leavingeasy - track 20vt

[jv]

[leavingeasy]

Thanks JV,

Ok here we go, this is going to be lengthy, but I'm going to keep the words as few as possible.

Its the story of my track slag, a £400 impulse buy off ebay when i was pi$$ed.

Here it is, the day I picked it up. Modifications included electric windows that fell down, non working door locks, three bent BBS rims, a gear change so baggy each gear selection was a random guess and various dents incl one in the roof



Some people think I'm a lucky bugger: I used to instruct at Goodwood



I have a cool job



Nice toys



And get to do some fun stuff



But by the end of this project, you will know I'm the unluckiest bloke around!!

[leavingeasy]

It started innocently enough....

Few years ago my best mate and I decided we needed to go to the Nurburgring, to scratch that itch and tick it off the list.

I decided I needed a decent car to go in, so bought myself an E39 M5. What was I thinking??

8 laps later and we were doing ok, but the M5 was doing 6mpg and I was constantly worried about bruising my £20k pride and joy (and the loan still had six years to run!!)

In the car park I started chatting to a few guys that had DRT (dedicated ring tools). These were typically 80's and 90's hot hatches that had been lightly modded to meet the needs of the Ring. They were cheap, fun and fast.

A plan was hatched.

My best mate promptly returned home, I sold the M5, bought a 20VT Passat estate and we decided to build our own DRTs.

I'd had mk2's and 3's in the past and loved them, it was a no brainer.

We gave ourselves a budget of £1500 plus the car and set to work.

My mate built a stormer- it's been developed over the years and is now a 195bhp 9A engined dream car. Sure it owes him a few quid now, but anybody who has been in it knows what a fabulous car it is, laps 8:30 at the Ring all day long but is quiet, civilised and very easy to drive.



Of course I couldnt do anything that easy! :embarassed:

First things first:

Having got the car back, I took it to my friends workshop to see what a shed I'd bought. I'm really lucky to have a great mate who has his own garage business and without him I could never have done this.

The good news was, no rust!

The bad news was the entire car was baggy, old and was going to put strain on the budget.

I had two months before we headed back to the Ring.

So I stripped the car out and we fitted an OMP six point cage



Then some cheap bucket seats



Some dodgy 5 spoke rims with 888's off ebay



And three pieces of perspex from another bloke on ebay



The I had my flywheel skimmed



Bought a new clutch plate (that didnt fit for some reason) and we ready to roll!

Nurburgring here we come!!!

[leavingeasy]

First lap on the Ring was pretty good, it handled well despite the nasty cheap KONI suspension I had bought.

Spec at this point:

Standard 16v, with drilled airbox.
Scorpion back box.
polybushed all round
KONI non adjustable suspension
239mm brakes with DS2500 pads
28mm rear ARB
OMP cage
three point harnesses
Monaco S buckets
perspex rear windows

We fixed the gear shift, made a short shifter and gave it a service.

Second lap was pretty good too, it was lifting an inside rear wheel and the brakes were rubbish but it was easy to drive, bit soft, but controllable and fun.

Third lap sawing me following another mate in his 205 GTi DRT. Half way round the track I lost all the gears. I thought the clutch cable had snapped as the pedal went to the floor. I waggled the gearstick about and eventually found third so carried on with the intention nursing the car the rest of the lap.

I didnt make it!!



There was oil all over the gearbox so I thought the worst.

160 euros lighter and the car was recovered to a local garage. They pulled the gearbox out and found the centre of the clutch had spun out. I was so annoyed- I'd bought a new clutch but it hadnt fitted so we had put the old one back in. Now I knew why it didnt fit, the gearbox was from an 8v and had less splines.

Fun over after just two and a half laps.

I went to the bar and sulked whilst my mates kept lapping. Here is Jason in his mk2 lapping

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-5781126425731273815

I continued to drink then bummed a lift home, the car couldnt be fixed and I would need to send the parts from the UK (can you believe it- they couldnt get a 16v clutch for a German car in Germany as it didnt have the right TUV papers!!)

I picked the car up a month later and headed home.

With the R888's in the back the Golf handled rather badly, not helped by the rain and nearly bald nankang ditchfinders on my road wheels.

Just approaching the Belgium border and madman in an A4 came around the bend towards me, backwards! I skidded to avoid him, escaped down a side road, got on the verge and hit the armco. Bloody brilliant- 2.5 laps on the Ring and crash avoiding some bloke who never even stopped!

Damage wasnt too bad- a bet valance and dinked wing. The car still got me home!

Here it is, home at last after a month in Germany.

[leavingeasy]

The season was over at the Ring so I had an entire winter to work on the car.

I hated the fact Jasons mk2 was so much better than mine so i set about improvements.

I got carried away and blew the budget. BADLY!

I bought a 6A and started making it special.



I stripped it, had it all balanced, re-honed it, new rings, steel head gasket, new water pump, oil pump, steel headgasket.....



