Monkeys R32

Topic: Monkeys R32 (Read 7066 times) previous topic - next topic

Monkeys R32

May 11, 2020, 01:59:45 PM

This is a thread about my 10th Mk2.
Bought this one back in December 2016, it went a little something like this.

Yep, finally back in a Mk2 and a BBM at that

After searching up and down the country (quite literally), yesterday Cupracraig tagged me in one for sale on Facebook.
It's certainly no show winner, but the astounding thing about this one was it was fairly priced!
Knowing I'd have a fair amount of competition, I set sail 1st thing this morning with Paulina and Jimbo.
The guy was thoroughly nice and very upfront about its flaws, so I knew what I was going to see.
After a quick poke around, we were heading home in this little beaut...

It's not a trick of the light, the paintwork is very flat, there's lacquer peel and a few dings here and there.
But the chassis seems in good order and the interior is excellent (could do with a clean though).
None of the paint bothers me, the car was well priced and has left me with a budget to work to.

First jobs to look into are paint and suspension, it's just too low for me!

Well yesterday I finally managed to have a proper look at the mk2.

I noticed that the grill badge was incorrect and when I touched it, it fell off!

As I was looking at the front end, I thought I'd have a look at the spot lights as one was pointing into the stars and the other was lower than the dipped beams!

Ahh, that'll be why then.

Fortunately, we had another grill in stock, so that went on and took care of all three problems at once.
Also, put the front number plate back on.

After driving it about for a week, the suspension was about ready to kill me!
The guy mentioned that it was on coilovers. I've got plans for this car that will require suspension at the right point, so I decided to raise it up in an effort to make it more livewithable for this coming year.
The good news is the coilovers seemed to be a half decent make and adjusted nicely. :thumbs:
The bad news was the tyres on the front were completely shot! :bad craic:
I'm not a fan of stretched tyres, but I'm even less of a fan of illegal tyres (and the accompanying blowouts/crashing!) so on went the Borbets.
To finish off, gave her a clean, the paintwork is still completely shot, but at least a little more presentable now.

Re: Monkeys R32

Reply #1 – May 11, 2020, 02:03:05 PM

Recently finished Paulinas Corrado reshell, so turned a little time onto the blue one again.
Jimbo recently bought a Corrado G60 for breaking and a deal was done to secure some of the goodies off it.
First to come off the car were the front brakes and coilovers

Nothing wrong with the coilovers, just the Corrado had some rather nice stainless KW V1s.

Also had a vintage Scorpion twin outward rolled backbox from back in the day, that I'd been saving for a rainy day.
That went on too, along with the Borbets that came off the Corrado.
All in all, a fair improvement for a days work :smile:

Re: Monkeys R32

Reply #2 – May 11, 2020, 02:03:51 PM

Well, we're getting married this year, so all current car funds are the safety net for that.
The current plan is to do the engine swap this winter, then get the bodywork done this time next year.

Speaking of engine swap, I have already purchased an engine for it....
Only downside is, it's still attached to the car!

Well this has happened now...
(Mark, you may want to look away)

Re: Monkeys R32

Reply #3 – May 11, 2020, 02:04:31 PM

Being a nice weekend, thought it would be a good idea to try and address something that's been bugging me for ages.
Namely the bonnet.

Now it's always my plan to get the whole car resprayed (good god, it needs it), but right now I don't have the finds for it.
So I got a few cans of paint from Halfords and thought i'd give it a go myself, let's face it, I couldn't make it any worse!!
It's a little stripey, but it's still an improvement

Cheers, those others were just too much on the car!!

Anyhow, I've been busy trying to make it less and less shonky.
This time, I decided to tackle the reason the drivers wing sat to close to the grill.
you can just about see it in this shot

Didn't take long to find out what was wrong...

Despite the fact it was composed primarily of rust, it didn't want to come out without a fight.
However, the drill, the hammer and copious amounts of swearing later...

Offered up the new Heritage part to reveal a good fit :thumbs:

Hour or so later and I was much happier

I will get this car tidy

Re: Monkeys R32

Reply #4 – May 11, 2020, 02:09:09 PM

Then, in January 2018, this happened...

Didn't get as far as I wanted to, but it's a start

I wasted no time in stripping the engine out and seeing what I had to work with...

Condition was not too bad, however with all the foliage in the scuttle, I did expect David Bellamy to pop out at any moment!

However, it wasn't long before Paulina came along and got stuck in...

...and a great job she did! ironically, the engine bay paintwork was the best on the whole car.

