[project] Silver 1.9 Gti 16v Project (now Gti-6)

[GLPoomobile 958]

It is in the thread yes, however the pictures may have disappeared! Im working on getting all of them together again now. Basically i just made some brakets up that locate the radiator pegs on the base in the same way as standard (i even used the standard rubber bungs from the standard rad cowling). These were then bolted to the lower cross brace between the headlamp panels. I then just made some brakets to pick up on the top of the rad and attach it at the corners. Ive got 4-6 inches of clear space between the slam panel and rad now.

 

You forgot to mention the funky bracing you welded under the slam panel after moving the rad cowling down

[taylorspug 7]

You're right I have. But ive already documented the lot earlier in the topic, im buggered if im going through all of it again!

[andyjstone 6]

It is in the thread yes, however the pictures may have disappeared! Im working on getting all of them together again now. Basically i just made some brakets up that locate the radiator pegs on the base in the same way as standard (i even used the standard rubber bungs from the standard rad cowling). These were then bolted to the lower cross brace between the headlamp panels. I then just made some brakets to pick up on the top of the rad and attach it at the corners. Ive got 4-6 inches of clear space between the slam panel and rad now.

 

 

Ehmm, sounds very complicated, might have to bring it down to you (if I ever get it back on the road)

[taylorspug 7]

Its not too bad, but does require a bit of fabrication and time to get everything neatly slotted in. You're more than welcome to bring it down to mine if you want. Are driveshaft issues your only problem at the moment then?

[andyjstone 6]

Its not too bad, but does require a bit of fabrication and time to get everything neatly slotted in. You're more than welcome to bring it down to mine if you want. Are driveshaft issues your only problem at the moment then?

 

I might take you up on that - yes, drive shaft issues are the main problem, although I think I'm going to re-build the front struts again (already done it once, but think I'm going to do it again with BBM rubbers, new mounts and springs) and then Anthony has built me a new rear beam, so I need to get that fitted.

 

Oh, and then it would be nice to actually drive it!

[Cameron 16]

Interesting stuff.. I'm not massively happy with my mapping at Emerald, there are a few part throttle flat spots and it kangaroos quite badly when driving at steady speed on part throttle - very annoying. I keep meaning to get in touch with Dave and get it tweaked. But if they aren't too expensive for tweakage then I may well try TOTD, as Emerald are quite far from me and will no doubt charge for the tweaks.

 

(I am aware I just said "tweak" an awful lot there..)

Edited October 11, 2009 by Cameron

[maxi 36 1 Cars]

One thing I would make everyone aware of who is thinking of taking their car to any mapper not just Chris @ TOTD. Dont turn up with a cable tied together piece of s*it. The old saying you cant polish a turd is right and just makes hard work for any operator. Your mapper will have respect for you, your car and your requirements. Return the favour and have a bit of respect for them by producing a car that works and is well put together.

 

 

Maxi

[Rippthrough 98]

EDIT: I also remembered encountering a similar problem with smashed valving on Ledas on a friends mk4 Golf racer a few years back. He had an identical problem, and because of this when i bought the suspension for my stillborn Golf, i had to specify working lengths so they could make the dampers to suit. Effectively the same thing im doing now.

 

 

I can't believe I missed this thread (I'm still reading it, an hour in....) but I know of someone who had the exact same problem (me! ), I had a heavy landing over a ripple in the road and smashed the valving to pieces, made the drive back interesting, especially as they weren't my dampers....

 

Sorry about not finishing the damper guide, the Gaz's kinda got put on the back burner whilst I sorted the Foxes out, all will sorted soon though, as I've nearly finished making the modified bits for the Gaz's.

 

 

 

edit: And yes, the PTFE gaskets are 5mm thick, there have been a few back-to-back dynos with them and they're generally worth 3-4bhp (someone saw 8bhp on a stock one on a hot day), and less heatsoak to boot - the dyno numbers don't drop off on consecutive runs anywhere near as much.

 

double edit: And if you ever want some more damper shafts PM me, I can get 'em cheaper than that.

Edited October 12, 2009 by Rippthrough

[taylorspug 7]

As far as the PTFE gaskets go, the proof is in the pudding looking at my car, the inlet and ambient temps are exactly the same, which completely satisfies my reasons for buying one. That graph would have been one of the very last runs too, after a pretty much non stop hour on the dyno. Well happy!

