mk2 1600 ryder. Uprated cam and exhaust questions

[Sam]

Do all 15s clear the calipers Mr H?

[Diamond Hell]

If it's a complete 280mm set up instead of some pieced-together cobbled up set up then all OEM 15" rims should clear the calipers.

[DOA]

Ignore the comment about fitting "uprated" spark plugs, its a complete waste of time and budget for what you are doing and a new set of single prong plugs will do just fine. Remove the air filter altogether and put really thin oil in if your changing it (I would also say run it low on oil but you will have to fit a windage tray and baffles into the sump if your tracking the car to stop excessive surge). Also, if there are any, re-route any breathers that feed into the inlet to a breather bottle (can of red bull etc). If you fit different tyres, try and find ones that will be of a smaller diameter when fitted as this will aid your acceleration. A GTi rear beam might be of some help too as that comes fitted with an ARB though dont bother with converting to rear discs as they will be heavier. Best bet is still stripping EVERYTHING off the car though.

[Sam]

Ignore the comment about fitting "uprated" spark plugs, its a complete waste of time and budget for what you are doing and a new set of single prong plugs will do just fine. Remove the air filter altogether and put really thin oil in if your changing it (I would also say run it low on oil but you will have to fit a windage tray and baffles into the sump if your tracking the car to stop excessive surge). Also, if there are any, re-route any breathers that feed into the inlet to a breather bottle (can of red bull etc). If you fit different tyres, try and find ones that will be of a smaller diameter when fitted as this will aid your acceleration. A GTi rear beam might be of some help too as that comes fitted with an ARB though dont bother with converting to rear discs as they will be heavier. Best bet is still stripping EVERYTHING off the car though.

I also hate using the term 'uprated' but I believe a higher quality plug will produce a stronger spark. I expect he is changing the plugs anyhow so what does it matter spending a couple of extra quid on a better quality plug?

As for the tray you can get them on ebay for £20 and as you are wanting a bit more power and an engine to race its worth wipping off the sump anyway to give it and your oil gauze a clean/inspection and weld in some ribs if you feel it needs them, not hard at all.

You are right about keeping the rear as drums. If you install g60's on the front with good rubber to match they want to do this anyhow, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2D6G1zkceA never mind with all the seats etc ripped out of the rear.

[DOA]

I also hate using the term 'uprated' but I believe a higher quality plug will produce a stronger spark. I expect he is changing the plugs anyhow so what does it matter spending a couple of extra quid on a better quality plug?

It might produce a stronger spark which "might" help if your running a very powerfull/forced induction engine but even dyno tests on them cant conclusively prove any gains through the use of different plugs due to the miriad variations that occur during testing and within an engine. A £600 budget is not much and you can get the same performance from a bog standard NGK plug that costs less than half that of a "upgraded" plug  .

You are right about keeping the rear as drums. If you install g60's on the front with good rubber to match they want to do this anyhow, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2D6G1zkceA never mind with all the seats etc ripped out of the rear.

Hence why I wrote it lol  . As for doing endo's, no chance, the grip wouldnt be there even if he ran on super tacky hillclimb slicks though it would be funny to watch.  However, on that subject, you can pick used slicks up after tarmac rallies for pennies if you ask around but then you definately will have to do something to stop oil surge and will want to uprate all of the bushes on the car and the springs and dampers to cope with the extra grip which would probably be a bit of a budget killer.

BTW, if your fitting a GTi head, check the compression ratio that you will get once its fitted (lots of guides online, google is your friend) and skim the head to get up to around 10.5 to 11:1 (circa £20 if you shop around). Just watch out for pinking and detonation when you run it and set the timing to avoid this if needed. Also worth checking the valve stem seals are sound before buying the head.

[Sam]

I thought you needed to remove the valves if you are skimming the head anyhow? You get the seals with a headgasket set nehoo which you would need to put the new head on.

[andynorfolk]

this is such an awesome idea, wish i had a mate with some spare cash!

[mwep201081]

don't do anything to the bottom end. It's finely balanced and unless you spend large sums you'll balls it up.

Get the head skimmed to up the compression ratio to about 11/11.5:1. If you can afford it or be arsed, get the ports of the head sand blasted. Make the engine breathe easier with a good air filter and a good exhaust, including manifold. a cam will help but beware it pushes everything up the rev range, which isn't a bad thing if you can afford the fuel

[danny_p]

you cant get the compression ratio that high on a driver by skimming the head.

your starting off at 9:1   iirc youd have to take about 3mm off

[scaffold]

Hi all,

Feel bad that I haven't contributed to this as much as the rest of you so I guess it's update time!

I'm glad that the topic has raised some opinion, but can't take full responsibility for what people seem to agree with as being a good idea. At least 50% of the applause has to go to my mate skinny as I believe it was him that first came up with it as I was up getting in the beers and a packet of nuts pulling an all nighter at work after we'd been discussing that Top Gear challenges had gone all staged and what you could actually do with a relatively low budget. So, we settled on a figure that wouldn't break the bank [just a couple of hundred stashed to one side from each wage slip] and then try to do something with it twice a year. Neither of us earn mega bucks, but we know one end of a spanner from the other and thought we'd put a bit of purpose into the usual ebay bought treasure that just gathers dust in the back of the garage. We've also been fortunate enough to move the projects on and get a bit of cash back [in fact the vans 'fuel economy' challenge both saw us net the total budget for the next challenge as well as cover the cost of the vans!] This ones different though, as it's track orientated and I want to keep the car as an ongoing project afterwards 

So...fanfare please...I've found myself a skimmed gti head with injectors blanked off and seals re seated. Headgasket and valve cover gaskets and bolts included to fit it. There's a gti cam in there too 

I think that this will be finding it's way onto the car this weekend all being well, with photos and details on how it's coming together too. I'll have to get a project thread started once I break out the spanners.

As for other modifications, lightness is key. Remember that I need to use the car during the week so I can't get rid of everything, but I'm going to remove as much as possible [sound deadening and carpet being the first to go - bah, I'll carry some earplugs for longer journeys]. On the day itself, all I'll need to do then is unbolt the front two seats and stick my bucket seat in. Happy days!

Suspension wise, the coilovers aren't staying [a fact that I'm sure will please most] and will be replaced with a spring and shock setup [always interested in advice/comments on a setup by people running different systems]. I'm on the look out for a 280mm brake set up BUT although I'm about as far from 'scene' as you can get [I don't cover my windscreen in stickers, hang a cuddly toy off my tow eye or take photos of my car and trainer collection] I have always pictured running this car on 14s. I've a wheel in mind that I need to speak to ratta about getting some polishing pads for that I haven't seen on any other golfs so I'm hoping I may be doing something different. I'll see if the 280 set up comes up cheap enough [does it bolt straight on?] and see if that sways me [at least for the duration of race day!]

Sticky rubber is being looked into, as are front and rear stiffening. I've a momo wheel to go on which although isn't really a performance modification should help me when it comes to throwing the car through the curvy stuff.

One question I do have though is do I need to have the 32/34 carb re jetted to suit the gti head? If so, any reputable companies that people can recommend?

Photos and more info to follow