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

[JonLeeper]

I thought that I would put up a list of parts I think I need and my planned supplier.  If anyone has a better idea for a bit or knows of a better place to buy then please let me know.

Things I need to buy:

Ball joints - VW Spares
Front suspension bush set poly (?) – GSF?
Track rod joints - VW Spares
Wheel bearings - VW Spares
CV Joints complete - E Bay (but am keeping the old ones clean and safe just in case)
256mm Discs - ?
Mintex 1155 Pads (the most recommended on here) - ?
Braded brake lines - ?
Track rods - VW Spares
G60 front strut top mounts - VW Spares
Strut nut & bolts - VW Spares
Wishbone bolts - VW Spares
Calliper service kit - Big Red
Lower front strut Brace (4 point) - OMP
Track day Helmet - OMP
Rear strut mounts - VW Spares
Rear bump stops - VW Spares
Rear Spring Plates - VW Spares

Optional purchases:

Harness bar – Purpose made
Seat mountings - ?
Harnesses - ?

Current total £121.73 (VW Spares)

Current Total £403.34
VW Spares - £159.34
OMP - £146.30
E-bay - £77.95
Big Red - £19.75
All prices include VAT & postage

I am still looking for the best place for polybushes, I cannot find any refernce to the "bugpacks" at GSF or anywhere that do packs at all.

[Horney]

Jon, I maybe popping into GSF today. If I do I'll ask about the poly bush packs.

Nick

[JonLeeper]

Jon, I maybe popping into GSF today. If I do I'll ask about the poly bush packs.

Nick

Nick,

You are a star, many thanks,

Jon

[Horney]

I ended up going to Euro Car Parts instead as I rang them first and they had the part I needed in stock.

I think your best bet with GSF is to just give your local branch a call (I think Reading might be your closest) and see what they say. Their website is rubbish unless you know part numbers but generally the staff on the phone will know exactly what you're after.

nick

[JonLeeper]

Never mind mate, my nearest store is the Aldershot one as it is just up the dual carridgway.  I will try and give them a ring when I get back from Norfolk.  I need a CV Boot Clip tool so will have to call in before I can put the driveshafts back together anyway.

The last bits I need to buy are the bushes and brake discs and pads, I think....

[JonLeeper]

Bloody hell, I disappear for two weeks and end up buried on page 2!  Good to see that discussion is going strong on here.

So I have had a week away with the family and then a week in Shrivenham on a course, Through Life Capability Management Practitioners Course (and yes it was as boring as it sounds), and this weekend was a bit of a washout as it was Remembrance Sunday so I had lots to do.  Still I have managed to take the car round to my mate’s house and it is now inside his comfy garage and we have started serious work. 

The front seats are both out and I have ground off the front mounting on the driver’s side.  We have, utilising a spare seat he had lying around, positioned the harness bolt holes and I will purchase the eye bolts today so that we can drill and fix these.  I will then clean up the floor and paint it to complete the work already started.  I have found a new driver’s seat, all being well, and that will be mounted on runners bolted to the floor.  We are going to manufacture new flat plate mounts from strip ali, they will run from the flat floor to a wedge shaped spacer on the box section under the old front mounting, these will provide a secure flat surface to mount the runners with the side mounts bolted to these.  I need the runners as several people may well drive the car and one of these is likely to be my wife.  As she is a little less than 5 feet tall, and I am a bit over 6 you can see the need for runners!  We have also scoped the requirement for two sets of harness bolts to account for the seat forward or the seat back.  The level of adjustment required means that I would have to find extra long lap and crutch belts which harder than simply drilling and fixing two sets of eye bolts and unclipping the harnesses and re-attaching when required.  For the shoulder harnesses I am getting a new bar made that will run between the rear inertia reel bolt holes behind the rear strut brace.  If this is not ready by the end of the month then I will have to utilise the rear bolt holes in the floor, not ideal I know but it may be necessary on this occasion.

I will then start to look at the passenger side and then move forwards to the engine bay.  Still lots to do but I can see the light at the end of this particular tunnel; I am just a little suspicious that it might be the oncoming train!

[JonLeeper]

In order to keep me on track, pun intended, and assist in my planning I thought that I would creat a list of jobs that need doing.  I will then be able to tick them off as they are completed and keep an eye on where I am.  It also gives everyone else a chance to comment on my progress and point out anything that I have forgotten!

