My GT-G40

[Alex]

I was quite pleased with my blog on CP, so I figure it makes sense to pick up on here where I left off over there.

Makes sense to start at the beginning:


For those of you who don't know my car, it's a 1991 Polo GT which passed into my hands in March 2000 as my first car. It was a good, clean, standard example which had been used as a second car and dog carrier for a young family in Bristol.

In my hands it stayed standard for three weeks, before the 15" Adikt Speed wheels and Longlife exhaust system found their way onto the car. And, after finishing my a-levels in 2001, I treated it to Spax suspension and late spec lights all round.

Here it is in October 2001, proof it hasn't changed much visually for a long time!


About this time I had a ride in Paul Borthwick's bonkers G40 saloon, and promptly abandoned all plans to tinker with the stock engine. But it wasn't until 2005 that I finally got my paws on a low mileage G40 engine thanks to Pete Mirfin and Dan Knight. Doubling the power with the help of Andy Strange was a graduation present to myself.





To be expected with its new found power, I was quick to start pushing for upgrades elsewhere. The 239mm brakes made way for 256mm ones, and brand new G40 spec steering and track control arms are now tucked away under the bonnet.



This year I've been trying (where my diary and bank balance allow) to get it out on track a bit. In April I managed to get a few laps of the Nürburgring despite crap weather keeping me to a near crawl. I'm hoping to get it to Curborough for some tyre shredding in September.

There's still a lot to be done though. I'm not aiming for any more power, the plan is to make it a quick and reliable point to point car. It's crying out for:

- Oil cooler - long overdue
- Limited slip differential - probably a Quaife one, the G40 box is currently sat in my parents garage in Cardiff awaiting a rebuild. I need the diff first though.
- PPP subframe and wishbone conversion - I had been hoping to get this sorted a few months back, but ran out of cash. Tempted to borrow a bit extra when I get my loan for a daily and whack this on asap.
- New suspension - the Spax stuff it has at the moment is about seven years old, and getting quite creaky.
- Gauges - I need oil pressure and temperature gauges, plus a more accurate boost gauge.
- Rear strut brace - something I've always put off due to needing to use the boot!

I'll post updates in here as and when I have things to say!

[Alex]

My latest car related spend - a daily driver:



It's a 2002 Passat 2.0 SE, metallic black with a dark grey velour interior. All the creature comforts and reliability I need.

Just need to get cracking on the Polo now.

[Alex]

Tidy.

[Alex]

My alarm continues to be the worst part of the car, it's acting up again.

April 2001 that thing went in - it's the worst £450 I've ever spent. The installation was crap, they made a real mess of the car, it goes off if you leave a slither of window open, but isn't even phased if three windows are smashed. Useless waste of cash.

Having repeatedly let me down for years, its latest trick is the alarm siren randomly going off when it's supposedly inactive. Such as all the way up the A1 earlier, while I was driving. It's time for this thing to be taken out, and for someone with a brain to fit a new one.

In other news, my green tint rear screen is due to be fitted in the next couple of weeks and my exhaust is getting ceramic coated which should bring under bonnet temperatures down a bit.

EDIT: one more thing, the white 306 in the picture above met an unpleasant end this week. My housemate left it in the office car park on Tuesday, and on Wednesday morning we came in to see this:


It wasn't his car, it was the Practical Classics pool car, but it's a bit worrying in a car park with 24 hour security and CCTV. Especially when there are 8 car mags and 5 bike mags in the building and some of them leave cars there overnight.

[Alex]

For the first time since I've had the car, it failed its MOT this morning on something which couldn't be fixed on the spot.

The Spax suspension kit I've had on it since Agust 2001 has finally reached the point where it's fit for the bin. The front struts and springs have lost their powdercoated yellow finish and gone rusty, they look like they've been dredged up from the Titanic, and it's even worse out the back. On the driver's side the shock has a really bad leak, and has cost me my certificate. It literally wasn't something which could be ignored on the trust that it would be changed soon.