The head was ported and polished and I fitted piper 258 cams

Variable cam sprocket, 50mm induction manifold



And a new 4-2-1 SS magnex manifold and system. Lovely




Then I decided to beat Jason good and proper I needed a Quaiffe ATB differential. So I stole my kids pocket money and bought one and a 16v 02Y was rebuilt with new second gear and syncros at the same time. A Helix clutch was also fitted. Ouch, kerrrrr-ching!



I baffled the sump, fitted silicone hoses and an oil cooler



The old 16v was pulled out- along with the dented wing




And the new engine and gearbox were fitted.



So up to this point I had owned the car less than a year, the gearbox had already been out three times and I had learned to hate taking out the drive shafts!

But I didnt stop there:

I sold the BBS rims and bought some TSW's with TOYO T1Rs as my wet weather wheels. At the same time I changed the cheap KONIs for some SPAX RSX coilovers (same as on Jasons car and simply the best available for the budget)



The dreadful 239mm brakes were binned and a set of G60 hubs and calipers sourced from ebay. I fitted Pagid 16 groove 280 discs and DS2500's again. The hoses were braided x6 and I hoped it would be able stand a chance of slowing for Adenau bridge this time!



Gauges were fitted to monitor the health of my new motor



I made up some door cards from 0.6mm aluminium (and got carried away with the stickers)



stuck my private plate on it and a Ring forum sticker in the back window and it was ready!



Nurburging here we come again!!

[leavingeasy]

The drive to the Ring was hell. Really hot and the traffic was terrible, but the engine performed brilliantly all the way, I was confident I would be kicking arse.



The fuelling had been set up my Stealth racing and the rolling road showed 185bhp



I'd run the car in very carefully and aside of a strange noise when pulling away the car performed brilliantly.

The first two laps can be seen here- I really must get round to editing this vid sorry for the first few minutes of fumbling around!!

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=9094328091870563345

On the third lap I met up with a mate in his 350bhp Scoob. He's a Ring regular and we decided to go out and do a few laps together.

Given my car's meagre 185bhp I knew that to keep ahead of him I'd need to be fast through the twisties. I soon stretched a small gap between me and him and was making great progress. At the power sections he quickly caught me up, and by the time we had got up the hill to the famous Karrussel he was all over me again. The next section of track is technical and down hill, suiting my lighter car, so I pushed out more of a gap.

Entering Bruunchen (a famous spectator spot) Simon the Scoob driver saw a puff of smoke. He thought I'd locked up a rear wheel. He was wrong.

That puff of smoke was the final gasp of my beautifully and lovingly crafted 6A. It had lasted precisely 2 2/3rds laps. About 3km more than the first time I went there.

Yet again my car was put on a 160 euro low loader and taken to Ollie, the local garage.

At first I thought the cambelt had snapped as there was no compression. Sadly this was not the case.

It was Friday, we were staying until Monday and my car was fooked. Game over.

I went to the pub.

Next day we needed to get the car down from the circuit to Adenau where I could store it until I collected it the following month. Its a 7km drive so we set about towing it there. Then we thought it might be more fun to see how far we can roll it, after all its nearly all down hill. We set up the video cameras and set off.



I cant find the video right now, but I must post it up soon. That drive was legendary. For those who havent done it, there are a few hairpins as you descend Eifel mountains towards Adenau- I needed the speed to make it all the way so refused to slow too much, lifting a wheel on the corners whilst over coming the lack of pas or brake servo. Brilliant!

We made it too- passing the crowds at Adenau bridge as the ate their lunch, in the quietest car of the season!!

I picked up the car a month later and took my 20VT for three cheeky laps whilst I was there. Was pretty good actually- 9:15 BTG on road tyres and not pushing too hard was impressive I thought!




By now I hated this damn car!

[leavingeasy]

For the rest of the season at the Ring I used my other car. I was lucky enough to also own a Caterham 7. I hadnt wanted to use it at the Ring as it was getting on a bit and had already covered about 15,000 track miles without a rebuild.

I didnt realise it was to do another 3000km at the Ring before I would finally finish the Golf!



Not that it was always reliable- here the throttle cable snapped- same spot as I broke down the first time in the Golf (another 160 euro lorry ride required!!)




Anyways, having got the car home it was time to find out what had gone wrong



My good friend Gareth started lifting the head at his workshop



We found this in the inlet manifold



I held my breath as the head was removed



It didnt look pretty- my beautiful polished head was scrap



And the block was no better



Here is number three piston



And here is the culprit- a dropped exhaust valve. I found this in the sump, along with large chunks of piston.



I can not tell you how terribly sick I felt after that. I was soooo sad, I just wanted to cry.

But life goes on and out came the engine and gearbox and I undid those bloody driveshafts again!!



Again the car was abandoned at Gareths yard.

From this:



to this in two and a bit laps 



That piston was mounted and now sits on my shelf. I'll come onto the bent con-rod and piston later.



