I was going for a hard set up as it worked well on my old Clio, It was running 800lbs front 400lb rear but then it was 1016kg car so you'd need a bit less. Depends really on your style of driving and tyres your using as I'm sure you'll know. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Depends on what level the cars are at. I've seen a lot of very Ropey looking race cars in my time lol. I won't mention which series lol if we're talking single seaters, touring cars, prototypes, GTs etc then yes. When I raced the MK3 it was fully checked all over between races and and testing. Rarely was anything loose and that was solid bushed throughout and was on full slicks and hit the curbs really hard for 20mis at a time and sometimes over 2hrs usage per weekend inc testing. Also race conditions are many times harder on a car than what job bloggs will do on a track day and Probably Much higher stress and vibration levels than any road usage could replicate. But planes do have shelf lives. The Vulcan bomber for instance had to be grounded as it had too many hours on the airframe and the companies involved maintaining it would no longer support it. I think it did 10% more air time than it should have. As Rob brought up in the post you replied to, it was down to vibration and force put into the structure. I believe it was inspected and given an additional flying hours but once that was completed no one would guarantee that it was airworthy. Rally cars are similar those shells take a real battering and have a shelf life as well.
Ok so to pick up from where we left off. The MK1 sat in storage for the rest of 2017 waiting for some space at a friends garage to remove the suspension. But due to a move of premises and the time involved etc nothing happened. So in October the decision was made to use another friends garage and book the MK1 for the work to be done. Unfortunately when I moved house 5 years ago we moved to a terrace with no garage. What a mistake lol anyway been regretting it since so have borrowed space to work on cars where I can. But sometimes it’s just too much, so time to bite the bullet. The car went off to NGM Sport and Neil Garner took on a few jobs for me over winter. Being an Ex F1 Engineer the car was in good hands. So the decision was made to powder coat everything from underneath the car while the suspension was being rebuilt and the car was in the air. Wishbones were X Ray crack tested and new bushes fitted all round. The rear axel came off and new poly bushes, new track rod arms and ends, new steering rack gators and loads more. And a MOT
The suspension rebuild started off as a refresh due to the tramping effect noticed by Rob T at curby earlier in the year. The new plate diff highlighted the dampers inability to cope with the amount of traction the new plate diff was putting down. Before with the Quaife fitted the issues were not so visible. This turned out to be the absence of any rebound adjustment. So what started being a refresh, ended up being basically a full new kit. With the fronts being converted into 3 ways and the rears being near complete new units. Also a increase in Spring rates were decided upon, I was keen to run much higher around 425lbs but on EXE-TC’s advice and experience we settled a bit lower. Well they built Sebastian Loebs dampers for his 7 world championships so who was I to disagree! They are able to run much lower rates than other companies and gain the same amount of control and set up. Leading to a more drivable and forgiving set up. I’ve gone into the rebuild in detail here and have learned so much more about dampers in the process. Exe-Tc were great and really helped out and even raided the spare parts bins to keep costs down as they were spiralling out of control due to the amount of modifications required and due to so many old parts. The dampers were put on the dyno bench with motion ratios estimated at front and rear of near 1:1 FRONT SUSPENSION: - 40N/mm rate at wheel, progressive, 2.05Hz - Damping, LS variable up to 250% of critical, HS 70% of critical - Damping bias, approx 65% compression / 35% rebound - LS compression and HS compression adjustment only REAR SUSPENSION: - 40N/mm rate at wheel, progressive, 2.86Hz - Damping, LS variable up to 150% of critical, HS 50% of critical - Damping bias, approx 35% compression / 65% rebound - LS compression / rebound only Damper engineers report My thoughts: The spring rates don’t look too bad, fairly typical FWD car. Front dampers have no rebound adjustment, will make tuning difficult Rear does in fact have simultaneous compression / rebound adjustment but compression is very weak. Actions: Upgrade the fronts to 3 way for rebound adjustment. The existing non adjustable parts are not stocked anymore anyway for rebuild. I would suggest we alter the 2 way rear damping bias to better match the front as compression is weak. Advise Increase spring rates front and rear to 350lbs Replace bent rear spindle New Parts required to convert the dampers X2 (46) 22mm Spindle - Strut for 3 way rebound conversion X1 (24) Spindle - Shock Piston rear damaged X4 Helper Springs X4 Spring Guide Platform X2 Springs 7" Free Length x 2.25" id x 325lbs X2 Springs 10" Free Length x 2.25" id x 325lbs X4 Lower Spring Platforms X2 Lower Spring Platforms X1 Aluminium lock nut X2 Separator Piston X2 Rebound Adjustor X2 Rebound Adjustor threaded drive X2 Needle jet X2 Rebound knob X2 Hydraulic cushion X2 Reservoir Tube X2 Reservoir End cap X2 Schrader Valve body long X2 Reservoir Spacer X1 Spindle cap X2 Rear Damper Tubes X2 Lower Spring platforms X2 Bump Stops X2 Bump Rubbers Quite a list! A few photos of the rebuild.
