I've been trying to justify one of those 3 chamber fluid containers to myself for the rally car, for some time now! They just look SO much better than 3 separate bottles. Glorious work going on, no stone unturned. Well done.
Cheers Tristan They are expensive, but so much easier than three individual resevoirs. Finished off the exhaust heatshield now, fairly happy with it and hopefully it keeps the cabin a little cooler, I'm still toying with the idea of wrapping the exhaust fully if the flat floor makes the tunnel too hot... Ceramic coating would be ideal, but it's fairly expensive for a full system. Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Weird panoramic proportions... Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr I also collected two sets of Vento Challenge Coilovers, made by Bilstein. I'm currently trying to understand if the dampening is adjustable in any way - if anyone knows please get in touch Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Cheers Pete
If you can justify the expense of Zircotec on the mani at least, go for it. We got it one one of the rally cars, it really does its thing.
Agreed - We've used it on a few engineering cars at work, and it certainly works - I'm not convinced by the internal coating for turbo manifolds though.
I also collected two sets of Vento Challenge Coilovers, made by Bilstein. I'm currently trying to understand if the dampening is adjustable in any way - if anyone knows please get in touch Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Pete, great work. Should be wicked when complete. Bilsteins at Clubsport level are not normally adjustable (even proper Motorsport ones), however they are still a nice damper, and work well anyway. Bilstein will re valve and service them for 90.00 ea, they are in Leicester. The Vento damping maybe a bit on the stiff side fro a light weight polo, the bench mark seems to be the Pug 205 tarmac insert - available off the shelf. You probably want something in the range of 250/145, I've just rebuilt a set of gpN MK2 Golf dampers recently, so have spent a bit of time looking at these LOL. All the service parts are available from Bilstein, although the actual inserts only seem to be re buildable by Bilstein. Std road and sport inserts have 8mm piston rods, motorsport ones are 10mm although chatting to Bilstein at Autosport it seems motorsport insert rods are now 11mm dia minimum. I've got all the contact details if you want/can't find them Cheers Pete[/QUOTE]
Thanks, I used weld studs, which are designed for spot welders, but easily tacked on with a mig. Then a simple captive nut/washer
Tony, that's really useful thanks! I tried to speak to them on Thursday at Autosport, and drew a few blanks (as I did on the Hi-Spec Stand) I believe they have been valved for circa 800lb/in spring rates, so certainly too high for me. My plan is to have them rebuilt and re-valved once I've weighed the car, and decided on some spring rates. The gentleman who sold them was very kind and refunded me some money to put towards this, as the advert suggested they were adjustable damping, so hopefully it shouldn't blow the budget. Contact details would be great, thanks!
Small update on what I've been tinkering with... I'm still working on the flat floor, so I'll wait until it's further along to update that, in the meantime I've finished the setup stands, and the setup wheels are in build currently. Setup stands allow the car to sit on a perfectly level surface, so various different measurements of suspension geometry can be taken, irrespective of the surface below the car. My garage floor level isn't bad at all, but it's by no means perfect. Usually these are used with setup wheels, ala: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr They enable great access to adjustable suspension components, and really quick setup of string alignment systems, like this: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr So, first up was the build of some suitable stands, I don't currently have a lift or a pit, so access under the car is important, I'll use these stands for other things too, so they're 500mm high Bit of a battle to get the car onto them, but I've got some plans for that later. Broke out my CAD skills (which are basic!) and knocked this up: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr That was translated into some dxfs, and a week or so later some parts arrived from the laser cutters: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr The feet have a load rating of 250kg each (heaviest corner of the Polo was 276kg) Time to weld the captive nuts on the keeper plates for the box section: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr And then weld these onto the box section: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr I then counter sunk the aluminium surface plates, and bolted the legs onto them: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Then welded on some cross braces, they still need a lick of paint: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr A good friend has also been laboring over the design for the setup wheels, those parts are currently being manufactured, so should have one to check fitment soon: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr All for now Cheers Pete
Yo yo yooferson! It's mental how far this car has come on from when you first bought it all those years ago. Truly amazing mate.
How do Chuck! Yes I've owned it a fair while now (14 years I think...) been through several engines and gearboxes in that time too lol Slapped some paint on the stands at the weekend: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr And a photo of some random bits of aluminium box bolted to the floor... more on that next time: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Cheers Pete
The first mock up of the setup wheels was done on my mates Autograss car: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Obviously will be welded together, but as a proof of concept, these work! An ironing board for the Polo arrived too: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Mr Haug himself had his car in a wind tunnel - reports 80-103kg at the rear axle @ 170kph, I didn't witness the testing, so pinch of salt with those figures. That said, he doesn't **** about with his own car: Onwards to the floor! I thought long and hard about dong this, and decided last year it was something I wanted to do, hence the exhaust and fuel tank modifications. I don't like adding weight to the car, but I'll not re-underseal the floor, so there's 10kg in the bag there. So, start with a bare floor, and a mock-up wheel of the correct dimensions: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr The basic frame was then put into place, I'd made some measurements prior to taking the car off the road so I knew where my ground line was. I've worked on 60mm between ground and floor face, this is the minimum allowance in the Seat Motorsport guidelines for the Supacopa which I've cribbed a few things from. Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr I was however, still fairly cautious, as I'm changing the wheels, suspension and probably rideheight - so wanted to allow for future tweaks. I decided to weld tubes with captive nuts to the body, but make them 25mm short of the frame. I'll make some nylon spacers, and tape these to the steel tubes, a button head fastner will then hold it all together. My theory being, I can alter the floor height by changing the nylon spacers, and if I hit something the bolt will hopefully bend, before the metal tube welded to my Spanish steel floor! Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Generally this took ages to get right. Loads of measuring, re-measuring and tea drinking. Re-clamping, re-measuring, and making new pieces if they didn't fit 100% I had some ally plates laser cut to join everything together: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Many rivets later, it was getting there: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr I've incorporated a rear diffuser, currently started off with a 7' angle, which is fairly standard - it doesn't look extreme, or anything like some of the time attack cars. But at greater angles the risk of detaching flow from the floor is increased. I run the car slightly nose down too, so didn't want to take the **** too much. If I want to change this in the future, I'll get some more plates cut at a different angle: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Longer tubes welded to the rear floor (with some spreader plates) securing the diffuser: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr The finished frame: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Next steps are to get the floor plates laser cut, means I can easily replace them as/when they get damaged (and I doubt I can cut straight lines...) Been tinkering with the powertrain in parallel to this, hoping to use a combination of VAG parts to make something reliable and circa 350bhp. Cheers Pete
Almost finished the rear sections of the floor now, started off making a dozen nylon spacers to ensure the floor is at the desired clearance to the ground: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr After that I could offer up the laser cut plates I'd designed a few weeks back, and see if my measurements were correct (they were): Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr With the help of various clamps, pri-pins and the button heads, I started to attach it to the frame: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Many rivets later.... Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Happy with the fit: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr So I've got to take the diffuser blades to a local company to be bent, as they're longer than any folder I can borrow, once that's done and they're riveted on, the floor is done (for now). Can then whip it off, primer and treat the underside, refit the fuel tank, make a few modifications to the axle, and then get the car back round the correct way! All for now Pete
Rob- good shout, although I can't seem to find anyone online willing to sell the size I need in a quantity under 100! Wonder what torque a nylon bolt will take?
