[trackday_prep] 405 Mi16 Track Car

[Guest gti_al]

A friend's fiancee started a company doing exactly this. I hadn't considered it, but it might be handy for my 505. I was going to get it resprayed, but vinyl might be more fun if i could change it more regularly.

 

What does it cost retail to get a car done? I've never really discussed it with him - maybe i should. That 205 looks great.

[cammmy 1]

I was thinking of that car Heath. Couldn't be bothered trawling for the piccies though

[JeffR 51]

Finally got round to uploading this vid from a sprint session at Phillip Island last year-

 

 

Was really windy and wet early on, but the weather cleared up and the afternoon sessions were dry thankfully.

[chris adams 0]

Finally got round to uploading this vid from a sprint session at Phillip Island last year-

 

 

Was really windy and wet early on, but the weather cleared up and the afternoon sessions were dry thankfully.

 

sweet ! some cockpit footage would go down a treat

[JeffR 51]

Been a while since I updated this project as getting the new plenum & firewall panels welded in took longer than expected.

 

In the meantime I replaced the steering rack boot which had disintegrated most likely caused from the heat from the extractors. I think I'll fit the rack heat shield this time & see if that fixes the problem.

 

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff499/Pgti6/DSCF0547.jpg

 

Also cleaned up & painted the front (406) calipers, hubs & subframe.

 

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff499/Pgti6/DSCF0556.jpg

 

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff499/Pgti6/DSCF0557.jpg

 

After removing 1 1/2 bucket loads (20 litre bucket) of body deadener from the cabin area & wheel arches with a heat gun as well as cleaning up where the cage mounts attached, I used a combination of seam sealer & bitumen paint to re-protect the outer floor pan.

 

To prevent the rusting out of the plenum again where the pedal box/brake booster sits, I've filled the entire area with seam sealer (still some more to add) and drilled a drain hole to allow it to escape to the wheel well drain hole.

 

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff499/Pgti6/DSCF0582.jpg

 

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff499/Pgti6/DSCF0583.jpg

 

I've spent the last couple of days masking up the car ready for paint.

 

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff499/Pgti6/DSCF0586.jpg

 

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff499/Pgti6/DSCF0584.jpg

 

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff499/Pgti6/DSCF0585.jpg

 

The panel shop have kindly offered me their portable compressor which should be good enough to do the engine bay & cabin. (I've abandoned the idea of an external colour change).

 

 

[JeffR 51]

Picked up my 2 pack paint, primer for the plastics, etc. this week only to find out the paint booth is booked out solid for most of next month. Damn, but it's given me a chance to work on a few trim pieces, new grill logo, picked up some red mirror covers and make some blanking plates for the fog lamp holes.

 

I'll make new attaching brackets for the bumpers & the front one will have quick release type fasteners (Dzus?) making it easier for getting it on & off a trailer.

 

Also been working on the dummy engine build getting piston to valve & CR calcs done. Pistons, rods, ARP bolts & crank went off this morning to be fitted up for resizing.

Edited September 30, 2011 by JeffR

[JeffR 51]

Got my goodies back from the engineers last Friday. Shot peened rods, ARP rod bolts fitted and piston valve reliefs fly cut deeper for the new solid cams.

 

Fitted the crank, one liner/piston and set up the dial gauge to find true TDC...

 

fitted the head and with one inlet & exhaust valve fitted without springs was able to measure their clearances.

 

While I had the dial gauge out I also measured crank endfloat.

 

Next comes the paint job. I have a spray booth booked next week & will paint the engine bay, cabin, boot & bumpers in 2 pack Magnum/Steel Grey.

[JeffR 51]

Yesterday was painting day.

 

We trucked the car to the paint booth early morning & had the car finally masked, the plastics hanging on hooks & the front & rear bars on stands ready to flexi prime by about 10 am.

 

They supplied an air-fed mask, gloves, tak cloths & masking paper & was grateful they 'lent' me their paint mixer who kept me supplied with paint refills when necessary & advising me on technique.

 

Overall, not a bad job (if I say so myself ) although on close inspection today there are a few blobs & runs here & there, but certainly presentable enough for a track car.

[Guest davetibbs]

Nice, looks great!