Meanwhile, I set about stripping the GTI body kit off and got to work with the Solution Finish

Next day, Paulina took over the trim restoration while I looked at the pedal box.
Made up a bracket for the DBW accelerator pedal

And trial fitted in the car

Which brings us up to this weekend.
Spent a good amount of Saturday splitting down the TT loom and marked up the remaining wiring for splicing into the Golf

However, I only got so far before I needed to trial fit the engine in order to work out the best place for the ECU mounting and wire routing. So today, this happened

Had the engine for nearly a year, it's almost going to be a shame to pull it all back out again!

Re: Monkeys R32

Reply #5 – May 11, 2020, 02:09:57 PM

Had another busy weekend on the mk2.

Started off by removing the engine and completing the pedalbox and clutch master install

Also ran the loom in

The plan was to have the engine out and back in again in one weekend.
So I pulled the box off to fit the flywheel and clutch, to find out that I've managed to loose the pressure plate bolts :wtf?!:
Which ment the engine and box ended up looking like this:

Nevertheless, there was still plenty to do, so I moved on to the subfame

Paulina got the Krust out and started treating every piece of rust in site, while I refurbished the steering rack and built things back up again

Lick of paint later and everything was ready for the refit

Lastly, I bought a set of ARBs off Jimbo and pulled them off his old car.
The front Eibach one was good, the rear Weitec one was pretty rusty, so that was treated and painted.

So, another couple of weeks have passed, lots of progress made.

Got the engine in last weekend for the final fit.
That allowed me to measure up the coolant and induction side of things, this week the bits arrived.

Along with this sweet Trackslag system

Can't wait to get it fitted, but the mk4 shifter mechanism has still to arrive.

So I moved on to getting the bay sorted out

Just the wiring to finish and then I can try to get it started

Re: Monkeys R32

Reply #6 – May 11, 2020, 02:11:52 PM

So this weekend, got a little more done.

First off, got the old exhaust off, think it was very much due a change.
Obligatory comparison shot:

Next, my new Mk4 shifter setup arrived, so that got fitted, which allowed me to finally fit the heat shield and awesome Trackslag exhaust.
Also put the rear ARB on...

Managed to put a little time in on Sunday, but the Snow didn't help!
Got the car turning over, but the ECU doesn't seem to be starting, so no fuel or spark.

Then in March, this happened:
Well, it turns out I'd missed a +12v for the injectors.
Once wired up, this happened...

Made up is an understatement! :party!:

I've since tidied up a lot of the wiring and ran the engine up to temperature, so far everything seems to be ok.
I've still got a laundry list of snags to get everything working properly (oil pressure switches, outside air temp etc...), but I can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel!!

OK, quick update.
Been busy over this weekend, but got more done on the Mk2.
The hubs were always in a bit of a sorry state and couldn't go back on looking like this.

Stripped them down, painted them and put new bearings/hub flanges in...

The wishbones and driveshafts got similar treatment

Then all went (with a fight) back on the car

Re: Monkeys R32

Reply #7 – May 11, 2020, 02:12:52 PM

So, last weekend this happened...

So this week, I got the car insured and taxed. It's maiden voyage was straight to get the tracking done, as quite frankly, it was horrific to drive. As soon as the tracking was done, the car started behaving. It's amazing what pointing the wheels in the same direction can do for the handling of a car...

After a fair bit of 'testing', I realised that I need decent tyres.
Unfortunately, I can't have 16s and track rubber, as the sidewalls are too big, so I needed some 15s.

I happened to have some in stock, they came on a valver we bought a couple of years back...

I like the idea of Sebrings as they could have been on the car originally and would have a sleeper effect.
But they had to go silver first...

There was still a little time left for some badge engineering

(yes, I will straighten the number plate!)

Lastly, it was parked back in the unit, which made for a photo opportunity.

Re: Monkeys R32

Reply #8 – May 11, 2020, 02:14:09 PM

Been a while since I've updated this one!
Took it to Inters, where it went well round the track, did have a little issue with setting fire to the brakes.
Also the temps started to rise after a while (was a 30 minute session).

Saw the opportunity to get it on a rolling road for a power run while I was there

Made a fantastic noise! (click for vid)

Untitled by Dave Ackerman, on Flickr
Along with a stonking 271.9bhp!! :jackson:

So fast forward to last weekend, I've got just over two weeks before the annual Nurburgring trip.
Decided to do a couple of upgrades, based on the performance at Inters.

First off was the brakes, I wanted to retain the 15" wheels, but couldn't afford 4 pots etc.
So decided on some Brembo discs, Ferodo Racing DS2500 pads and some Moutul 660 fluid.

Next was the cooling, in the below pic, you can see I've used a 2nd hand Corrado VR6 rad.

