Hi
New here but like to keep a record of my progress and I've spent a fair bit of time lurking here over the years so though I'd sign up.
I've been building a Mk2 Golf for almost two years now and the spec has gotten ridiculous. GRP wings, bonnet, roof, boot, 360hp 20v, well specced gearbox with a Wavetrac diff, full turret-to-turret weld in cage, spherical bearings, AP 4-Pots, etc etc, full on legitimate race car.
As I'm sure you've all been though, projects take way too long and it starts to wind you up after a while that you're working all the time instead of driving, so I put aside a small budget to knock up a car to get out in this summer. So it was back to a BMW, natural choice in all honesty. My 325 and 328 had left an impression that stuck with me more than the E30's I'd had did, and with them being so cheap to pick up a 'beater' I got on with it.
I found a 323i Saloon in good condition. it drove perfectly bar worn out bushes making it wriggle over uneven surfaces. Even the driver's seat looked brand new and it had the BMW extinguisher, medical kit, spare wheel, full tool kit, history, etc. It's Arctic Silver which is a little odd, not the straight silver like the Coupe we have which I think is nicer, but hey... it's only paint.
So anyway, I immediately began ruining it, almost sadly, and took it down a bit.
Next up, I decided to do as I should have on my last 328 and ditch the 2.93 diff. I got a 3.45 from a 320 along with the drive shafts and rear half of the prop. I was totally split on this as it is NOT a drift car, but I couldn't justify the cost of a good LSD for this build and figured the extra drive out of corners would outweigh a slightly less-eager turn in so we MIG'd the diff up good and proper. I got our mate Louka to do it who's only 19 but he's a seriously sharp lad and he's already a coded welder - needless to say he's usually doing far better things than letting me get him to bodge up an old Bimmer diff.
I put the passenger's seat from the racer build in on some Driftworks direct bolt in seat mounts as they're cheaper than eBay's 'motorsport' folks, but unfortunately they didn't go back far enough or sit low enough as the top of the mount dug into the seat fabric so I had to add a little onto the front, re-drill the holes and lop the top of the mounts off in line with the bottom of the top bolt hole. I had an old 3-Point Willans harness kicking about that was from another long-gone car so I put that in with it.
After that I fitted the diff, prop and shafts... no pictures here as in all honesty by the time I'd gotten the old driveshafts out and had been supplied 325 replacement shafts instead of 316-320 I was in no mood to take pictures and talk about it
I then picked up my front bumper on Friday afternoon just gone. I got the guys at Spraytec in Bath to take care of it, it had a nasty crack on one corner and some deep scuffs on the other end, and they did an awesome job of it and charged me a lot less than most places would have wanted, so thanks to Andrew and his lads over there for helping out. I'm going to get the rear bumper and super-touring-ish spoiler I'm working on over there when I get some time.
Then got some wheels yesterday. 17x8 et29 all round as most track folks seem to steer clear of staggered sets from what I've seen, if that's right? I wanted something that looked vaguely like a baby touring car wheel. I'm not sure that's quite worked out, but they're light and they were cheap, £430 for the set from Motorsport Wheels, so they'll do for now
Our mate Steve at Somer Tyres sorted some rubber out for them as he always does, awesome shop if you're up this way. 225/45r17 XL's. I'd never really liked T1R's, they hadn't ever seemed any better than Nankang's uber cheap NS II's which are spot on on the lightweight Golfs on the road, and they cost more, but I'd heard the extra load versions with the stiffer sidewalls were pretty good on the bigger cars so I figured I'd give them another shot. Toyo on the side looks better than Nankang I guess...
I'm also been chasing a few unpleasant noises which had developed. I thought it was either rear wheel bearings, the shonky O/S drive shaft I fitted whilst waiting for my second new one to turn up whilst fitting my diff (out of stock for a couple of days), or the haggard rear discs and pads. Went with Pagid as I usually do, always top notch for decent money.
On to doing the wheel bearings next, the prop's centre support bearing and going to put some fresh trailing arm bushes in next in the hope it'll shut the thing up :thumbsup:
Thanks for looking
New here but like to keep a record of my progress and I've spent a fair bit of time lurking here over the years so though I'd sign up.
