Hi guys, I thought it was about time to start keeping my build thread up to date on here.
The car: A 1989 Golf GTI 8v.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585426461/62BE1D40-BCC3-45FF-BF9E-EB9C3A7EDDF4_ybymfn.jpg)
Specs:
Chassis - KW V3 Coilovers, Solid camber adjust topmounts, standard oem bushes and roll bars.
Interior: full 6 point MSA roll cage, fixed bucket seats, 6 point Schroth harnesses. Full carpets, front sound deadening and doorcards remain,
Engine: 1.8 8v GTI engine, full Milltek stainless exhaust (4-1), Newman 268 Cam. (approx 125-130bhp)
Weight: Approx 950-980kg
Tyres: Nankang NS-2R
Please see my old 82 page build thread here:
https://clubgti.com/forums/index.php?threads/copes-gti.169739/
2007
(http://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1506534362/build/HPIM1279.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1506534238/build/HPIM1293.jpg)
2020
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1608293783/50690459493_b54f9dfb4c_o_lrur3k.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129707/35BD9752-8FE0-4A62-925C-C42321A1339B_hnl8zl.jpg)
A very brief background:
I got the Golf back in 2007, when I was 16. It had been sat in my dads mates garage for over 7 years. It's safe to say the car was in a sorry state! Back then I was still at school :o working weekends in my local pub, earning £36 a week. I'd bought myself a 3/8 socket set, and set to repairing the car... well probably breaking more than I repaired, but it was all a learning curve.
Fast forward 13 years, and nothing much has changed, the Golf is still my pride and joy, and I still get out in the garage tinkering whenever i can.
Looking back, its been such a journey! Countless hours, sleepless nights, blood, sweat and tears. Breakdowns, road trips, laughs, squeaky bum moments, Nurburgring trips etc etc. It's all been worth it.
I've taught myself how to weld, how to paint and I'm pretty comfortable with any mechanical issues that needs fixing.
The car has certainly evolved over the years, from being my daily for 5 or 6 years, then taking it to a few shows at the weekends, to now where its mostly used on track and sunny weekends. I've always had the same vision, which is to create a car that functions as well as it forms!
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I will continue on from around 2018 with a Nurburgring trip, and if you are interested, you can read the full progress at the link above.
Nurburgring 2018
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Another year and another fantastic trip! It didnt go without its mishaps which I'll touch on later...
We set off to Hull for the usual 8pm crossing to Rotterdam.
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We had a nice steady trip over and arrived over the other side for 8am.
We had the usual bunch of lads - Ford in his 3.2 TT and Beardy in his Teg.
This year, the same as usual, we rented a house for the 9 days we were there and I think this is one of the best we've stayed in. It was a 10 min drive to the Nordschelife entrance in Virneburg and cost us £130 each for the 9 days, so great value.
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(http://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/c_scale,w_750/v1536003336/006F5ED2-7108-45A3-8BF7-BA356006D3F2_dfxvwl.jpg)
The owners were amazing, super friendly and spoke great English.
After unpacking I gave the golf a final check over of fluids and pressures before making our way to the track.
First port of call after unpacking was to top up with some racey 102 fuel [}:)]
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Arrived at the track and went straight out for a lap. Straight away the car felt amazing! by the time I got to Flugplatz I could really feel how much stiffness the cage had added and how much more grip was on offer with the new AR1's.
Unfortunately here is where this report goes downhill for a little while..
Just before Wipperman I went to grab 4th gear. The gearstick was stuck solid. A few more wiggles (yanks) and still nothing. My initial thought was the box has got too hot for what ever reason and it needed to cool. Never the less I kept positive and enjoyed the rest of the lap in 3rd gear -pretty much at full pace :lol:
Just before the mini karusell it suddenly dawned on me that Id have to get out the carpark and up a HUGE single track road with tight hairpins in 3rd gear... this was going to the interesting.
Parked up in the carpark and left the car for 20 mins to cool. Still nothing! stuck solid. I inspected the linkages and everything seemed in order.
(http://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/c_scale,w_750/v1536003179/72FA40A9-8E73-4B9B-9FEA-66E1B4B612F6_jx8nkx.jpg)
Popped the linkages back on and got Ford in the driver seat to give the gearstick a wiggle while I check the movement of the linkages. Next news I let out a little giggle, Ford replies "What?" as we both watch the ball that should have been attached to my relay shaft go rolling down the carpark..:lol: GREAT!
Ford felt absolutely terrible, but I told him not to worry and I must have cracked it on track trying to get it out of gear.
So the inevitable was coming, how to get back to the house. With a quick push in the carpark to get going, the mighty 8v pulled away (alot easier than I was expecting) Next challenge was the 1:3 hillclimb back to the house. The turning up to the hillclimb was a very acute left hand junction in a village. With Beardy's word ringing in my head "theres no way your getting up there in 3rd" I had no choice but to get 2 wheels on the right hand kerb at 25mph, quickly flick the car left with about a turn of lock and stamp on the throttle. Poor Dorris was out gardening and I bet she thought I was a right yob [:-B]
Ford was behind and said the inside rear lifted about half a foot:lol:
I managed to negotiate the hairpin and got back to the house feeling quite proud [:D] That was the first hurdle. Now onto the actual problem.
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At this point it was obvious there was a serious issue, this was made more obvious after we attached the bar off my jack on the end of the selector shaft and gave it a nudge and it still wouldn't budge...
Time for a brew.
I came to the ring this year on a very tight budget. At the time I was moving to the other side of the country and was in between jobs so any extra expense was a push! I have Euro breakdown and seriously considered giving them a ring and getting him put on a flatbed and sent back to the UK.
But wheres the fun in that!?
After finishing my brew I'd made my mind up that I was going to fix it. After all I had 9 days off, and 2 mates with me to help...
A quick google German translator and some German ebay later I had a possible gearbox located only 30mins drive away from Virneburg. Only issue was the box code was ATH - a 1993 diesel Passat, so the ratios would be interesting.
I'd been told there was a scrapyard near the ring, just by the GP tack. By this time it was 8pm so we had a look over the fence and spotted a promising looking MK2
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Feeling knackered but determined we made our way to Adenau for some food.
That night I found out a stuck 3rd gear in an 020 box is fairly common, and is down to "overshifting" whatever that means! I've watched the footage back and I heel and toed every gear on that lap and didnt do anything untoward... Perhaps a 30 year old gearbox just needs a rest sometimes!
The next morning I was up bright and early and we went straight off to the scrapyard. Using my best german I asked the owner if he had any vw gearboxes, he gave me a funny look and just shook his head. On reflection I hope it was a gearbox I asked for!
Luckily his son spoke perfect english and we went for a tour around the carpark. The mk2 we spotted the night before was for sale as a complete car. There were a few mk3's and other bits and bobs. Managed to find one mk2 but it was a 4 speed so knocked that idea on the head.
Heading back to the car I emailed the bloke on German Ebay and told him we would be popping over to his unit - hoping that he was in.
Most roads around the 'Ring are just like this one!
(http://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/c_scale,w_500/v1536003222/68C64C72-33A8-44C6-9674-E045AA823CA2_hirjfl.png)
After trying to get the bloke to crack a smile we made a deal on 100euro for the box and a relay shaft. Not too bad in my time of need!
(http://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/c_scale,w_800/v1536003213/C3DAECAA-43BD-490A-9451-E8BA2A13A284_wisrnp.jpg)
Did I mention I'd be changing the box on the guesthouse driveway!? Very glad I packed all my tool and even spare driveshaft bolts! ... but wheres that damn spline tool... yep, I'd left it at home!
We were staying next door to the English lads who own the Crown Pub in Adenau, they saw the box on the driveway and came straight round with a big set of ramps and asking if we needed any help. I explained we had everything apart from a spline tool. They made a quick ring to Stu at Ring Garage, who I spoke to on the phone. He said he had a tool we could borrow and if we needed anything else he was more than happy to drive round the area and pick up supplies! - These lads are true gents and I cant thanks them enough for their gratitude!! Even though you're thousands of miles from home in a foreign country, at the Nurburgring you really aren't too far from home at all.
So, onto the task in hand. To put the difference in ratios into context, check the tables below.
The left hand side is my standard ACD 020 close ratio box, on the right is the diesel passat ATH 020 box.
(http://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/c_scale,w_800/v1536003352/502FD34F-C6C8-4582-A3D4-94A478EFA630_efpec7.jpg)
My main priority in doing this job was to not spill a drop of box fluid on the driveway! The last thing I wanted to do was annoy the German couple who owned the house.
Just as I got the car on stands the owner came out and said "problems!?" I said yes... thats when he saw the gearbox. "you are going to replace that!?" ... "erm, yes, if thats okay with you!" ... "of course! you have the garage there, please rearrange it how you want" - 2 mins later he came out with some massive dust sheets, obviously he was concerned about his driveway too!:lol: Again cannot thanks the owners enough for being so kind and accommodating!
First job
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(http://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/c_scale,w_700/v1536003204/30213FA6-5ADD-4B07-9481-94B9531CB5DC_ft3soc.jpg)
Removal of the box went fairly well.
(http://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/c_scale,w_750/v1536003242/E9329F97-128B-4FAD-81DC-428BC404A84D_rmddfu.jpg)
Until I tried to remove the dreaded driveshaft spline bolts. I got them all out bar 3 bolts, which had completely rounded - No problem I thought, I'll get my Urwin bolt gripers on the job... nope, I'd left those at home too!:lol: Strangely, just before locking up my garage in the UK, I grabbed my angle grinder! Unfortunately it wouldn't fit in the gap between the box and driveshaft, that resulted in me having to take the guard off the grinder to gain access, not something I was comfortable with but it had to be done.
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After this hurdle it was the end of the day, yes it really had taken that long to get 3 rounded bolts out!
Next morning the lads helped man handle the box out!
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I had checked online before buying the box at 020 specs and this new box was listed as exactly the same apart from the ratios. I spent til lunch time getting the new box in and bolted up - all going well so far!
Trying to bolt the driveshafts up I suddenly noticed they were 90mm flanges and not the 100mm I needed for my driveshafts... balls! At this point we were all knackered and I thought that would be end of the trip.
A quick google and some encouragement from Nige, I was back out swapping the flanges from one box to another. This again proved to be a complete pain, 2 hours later all the cups were swapped over and I was able to bolt the driveshafts back up!
(http://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/c_scale,w_750/v1536003237/64CD9D8E-C5CA-4734-92D4-BDCE6E68B00B_kuiaed.jpg)
(http://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/c_scale,w_700/v1536003254/4A55D523-A549-4327-9082-1219FFF82C67_vtqv8x.jpg)
Marked up all the bolts so I could see if anything came loose
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Got the car back on the ground, topped the box fluid up with the cheapest stuff I could find and went for a test drive!
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HUGE RELIEF! the box is lovely, smooth as silk and everything aligns and slots in as it should.
The ratios are completely laughable though! I knew the track would be interesting, now I'd be using 2nd, 3rd with occasional 4th.
Got back to the house and checked everything over, everything looked spot on! We'd done it!!! [:D]
By this time it was getting late so I jumped in the shower, and we all headed straight for the evening tourist session.
As you can imagine I was a little apprehensive about going out. But i needn't have worried! after a couple of miles my confidence in the car grew and we were back on form, albeit alot slower due to the box.
Smiles all round!
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saw Dale from Bridge to Gantry in the carpark and he was very exited and seemed to love the golf, before I knew it he'd jumped in and started it up going "wooow" :lol:
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Ended up doing 2 laps and felt so pleased we'd managed to sort it! Only issue I could find was I was boiling my cheap box fluid, so replaced that with some decent stuff and had a leak from the speedo cable hole, which i fixed with about an inch of high temp sealant :thumbup:[:D] After all the box needed to last me a week and get me home!
Drove home with a huge grin and sat down to a very well deserved cold one!
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For the res of the week we lapped hard and had a fantastic time!!!
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This year the golf got alot of love! everywhere we stopped and even on the motorway people we taking photos and asking questions about the car [8D]:thumbup:
We stopped a few times to grab photos ourselves. It really is a stunning place!
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(http://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/c_scale,w_800/v1536003278/5D4B07C9-7FF6-4E7E-A954-CBB8D20CD4F2_v5mkbh.jpg)
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:hug:
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Got some lovely photos on track!
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I'm claiming all 4 wheels off!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcuoyTHLsAg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcuoyTHLsAg)
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The only issue I had through the week were the exhaust rubbers. No matter which ones I try they always melt! (http://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/c_scale,w_750/v1536003310/EB6F43B2-C549-4F31-9348-ADE01DADF752_f9zygl.jpg)
So had to make do with some makeshift hangers
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One of the highlights of the trip was being able to take Jeffery out for his very first lap at the Nurburgring.
Him and his family had travelled to the 'Ring from the Netherlands to watch the classic racing the week after we were there. They were staying next door and got chatting to them. I said we were heading to the track the next day and if he asked permission from his mum I'd be more than happy to take him for a few laps. He was beyond excited and his week family holiday just got a whole lot better!
[MEDIA=youtube]bSBvBZx0IXA[/MEDIA]
Jeffery's family invited us round for a BBQ as a thanks. We had a fantastic time a have some new friends in Holland.
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Throughout the trip ambient temps were around 33degrees C! even at 7pm at night. That meant an alarmingly high track temp!!
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As a result Beardy and Ford decided not to go out after both experiencing over heating tyres and brakes.
The Golf still felt great so I kept lapping, I think Jeffery came out for almost all of them!
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The AR1's were really dealing with the heat well and even though they took a mile or so to warm up the level of grip compared to the NS-2R's is next level!
(http://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/c_scale,w_800/v1536003334/C635718B-F2B9-46BF-B42D-621D798E51B3_dhfngy.jpg)
To sum up an amazing trip I had the most enjoyable last lap I've ever done at the ring!!
After an accident before the miss-hit-miss a little Swift Sport tagged onto the back of me and suddenly I found myself really pushing. All within comfortable limits, but we were very evenly matched and we were both having a whale of a time!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSBvBZx0IXA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSBvBZx0IXA)
On our way back to the ferry we stopped off at Micheal Schumacher's karting, where I managed fastest lap of the week [:D]
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Getting stuck in a traffic jam in in a black car with no aircon, in this heat is never fun! but 47 degrees!!!?!
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On our way back we hit a derestricted part of the motorway and I decided to open the taps up and see what the new box had in it. I had all my tools in the back and my old gearbox... but I still managed 142mph! You might wonder how I managed to record that, well my speedo goes to 120mph and the needle was wrapping back round. Ford was behind in his TT and he said he saw 142mph! The old girl does well!
We made it back to the UK safe and Sound!
I'll be uploading more videos shortly so will post them up here :)
So, It's been over a year since I updated this! Lots has changed, lots has happened.
I'm out of my parents now in a little house with the missus, bonus is we have a garage, its tiny but a garage non the less! It didnt have power so I've put that in. I didnt like running loads of power tools through a 25m extension.
We will start with the exhaust. the mid box on my Miltek classic system started to rattle. I contacted Milltek and they send me out a new one. I decided to make a straight through to back box system using the old box as a template.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1549143568/40B1D1E7-2F86-4578-9FF9-2DD5BAE1D864_lsjnrm.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1549143578/62349A73-E182-435A-AF13-8383D2EC663E_ykqq3s.jpg) (http://'https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1549143578/62349A73-E182-435A-AF13-8383D2EC663E_ykqq3s.jpg')
This was a fun little project, but ultimately the car was awful! it was loud, really loud. It had lost all its rasp and was all drone. So that idea went out the bag!
Seats
I did a trackday at Croft in Nov 2019, which was brilliant. But one thing was letting the experince down -the seats... Although mk2 Recaros are a lovely seat, for track use the just aren’t stable enough.
Originally I swapped these for a set of Recaro Pole Positions – perfect, just was I was after!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1549143576/AAD4976C-D441-4DE5-B9C0-27D1D758DA47_ojfjoj.jpg)
After trying them out, they were the wider ABE versions. Being a slim Jim they weren’t suitable for me so I sold them. I was then on the hunt for some SPG’s or the narrower FIA versions. After some searching and being a bloody tight Yorkshireman, I just couldn’t justify £1200 on a set of seats –Reading this thread, you will all probably know already, I’m fussy. Things have to be just right or I won’t do It and this was no different.
After some research I found out that the older style Corbeau Clubsports were apparently discontinued because they had used the same/similar mould as the Recaro Pole Position. The price was much more suitable for me too, at around £130-£150.a seat used. That’ll do nicely.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585426481/2CE0657D-B5EE-4D5B-A17D-58983C104C88_xn87j6.jpg)
Now onto the next issue.
I’d got hold of some mk2 golf bucket seat subframes which bolt into the factory runners. There were 3 immediate problems. Firstly the weight – despite the car being more track orientated I’m not chasing weight saving, but these were a joke. Easily as heavy as the standard mk2 recaro if not heavier. Secondly, due to the design of the factory sliders and the way the subframe bolts into the car there was 3/4mm plug up and down. Thirdly, they sat SO high up. I’m 5’7” – a short arse by any stretch and even I felt like Donkey Kong on Mario Kart.
You can see below how high the seat sat in the car.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1549143582/ECA99FF2-C749-4D54-A45B-3B66F4E4CCE6_l6jslc.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_270/v1585426466/3581113E-70D2-4881-AB09-1E0E8FAF402A_l1xwnb.jpg)
So a rethink was in order.
The only real way I was going to be happy was chop out the original factory mounts and weld in tubular rails. So I got a set ordered up and set to the rails with a spot drill. Not a fun job!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585426487/E5AD19F9-8F40-416D-BBB4-CBE1BEB9A7B0_x6bifi.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_270/v1585426492/55D592E0-345F-4857-B05B-A7538974BF48_vhvcej.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427269/7BDC4D2E-26F5-44FD-976D-47686C555A00_mt73pw.jpg)
I used chocks of wood to get the seat where I wanted to. It’s a long process but it’s the only way to get it 100% correct.
Trying to make diagrams, take measurement throughout. Not only must you get the back and forward position right, left and right but you also have to make sure its square, a pain on a mk2 floorpan!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1585427277/42E56A42-ECEA-4F1B-8AC2-7788847195CB_gllkap.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1585427280/E2F1F764-5E56-421D-B3FB-9F4F1033B452_m2ukb3.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427280/64585D7B-967A-43DC-8272-5844C13705D4_qy2bia.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427280/84551E68-C171-4B6C-9EEE-95BC9FAA8088_ba3c65.jpg)
With the seat fitting in progress, another issues raised its ugly head! This time the steering wheel angle and position. I wanted to be sat as low down in the car as possible with my eye line just above the top of the wheel. I ended up making some spacers for the steering column to bring it down around 2.5 inches (the top of the wheel is now inline with the top of the dashboard)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1549143545/EAA112F1-CEB2-4644-9B5A-63A1DEE08BC8_z3pkt8.jpg)
I’ve also spaced the wheel out closer to me by 70mm.
The driving position is now perfect for me! With the clutch in my leg is just off from straight and the wheel is perfectly inline with me shoulders - well chuffed!
While sorting the seats out I was on the look out for some harnesses. I’d decided on 6 point for the most safety I could. I spoke to a nice chap on fb marketplace who was selling a Schroth harness for £100. I messaged him to ask if he had 2, he said he didn’t – I snapped it up regardless.
To my amazement when the parcel arrived there were 2 sets in the box! I messaged the bloke and he just sent me back a smile! I quickly fired him some beer money over paypal, as a small thankyou. Got very lucky there!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585426468/99F161B7-19A8-466A-AFBB-9F5B5DD7369D_anqxn8.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1585426477/55388912-3130-4186-B0BC-0201F603D72E_h14hfd.jpg)
While this was all going on, the diesel Honda daily was still going strong, but I wanted a change, I’m a “car guy” why do I want a diesel Honda Accord?! It had done its duty, carting me and my stuff back up from London.
I’ve always fancied an E36, and when one came up locally for a very good price I snapped it up. So here she is the “new” daily.
Shes a 323 se – Straight 6, manual, dove grey leather, and not much rust. (I've welded 2 jacking points in and welded in some new ARB mounts, but other than that shes clean)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1585426507/614ECF66-2147-4453-BA8F-E1F0C9FAB1E9_rqdyhl.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1585426508/C0DEA989-BE38-400C-9CE2-89E980DA4830_oxfqnv.jpg)
It’s a proper cruiser and silky smooth, I’ve had it a year now and its been very reliable. Had the water pump/viscous fan poo itself but that’s all so far. I’m really loving learning RWD even though this is a soft 323 I can totally see how front engine RWD is the way to go for a proper driver’s car. Going sideways is also very very fun. J
With daily duties sorted, back to the seats.
I can’t leave anything alone... So I decided I’d spruce the seats up. I wanted to retrim the centres in GTI tartan but the more I looked at all the VW tartan range I didn’t like any of them.
I started by wrapping some of my check shirts around the fabric to give me some idea.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1585426498/AD4DBF29-4555-49DF-9F12-2944D0B298B0_jin5wv.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1585426499/806833D7-9CA7-4065-8444-E8AFE30DE94C_lqszvn.jpg)
With my MOMO steering wheel being signed by Jackie Stewart I thought it might be nice to do a little homage to the Stewart Clan, using Black Stewart tartan.