Pretty good for normal driving, but the track on a hot day required a little more.
So on went an ebay special alloy radiator, only £150 and seems pretty well made :thumbs:

I do have some brake ducts to replace the front fog lights (lights are useless anyway!), but I need to make a bracket for them first, so maybe in a week.

Bit of an update.

Gave the old girl a proper clay bar and a wax, something I've never tried as the paint was always dodgy.
Also hit up the plastics with Solution Finish, came up surprisingly well

Next stop was the annual Nurburgring trip!
Wasn't completely without fault, car decided not to start one day.
Turns out, in a previous life, it had an immobiliser that was removed and not quite put back together right.
30 mins later and all was well again.
Other than that, the car ran well, got a fair few laps in without any major issues

Which reminds me, must actually buy a few of those photos...

Got back from the Nurburgring on the Tuesday and went straight for the National Meet on the Friday!
Then proceeded to hammer the hell out of it for the majority of the weekend, talk about a baptism of fire...

Must fit that Quaife I've got on the shelf.

Finally, with the weather turning, it transpired that the track tyres were't the best in the rain.
Also, with the possibility of it having to do a lot of mileage coming up, I thought it would be a good idea for a set of winter rims.
When a set of BBS wheels came up with nearly new Toyos on for £200, 10 miles from where I was going to be, it was rude not to...

Re: Monkeys R32

Reply #9 – May 11, 2020, 02:15:40 PM

Well, she's been shipped off for a full, doors off, windows out body resto!

But I pulled out the headlining (or lack of it!) and have been trying the paper mache approach...

Going to seal the other side with PVA, which will hopefully give the new Heritage material a better chance of staying put when I glue it on.

Well, I'm happy to say that my attempt at arts and crafts last week has appeared to work.
The broken quarter of the headlining is back on and the whole things feels stable again.

Although I'm not going to recover it until the car is a week or so away.

Speaking of which, popped over to have a peek at it on the weekend.

So far, they have removed the kit, hunted for all the rot on the car and duly cut it out.

Quite pleased actually, that is all the rot they could find on her.
Just waiting on a new sill from Heritage to arrive, then it all starts getting welded back up :smile:

I've been a little quiet on this one of late, just been letting the bodyshop guys get on with it.
It turns out once they started really stripping things down, there was much more rot that first spotted...

Needing a fair bit of work

And a couple new wings

So I left them to it for a few weeks and went in last week to find this

No rot in any of the nasty places fortunately

Wheel arch prepped for paint too

And the nasty holes are a thing of the past

Can't wait to get her back and rebuilt! :cool:

Ok this update makes me more excited! :jackson:
Bad news, not getting it back this Friday, probably Monday now.
Good news:

So happy with how it's come out!
Couple of reflection shots...

Can't wait to get her back and refitted now!

Re: Monkeys R32

Reply #10 – May 11, 2020, 02:16:31 PM

So, the mk2 came back from the painters this week, ready for the refit

And was immediately inspected by a seasoned professional

The car needed a little tlc after being in the paint shop for 4 months

So before anything went back on...

Forgot just how much crap goes into an interior besides the seats!

And finally got the side decals, skirts and wheels back on

Car has gone back to the painters now for the snagging, hope to get it back in a week or two :smile:

Re: Monkeys R32

Reply #11 – May 11, 2020, 02:18:21 PM

So, picked her up again on Saturday with a fresh MOT.
Most of the snagging has been done, the underside has been welded where needed and fully undersealed. :smile:
I've been promised a memory stick with a couple of hundred photos of all the work that has been done, so expect a photo dump at some point :wink:

Anyhow, more shiny paint photos...

And I bought these badges nearly 2 years ago! Because the paintwork was always awful, I never stuck them on, knowing I'd get the chance eventually

Question is, do I stick the glove box one on?

Re: Monkeys R32

Reply #12 – May 11, 2020, 02:18:42 PM

Ok, been a bit slack on here as of late.

I've mainly been enjoying the car, with several meets (including the National one) and a track day at Combe.

I've always been aware that the brakes are a little lacking, so I've been doing a little research and found that some of the best ones to use for brake clearance are Compomotive MO5s, unfortunately, they haven't been made for years!
After much looking on eBay, I found a set of 4x100 wheels up in Scotland and the chap very kindly packaged them up, so I could get them couriered down.

Unfortunately, when they arrived, the spigot was too small and there was no bored hole for the centre cap to go.
After a little searching I found out they came off of a Nova rally car in the 90s!