I've been building a Mk2 Golf for almost two years now and the spec has gotten ridiculous. GRP wings, bonnet, roof, boot, 360hp 20v, well specced gearbox with a Wavetrac diff, full turret-to-turret weld in cage, spherical bearings, AP 4-Pots, etc etc, full on legitimate race car.
As I'm sure you've all been though, projects take way too long and it starts to wind you up after a while that you're working all the time instead of driving, so I put aside a small budget to knock up a car to get out in this summer. So it was back to a BMW, natural choice in all honesty. My 325 and 328 had left an impression that stuck with me more than the E30's I'd had did, and with them being so cheap to pick up a 'beater' I got on with it.
I found a 323i Saloon in good condition. it drove perfectly bar worn out bushes making it wriggle over uneven surfaces. Even the driver's seat looked brand new and it had the BMW extinguisher, medical kit, spare wheel, full tool kit, history, etc. It's Arctic Silver which is a little odd, not the straight silver like the Coupe we have which I think is nicer, but hey... it's only paint.
So anyway, I immediately began ruining it, almost sadly, and took it down a bit.
Next up, I decided to do as I should have on my last 328 and ditch the 2.93 diff. I got a 3.45 from a 320 along with the drive shafts and rear half of the prop. I was totally split on this as it is NOT a drift car, but I couldn't justify the cost of a good LSD for this build and figured the extra drive out of corners would outweigh a slightly less-eager turn in so we MIG'd the diff up good and proper. I got our mate Louka to do it who's only 19 but he's a seriously sharp lad and he's already a coded welder - needless to say he's usually doing far better things than letting me get him to bodge up an old Bimmer diff.
I put the passenger's seat from the racer build in on some Driftworks direct bolt in seat mounts as they're cheaper than eBay's 'motorsport' folks, but unfortunately they didn't go back far enough or sit low enough as the top of the mount dug into the seat fabric so I had to add a little onto the front, re-drill the holes and lop the top of the mounts off in line with the bottom of the top bolt hole. I had an old 3-Point Willans harness kicking about that was from another long-gone car so I put that in with it.
After that I fitted the diff, prop and shafts... no pictures here as in all honesty by the time I'd gotten the old driveshafts out and had been supplied 325 replacement shafts instead of 316-320 I was in no mood to take pictures and talk about it
I then picked up my front bumper on Friday afternoon just gone. I got the guys at Spraytec in Bath to take care of it, it had a nasty crack on one corner and some deep scuffs on the other end, and they did an awesome job of it and charged me a lot less than most places would have wanted, so thanks to Andrew and his lads over there for helping out. I'm going to get the rear bumper and super-touring-ish spoiler I'm working on over there when I get some time.
Then got some wheels yesterday. 17x8 et29 all round as most track folks seem to steer clear of staggered sets from what I've seen, if that's right? I wanted something that looked vaguely like a baby touring car wheel. I'm not sure that's quite worked out, but they're light and they were cheap, £430 for the set from Motorsport Wheels, so they'll do for now
Our mate Steve at Somer Tyres sorted some rubber out for them as he always does, awesome shop if you're up this way. 225/45r17 XL's. I'd never really liked T1R's, they hadn't ever seemed any better than Nankang's uber cheap NS II's which are spot on on the lightweight Golfs on the road, and they cost more, but I'd heard the extra load versions with the stiffer sidewalls were pretty good on the bigger cars so I figured I'd give them another shot. Toyo on the side looks better than Nankang I guess...
I'm also been chasing a few unpleasant noises which had developed. I thought it was either rear wheel bearings, the shonky O/S drive shaft I fitted whilst waiting for my second new one to turn up whilst fitting my diff (out of stock for a couple of days), or the haggard rear discs and pads. Went with Pagid as I usually do, always top notch for decent money.
On to doing the wheel bearings next, the prop's centre support bearing and going to put some fresh trailing arm bushes in next in the hope it'll shut the thing up :thumbsup:
Thanks for looking