[project] Tora Tora Tora 309

[Atters 0]

Hi everyone, ive been registered on the forums for a while now, mostly reading around and admiring a lot of the great projects that various members are currently undertaking. I thought it was long overdue that I post up some details of my ongoing efforts.

 

I used to own a very nice 106 GTi with all the right bits and a healthy engine that provided much entertainment for a number of years. I'd spent a fair amount getting it to a stage I was happy with and also enjoyed several trackdays. I'm fairly fortunate in that several good mates have/had some excellent Peugeot 205s/309s which id been able to drive on numerous occassions. It is, as a direct result of these experiences that I knew I needed to own one sooner rather than later. The idea was that the car would be centred around some well chosen suspension components with a reliable, unstrained engine/gearbox. After numerous discussions with Sandy we decided that a 309 would be the perfect starting point, powered by....yes another Honda engine - this time the UK Civic Type R. This combination would afford me a fantastic chassis, with a reliable 197bhp standard along with a close ratio 6spd box + that VTEC noise and revvy nature!!

 

I then set about selling the 106 whilst commencing tha hunt for the ideal base car. I was looking for a 3dr, non sunroof shell, in white ideally, and with as little rust as possible. I came across this beauty tucked away in Crediton:

 

E reg, 3dr, non sunroof, white, minimal rust, base model etc...

 

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A.../clean309_2.gif

 

1.3 G1A beast and still going very strong:

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...09/G1A_unit.gif

 

The car was going to be a trackday/weekend toy so I set about stripping the car completely of all unecessary trim and the old engine/gbox:

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...s_front_end.gif

 

A fairly clean engine bay!!

 

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...front_dirty.gif

 

Interior partially removed:

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...or_stripped.gif

 

A quick inspection of the arches and engine bay paint(under the grime) revealed the car to be in pretty good shape, apparently the early 309's had a lot of paint on them!

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...h_potential.gif

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...9/potential.gif

 

With the engine/interior removed I began looking for an engine and gearbox, cable shifters, d/shafts, engine loom and mounts. I managed to locate a 2003 engine with an advertised 30k on it:

 

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...309/k20a2_2.gif

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...309/k20a2_3.gif

 

The gearbox/ d/shafts I found were less than 5k old:

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...09/CTR_box2.gif

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...309/CTR_box.gif

 

As im no welder I needed to find someone with the necessary skills to fabricate the mounts for the engine and box. Old Eeyore aka Colin Satchell was the obvious choice and having seen some of his work on previous visits to his workshops, I knew it was in safe hands. I gave the car a bit of a clean and then it was off up to Colin's for its new heart:

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...ront2_clean.gif

 

Several weeks passed then the news came through that it was all done. To say I was pleased with the results would be a mahooosive understatement. Looks rather at home in there:

 

 

Cable shifter through the bulkhead / reworked CTR downpipe:

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...1_engine_in.jpg

 

The cable shift gearbox allowed great flexibility in terms of where the shifter would be mounted. We thought just to the left of the steering wheel, BTCC stylee would be rather nice

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...yle_shifter.jpg

 

I also had the rear turreted:

 

 

The car then came home in Dec 2006, yes thats right Dec 2006 and its still not finished lol. During the next few months I spent time doing a lot of work on the underside of the car removing the visible rust patches and discovering numerous other areas that would require treatment. The panel behind the front bumper had actually gone through into the arch. Lots of grinding / sanding / sikaflex and a few small aluminium plates later the underside and arches were in good shape:

 

Original underseal removed in readiness for keying and painting:

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...eal_removal.jpg

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...al_removal2.jpg

 

The boot floor was quite badly corroded, so I spent many hours grinding that back to shiny metal then applied a coat of epoxy undercoat:

 

 

Still needs another coat and then gloss topcoat but its all protected for the time being.

