[rich@vrdevelopments]

I've had my track car for 5 years now. It's a part of me I don't think I could ever sell it. The car it's self cost me £120 from some local gypo when I was at college. He said the head gasket had gone and he wasn't wrong, 2 of the pistons had melted! Being young, I set about pulling everything off the car, looking back now, with an engine change it would now be worth litteraly 20 times what I paid for it as it was rot free and had all original interior and good body work. Hey ho live and learn at least I have a decent shell that isn't falling apart around me!

So the spec:
Engine and transmission:
1.8L 16v fully electronic ignition with coil on plug conversion
OEM 4-2-1 exhaust manifold
Lightened fly wheel
Stage 1 organic clutch
4.1 LSD
Short shifter from Z3
(In the photo's is an oil filter relocation system I did for R&D which I have since removed)









Suspension and brakes:
SPAX PSX single adjustable dampers
-60mm SPAX springs
Power flex polybushes
Eccentirc front wishbone bushes for increased castor
Rose jointed rear top mounts
Wilwood 4 pot calipers with EBC yellow stuff and 280mm audi discs on the front
Internal brake bias valve
Braided lines











Interior:
Manual windows
Cobra Suzuka Pro seat
OMP Harness
OMP steering wheel
Lifeline plumb in fire extinguisher








Electronics:
Internal Kill switch
Electric fan conversion from viscous
Battery in spare wheel well
Single head lights to help airflow






Exterior:
Company branding (more soon)
Aerocatches on the bonnet
Black kidney grille
Black rear lower half of a tech 2 wing
15inch bbs wheels









Right at the top of my shopping list is a set of proper coil over suspension so I shall be saving up for that now!!


In the photo above some may spot an intercooler. With out going into any great detail I have do a dry fit of a Rotrex super charger kit which I have made:





I need some money to buy an ECU and other bits but as I mentioned above I want some decent suspension for the car. I want to make sure it goes round corners before I start pushing for power so the charger stuff is on the shelf for the time being.

So thats that, I will post up more pics as I progress

This post has been edited by rich@vrdevelopments: 26 August 2011 - 07:55 PM

[Nick]

This looks like a nice build in the making

How do they Wilwoods handle track abuse?

[rich@vrdevelopments]

They're good but I still have the standard M/C so the pedal was a lot longer. The pedal was made a lot better when I fitted the bias valve and cranked the bias forward. This also meant that the rears got less pressure (obviously) and the 4pots were able to work harder and better. I found I could give them a chunk more abuse.

It's been 6 months since I've driven the thing so looking to get out soon! I've almost fogotten what it's like lol!

This post has been edited by rich@vrdevelopments: 26 August 2011 - 08:47 PM

[Nick]

I'm going to be fitting (hopefully, if I can get new bells made up and caliper brackets to suit) my AP Racing brakes from my Mondeo ST220 to my MR2. Won't be this year, car is buried under furniture at the moment (house move soon), so the chances of me getting out in the car this year as well are very slim!

[rich@vrdevelopments]

Ah nice, what size discs do you run with them? any pics of your car?

[Nick]

330mm:

 IMGP0001.jpg (115.84K)
Number of downloads: 0

Only downside is the cost, the discs, bells, pads and calipers cost £1600 new, and replacement discs are £600+vat from AP Racing...

[rich@vrdevelopments]

They are the bogs bollocks though aren't they! CompBrake do a range of discs, might be worth seeing if they make anything you can use?

I kept to 280mm on mine so I could keep the wheels at 15".

[Nick]

I tried Compbrake, no joy. In the end, I used Godspeed, got them for £300+vat

[rich@vrdevelopments]

That's a fair amount of money to spend everytime they need refreshing

Got a set of Dunlop cut slicks to try out on this Got a track day at Combe next Friday.

[Nick]

Wow, that should make a massive difference. Let us know how you get on

[rich@vrdevelopments]

Will do. Weather looks to be all over the place, I just hope and wish and prey that it's at least dry.

[rich@vrdevelopments]

I need to ammend the spec so it says:
1.8L 16v fully electronic ignition with coil on plug conversion and a buggered head gasket

Did 5 and a half laps of Combe before the head gasket let go. Was a bit of a naff morning really, brimed it with fuel, got the the circuit and the o-ring around the fuel pump had gone and all the fuel was spilling out. Spent ages trying to find a replacement, got one sorted, went out and then the white smoke appeared and that was that. It was feeling pretty good tbh tyres and brakes were nice and warm when I pulled over. Hey ho!