Something different but a nice touch in my hunt for “clubsport” perfection [:D]
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1585427602/D8332749-10E0-4EC7-8447-ADC181494AEE_vvxloy.jpg)
Yes, I trimmed them all by hand – took bloody hours. Pricked my fingers more times than I can tell you. Turns out I’m a dab hand with a sewing needle!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1585427610/F7DF2F06-B0E3-4D35-925D-16701D3B0D41_mfefsw.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1585427634/00FAD9C8-58E0-42B0-AE13-1047297AA77C_nu9rne.jpg)
Must get that tartan lined up!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1585427601/050FAD8D-D3A7-40E5-8647-FF960C6545ED_bkuxwm.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427603/844A8D3C-FDE6-41FE-9652-8678F4672E55_cyvyri.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1585427597/D654EA4B-5AE4-479F-A700-C6E07924C6C5_icgg9z.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1585427606/7F9FD818-45CB-448A-A21C-5E7A87F4BCB0_zdo31k.jpg)
Then Sh*t just went too far!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1585427610/7F9AD35A-9C8B-4A89-8662-42A656575AE6_lezdiy.jpg)
Very very pleased with the outcome! [:D]
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427621/8B509CC7-9A2B-4360-B58C-5D5631524601_hazk3m.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427625/99528F8A-D297-4541-A66B-D2069E3D5F16_yhoksf.jpg)
Those beady eyed among you may have also noticed the gearstick…
Yet another of my “great” ideas – as always it was a pain to make but well worth the effort.
With the seating position sorted I wanted to bring the “shifter” closer to me also. With my 020 box being a rod shift this poses more problems. The main one being that even with my short shifter and the poopr raised up in the cabin the throw was HUGE, felt like a truck.
Back to the drawing board.
I started by rebuilding the shifter box with new bushes to give me half a chance
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427615/3A25124E-159E-49A0-AAE4-FC5BE872B114_vrj9ic.jpg)
I then focused my attention on the selector shaft, I’d only ever heard of this being able to be done but hadn’t physically seen it done. I had a spare shaft so used that to chop up.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427614/8F28EEC8-44C4-4F73-8AA4-6341877A06F3_f7lkgk.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1585427646/56889A51-0AA2-44FF-AB73-79DCA893D35A_z13c7l.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1585427648/E699A017-EFA1-4FDF-830F-9561FA1BE3EF_ecdmug.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1585427651/434E0C3A-737B-445F-A9AA-2BDFDA873E8F_ljraez.jpg)
This had enabled me to raise the shifter inside the cabin by quite a lot and keep the short throw on the lever. It’s no CAE shifter and it might not do my synchro’s any good, but only time will tell!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1585427657/A0D21AE5-742E-4950-A400-9D8629111DE3_fm7axx.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427656/1BA6687F-9504-4064-B473-BFBA2173EDAF_xlwvrh.jpg)
With the seats and harnesses sorted :)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1585427629/C9454700-5FD7-423C-BC5D-3A8AF9C3ACDF_omagho.jpg)
Next up on the list was the exhaust. For years I’ve had the same issue with exhausts, in that they never sit or hang right even with new hangers. Plus I could never stop the rubbers melting and/or falling off.
So, I decided to cut all the brackets and hangers off the car and off the exhaust and start again with a new more modern design.
I started by getting the exhaust where I wanted it on some industry spec materials. A washing basket, drill box, coolant container and some wood….
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1549143606/4E52824E-7BD8-45BE-B0A8-6189BC602B84_ocaqsx.jpg)
I then started to mock the new hangers up using some stainless rod. (I’ve already replaced the silicon hanger for a stock rubber part, with the same dimensions)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1549143592/1FB817E5-6FA0-47AE-B10F-35A6ED43B1BE_wlowja.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1549143593/43D3825C-6A30-4DA2-85CF-E2D8B8EC5A5A_ewvhjb.jpg)
I designed them so all the hangers on the exhaust and the car face away from each other, meaning the rubbers should never fall off…
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1549143598/1C3F3C69-ED53-46A5-B182-4E2555FD2677_wyenke.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1549143613/CC924A4C-8020-4870-A7CC-5071AD395614_ubghvd.jpg)
Substantial… ;)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1549143608/0908DC25-2AF2-4C81-A59D-9EE4629AA5D7_rkxaq5.jpg)
With the exhaust in place, sat up nicely in the tunnel and plenty of clearance over the rear beam, the backbox would tilt upwards and cause the back end of the box to hit the floor pan.
I made a few cuts and slight tweaks before welding it back up
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1549143598/40003010-5B6F-4F58-A445-8B8C03B158E9_aityeb.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1549143604/79E42283-6132-45A2-8DD7-0F17A2C6D1E6_qjyjmm.jpg)
With the exhaust done and in place the car sat like this for a while
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427275/4483A258-D61C-4CDD-81C4-C54778BEE220_oknkla.jpg)
to sort some..ermm.. you guessed it more rust repairs..
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585426504/B0273859-EBE9-4595-9DF5-245370E35669_qcqlgn.jpg)
I’d noticed the last few time I’d driven the car some oily residue on the passenger side front wheel. I took the coilovers off to make sure they were okay. I’ve had waterproof coilover socks on them since new, so its nice they still look that way! Best £20 I’ve spent
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1585427273/392AA32F-94F6-411F-899D-002E9381F3BB_bgrz8x.jpg)
Although they looked fine I noticed the dampers weren’t keen to expand back to normal, so I sent them back off to KW to see if they could dyno test them for hairline cracks.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_0/v1585427277/348D4D9D-7D50-4712-84BC-F1B28A0F6005_vvdafc.jpg)
They came back and said there was a slight imbalance, so they gave them a refresh but they had tested them and didn’t find any leaks. So something to keep an eye on!
With the coilovers back on and the car built back up, I decided to booked on to The Mk2 Golf Owners Sprint day at Curborough Sprint Course. (http://'https://www.curborough.co.uk/') Before that I needed a test run, so took him out for a good old raz around the dales J
Got some nice pictures on the way :)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585426461/62BE1D40-BCC3-45FF-BF9E-EB9C3A7EDDF4_ybymfn.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1549143605/D1482C96-EF79-44D3-BA3F-F808A95157CB_ut71la.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1549143590/4CB142CF-8345-4E07-96C6-D419BD820AD0_zg2eax.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1549143592/87916620-D89A-4A9C-B1A1-1FE3496A443D_nobxui.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585426501/001E2A21-83EB-456A-840B-F526BA9A4773_u8cmyp.jpg)
About a mile from home the car wasn’t happy, stuttering and died at idle.
I had a look under the bonnet and couldn’t see anything obvious, wiggles some wires and got the car going again. When I got home I found that the hall sender on the dizzy had a really loose connection. I fixed the connector by taking the metal pin out and bending it so it has a strong bite. I didn’t want any more issues so hunted down a new Bosch dizzy at GSF. A pretty penny at over £400… yes you read that correctly… lucky for me they had a 60% sale and a surcharge back for your old one. So it ended up costing me £75. – all things considered I couldn’t grumble!
Quickly got that on and realised I don’t have any way to set the timing up… a ring around a few local garages and one place had one in the bottom of his tool box. Champion! I had a look on the forums to understand what I’d actually have to do and how to use a timing light. Turns out its dead easy and I made it to Curborough the next day.
Conclusion after the drive
This was the first time driving anything with a proper fixed bucket seat and harness. One that has been totally tailored to me in every respect – From the seat position, to the seat height, to the steering column height, to the steering wheel spacing and the gear stick position.
After all the hard graft and countless hours overthinking every detail, I have to say it’s been well worth it.
On the road the car felt fantastic. No more play in the seats, no more having to keep yourself in the seat by gripping the wheel tightly and pushing your thighs into the seat bolsters – Just totally solid and confidence inspiring.
Perfect!
Next update will be Curborough Sprint Day :) Stay tuned…
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427634/71F42812-6DEC-4E4A-B4AF-CF6CB9FDEC0E_n0lxds.jpg)
Thanks for the kind words, and sorry for not updating this sooner!
So Back to Curborough and what seems like a century ago!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427632/D0AB8413-B6FF-4FD6-A03B-C4E730953B42_sfclar.jpg)
This was organised by the Mk2 golf owners club, its was a fanatically organised day and so good to see so many old faces and meet some new ones!
Lots of mk2s to see, from championship winning 16v’s to converted 20v turbos to vr6’s they had it all!
The Golf was going well all day, as I was learning the track and lines better each run.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427637/34506281-31FD-49CC-82D5-36DAA566D242_ijxmzc.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427636/5C40B433-9C19-4424-8A8F-4888971749D5_ndpzqs.jpg)
The only thing I wasn’t happy with was the short shifter I made still wasn’t quiet there, 2nd was really hard to find, which proved a pain on track. But that was a job for when I got home.
After the day came to a close I joined the group gathered for the awards. Unbelievably to me I’d actually won “fastest track car” of the day, I bet my face was a picture, never ever did I think I’d be picking a trophy up!! What a result after all the hard work!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427634/71F42812-6DEC-4E4A-B4AF-CF6CB9FDEC0E_n0lxds.jpg)
Loaded the car up and drove all the way home with the biggest grin!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sl95JBErio&t=27s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sl95JBErio&t=27s)
The 2nd gear issue at Curborough was rectified with modifying the input shaft again. Many iterations, finally landed with the most ideal solution.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427646/56889A51-0AA2-44FF-AB73-79DCA893D35A_z13c7l.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427651/434E0C3A-737B-445F-A9AA-2BDFDA873E8F_ljraez.jpg)
The shifts now feels silky!
In the process of all this I’ve moved into a little house, has a decent driveway although its tight and a little garage which is really tight! But its somewhere dry which I really appreciate!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427657/A0B9EF0B-487A-4B35-B585-6430C188D753_all85t.jpg)
Finally got all my tools organised which feels great and my mate put some leccy in the garage which is a huge improvement!!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427940/DE9E7DD0-21E2-4457-A1BC-019800F3E6DA_aa5hxp.jpg)
You might notice my nice shiny compressor sat at the back, that’s new! I’ve decided I’m going to give this painting lark a proper go. Cans have been fine for me for years but the finish soon dulls and it always needs redoing every year or so…
I’ve bitten the bullet with the Birsch 90l Belt driven compressor. They do a spray kit on ebay with all the lines, water trap, GT Air gun etc for a reasonable price.
I decided to start with the tailgate, some rust was starting to come through under the boot lock and I wanted rid of the rear wiper, for 2 reasons: 1. I never use it and 2. The wiper sits at a different angle to the X in the cage, which bugs me. I also have a pretty strong hatred for de-wipered cars with rubber bungs, if I was going to do this it had to be properly.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427957/5B1A1F1F-23F6-4B5C-851F-ED3BD74470BF_vvioyl.jpg)
I’d sourced the black vinyl boot trim without the wiper/washer holes, so I set about welding up the holes.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427951/33FC3631-84A3-4E3A-8CCD-D0654977C187_li25ha.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427966/0AD49060-DE1B-45FE-8F3E-A2C13BE3D8DA_bjzulh.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427961/6BF5BD55-782F-4859-ACFC-A1D985899AF6_xxkhug.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427977/CA7FAC64-EFA2-4502-A73D-9D5350DAD145_kjipu3.jpg)
Made myself a spray booth…
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427968/BA4B2A39-432D-4391-9B2A-A8D85ADC0C5D_wx2f97.jpg)
Got fist coat of primer on
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427940/A3631F72-784D-4918-A73B-E47D9F9C24FC_oghnaf.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427977/E95C5AD8-B91F-4328-A63C-A6999A23468C_hp8cjr.jpg)
At this stage you are probably thinking… no way, don’t paint in there, the space, the dust, the bugs etc etc… and you would be completely right. But whats the worst that could happen!?
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427936/6A8B12CA-A250-460B-BAD1-C2521FC09019_b6qbqb.jpg)
Yep the worst happened…
You’ve got to laugh.. or cry. Now what I’ve learnt here is I’ve banged on too much base too quickly so the solvents couldn’t escape. I’ve been watching a guy on Youtube called the Gunman, he’s from Australia and paints in a booth set to 35 degrees… ahhh that’s where I went wrong!
So back to the drawing board. 2 days later I had the boot lid sanded back to where I first started, at that point you’d think I’d just get it painted and be done with it, right? Wrong… I decided I may as well give the full rear end a refresh. In for a penny in for a pound!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599148366/E91BE1B4-EA40-4555-BFB5-315D59FBAD2F_rs29cg.jpg)
This time I went easy on the base coat. The clear went on really nice, it’s the most exciting and stressful point of painting, if anything goes wrong at this stage, its back to the drawing board.
This is out of the gun, ready for wet flatting
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599148366/35196028-4B8A-45BB-A06C-9C39651B2A33_djukjc.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599148783/9AF68FEA-464D-4EAD-BB26-3C1631373A96_nkdjty.jpg)
Wet flatted with 3M 3000 Trizact disc by hand, then used G3 compound and 2 different Menzerna finishing polishes.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599148781/271A4FAF-4910-4353-8B7A-86EF6909EA32_xhuq0g.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599148782/6B416393-FC7D-4539-B85C-CB67787CD250_x3vbtf.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599148781/A1E88B71-686F-4281-B032-87886C11FDC0_dhol5p.jpg)
I have to say I’ve surprised myself with the outcome! The only unavoidable thing was dust settling in the clear coat, it wasn’t a huge issue because you can wet sand them out but its more hassle and you end up with less clearcoat!
Got the vinyl trim on, very happy with the factory look of this!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599128865/1A381F0E-396A-4F01-A749-B47AA719C180_u6ca7e.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599128865/58ED2292-9DAA-40F7-9D2E-F21D19DABDD3_w4zlsf.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599128871/A3B958B2-FA23-4E43-B8EE-0012CC79B1C3_whfkui.jpg)
With the rear of the paint done, attention shifted to finding a passenger seat, trimming it and welding in the seat frame for that side.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1585427953/DB296122-B887-4EC3-8540-D1134523A228_e8kfz0.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599148367/8ECBC646-82B0-4E31-A278-2344E67A5724_ikyfmu.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599148367/2032178C-0207-4AB3-B303-B9C1A7CFCA75_n8jviv.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599148366/2ECD1C2E-270A-476A-A6D4-189FC457BCEF_bpg4vj.jpg)
More to follow [:D]
With the success of the rear end, it was time to tackle the crusty rear arches (or just one of them for now) again this was meant to be a “quick” job, lick of paint on the lower half and be done… I eneded up painting the full rear quarter and lower door.
First job assess the situation
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599128870/CB8AA857-1834-4E89-9E87-E4150FC437D7_t3lgm3.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599128868/C5AA565E-5DC8-4665-94D0-4B69F43B922E_pmwjpc.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599128871/1AF19924-9C6D-435E-9E11-14367E17ECA1_qt9izt.jpg)
Not too bad, but definitely needed some work.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599128872/DE6F9BE1-B8E3-4105-BEFC-35025C280C22_nshsnl.jpg)
No going back now…
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599128875/190C8F7C-8E0A-4F64-A19A-94B808197993_oeujgg.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599128874/467294F1-2211-4B77-ABD1-07969634B97B_eesvjb.jpg)
Got it full welded in making sure not to get too much heat in and warp it. Made sure the arches still sat nicely.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599128876/0814DCE7-5582-4C73-9FFF-E21FF2986E95_vauyum.jpg)
To secure the inner to the outer I drilled holes all the way along the front edge, this will be getting covered with the GTI arches so I’m not fused if they don’t come out perfectly level.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599128878/B3A2A565-9A30-454C-B7FA-3DC3A8C8CB36_n8fhur.jpg)
The inner lip as then seamsealed, painted and undercoated to prevent any water getting between the panels.
For the inner arch I totally got rid of the lip and brought both inner and otter arch out to the same level as the plastic covers. This just future proofs the arches in case I do get bigger/wider wheels at any point.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599128877/ABDC21EB-64F5-4847-A8F3-7D2FFA2A90F2_ukrctz.jpg)
Previously I’d welded tabs on the inner arch to secure the covers with cable ties, but the arches never sat exactly how I wanted them to. So to overcome that Ive welded some captive nuts on the lower lips. This means I can now secure the arch with some really nice little M8 flanged bolts.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599128878/65F7C9D5-A799-4B7C-932D-F54C310B1B18_gms8td.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599150633/B3B36957-3840-44DA-A8A2-399DA7CAF8F4_ndueiq.jpg)
With the arch in the body work could take shape. I had to weld in another little patch under the rear quarter window seal.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129276/86A4DD3D-CFB6-41B1-9AEA-DAF24A52E7B9_ncfij6.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129269/513B8A03-9A61-46D6-8A71-C7F50127D6F6_hd7zod.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129278/1724125C-80B3-49CD-B8D2-9870848443EE_h0czhh.jpg)
At this point my concern was how was I going to paint up to the roof gutter? I know they are a massive pain and never look right when they have been off, mine are perfectly straight so I didn’t want to touch them.
Theres more updates to come so I’ll share my little pikey tip with you in the next update! [:D]
Another lengthy update, apologies.
So back to the painting, what’s the little dodgy tip for painting up to a roof scuttle I hear you cry, the answer is an old USB cable with the ends cut off.
Once stuffed under the seal it pushes right back and pulls the lip of the seal right up, meaning you can paint underneath it, then remove the cable once its all done and dry.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599230059/E520A0AC-500F-436D-8CCD-5DF29DD176BB_wlp0bz.png)
This paint wasn’t without its problems, one of which was the room I had, some areas I physically couldn’t fit the spray gun into the correct position. I again had some funny reactions with the primer. But I sussed out what was going on. It was reacting on every area I’ve painted with cans, which makes sense as the primer must be reactivating the solvents in the old paint. That meant a quick flat down and dust back over with primer.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129279/7B1643C7-4B5A-47BB-99B6-ED158862731B_xwhc0l.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129273/B5B993A2-92E5-4969-8EDD-6D50BB07BF38_hr0zgo.jpg)
At this stage, I spent quite a lot of time with a block and some 600 paper, making sure everything was as flat as possible and any low/high spots taking care of.
Here I came across another issue, where I’d welded the patch under the rear quarter window seal I’d got too much heat into it and warped the metal. This meant every pass with the block the panel would spring in and out (a little bit like a coke can, if you push opposite sides) After some reading up I’d found an old hot rod thread online. They suggested getting the area really hot then rapid cooling to reform the metal back to shape.
So I set to with the heat gun, got the area extremely hot then a blast with the air line, and “ping” it went right back to shape! And solid as a rock when sanding :) the old tricks always work the best!
So now I could get onto base coat.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129301/43CC6B25-FD51-4D26-88FE-72379F92130F_gdieid.jpg)
And then onto clear. Here are the results.
Straight from the gun
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129289/B6EE669E-0E84-474E-AA76-D41937E0AA84_goywmu.jpg)
:) very happy with that. I found the process much like painting with cans, prep is key. And its best to get the clear coat on with full paint flow, full fan, and nice and thick to give the best results.
I did get a fairly hefty run in the lower panel, but this was sorted with a razor blade and some wet and dry.
I did have a moment of panic. Once the paint was dry I have these little dots in the paint surface.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129311/D61BAE9F-B292-4FF7-8D20-E77983C73FC5_jkrdd0.jpg)
I had a feeling this might be solvent ‘pop’ again.
But luckily it was just overspray – if you look at the pictures above out of the gun you will see how hazy the garage is, I painted with the door shut to reduce dust and had no means of extraction, which meant the overspray was just landing on the fresh paint.
Once the paint was left for 3 days to fully cure
It was easily rectified with the flatting and polishing process [:D]
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129285/DA7BEF0E-6EE8-46AB-B5C1-F8AA97189D8D_gf8jnq.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129293/B8488F77-1D41-429E-B410-C7C14C6889E8_izifne.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129300/11F6FA5B-9E35-4271-A8E2-93381B80A1B3_trwbnj.jpg)
Then the car could be put back together, along with some new red stripe vinyl which I design and produce to factory specs.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129307/A437F67D-F878-4E08-9635-E73CC0A73B32_v2rxp6.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129301/B5C7DD60-7EB6-4BD8-9BBB-A4587DA9BA20_rcbljw.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129312/BD4C6713-25FF-4901-8FA2-E687B128F8BC_ghdcpa.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129515/B06EA08C-7C2A-4BA2-87B1-5E027F01F575_yfhhrv.jpg)
And that’s the paint complete! Bloody stressful process! Very glad its over (for now) Theres plenty more that needs painting…
After a wash the Golf was all ready for Anglesey.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129515/76767171-DD80-468F-97AD-E83106354784_wmxr5a.jpg)
We had a bit of weekend planned, Saturday was karting at Teeside with 16 other lads, and Sunday was the trackday.
Teeside was brilliant, 20min Quali and 40min Race, started dry and finish wet which got interesting! But managed to bag me 1st place after a hellish battle for the last 20 mins of racing.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129502/8167433F-5D41-4E7C-BDF7-C48018A45A16_p7nd74.jpg)
Anglesey is 3.5 hours drive each way, so we headed up on Saturday night and stayed over at a mates on the island.
Loaded up with tools, spares and over night bags
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129536/4D8E6262-D9E5-490D-8249-40414E8E651F_v8u8qu.jpg)
The car drove really well, I always forget how good it is. my daily is a silky smooth e36, but this trumps it by far! We sat at 85 most of the way and it was effortless, well ahead of its time.