 

As with all long term projects they tend to evolve over time and the 309 was no exception to this rule. Colin had a 205 bolt in cage at his workshop that was going spare and the opportunity arose to have it adpated/welded in, along with a few extras. I decided it was the perfect time to 'stretch that budget' and have it fitted. I was once again rather pleased with the results:

 

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...9/door_bars.jpg

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A.../caged_rear.jpg

 

Tasty bit of gusseting:

 

 

Steering column brace:

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...olumn_brace.jpg

 

Again I went through a spell of lacking motivation to work on the car in the evenings / weekends so progress slowed. Over the last few weeks however, with the weather improving and it not being so bloody cold in the garage ive been beavering away! I removed the remainder of the rust in the front arches / sealed them, then undercoated them:

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...h_undercoat.jpg

 

Over the last week ive been working on the interior, getting all the surface rust back to bare metal in preperation for spraying over the easter weekend. Me and a friend spent a solid two days on it this weekend sanding, degreasing, masking etc. I couldnt afford to have a bodyshop do the spraywork so decided to get hold of a gun and a 205 boot filling compressor, and have a go at it myself. After getting the car all ready for spraying I began only to find the company that supplied the paint hadnt given me anywhere near enough primer to do 2 good coats, infact not even enough for 1 (despite me specifying exactly what I was spraying). I carried on despite this and gave all the bare metal a light coat to prevent all our hard prep work going to waste! The logistics of setting up a compressor, mixing the paint, adjusting the gun proved quite a challenge but im pleased with it so far:

 

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...ar_primered.jpg

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...%20309/mint.jpg

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...ts_primered.jpg

 

Should keep rust at bay until I can get more paint and finish it:

 

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A..._bay_primer.jpg

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...bay_primer2.jpg

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...side_primer.jpg

 

A massive thanks to Sandy, Colin (& the fellas who've worked on it) and all others who've helped out to date!! More updates to follow shortly

[base-1 17]

http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...0309/?start=all

 

Looks sweet! Should be great when it's finished

[205007 12]

seems like honda is the new Mi16!

 

common as muck now these rice conversions!

[Guest RichEdwins]

seems like honda is the new Mi16!

 

common as muck now these rice conversions!

 

Yeah Neil, do something original, maybe you're at the right stage to ask Colin if an Mi would fit!

[Batfink 201]

it was original when it was started

[Atters 0]

it was original when it was started

 

yep, it was one of the first fitted to my knowledge but sadly one of the last to see the road lol

[Batfink 201]

So whats the plan with it? Its certainly going to make a great trackday car

How is the front suspension done? Standard setup with 309/civic driveshafts? Sandy used quite a mix and match on his with 306 arms I think

Edited March 24, 2008 by Batfink

[Atters 0]

I believe Colin used 406 outers sleeved over the Civic inners. Ill get a pic up when theyre all painted up. They should be more than up to it based on the abuse Sandy's have taken over the last 20k

 

Mine is using standard 309gti arms, unfortunately budget wont stretch to widetrack just at the moment but a change further down the line wont be out of the question. Suspension at the front is going to be Challenge billies coverted to coilovers. Gaz shocks are the likely candidates for the rear, theyre not really doing that much work compared to the front and for the price you cant go wrong!

[Batfink 201]

sounds good to me Are the Gaz shocks much cheaper than the Ledas Colin tends to favour?

[Atters 0]

Afaik he uses Gaz now, he advised them for Rich's 205. They were ~£250 for the pair inc springs!!

[Batfink 201]

Thats cheap! Leda use Eibach race springs which are expensive but bloody good

[Guest RichEdwins]

Thats cheap! Leda use Eibach race springs which are expensive but bloody good

 

Colin suggested the Gaz shocks for mine, it seems the difference between them and the ledas or nitrons doesn't warrant the extra cost, especially for a trackday car

[Sandy 191]

Versus having the money to finish it! Upright Gaz dampers on the rear work better than the best in the OE position, in my experience. I'll be using cheap ones on the rear of mine when I coilover it to get it done. I would like some Nitrons though, when funds allow!

[Batfink 201]

I think we would all love some fancy dampers lol

I'm not sure mine will be 100% right for what I want to use the car for but I got it all for a good price Sometimes just getting the car built and working is the best option to start rather than playing top trumps

[GLPoomobile 958]

Plenty of space between the engine and bulkhead I see. That downpipe looks a bit lonely. I wonder what could be added to keep it company? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Sandy 191]

Keep your dirrty boost fantasies away from this!

