[trackday_prep] White E Reg 1.6 Gti, Track Prep!

[Craigo 0]

right...

 

got offered this little number cheap enough, so me and 3 friends decided it would be a good base for a track day car!

 

ideals of this is for the project to remain cheap, equal share throughout; we want to use the car to learn how to drive on track, improve mechanical skills and have some good honest fun all the way through.

 

car is not road legal, we picked it up on a trailer, and it will be trailored to each event we partake in.

 

any advice on any aspect of the car is greatly appreciated, as we do not know that much about 205's at the moment!!

 

right brief spec of when we picked it up:

 

1.6 gti sunroof model in white,

k&n air filter, engine apparently ported but unknown on rest of spec

178k

lowered at front on 'red' springs (make unknown)

 

fully stripped interior

one gti seat fitted, cobra monaco s bucket came with car not fitted

 

heres the pics from when we picked it up:

 

 

 

 

 

 

got it home sunday just gone, lights work, indicators dont, doesnt appear that the heater works either, althought ive no idea how this works, can someone explain??

 

 

had a quick poke about it on sunday and discovered the k&n inside the standard air box, so temp got rid of the pipe work and box:

 

the stickers will be going, passenger rear arch needs a new panel, and concerend on the front panel, its quite religious (holy) but as its not going to be road legal unsure as the need to repair it!!

 

continued...

Edited November 6, 2008 by Craigo

[Craigo 0]

we had a morning on it tuesday and discovered the rot on the front panel and moved the air filet to its now permenant location:

 

 

 

 

 

also made a duct out of the old passenger headlight as the glass had been removed already, no pics of that as yet tho!

 

couple of general pics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and the pile of rust we made during the day:

 

 

now i have a few questions already, but i will post these seperately...

 

thanks for reading, and again, any advice you can give is greatly appreciated.

 

Craig

Edited November 6, 2008 by Craigo

[Craigo 0]

now questions:

 

HARNESSES:

 

at the moment, the eyelets for the rear of the harnesses are bolted straight to the floor, with nuts on the underside of the car, is this safe? i would prefer to weld a bar across the inner arches and the strap them to this! ideas?

 

BUCKET:

 

bucket seat not currently fitted, need to either adapt the existing runners or fabricate something else!

 

looking at other peoples, welding new bars in and the attachin new runners seem to be the way forward! again, ideas?

 

 

 

ENGINE:

 

is the oil filler cap really that loose cap just above the throttle body?????

 

we aim to be on track on the 19th december, full service, bodywork, seat mounting to be done before then, and the track day will be a shake down to see what is needed, with mods coming next year as and when we have the cash!!

 

craig

[MrG 3]

looks good, try to side mount the seat if you can or get it as low as you can, mine are on std runners and with a helmet on your head catches the roof.

[Craigo 0]

that is a worry yeah, as im 6 foot 4 im close alreadyy!!

[projectpug 0]

Thats a base mounted seat though so you wont be able to side mount it i don't think.

Looks a nice project if i were you first mod would be disc/track pads/braided hoses and new fluid.

[Arahan 4]

ENGINE:

 

is the oil filler cap really that loose cap just above the throttle body?????

 

craig

 

Oh yes! Ha! Though the filler bottle should be bolted to the inlet manifold.

[marksorrento205 80]

This looks a fun project - its getting me tempted

[Baz 421]

The seat can be converted fairly easily with some brackets to become side mounted.

 

the harness eyelets should be a nut on a load spreading plate through a hole in the floor rather than just a nut alone. Most of the harness eyeles can be placed in the original belt mounting holes though.

[Craigo 0]

The seat can be converted fairly easily with some brackets to become side mounted.

 

the harness eyelets should be a nut on a load spreading plate through a hole in the floor rather than just a nut alone. Most of the harness eyeles can be placed in the original belt mounting holes though.

 

yes sorry they are on a spread plate, i just couldnt think of the word for it!

 

as the harness that we have is a 4 point, if i put one eylet in the seatbelt mounting point, and one eylet in the seat mountin point, do we think that this will be safe? if anything, i see this pulling to the side of the car rather than straight back like the current position is now, however if we think it will be fine with the spread plates in, then i may just leave it as is until we can get a harness bar made up!

 

on a side note, just got home and some bonnet pins have been delivered!!

[cybernck 400 1 Cars]

white dash isn't the best choice for a trackday car .

[Craigo 0]

oh yeah that was in when we bought it! its brush painted! and will be binned asap!!!