Got some photos and better photos of the rear quarter whilst grabbing some V-Power
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129529/17DC0491-5E60-477B-A1B0-8F38CD788B69_sbkwb8.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129521/A245DABA-57DF-4AB7-A7DE-148FCD19D1C3_grtp7d.jpg)
Lovely spot!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129507/E1FA935B-3098-4138-962E-6057DEF3A289_wms1yn.jpg)
The next day we were really lucky and woke up to a clear day which was not forecast.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129533/72A5BFD7-AC9F-458E-8D6A-1DEBDD3FE4EA_lbbofk.jpg)
The day was organised by Track Obsession, I have to say they did a bloody excellent job!
Free bottle water for drivers, free photography to name but a few touches!
After the sighting lap I got myself out, this is the first time on track since fitting the seats and harnesses and instantly I was smiling ear to ear.
Christ it goes well! You really cant simulate on the road how fast you can actually drive on track, and it blows me away every time!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129680/DFD36D9E-A720-408F-80E1-ECCE8D2B2DA6_aswawc.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129697/46B320CA-6208-4477-B87E-963C6F0CF11D_wshsgq.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129677/8D95E4D5-5C6F-443C-9EB1-3EEC3D9FB9A3_v8dl2q.jpg)
On the next few sessions I took some mates out, its always fun taking people out and seeing their reactions!
One of my favourite pictures from the event! Top tripod!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129709/0B0D68E4-01F0-48F8-AE08-5BFAE3659C08_pnlk5f.jpg)
I was finding I was locking up the rear inside wheel on heavy braking zones, so it may be time for a proper bias valve.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129718/79485E6B-DB3C-4754-B82A-A653E147F7EB_g6e9al.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599129699/B44D7B40-8BAE-415C-B36A-A0A43B84981A_feeowy.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599827439/50238446027_49d7e65fb9_o_vfpg8y.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599827442/50238375497_a915d5d465_o_hoq2xj.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1599827459/50238226341_eee8921b13_o_py3pr1.jpg)
Sorry for the photo spam!
The only issue I had all day was the dreaded 3rd gear getting stuck AGAIN!...
I changed the box after the ring, albeit another second hand one, this happened right at the end of the day and luckily we managed to pop it back out! So I could drive the 3.5 hours home.
I’m told its to do with a poor design on the 3rd gear hub, where the keys pop out and then you cant release the gear. So I’m at a dilemma stage, do I get the box rebuilt. I’ve called a few places and a local place is very familiar with 020 boxes and he was confident he could rebuild it for a ball park £200. Which isn’t bad at all!
Having said that, now might be the time to upgrade to an 02A? get one with a cable clutch so I don’t have to convert to hydraulic. The maybe send that for a rebuild.
Ratio wise, if I got for a mk3 GTI box (CDA), I’d have to get a 4.9 final drive to get the gearing the same as I have now – which I’d definitely want.
To finish here’s an onboard from Anglesey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7wFtspTWPU&t=761s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7wFtspTWPU&t=761s)
I start to pick up a decent pace as I’m trying to keep up with a K24 Accord Type R (240bhp)
I seem to do well in the corners and brakes, but he inevitably pulls away on the straights. You’ll see the 3rd gear get stuck which ultimately ends the session!
Lots of fun!
Couple of updates, I'd book Blyton park but it got cancelled due to lockdown number 2.
I've managed to rebook it for this Sunday and thankful its still going ahead!
I sent my gearbox off to Stephen A Brear Gearboxes, in Leeds. For a check/rebuild.
Over the phone, Dave was fantastic, he knew exactly which gearbox I was talking about and swiftly turned it around! He called once the box was stripped to say it was in fantastic condition, and he couldn't actually find a problem with 3rd... The keys on the hub were still in place, and everything was in order. I was hoping he would find a problem, but never the less he swapped the 3rd gear hub and keys for peace of mind - cleaned the syncros, built the box back up with new seals etc.
Dave recommended that I remove the short shifter I've made, as it might just be this causing trouble. Although the problem in Germany was before I'd made the short shifter. For now I'm keeping it as is because the whole driving position has been tailored for me and at this stage would be a pain to change. If the box poos itself, it poos itself... I've decided to go for an 02A once I get the ABF built up.
Hopefully it survives Blyton...
Cant recommend Dave enough, extremely cheap and a turn around in less than a week!
http://www.stephenbreargearboxes.co.uk/ (http://www.stephenbreargearboxes.co.uk/)
I've got the box back in now, but havent tested yet.
If you watched my Anglesey video, you might notice a humming noise when cornering hard left, I decided to replace all the wheels bearings for peace of mind. Once the hubs were off it was easy to hear it was OSF with the issue, and you could also see a build up of grease around the back.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1606838454/ED671C66-A11D-442C-BE1A-6D91E7D8A21A_vsggqr.jpg)
I'd bought some SKF bearings for the front.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1606838476/A599C2BB-033E-49F9-B47B-F9DF17304A37_tvzw4a.jpg)
Then stripped them all down, and rebuilt with Redline CV-2 high temp grease, this should hopefully give them some future protection.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1606838478/8498325D-2C52-4EBF-B35F-E836265DC44D_zsp6bk.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1606838456/F9866486-2C83-45B9-A6D0-41F3D48C862C_lmjbxq.jpg)
I started on the rear bearings last night, just got one side done. Same grease, this time with FAG bearings.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1606838439/823C3BB2-1EE2-4FC7-B1B3-9E20DE477D83_ctmhyv.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1606838455/7D3B08E5-CCEA-45A8-835C-D542C1EDDA8F_p0fz5w.jpg)
While the front hubs were off I decided to add as much caster as I could onto the top mounts. I measure a 20mm increase at the mount, no idea what that is in degrees. But it's off for an alignment this Friday :)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1606838444/9CCA9D62-2663-40ED-910E-9724948CFC2C_p7or8l.jpg)
I did plan to go for a test drive yesterday, but the car died on my drive and wouldnt restart. I track it down to no spark, then to a dodgy connection at the coil. Its the wire that feeds the hall sender, so the rev counter didnt jump while cranking.
While I was there I went over the bay and cut off any shoddy connectors a redid them.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1606838471/179CD0B4-4A08-4B82-A017-1E029E2FF45B_ko0nwe.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1606838462/C729302C-9882-4F8C-995F-EBED9ED28A61_ms0jcc.jpg)
Gave it a wash the other day, nice to see the light of day!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1606838482/9F380E4E-DF99-49A8-9926-B062E43B039B_eb0opz.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1606838563/IMG_14401_h7enag.jpg)
Fingers crossed for Blyton :D
Another great update!
On the bearing subject, have you thought about using Polo rear bearings?
Thanks mate!
Yes I have thought about it for future. I was in a rush with this before the track day so went for the easy/option I know!
I last put rear bearings in a few years ago, and in honesty I still think they were totally fine. I'd had a grumbling on track at Anglesey so just replaced the lot before Blyton for peace of mind :)
Brilliant thread, you’ve done a great job with the body work and home spraying.
Good to see the car on this forum. Yours is my favourite mk2, keep up the good work. Did you get to the bottom of why your rear brakes were locking up (Drift King video)
Thanks guys!!
MJA: The brake issue is just having too much rear bias, I've never had the issue before but I've never really been going as fast before! Having said that when I fitted the new front pads I pushed the pistons back into the front calipers, I can only assume that might have had some effect on the rear compensator valve. So I'll rebleed the brakes and see how I go - Long term solution will be a proper onboard bias valve.
Thought I'd update this after Blyton, which seems like a long time ago now!
The trackday went well with no hiccups, which was brilliant! The gearbox behaved itself, so I can only assume Anglesey was just due to absolutely ragging its arse for a 45min track session (usually only do 20 mins at a time)
On the day I was joined by a few mates, one in a Clio 182, a 306 gti, Clio 200 and an E46 330i touring.
We were faced with a wet morning which was very very interesting to say the least! but god was it fun!
So much fun that I decided to edit one of my videos as a "Tokyo Drift" spoof.. more on that later!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1608293783/50690459493_b54f9dfb4c_o_lrur3k.jpg)
Here with a dab of oppo
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1614875422/50690477203_de312af868_o_mjf8bw.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1614875422/50690458778_d519de4a4e_o_jyc0e3.jpg)
Here are some laps from a damp track, with a dry line just starting to come through
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FufptpoT5_M
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1614875425/50691206391_07ec8c443a_o_v2_tgcbci.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1614875424/50691230591_8c0fc44b6c_o_dxefsn.jpg)
And this one I had some fun with :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq5zKW9GqtA&t=1s
I've not touched the car since, apart from the odd wash, its now SORNd until we see some better weather :)
Hopefully I can get some more track stuff booked once lockdown restrictions are lifted!
:)
A quick update, Got the Golf MOT'd last week.
She passed nicely! with the oblatory "slight play in rear wheel bearings"
Along with a steering rack boot that keep twisting, which is annoying.
On the way to the MOT the gearbox felt wooly, and the shift very vague, I knew something was a miss...
Stripped all the linkages down once I got back and found that the nut holding the aftermarket short shifter on was loose.
Aftermarket on the left, Genuine VW on the right
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1616424106/5AEAB114-F568-499B-AFFB-5DE7CB0CF515_gdtx3c.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1616424102/1151EAD7-2638-4C33-841C-F95C1448A230_ecwybi.jpg)
You might be able to just make out, but the ali short shifter has worn over time, the slot the relay shaft sits in has elongated and the metal deformed with it being so soft.
To overcome this and ensure no issues in the future, I decided to extend the original VW item, which is made of much stronger stuff.
choppy choppy
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1616424123/5F5A6CD2-B423-4F84-B547-C765A23164F6_yrnwg5.jpg)
Buzzy buzzy
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1616424119/8F4C096B-D0ED-4781-989B-8346D62371E6_w0f5ha.jpg)
Grindy grindy
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1616424126/1E26721A-2807-47FC-A498-984258B59E7D_hhf1ff.jpg)
Happy with that.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1616424113/7FB90616-1D8B-40A8-B3BA-584199CBE8D9_tt16kq.jpg)
Exciting ey! :D
I've got Cadwell Park booked next month, so I'll be sorting a few bits and bobs out but luckily nothing major :)
A quick update, Got the Golf MOT'd last week.
She passed nicely! with the oblatory "slight play in rear wheel bearings"
Stick a Polo rear setup on there, won't get that again!
Cadwell Park March 2021
I had a great time over at Cadwell, luckily didn’t have to do much to the Golf, just some general checks and the car ran semi faultless all day!
Got the car loaded up ready for the 2.5 hour drive to Cadwell. I went down with my pal with his e46 330i touring and we has some great lapping together.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1619608780/85898A41-E7F7-4AD0-96D5-7BF230512877_gdd2fg.jpg)
I always pack heavy, but I’d rather that than be stuck and not have spares/correct tools with me and waste track time. – This trip that decision paid off!
Going a bit deep on the kerb here!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1619608735/5813D12C-97C9-400B-96FB-AAA54E78D128_yl1axm.jpg)
The only thing I would say was I was pretty shocked at the standard of driving at this event, it was defiantly the worst I’ve ever seen – People overtaking into apexes (saw this a lot!), People not indicating, people not moving over to let faster cars through (AC Cobra I’m looking at you) having to sit in a que of cars waiting lap after lap – and no blue flags from the marshalls. Having said that we both kept out of trouble and had a great day.
We were really lucky with the weather and had a dry circuit all day.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1619608760/34C37E9C-0CFE-4E04-B14E-F68FE343AB87_cjasjf.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1619608764/8CA11C0B-D882-4D70-B2C2-628F2E5F3678_ae8kzy.jpg)
The Golf was going well! The front end seemed to need to a bit of lock and felt like I had to almost chuck it in a little around the tight stuff, I came back to the pits and added a click on rebound on the front which helped loads!
I’ve got Anglesey booked in a week so I’m going to spend the morning having a play with the suspension, I’m happy with the dampening but I do think the rebound needs some work, I’ve been reading a lot to fully get my head around it all – I think I’ve been running the rebound pretty soft in comparison to the dampening, so that’s something I’ll look at.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1619608737/9AC33B52-CE35-40FF-8443-8366AAE7C6A6_vzxdsq.jpg)
After having some tail happy moments in the wet at Blyton, caused by the rear brakes locking up, I didn’t have time to order a manual bias valve before Cadwell. With this track being dry it wasn’t so much of an issue, or so I thought. Brooke told me I was locking a rear wheel before almost every corner – unbeknownst to me.
I had read on an old CGTI thread that Gurds had suggested removing the rear bias spring in the compensator valve. So at lunch time I gave that a go.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1619608787/836D9B5C-33AB-459A-B42D-9D72820C6BC3_mzoytc.jpg)
After lunch the difference was quite unbelievable, no locking from the rear at all and a new confidence on the brakes. It really did feel like I’d fitted bigger brakes on the front, so I’m pretty chuffed with that, the spring is staying off.
The only other issue I encountered whilst giving the car a quick check in-between sessions was some residue coming through the front passenger side wheel, a quick look and it seemed to be gearbox oil. (I love gearboxes…) The leak was narrowed down to the speedo cable hole and on further investigation it seemed the bolt I’d used when making the cover plate was only on by a thread!
A quick rummage through a quality street tub full of random nuts and bolts I took with me, I found another bolt. It was too long but I put a flanged nut down the bolt first to effectively shorten it. That coupled with some high temp sealant and we were good to go! Stayed inplace and sealed all day. Result J! Its pays to take everything but the kitchen sink to a track day!
We both had an absolute blast on track and finished the day very pleased. We were closely matched, obviously the 330 was much faster in a straight line, but that didn’t put off the plucky mk2!
Loaded up ready for the trip back home.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1619608792/8059E38C-E8D6-42B9-A1BB-51DA2F944217_zqe5k7.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1619608797/5B9D8204-77CA-4603-881B-B74B55875E05_frjcqd.jpg)
I just finished editing a video from our day.
If like me you are a fan of 90s tv show Best Motoring/Hot Version you might appreciate the intro!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odYsXOFmOMs&t=271s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odYsXOFmOMs&t=271s)
After Cadwell I wanted to change the seating position slightly. I still felt like my legs were too close and the wheel not close enough to me.
What I thought would be an easy job turned out to be a bit of a pain! 3 of the bolts holding the wheel on had rounded, and id snapped the ball end off an Allen key in one of them!
I tried making a cut with my Dremel to get it out with a screwdriver but couldn’t get deep enough without potentially damaging my wheel!
Drastic action was needed!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1619608819/E85B29DE-C77C-4DE5-AFA8-032F11F4EE8B_ghrmlk.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1619608788/F3EFC748-AD55-4C4E-A0B0-09693624BA4F_olbh0j.jpg)
Luckily it went smoothly!
I’ve fitted a new spacer so the wheel sits 95mm further out than factory, herein lied another problem, I couldn’t see over the steering wheel!!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1619608804/4EC6FA3B-28E3-470A-B79F-2429E7A2AF37_otardz.jpg)
So I set about lowering the steering column some more. I went to Ripon Engineering to pick up some new m8 bolts because I’d found the old ones were only 4.4 grade and had bent! YIKES!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1619608819/B5E4D8D0-0BC4-4D38-8183-14252B96F2E4_dqrqiy.jpg)
While I was there I found some m10 connectors, which I cut down to the right size and used as spacers for the column.
This has worked really well!
Its meant I’m another 2 clicks back on the seat rail and I can still see over the wheel, my wrist sits comfortably ontop of the wheel when I’m harnessed in and I can still reach the gearstick/control nicely.
Result :)
Nice update, good video too.
Must say, you look really frantic in your car, while your man in the 330 looks like he's off to the shops!
One thing, removing the brake bias spring is a great idea, but keep it and stick it back in for the MOT ;)
Great update and good to have another video to enjoy and listen to that 8v sing! Love the intro and liked the fast and furious drift stuff on your other vid too :D
What's the idea about this spring then? Does apply more or less braking pressure to the rear (assume less?)
If you imagine, as you put more weight in your car, the rear axle will move up, putting the rear wheels into the wheel arch.
The spring is connected between the axle and the car body, as the axle moves, the spring puts more pressure on the bias valve and increases the flow to the rear brakes.
This is to help as in theory, if you have more weight in the back, you'll need more braking there.
However, if you have lowered the car, it'll also think you have loads of weight and over brake the rear.
You don't usually notice this unless your car is particularly low, or as in Mr Copes case, you're driving right on the limit.
Thanks Chaps :)
Cheers Money, he's a super smooth driver!! and I was using every ounce in me to try and keep at the same pace as him... my poor little car! :D
Well explained Monkey! Even though Id bled the brakes with the compensator fully clamped and adjusted the spring there was nothing else I could do, there was just too much braking on the rear. I use a Tarox strada rear pad, which gives the same bite as an OE factory pad but they can cope with alot more heat. So I dont have the option of using a lesser pad.
Removing the spring has made a real difference! I was contemplating a manual bias valve, but i really dont think I need one.
I've got Anglesey on the 5th, so I'll see how well it does there :)
Have you considered a height adjustable steering column, think raddo has one.
Or is that a big no no for the track
Hi mate, tbh no I hadn't thought of that, it could be an option but I'd imagine it would go low enough for what i need.
Its also like anything - now its at the exact height I want, I don't really need any adjustment, it would just be for when other people drive, so it might be a bonus that it doesn't move ;)
I fitted a corrado steering column once as part of a full corrado interior swap.
It's more of an angle adjustment and a bit of a pita to fit too!
I have a Corrado (or 2 for now) and the steering wheel adjustment is rubbish - it just moves from 45 degrees, to 90 degreees and down to whatever the opposite of 45 degrees is. I exaggerate but I would like it between the first two. The adjustment also wears out, becomes a MOT failure and people change for a fixed column. Not recommended haha.
Great thread. Got any trips planned this year?
Great thread. Got any trips planned this year?
Yes! :D Oulton Park on the 29th March :)
Again its been a while since I last updated this!
Since my last update I managed another track day at Anglesey, which was fantastic. We had some great weather and a trouble free day, which is always welcomed :)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1646915850/48BFCA91-6734-4FB2-9716-742EDE5C316D_rikdkz.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1646915848/E2674DA7-B5BE-4A51-9430-B936D980EF00_h5ozzr.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1646915848/475DE443-2E82-4C09-BBF1-22D135099B21_tfahj1.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1646915849/8CEDE919-5754-4BC6-ACE1-D05C0D09D143_hwhizl.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1646915845/869D8983-2CDF-49F1-8C14-8599BD41055A_lijvd7.jpg)
Anglesey is still one of my favourite tracks, very technical with a good mixture of fast and slow corners.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1646915854/66C3C1AD-72D7-4016-8040-4FAD1049210A_jhyvti.jpg)
Enjoying some rays in between sessions.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1646915854/3840FA2D-F309-43F8-8AC7-5F9C3A02E306_hz2lno.jpg)
I'd been setting up the suspension all day, tweaking it after every session, after not being too happy at Cadwell. I'd also changed my tyre pressures, I usually run 30psi hot all round, but upped that to 32 hot all round, which made a drastic difference!! Much less tyre squeal, better turn in and overall faster.
Got some decent footage from Anglesey, managed to tag onto to back of 2 other classic 80s hatches, which made for a really good session.
XR2: Stripped interior (800kg approx) Fiesta ST engine on ITBs (210bhp approx)
GT5 Turbo: Stripped interior (800kg approx) Engine around 150-160bhp.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApLzW2Frctk&t=498s
and a nice chilled drive back to Yorkshire
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1646915854/7F5E0900-7EB1-45A1-8E00-4F79894FEFA6_z7zgmk.jpg)
In the summer inbetween lockdowns I had a few trips over o the Motorist Cafe, really great place to grab a coffee if you are nearby
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1646915842/029C2E62-7D1E-4553-8662-F6188B73A1AF_l6til7.jpg)
The only thing I've really had to touch on the car is replace the front engine mount and fit a new alternator.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1646915844/7A5E2483-4441-4F68-BC16-323B65B7E47B_xeltwd.jpg)
I've just had my MOT today, and she has passed again with a clean bill of health!
Only did 2000 miles last year!
I've booked onto Outlon Park trackday on the 29th, it will be my first time there, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the car will perform. I have a couple of weeks to make some final tweaks to the car.
First off I've ordered a set of extended ball joints and rose jointed rod ends from Noath Engineering. I'm still waiting for them to arrive, but hoping to have them in before Oulton
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1646915843/726EA1CE-3F55-45D5-A922-580607316E7C_vbdjs9.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1646915841/2F58ACAC-79FC-46D8-BD1B-A4C5BB9E7B56_py94hk.jpg)
Before fitting im going to attempt to measuring the bump steer to work out what size spacers I need for the rod ends.
I've also treated myself to a new lid, as my old one is too tight for my head. I found a great deal on Hawkes Motorsport page and couldnt resist going carbon! :D
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1646915907/3ABF58CD-6F53-4533-AEB5-D06F0ACF1E98_wkarhi.jpg)
I got the Golf out last weekend, as Foot to Pedal Youtube channel wanted to go a little feature video of the car. They got some cracking shots! just not keen on me talking!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRkq8fbfsVM&t=1s
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1646915841/D44FF9BB-C738-467E-AAEC-B8D1168BDB4C_biualf.jpg)
Superb read... must've missed this when I was away.