 

The topic is a bit of a read now isnt it?! Im in the process of gathering up all the missing early pictures to put in the gallery, so the more recent followers can see what state the car was orignally in when i began to restore it.

 

Anyway back to the car in question- ive picked up my pretty much brand new West Midlands Motorsport quick rack now. Its all built ready to go, so come the weekend my days of struggling with tight corners and crossed arms along with a plate diff should be over. I will report back once ive driven it...

 

EDIT: No problems regarding the rebuild guide Phil, I ran out of time myself hence why the shocks got sent to Gaz anyway!

Edited October 13, 2009 by taylorspug

[Rippthrough 98]

I've been regretting my non-PAS quick rack myself - the first time I tried the fiddle brakes with them I nearly took my thumb off, don't know whether to go PAS or just drop back to a slower rack now.

 

Not kidding about the read, takes about an hour and a half just to get through it!

[taylorspug 7]

The weight of the steering does worry me slightly, although im hoping as I will physically have to turn the wheel less it wont be such an issue. We will see. Visually trying the WMMS rack I counted it as 2.5 turns lock to lock, so its bloody short!

 

Im also not too fond of having a PAS rack without the PAS, as the dead spot around centre really annoys me. At the same time I also dont really want PAS, as its extra stuff to go wrong and I do much prefer the feedback of the manual rack on a 205. Sounds like you could use it well on yours though! Ive got to say i doubt i could live with any sort of competition car without power steering, its just so much extra effort i could be channelling into driving quicker!

[Rippthrough 98]

I prefer not having PAS, but this is a 2.2 turn rack, it's just about liveable on tarmac but go down a gravel road or use the fiddles and it's a hell of a fight, I've took 'em off for now 'cause I quite like my thumbs

 

You can get the slop out of the PAS-rack though, I did it on my old xsara vts one, must do a guide at some point!

Edited October 13, 2009 by Rippthrough

[taylorspug 7]

I did wonder if the slack could be taken up in the PAS rack. Hopefully i wont need to worry though!

 

Couple of pictures from Friday:

 

 

[Galifrey 1]

Car looks almost white, with those Goodwoods mine will look almost the same when done!

 

Now, all I need to do is have it look and sound as good under the bonnet

 

[taylorspug 7]

Right-ho ive fitted this WMMS steering rack now, and the difference it has made is quite pronounced. First of all the steering is nowhere near as heavy as i was expecting it to be, in all honesty once on the move its no different at all. But the car is now so much nicer to tip into a corner! I can be alot smoother with the steering and tbh the car just feels 'right'. As expected it seems the problem i was having with holding onto the wheel with my plate diff was more the amount of steering i was having to do rather than the weight of it, as the car is now easier to drive too. Good times.

 

I also found my annoying small exhaust leak. It was actually blowing through the lambda sensor, and i mean literally through it- there were black sooty deposits on the end where the wires come out! All sorted now anyway.

[Galifrey 1]

Right-ho ive fitted this WMMS steering rack now, and the difference it has made is quite pronounced.

 

WMMS?

[andyjstone 6]

WMMS?

 

West Midlands Motor Sport - read the thread

[Galifrey 1]

West Midlands Motor Sport - read the thread

 

W/E

 

I am guessing that is a pretty pricey bit of kit then?

Edited October 18, 2009 by Galifrey

[taylorspug 7]

Im not exactly sure how much they are new tbh, around £175 plus postage rings a bell? They certainly arent really cheap, mine came secondhand from a forum member with only minimal use (in all honesty it didnt look used at all), and everything bar the main rack casing is brand new. So all the internals, the track rods and the boots. Im really glad i bought it now, its certainly nothing like i was expecting and because its a purpose built quick rack it doesnt have the dead spot that a de-PAS'd rack would.