[B1ack_Mi16 67]

Looks really good

 

I'm dreaming of the day I'm finished painting mine

[JeffR 51]

Thanks for the comments guys. I don't think I'd take on projects like yours without the proper welding skills especially after my early (failed) attempts with the thin metal they used on these cars.

 

So the re-assembly begins. I started in the plenum and fitted the brake booster, m/cylinder & wiper motor only to discover that brake fluid had leaked out of the m/cylinder and into the cabin from the old pedal box seal. Rang the local dealer & it was $55 & a 2 week wait-ex France. No thanks, I'll make my own! Cut a new one from 3mm rubber which seals perfectly.

 

 

Made a few brackets & mounted the fuse/relay box up against the bulkhead. Not ideal with the weight of the loom pulling on it so I'll probably re-position it.

 

 

Painted under the front guards in bitumen paint & applied a 'stipple' effect with the brush tip.

 

 

Finished painting the front & rear bars & fitted the plastic strips & fog light inserts made from the plastic centre console!

 

 

Fitted up the Wiseco pistons with rings & assembled them with the liners.

 

Edited November 22, 2011 by JeffR

[JeffR 51]

Time for another update .

 

Been re-assembling the dash leaving out or taping up as much of the unnecessary wiring as possible. Decided to move the relay/fuse box & came up with a pivoted drop down arrangement.

 

 

A bit agricultural holding it up with rubber bands I know, but I'll change to something better later on.

 

I would have liked to go more savage on the looms as there's some good weight savings to be made, but I don't want to introduce any electrical problems into the rebuild at this stage. Maybe when everything is up a running reliably, I'll re-wire the entire car.

 

Made a better throttle stop for the pedal.

 

 

Moved the mirror switches up to the dash eliminating the centre console.

 

 

The front door trims have warped so much that the original buttons would no longer lock/unlock the doors. Without the buttons they worked fine, so I slid some rubber over the wire down & around the bends so as to stop it pulling off & put a plastic button in the end. Looks crap, but at least I can lock the car manually now (central locking long since removed).

 

 

When I can find some suitable alloy sheet, I'll replace all the trims.

 

Managed to clean up & save the rear screen rubber since they are NLA. I think I'll leave it up to the mobile screen experts to bond it on along with the front one.

 

 

I fitted the repaired & repainted front guard to check the colour match. Difficult to see from the pic but not bad, maybe a touch lighter.

 

 

That's all for now....

 

 

[B1ack_Mi16 67]

That starts to come along quite nicely.

 

Functionality over design is the best way to go on a track car. I was trying to make my 205 track car "perfect" by any means, but it all ended with that I really don't care about it at all any longer.

It will get scratches in the paint, it will get dirty etc. Just to get used to the thought. hehe.

 

Not long til that one can start up and do a testdrive now I guess. Lucky you that don't have winter and -10 celcius at the moment

[JeffR 51]

Thanks mate. I can almost see an end in sight too having been at about this position before ie:engine/box/suspension out. I know what you mean about 'perfect'. I realise once you get involved in circuit racing stone chips, cracked windscreens & panel damage are a 'given'.

 

I've done nearly all I can do with the car on the ground. Next is to put it up on jacks & start on the fuel tank/lines, etc. I've noticed that the clearance for the 24mm rear roll bar through the left side trailing arm will need slightly enlarging.

 

I'll be needing those eccentric top mounts pretty soon too if you see this Rodion (hint hint)

 

A chap who races one in the State Championship has removed the dash altogether & has only oil pressure & l/p warning light, water temp & shift light. That alone would probably save 30-40 kgs along without the std loom. He also runs only one of the 2 cooling fans.

 

Cams & oil feed restrictors are ordered so when they arrive, I can work on shimming the head.

[JeffR 51]

A bit more progress over Christmas/New Year......

 

I fitted the braided brake hoses to the rear. Not a lot of room to get to the shorter one above the beam.

 

Installed the 23mm torsion bars & lowered the rear ride height by another 25mm.

 

Got the cut down 45 litre fuel tank in. I had to reshape the float arm to miss one of the baffles inside the tank.

 

Managed to pick up some new old stock outer CV kits. Easy to replace-just bloody messy!

 

They came with a different version of the Ligarex banding straps where you can lever them tight with a narrow screwdriver.

 

My new billet cams & oil restrictors arrived this week, so I set about finishing off the bottom end with an XU10 pump as it's fitted with a sprocket cover, something the XU9 pumps don't have.