Whole car's amazing, but that style of BBS wheel / tyre size combo is aesthetically perfect to my eye... only 195/50 15's too!
Superb read... must've missed this when I was away.
Whole car's amazing, but that style of BBS wheel / tyre size combo is aesthetically perfect to my eye... only 195/50 15's too!
Thank you! :)
Oulton Park 2022
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887667/C118DB15-449C-49BE-94AF-6261EF325452_zcm6q3.jpg)
Oulton came around quick and I didn’t get time to check the car over as much as I’d like to.
Just did the basics, see if any of the paint pen on the bolts has moved, check brakes and fluids.
Unfortunately this was the state of the front pads
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887630/D760A7DC-016B-406D-B50E-5FC0EC45ACF4_oh5htq.jpg)
After a quick dash round it turned out my mate around the corner had a set of almost new Yellow Stuff that would get me by! What a hero! That pretty much saved my trackday.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887626/2DD83F18-D09D-494F-A2FC-36B42032385D_wpwfnh.jpg)
With that sorted the rest of the car, looked great so got it loaded up with tools and spares ready for the morning.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887578/8BBD3FB2-FB27-4C77-8E82-FBC93D19B4E2_xrmuhv.jpg)
Got finished at around 8pm, started the car up to put it away in the garage and the exhaust sounded awful, something was loose.
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After getting the car up on stands it was obvious that the Milltek had once again failed. There were 3 separate rattles, the only thing to do was cut the exhaust open and weld up whatever was loose. Not what I wanted to be doing the night before a track day!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887665/77CB715B-10D6-4B6A-8D89-DD30B8ED0E23_oxvqrn.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887652/B731593F-310A-4E2C-A65D-FFF1096BFB0F_a4zios.jpg)
I don’t know if you can make out in the pictures but the welds on baffles at both ends had cracked and caused the perforated tube to rattle around. Last time I emailed Milltek and they sent me a new box straight away, which was very good of them, so no complaints there.
With those all welded up, the boxes welded back up the car was purring nicely again.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887648/F23A0036-D73D-4F1F-9207-741D9AD40637_qxin2b.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887619/A9479F34-34C0-4BEB-8731-EE8922401351_xfzipj.jpg)
Tyre pressures checked and ready for the off.
Here’s a video of one of my sessions. I wish I’d watched some footage back over lunch, because my driving was awful! Over driving the car so much, not being smooth, but some take aways for next time!
The track itself was fantastic, it was really nice to put sim practise into reality!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZBGGsRkN3k&t=310s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZBGGsRkN3k&t=310s)
All in all, a cracking day all round. I was without doubt the slowest thing on track! (just about!) Every car there seemed to be boosted, so I struggled to keep up with anything other than the odd clio and a turbo’d Fiat Chicachento
My tyres had seen better days after the trackday! these were rears.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887696/BDA9B0FE-CB7B-4C88-A1B1-0E881D8FB7A0_xtayiq.jpg)
I need to get some camber shims for the rear stub axle, After speaking with Nige and the lads at Cornering Force, we came to the conclusion that the I could do with -0.5 degrees more on the rear and go from there. :)
There’s a fair bit to update since Oulton, looking back I’ve done loads to the Golf in the last few weeks! My main issue at Oulton was the car felt very inconsistent, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it but I think it was a combo of my tyres getting old and having a few too many heat cycles and that the car is still on OE bushes.
My first job to tackle was the wishbones, I’d replaced the original wishbones with Lemforder items about 5 years ago and not touched them since.
The original bushes were looking okay to be honest.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1653038130/1BCD1B71-0C58-43A3-9F2D-7DBBB942E34E_hdtfej.jpg)
I decided on PowerFlex black series as I wanted to minimise any movement. I can confirm they are rock hard!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1653038506/6BF7CBB2-96E9-4631-8F8B-1ECBD8DF604B_vh7sho.jpg)
I cut/pressed the bushes out with some home made tools, and then set about welding up the wishbones. The wishbones are in 2 halves which are then spot welded, so this should help stiffen them up.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1653038131/9E795807-C777-453E-AAFC-B592D9983737_i3hys8.jpg)
Painted up with the bushes in
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1653038132/64BB35C1-111B-4D6F-BFE2-A5FD2066EA44_r4a7jy.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887800/95243ACA-E276-40EC-9948-9CB702D73B69_rdwcbp.jpg)
Very happy with how they turned out.
Next on the list… the Golf had his most important job in the 15 years I’ve owned him so far.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887796/BBEFA527-A07E-4899-B367-BB37F0309F21_can7z1.jpg)
The BIG DAY! And what a car to do it in! I’m not sure my wife was all that happy having to get a 6 point harness on in a wedding dress, but we’ll brush over that!
After getting more and more into my ‘fabrication’ (If I can call It that!) I decided I wanted to start making some braces for the car, again to stiffen things up and negate any chance of inconsistencies on track.
First up was a lower front brace to tie the two wishbones together. I’d seen these for sale online for around £80. After pricing up I could make one for 1/3 of that, so I ordered some metal and gave it a go.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1653037539/AF9D6440-CF89-40D1-B2D8-6693F46BF732_yytgdc.jpg)
Started by making the tube ends, these would be the parts where the bolts would pass through into the subframe.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1653037531/EDC5A234-E543-4019-913E-469DA489EF19_svisyh.jpg)
I wanted to make sure I could still get a socket in, which I could but this meant the bar fouled the gearbox, so these were cut off and remade longer for the final version.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887567/D410D8B6-132A-4A46-97E8-D2E5D1DDEC34_xa2o7e.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887584/E55293BF-ABF6-4109-9D70-FFD1481D0428_nbzrgp.jpg)
A tight fit to the gearbox, but doesn’t make contact when under load.
And after a coat of halfords finest satin black.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887592/9B04D8F7-33E6-4CAC-B85C-220CBD2A7429_yummay.jpg)
Next up on the fabrication/brace list was the rear turrets. Realistically I don’t know how much movement there will be here, and we will have to see if I notice a difference on track.
I ordered some tube the same 45mm as my cage tubing, offering it up I thought it just looked a bit out of place, and the tube actually weighted a fair bit. With the car being fully carpeted etc keeping weight to a minimum is a must! Or should I say adding to it is not something I’m keen on.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887593/7820D6A3-9C98-442E-8350-D9B62080A322_jjfbeo.jpg)
So I started to think about a lighter solution which would still be strong enough and not flex under load. After loads of thinking and sketching, I took some inspiration from this Porsche, which uses a rose jointed rod to brace across the turrets.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1653037532/C2F3AB2D-1ABA-4772-AD8C-036084552E66_jrwitr.jpg)
I liked how the brackets extended down the turret to maximise its function. I could have easily gone from turret to turret, but I wanted to also tie in the rear topmount. My view is the higher up the turret/topmount I can brace the better leverage there will be to actually make it effective.
Another benefit was that I could use a thinner tube to try and keep weight down.
After some sketching I came up with this.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1653037536/EB68A2A6-F485-47F1-B395-0969248E2462_xuoskr.jpg)
I ordered the rose joints in M12, along with some tube bungs, misalignment spacers and half nuts, one side was right hand thread, the other was left hand thread, so I could then use the tube to add tension before locking off each end.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1653040364/3A58F6D8-75E4-47C5-BB0B-041D9E2218BA_zicoas.jpg)
And by complete coincidence, when offering it all up the bracket would fit perfectly in between where the rear parcel shelf supports used to bolt on, giving me a perfect guide to getting it all square, result!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1653040365/545128C8-9220-474E-8BDB-94FA8B6187BA_zbdixi.jpg)
Made some templates
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1653040694/5315A6F4-5701-4528-97FB-2A4F6C7069E4_u5jxj1.jpg)
Once I was happy, I cut everything out in 3mm steel
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1653037537/7DE1D90C-8A35-4106-9598-760E13EBC529_ayxyvb.jpg)
Got these welded in, you will have to excuse my welding here. I just couldn’t see to get going properly. I seemed to be in between settings on the welder, I have a dial for wire speed and 2 switches for volts and amps, I felt like I could have done with a dial for all settings. But I’ll stop blaming my tools and take ownership! It wont win any prizes but it will be strong…
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887652/372AFEEE-D1FE-4982-8E91-58A8114664E9_qcda0o.jpg)
Once these were in, I made some end plates with some speed holes to reduce weight.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1653037538/30458A43-003B-4154-9C43-BFE7AFE4A61F_zbxivd.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1653041489/CC30F627-5470-4503-9142-9022878FC4A8_pshbno.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887681/07FFE2F7-999E-497E-B769-512EFA25694E_izoyf4.jpg)
Once I was happy there, everything was painted up
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887696/BE062176-3CC4-4378-B87B-1D01E006162C_iro0f6.jpg)
The last job was a good vac out, and cut the carpet for the turrets.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887707/56CF33B3-913B-4CB7-AD89-BA3BD61D8337_bujhuh.jpg)
Some finals shots
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887712/B4624495-6C05-42B4-818D-B3C1B34B9F6A_rzat57.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887724/3A3468C7-8B35-4A36-93D9-9B75C7FC5A26_vahjja.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887729/AC5DF30B-D068-4067-8016-5C999331F155_zlpfjf.jpg)
#engineering :D
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887714/FC5711EB-2FDA-4C7A-BE2C-0E20F40A8C91_w8dwev.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887734/052DF6FC-68BA-44A5-B1FE-B39EB0E195CB_tpajer.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887752/5B0F7681-32AB-4AA9-9313-579C4653AD58_r1svgn.jpg)
Very happy with the final results! Really in keeping with my clubsport theme and a nice little project to get stuck into.
And lastly I finally got my new engine round from my mates house which we managed to wheel barrow round to mine!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1652887728/AACB3D1E-9ABF-48D9-BF7E-0B82BEF6E504_pms7aj.jpg)
That’s taking pride of place in my shed. I’d love to say that will be in soon, but it wont unfortunately, we are saving for our own place which will be taking up any spare cash.
I’ve got Croft book this Monday, which I’m very excited for!
Last bits to sort are some new tyres, oil and filter change and a speedo cable change as that’s making some weird noises.
Congratulations!
Also, have you got any pics of her getting in and harnessed up?! :))
Loving your fabrication work as always.
Still, bit of a shame about loosing the 8v motor...not that I'm one to talk!
I've followed this build for years. Such a good build with loads of nice touches. I'm look forward to seeing some track videos when the 16v goes in. What spec is/will the engine be?
Thanks Ian!
Its thought to be a 2.1L ABF but I havent had it apart to confirm yet.
KR head, with a fair bit of work, KR exhaust cams.
My plan is to run it on Jenvey ITBs, larger cams and standalone ecu. Should be good for 200bhp ish...
Time will tell :)
Great work and congrats - perfect car for the occassion.
Just a thought on the abf... I have one in my mk2 but running the Kjet inlet so you might be ok if going for the ABF inlet but my bonnet won't shut without a 0.5cm adjustmemt upwards out of line with the wing.
Solution for me seems to be to put in a mk3 subframe as the rear engine mount can be cut down if needed and also the mk3 frame alloys the engine to sit marginally lower.
Long way off for me though as my car is booked in with DST Rustworx next year (waiting list).
but my bonnet won't shut without a 0.5cm adjustmemt upwards out of line with the wing.
Could you put a spacer/shim/washers under the bonnet hinges to raise it a "gnat's" at the back. It would still be out of alignment but it "may" look better? A new subframe seems a huge amount of work.
That's sort of how it is right now - the corner of the bonnet sits proud in the corners. I don't mind changing the frame - engine is coming out to paint the engine bay and I've got a fresh powdercoated one to go in.
Croft 2022
I was really looking forward to Croft and to see how the car performed after making the braces and uprating some of the bushes. I wasn’t expecting to shave seconds off a lap time, but I was hoping to see some difference.
Even thought I was still on a lesser tyre than last time at Croft, I wasn’t disappointed! The car felt brilliant! It’s really hard to describe the difference/ or the sensation behind the wheel, I’m sure it’s faster, it’s certainly more precise, all I can say is it feel bloody spot on!
…until lunch, when I had a problem, can you guess?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UszkoCzXSH4&t=40s
Correct. Another 020 has transitioned to transmission heaven.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659024780/63B4E425-B92D-42AD-96C6-194D8F4CB36D_fijys9.jpg)
This time it was the diff rivets which had failed, one of which shot straight through the casing of the box.
You can just about make out the hole here
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659024773/56A7C614-62DA-405E-A329-A26F367595B5_uwarnr.jpg)
So that was end of play for me. I stayed until the end of the day with my mates and went out for passenger rides, all in all a great day.
Luckily for me one of the lads trailered his E46 M3, so the Golf took its place
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659024771/041E720A-A7B5-4CF2-9F07-26094E91DAF3_x0zg7d.jpg)
That meant a drive back home in his E46. What an absolute animal it is, never been in anything like it!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659024775/04D6C43A-B13B-42CE-89F7-D3497F28E7A2_ikug7i.jpg)
I had a spare 020 in the shed, that came with the new engine, so I began to strip the old one out of the Golf, whilst I tinkered with the new one. I wanted to swap this out for an 02a, but I didn’t have the time or the budget to do it properly and source the parts, as I’ve got a trip to Germany in a week, so the decision was made to crack on with what I had.
Looking at the gearbox I wasn’t sure if it had an LSD of not, both cups span the same way, so I decided to stirp it down and investigate. It was also a good excuse to learn a little bit more about how these things work, which was nice.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659024776/E3A1FBEF-6252-4E24-8805-D143D982B8F2_gtyovs.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659024784/074652AC-A36B-43F0-94E0-6256BFA62D98_qav43g.jpg)
“you can only piss with the dick you’ve got” one of my favourite quotes. Adapt and overcome!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659024776/E7B7322B-B8C4-40FF-9D1A-6DA10F8746FB_m7hb0t.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659024772/981F3079-4C56-4CF1-9664-FCCFF3F1C064_yymvk1.jpg)
While it was off I put some new seals in it too
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659024803/15738F9F-A627-4AF0-BDC1-D365D2EDCE80_ufvi2a.jpg)
To my untrained eye, everything looked good, with minimal wear, unfortunately no LSD, it was just the springs behind the cups fooling me!
Which brings me nicely to the cups. For me this is the biggest blocker/pain when changing a gearbox, the are a pain to remove and you have to constantly be on guard waiting for the cup to spring off in your face. So, I decided to buy myself a set of long nose circlip pliers (these are a god send) and I also made a tool, which puts pressure on the cups to remove the clips easily and then you can slowly take the tension off – Result!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659024778/1B383038-B32E-4FD8-8C2A-4A73AA75E6AE_zdook1.jpg)
Surprisingly the gearbox still seemed to function correctly, a miracle.
My new ABF was running an 020 with a lightened flywheel, so I decided to get this on at the same time.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659024795/25370539-6091-4957-85B3-EE80E4D90D7F_yw2g8v.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659024781/AB2DBBD4-1C02-4B29-AC97-FD818B1F415F_oilbng.jpg)
Decent weight saving - 1.4kg
Refilled the box using some different fluid this time.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659024798/44583C2D-DD61-47BC-9EBD-D5B4C3846E1D_ax51ke.jpg)
I had to also replace the friction disc, as the old one got covered in gearbox oil.
With the box back in, something was a miss. The pedal would just go straight to the floor. I toom the cap off the end of the box and inspected the fork, push rod and spring. All look good. The fork has some wear so I swapped this for a spare from my old box. Unfortunately I still had the same issue, so back off with the gearbox.
I check on brokevw ( a great source for anything 020 related) and he mentioned the hub face of the flywheel should be 36mm to the plate the push rod sits on.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659024800/6D142D86-80E7-4639-A291-58F3C389A662_vonj7w.jpg)
I was getting 42mm. Night after night I was checking everything I could, had the flywheel off, the old one back on and vice versa, and finding nothing. It’s a very simple system so a problem should be obvious. In the end I just refit the box and put it down to the friction disc being new. After messing around with the manual clutch cable for a while, I found the sweet spot. The clutch feels good and the pedal returns and I’m sure as it gets some more wear it should improve.
I might rename this build “Cope messes with gearboxes” It’s safe to say I’m sick of the things.
As a precaution for my trip to the Nürburgring, I bought another cheap 020, I’ve put new seals in that and I’m taking it with me in the back of the golf as a spare… Yep its drastic, but I have zero faith!
Next on the list was the brakes. I’d noticed when changing the pads in the last update that both dust seals had split as had the slider dust covers. I ordered a kit from big red, great quality and great price!
The old caliper
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659112378/AC1ED879-70B5-416D-AEAB-3F0B21E19509_cpaesn.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659112367/2C68F649-4E17-4698-92DF-89A7FD47FAAE_nmobao.jpg)
I use this little contraption for popping out the piston, made up of a brake pipe union, brake pipe and some silicone hose to attach to an airline, works a treat!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659024825/43DD3507-9DF1-46BC-B6D9-E281D86881DE_u3lfhe.jpg)
I’m glad I did this as the piston was starting to rust in places with the water ingress.
The caliper built back up with a new lick of paint
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659024784/B5E362C7-D625-4952-97ED-D9B08D64ED1B_zoh8hg.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659024812/810D1B0C-8E19-4BA2-8C62-37E9AEBDAD86_tqaa6f.jpg)
Next on the list was cooling, the old rad was looking tired and I noticed on track that coolant temps were at sat at ¾ on the gauge. I went for a true Yorkshire spec ali rad from ebay, for the total cost of £41! Yep bargain! It’s a 4 core rad, so should help the coolant temps.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659024824/4B586DE5-4061-4BCC-BDC4-D79656407D7D_qxluvx.jpg)
I was sceptical but the quality looks bang on.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659024805/97ACC1DC-B327-4BB8-B53E-80B6D883C819_bhx0sg.jpg)
The rad was installed with the standard fan and cowling set up, new rad hoses, a new head flange and metal water pipe.
I also used Water Wetter instead of coolant, the benefit being if I happen to cause any spills at the Ring, its nowhere near as slippery as coolant and is very similar to just running pure water with some added lube for the waterpump.
I took the car for a test drive after spending hours trying to bleed the coolant, it was a real pain this time!! But got there in the end and touch wood no leaks.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659024812/052EE9D6-A602-4CD8-BBB7-73B426B75E07_dhufod.jpg)
I went to the mk2 golf owners national meet on Sunday, had a great day and the car performed really well, with no gearbox issues, thank Christ!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659024824/238A9FAE-5D6B-4550-B46F-BB17CF8CC8DE_x5ywug.jpg)
In prep for our trip to Germany, I decided to make some kind of phone holder for maps, I usually keep my phone on my lap, but that’s less than ideal.
After thinking of various different solutions, this is what I came up with. Using a spare dash blank and modifying one of the spring loaded phone holders.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1659112375/56450568-446A-4D43-AF2A-580D95CBC3EF_grhmzs.jpg)
So far seems like a great option, and means I can remove it for a standard dash blank when not using my phone for maps.
Cheers :)
Another great update.
As far as I'm concerned, gearboxes are made of magic!!
Nice to (briefly) catch up at the meet, shame I didn't have a little more time.
Love the fact you're taking a box to the ring with you!!
Have fun out there and watch out for the Porsches and BMW M2s, they're like Mondeos out there, bloody everywhere!!!
Thanks for the passenger lap at the national meet. I was really impressed with how your car goes and handles especially for an 8 valve. Driving skills weren't too shabby either!
I've completely stolen you phone holder idea 🤣
Thanks Ian! great to meet you!
Nurburgring 2022
It was fantastic to be back over in Germany after 3 years!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660824142/IMG_0584_acmznd.jpg)
Above is a little teaser.
After road testing the car and doing a shakedown at the national meet sprint day I was confident the Golf was ready for action.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660752427/FD2923D1-D99F-4BF0-98F8-7FAAD0DA2E23_awvfrl.jpg)
Before leaving I gave the car a good clean, packed with the usual spares, tools and this time a spare gearbox! Yep… you read that right. Best to over prepare than face a headache trying to find a gearbox in Germany.
She was fairly loaded up!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660752384/712D40A0-DC28-43FE-B22B-5CB5E57770EF_pvviiv.jpg)
There were 4 of us travelling, Myles in his M2, Brooke in his 330 touring and Beardy passenger with me after selling his teg.
We had a nice steady drive over to Hull to get the ferry across to Rotterdam.
In the queue for passport control, I spied another mk2! I pulled up next to the owner and said it was nice to see someone using a proper car for a trip abroad, turns out he was travelling over to Belgium for a bowling tournament! Amazing to see.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660752420/219591EE-854D-4294-9DE7-91C0ECBADBD8_saew1k.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660752368/EA4577F8-5CD0-413E-91E2-D2775A86EACF_r3shsk.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660752420/FF3C241D-FFC3-41B1-97BC-B4838280AB5E_y8zq68.jpg)
We arrived in Rotterdam the next morning ready for the 4 hour drive down to Kelberg where we were staying.
Despite the heavy load in the Golf she still managed to go off the clock on the autobahn!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660752361/B12AB73C-FE07-45D6-BD63-9DAF9D1B191F_fqmou7.jpg)
Brooke managed 145mph in his 330 touring
Myles, who thought his M2 was limited to 155mph, managed 175mph before tapping out! Hell of a speed!
