jaybv6's mk2 8v budget track day car

[jaybv6]

Right seeing as I haven't posted any pics in a while thought I'd get a few up.

I managed to get another Hatch for the car so that I could get it through the MOT.  I know it looks odd as it's black but I can get the spare one I have (currently Royal Blue) sprayed at leisure.  You can just about make out the stainless steel exhaust poking out from the back.  It's at the wrong angle as it's not fitted to the downpipe yet but does look subtle.  We'll see how loud it is when I fire it up next week.




This is the state of the rocker cover after removing the rust and paint.




And the Throttle body cleaned out.




And the ATE Power Discs 2 x 256mm ones.




The state of the engine bay minus the head, inlet manifold, exhaust manifold/downpipe etc.




And the bits to put the head back on the car

[jaybv6]

Here's the Bucket Seat, it's a Cobra Club seat.  It's a little tatty but didn't pay much for it.  It'll do until I can afford a proper seat (Cobra Monaco).

[jaybv6]

Crikey, 3 updates in as many days.

Some more pics

The ATE discs on the 16v Hubs to make sure they were the right ones.  I also noticed that the back plate caught the disc a little.  this eas due to one of the backplates being bent in transit.  Initially I bent it back but not enough, all sorted now though.




Took delivery of my EBC Greenstuff only to find that they are the wrong type.




Got my head back.  Cleaned up, valves cleaned, valve stem oils seal done etc.  Pics of the head before and after respectively





And my Goodridge brake hoses to go with the 16v brake setup.



Next.  Get the head on.  Get the engine setup.  Attached the exhaust manifold, downpipe, mid stainless section and the stainless back box.  Then I just have to fit the 16v Discs, hubs, carriers with ATE discs and Greenstuff pads.  Whilst I'm doing that I'll do both outer CV boots.

After that lot it's down to the MOT station to get it checked over.

[jaybv6]

Been busy today, not necessarily building but buying.

First up was another bucket seat.  This will be the drivers seat and the tatty Cobra Clubman will be the passenger seat.  It's another Cobra, a Monaco S this time.





Also bought a pair of OMP Strut Braces, front and rear.





And more progress with the Head.  Inlet manifold and exhaust manifold are both on.  The Lifters and Camshaft is next then it's ready to go back in the car.

[jaybv6]

Just thought I'd a reminder of the work that's let to do from the list on page 1

1 - Replace Door Handles driver and passengers - DONE
2 - Replace complete exhaust - Done
3 - Replace Discs and pads on front (ATE groved items on order with yellow Stuff pads) - to be fitted
4 - Replace rear Discs and pads with orginal items - leaving for the time being.
5 - Fit Braided hoses front and rear - to be fitted
6 - Rub down and prep repalcement tailgate gettin rid of wiper and washer jet then fit - replacement tailgate on.
7 - Replace fuel hoses in engine bay - to be fitted when putting Head back on.
8 - Replace Driver's cracked Headlight - Done
9 - Replace both outer CV boots - to be fitted when I do brakes
10 - remove head and fix broken exhaust studs - Done

After I have the above done then there is the prep work for the track, these things are listed below.

1 - Fit lowered springs (-40mm drop max)
2 - source spare set of Steelies for road use - Bought
3 - Remove rubber from Borbet C's and refurb spraying Black Nice to have but on hold
4 - Fit Semi-Slicks to track wheels - Gotta raise the cash
5 - Remove all interior trim except headlining, dash, front door cards and passenger seat - on the cards
6 - Buy and fit Bucket seat and harness to Driver's side - Cobra Monaco S bought and Harness being bought soon.
7 - Buy and fit front and rear strut brace - bought need fitting
8 - Fit performance chip (already aquired) needs fitting
9 - Fit induction kit fed by cold ais feed from front driver's inner spot light but removing the lamp and building a housing for the induction kit - to fit and fabricate mount.

[jaybv6]

Update.

Fitted the head today and got the engine all timed up.  Just have to fit the fuel lines up, induction system ancillaries and Exhaust.  Then do new oil and water/antifreeze mix and then I'm ready to start her up.  Fingers crossed that will happen this week, dependant on the weather.

I'm sort of getting excited now.  Once she's running I just gotta fit the 16v brakes and it's MOT time.  Once it's running then I'll get the insurance sorted and at £230 TPFT for 4000 miles a year it's a bargain.  That's from HIC.