 

Everything was going well up to this point until I went to re-fit the head. Using the factory 3 stage system, I stripped one of the block threads during its 300 degree final stretch. Pissed off it happened as it's cost me a set of headbolts & I'll most likely have to remove the sump, spacer & pump to get the block sitting squarely under a drill press. So now I'll drill them all out and fit threaded inserts.

[B1ack_Mi16 67]

Have stripped the block threads myself, so know the feeling. That 300 degree stretching procedure is quite insane, and if the threads are a bit damaged already it might just collapse.

 

But in fact, maybe it's a good thing, just change all the threads to helicoil inserts, and you probably won't have that problem again later at least.

 

I've started ignoring the normal stretch procedure of the head bolts, I just lubricate them good and do them 95Nm instead and leave it with that.

At least it worked fine on the 2.3 race engine last time I did it, and that was even when re-using the cometic head-gasket as I didn't have a new one at hand. I have a iron block though. The M11 bolts for the aluminium block might actually start to yield before 95Nm, depending on the lubrication.

 

 

[JeffR 51]

Wasn't too pleased when it happened, but as you said once it's done it should be another issue out of the way. It's getting done professionally atm as I had no way of accurately drilling it. Should have it back next week.

 

 

[JeffR 51]

Time for another update.

 

While I was waiting for the block to have thread inserts installed, I organised with Warren at GAZ to send over a set of keeper/helper springs & bases. Also my 2 litre catch can arrived from EBay UK. Comes with 2 different pipe fittings, a breather, vizi tube & a magnetic drain bung. God, if you found metallic parts in the catch can the rest of the engine would only be good for a boat anchor!

 

 

Had 100% success with fitting the head again using the factory specs. I'm impressed with thread inserts-didn't really think they'd handle the 300 degree stretch.

 

That allowed me to move on and begin shimming the head. I had a set of 1mm thick shims which proved to be to thin to accurately measure the back of the cam to bucket distance. I rang Chris at Precision Shims (http://www.precisionshims.com.au/a/Precision-Shims-Australia) & asked him to make me a set 3mm thick. No probs-picked them up 2 1/2 hours later! What service.

 

 

I labelled up all the components, fitted the shims, buckets & a cam & carefully worked through the lobes to get a shimmed total for each.

 

 

 

 

 

I now need to subtract the valve clearance from the figures & get the shims made to that size.

[B1ack_Mi16 67]

You just reminded me why I will be using hydraulic lifters on my new T16 engine

 

Remember all the fiddling with the shims I had on the 2.3 engine before I finally got it right

 

Keep up the good work!

 

[JeffR 51]

Yeah, it is a bit fiddly-especially measuring the inlet tolerances while trying to straddle the head casting. Anyway, I've sent off the final shim measurements to have made. Only when I re-do the valve clearances will I know if I've got them right first time.

 

BTW-Have you got a link to your 2.3 build? I wouldn't mind having a read of it.

[B1ack_Mi16 67]

Yeah, it is a bit fiddly-especially measuring the inlet tolerances while trying to straddle the head casting. Anyway, I've sent off the final shim measurements to have made. Only when I re-do the valve clearances will I know if I've got them right first time.

 

Indeed, sometimes they somehow "change" after you think you got them right. I remember they were really expensive also over here, so it was a real pain both for getting them right and for the wallet

 

BTW-Have you got a link to your 2.3 build? I wouldn't mind having a read of it.

 

It's a thread on the 205 gtidrivers forum:

http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index.php?s...=67295&st=0

[petert1345402284 0]

Indeed, sometimes they somehow "change" after you think you got them right.

 

Yes, and even then you need to check them after you've run the cams in.

 

Don't forget to pour some Break-In Lube over the cams before putting the cam cover on for the second last time. Crane or Comp Cams.

[welshpug 1,661]

they look like normal XU/XUD shims, are they?

[petert1345402284 0]

Lash cap shims.

 

http://www.precisionshims.com.au/?stg=29

[JeffR 51]

Hey Welshpug, if you've got an XU/XUD shim handy, could you measure this distance for me please?

 

 

Thanks

 

EDIT: I just looked on ServiceBox & it seems the XU/XUD are flat shims without a skirt.

Edited February 16, 2012 by JeffR