We arrived at the guest house early afternoon.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660752406/A80F2E48-FC5F-40B7-824E-857D3B5469FC_rwkytj.jpg)
The host Christa was a lovely woman, who’d fully stocked the fridge with beer, and essentials, a really nice touch. The house is in a great location, 2 min walk to a big Lidl and a fairly new garage to the area, 24/7 performance – which, as you might have guessed from the name, is open 24/7!
We had a wonder down, and there was some SERIOUS metal in the carpark and on the ramps. It would be an absolute dream to own a place like this.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660752421/F40C4229-E913-4301-B7AD-8A01CD0DE0EF_mdax8g.jpg)
This is always a great view when driving to the track, with the Nurburg castle in the background
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660752400/5AC0E787-E761-48CE-B851-08F17FED3EEC_rqx7ai.jpg)
I was keen to get straight to the track and get 1 lap under my belt, so I could rest easy. It was Myles’ first time at the ring and he had some trepidation, but I talked him into getting out there for a lap, following me. That night he said he was really glad he did and meant he could get a decent nights sleep without feeling too nervous!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660752360/C4CCD2E8-5C32-4864-89F3-DDD1920FEBBF_jelfxx.jpg)
It had been 3 years since I’d last been, and the magic of the place is totally overwhelming, it’s still a real privilege to be there and to be able to drive the track.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660752427/09BA7330-D570-40D2-A502-4B9BCA225A74_ywpuqv.jpg)
Time seems to race over there and it was soon the weekend, we spent the time between driving and viewing at various points around the track.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660824141/racetracker_18306938_282414_bmzoq9.jpg)
We made the obligatory stop to the Pistenklaus
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660752424/E908ADBF-A408-42A3-8A8E-484FD633C6DE_leisfw.jpg)
And continued day after day, lapping lapping and more lapping, only stopping for fuel and oil top ups. I got through 2 litres of oil on the trip! The Golf has always used oil, not so much during normal road driving but on track it gets through a lot, which I’m fine with.
This is one of my favourite pictures of the trip. I’ll be getting it printed and framed I think!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660824145/racetracker_18351664_282413_qftlfs.jpg)
There’s no atmosphere like it!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660752394/CF22438A-71B5-48C0-8B2F-646596365CF3_ij6jko.jpg)
The little Golf was yet again holding its own! With the only issue being the brakes.
Once the brakes were hot I was experiencing horrible pedal judder, which travelled right through the steering column, it was REALLY bad! That night I took the car out and did a bed in procedure again. The next day on track it had improved them but still not great. I headed back to the guesthouse to swap my pads over, Id taken my previous set of DS2500’s which had about 2mm of meat left on them. Went straight back for a lap and the brake issue was fully cured! I kept these pads in for the remainder of the trip.
The yellow stuff pads I’d got off my mate must have been very old (we thought 10+ years old) and they were well past it.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660924281/thumbnail_IMG_0628_j2c7df.jpg)
After doing a lap, I usually take the car for a cool down, and park up in a big layby down the road, on the weekends they blocked this off, so we found another in the opposite direction towards ED Petrol station.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660752402/2DE38110-B06A-4D93-AADA-F1C22E8E2836_hnoaow.jpg)
After one particular lap, I’d parked next to a English EP3, his mate popped over for a chat,
He said “oh this is going really well, you flew past me earlier”
“oh really? What were you in?”
“the silver R8”
“oh yeah I remember”
“it must have some power! You were flying, what have you done to it”
“errm, yeah a few bits and bobs, mostly suspension, brakes etc”
I daren’t tell him it was a fairly standard 8v…
To be fair to him, he was probably being polite, as he definitely wasn’t flat out!
I’m no expert around here by any means, but I do know the Ring very well now, mostly from sim knowledge and the 50 or so laps I’ve done in real life. It’s one of the few tracks in the world where track knowledge beats outright power, grip, braking, you name it. If you want to go faster at the Ring, get some coaching or really put the time in on the sim. Luckily for me, I had Nige in as passenger a few years ago, I rewatched the footage back before our trip to make sure to familiarise myself with the little hints and tips Nige talked me through.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660752410/3A68B974-4EF5-4DFE-960B-025B86B3ACF4_zeajn5.jpg)
I forgot to mention about the new rad, its made a huge improvement on temps! The coolant gauge stays around 90 degrees on track, which is ideal!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660924246/B7613E92-E5AA-44D6-BB7A-8C5E0E15DC3B_b3iok1.jpg)
Throughout the week we’d had a lot of yellow flags (crashes) on one lap there were 5 yellow flags, pretty shocking. But on Monday evening I had a fairly clear lap, I wasn’t going for an outright try hard fastest lap, but it was a nice, smooth lap with only a couple of minor hold ups - a motorbike at Adenauer Forst and a Ring Taxi at Breidscheid.
This lap felt pretty special, the car felt great, temps were good, gearbox felt great! But mainly because of the “Jump at Pflanzgarten. I’d always braked before the jump, and back on the brakes again after the jump. This time, I kept my foot flat in 4th gear, took off and heard valve bounce at the limiter… it didn’t feel as terrifying as I thought, but it was a HUGE adrenaline rush as you can see in the video.
To my surprise, when I got home it was a 9:02 BTG. Without the hold ups I think a sub 9min lap was on the cards. Without sounding like I’m blowing my own trumpet, I’m massively proud of the car, it’s been a long journey of development, both in the car and me as a driver and this was the icing on the cake.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFALo-77YgQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFALo-77YgQ)
After this we had around 30 mins before the track closed – perfect, just time for one more lap. Our ferry back was the next day so this was the last chance to get on track.
I bought another lap ticket, and got my helmet on ready for another lap. As I started the car the siren sounded across the carpark, there had been a crash and the track was closed for the rest of the day. I was annoyed at all, actually slightly relieved as deep down, even though I shouldn’t have been, I know I would have been chasing that sub 9 lap time. Everything happens for a reason.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660752358/069F81C1-162F-409D-A24E-9C9BFE87C6CB_mxi8yo.jpg)
Our ferry back wasn’t until 8:30pm, so we had a day to kill, the plan was to visit the shops on the boulevard at the ring centre, do some karting at the Nuburgring and them drive an hour towards the ferry to visit Michael Schumacher karting centre (a pretty good day all in all)
At the Karting centre, Myles got chatting to Jake Hill, the current BTCC driver, he knew him from racing Genetta’s years ago. Jake was a really sound bloke, over there for a stag do. We were on the session after their, so didn’t get to race alongside him unfortunately. But I did managed to put in a faster lap!! :D
(JH24 is Jake Hill)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660752367/5B62B29D-88CA-4BE5-83B8-F761AA8D247F_dyyepv.jpg)
(Insert Jeremy Clarkson Smug Face)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660752394/E60AB5BC-691D-40FA-AA33-8BB7118D50BA_upeam6.jpg)
3 very different cars!
We arrived at Schumacher’s place, this time they had opened up both indoor and outdoor as one track!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660752381/DAA72E0F-FA3F-44C7-B5D5-EECE5025446A_wjvpdl.jpg)
Very fun and very reasonably priced. I managed to bag fastest lap of the week, which topped off a great day and an even better week!
We left there for the ferry.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1660752363/7C701255-50A9-425B-B191-F0D797275F7C_awwyno.jpg)
So that was that. The Golf had an absolute blinder of a trip. 10 laps of the ring, 1,000 road miles, off the clock autobahn, many many smiles, laughs and jokes with the best lads.
Theres some great outside footage which I’m going to complie and post up in the coming weeks.
Onto the next one!
?that sounds pretty full on
Great write up, always love your Ring trip reports.
Strange you should say about the brake juddering, I had exactly the same, but didn't cure it.
Every time I'd do a lap, I'd get 3/4 around and then start to experience judder, it would go right back to normal after allowing them to cool a bit. But they were brand new pads I'd only put on for the national meet,
Tried a few things, had the brakes on and off, but never got to the bottom of it, thought the bearings could be on the way out, so called it after 6 or 7 laps. Right pain as it meant I couldn't do any back to back laps either.
Great write up, always love your Ring trip reports.
Strange you should say about the brake juddering, I had exactly the same, but didn't cure it.
Every time I'd do a lap, I'd get 3/4 around and then start to experience judder, it would go right back to normal after allowing them to cool a bit. But they were brand new pads I'd only put on for the national meet,
Tried a few things, had the brakes on and off, but never got to the bottom of it, thought the bearings could be on the way out, so called it after 6 or 7 laps. Right pain as it meant I couldn't do any back to back laps either.
Thanks Dave!
Yeah very odd isnt it! What pads did you go for? they werent Yellow Stuff by chance were they?
I really dont rate EBC brake products...
I changed my bearings only recently, and rebuilt them with high temp grease, they feel okay to me but its a good shout.
I'm going to try Carbon Lorrain, or Tarox Competition pads next time round I think.
I actually had Carbon Lorrain ones in before the National Meet, awesome on track, but they were absolutely awful on the road, would screech if you even touched the brake pedal. They'd quieten down if you got them up to race hot temperatures, but as soon as normal driving resumed, they'd be screeching again.
I then fitted Brembo Sport pads, felt great on the road and (before the juddering) track, I hope it's not them making the juddering.
How do you bed in your brakes?
Sorry Dave I didnt see your reply!
I usually do some really heavy braking, 90mph to 30mph, about 10 times consecutively.
^ Thanks mate :)
Last Track action for 2022
I had a surprise outing to Cadwell Park last weekend.
My mate Nick races his Leon Cupra K1 in the Javelin Sprint Series and he'd persuaded me to give it a bosh.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1665757834/D8394FBA-6169-47CB-85F1-BA8267F247E2_n3wnvl.jpg)
Javelin run the series in different classes according to engine size (turbo cars get bumped up) I was in class J12, 1600cc–1800cc.
They then have 2 categories, Spec1 and Spec 2.
Spec 1 is for cars with full interiors, carpets and 2 seats but they can have a full roll cage, splitters etc.
Spec 2 is for full blown track cars, anything goes essentially.
I would be racing in J12 Spec 1.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1665780724/Screenshot_2022-10-14_at_21.51.53_ucz9yf.png)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1665757836/7C77CD71-1562-4FE5-9727-96D032F9AAD5_aal45t.jpg)
I did my research and my class consisted on only 1 model of car, a Toyota Celica from around 2000 ish (not sure on exact model)
But standard they are 190bhp and 1100kgs. So I knew I had my work cut out!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1665757828/04F3A124-63A9-44E8-8558-032D30609290_xy7hqo.jpg)
The morning started out damp and the first few shaded corners didnt dry out fully until after lunch.
After the first run I was really happy to be leading the class, I think this was partly down to me being on NS2R and the competition were all using AR1s and I have much more low down grunt which suited the damp conditions. But I knew as soon it started to dry out I'd really have to push to get a respectable time.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1665757830/E07626C6-BC45-4D82-AE80-A3E76C845E4B_qdy59k.jpg)
Sprinting is a whole different ball game to track days. It's being able to put down consistent fast lap times, all using cold tyres and cold brakes.
The nerves also really get to you, as the start line looms your heart rate increases, I think part of putting in fast times is being able to keep a cool head.
We had 6 timed runs in the day, and not having been to Cadwell for a while it took longer than I wanted to become comfortable.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1665757828/6EFCF87D-6F74-455C-887B-748A444DBCCB_vuylzo.jpg)
On my 4th run I was finally taking Coppice flat. I'd figures Charlies was much faster staying in 4th, dab of left foot brake and straight back on the power for the uphill Park Straight. Any times gained at the exit of Charlies was really noticeable in the rev range.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1665757829/06F0AE1D-81CF-43DC-83CC-C2E0F290A4DF_k7hdz9.jpg)
Each time I came back to the pits and had a debrief with Nick, I told him there was maybe 0.5 seconds to gain in the lap, but not much more. One thing I learnt was not to underestimate the knowledge and confidence you get throughout the day and I consistently found time each lap.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1665757828/F33F38AD-9253-4778-94A7-5AD7747EFE9A_czp9cp.jpg)
My fifth lap out, I was confident in the track condition and the car, I just needed to give it my all, nail the lines and stay focused.
Unfortunately I had a big lockup after Hall bends into the Hairpin, which probably made for good viewing, but not great for my lap times.
never the less I'd shaved off a touch more.
My last timed run the pressure was on. I tried hard, very hard! ... a little bit too hard!
took Coppice flat, little flick right into Charlies, which in hindsight was too aggressive and causing a decent slide with half a turn of oppo at about 90mph.
Exciting and frightening all at the same time as theres no run off there.
Felt decent through the Gooseneck, which I'd been happy with all day. If there was time to be made on the competition I was sure it would be through Charlies and the Gooseneck, as the car is really on the limit there.
The Gooseneck I tend to go in fairly hot, get the rear to just rotate on entry, giving me a neutral steering position, a little flick left and it swoops the car nicely down the hill towards Mansfield.
Unfortunately again I was a little too hot on the cold brakes which caused another slide through Mansfield - scrubbing time.
Below you can see the entry to Manfield on my last run, rear wheel in the air, slight opp and front tyres trying to peel off the rim.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1665757828/7C125118-4D99-4823-AAB4-7D6DCC38D966_rpyeah.jpg)
Less haste = More speed captain! - note for next time.
I ended the day with my fastest lap, despite the over exuberance.
(my time in pink, competitors in blue - I cant get on the site to screenshot first place in my class but I think he was an early 1:40)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1665779768/78FE1495-373E-49F7-9B18-163CE40F12C6_hqo3mo_v25yqw.jpg)
And that was that. The day was over, I'd had an absolute blast! Loved the competition and was proud with my first stab.
I'd finished 3rd in class (*cough* out of 4 cars...) But i was happy with that. The little Golf was 70+hp down on power, so I was very happy with the results.
Also want to thank this lad.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1665757835/D9005DE4-222B-4B0E-B235-2325CB6F3A74_r3sczv.jpg)
No only did he supporting me before each run and pep me up throughout the day, he also absolutely smashed his class and came 4th overall!
Just to put that in perspective, he was in a fwd Leon vs full time attack spec Evo's/Impreza's, a huge achievement! Well done buddy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW8sw9NpKvQ
Above is video of my fastest run.
and a video of Nicks 1st place run, which I know some of you will enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3qBFW59aJ4
So whats next...
Well, I've got some plans for the Golf over winter.
I've not yet started stripping down my new engine, but I think I have a clearer vision of what I want to build.
I think the plan will still be a 16v on ITB, decent cams, stand alone ecu, BUT I'll be building it as a 1.8 not a 2.0/2.1.
I'm pretty keen to get the Golf up to spec and do a full year of Sprinting. Keeping the car a 1.8 will mean I'll be much more on par with the competition in my 1.6-1.8 class and ultimately make the car much more competitive ( Although I need to work on my driving style too!)
Lots to learn and lots to look forward to.
Cheers.
Well caught @2.23!
Sounds like you're getting addicted to sprinting.
Soon you'll be getting different set ups for sprinting/track days.
Looking forward to seeing the 16v build too!
Great update and both videos were impressive. Sprint/Time attack looks great fun and possibly right up my own street. Definitely agree with the bloke that said if there was an award for being best presented it would be you (I paraphrase but something like).
Look forward to the 16v build, good luck.
Thanks guys! :)
I've always wanted to race, but its just so unaffordable to the majority of people. Not only building the car, but keep in date with things like Seats, Harnesses, Helmets, Boots, it all adds up!
So really Sprinting is the cheapest form of Motorsport, Sprint days are roughly the same price as track days and you could turn up in a standard road car if you wanted to.
Plus I wouldn't like to race the Golf, all the bumps and scrapes would kill me! :D If I cause any damage on a Sprint day, then I've just got myself to blame and I can live with that.
I don't blame you.
My boss used to race his mk2 in the gti cup before he moved up to the mk5s.
You should see the state of it, awesome motor, but loads of marks and dings!
Pretty sure this is your car in the beginning of this Nurburgring video :)
Queuing to enter the ring and driving on to the circuit. Film car is behind yours for a moment. Havent watched the rest to see if you meet on track too.
https://youtu.be/vtopSwV_D6g
Pretty sure this is your car in the beginning of this Nurburgring video :)
Queuing to enter the ring and driving on to the circuit. Film car is behind yours for a moment. Havent watched the rest to see if you meet on track too.
https://youtu.be/vtopSwV_D6g
Yes! I spotted Misha behind me at the exit. Its a shame we didn't meet on track as it seems we were a similar pace. :)
I think both cars must be a similar power and weight.
Bit of an engine update. Contrary to my last post, I'll be keeping this as a 2.0 and move up a class in sprints, it will mean I'll be against the vtec boys, which wont do me any favours at all, but I cant bring myself to downgrade the engine :D
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1670946127/3F9D9898-6174-4726-AA08-748C3ECA7547_wyg6sw.jpg)
Firstly I got the engine in the shed and on the engine stand, managed to man handle it on my own with much swearing.
Then set about getting it all stripped down.
The plan was to:
- Investigate the engine and see if it is indeed a TSR 2.1 build bottom end or not
- Inspect the head work
- Check for wear
- Get a rebuild plan together.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1670945587/9F6F5A11-45F1-4326-8F2F-701014B626BA_ylcu07.jpg)
I've never taken an engine to bits before, I've only done odd jobs, so it was nice to get fully stuck in.
The "baffled sump" was questionable.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1670945580/049F1A4B-C0FE-42E6-B2D8-233D889F28AD_zjshcf.jpg)
This wont be refitted, I'll be using Schrick one from my 8v.
Once the head and sump were off, I took the pistons out.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1670945596/3EF260E8-8BDA-4DDF-85BE-2FD7B140D699_rgxryv.jpg)
This confirmed my suspicions, its a standard 2.0 ABF bottom end, not a 2.1 TSR.
The engine has been apart before and its had new slightly oversized pistons at 82.98mm, which indicates it's had a bore and hone in the past.
I think the engine has been built in a dirty environment, there has definitely been some bits of crap circulating through the engine. There are some marks on the top of the piston too. I think i'll Dremel these smooth, rather than replace at this stage.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1670945579/87F71577-7CBA-4750-AC9F-FD97AA4E5DE5_hm0wls.jpg)
The initial look at the block was good to my untrained eye.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1670945589/0A3294E3-9877-4CE1-8F27-08374E147823_tiwihk.jpg)
Apart from the vertical lines, these tend to show up on camera and are very hard to see in person. My only concern was 1 deep mark right at the top of the bore
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1670945591/0264BCAE-CB88-4C57-B006-4A40D7966A64_vb6t7y.jpg)
I've measure its distance from the top of the bore, and measured how deep into the piston the rings sit and I think it will be okay. If the mark had gone any further down I think the block would have been scrap or ready for another bore and rehone, if there were enough material to do that.
Onto the bearings, some looked okay, some looked worn.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1670945580/C0553F54-7B4D-4BE8-815A-149F1F0EB124_v2kaqm.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1670945590/393A43D8-CFBD-4991-808F-E94B46C8B39D_g8rqpm.jpg)
Onto a first look at the end, it has has alot of work. It uses 2 ABF inlet cams which have been modified by Martin from GasnGears. This will probably explain the decent power it pulled on the dyno.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1670945584/39385D3A-B503-4040-AB39-C0D1727056C3_jzgxue.jpg)
I've bought myself some of ebays finest tooling to get me started with the strip down
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1670945597/ACF4F19C-1053-4020-9771-45FF0B8E5B40_bxypxv.jpg)
Currently thats as far as I've got. I've not had as much time in the shed recently as I'd like but I hoping I can get this moving over more over Christmas.
...so, whats the plan.
After costing everything up from High comp pistons, forged rods, cams, uprated springs etc I almost had a small heart attack... We are talking north of £7k-£10k.
With this being my first engine build and not being able to stomach 7k, I've decided to phase the build.
Phase 1 will be a deep clean of all components, replace everything from, rings, bearings, flanges, seals etc and build it up with all the components it came with. It made 175bhp on KJET so I'd hope for 180bhp+ on stand alone ECU and ITBs. With the standard bottom end I'll be limited to the amount of revs I can throw at it, so at this stage theres no point buying cams.
Once I'm happy with phase 1 and confident it wont blow up after I've put it together, I'll probably buy another block and slowly build that up as I go, with the aim of around 200bhp+
Number aside, if it goes like a stabbed rat, makes a god awful noise and is reliable I'll be over the moon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhogBIXE5Bk&t=195s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhogBIXE5Bk&t=195s)
It’s been a while since I updated this, I’ve been deciding what to do with the engine, and for now that project is on hold, the 8v will live for another year!
After photoshopping out a yellow Fiat 500, I got one of the photos from the Nurburgring printed and frame, somehow I managed to get it pride of place in the lounge! The missus said she “likes the greenery” suits me [:D]
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917019/473E9415-4E96-4CDC-8861-946FF9FEFD6B_soilhh.jpg)
I got the Golf out last week on the drive, first time it’s been started since October, as expected she fired straight up.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917026/B18D6484-3FD8-4E0D-9E50-9EE004BCEDEE_lty9ar.jpg)
Unfortunately, the headlining has taken a massive turd.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917025/17E90EEA-8F43-4109-9FD0-75C9D10741CF_czrm1r.jpg)
So I’ll be trying some spray adhesive to fix it.
She should be out for April, providing all the salt has buggered off.
Bumpsteer and Roll Centre Correction
This has been a big item on the list for quite some time now, and it’s going to be interesting to see how it will effect, what in my mind is already a well handling car.
This post is fairly in depth and fairly nerdy… if that tickles your pickle stay tuned.