On the upside I got a ride in a super charger Ariel Atom and got to drive this:




My friend/customer was also there and felt bad so let me have a go. Senior spec Ginetta G40, 1.8 Zetec 150bhp, 6 speed sequential Quaife gearbox and Michelin slicks. Was an amazing experience I must say!


Back to my shed. I'll be taking the engine out and giving it a bit of a clean and freshen up. Do all the gaskets and timing chain, don't want to spend hundreds of pounds on it. Hopefuly I'll get my super charger kit sold too so I can get my AST suspension for it.

This post has been edited by rich@vrdevelopments: 12 September 2011 - 08:56 PM

[rich@vrdevelopments]

I've started work on the refresh. Mainly been doing stuff which is free, because it's cheap

I've redesigned the extinguisher pull and battery cut off panel and made a new blanking panel for the radio slot.






I also fabricated a bracket and moved the external pull tables so they come out of the engine bay. The solution I had before wasn't very secure and I'm much happier with it as it is.






I've also fitted a new alternator cable for the kill switch and run it through the existing conduit and loom casing so it can't be seen.

Next I want to decide where to put the battery. I moved it to the spare wheel well in the boot, but I hope to have it on the road so I think that space is better used for the spare! I could move it to a cubby hole in the boot where BMW put the battery in the 325i models. I could also put it back in standard location but there is a slight issue with firewall space for a hole for the cable. Failing that I could put it in the cabin next to me but then I need to spend £40-£50 on a box for it to live in What to do?!

[rich@vrdevelopments]

Just to add on yesterdays post I've now fitted the battery kill pull cable and fitted it all back together. I also fitted a 12v socket to the dash for Satnav, phone charger etc,

[Nick]

That's a tidy little job. What tools did you use to fab the brackets?

[rich@vrdevelopments]

A band saw to cut the pieces and a 6inch vice to bend the items. I miss having access to benders and guillotines, don't half make life easier!

[rich@vrdevelopments]

I sold my super charger kit and have ordered some AST single adjustable suspension with top mounts. Can't wait for them to arrive!

I fitted my quick release steering boss the other day but only just got photo's. I bought it on ebay, looks veyr much like the lifeline one which is 3 times the price but I'm yet to compare the two together. Seems good enough quality, there is a small amount of play which does bother me a little but I guess it's to be expected on a removable part with not perminant fixings.

This post has been edited by rich@vrdevelopments: 12 December 2011 - 05:56 PM

[rich@vrdevelopments]

Moved the car into its new workshop which is a little nearer to Combe and in a much easier location which is handy. I plonked on my glass fibre bonnet and boot on and fitted my aerocatches from my steel bonnet to the new one. Got more on order to do the boot lid and the rear of the bonnet.








Also been exploring various methods for covering the new panels. I was thinking of leaving them white but I like the car being red tbh. Rattle cans would cost about £50 or so from the local paint place but I'm pretty keen on covering them in some red carbon effect vinyl wrap which I have a sample of here:



Going to stick it on next time I'm over there and see how it looks.


Also fitted a steering column cowling to hide all the wiring and tidy up the inside a little bit:

This post has been edited by rich@vrdevelopments: 22 December 2011 - 10:36 PM

[Nick]

Interested to see how the wrap looks. The paintwork on my MR2 is knackered, scratched to buggery. I wouldn't bother respraying it, but a cheap wrap might suffice for a trackday toy

[rich@vrdevelopments]

Fitted my Oddessy 25 battery and moved the battery cable to run along the passenger side of the tunnel. Just need to crimp some terminals on and sort the earth out. Thinking of fitting an anderson plug to make jump starting it easier should I need to.






Also bolted on my steering wheel hook. Was supposed to be 45mm but being made from the worst tollerences known to man in China it was actualy 43mm. So I attacked it with my die grinder and make it larger to it fitted.




Finally I fitted my rear powerflex anti roll bar bushes and new BMW shackles which was much easier than I was expecting. Will be getting some new drop links and brackets as the ones that are on there look fecked.

I've got some of the red vinyl wrap on the way and I'm just waiting for hear back on some aerocatches so I can finish the bonnet and the boot.