So jobs that need to be done:

Clean calliper carriers - 19/10/09
Paint calliper carriers
Clean and inspect Callipers - 19/10/09
Shot blast callipers
Service, if necessary
Paint callipers
Fit braided brake hoses
Renew brake fluid and bleed system
Full 4-wheel alignment and set-up
Check all engine hoses and renew as necessary
Flush radiator and refill with coolant – at increased strength
Change oil filter
Renew oil
Tune engine (Rub you may get a call here! )
Fit new wing mirrors, current ones fold up at any speed!
Complete plastic door cards and fit
Finish stripping down drivers side footwells
Paint drivers side footwell
Finish stripping down passengers side footwell
Paint passengers side footwell
Strip and replace rear suspension spring plates and bushes - 09/11/09
Fill with Super
Enjoy!

Optional jobs – times money permitting:

Clean Wishbones 19/10/09
Paint wishbones
Fit new ball joints
Fit new bushes
Initial clean of Hubs 19/10/09
Shot blast hubs
Paint hubs
Fit new wheel bearings
Strip, clean and inspect Driveshafts and CV joints
Fit new CV joints
Re-assemble driveshafts and fit new boots
Clean and inspect ARB
Assemble hubs complete
Clean track rod ends - New track ends ordered
Paint track rod ends - New track rod ends ordered
Fit new track rod end joints
Strip front suspension off the Golf
Re-fit Passat suspension to Golf
Fit new front seats – see above post for options
Design and manufacture harness bar and fit
Fit harnesses

Well I have altered my list of jobs, time as ever gets in the way, but am progressing.  I managed to strip off the rear suspension, again, and replaced the top spring mounts, bump stops and all bushes/rubbers and re-assembled.  I also completly stripped out the drivers side front and started to dig down to clean up.  I cut off the runners and mountings for the OEM seat, I have a bucket seat avaliable, and ground it all back to flat metal.  I discovered a littel surface rust in a couple of places that was sanded back and will be treated with krust before a top coat is applied.  The major issue was arround a metal/rubber grommet that is fitted in the floor under the drivers left but cheek which had rusted and was starting to corrode the floor.  I have stripped the grommet out and will cut a circular plate from a bit of ali and rivet it over the hole once it is treated and painted which should prevent this from happening again.  We agreed all of the mounting points for the 6 point harnesses and I will drill them out and fit the spacers once the seat arrives and we can do a final trial fit.  All in all it is moving forwards, a bit slowly, but it is moving.

[JonLeeper]

Time for an update:

It feels like I have achieved nothing on the car for ages but it has been a really sh!tty time.  My best mate went to the doctors felling a bit unwell and a week later is suffering from an advanced pancreatic cancer with secondary’s in his liver and probably elsewhere.  I have spent a bit of time round at his; he has no family left after his mum died, from cancer, earlier this year.  Not really helping me to actually get work done.  On the more positive side he is supposed to be sharing track time on my first day out this month and has said that he thinks he will be fit to drive, so the car has to be ready.

Jobs completed include replacing the wing mirrors, they no longer fold back into the door as soon as you go over 5 miles an hour!  The doors have been cleaned out internally and I have made up new plastic liners.  I have also made door cards out of some very thin and light fibreboard style material that I will fit over the top to stop any body part ingress and also to hide the bare metal.  The passenger side floor has been totally cleaned and rubbed down, any rust treated with krust, and is ready for a cost of paint.  The drivers side is half complete, I need to finish the part ahead of the cross brace, but here I have cut out the seat mounts and ground them back to the shell.  The new seat is going to be mounted to the floor and so I didn’t need the runners and they weigh!  The wiring loom has been re-zip tied together and tucked neatly out of the way.  (I will strip out all of the unnecessary wiring at some point, but not before the end of the week!)  I have planned all of the mounting points for the 6-point harnesses I am borrowing and FIA eye bolts and backing plates are on route as I type.  The drivers side seat is on order and should be delivered next week for final fitting.   

I have bought a full service kit, but noticed that the water pump has a lot of evidence of leaks around it so will have to buy a new one and fit that when I flush and service the cooling system.  I will fit new belts and a new thermostat at the same time, probably overkill but cheap and easily done all together.  The Passat callipers and carriers have been cleaned and I have a service kit ready to refurbish them.  I will buy new disks and mintex 1155 pads and they can be fitted when I renew the brake fluid.

Overall it feels like I am getting nowhere but having typed this I guess a lot of the preparation is done and the finishing will take less time than I think.  I have booked all next week off work so I can dedicate myself to the car.  I will have to take kids to school and help out a bit but mostly I will be in the garage.

Roll on next week…….

[Horney]

Sad news on your friend Jon but good that you'll be going out on track together. I do my days with my Dad and it's a great experience sharing the driving with someone else.

Sounds like the car is coming along well, look froward to pics of it all ready for action and the report on it's first day out.

nick

[Mew]

Just incase you don't know, there is already a larger master cylinder fitted (i did it just before i sold the car to Nick, 2 years ago?)