I chose to start with the Noath Engineering Roll centre correction and track rod flip kit. A lot of the off the shelf ones I don’t like the look of and I’ve heard numerous stories of them failing. The main reason for this kit was it was tried and tested on Nige’s golf, and they use really high quality materials.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917604/126054CF-289B-4060-B2AC-5FDDFE8FC5E7_z9ptk1.jpg)
If you look at the angle of the wishbone it gives you an idea of the roll centre, before and after the kit.
OEM at ride height
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917033/53F18E8F-A1EC-4D39-B3DD-361EFBAD3298_awyssi.jpg)
Noath Kit at same ride height
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917055/51F386FE-3F8E-48D0-A625-34CADC7CCFD6_hgpar5.jpg)
With roll centre you are limited by the size of the pins you can use in the BBJ, for interference with the wheel, especially on 15’s.
Now onto the track rod flip kit, I was thinking about fitting the kit and leaving it at that, but curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to work out exactly what the factory bumpsteer was, in comparison to the kit.
At this point I want to just reference Nige’s website for those who haven’t seen it, a lot of what I’ll be going through here, he has covered. www.pinderwagen.com
So, bump steer. What is it? and how do you measure it?
Bump steer to put simply, is unwanted toe change through a cars suspension travel. The changes can be pretty crazy, and this can cause unpredictability in handling – especially on track, where you will naturally use more of the suspension travel due to the forces.
Bumpsteer is effected by the arc created by the lower ball joint mounting point and the track rod mounting point, and their relationship to each other. – its almost like a push and pull effect.
How do you measure it? There’s a few ways, you could take it to a specialist, who will no doubt charge you an arm and a leg. There’s a Longacre gauge, which are upwards of £600. Which again isn’t feasible for us ordinary folk. And where is the fun in not learning along the way!?
Taking inspiration from the PinderWagen, I used 2 sheets of flat wood. I bought these from B&Q for £10 – much more respectable!
Before you do anything it’s important to take some initial measurement. With the front bumper and front wing removed, it gives great access to the suspension.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917023/6B09D7E0-6EFA-4308-8406-0B6CAE49419D_ribnjf.jpg)
This is how I measure ride height, using a bolt in the hub and a block of wood on top of the inner wing. It’s also a good idea to measure the front sill to floor height at this point.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917030/A803FF2F-6CEC-4D3A-A5DA-6983311A89F6_w7smkx.jpg)
Next up you need to remove the front spring, this makes life a lot easier when jacking the suspension up and down.
Next up is to drill out the bolt pattern so it can be mounted to the hub.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917033/66954C8D-DC92-4A07-BB86-63E3E4BC09AF_whyxh1.jpg)
The wood was cut into 2 pieces, one will be bolted to the hub, the other will pivot off the floor, and the distance between the leading edge, throughout the suspension travel is where we will measure the bumpsteer.
There’s a few ways to measure it, you can use a steel ruler – time consuming and has ability for inaccuracies. Vernier calipers are another option, much more accurate but again a bit of a faff, measuring and remeasuring.
I chose to go for a dial gauge, they are fantastic, measuring 1mm through one full rotation of the dial, they are also very inexpensive, this was £8 on amazon.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917031/F57C1102-BA0C-4B1F-B01D-63C538C6C26F_odh60q.jpg)
The gauge needs mounting to the wood, I used an old GoPro mount – this worked out really well.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917448/352FF588-B450-44F2-AACE-751272213D33_vbkn83.jpg)
on the other side of the wood, mirror the length of the gauge with a bolt. This will remain constant and make any measurement visible on the gauge.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917033/46AE0F9C-94AE-4472-BAEE-C6E966596F25_srsohm.jpg)
With everything ready to go, and the front wheel off, I lowered the car back down on the jack so it was the same height as the sill to floor height we measure previously. I don’t have 2 jacks and axles stands are too high, so I used the standard scissor jack to keep the height of the car consistent. My main jack I used to raise and lower the suspension.
The standard set up was then measured.
The best way I found to measure this accurately, was to jack the suspension up to ride height. The dial gauge was then zeroed. I then jacked the suspension up to full compression, released the jack slowly and filmed the dial gauge on my phone.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679922300/A09A7202-E2F3-43DE-9DB8-569BD6A58D7B_srp4wo.jpg)
With the results filmed on my phone, I could sit inside and plot everything on a graph.
The straighter the line, the closer it is to zero bump steer.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917402/820F28B2-F255-4948-AE07-67602195BA33_rnebgk.jpg)
To explain the above:
X axis – Shows toe change in 1mm increments, toe in to the left, toe out to the right. (each small square on the graph is 0.05mm)
Y axis – Show suspension travel in 10mm increments, from full extension, through ride height to full compression (each small square is 0.5mm in travel)
The suspension was jacked up and every 10mm a dot was plotted on the graph, with a line of best fit to see it visually.
What we can see in this standard set up is we gain toe in as the suspension extends from ride height and gain toe out under compression.
In driving terms, toe out gain under compression isn’t necessarily terrible, certainly more favourable than toe in, which I think is why the car felt pretty good anyway. – But we are still seeing over 3mm of toe out at 40mm compression, which is significant.
So how does the Noath Kit compare?
Well, as we mentioned earlier, the relationship between the LBJ and the track rod is what effects bumpsteer, so if you were to just fit the extended ball joints and keep the track rod as standard the bumpsteer would be horrendous, quite literally unmeasurable!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917038/9C80CC11-DAB8-4A52-A507-548A5A0274E7_vrtuxy.jpg)
I’ll also point out at this point that bumpsteer is bespoke to each car, there’s no one size fits all. Noath doesn’t sell this as a ‘bumpsteer kit” the idea of flipping the track rod is to get the bumpsteer back towards oem, as best they can for a bolt on kit.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917046/B48B028A-840F-4B81-B4CB-9FD4332B5B02_pnjs7w.jpg)
This graph shows the Noath kit, as it is, as you can see its actually worse for bumpsteer than the oem set up. So although we have corrected the roll centre, that has now had a direct effect on bumpsteer and made it worse.
The red line on the graph shows the track rod end lowered 5.5mm using washers, this was to see which way I need to move the track rod. As you can see the redline is worse still.
With that data collected I had to work out a way to move the track rod up. I could cut down the misalignment spacers Noath provided, but there was a casting on the track rods which would need to be ground down.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917038/B876A413-52EA-48B0-90DE-7CF1F79EFCC2_k27vlx.jpg)
Going over the graphs again, I’d worked out I’d need more than just a trim of the spacer.
The only way would be to trim the hub to get the desired height.
This caused another issue, the Noath kit comes with a tapered bolt which is great for a direct bot on kit but if I had to trim the hub the bolt would no longer sit correctly in the tapper.
So I decided to drill the hub out to M14, and use an M14 rose joint instead.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917322/38CCAA1F-7120-4A17-9478-46A83543889F_waius9.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917351/69E76E6B-D5F6-4618-8170-293ABFD35A6D_f8jrpj.jpg)
These were from McGill Motorsport, ordered on Friday afternoon, arrived Saturday!
I ordered their highest quality joints, misalignment spacers and rubber boots, costing £45.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917045/04FC11F2-2078-49BB-B078-8140048A4FB1_nbvmxp.jpg)
With the hub drilled out, I took 6mm off the hubs. The material I’ve taken off the bottom I’ll add back on the top to retain the strength in the arm, I’m just waiting for the steel to arrive.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917054/9B962EA6-6FE5-42CD-845D-A4E30E0FFD69_lmqucv.jpg)
After the material was taken off and cleaned up, I cut one of the misalignment spacers down to 4mm and assembled.
I checked the articulation of the joint and there was still plenty of room and no binding in the joint.
I then plotted another graph:
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917059/667A3BBE-5141-49AC-86AB-10886ED40DEF_n99nuf.jpg)
The above results I was absolutely chuffed with!
Red line is: Modified hub with M14 Joint, 4mm misalignment spacer
Blue line is: Modified hub with M14 Joint, 4mm misalignment spacer and 2.3mm washer
Green line is: Modified hub with M14 Joint, 3mm misalignment spacer
Looking at the data, the red line seems best for me, although green looks best on rebound, Red has the most usable area in zero bump, with up to 0.5mm of toe change over 82% of suspension travel.
The reason the graph arcs to toe out at the extreme ends of travel is because the track rod is effectively too long, the solution is either a wider rack, or fit rack spacers.
That will be version 2 of this project and for now I couldn’t be happier!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917048/DFDA1CB4-0E92-4B35-BC61-40268FCD59FC_cdrof2.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917222/21E1B72D-105F-4508-A818-CCB1EDD3C73E_opo3te.jpg)
For those wondering I did some back to back test, and each data point was accurate to within 0.1-0.2mm,
I’ll settle for that with a DIY setup at a fraction of the cost!
Now I've just got to repeat on the other side.
That is brilliant!
I really love the way you're evolving your car as well as your skills.
And also pinching ideas off Nige!
Managed to get all the bumpsteer adjustment finalised.
I’ve made a 10mm spacer from mild steel, with a tapered end, so I could get some decent penetration when welding.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1681375505/5DAA2B5F-53DD-4A4D-8EB9-F409DC35A65E_ghxbkc.jpg)
This was then bolted up tight and welded to the hub
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1681375495/FC357605-B62B-4251-966B-CF0D881BBEA4_hz8s5a.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1681375497/A4097EE2-57E9-44F1-B2C3-0420E1316AD8_uqu1fm.jpg)
Cleaned up and painted
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1681375539/75203454-7029-415E-8465-D4777BC9C462_p1dzc8.jpg)
The process was then mirrored on the passenger side.
Next on the list was to get the car ready for MOT.
I knew the front jacking point was a little suspect, so started stripping off the underseal.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1681375520/8ECC7BE3-4FAE-42E2-ABED-7FAEDA40FCC3_pxycnm.jpg)
I decided to chop the lot out and reuse the cup, as that was still decent metal.
First up was a card template followed by a steel replacement
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1681375489/62D23F90-DE6D-47D5-A380-84ACE06322BD_cu0fyz.jpg)
Once I was happy there, I rewelded the cup on to the new metal.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1681375497/604E80E7-219E-4356-8058-D98D5B67142B_w8u51x.jpg)
Next I heatgunned the floorpan to get as much waxoyl out before welding. This makes a big difference to the weld, but its still managed to creep through when welding.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1681375535/14CC03EA-0E87-4DF7-8E9E-4111596EDC63_zhrew0.jpg)
Once in, it was etch primed, painted and undersealed.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1681375522/25ECCA0E-A5F3-46BC-85A3-9A4ED4B1B1A2_oj8jtr.jpg)
Once that was sorted I fitted 2 new genuine rear mk4 calipers, as one of mine had a sticky handbrake mechanism.
And that is everything for the MOT. So we will see how that pans out tomorrow! Fingers crossed.
Aside from that I’ve also tackled the sagging headlining. The repair was a bit of a do or die situation as I cant get it out for the cage.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1679917025/17E90EEA-8F43-4109-9FD0-75C9D10741CF_czrm1r.jpg)
The plan was to peel it back as far as possible to the main hoop on the cage and restick.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1681375534/AE2797FB-AB47-4E93-B0E0-AA1FADDF4D0C_hbosys.jpg)
To get the best adhesion, I spent some time removing as much of the dusty foam on the headliner fabric, I found the best solution was to rub it off with your hands.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1681375550/5D171055-9623-48AC-AB0B-EA33997143C7_qo2r0r.jpg)
The board was then coated in PVC glue overnight, again to try and give the fabric the best chance of adhesion.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1681375546/8D8B419A-C711-4C15-9DEB-39F217EAD43A_za2bho.jpg)
Once the PVA was dry I used a spray adhesive, to restick the fabric.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1681375561/B2E7835F-77B0-443D-8F9D-24085E5B219C_v0kt98.jpg)
Very happy with the results! But only time will tell if it can withstand the heat of summer.
I really hope your trick with the PVA works. I did that to mine about 3 years ago (using paper mache as well to add structure).
Last weekend I fitted the fiberglass ebay headliner as it started to droop again after about 2 1/2 years!
With most jobs now ticked off, the only thing left was some new brakes for the MOT.
I fitted 2 new genuine VW mk4 rear calipers, these had been rebuilt with new seals and pistons for a bargain price of £70.The old calipers were well past it, one was a pattern part and the hand brake mech had seized so I’d only had one caliper connected up to the lever.
When it came to new pads, I stuck with Tarox Strada for the rear - these have been brilliant, they have the same bite as an OE pad, but can take much more heat – perfect.
For the fronts I’d decided I wanted to try something new. I’ve used DS2500’s for years and I cant knock them, always rock solid and can take lap after lap without fade.
However I’d heard such good things about other pads I fancied a change.
After doing loads of research and chatting to some mates, I’d settle on Carbone Lorraine RC6’s, these had a better coefficient of friction at 0.5 oppose to the 0.46 of the DS2500’s and could take over 1000 degrees C.
With my order placed, I had a call from CL, they were unable to get any RC6’s from the factory for my G60 calipers, but they did offer me a free upgrade the RC8’s…
in for a penny, in for a pound!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1682610899/7C9BD17A-E116-4487-89DE-FDAA22094FE2_vdz61g.jpg)
These are a real bit of kit! I was sceptical about going for such a high end pad, as I still use the car on the road. After doing some digging I found out they are 0.6 coeffient from clap cold. So the initial bite should be fantastic.
After everything was fitted I gave the brakes a full bleed with ATE type 200.
I went out that night to bed the pads in, 70mph down to 20mph medium brake pressure 25 times in a row.
It's safe to say I’m totally blown away by the pads, theres so much feel and the initial bite wants to rip your face clean off! I’m looking forward to trying these on track.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1682610910/E184EC02-92B6-4539-9EBC-CF5C993F41D0_pfpd7f.jpg)
Pads fitted, time for MOT.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1682611323/41D1C6EE-DC3D-4652-8BEE-0884108C955C_fkweg9_cgw5lz.jpg)
It's always a nervous wait, but I’m pleased to say she passed with flying colours and no advisories.
Once passed I went for a blast out, the new bump steer correction and roll centre correction mods have made the car feel alive! The steering is so precise and it feels like I need less lock. So I’m very very happy. Can’t wait to try it out on track!
My only complaint after driving the car, aside from the squeaky brakes when cold – which I can live with – is the pad knock. Because they are designed to take so much heat and expand in the carriers, on the road they knock and clatter about.
I messaged CL to see if they did a spring kit for the pads, the response was “it’s not deemed necessary on race cars” … which is totally understandable!
So I’ve retro fitted some spring from a set of old rear pads.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1682610912/3A645CA5-15CE-4D47-8F77-E49B8FE861FB_ql0v2s.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/a_270/v1682610910/82AD4D4B-928A-4AAC-91B4-3C96B479FC26_dwman9.jpg)
The springs were drilled out, adjusted, the hole in pads was also drilled out and then the springs riveted to the pads.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1682610912/AFD9A52E-7136-46F3-95D9-32A70AE8C123_ueyqxo.jpg)
I’m yet to try the car, but I’m hoping that’s cured it. Once the pads wear down I’ll have to remove them as they will come in contact with each other, but I’ll work another solution for that when the time comes.
I helped out again this year at Elsecar at The Races. Simon asked if I wanted the Golf inside this year… This was the excuse I needed to give the car a much need clean up and polish.
I always try and keep it looking the best it can, but artificial lights show every imperfection.
So I busted out the machine polisher and got busy
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1682610906/21B048D0-C633-4755-9705-2FE0A4F1E101_pieszn.jpg)
I used 2 stages on this, medium pad and a refining pad with Menzerna products.
I went to town on the bits I’d painted, but just did one stage on the places that are still in original paint. There’s not much paint left to polish and its getting very thin on the rear quarter.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1682610903/CCD3107A-E2D7-4C57-8425-71C6E09C0BAA_mvve1b.jpg)
It was nice to spend the time making it look really clean again!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1682610907/CEC9CD72-F70E-48E7-838C-CD832854C9D8_tr08iz.jpg)
I parked up next to Rob in his incredible mk2, this is the same Rob that does track days with us in his S3
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1682610898/34BCBD7F-D431-463F-8EE6-05070BB18096_q22tcb.jpg)
I’ve booked Donnington Park on the 2nd May to kick this years track days off.
I’ve never done Donny so I’m very excited to see how the car feels with all the new upgrades.
I used to run the CL6s.
Loved the performance, but couldn't stand the squeal on the road.
Couldn't seem to get them up to temperature on normal road driving.
They now only come out when I have track days.
The Jackie Stewart steering wheel really looks the part. A great choice of tiller.
Donington Park 2023
After all the recent modifications, I was excited for Donny and to see how the car performed.
After a 2 hour drive, we arrived. My mate Jim in with me as passenger, Brooke in his e46 touring, Rob in his S3 and Dunc in his Clio.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1684152140/82125DFC-BBA3-4E75-8C46-1CD6B84F54BC_bsdkil.jpg)
We are getting pretty good at this track day lark, along with an F1 team assortment of spares and tools, we added a kitchen to the list of “must-haves”– Yorkshire tea, Ginger Parkin and chocolate Hobnobs to boot!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1684165076/F299666C-BC72-41C9-B113-61CB0584ACC0_rt8b56.jpg)
The day went really well, slowly picking up the pace.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1684152144/B0D1DAB2-C071-4B47-A669-3DA8DF9F9672_oblnee.jpg)
I was soon taking Craner Curves flat in 5th, the car felt really planted and I often found myself catching a lot of fasters cars through this section and the old hairpin.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1684152147/06714578-FCC1-45DC-AE5C-78E2AC235977_mh6pfs.jpg)
One thing I struggled with in the morning was the brakes, They bite so hard its unbelievable, and because I’d got new brakes I was trying extra hard to brake as late as possible and as hard as possible, which resulted in a few lock ups. Luckily my brain engaged, came off the pedal, quickly back on then easing the car into the corner without getting too out of shape…
Whats amazing is, 5-6 laps in they just get better and better.
After a session I noticed the brake reservoir, was completely cool to the touch, which shows just how effective the copper backing is on the pads at managing heat.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1684152140/EE0E8C18-9761-4752-8F9A-6C1D49113D38_jm66ki.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1684152150/6A5DC54D-CD2B-47FA-A62E-A59F7E7B6CE5_vs1wuo.jpg)
The Golf kept battling on lap after lap, without issue.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1684152137/4C198713-8DA3-4950-897B-9F069DD4C407_wvqvdl.jpg)
I was really pleased with how the car felt, the steering is like nothing I’ve driven before, so precise and accurate, it was well worth the time and effort correcting the rollcentre and bumpsteer. The only thing letting the side down were the tyres. As good an all rounder as NS2R’s are they just don’t provide the grip, particularly on corner exit that you really want.
Having said that I was catching some expensive metal and had good battles with an E36 M3, a fully bazzed up M4 Competition and this amazing E30.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1684152139/4EBAF70B-134E-458B-BCA0-13091C1DBF26_utcwtv.jpg)
It was a 1989 320i and according to James the owner it was 128hp and 1,000kg. Which explains why this and the Golf were so evenly matched! Even in a straight line, which never happens!
They seemed to just get the edge on corner exit, and as usual I was probably pushing a little too hard for the tyres (I'll address that soon!)
But here you can enjoy a few laps with the E30.
I’d borrowed a newer GoPro 8 Black, and the quality was fantastic, so I’ll be investing in a new camera shortly, and using my GoPro 3 as a footcam :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQIXhqzl2To&t=113s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQIXhqzl2To&t=113s)
*disclaimer* The Porsche at the start of the video had held me up numerous times in the day, every time I’d catch him, he would fly off, before the next corner, clearly the thought of an old brick shaped Golf getting past his beloved Porka was too much to stomach, so I’d decided to just drive as close as I dare and hope for a blue flag… it can get frustrating. For those who don’t know on a track day, if a car approaches you from behind, they are faster, it doesn’t matter what it is. Indicate, back off and let the other car past. It’s a very simple concept, a lot can’t seem to fathom.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1684152132/46156B5A-6DE8-4848-99AD-CD93D7CBCC2A_icfqlr.jpg)
Unfortunately for Rob, just before the end of the day, the pistons in his S3 decided they didn’t want to be in an engine anymore! So that was end of play for him.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1684152137/07AF3B05-B8FE-4CEF-99F6-BAFEC46E53FB_zklny5.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1684164995/936CFA71-3ECB-4F64-A424-93C82865DE07_lshf2h.jpg)
Before we knew it the day was over! It was probably one of my favourite track days, Donington is fantastic! And we had some really good laughs with some really good lads. There’s not much more you can ask for!
Since the track day I’ve been using the Golf as often as I can, I’ve been over to the Motorist a few times, which is always good!
And someone took some nice photos :)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1684152147/39387470-2919-4E1C-A967-B5E50146C72C_j5sjqv.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/djb6xm6ki/image/upload/v1684152147/E2C8F60D-DF35-4A8A-965F-B3C00D9F3B18_zel8zt.jpg)
Next on the list, is another set of wheels and a set of slicks! Lets see how many CVs/Gearboxes I can break…
Onwards and upwards!
I love how you always drive this on its limit! I did an evening at Donington the other year and had a great time, I'm quite cautious and found I was busy stayout of others way 😳 but it's great when you find something to battle with
Always enjoy reading your updates James.