So, new suspension time. I've got a cheap GSF shock going on to get me road legal again, the next thing to do is sort out a whole new kit. I fancy coilovers, but I'll probably reign myself in and get an H&R Cup Kit.

Ballache though, it means the car will be in the garage over a show I'm covering this weekend. I'll have to fill up the Passat instead.

[Alex]

After months of half-hearted tweaks (money's been tight this year) I've finally got some half decent updates for you!

On Tuesday my SFS hoses turned up, so I've been chipping away at fitting them for the last few days. Tonight, I'm all done.

First step was getting the ribbed charger-intercooler hose off. Looks like I've replaced it just in time, two large cracks and it's been rubbing on the fan shroud.



I trimmed about an inch off one end of the 45 degree hose, trial fitted it and it seemed pretty much spot on. Even better, because the new charger-intercooler pipe isn't ribbed it doesn't touch the fan shroud, result!



Annoyingly it's very very slightly kinked where it goes into the intercooler, but it's so close to straight I'm going to leave it as is. The SFS logo is on show deliberately, it'll help with the write up for Max.

Then I got onto the three straight pieces, taking even more care to get a straight, clean cut as they're on show. The two boost hoses on the top side of the bay fitted really neatly, and again I've left the SFS logo on show on the longer one. On the shorter piece I only had half a logo, so I rotated the hose to get it out of sight. Stuff like that bothers me.



The only one I haven't done is the one which comes out of the top if the intercooler, and for now I'm leaving it as it is. Having slackened both jubilee clips I realised that neither the radiator cover or intercooler was going to move enough to get the rubber hose off, let alone put a box fresh silicone hose on. So fuck that for now! It's also hidden between the grille and charger, so it won't show up in pics, and there's not much benefit in changing to silicone here anyway as it's such a short piece. I'll do it when I've got more time.

Unfortunately I've not been able to take it out for a test drive because my housemate's car is blocking the garage doors, but they seem to be leak free.The supercharger seems to be noisier though, but that could be because it's inside a garage.

Next on my list is a ceramic coated exhaust manifold, which should help bring under bonnet temperatures down a bit. I borrowed a spare one off a friend and sent it on Tuesday, so that'll be coming back early next week. It's neater than exhaust wrap, and they've just started doing a range of colours so I didn't have to get it done in the usual flat white. I chose to get mine done in black, though I did um and ah about brown.



I'll do a before and after temperature test when it comes back, and I'll post the results on here.

Have a look at www.zircotec.org if you're curious, and if you go for it then say you saw the offer in Max Power and they'll knock 10% off your bill.

[PeteG40]

for the I/C hose you mention not replacing. Simply remove intercooler (sliding it down and back) a 5 minute job. It'll thank you for cleaning it too probably!!!

Ceramic coating looks good. Not cheap tho from what i've heard!

[Alex]

Cool, I'll give that a go early next week then.

[Alex]

Today my Zircotec coated manifold arrived, and I think it looks sweet!



It's come out as a really really dark grey with a very slight metallic effect. Next step, of course, is getting rid of the standard one after a temperature test. It makes sense to replace both gaskets while I'm at it, though I'm hoping the bolts will last another session. That said I've decided to chicken out of doing it on the basis that the standard bolts look rusted to fuck and I can't be arsed snapping them and immobilising the car.

Pretty cool eh?

[PeteG40]

does look good - however any ideas on cost (you probably got it cheapo what with the connections and everything!)

[Alex]

It's about £120 for a manifold that size, but that's without the 10% Max reader discount.

[PeteG40]

so you'd be looking at £150+ for a 4 branch presumably!

[Alex]

Yeah it's not cheap, I don't think it's horrendously expensive but it's not cheap.

[Alexiskayak_7]

Alex, i had a boost leak from that hose and i used a straight one... Seems that is more proper than the 45 degree one in my point of view...

[Alex]

It's too much of an angle to use a straight piece, surely? This seems to be properly attached, and a snug fit.