Anyhow, off to my local machine shop they went, who done an excellent job of boring the holes for the spigot and the standard centre caps.
Managed to get them on 2 days before the track day :cool:

Had a bloody good day on the track day, right up until I felt the brakes go a little weak.
So done a cool down lap and came in to assess the situation:

Turns out I'd turned all four brake discs blue, burnt the pads (the calipers used to be bright red!) and started to melt my brand new centre caps! :shock:

I put an infra red thermometer on them, to find it went straight into over temp - the thing maxes out at 350 degrees, so no idea what they actually were!!

Anyhow, that ended my track day a little early, but still, a great day was had by all!
But I decided to pull the car off the road to get serious about the brakes.

I'd seen a photo of a set of 312s under a set of 15" MOs and decided to have a go myself:

First thing was to source a cheap set of calipers, after a £45 punt on ebay a full set of (ropey) calipers, carriers and nearly new discs turned up.

So straight into the sand blaster they went and turns out they were in great nick under the rust!

Couple coats of high temp paint (checked the can 800 degrees!)

Followed by a rebuild

And then they were ready for fitment

So next was some trial and error trying to persuade them to fit on a set of G60 hubs.
Turns out redrilled mk6 gti discs fit with 6mm spacers for the caliper carriers works a treat :cool:

So the new brakes were sorted, but I wasn't going to be taking any more chances on the cooling side of things.
First off was to make a bracket for the hub that would take some cooling ducts...
Quick CAD template

That's Cardboard Aided Design :wink:
Followed by a metal counterpart, think 3mm plate might have been a little OTT, but with the m12 bolts, it'll hold the duct in place!

Should give you an idea of where we're going with it.
Quick splash of paint

And this is the overall idea...

With the business end of the ducting taken care of, it was a simple matter of sorting the feed end...

Now I've just got to save up for a decent set of pads!

Re: Monkeys R32

Reply #13 – May 11, 2020, 02:19:18 PM

Quote from: Nige

Quote from: Monkey
the DS2500s were great, but I wonder if there is a better alternative out there.
In my experience, DS2500 are a decent fast road pad, but people often complain of vibration which is due to pad deposits after track use.

They are OK but there are far better pads available. The best pads for stock calipers I`ve used are Carbon Lorraine. RC5 or RC6. The RC6 is more track focussed. They run hotter than DS2500 but are in a different class regarding pedal feel and braking performance imo.

Well, as luck would have it, Christmas came around and Paulina bought me a set of CL RC5+ pads :party!:
I held off fitting them until a couple of days before my first track day of the year at Combe.
I'm made up with them, I can now brake so hard going into Tower it makes my eyes feel funny!

Unfortunately, due to a manufacturing fault, my clutch let go towards the end of my fourth session, that prematurely ended the day, thanks Sachs :roll:

Didn't find that out until last weekend, as Paulinas Charged VR build took president of my time.

So this weekend, I could turn my attention back to playing with the car.
First up was the installation of a set of Corrado seats that I'd had retrimmed in the stock Ultraviolet material.

Absolutely love the result! They're much more comfortable than the mk2 seats and the average person wouldn't be able to tell.
Also, as they sit much lower, it means I can fit in the car with a crash helmet on! :lol:

Next came up was a pair of Audioscape door pods. I'd lusted after a set back in the 90s, but could never afford a set.
These came up on Facebook at a reasonable price, complete with Phoenix Gold drivers, so I had them.
Very pleased with the finish of them too.

On Sunday, because of socal distancing and all, we set our sights on cleaning the cars.
Mine just needed a wash and wax, but paulinas Corrado had been sat in the unit for 6 months.
That took a TFR snow foam, contact clean, clar bar, polish and then a wax before it came up good again, but both cars now look much better.

And finally one of the last parts I need arrived, so I can begin the A/C project...

Re: Monkeys R32

Reply #14 – May 11, 2020, 02:19:49 PM

Before we got locked down, I managed to move the car home and stuck it in the (tiny) garage.
I can't do the major works, but at least I can still tinker.

Started off with a very simple mod, but I think it's lifted look of the engine.
By fitting blue (R36) coil pack connector covers

Then I gave it a bit of a clean

So I then moved on to two jobs at once.
About a year ago, Jimbo kindly donated some electric windows to me, for helping chop a car up.
Unfortunately, storage hadn't been kind and it needed a little TLC before installation

A bloody good clean and some Solution Finish later...

Before I fit any loom, it always has to get wrapped up...

I was also trying to get the heated seat pads I had installed into the Corrado seats working.

Jury's still out if they work properly or not!

Lastly, I'd always hated how mk2 battery connectors look like they're ready to fall apart.
So when I broke a mk4 back in the Winter, I kept them, fair bit of difference in cable size too.

Much better

I really should keep on top of all the updates!