craigjames Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 Nice progress Paul. Should be much nicer with everything cleaned up and painted. Not to mention working properly! Ben's (the guy I co-drive for) just uploaded this video of his Dad competing in the Astra we use. This is his dads first time on stage in over 20 years: video Such a good stage, looked like the old man was pinning it!Nice to see some spectators on the stage, i've not been up for years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greetings Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 This gets me every single time. This was 2 years ago, I think he's now one of the best drifters in the country. He definitely holds a pro license and takes part in the national championships. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7OQeaA5wbg 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted April 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 Halfords sell/stock bars to suit, you can search by reg and having stuck Mikes in it looks like there's a changeover in the fitting method in mid 2005. Crikey, that's more expensive than I thought... I was hoping to get a bike rack for about £100 - looks like I'll be spending that just on the two bars. Might just take the back seats out then and make it a Leon van lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinJI Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 (edited) I'm sure you can get them cheaper than Halfords, but at least that gives you the part numbers to look for elsewhere. Craig, it's a really cool stage yeah. Nice weather meant there was a decent turnout of spectators, we dashed up between servicing and I shot that short exterior clip. We got 2 graves stages on camera too which I'll stick up once Ben's uploaded them. Edited April 14, 2014 by RobinJI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisRider Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 Manifold and other heat affected parts painted up I have now got the engine back in, this meant cutting the input shaft on the dead TT as I didn't want the hassle of fitting it properly if it wasn't staying! I had to put the engine in as I needed the front back down to gain access to the back end. I still have to fit all the other bit and bobs but they can wait for now or until i'm stuck. Front subframe got a degrease and wash, check out the oily skank that came off in the barrow! Back to the ground Back end is up, exhaust has been removed and lots of plus gas applied to the bolts. I have to hammer in my spline tool to fit the bolt heads for the drive shafts, there's so much poop in each one this seems to be the only way to guarantee they don't mash the heads up. I have done 2 so far, then caved in and decided sleep and some daylight to work in would be a good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisRider Posted April 15, 2014 Report Share Posted April 15, 2014 Thanks chaps, I'll get on the case shortly! Box out: Beam down: TT out: Well that wasn't nearly as bad as I feared, however I anticipate reinstalling will require more swear words! Old TT had well tired out bearings, grease was dribbling out of one of them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prawny Baby Posted April 15, 2014 Report Share Posted April 15, 2014 you keep using the term TT? Transmission Tunnel? I can see what it is, some sort of external casing that the prop runs through? Interesting that so much of the box is actually hung behind the rear axle, must have great weight distribution! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prawny Baby Posted April 15, 2014 Report Share Posted April 15, 2014 Totally random pic of the A3's evolution over the last 8 years: 150 > 220 > 300 > 380bhp with a few other stages in between I've missed out, and handling upgraded to suit the power each time Glad I've stuck with it and improved rather than just trading up. Would never have predicted ending up here 8 years ago! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigjames Posted April 15, 2014 Report Share Posted April 15, 2014 you keep using the term TT? Transmission Tunnel? I can see what it is, some sort of external casing that the prop runs through? Interesting that so much of the box is actually hung behind the rear axle, must have great weight distribution! Torque Tube i think he said earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pashley26 Posted April 15, 2014 Report Share Posted April 15, 2014 Picture 2 is the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinJI Posted April 15, 2014 Report Share Posted April 15, 2014 you keep using the term TT? Transmission Tunnel? I can see what it is, some sort of external casing that the prop runs through? Interesting that so much of the box is actually hung behind the rear axle, must have great weight distribution! Yeah, it stands for torque tube, as they deal with the torque reaction from diff. 924's are actually a few % rear heavy. Arguably the box at the back but infront of the axle (like a corvette or the exotic rarity that is the Volvo 340/360) would be better, what with inertia and stuff, but they 924 set-up's still nice. The 924 box is basically the same configuration as you'd find up front on a Passat/A4, but with a massive spacer shoved between the bell-housing and block to push the box back far enough to drive the other axle. Clever engineering, cheap/easy to produce and develop as well as being technically rather good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisRider Posted April 15, 2014 Report Share Posted April 15, 2014 Yeah it's torque tube, of which the new one is in as is the rear subframe. Just the box and a few others parts to go on out back and I can finish off doing the engine bay. I will be glad when this is all over.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_seamons Posted April 15, 2014 Report Share Posted April 15, 2014 Fair play to you dude...nothing quite like jumping in at the deep end! Shame we didn't know the torque tube was shagged when we first started, you would probably be finished by now haha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisRider Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 Well it is all reassembled now, just got to fit the exhaust and check over everything before trying to fire her up. Fingers crossed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prawny Baby Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 Pics of the A3 in this months VW Driver mag, from a little write up about the CGTI Day I did at Bedford last month: Sadly, I can't find VW driver on the shelves to buy anywhere! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisRider Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 I give up. The cars complete but now the tensioner threads have stripped out of the mount so no chance of getting it going currently. Nobody locally seems to do helical kits, and I've lost motivation to even bother with it, I think it'll it in the workshop and I'll return to it in he summer with a fresh head and some cash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 Helicoil kits are cheap and easy enough to get online, I got mine from the local tool shop. What size you after? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisRider Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 Yeah but I can't wait! I've 'fixed' it now, seems to be plenty strong enough. I just can't get the sodding thing to start, it backfires with a huge bang, sometimes the intake pipes pop off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 Check for air leaks in the inlet, if it's too lean it might be spitting back up the inlet. Is it injection or carbed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisRider Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 It's injection, no leaks as far as I can tell, everything is timed properly too! I just can't work it out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 The symptoms you describe sound the same as when my bike floods, doesn't fire due to wet plug but eventually ignites fuel residue in the exhaust and back fires. The bike is carbed though so not sure if you can actually flood with injection. The fact it's blowing the inlet pipe (presume you mean manifold off the throttle body) indicates that it's spitting back which is a symptom of too lean an idle mixture hence my comment on inlet air leaks. Can be something as silly as a jubilee clip too tight on a hose. Again I'm basing comments on a carburated single cylinder bike engine but the principle should be the same Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinJI Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 Paul, check the plug leads are on the right cylinders. It seems silly but it's way too easily done at the end of a long stint of working on it. I know I've done it before and it does exactly what you describe. Sadly my k-jet knowledge's non existent, so I can't help further than that I really need to carpet my boot properly. I'm bored of the car getting really loud and tinny sounding when the seats are down. Long shot, but does anyone know good places to get MX-5 parts? My usual resources of GSF and ECP seem to list sod all and MX5parts.co.uk seem a bit expencive. Main thing's that they list head bolts at £5.76 each! That's £58 just for the head bolts. Maybe I've just always been spoiled by how cheap bits are for VWs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_seamons Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 Soo...trackday done and duted. Holy f**k...what a car. Not just the power, but the whole package...brakes and handling etc. Only thing that even remotely gave me any bother was an Aston Martin DB9 Volante, which according to Parker's is 510bhp, so very happy with that! Has SO many compliments on the car from people watching, really massaged the ego! Days like today make all the hard work and headaches worth it! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisRider Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 It works so happy! Just got a few niggles to sort but nothing major. Going to try and book it in for tracking tomorrow, got a feeling it's well out after having everything apart haha 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted April 16, 2014 Report Share Posted April 16, 2014 It was the obvious stupid thing wasn't it? I hadn't considered plug leads in the wrong place, I only have one and it's difficult to get it in the wrong place Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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