the road I decided to run the engine up to temperature to make sure everything worked as it should.

 

Turns out it didn't!

 

Still it's better to know that the fans don't work now rather than finding out at a later date!!

 

Turns out that the feed for the fan switch in the rad had been discombobulated at some point in the past and looking at the crustiness on the wire it wasn't something I had done!!

 

So after some head scratching and electrical testing we found out that the fans worked, the relays did their jobs and eventually all was well.

 

So we ran it up to temperature again and hey presto fans whirred and engine was cooled!!

 

Today saw me sort a battery out, sort some nice tapered nuts out for the Speedlines and prepared the interior for the roll cage install.

 

Hopefully tomorrow I can put the thing on its wheels and possibly take it for a drive!!

 

Woop Woop

[Baz 421]

Nice work Tim, you're not hanging about are you mate!

[Bigtimmy 1]

Nice work Tim, you're not hanging about are you mate!

 

January is usually a quiet time for us so I tried to get everything together ready for a mad couple of weeks getting the car done.

 

I reckon by the end of this week I will be done and the car will be ready for a bit of running in and then a track day on the 20th Feb and I can begin to set the car up as I want it.

 

I'd love to say I can wait for the 20th Feb....but I can't so I might have to book an earlier one!

[dylbachgti 0]

January is usually a quiet time for us so I tried to get everything together ready for a mad couple of weeks getting the car done.

 

I reckon by the end of this week I will be done and the car will be ready for a bit of running in and then a track day on the 20th Feb and I can begin to set the car up as I want it.

 

I'd love to say I can wait for the 20th Feb....but I can't so I might have to book an earlier one!

 

 

glad its all coming together mate cant wait to see it

[Bigtimmy 1]

Friday....Job Jobbed!!

 

Woo hoo I've been for a bit of a jaunt down the road this afternoon.

 

So yesterday (Thursday) I started and finished the tunnel modification and fitted the seat.

 

This morning I bled the brakes, relocated the washer bottle to under the scuttle, which seems to be the only place it will fit now, put some wheels on the car and took it to the local garage to do the tracking.

 

With both front wheels pointing in the same direction I tok it for a drive round the village and it feels great.

 

Back in the shed I tightened the roll cage up and fitted the drivers harness and adjusted it so it is quite snug.

 

Then it got dark so I went for a celebratory pint and drove the mile home and parked the car on the drive ready or some running in tomorrow.

 

Initial thoughts are good. The seat is amazingly low and the ride is firm to say the least with the only real suspension being a bit of flex in the sidewalls of the tyres!!

 

I'll update again tomorrow with some running in news, but meantime here are a couple of photos of the (nearly) finished car.

 

 

 

 

[Bigtimmy 1]

Saturday.

 

Ideal conditions for a bit of a run in!!

 

Cloudy, no rain and dryish roads.

 

Set off from home and made a round trip of about 50 miles.

 

Didn't really give it the beans apart from once when an overtake of 4 or 5 cars presented itself. Other than that I tried to keep it under about 3500rpm whilst running the new engine in.

 

Oil pressure was excellent and the coolant temp sat at about 80 degrees give or take a few.

 

The seating position is awesome and it feels so low. The car feels amazingly chuckable and it corners well, although it wasn't exactly warp speed motoring!

 

So weather permitting I'll be doing some more miles in the morning...happy days!

[Bigtimmy 1]

Sunday.

 

I've been out again in the car and put another 100 miles on it this afternoon. What a joy to drive!

 

I tried some varied surfaces from lovely flat, smooth and newly laid tarmac to super narrow, concrete single track road rally stages.

 

All in all it isn't too bad, however I think I may have loosened the one and only filling I have and my arse is as numb as numb can be, so I met up with the local bike club guys on the way back and had a celebratory pint.

 

I'm still smiling and will hopefully put some more miles on the car again over the next week.

[dylbachgti 0]

Sunday.

 

I've been out again in the car and put another 100 miles on it this afternoon. What a joy to drive!

 

I tried some varied surfaces from lovely flat, smooth and newly laid tarmac to super narrow, concrete single track road rally stages.

 

All in all it isn't too bad, however I think I may have loosened the one and only filling I have and my arse is as numb as numb can be, so I met up with the local bike club guys on the way back and had a celebratory pint.

 

I'm still smiling and will hopefully put some more miles on the car again over the next week.

 

 

went to see this car in the flesh today i love it thanks for the welcome tim and the t body keep up the good work!