 

going on the hunt for one at weekend

[Craigo 0]

update, will be picking up new exhaust and a battery box and cabling on friday, will be working on the car at weekend

[Craigo 0]

ok spent the day on the car yesterday after picking up new exhaust, battery box, 1.9 calipers and a few other pieces off dan ingram, thanks again dan!!

 

yesterday managed to get most of the white paint off the dashboard, so that is now black again, also finished the headlight duct that we butchered the old headlight for, painted it black and mounted it!

 

also we fitted bonnet pins x4 as the bonnet didnt come with hinges!!

pictures, (sorry was a bit dark)

 

 

 

 

also got the exhaust off apart from the downpipe, will finish that tuesday!!

 

also noticed a crack in the manifold but should get this welded up next week when we get the seat rails welded in!

 

craig

[Craigo 0]

ok after a bit of a battle with the brakes, we finally have the 1.9 calipers on, with goodridge front hoses, and some new fluid in, also new shoes on the back, with a new compensator, flexi and brake line on the rear right! brakes should now work!

 

both cv boots were loose, so have jubileed them back on, there was grease everywhere!

 

new exhaust is on and fine, got the seat rails cut out and new rails made up ready to be welded in this saturday, then there will be the bucket mounted!

 

coolant has been changed, good news is that the old stuff wasnt bad with no oil present!

 

the dash is no longer white, and whatever isnt used has been cut out and binned!

 

the drivers side indicators work, however the passenger side ones do not for some reason, anyone kno why?

 

the heater also doesnt work, not had much of a chance to look at this, it might just need the resistor, im unsure!

 

countdown is on for a week on friday, oulton park!

 

left to do before then:

 

fit the seat

 

fix the indicators

 

paint the seat rails

 

try and fix the heater, if not a portable one will be used

 

clean the damn thing and get the rest of the stickers off!

 

i think thats it, we will then hopefully have a good day on the 19th, wish us luck!!

[bensonmi 4 2 Cars]

if i were you id just bin the heater and save a bit of weight as its a track only car! and i think the stickers suit it but thats down to your own taste

[Craigo 0]

if i were you id just bin the heater and save a bit of weight as its a track only car! and i think the stickers suit it but thats down to your own taste

 

 

did think of this, but how do you remove it as its part of the coolant system isnt it? or can you remove the majority of it and leave the coolant bit in?lol

[bensonmi 4 2 Cars]

did think of this, but how do you remove it as its part of the coolant system isnt it? or can you remove the majority of it and leave the coolant bit in?lol

not sure entirely but i think its on here, got something to do with those 2 water pipes that go into the bulkhesd behind the exhaust manifold, i think you just join them so it bypasses the matrix, them kust rip out all the heaters and associated bits,while your at it might as well ditch most of the dash. lower part if not all of it, but hopefully some1 on here will back me up or atleast say the propper way of doing it!

[Craigo 0]

not sure entirely but i think its on here, got something to do with those 2 water pipes that go into the bulkhesd behind the exhaust manifold, i think you just join them so it bypasses the matrix, them kust rip out all the heaters and associated bits,while your at it might as well ditch most of the dash. lower part if not all of it, but hopefully some1 on here will back me up or atleast say the propper way of doing it!

 

 

cool, may attempt that then! but not just yet as we have JUST changed the coolant!!!

[welshpug 1,623]

I wouldn't bin it, it may be a lump of weight but you'd really curse removing it when you get in it this time of year.

[Martin W 0]

Even if your planning to drive your car to the track I would consider keeping the heater as its is very very very cold this time of year, trust me as I removed the heater out of mine.

 

I wear thermals to trackdays it gets that cold in a metal box!

 

Saves about 15kgs if your interested though.

[Spiky 37]

bad advice to remove the heaters...imo

 

 

in this country wet track days you need the heaters to keep the screen clear

Edited December 11, 2008 by Spiky

[tracktoy 0]

if i were you id just bin the heater and save a bit of weight as its a track only car! and i think the stickers suit it but thats down to your own taste

 

definatly keep the heaters- the first time it rains while your on track will be the end of the session- the hot car will just mist up

[bensonmi 4 2 Cars]

definatly keep the heaters- the first time it rains while your on track will be the end of the session- the hot car will just mist up

 

ooops my bad

[Craigo 0]

definatly keep the heaters- the first time it rains while your on track will be the end of the session- the hot car will just mist up

 

 

i would prefer to keep it if i can get it working, at the moment it does nothing though so it is just dead weight!

 

 

if i do remove it i was thinking of getting a kit car type one that you can plug in, so doesnt rely on the water to get hot!

 

has anyone done this?