[swordfish210 20]

Fitting the Quaife quickrack was one of the best things i ever did to my car. It completly transformed the handling and made the bustop at Llandow completly effortless

[andyjstone 6]

Fitting the Quaife quickrack was one of the best things i ever did to my car. It completly transformed the handling and made the bustop at Llandow completly effortless

 

Oh no, don't tell me I'm going to have to add this to the list of jobs to do

[taylorspug 7]

I guess an update is in order here. Id love to say id been here there and everywhere in the car recently, but tbh ive barely touched it and now the battery has gone flat!

 

Anyway its going to have to come out this weekend as the rear suspension will be coming apart, as ive sold the torsion bars and ARB now.

 

Which brings me onto my update- suspension. Ive managed to locate some 24mm torsion bars to replace the 21.5mm ones which are currently fitted. Im trying to control the suspension movement a little more now ive had time to really get used to the car, as both the back and front end are too soft for me, even with the slightly bigger bars. The back end likes clipping the bumpstops which tends to buck the rear end into the air over bumps, and gives my already tired dampers even more problems than they already have. So its 24mm bars on the back, along with maybe a standard, 22 or 24mm ARB, i will try them and see. Im also getting hold of a set of rear Bilstein Tarmac dampers which should suit the higher spring rate of the bars alot better. This is quite a marked change in spring rate for the rear end, it should increase the effective spring rate from around 150lb/in to 250!

 

The front end isnt staying the same either, ive still got the 275lb Eibach springs that originally came with my Leda dampers, so they are going on and the front ARB is coming back off. I really liked the way the car drove with no front bar, the mid-exit corner manners were so much better, not to mention it actually made the car driveable in the wet. Id refitted it as i didnt have enough spring rate up front to cope with the lack of the bar, which should be solved with these springs, and the added bonus is my car loves eating droplinks usually, so i can get away with that expense now. Good quality spring too which is always nice. I will also jack the ride height up 10mm front and back, as im extremely marginal on the rear stops in particular. Hopefully i can get all this sorted by the end of the month and get a quick drive in before the tax runs out and the winter hibernation begins (thats for me and the car!).

Edited November 18, 2009 by taylorspug

[Garry 1]

I will be interested to see how you get on with no front ARB. I bought some rose jointed wishbones which can't be fitted with the arb in place, but I was warned that high speed stability would be compromised if the ARB was removed.

 

Incidently, when you drove mine, the rear set up was pretty similar, albeit 23mm bars and 25mm arb. My funny handling was loose hub pinch bolt. I too plan to raise mine up a little as hitting the bump stops has produced a few 'exciting' moments.

[taylorspug 7]

Ive tried it without the front bar before, and apart from the springs being too soft for heavy load situations it was fine. In all honesty with the right spring rates theres no reason it should be any less stable really, but il obviously report back once its done anyway Garry.

 

Yeah the bumpstop catching is making it a tiring drive now on our ever worsening road network around here, and ive had several fully airborne moments, which as you can imagine i could do without!

 

Im also planning on running 888s next year, so il need a bit of extra ride height for those as they are alot chunkier than a standard 195/50/15 from what ive seen.

[taylorspug 7]

New year, quick update. With the winter hopefully starting to fade, ive started doing some work on the car now. Ive got the 24mm rear bars painted and ready to go in, along with the 21mm ARB.

 

Ive also got a rebuild kit for my rear calipers, which came with everything bar 2 O-rings (annoying). Im hoping these are a standard size. I think one of my calipers was a bit seized up, as the disk was barely getting warm after a spirited drive, and the handbrake mechanism was stiff, so rebuilding should sort that. Im also getting some rear discs machined with some grooves in to wipe the pad surface/release gas etc, as i think the rear brakes struggle when they do work properly! Looking to get my front belled disks refaced and re-grooved if i can, as i dont fancy shelling over 200 notes on a new pair this year. All of this will be clamped by Yellowstuff pads front and rear as ive heard some excellent reports on them and they are sensibly priced.

 

When ive got time im going to sort out some shortened 306 driveshafts for the car, but its not going to happen at the moment so im going to get hold of a set of new 309 ones instead. Apart from that i just need to get a set of 888s sorted and its ready for the road and 'ring trip goodness. I cant do too much on the car this year, and indeed havent touched it for a few months now. All will become clear once i do a big update to my E30 race car thread in the next couple of weeks! But i do want to get out and have some good times in the 205 again over the summer, flying the 205 flag in Sussex!