Hey gents. I'm new here, been lurking for a bit though 
Heres my ride, I hope you like:
The story:
Bought it as my first car
a good few years back now for £750 with 74k on the clock.
It was a father and son trackday 'bonding project' from Essex.
I went to view in the dark, it had been standing (garaged) for 5 years.
A bit tatty but no rust! I was in love!
I gave up my hard earned and was worringly handed multiple ice cream tubs full of parts the father and son had removed for ermm... weight saving I guess! I was on my way with my new toy.
It over heated on the way home and the lights kept playing silly buggers
Heres some pics of when I first got it:
Things to note are the stunning 'Colemans yellow' 1/4 badges, boot spoiler + toe eye
, the complete lack of rear interior, rock hard Jamex shocks and springs (absolutely brutal) and the wheels. Although high quality rims (Antera) they didnt really suit imo.
The first couple of years was spent fixing broken, worn out and bodged things. There was plenty, I would hate to add up the money spent.
They ranged from interior fan resistors to a clutch and everything inbetween.
Infact the 20 years of bodges on this car made me determined that I would be the only person to work on it from now on, and apart from the MOT which is done by the missus dad (with me booked off work and standing there!) no one else touches it
With the car reliable I now started to make some more satisfying additions
Things like uprated engine mounts don't make for great reading, So I wont bore you with things like this
Here are some of the highlights...
First thing was some standard 1.9 GTI rims I bought from a breakers to replace the Anteras. Whilst I was away on a training course the missus got these refurbed as a present!:
Next up was ditching the teeth shattering Jamex suspension for some GAZ gold Coilovers + eccentric top mounts.
With complete disregard to the actual timeline I will lump the brake upgrades in here too. 1.9 GTI calipers (heavier but more reliable), shotblasted and rebuilt, grooved disks, Mintex m1144 pads, Hi-Spec braided lines, new copper lines.:
With some new rubber (Yoko Parada's) the car was now completely transformed as far as handling is concerned. No longer would the rock hard suspension/Scary Yoko A509/curse word brake combo try and kill you with no warning if it was even slightly damp on the roads
.
The orginal front valance was pretty shot and I fancied updating the looks a little without too much MAX POWER'ness. I got hold of a 'St Tropez' front valance.
The valance coupled with the coilovers makes MOT time 'Intresting'. Although it doesnt ever scrub on the road, ramps are too much for it! The pre MOT visit PITA strip (Headlamps get put back in obviously):
I forgot to mention. A shrude ebay purchace saw the rear interior re-instated for £40.
Ive rebuilt a 309 GTI rear beam (slightly wider track) which will be going in as soon as I can tie up everyone and everything I need to paint the cars underside:
Every improvement is one step closer! Shot blasted battery tray to replace the old tatty one:
Other things I'm playing with at the moment are two arrow stright doors I have in primer waiting for paint, Sparco Rev bucket seat waiting for recovering in the orginal grey half leather with Orginal fabric center (T16 style), a Longmans 8v big valve head which will be bolted to a high compression bottom end (all painted up nice etc..) Mi16 gearbox (rebuilt, again painted pretty).
Heres some random pics of some of the bits waiting to go in:
I have missed soooooo much out, but I'm losing the will to live typing all this ;D Hope you have enjoyed reading it.
Heres my ride, I hope you like:The story:
Bought it as my first car
a good few years back now for £750 with 74k on the clock. It was a father and son trackday 'bonding project' from Essex.
I went to view in the dark, it had been standing (garaged) for 5 years.
A bit tatty but no rust! I was in love!
I gave up my hard earned and was worringly handed multiple ice cream tubs full of parts the father and son had removed for ermm... weight saving I guess! I was on my way with my new toy.
It over heated on the way home and the lights kept playing silly buggers
Heres some pics of when I first got it:
Things to note are the stunning 'Colemans yellow' 1/4 badges, boot spoiler + toe eye
, the complete lack of rear interior, rock hard Jamex shocks and springs (absolutely brutal) and the wheels. Although high quality rims (Antera) they didnt really suit imo.The first couple of years was spent fixing broken, worn out and bodged things. There was plenty, I would hate to add up the money spent.
They ranged from interior fan resistors to a clutch and everything inbetween.
Infact the 20 years of bodges on this car made me determined that I would be the only person to work on it from now on, and apart from the MOT which is done by the missus dad (with me booked off work and standing there!) no one else touches it
With the car reliable I now started to make some more satisfying additions
Things like uprated engine mounts don't make for great reading, So I wont bore you with things like this
Here are some of the highlights... First thing was some standard 1.9 GTI rims I bought from a breakers to replace the Anteras. Whilst I was away on a training course the missus got these refurbed as a present!:
Next up was ditching the teeth shattering Jamex suspension for some GAZ gold Coilovers + eccentric top mounts.
With complete disregard to the actual timeline I will lump the brake upgrades in here too. 1.9 GTI calipers (heavier but more reliable), shotblasted and rebuilt, grooved disks, Mintex m1144 pads, Hi-Spec braided lines, new copper lines.:
With some new rubber (Yoko Parada's) the car was now completely transformed as far as handling is concerned. No longer would the rock hard suspension/Scary Yoko A509/curse word brake combo try and kill you with no warning if it was even slightly damp on the roads
.The orginal front valance was pretty shot and I fancied updating the looks a little without too much MAX POWER'ness. I got hold of a 'St Tropez' front valance.
The valance coupled with the coilovers makes MOT time 'Intresting'. Although it doesnt ever scrub on the road, ramps are too much for it! The pre MOT visit PITA strip (Headlamps get put back in obviously):
I forgot to mention. A shrude ebay purchace saw the rear interior re-instated for £40.
Ive rebuilt a 309 GTI rear beam (slightly wider track) which will be going in as soon as I can tie up everyone and everything I need to paint the cars underside:
Every improvement is one step closer! Shot blasted battery tray to replace the old tatty one:
Other things I'm playing with at the moment are two arrow stright doors I have in primer waiting for paint, Sparco Rev bucket seat waiting for recovering in the orginal grey half leather with Orginal fabric center (T16 style), a Longmans 8v big valve head which will be bolted to a high compression bottom end (all painted up nice etc..) Mi16 gearbox (rebuilt, again painted pretty).
Heres some random pics of some of the bits waiting to go in:
I have missed soooooo much out, but I'm losing the will to live typing all this ;D Hope you have enjoyed reading it.
Tidy'ing and improving bits here and there. I have no plans for 16v's (spit! ;D) or cages and things