Great to hear how your effort on the bumpsteer and rollcentre has improved things for you, makes me very tempted to get the spanners back out on mine.
Nurburgring Trip is booked for the end of August for 11 days! Very very excited for that!
I’ve been tinkering away slowly on a few jobs. First the scuttle has needed attention or years, I previously repaired it when I was 16 with fibreglass… yep… but to be fair, it was all still intact and the rust hasn’t spread.
I also need a new windscreen, as this one has a few chips and some grinding splatter in the glass. The old seal was cut out and the windscreen removed.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1687359488/8309BB69-0A6D-4871-B26F-6841CD732D6F_xt5qvd.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1687359490/D65B774E-D1FB-46E4-B20A-DA60A413EFE9_t67afw.jpg)
The next step will be to remove any other bits of surface rust, etch prime and paint.
Another reason for the removing the windscreen was to make some gussets for the roll cage.
I always liked how they look and should provide loads of extra stiffness in the shell. As with most things, I’m picky. You can buy sheel steel with the dimples already made in a precut piece. I’ve never liked them as they never fit 100% and feel like an after thought.
I’d made a few CAD (cardboard aided design) templates and settled on this.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1687359492/IMG_3179_seu8dm.jpg)
I wanted the angles of the piece to match the roof line at the top and the speaker covers in the dash at the bottom. I bought a 25mm punch and a 25mm dimple die.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1687359494/93F77E5B-E388-48E0-99C3-A495A4B7C019_ztmddb.jpg)
Both incredible tools! And very reasonable at £10 a piece.
Once I was happy I started making them in steel
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1687359494/IMG_3213_pin7xh.jpg)
Another cheap but incredible useful tool! A deburring tool, used for, you guessed it... a bargain for £7
Dimples were then added.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1687359497/IMG_3217_b26e9e.jpg)
If you don’t know, the dimples add loads of rigidity to the panel, whilst also reducing weight. Win-win!
Once I was happy, I protected the car from heat/welding splatter as much as possible, using a welding blanket over the dash. I also ali tapped the roof gutters just in case. I’d have been gutted if these were damaged!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1687359500/IMG_3232_h8prhy.jpg)
Then pen marked where I wanted to stitch weld, making sure to weld inbetween the dimples to give the most strength.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1687359501/IMG_3233_b8o8ze.jpg)
All welded in.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1687359499/IMG_3240_zijzdt.jpg)
The process was repeated on the other side, then etch primed and painted satin black.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1687359507/IMG_3276_sqyekn.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1687359505/IMG_3279_fybofo.jpg)
All done!
Very happy with the results. I wasn’t too happy with the welding at first, I’m getting better but by no means perfect. Luckily I’m pretty good with a grinder! lol
Next up will be finishing the scuttle off, and if there’s time before the Ring, I’ll also be making gussets for the b-pillars.
I’d made a few CAD (cardboard aided design) templates and settled on this.
Someone's a fan of project Binky!
With the gussets done, the focus was back on the scuttle. Another fibreglass hole was revealed near the wiper. This was cut out, and a some fresh sheet welded in.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1688040120/5B13CBD9-5032-4A6F-AD52-33116D9A8E49_pjumkc.jpg)
The scuttle was then keyed with 400 grit paper by hand, making sure to get into the gaps in the panels. I’d managed to get a trim tool under the roof gutters and lift them up enough to get some masking tape under them, which worked surprisingly well!
Etch primer applied in a can, wet sanded with 800 grit ready for 3 coats of base coat, followed by 2 coats of clear.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1688040116/FF7E5F9B-81EB-41BC-A084-AFA4D9AB4A85_mdmsox.jpg)
Really happy with the finish. There is some dust in the clear which is inevitable without a proper booth, but I should be able to wet sand these out.
The image below is straight out of the gun.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1688040128/IMG_3336_edjzrp.jpg)
One thing I’ve learnt from painting a few things now, is in the clear coat. The clear I use recommend a 2-1 ratio of clear to hardener with 10% thinners, I’ve found this doesn’t flow through the gun well and it doesn’t really atomise very well. I use around 20-30% thinners in the mix, and the paint seems to go on really nicely! Obviously, you run more risk of runs, but it's a lot less work after wet sanding and polishing.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1688040762/IMG_3366_hx6evs.jpg)
I’ve also picked up a new windscreen, this one is a factory green tint with a blue top tint band.
I can confirm a mk2 screen fits in the back of a e36 BMW with about 3mm to spare
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1688040124/IMG_3358_atznc4.jpg)
I managed to get all the scuttle buttoned up over the weekend.
But firstly, sometimes things don't always go to plan…
When I was welding, I had a thin plastic painters sheet over the bonnet, with a big sheet of cardboard over the top. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough, the splatter from the welder got through and destroyed the paint! And the cardboard had left loads of marring in the paint.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1688488342/80C11A43-C442-4944-B5A8-2AEEE1FF30B4_p8eqet.jpg)
Not pretty… Not knowing how much paint I had left to play with I had to just go for it, with the thought that I’d probably have to paint the bonnet as well. So I had nothing to lose.
At this point I decided to give both the bonnet and scuttle a really good machine, as I just wasn’t happy with the dust nibs in the paint, so I decided to wet sand them out as well. I used some 2500 grit on the nibs and a 3000 3M Trizact disc on the rest of the panel, this takes the heads of any inconsistencies.
Usually a quick flick over with the machine and she’s grand, but this time it was a real pain to get the wet sanding marks out. For some reason the paint was rock hard. I ended up using G3 cutting compound on a hard pad, and my machine set on a faster speed than I was comfortable with. The danger on such a skinny panel is cutting through an edge in the panel or bonnet. There was some serious heat in the panel from the machine work but luckily it went well. Refined using Menzera Medium on an orange medium pad and finally Menzerna Super finish on a red soft pad.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1688487446/IMG_3419_gxznxf.jpg)
I’ve said it before, any type of paint work is stressful… at any moment you’re back to square one, so I was very happy to have this one ticked off. Luckily the bonnet survived!
Treated myself to a cold one!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1688487444/IMG_3440_tfutlc.jpg)
I then managed to refit the new screen on my own, using some builders brick level string in the seal, putting pressure on the outside while working the string around the inside in a circular motion.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1688487442/776E95A7-188B-4654-8A5A-2273C6CB80C7_kocklj.jpg)
The new top tint has really grown on me! Almost like a factory sunstrip, which is right up my street.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1688487448/IMG_3438_k9r3n3.jpg)
Last job was a clean of the glass and a couple of coats of Swissvax Sheild Wax.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1688487982/IMG_3449_g1n5nd.jpg)
Glorious.
It's a shame about your bonnet but looks like your done a great job painting it! I tried and failed getting my screen back in, ended up getting a mate to do it for me 😳 I do like the top tint screens too, I wish I had looked for one of those. Hopefully see you at the national meet?
Cheers Ian! I actually wanted a clear screen but this is all the local place had in stock, can't argue for £100!
Yeah see you at the meet! :D
Naa, the top tint is an absolute winner!
May have to get one for my Blue mk2 too!
It feels like its been a while!
Since the last update I’ve been on the mk2 golf owners sprint day, which was a lot of fun!
I was there both days this year and camped over, it was great chatting to some old faces and meeting some new ones!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860489/IMG_3673_zauhcs.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860488/IMG_3670_syqs9p.jpg)
At the end of 2 day, I thought I’d go squeeze in one last run… can you guess… yep I had a fairly decent off! Went into the chicane too wide, rear tyre touched the grass and I was just a passenger.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NleSmjesP1o
Unfortunately I did take out Matt’s Trackslag sign… sorry Matt! But luckily no damage to the car, other than some marks which polished out.
That evening I was tagged in this picture
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860491/IMG_3685_cwiecr.jpg)
Lol
After the sprint, my wheels were absolutely obliterated, the pad deposits from the CL RC8’s were like nothing I’ve seen before.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860500/IMG_3695_t1zd0l.jpg)
I used some iron out remover, it took a full bottle and about 10 goes at it to get the deposits off.
I’d also noticed I’d gone through a set of nearly new discs… in a 2 day sprint!!
(yes those are meant to be grooves)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860501/IMG_3699_ttcevo.jpg)
Nurburgring 2023
Let’s start with the prep.
The first port of call were new brakes, I went with a Ferodo DS300 on the front after having loads of success for years with the DS2500, and a new set of Tarox Strada on the rear. The front received some new Brembo Maxx grooved discs and new ATE Type 200 fluid.
I also needed to sort some new tyres, the part worn NS2R’s were well past it, and provided little grip even in the dry. I’d been putting tyres off just because of the cost, in the last year or so like everything prices have gone through the roof.
I’d decided on a set of new Nankang AR1, but this time in a 205/50/15 instead of the usual 195/50/15. Sourced for £460.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860505/IMG_3736_dcnqof.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860513/IMG_3745_qt4dro.jpg)
This was a big risk because the arch clearance with 195’s was already tight on the 15x7 et13 Mahles. So some jiggery pokery was needed. For me the golf has always been about function and form, so raising the car, or fitting generic arch extensions wasn’t an option. I’d decided to make as much room in the arches as physically possible, whilst keeping the standard OEM look.
The front was easy enough, the wings were chopped out behind the arches. This is all well and good but then the arch fitting also needed removing, again arches can be stuck on with adhesive, but I’ve never been a fan of that, I’ve done enough rust repairs!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860497/IMG_3710_goccbp.jpg)
I remade all the mounting points lower down to secure the arches with flanged bolts and captive nuts.
It’s hard to photograph, but the plastic lip on the arch was sanded flat with finger sander to the face, so it retains its profile from the outside.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1700506361/thumbnail_IMG_3714_yngk8g.jpg)
The same was done on the rear, the double skin welded back together, ground flat, seamsealed and painted.
It turned out really well!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860513/IMG_3751_v25gvg.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860515/IMG_3760_rek5by.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860515/IMG_3754_t4lktw.jpg)
Believe it or not, the car doesn’t not catch at all! Relief! And I love how the chunky tyre gives a really purposeful look.
Next up, a new cambelt and tensioner, which I bought from Amazon prime of all places!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860522/IMG_3902_ruznhf.jpg)
I also aligned the car, using a length of cotton across 2 axel stands, the tricky thing for me was room, as I don’t have the space to make a square box of string around the car, so I had to do one side at once. To make sure nothing moved (hard when you have to drive the car to turn it around!) I marked the steering wheel boss and the column, so I knew the steering wheel was exactly in line.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860527/IMG_3943_r7svqf.jpg)
I set the geo as:
Camber: –3.0
Toe: 0.01mm Toe out
At this point I’m only a week or so from going to the Nurburgring, and thankfully the car went straight and felt amazing!
The last job on the list before going away was to sort out the relay ball on the gear linkage, as these like to melt on track. So I bought a length of nylon, and made a new ball for a spare shaft I had. The benefits of nylon is the heat resistance and easy of manufacture/cost.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860517/IMG_3840_sryrpi.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860518/IMG_3846_cpcmjs.jpg)
After the gear linkage was aligned, the car was finally done, and ready to go!
I’ll uploads a full trip report shortly, stay tuned :)
Love this, amazed how you can get the tyres so close to the arch but still retain 100% driveability.
Also, can you give me a bit more info on the string method with the axle stands on one side?
I've never been able to do it and always end up going to the local garage,
Love this, amazed how you can get the tyres so close to the arch but still retain 100% driveability.
Also, can you give me a bit more info on the string method with the axle stands on one side?
I've never been able to do it and always end up going to the local garage,
Yeah I think something often over looked is caster angle, and that’s probably a big part of why I get the clearance. Im not sure on exactly measurements but if that factory castor angle is say +1 degree, i’d guess mine would be nearer +4 degrees. The benefit as im sure you already know is you get more dynamic negative camber, so the more steering input the more negative camber I get.
For the string method of alignment, its a real pain… a real pain but if you have time and patience it works. First loosen the track rod end lock nut. Then centre the steering wheel, once happy put a piece of masking tape on the steering wheel boss and one on the steering column, draw a straight line between them. This is a reference mark to get the wheel perfectly aligned each time, best to use a fineliner for this for accuracy. Then set up a length of cotton (use cotton, anything thicker and you have less accuracy) between 2 axel stands, make sure the axel stands are positioned so they are longer than the car. Measure the gap between the centre of the hub to the cotton - a steel rule is perfect for this. It doesnt matter what this figure is as long as its perfectly the same front to back.
Next measure the front of the rim to the cotton and then the rear. You will see straight away if the wheel is toeing in or out, I found its easier to draw a diagram to visually see the difference. - now remove the string ( this bit is annoying) jack the car up adjust the track rod, lower the car down, roll the car forward and back, check your alignment marks on the steering wheel, then set the string back up and re measure, over and over until you are happy. Repeat on the other side.
I was sceptical if the marks on the steering wheel would be accurate, but from driving the car it really is, as long as you use a thin pen line, to make sure its perfect each time.
You can get a steering wheel clamp on ebay to prevent the wheel from moving but as I had to turn the car around to do the other side it was pointless
Hope that helps!
Thanks James, great info there.
Only issue I have is I've changed my rear hubs for Polo Gti items, which I believe are a little thicker, so can no longer rely on them making the string completely parallel with the car, I was thinking about trying to find the exact centre of the car font and rear, then do it off of that.
Nurburgring 2023
It’s that time again, the big one, the Nurburgring. This year was slightly different, the usual bunch of lads who come along all had other life commitments and couldn’t make it. I was going out there at the same time as Nige (Pinderwagen) and I would be travelling out with Warren who also has a mk2.
Warren has been rebuilding his car for a while and as the time got closer, it was looking less and less likely he would make it, after having the car fully reshelled. I got a call the day before we were due to set off with some bad news, his car wasn’t going to make it.
So this year I was out there on my own, or at least travelling and staying on my own. This was a real shame, but I didn’t let it hamper my spirits, I just needed to make sure I had packed extra everything, in case of breakdown/failures etc – yes I did pack a spare gearbox again…
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860546/IMG_4138_y4msdr.jpg)
First success, I’d made it to the ferry :)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860527/IMG_3951_cjzad3.jpg)
They really pack you in! Its always nerve racking when they park you so close and people have to squeeze past with luggage.
Every year it seems to be decent weather when the ferry leaves, which is nice.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860529/IMG_3957_h2hdvj.jpg)
Arrived in Rotterdam the next day, the weather had turned slightly… I was on the motorway doing around 60mph and I was changing a full lane without wanting to! AR1’s and standing water are terrifying! Although I felt sorrier for this lad in his drop top Lotus…
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860531/IMG_3969_hlw6ms.jpg)
Driving through Holland, their motorway have these large concrete slabs which dip and div, a bit like waves. With the car being full to the brim the passenger rear tyre was catching on the rear arch… less than ideal. So I pulled over at the services, picked up some obligatory snacks and had a think.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860533/IMG_3966_hxualm.jpg)
I had a quick look and there were no marks on the tyre so the arch only needed massaging a mm or so. I could have carried on driving but my thinking was, going through the foxhole in the big compression it might have a chance of catching there too. It was still torrential rain outside, so whatever I did needed to be fast.
Jack handle to the ready! Wedging it between the arch and the tyre I managed to get the purchase I needed. Back out onto the motorway and the issue was sorted :) result.
Getting closer to the Ring, it starts to feels very special, every year. Off the motorways and winding down these roads is a great feeling.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860548/IMG_4145_skit9y.jpg)
I arrived early afternoon and met up with Nige, checked in at the house.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860533/IMG_3975_wje5gk.jpg)
The next 2 days was the DN Event trackday, I was just doing TF again this year, so I joined Nige for a day of passengering and helping out where needed. Saturday was total write off as the weather way awful. I did get out with Nige and also Al in his 996, It was really interesting seeing someone use the wet line properly, but it did make me feel a little queasy.
That night a load of us went out for some food, which was really nice.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860541/IMG_4116_w8hj8w.jpg)
The next morning was much better weather, again I wasn’t on this track day so I went to support Nige and get some passenger laps in.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860538/IMG_3998_kmjnzz.jpg)
It didn’t disappoint! We had a couple of laps, sat behind loads of 911’s, GT2RS’ you name it! After lap 1 lap Nige engaged the “high boost” mode – hell fire, this was another level now. I still can’t get my head around how a brick shapped mk2 golf can be so savage ontrack. Fortunately I was also onboard for this…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9scBdsHIQs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9scBdsHIQs)
The golf did its highest ever top speed down the Dottinger Hohe straight… 174.9mph. GPS.
Just have a moment to think about that for a minute… it’s pretty mind blowing!
Unfortunately, it did go a little south at this point, as the car hit the compression in the track, it starved the bottom end of oil and spun a bearing. I wont say too much as Nige might want to publish an update at some point.
But we made it to the top of Flugplatz, and pulled off behind the barrier.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860534/0EE91517-F0B8-49E2-97BC-099517500D1E_awos8s.jpg)
(concerned face!)
We then spent the rest of the day trying to sort it. Nige had the spares but all our conventional and unconventional attempts to fix it did work and the lack of oil pressure had damaged the crank, so there was not much we could do.
That evening the track was open for tourist driving, so I got my helmet on for a first steady lap on my own. (I’m still waiting for some images to be sent through so excuse the watermarks)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1702998213/Screenshot_2023-12-19_at_14.53.55_frzkjy.png)
I must sound like a broken record now, but… God the Golf feels good, it really, really feels amazing to drive, so direct and a crazy amount of grip from the new rubber.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860545/IMG_4099_oigtvx.jpg)
While I was over there I met Tim and Bex, who were also there for the DN event. Tim had never been round the track before so I was delighted to take him out as a passenger.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860545/77e65816-8dbd-4393-95a6-375ebfa4f2fe_jyaibg.jpg)
We had some great evenings with Nige, Lou, Tim and Bex and I’m really grateful they let me tag along.
The next day Nige came out with me for a lap, helping me brush up on lines etc.
Its great to see him enjoying himself!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1702998207/Screenshot_2023-12-19_at_14.52.33_xhtz0h.png)
I’m really glad I clearanced those arches!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1702998210/Screenshot_2023-12-19_at_14.53.20_f4bvxr.png)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1702998212/Screenshot_2023-12-19_at_14.52.59_pxszqz.png)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1702998212/Screenshot_2023-12-19_at_14.53.36_io1oao.png)
As you can tell we both had a great time!
I went back to the house and checked the car over. Thankfully, no leaks, everything was tight, all good to go for the next day
That night, we all went out for some food and everyone was high on Nurburgring spirit. I’d been chatting to a few people and they were telling me tales of crashes, repair bills, how dangerous TF is, the usual. Now… I know the risks, we all do.
But something was different this time, I still don’t fully know what it was, I think being here “on my own” had a lot to do with it, usually you are with your mates 24/7, there’s moral support, banter and people to look out for you. I was the only one doing TF, Nige and his group were leaving the following day and I’d be completely on my own for the next 6 days or so.
Just to clarify, I’m a grown man, and I’m completely happy and comfortable in my own company (I do quite enjoy that a lot of the time) but tourist days on the Nurburgring are no joke, essentially if you crash or drop fluids, there’s a high chance you’d end up bankrupt - I mean that in the literal sense.
Having said all that I didn’t come here to drive round at 30mph, I came here to enjoy what is the greatest race track in the world and drive as fast as possible.
The next day I had a couple of warm up laps, driving at 80% or so, to get my confidence back and mentally get myself in the place I needed to be. What’s weird, any nerves you have in the TF car park vanish as soon as you pass that gantry.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1702998208/Golf-animation_md0ta4.gif)
I had a couple of great laps, catching faster cars and generally just having a bloody good time!
Below is a little battle I had with an E36 325i, I don’t think he was too happy with me getting past, but I was faster in the twisties.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-HdLiEgMWbk (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-HdLiEgMWbk)
Every lap there had been a few yellow flags, so no laps times yet. Not that that really mattered because I was having a blast. But I could tell the golf was quick this year, and I was I knew I’d be close to the ever-elusive sub 9 min lap time.
I’d also been watching my videos back trying to see where I could gain some time, Id tried holding the car at redline in 4th up the Kesselchen straight instead of going into 5th, despite the car still dropping in revs at the top of the hill I’d determined that to be a second or 2 faster.
I went out again that evening, it was a week night and the traffic was a lot quieter. The Golf was going well and I knew if there were no yellow flag and no major hold ups I’d right up there.
Luckily there were no yellow flags, but unfortunately there was traffic, some costing me valuable time. I got to the end of that lap with a big grin! It was a good lap, but I didn’t think it was a sub 9 due to the hold ups.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1703006256/IMG_4102_ycvqv0.jpg)
I parked the Golf up to cool down in the usual lay-by, close to the track. I don’t use any type of laptimer on track, so I checked back over my video footage.
an 8:58 BTG… no way… all those hold ups!?
double check
8:58 BTG.
We’d done it! The mighty little 8v, going sub 9 at the ring. Without sounding link I’m blowing smoke up my trumpet that’s some going for a car with sub 125hp.
After watching the footage back I recon there was AT LEAST 15 seconds of hold ups… I think an 8:40/8:45 would be doable on a clear run. That is mega!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52qcnWBdm04&t=1s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52qcnWBdm04&t=1s)
I drove over to Brunchen to watch the last of the TF cars before closure and sat down with a currywurst and a coke. That was it, that was the moment, nothing like it.