A couple more photos of the suspension mods and powder coating. 42 clicks of rebound adjustment! Will help dial in the new set up. So glad Ray put these in all those years ago. Again so much compression and rebound adjustment on these. Can’t wait to start risking them in.
Next on the list was to fit a fire extinguisher system, a long overdue job. On the hills and sprints you are not required to have one but I wanted to bring the car up to full MSA spec for circuit racing and also with so much time and money invested in the car probably a wise decision. I’m not a fan of the mechanical systems as the cables can seize up not something you want, so opted for an electrical system and went for a lifeline, same as I’ve used in my other race cars. Easy to use with just the push of a button, just make sure a fat fingered over enthusiastic Marshall doesn’t press it ! Easy to use with just the push of a button, just make sure a fat fingered over enthusiastic Marshall doesn’t press it ! Used a 2 nozzle system in the engine bay and one in the cabin.
Next up was the club GTi sprint day at Curborough circuit. A Great chance to test out the winter modifications and a blow out some cobwebs. After some thought I decided to drive up to the circuit. Which started off well as I had forgot the jump pack meaning a trip back home and late arrival in Litchfield. I turned up just before the laps were kicking off to a lot of smiles and thumbs up from some old friends. I always enjoy driving to circuits over trailering cars but rarely get the chance these days. The weather was great and the reception made it worth it. I decided to add a few graphics to the car as it was looking a bit plain for an upcoming British hillclimb Championship event. Just People who have helped over the years and my own logo. The car got admired a lot and to be honest is a pleasure to own. One of the best competition MK1s in the country. I wasn’t the man who built it but hopefully will be remembered as the man who refined it. Thanks to Anna from the MK1 owners club for this photo. Once settled in I joined the queue and headed out onto a circuit that really feels home. I’ve been attending this event for 12 years now but it never fails to get me excited and up for it. Thanks to Neil Nirkett from VW Driver magazine for the stunning photos and sending them over to add to the collection. Some really good shots and angles, hats off to Neil for standing in various positions all day. Some that I wouldn’t but he says he can run fast if need be lol. Times started well, in the mid 28s straight of the bat and progressively dropped to a low 28 mid morning. Working on consistency, line and just getting used to the car again. The car is looking nicely balanced with the new dampers. None of the tramping effect or the body rolling over on itself. Rob T commented how how planted it looked out there and admired how good it looked. Had a good chat with Rob and mentioned he was braking far too early on the straight and looked like he could carry more speed into the top corner. Next few laps he brought his times down further leading to a well deserve win. Hard on the brakes. I must say the C12 custom calipers are superb. Taking the Rally line after watching Terry47, if you can’t beat them, join them !!! Cracking photo from Neil which made the article in VW Driver. Still inside track limits, just! Smile factory 10 With the conditions being near perfect in the morning the times proved unbeatable during the afternoon session and I finished up with a third place overall. Not far behind Terry 47s rally car, an awesome piece of machinery. And flying the flag for NApower. I have to admit after watching Terry47s car in action I need a Sequential Gear Box in my life. But to be fair the Reworked GasNGears custom 020 with the JMR shifter was faultless and good enough to go head to head with my 02J cable change dog box with a VW Motorsport shifter in the VR6. Really pleased I went this direction now. Took a bit of setting up due to running a later mk2 ACD 8v box but worth it. Sliding it into the mole hill with some opposite lock. The car is now so controllable. First outing for over a year and a pleasure to drive and reminds me of my 2nd MK1 that got me into Motorsport. So all in all a great day and thanks to Eddie and Trev for putting on a great event once again. We managed to fend off some serious Turbo track focused machinery with double the power of the little mk1 in 4th 5th 6th and 7th places. It feels like there isn’t much more time to get out the MK1 now and all down to fine tuning the package and refining the old rusty racing driver at the wheel.
Love every update. How do Exectec manage to run lower poundage than most, or am I mixing them up with Nitron ? Anyone else think we need a thread retitle?
What’s your thoughts then? All ears! Nope Exe-TC pronounced XTC. Nitron are awesome as well. And what I considered instead of getting these rebuilt. But wanted to keep the essence and originality of the original build still. All down to the valving of the dampers, oil and length of Springs. Giving greater control.
Deciding to spend some time reading and learning. So picked up Adrian Newey’s book. A recommended read and has led me to look at cars again through different eyes. So dug out my old drawing of the aero package for the mk3 I sketched a few years ago and made some modifications.
