JonL's 8v budget track toy - now going to be a race car! ;-)

[Horney]

Good to meet you tonight Jon and brill to see my old car in the hands of someone with so much enthusiasm.

As promised www.ybracing.co.uk if you navigate to Car Tuning and performance and then lower front strut braces it's on the first page and is £28 + postage.

Nick

[VeeDubGTI16v]

are you on about your tt bushes again? do you have any data to back that up?

I've got the data from my hands, when comparing the two.

That's better than the pub knowledge I suspect you're touting, organ-grinder-boy.

im sorry but a knowledge of material properties is hardly pub knowledge now is it, old boy. other end of the scale you might say. your test was flawed as you stitched the wishbones at the same time. put some poly bushes back in the wishbones and then tell me your rubber tt bushes are stiffer.

sorry to hijak your thread Jon

[JonLeeper]

Don't worry about the hijack, I am very interested.  I will need to fit something when I replace the wishbones and Passat ARB so would love to see a resolution of this issue.

I will be using a G60 shock tower mount (or whatever it should be called) but will need to replace the wishbone bushes (four of), ARB bushes (two of) and the ARB drop link bushes (two of).  I will also have to look at the ball joint and track rod arm joint to see if they need replacing.  There will be new discs and pads as a matter of course and I will have to source braided brake lines and some dot 5 fluid to complete the brake overhaul.  The drive shafts will get a thorough clean and inspection, I am hoping that the CV Joints will not need changing as that is extra expense, but will change both CV joint and boot if necessary.

I am intending to weld up the wishbones whilst they are off the car, it would seem common sense to do so whilst I have the opportunity, I take it that it is simply a case of seam welding along the join line where the metal has been folded into a box?  This could be done before they are shot blasted and powder coated to ensure longevity of the finish.  Is there anything else I should be loking at doing to the front whilst I have the opportunity?

[JonLeeper]

Nick,

It was great to see you as well and filled me with renewed enthusiasm to get on and actually get the car out onto a track.  I have provisional agreement from the DCOS (Domestic Chief Of Staff) that the 2nd Dec is fine so will be booking the day off work and a day on the track.  So the date is set and the car must be ready for then.  We will see.....

[VeeDubGTI16v]

the passat wishbones are a bit different to the golf ones in that they are box sectioned so to weld them is a bit more involved and not as important as they are that much stiffer to start with.
i dont think its worth welding along the seams, to do it properly would mean cutting the seams off against the wishbone and seam welding the two halves of the wishbone back together

for bushes, the cheapest way to go is buy the bugpack kit of polyurethane bushes. its about £45-50 and you get every bush for the car apart from front top mounts, rear beam bushes, and front subframe bushes, (and rack bushes if you have pas, the kit includes non pas rack bushes)

have you bought the g60 top mounts yet? have a look at the mk3 vr6 top mount setup if not (search club gti) its a better design!

[JonLeeper]

I haven't bought any bushes yet.  I will have a look at the bugpack kits, any advice on the best place to source them?, and will also look at the VR6 top mounts.

[Diamond Hell]

im sorry but a knowledge of material properties is hardly pub knowledge now is it, old boy.

You've actually got nolidge?  Nolidge of the material used in the TT bushes and nolidge about the polybush material?  Good skills.  Share then.

your test was flawed as you stitched the wishbones at the same time. put some poly bushes back in the wishbones and then tell me your rubber tt bushes are stiffer.

Actually it was both bushes in my hands outside of the wishbones, so it was a pretty fair comparison, nipper.

FWIW I've got Golf3 16v/VR6 top mounts in my Syncro.  If you go that route you need spring caps and top mount caps IIRC, top mount caps at the very least - I have a pair lying around if you need them at any point.

i dont think its worth welding along the seams, to do it properly would mean cutting the seams off against the wishbone and seam welding the two halves of the wishbone back together

I know the Passat control arms are different to the Golf2 units, but I'm struggling to keep up with your logic on this one.  On my arms I welded an inch piece, left about 1 1/2"-2" and then did another section - welding ALL round would be overkill and unnecessary in my layman's assessment.  Where there are two flat bits of metal spot-welded together you're going to increase their strength by seam-welding them like that.  Whether it would have the same effect on the Passat/G3 control arms, as it appears to have on the G2 units I don't know, but it feels to have made a difference to me, on my set up.

[Horney]

I'm pretty sure German and Swedish sell the bug pack bushes. I believe to use the VR6 top mounts you need to run MKIII Golf springs and top plates but don't quote me on that.

nick

[VeeDubGTI16v]

dh, golf wishbones are different to passat wishbones. john is putting passat wishbones on his car. thats what im talking about. where you have welded your golf wishbones is the correct place.

re the bushes, ask yourself these questions

  why can you buy polyurethane bushes for tt's?

  are the standard bushes on an audi tt gonna be designed for A, road use (quiet, comfortable) or B, track use (noisey, bumpy)?

they will work better than standard mk2 bushes as they are designed for a heavier car, but its only the same as using the tt's spring rates or dampers. For a mk2 track car you still want stiffer than that.

you have found a nice upgrade for a mk2 owner who wants to keep a level of comfort though

[JonLeeper]

Nick,

There are two on that site, one that just ties the two rear mountings together (@£30) and one that ties all four points together (@£60).  Any idea if the four point one gives twive the effect of the two point?