[jaybv6]

Well, Progress, and lots of it.

Got all the engine and ancillaries back together when I figured that I should get the exhaust downpipe sorted.    Only thing is I needed to get the downpipe in before I put the head on.  Dooooh.

So to get it in I removed the gear linkage, gear shaft and gear stick etc.  Whilst out I renewed all the bushes etc.  So finally got the downpipe in, and linkages all back together.

only two things left now.  Connect the rest of the exhaust up and fit the fuel pipes ( the ones I have at the moment are 10mm and I really need 8mm).  Then this weekend I'll be firing it all up.  Fingers crossed it'll all go OK.

[jaybv6]

Major update.

Head back on.  All ancilaries connected including the exhaust.  There is a post in the main Mk2 section on my woes in starting the car up but I'm glad to say it's all running now.  Feels good and drives well.  A friend has taken it to work today in order to check the fit of the exhaust and sort the emissions out and check the timing.

So as my Track day is booked for the 23rd March I've gotta get the car MOT'd, taxed and insured by then.  The pressure is on.

Picked up a new Luke Harness for £50, it's not the seatbelt buckle type but the aircraft twist one.  Sweet.

So this weekend/beginning of next week I'll be replacing the front brakes (16v items going on with ATE power discs and greenstuff pads with braided hoses) along with the reqar disks and braided hoses.  A set of wipers are needed and then I'll be off to the MOT centre.

[jaybv6]

I have less than two weeks to go until my first track day and I have one final job to do on the car before the MOT.  That's to replace the discs and pads all round (front and rear), replace Ball joints, Outer CV gaitors and rear brake lines.

So I spent the better part of Saturday 10th March starting the job, after 5 hours I'd barely done one side of the fronts which were a result of a catalogue of disasters.

1 - Couldn't get the Steering Balljoint nut off.  However with a blowtorch in hand I perservered.
2 - After fitting the 256mm Hubs, discs and carriers I proceeded to fit the Green Stuff pads to find that the caliper would not fit over them.  It was as if they were an inch too big.  So after starting to file one pad down I gave up and popped to Halfrauds and bought some Ferrodo pads which went in 1st time.  After checking the two types the Green Stuff pads were clearly half an inch each bigger than the ferrodo's
3 - After taking everything apart I could not get the Steering Balljoint tight again as it kept turning the thread (now resolved after a friend lent a foot and his weight to it).
4 - It took me a good 15 minutes to figure out the reason why the braided hoses did not seem to fit right on the front calipers.  It seems the 16v calipers have a pointless piece of brake pipe that goes from one part of the caliper to another.  No reason I can think of anyway.

So after sorting out the right side I tackled the left to find that
1 - the hub nut wouldn't come off (trip to Halfords for a breaker bar soon sorted that out)
2 - the brake pipe nut to the flexi hose was rounded off and stuck tight so I had to cut it off and make a new brake pipe.  After the drama of the other side it was decidedly easier to tackle, despite having to make a new brake pipe.

So I've got to tackle the rears before the weekend of the 17th as I'd like to MOT the car at least 4/5 days prior to the track day to make sure it goes through.

Just thought I'd share my woes.

[jaybv6]

 

That's my expression after today.

I had a mammoth task to undertake.  Complete the rear brakes and lines.  Mostly all the brake lines were rotten and would not have passed an MOT for sure.  So after making some new brake lines out of copper pipe I set about removing the old brakes/discs/pipes.

Rear discs came off without too much difficulty but the brake lines were rotten to hell.  After a bit of help from a friend we got them off and the new lines, discs and pads were on.

After all that it was time to bleed the system.  Left rear went well.  Right rear was a disaster.  I tried to crack off the bleed nipple  but it broke off and the rest of it was left inside the caliper.  Damn   :embarassed:.  Luckily a kind VW Golf owner had given me a set of rear calipers which he didn't think were any good so I tried one of them in place of the one with the knackered nipple.  Bingo, it worked.  Went to bleed the front left and nothing came through.  Looks like there was a blockage in the caliper.  After trying to use an air line to clear it we just re attached the brake hose and pumped away until the blockage cleared.  Continued with the bleeding and all done.

So just one more set of bleeding to be done to get the pedal firm and then she's ready for the MOT.  It's  booked in for Wednesday, 2 days before the trackday, so fingers crossed.