While I was there I met 2 lads from Holland, they had a lovely mk2 with an ABF.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860540/B047055C-11BA-4704-BAB3-2B3905B7FF93_l3odr3.jpg)
I drove back to the house that night, very happy indeed. I was meant to be out there for another 5 days, but unlike me I decided to call the trip short, I was going to travel back to the UK the next day. I rang my wife that night and explained I’d be back home early, she did make me second guess my decision and was telling me to stay and just enjoy myself, which was nice to hear. She knows how much work and dedication I put in year round for this trip, and how much it means to me. But I know myself, I trust my judgement and I knew, deep down, I’d be chasing that time, I’d want that 8:4X and that’s not what TF is about. It’s a dangerous game I can’t afford to play. I was happy, very happy. The car was in one piece, the gearbox hadn’t exploded, smiles all round!
So that was that.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1698860540/30B444D3-3773-4584-AF3A-744D961DC774_mghsdb.jpg)
Who’d have thought all those years ago… We’ve both come along way!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1703005332/IMG_4958_hkorlb.jpg)
That’s not it for the Nurburgring, I will be back :)
Until the next one, cheers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEsK6YhG_6A (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEsK6YhG_6A)
Again (like a broken record) great write up!
Always enjoy your Nurburgring reports.
Shame your mates couldn't go with you, that's a hell of a daunting thing to be flying solo, good on you for pushing on!
We're actually starting to plan our 2024 trip, if you want to try and match dates, could act as a safety net for next year?
Also, love how Nige is happy in every single track photo!
Love how you drive this to its maximum potential! Shame you cut your trip short but its good to trust your judgement. One day I will visit the ring!
Hi chaps, its been a while. Not a huge amount of progress on the Golf, the daily E36 will be up for sale shortly, thats getting a mini restoration on the weekends, with some new rear arches and jacking points ready for sale.
I've bought an E61 535d as its replacement, its just shy of 400hp which makes it very unassuming for a big barge! So far I'm really enjoying it.
anyway...back to business.
The Golf passed it's MOT with flying colours again, having being parked up since I got back from Germany in the summer, I hadnt even washed it...
I've got Anglesey booked with Nick in his K1 cupra in a couple of weeks, so want to get a few jobs ticked off over the next week or so. I've got an oil and filter to change, SKF waterpump and Meyle thermostat and housing, then we should be all set!
I've been eyeing up a second set of wheels for a while, so I'll have my AR1's for dry and run either a road tyre or a racing wet for any wet weather. At the moment with just having the AR1's if a trackday is wet i've pretty much wasted £2-300 as the track day would be a write off.
I almost pulled the plug on a set of E30 BBS wheels 15x7 et 24. But I've always had my eye on a set of Rota Speciale 15x7 et 20, but I'm too tight to fork out on a brand new set.
Luckily for me, a set popped up on marketplace, we struck a deal at £500 and they came with brand new Toyo T1R's... Now these tyres wouldn't have been my first choice as a wet tyre, but, they were on, brand new and balanced up and ready to go. They have a "B" rating in the wet, so although they wont be as good as a Michelin PS3 or a full wet tyre they will be miles better than the AR1's.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1714577367/IMG_5987_y3ohun.jpg)
Its crazy how skinny road tyres are.
for reference heres the specs:
BBS - 15x7 et13 - 205/50/15
Rota. 15x7 et20 - 195/50/15
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1714577363/IMG_5988_sbfvfz.jpg)
A quick test fit on the car and I wasnt happy with how the car sat at all, so I test fit a 20mm spacer and I much prefer how it sits - and theres LOADS of clearance. that effectively makes the wheel 15x7 et0. Less than ideal with such a low offset but for me the car is all about function and form.
It also just goes to show just how chunky the semi slicks are! I've got a lot less room in the arch with them and they have 7mm less poke than the new Rotas.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1714577362/IMG_5997_twgblx.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1714577356/IMG_5994_dp3wpp.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1714577362/IMG_5995_sdprv4.jpg)
The colour of the centre also isnt my first choice, in time I may paint them silver or gold. Quick photoshop below.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1714642327/IMG_5997_twgblxGold_uwtrs0.jpg)
All in all very happy with the old skool motorsport look, exactly what I was after :)
Anglesey 2024
Some prep before we went, I fitted a brand new SKF water pump and 87 degree thermostat.
As I had a strange noise on start up, the old waterpump was a cheapo topran one from many years ago so no harm in replacing it. After a test drive I wasn’t too happy, firstly the noise hadn’t gone and secondly the coolant temp was ¾ on the gauge just driving on the road.
The next day I stripped it all down and refitted my old 80degree thermostat. This made a huge difference! And coolant temps were normal, bang on ½ way even on track.
The noise you ask… well some more digging and I found it, it was the cambelt tensioner. The bolt had loosened despite being torqued to spec (45nm) luckily the engine wasn’t out of time. I replaced the nut with a nyloc nut, torqued and paint penned the end so I can see if it comes loose again. (post track day, all still good)
One tool I picked up cheap on amazon for about £20 was this vacuum coolant bleed kit.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1717080802/IMG_6104_hdljde.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1717080802/IMG_6103_rknfdn.jpg)
It’s an impressive bit of kit and takes minutes to bleed the coolant, without the need to sit and rev the car etc. it works by creating a vacuum using an airline, you then crack a valve to replace the spent air with coolant – perfect!
I drove over on the new wheels to save the AR1’s. I didn’t have the correct bolts for the 20mm spacers, so settled for 15mm. Although they did have the correct taper for the rear so I used some 8mm on the rear and 15mm on the front, looks okay, and should have some positive effects to handling in the wet with a wider front track.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1717080405/IMG_6117_c9pwqc.jpg)
I bought some new collapsable storage boxes to transport tools to and from trackdays. Makes loading the car nice and easy. We were properly loaded up for this trip, with the usual spare “gearbox…” tools spares, over night bags etc. Ford was in with me as passenger.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1717080404/IMG_6124_lryasi.jpg)
We still had out overnight bags to add here :D who needs a van!
We had a 3.5 hour drive over with Nick in his K1 and Ford passenger with me. The Golf was doing well, comfortably doing 80 ish the whole way. We stayed overnight in an Airbnb and met up with Beardy (who use to own the white teg) had a good catch up and a walk in the hills ready for action the next day.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1717080403/IMG_6134_rjjwsk.jpg)
We were lucky with the weather and even got some sun!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1717080154/53723023833_635a18c007_o_qwjdtc.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1717080159/53723259640_f25c51485e_o_wh1bd5.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1717080137/53721957517_c1a3cda470_o_ipogw9.jpg)
The Golf was going really well! It was the first time properly pushing the 205 section AR1’s, the level of grip was amazing.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1717080145/53722795051_8e89f15938_o_zjhw65.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1717080152/53723138939_a93afcd35e_o_dpzgey.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1717080159/53723305785_4b20ba717e_o_tnl2y1.jpg)
I’m pretty pleased to report all went smoothly! No issues, no hiccups, just solid lapping all day long- which my brand new tyres thanked me for! I was having so much fun I’d forgotten how bad Anglesey is on front left tyres.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1717080405/IMG_6183_rvfyd6.jpg)
It looks to have been slightly over inflated too, I usually run 32psi hot pressure, but I’ll drop this next time and go back to 30.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1717080404/IMG_6181_tvzbab.jpg)
Id taken Nick out and we came to the conclusion I could maybe do with some stiffer springs and maybe some antiroll bars, I’ve modified so much of the suspension and I’m now finding I’m running out of dampening adjustment on the coilovers, compensating for roll.
Having said that the car felt amazing once it was dialled in, I was catching 90% of the cars on the day in the braking zones and through the corners. You will see some of that in the video below
Smiles all round.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYH3A8qjDYI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYH3A8qjDYI)
That was a good catch with the tensioner, a couple of miles more could have spelled disaster!
I like the coolant vacuum thing, but how does it go about the thermostat?
Wouldn't that need to be open to get coolant everywhere?
That was a good catch with the tensioner, a couple of miles more could have spelled disaster!
I like the coolant vacuum thing, but how does it go about the thermostat?
Wouldn't that need to be open to get coolant everywhere?
Honestly I'm not sure, the tool expels all the air in the system so whether it can get past the other side of the thermostat I don't know. All I can say is that it worked a treat!
I finally got round to designing and making some B pillar gussets for my cage.
Started out by trying to design something I liked the look of, I find it a challenge to make these look “right” and get the angles of the gussets correct.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/c_crop,ar_16:9/v1719234238/image_m1aszt.jpg)
Transferred what I had on paper into some steel.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/c_crop,ar_4:3/v1719234522/IMG_6290_dora5p.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1719234198/IMG_6350_d7qgfs.jpg)
I didn’t want to have to strip the interior so I used a large fire blanket on the floor and protected everything else with cardboard and tape.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1719234193/IMG_6358_drentz.jpg)
Got them all welded in, took a few goes to get the welder set up right, but came out okay in the end.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1719234195/IMG_6360_c2mhmh.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1719234195/IMG_6361_fy7jme.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1719234193/IMG_6363_efjea8.jpg)
This was then epoxy primed, and painted satin black. I’ve not got the car out of the garage yet so I don’t know how it all looks in the daylight, but so far I’m pretty happy :)
Since the last update I’ve done loads of work to the Golf, and generally been using it loads, which has been really nice.
I’ll start with an evening track session at Cadwell Park. This was such a great way to spend an evening - good weather, good mates.
The video below is one of my favourite track sessions I’ve ever had, and certainly the fastest I’ve ever gone around Cadwell! Chasing 2 race prepared Nova’s, our cars were very similar paced, so I had to work hard to get past.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP4SNnZM3o4&t=311s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP4SNnZM3o4&t=311s)
At Cadwell I was trying to make the most of the 2 hours we had on track, so I was doing 35-45min sessions, I usually do around 20 min sessions. The Golf felt fantastic and handled the extended sessions well, I only came in because I was flagging and drip wet through!
The extended sessions did highlight one problem that you will see in the video – the brakes. When braking there was a crazy amount of shake coming through the steering wheel, to the point where I was struggling to keep hold of the wheel one handed while changing gear. I did some tests with a dial gauge when I got home, thinking it may have been warped discs, but the discs were dead true.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722892612/IMG_6443_llmyfc.jpg)
After doing some research and chatting to a few mates, we came to the conclusion it was pad deposits on the discs, I was apprehensive – could pad deposits really cause this much vibration? I cleaned up the discs with some scotch brite pads, and to my surprise completely cured the brake issue.
This did highlight one area for improvement though and that was cooling. I use the factory 16v brake ducts, which just vent to the wheel arch, so I decided to improve on that. Again I did my research, with the biggest takeaway being its best to duct air as close to the centre of the disc as possible, so the air can flow through the veins in the disc. With this in mind I started to modify the standard backing plates.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871639/IMG_0073_kjaljm.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871645/IMG_0077_etkw9k.jpg)
Holes were marked and cut, then a 2.5’ tube welded to the backing plates.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871655/IMG_0079_td9kvs.jpg)
For anyone that has done this, you will know there is just no room for a 2.5’ duct, and there is literally only one way the tube will route without interference with the CV, driveshaft, track rod, suspension articulation, subframe to wishbone distance.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871649/IMG_0082_mkzs7g.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871649/IMG_0101_wyy4gn.jpg)
With the disc end sorted it was time to move onto the getting air from the front of the splitter. I’d decided not to bastardise the standard OE ducts, these seem to be worth a fortune now and really the shape didn’t lend itself well.
I started by remaking the ducts out of cardboard and tape.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871645/IMG_0056_rei1x4.jpg)
Once happy I then wrapped the card in ali tape, to be used as a plug/mould for fibreglass.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871656/IMG_0109_dclimg.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871645/IMG_0062_z5lmyv.jpg)
It’s a messy process, but it came out really well once cleaned up.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/a_-90/v1722871648/IMG_0065_rp6aao.jpg)
I then used rivnuts in the metal front valance, to secure along with a cable tie.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871634/IMG_0071_vhq2uj.jpg)
I used 2 ply silicone ducting which should help with longevity.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871657/IMG_0088_ppjejz.jpg)
Clearance is tight on lock, but there’s just enough room.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871655/IMG_0102_xbrmof.jpg)
I’ve not done any heavy track work since, but I will report back once its been tested. I’ve also looking into the Porsche GT3 style ducting which clips onto the wishbone and directs air to the dics, which Might be the next option along with the ducting, but the ducting alone should be a big improvement.
Next update was some cosmetic upgrade to my steering wheel. I absolutely love this wheel, it’s a pretty "uncommon" Momo Jackie Stewart circa 1960. The leather was getting tired and my sweaty palms on track were not helping.
I decided to try and restore rather than retrim as I like the patina of an old wheel.
The original wheel:
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871661/IMG_0195_x2v7hs.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871661/IMG_0193_pek4so.jpg)
I grabbed a kit from my local leather place for £50, which included a leather cleaner, sponges, primer, leather paint and a UV top coat.
I started by cleaning the leather and then sanding to scotch up the surface and level and of the bumps.
The finish result is really impressive! I just hope the finish lasts.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871669/IMG_0219_ddewjk.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871665/IMG_0221_bgaez5.jpg)
Next up was the Mk2 Golf Owners meet at Curborough, I went for the Sunday which was all VAG cars with my mate Nick in his Leon.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722894052/IMG_0155_g0jef1.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871680/IMG_0135_mzqbye.jpg)
I started the morning off with road tyres on the rear and semi slicks on the front, this was to help the car rotate on this super tight track. Having an open diff doesn’t help here.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871671/IMG_0140_agzees.jpg)
And rotate she did! Full opposite lock into the first corner with Ian onboard, we both were laughing the whole way round, and the rear came round on EVERY corner, much much fun, but not fast. So I swapped over to the semi slicks all round.
I’ll post a video up of my fastest time when I get it edited, but the car felt fast this year, the cage reinforcements made the chassis feel super tight. But the times don’t lie, how did I fair…
Well I’ll start with Nick, he managed a 27.7 lap, bagging him the fastest time of the day, taking home the silver ware. This is a properly serious time! And expertly driven by the man himself.
As the awards went on the last thing I thought was to hear my name called out. Despite trying to extract as much speed out of the 8v as possible, its just that, an 8v. It was never going to be a competitive car. As the famous John McGuiness says “you can only piss with the d*ick you’ve got”
To my surprise Matt called my name! with a 29.7 lap time. 4/10ths fastest than last year.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871671/IMG_0235_vuwx6z.jpg)
I was completely in shock and so chuffed! The award was a sponsors choice, given to the person achieving a decent time with the machinery under them.
Matt also wrote some very kind words in the awards posted on facebook.
Thanks buddy!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722894552/IMG_0236_yonnza.jpg)
So that was that. The 2 Yorkshire lads bringing home the silverware!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871674/IMG_0152_pmlsij.jpg)
Big thanks to the guys who organise this, its always so well run and the value for money is crazy for the amount of track time!
The last update is to the wheels (sorry this is a long post, ive been a busy boy! And I’ve actually skipped a lot of jobs out!)
I was never a fan of the dark wheels on a black car, so I decided to tackle them this last week, I spent a while deciding on colour, but finding the exact shade was so hard.
On a whim I decided to mix some base coats I had in the shed, I used some Arctic Silver from the E36 with some L041 Black from my Golf, in about an 80:20 ratio silver/black. And unbelievably this was the result.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871670/IMG_0223_esc6b9.jpg)
I was over the moon with this, it had the perfect amount of goldy glitteryness, with silvery greyness. I also had about a litre of the stuff so Ideal for repaints/ touchups in the future.
The centres were masked up and prepped with some 800 scotch brite.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871682/IMG_0241_nwawic.jpg)
The inside of the wheel was also prepped. Very tedious work, but its worth the effort spending the time with prep.
Base coat
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871684/IMG_0249_mdgmxy.jpg)
2k clear coat
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871689/IMG_0270_y3skfx.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871682/IMG_0276_sfm9xe.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1722871688/IMG_0290_qpkmek.jpg)
Very very chuffed with the outcome.
And that’s it from me. I’ve got another evening session at Cadwell tomorrow night, so I’ll report back on the ducting to see if its cured. :)
Great update again!
Good work with the brake discs, I used to encounter exactly the same thing.
Also, well deserved on the trophy, shame we didn't get a proper chance to catch up, but you looked like you were moving on well out there!
It’s the start of Jan, and I see a post about a rather special event taking place.
The UK’s first ever night time track “day” at Anglesey ran by Mission Motorsport.
This was pretty major for me, it wasn’t a case of deciding if I should go, I HAD to do it!
I hadn’t even seen the Golf, let alone start it since September and with 2 weeks to go until the event, a new born baby and a displeased wife, I had my work cut out.
I would be joining Nige in his mk2, and after some confirmation from the organisers we found out there was no restriction on lighting. With Anglesey being totally unlit and a stones throw away (quite literally) from the edge of the Irish Sea, the challenge would be being able to see.
After having a mess around in photoshop I’d decided on a design/layout, and I wanted to go with yellow lighting – for those Nürburgring 24H vibes!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1737649284/LED_Light_bar_o5ogfl.jpg)
Amazon prime to the rescue, with 2 – 17” 250w LED light bars, some wiring, a switch and a couple of relays.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1737649952/IMG_3382_o0tckj.jpg)
For me the design criteria had to be:
- Easily removable
- Hidden brackets when not installed
- Be brighter than the sun
With that in mind, here’s what I came up with. 2 rectangles were cut into the bumper, behind the number plate, to expose the metal bumper iron at the back.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1737649284/3B843CF3-7FBD-4BA1-B6B4-5C2B7E3AF2E0_tfwwws.jpg)
Square box section was cut and angled, so it could be welded to the bumper iron, a cover plate was made with captive nuts, which would be welded to the box and fit flush to the bumper.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1737649283/ADDF39AC-991A-4767-8419-AE8548755828_clxnwe.jpg)
Once repeated on the other side, I started to make the brackets which would hold the light bars. The bracket can be bolted and unbolted with some m8 allen bolts.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/a_-90/v1737649280/IMG_3406_aayhkd.jpg)
I’d decided to stagger the 2 light bars, so they can be unbolted easier.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1737649286/IMG_3405_i4sxhe.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/a_-90/v1737649278/IMG_3410_ffh8lc.jpg)
Once all the bracketry was made, I started on the wiring. I was worried about excess heat/ potential for fire from the draw of these LEDs. A chat to some friends and we figured out the draw was 21A, so the wiring was designed to take 25amps to be safe. A good friend drew me up a wiring diagram, which was super helpful. Essentially, they are wired as individual lights through 1 switch, which will make then as safe as they can be, rather than all the load going through one relay.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1737649286/IMG_3421_pfruw3.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1737649273/IMG_3510_reezgt.jpg)
I was over the moon with how these turned out! And they were bright! - note the snow!!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1737649282/IMG_3500_m1zpzf.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1737649265/IMG_3549_fo4sew.jpg)
After the lighting was done, it was 2 days before the event and I hadn't even started the car!
The next days I packed all my tools and spare tyres, and thankfully the Golf started first turn of the key! But… no time left to do any of the usual checks.
…just a 3.5 hour drive over to Anglesey and a track night to do!
I needn’t have feared, as always the Golf sailed over without an issue, I drive a 5 series estate daily and I have to say the Golf drives way, way better, you could easily daily it.
I met up with Nige, he had also been busy with the light bar!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1737649272/IMG_3515_mcmgil.jpg)
The first session went out
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1737649266/IMG_3530_mk61hc.jpg)
The weather was super cold driving over, down to -7 on the motorway! Once on the island it warmed up to 2 degrees above. We were unsure of tyre choice so we had a wander down the pit lane, a few were on road tyres and a few on semi slicks. We decided to go with AR1’s, as it was cold but dry.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1737650978/IMG_3535_npxefq.jpg)
The first session was a complete sensory overload! But my god was it amazing!
The light bars were an absolute must!! And I’m so glad I went all in.
My mate Jim took this photo of me going past the pit wall, its got to be my favourite picture of my car and will be getting printed.
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1737649265/IMG_3620_kijxna.jpg)
We did 4x30 min sessions on track all with different passengers, and each time we all had such a laugh. The experience was like nothing else! A big thanks to Mission Motorsport for putting the event on, it could have been absolute carnage but luckily everyone behaved and only a couple of yellow flags.
We stayed on the island that evening and headed home the next day.
It’s about 15 years since the Golf has seen a salty road, and it killed me inside!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1737649278/IMG_3512_ja1nmp.jpg)
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1737649280/IMG_3513_nadl20.jpg)
YUCK!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1737649271/IMG_3554_focf1x.jpg)
Once home it was still -3 degrees, the hose pipe was frozen, but I wasn’t going to be beaten. An old coolant hose rigged up to the shower attached to the hose pipe, routed through the bathroom window and I managed to give the Golf a nice hot bath!
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1737649266/IMG_3571_oglg1e.jpg)
Back in the garage with the heater on… I can sleep now
(https://res.cloudinary.com/dkmvdhrvn/image/upload/v1737651721/IMG_3573_uykszd.jpg)
And that’s that for another adventure!
All I can say is it was incredible and something I’ll never forget.
I’ll be going through some onboard footage soon and I’ll make sure to post it here.
Until the next one
So...need a good divorce lawyer, or did you grab some petrol station flowers on the way home??!
As usual, great write up and those brakes in that photo!!!