Back from holiday, car made it to the wedding ;D Many horsepowers here (1812bhp) and many litres (18) Updates to come soon- 02J so far holding up, hits the limiter in 5th fairly quickly (circa 135mph) have to do some tweaks before shakedown at Blyton Park on the 25th July. Cheers Pete
So, Blyton Park with Club Polo was last weekend, I was using this as a shakedown for the Polo. Having not driven it on track for a few years, and spending the last 18months grafting an 02J onto the little 1.3, I had high hopes, and wasn't disappointed! The 02J box I'm currently using has an open diff, so I knew the tighter 2nd gear corners would be difficult, but this didn't stop me having fun ;D So, loaded the car up on Friday night- got to Blyton early doors on Saturday and unloaded. The trackday was with MOT, who are always a friendly bunch, good briefing, and out for the sighting laps. Format would be OPL all day, with the outer circuit run in the morning, and the eastern circuit run in the afternoon. Tidy. First (and only) problem of the day was the rubber seal on the fuel filler cap had perished slightly. The drain for this helpfully deposits any excess fuel onto your offside rear tyre, cheers. I'm no driving god, but a dab of oppo was followed by a black flag to tell me what I already knew... back in the pits some modification with a pair of pliars, a small bit of blue roll, and job's a good'un! It would be the only fix I had to do all day - well chuffed. So, some general pics from the day: And an old colleague, and friend was there in his AX, with a 1.6 16v PSA engine with Saxo Cup Car Suspension (Leda from memory). A well prepared car, and well driven. This is always my benchmark and target, to be quicker. Often my driving style when we're both on track, goes from 'not very smooth' to 'f'in hell, have you got parkinsons...?' but we have fun! Unfortunately we didn't get on track at the same time on the outer circuit, but did on the Eastern, I struggled with the first section, all 2nd gear for the polo, and all wheelspin. The AX ran rings around me here, and I'd spend the rest of the lap (straights!) catching up. A few things I got feedback on: - Marc (AX) is a hero on the brakes, I am not.... push pedal harder, and believe in the slicks - Polo bounces/unsettles mid-corner - Polo leans like a good un. The leaning can be seen here: So, my suspension setup is currently G40 Cup Car, a Sachs, fixed damper and standard 2.25" coilovers spring. A rate of 275lb front and 165lb rear. Unlike the Cup Car, I dont run a front ARB- I also have a wider track, larger slicks, and the front is probably heavier. So Ive increased the front and rear rates fairly significantly, hoping that I can continue to use the current dampers I have. Failing that Ill look into modifying a Mk1 Golf coilover kit. That aside, Ive got a list of things to do before the next event, and look forward to being able to develop the car further, now Ive hopefully solved the driveline reliability issues that plagued me with an 085 box. Cheers Pete
Credit to you that that held together after some major surgery - top job sir! Really ground breaking stuff going on here.
Yey! Nice to see it being used again! Always a positive when it all holds together after major work. How much does it weigh? I would have thought heavier springs would be required. Gurds
I agree I would defo go MUCH stiffer on spring rates. I would also recommend check the angle of your wishbones, these should be level at a minimum or pointing slightly down as you move from pivot points to hub otherwise you'll have horrendous body roll due to your roll centre being incorrect.
Gurds - I'm going to weigh it soon, I have a plan for some cheap corner weight scales: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171380836873?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT Previously pre-golf box it was ~760kg wet (without me) I'm expecting to have lumped at least 25kg on that... mitlom- compression strut/tca is parallel with the ground (spring is shimmed to suit) I should mention the subframe conversion ditches the standard Polo ARB, which compounds the problem. I've gone 35% stiffer on the front, 65% stiffer on the rear (275/165 current) (375/275 to be fitted)
I was mulling this over yesterday, and dug out some pics I'd taken... you're spot on. Last time I shimmed the springs, I had a different wheel/tyre combination. I'll get the measuring stick out tonight, and see how much the front needs to come up- I've always aimed for parallel in the past, is this common? Harder front springs may mean I don't have to shim them much as there will be less static compression. Thanks for the heads up!
Tinkering is continuing on the Polo, a few rust issues to sort on the floor pan, and I'd like to tidy up the interior too. Have some plans with the fuel tank/exhaust, and as usual the quest to save weight continues First up was a smaller fuel tank: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr It's approximately 15 litres - should help fuel starvation on long right-hand corners, and frees up some room so I can move the exhaust forward of the rear axle. The main reason for the strip was to repair the battery tray, and stop the pedal box flexing in that area. Leaking bulkhead plays havoc with old stitch welding :-( Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr With a fair amount of work being done on the floor, I decided to make a spit - a friend was making one for his rally car too, so a material order was placed and duly delivered. Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr After some tea, grinding, welding, and a few laser cut pieces, it was ready: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Which made stripping underseal far easier! Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Subframe left in at the front, to assist keeping it rigid on the spit: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Inside I've begun stripping the underseal on the existing stitch welding, and I'll prepare some other seams for welding, I've also started removing brackets that aren't required, and generally tidy things up a little. Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Spanish steel isn't too forgiving when using a spot weld drill... hence a few 'b****cks' moments where there are some holes! Nothing a welder can't solve. Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Weapons of choice for the next few months! Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr I'm planning on an engine update too, and making the most of the 02J - so looking into some bigger tyres, and some supporting mods to go with them. Cheers Pete
Always wanted to strip the underseal off too. It must be satisfying to see clean panels under it. Liking the spit. Gurds
I have always liked this car, some cracking work and thought has gone in to it. I look forward to seeing how the planned mods develop.