[VisaGTi16v 1]

lol! I have seen a number of turbo'd Vtec's, Integras mainly, are they quite a easy cheap type of engine to do it to?

[GLPoomobile 958]

Keep your dirrty boost fantasies away from this!

 

Booooooooost? The thought never crossed my mind! But that's a fine suggestion Sandy, good thinking fella

 

lol! I have seen a number of turbo'd Vtec's, Integras mainly, are they quite a easy cheap type of engine to do it to?

Turboing any NA engine is rarely easy or cheap, is it? But having said that, the good thing about these engines is there are so many 'off the shelf' turbo packages available from the states. And what with the weak dollar...........

 

Sorry for the thread hijack

[Powers 13]

Good lad using the best 2000cc Honda engine, my favourite of the bunch.

If you need any parts PM me. I have too many spares!

Keep up the good work, its almost there.

[Atters 0]

Plenty of space between the engine and bulkhead I see. That downpipe looks a bit lonely. I wonder what could be added to keep it company? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

There is a nice amount of room around the whole engine actually, should make it nice to work on once in situ. Definitely no boost on this one lol. Bodies all the one for me. Ive never had a set on my own car just enjoyed others so I'll have to do it this time. The manifold/downpipe will hopefully be changed. Once weve established the cam specs / consulted various people in the know im hoping to have a tasty maniflow setup made!

 

 

Good lad using the best 2000cc Honda engine, my favourite of the bunch.

If you need any parts PM me. I have too many spares!

Keep up the good work, its almost there.

 

Cheers for that Powers, hopefully come firing up time it'll all run smoothly but I'll bear you in mind if I need any random odds n sods

[Atters 0]

Quick update:

 

Managed to get hold of some more primer this week and finished off all the priming on Saturday (now got 2 decent coats all over).

 

 

Also primered up a gti grill and the various engine mounts:

 

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...ount_primer.jpg

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...ount_primer.jpg

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A...rill_primer.jpg

 

I then made up a wee aluminium cover for the hole in the scuttle, im junking all the dash/heater matrix so I just wanted to stop any water getting in:

 

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/A..._hole_cover.jpg

 

and in place:

 

 

just needs a bead of sealer on the inner edge now

Edited March 30, 2008 by Atters

[Sandy 191]

Good work Neil! Can I have my Dremel back now please?

[ultimatepug 0]

anymore progress on this too?

[Sandy 191]

He's done alot actually!

 

Copy and paste:

Right been sorting out a few bits n bobs over the last week or so. Some bolts i'd ordered at Peugeot finally turned up, allowing me to get the wishbones back on the subframe and the whole lot bolted up to the car:

 

 

I also built up the quick rack I bought some time ago and fitted that + new track rod ends.

 

As im not planning to fit the slam panel back on I had to find a way of stopping the grill flapping around so I made up some little ally brackets to secure it:

 

 

Next up I changed the flywheel over to the facelift version. Its significantly lighter, a lot less meat on the back(~6.3kg vs 4.7kg):

 

Old fat bastard:

 

 

Facelift:

 

 

I then gave the engine and box a dust / clean as they were looking a bit manky after sitting around for so long

 

 

Its pretty much ready to go back in now, just waiting on some bits from the powdercoaters then I can get the front struts made up and the get the old girl back on the floor.

 

Finally I has a go at this swaging malark after making up some panels for my gearshift tower + some blanking plates for where the wing mirrors used to sit.

 

 

More to follow

[Sandy 191]

Another quick update:

 

Got the hubs back from the powdercoaters and pressed the new bearings in. I took my Challenge dampers up to Colin for him to cut the standard spring platforms off and weld on the coilover sleeves, he also made up some new top nuts to pick up more thread when using the rosejointed top mounts.

 

All assembled and on the car:

 

 

Also fitted the rear dampers:

 

 

Its now finally ready for its wheels to go back on!! Hoping to get the engine or doors on this weekend provided I can secure the use of a mates engine crane.

 

Finally, I also made up a wee ecu tray which I lined with foam to help dampen out unwanted vibrations:

 

 

Engine is in!!! - cheers to Sandy for helping get it back in, in record time.