Having previously owned a Suzuki Ignis Sport and a Toyota Glanza I had a thing for Japanese 'Warm' Hatches. The glanza was a 2 year project but after numerous issues and the fact it was just too common for me I decided to break the car for bits.Halfway through this I spotted this for sale and didn't seem to be getting much interest. Went up to have a look with no real plan to buy the GTti but after seeing it and a test drive I had to have it.
The previous owner had completed all the welding that needed doing and the car had a respray. The head was changed with new gasket etc as they are prone to cracking.
Spec when bought:
Forged Pistons and Rods
Head Rebuild
Front Mount
Hybrid Turbo
Emanage Blue
Fuel Pump
Lowered 35mm
Stainless exhaust
Custom Downpipe
First job was to swap the standard wheels out, the car was spinning in third on the way home which was down to extremely bold tyres!
Enkeis off the glanza on
] Unfortunately down to the shape of the arch fitting a 7j et35 wasn't going to work. So i sold these and went looking for something that would suit. A set of Renault Turbines came up local so bought them.
Next job was to sort the rattly exhaust. A solid engine mount stopper helped but the aftermarket downpipe didn't work properly with the exhaust so was off to Infinity. Had a 2.25 exhaust from downpipe back with a silencer to rolled tip backbox.
Spent the next couple of weeks just enjoying the car and absolutely loved it. Made it to a couple of shows and had people interested in it and alot of people trying to buy it!
Japfest 2 at Rockingham last year.
Few months later, i suspected the head had cracked again: expansion tank was gooed up,bubbling coolant when turning the car off and loosing coolant. I decided to whip the head off and replace it if i could find a replacement. Looked for a while but nothing came up so ended up buying a rolling shell with engine etc and stripped it down. Taking the head off showed the middle cylinder had taken a beating, det marks on the pistons and oval bore. Good news was it confirmed the car had custom wossner low comp pistons and custom arrow speed TI rods. Time for a complete engine rebuild
Block was acid dipped, honed and decked alongside the head skim new valve seals and valves lapped in. Crank in with new bottom end bearings after a polish and balance shaft bearings changed. Most parts were sourced from Nathan at gttidevelopments.
The block was warped considerably so a fair amount had to be taken off. It was the better of the two blocks i had as the other had a oval middle bore. Decided to reuse the pistons and rods so needed a better condition block.
Had to get a custom MLS headgasket made up at 2.1mm to make up for the amount taken of the block.
Same time as building the engine i had a lot of parts powder coated so there was a clean bay for the rebuilt engine.
Jetwashed the bay was very happy how clean it came out so decided against repainting it
Next up was a custom turbo kit, so was the perfect opportunity to go for a bigger turbo. I was recommended a GT17 off a Saab by Dan who had seen them being used more and more on turbominis. At the same time said to go to Fusion Fabrications for the work to be done.
I had already picked a turbo up while rebuilding the engine
I wanted the option on the turbo kit to run a screamer and reroute it back in, so bought a brand new tial 38mm wastegate and shipped it off to Matt at fusion fabrications to mock up a kit.
Will be mapping the car on a emanage blue or Ecumaster Det 3, not entirely decided yet.Needed to pick a few bits up ready for mapping. Bigger injectors,a stronger clutch, RRFPR, bigger throttle body(N/a toyota starlet 4efe)
Injectors came new from a Mustang 440cc, just need plug trimming slightly.
Took a drive out to Ross and Wye to pick up a custom double diaphragm clutch
Photo with Dans b18C GTM kit car
Double Diaphragm clutch
Reworked clutch plate from Precision Clutch in Somerset
Pretty much it now until I have everything installed and down to mapping. Hoping to break 200hp with good spool, GT17 is currently making 0.8bar at 4000rpm so should be responsive after a map. Car will mainly be a road car so will maintain the full interior,plan to have a bucket seat to swap in and out. Just waiting on yellowspeed coilovers to arrive to stiffen up the handling a bit.
Cheers! Its a good laugh around 130hp so at 200hp or hopefully over it will be shaming some surprising cars! Darrenh, yup if anything I see me wastegates off the manifold than turbine housings, it looks neater in my opinion and alot easier to setup on a smaller turbo. Still trying to get some videos, its hard to make out screamer, exhaust and wind noise especially in a older car!
Excellent work. I very very nearly bought one of these 9 years ago. Travelled down to Bradford to see it, but it was a shed and in a rare moment of sensibleness I turned it down. It would have been a nightmare but I always half wish I'd got it.
I've always loved small Japanese hot hatches but due to insurance I've never brought one. This was always my favourite of the bunch followed by Starlet Glanza's. I'd love to even own a non Gtti but by the time my insurance comes down I doubt they'll be any left for me to find .
Insurance isn't that bad on them to be honest.Only a 1.0l and rarity is playing on there side now with the statistics. Having owned a Starlet and a Charade, the starlet has alot more potential, more parts around and the scene is rammed with parts. Because of that they are everywhere! Hard to be different. I would own a GT turbo though!
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coilovers arrived
