Simon's Mk2 16v trackday project

[s1monc]

Hi, i've been hanging around on here for a while now so i thought i'd better post up some pic's of my little project.

I bought it in August 2009 for £352 off of E-bay with tax & MOT & drove it 130 miles home. I've done quite a few trackdays over the last 6 or 7 yrs & the Ring but that was in a Cossie & then an M3 Evo both modded along with R888's etc etc. I wanted to get into trackdays more but it was costing too much in an M3. Sold the M3 & bought an E39 M5 & this Mk2 Golf 16v.

It had a few holes in it & few other little issues but its only had 2 owners & is very straight. Had to have the rear sills welded up,also around o/s/r suspension turret, new battery tray welded in,the welding cost me £250. The car has been sitting down at a mates garage since i bought it in August 2009 slowly having bits done when time allowed. Got a second hand sparco cage for £200 which is now fitted, stainless Piper exh £70. Rear beam came off for poly bushes & new brake lines,goodridge hoses,discs,pads,bearings,handbrake cables.

Bought a secondhand OMP steering wheel of ebay, had lots of trouble since i bought the car with the horn contact ring earthing out & horn sounding all the time but i have sorted that, the washers didn't work but sorted that just bad connections.

So i have finally got the car back home & tinkering with it in my garage , bought some Sebring alloys £100 & aerosoled them black,they came up really well,fitted R888 tyres. Anyway got more bits to fit,heres some pic's.








Cheers Simon.

[Diamond Hell]

Nice.  Get those collarbone snapping 2" harnesses out of it for safety's sake.

Swap the Sebrings for a modern set, too.  Sebrings weigh about 9.5kg per corner.  A good wheel like Team Dynamics will come in at 6.5kg and transform the handling from lead-footed to much more feelsome.  I cannot emphasise that enough.

[s1monc]

Only really put that harness in to get it back home,will be getting a better quality one. Wheels are staying for now as i'm not sure how long i will keep the car for, so want to do a couple of trackdays 1st at Lydden local to me to see what i think of it as it feels a bit slow compared with what i'm used to but if its good fun then maybe spend a bit more on it. I've got the later hubs 22mm master cyl & 280mm brakes & front poly bushes to fit over the next few days. Its got lowered springs & shocks replaced at some point but they are too soft but still might try it out before putting more money in it. It actually drives really well for such an old car but you have to thrash the tits off it to make it go,noticed it pinks at high rpm but its got 95 ron in the tank at the moment, is it worth running ot on super ?

Cheers Simon.

[Diamond Hell]

You're supposed to thrash the tits off 'em.

If it's pinking then it's either tuned for super....... oh, I was going to say 'the knock sensor might be goosed', but it's a D-plater with front quarters, so is it running K-Jet?  If so then that'll be your problem - it'll be running out of fuel at high revs I suspect, if that's the case.

Dummp a tank of suepr in it and see how it goes, but as the ambient temperature comes up you're likely to be running into pinking problems again.

If you're polying it, seam-weld the wishbones while they're off.  That sharpened up the turn-in on mine a fair bit, although I used TT rear bushes, which are stiffer than poly IMO.

Again, I can't over-state how much difference losing the Sebrings made to the handling on my Syncro - remember the maxim '1kg lost on unsprung weight is worth 7kg sprung weight'.  It really is true.

[s1monc]

It was my intension to buy some TD pro race wheels before i bought the sebrings but i need to stick to a budget at the moment otherwise i'll be skint ! I'll try a tank of super unleaded & yes it is K jet. Its been sitting for 7 months so some of the petrol in the tank will be 7 months old which won't help !  Thanks for  the pointers/help.

Simon.

[Horney]

Bung super in it and reset the ignition timing once you've run some through it. Should be fine after that.

Cool to have another track MKII on here, hope you find the love and hang on to it.

nick

[VeeDubGTI16v]

i like this a lot!

yeah always use tesco 99 or shell vmax if your gonna be driving it hard, it will love you for it

[s1monc]

Spent about an hour in the garage this eve, got it up on axle stands to fit later 16v hubs with new bearings, Mk3 16v early calipers/carriers & 280mm discs,ebc yellows & braided hoses. Also going to fit some poly bushes to the wishbones. New lower ball joints & track rod ends. unfortunately it needs both inner & outer cv boots & both rack gaitors . . Will just be doing a bit at the time as i don't need to use the car & its in a nice warm garage Don't have a clue when it comes to driveshafts though never removed one before. Bought the spline tool so i can remove from g/box end but not to sure about knocking cv joints off to renew boots. Its all going well at the moment anyway !

[Diamond Hell]

Blimey - I get to post the CV how-to twice in one day: How to do inner and outer CVs

Seriously, if those wishbones are off, seam-weld them - it makes a big difference to the 'point-iness' of the car.

[s1monc]

OK OK i'll get the wishbone's seam welded, do you weld the whole seam or just put a few spots along the seams ?

A few bits that i've got to fit





Old 239mm discs & new 280mm.



Got both sides in bits now, luckily its only the n/s that needs driveshaft gaitors but the o/s steering rack track rod end is knackered & seized on solid, i will get it off but may take some time.




Cheers Simon.