Author Topic: Where to buy bits  (Read 3638 times)

Offline viper

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Where to buy bits
« on: 14 September 2008, 22:12 »
Long time since I've bought biys for a Golf..........About 12 ish.

Where do you guys recommend as suppliers for all things "Race" Inc:

Suspension,
Brakes
Seats
Poly bushes
Engine work.

Also ideas of what is the must have in terms of spec.

My car will be a track tool so road issues not important

Thanks in advance.

Offline Mook

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Re: Where to buy bits
« Reply #1 on: 17 September 2008, 13:13 »
Not so much about where to buy bits, but what to consider.

Bushes - one of the first things to do and poly bushes are by far the best option - Powerflex is a well known brand for VWs.  Replace all of the lower suspension bushes, plus the strut top bushes.

Suspension - depends on your budget, but if you're tracking the car, you probably want a fully adjustable set-up, so something from Apex, KW or Koni.

ARBs and strut braces - OMP or something similar for the anti-roll bars and H&R for uprated anti-roll bars.  Go for 25mm front and 22mm rear to remove just about every trace of roll, when you combine it with a decent suspension kit.

Seats - anything light.  You can get carbon seats that weigh about 6kg each on fleabay, but only buy from uk sellers.

Brakes - you can uprate to G60 fronts (280mm) with some decent pads like Ferodo DS2500, or go for a decent bigger front disk upgrade like Tarox 4 pot or 6 pot (again, dependent on budget).  There's a site out there somewhere I can't remember where you can get £100 of a £700 Tarox 4 pot upgrade.  If you're tracking the car, then don't even consider cast disks - go for floating rotor and don't use Red Stuff pads with anything other than floating rotor disks, or you'll warp the stock disks (from expensive experience with my R32).

Engine work - again, all down to budget - it really depends how much you want to spend and how many horsepower and torques you want.

Try www.awesome-gti.co.uk for some mod parts - talk to them to get better pricing (I'm in no way connected with them), and good old fleabay - I've picked up quite a lot of new or nearly new stuff on there from people who've run out of money on projects and need to get rid.

Best of luck mate and let us know how you get on.

Cheers
MK5 & MK2 20V-T

Offline Diamond Hell

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Re: Where to buy bits
« Reply #2 on: 17 September 2008, 14:26 »
Engine work - JNL Racing all the way.  He did some work on my crossflow head and it's sweet as a nut.

Some of the 'bigger boys' use him to do their engine work, too.

Extremely knowledgeable guy and good to deal with.

http://www.jnlracing.com/
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Offline viper

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Re: Where to buy bits
« Reply #3 on: 18 September 2008, 22:14 »
Thanks guys.

Should have mentioned that it's a Mk 1. Could have narrowed it down a bit.

The car is track ready though tired and I want to give it more than the 130hp it currently has from it's 1.9 big valve unit. Think I'll go 2.0 16v with throttle bodies and mapped etc. Diff mods and gearing too.

It currently has race seats but they twist and warp when pushing corners because of the way the seats are mounted. Need to get some side mounts fabricated I guess.

I'm a bit out of touch as I built the car back in 94.

Brakes are Wilwood but the pedal has too much travel. ARBs fitted and braces, cage etc. Needs re bushing.

Offline Diamond Hell

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Re: Where to buy bits
« Reply #4 on: 19 September 2008, 01:06 »
Sounds like JNL is definitely your man for the motor.

Whereabouts are you based?  DannyP and I have a 2.0 8V crossflow and an ABF, that should be going over to bodies and Megasquirt this winter, in my workshop in the Bristol area.
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Offline viper

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Re: Where to buy bits
« Reply #5 on: 19 September 2008, 19:25 »
JNL look like a proper firm though most of their web is under construction so can't see much about what they do.

I'm based in Kent

What is a 2.0 16v likely to cost all done running with bodies and producing 220 or there abouts?

Offline Diamond Hell

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Re: Where to buy bits
« Reply #6 on: 19 September 2008, 23:03 »
What is a 2.0 16v likely to cost all done running with bodies and producing 220 or there abouts?

Well an ABF in a Toledo will cost you £250-500 with a good motor, then £150 for your stub-manifold to carry the bodies, about £100 for the bodies, maybe another £50 for the Samco hoses to joint to the stub manifold, then £200 for the Megasquirt kit and wiring tails (if you're happy to build your own ECU).  Plus numerous other odds and sods.  If you want to head for 220bhp (over 100bhp per litre, which is a LOT for specific output) then you might need a bit of porting and flowing and maybe some spikey cams on the head.  A 220bhp ABF would be a pretty serious motor and a lot of fun. 

When I took DannyP's ABF out on the 'ring last weekend the more I gave it, the better it pulled and the harder it went - that was a completely standard engine running standard management, with a tubular manifold on it.  It felt as if it went as well as the supposedly 198bhp short-block 2.0 16V hot motor I took out the week before.  We need to chuck the car on the rollers to find out what it's doing as a base-line.
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Offline danny_p

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Re: Where to buy bits
« Reply #7 on: 20 September 2008, 12:26 »
220 from an abf is goign to require good headwork.   but it's doable.     can't wait to get my TB's on 
all the VW's have gone bar 1.