See I told you that you would feel pity for me eventually.

Hang on-



Bet you don't anymore!!

[leavingeasy]

I decided to build another engine.

I sourced a 9A and the guy who built my first head sent me another FOC once they had seen what happened to the first one.

Same spec as the first, new oil pump, new water pump, new head gasket, bling bling 50mm inlets



Put it all together and then read an article in PVW about putting a 20VT in your car in a weekend. Hmmmmm sounds like a plan.

The 9A never made it into my car and sold on pistonheads for a grand. The hunt for a mk4 Golf 20VT AGU began.

I needed to store the car somewhere and a work mate had an old chicken shed. It was cold, badly lit and leaked, it was November, the place stank but I was eager to press on and build a 200bhp 20VT. I just knew a more modern engine would be more reliable.

Yet again, the plan changed.

Jasons car was by now nearly 200bhp from his n/a 9A and a serious tool. To beat it I needed to lose some weight and gain some power.

I stripped the engine bay



and the subframe



Out came the PAS- no need for that anymore, weighs too much!!



I bought an AGU of ebay for £600. It had supposedly done 85,000miles. I think they must have been HARD miles



The trim was stripped



The interior removed



And the area known as "the plane crash" grew



It was December. I was pretty low- everybody told me I was an arse.

The project was looking impossible, so cheer myself up, I changed my mind again!!!

[leavingeasy]

Why build a K03 200bhp car, when all I need to do is strap a K04 turbo on and I will have 270bhp???

How bloody naive was I??



So I bought a K04 from a APY S3, the injectors, manifold a few pipes.

The test fit was fine



Oil piped seemed to fit



Then after Christmas, QPEng sent me a present



My ECU and downpipe had arrived




But my plan was still changing. Now my car would potentially be producing 300lbft of torque, the 02Y box was only rated to about 200lbft max, it would never be able to take it- I needed to uprate the gearbox before I could even think about fitting the engine.

Bugger- this wasnt as easy as the article suggested.

I swapped some bits for an unknown 02A box from a 16V Corrado and set about working out the best way to adapt the hydraulic change to a cable mechanism.



I also needed to work out how to get the oil return pipe under the engine mount (attempt number one seen here)



Get the new bigger flywheel lightened



Work out where to put the new cable shift



And mock up the new pipe work for the K04



Still least the shiny bits looked good!

I decided to start with the easy stuff and vibratech engine mounts were fitted in each corner




Ben at QPEng adapted the throttle body to work with the 1.3 mk2 Golf throttle cable I had bought



And I took the opportunity whilst the engine was out to re-route the brake pipes so that the fronts now work as a pair. Orginally the wheels work in a diagonal pairs for safety reasons- fitting them this way makes it easier to get the balance right for a track car, but does mean condition must be monitored carefully!



Next I needed to decide what to do about the hydraulic clutch. Whilst i could use SEAT parts and maintain the cable operation I decided to go fully hydraulic as I wanted to use a paddle clutch. That put me back a few more weeks.......

[leavingeasy]

So this is how you fit a hydraulic clutch to a a mk2- (this might make a useful sticky???)

Why do you need to do this?

If you want a stronger gearbox than the standard 02Y it is possible to fit the cable shift 02A box from the mk3 (cables, clutch choice and all that jazz is an entirely different thread).

I got an 02A from a 16v Corrado



originally the plan had been to convert this to a cable shift and forgoe the hydr operation, but I was advised against this as I am using a paddle clutch and it would be so heavy it would be undriveable.

So you need a few parts, the first of which is a Corrado 16v pedal box which has the bracket for the clutch master cylinder. Here we can see the original and the new side by side.



Using the pedal box as a template it is then necessary to mark the holes in the bulkhead for the clutch master cylinder



On the engine side it looks like this:



Next it is necessary to remove the brake servo


As you can see the bulkhead is not flat and it is necessary to fit the clutch mc between the two red dots. The m/c must be perfectly aligned for smooth action with the clutch pedal otherwise it may wear and result in failure. Which is bad.

Therefore- using sophisticated tooling, it is necessary to reshape the bulkhead. I chose a large hammer.

I smacked seven loads of pooh out of it until it looked like this:



Then I fitted the m/c against it and cut a template from the inside:




Amazingly the cluch m/c fitted perfectly



Trouble is that doesnt look too good and I figured probably wasnt the best job:



so I treated it to a little rustproofing



then painted it in a random silver colour that almost matched the car



Next the pedal box is fitted



And the servo and clutch m/c fitted



The more Golf anally retentive amongst you may notice that hydraulic reservoir has an extra spout- this is to feed the clutch m/c and was robbed from another Corrado:



A dying E30 BMW donated the necessary hosing



You can also see a new copper pipe that routes from the cluch mc to the slave cylinder on the side of the gearbox.


Et voila- would have been so much easier if someone had posted a thread on how to do it!!