Cope's GTI - Page 7

Re: Cope's GTI

Reply #90 – June 24, 2024, 02:37:28 PM

Quote from: Monkey on June 03, 2024, 12:42:34 PM

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!

Re: Cope's GTI

Reply #91 – June 24, 2024, 02:37:40 PM

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.

Transferred what I had on paper into some steel.

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.

Got them all welded in, took a few goes to get the welder set up right, but came out okay in the end.

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

Re: Cope's GTI

Reply #92 – August 05, 2024, 11:15:54 PM

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

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.

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.

Holes were marked and cut, then a 2.5’ tube welded to the backing plates.

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.

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.

Once happy I then wrapped the card in ali tape, to be used as a plug/mould for fibreglass.

It’s a messy process, but it came out really well once cleaned up.

I then used rivnuts in the metal front valance, to secure along with a cable tie.

I used 2 ply silicone ducting which should help with longevity.

Clearance is tight on lock, but there’s just enough room.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

So that was that. The 2 Yorkshire lads bringing home the silverware!

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.

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.

The inside of the wheel was also prepped. Very tedious work, but its worth the effort spending the time with prep.

Base coat

2k clear coat

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.

Re: Cope's GTI

Reply #93 – August 06, 2024, 08:24:39 AM

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!