EVENING GENTLEMEN,
OK,SO THIS YEAR(2019) HAS BEEN PRETTY HECTIC AS USUAL! I HAVE ISSUES,IN THAT I LIKE TO RACE ANYTHING? GO-KARTS,RACE CARS,RALLY CARS,STANDARD CARS.....SUPPOSE YOU COULD SAY,A BIT OF A MOTORSPORT NUTTER!
SO, WHILST I CONTEMPLATE EXACTLY THE SPEC. OF THE 99 2.1 TURBO ENGINE BUILD? WORK CARRIED ON WITH THE 1994 VW GOLF(RABBIT) GTI,IN PREPARING IT, AS A FAST ROAD CAR,AND TO COMPETE IN SOME LIGHT-HEARTED MOTORSPORT?
I REALLY DO LIKE,THE TWIN HEADLAMP SET UP ON MY OWN CARS? SO TWO SETS OF THESE ORIGINAL 'HELLA' UNITS,WERE ACQUIRED,AND ONE GOOD SET MADE UP,AND FITTED. ORIGINALLY THESE LAMP UNITS WERE ALSO FITTED TO THE LANCIA INTEGRALE 'EVO',SO THEY ARE 'PROJECTEUR' TYPE,AND GIVE AN EXCELLENT SPREAD OF LIGHT.
BEFORE ALL THIS HOWEVER,THE CAR WAS FULLY STRIPPED DOWN,AND LOTS OF 'POWERFLEX POLY-BUSHES' FITTED.WHILST THE REAR 'AXLE' WAS OFF,NEW LOAD PROPORTIONING BRAKE VALVE WAS FITTED,GOODRIDGE BRAKE HOSES THROUGHOUT. TWO SMALL AREAS OF CORROSION,AROUND AN INCH SQUARE WERE FOUND ON THE REAR INNER WING' CLOSE TO THE REAR AXLE MOUNT,SO THIS WAS CUT OUT,AND NEW 'SAAB 99 ROOFSKIN' METAL WELDED IN,BODY SEALED ETC...
ALL NEW FRONT SUSPENSION ARMS AND DROP LINKS FITTED,ALONG WITH SAND BLASTED AND PAINTED FRONT SUBFRAMES,NEW ENGINE/GEARBOX MOUNTS,AN UPRATED FRONT ANTI-ROLL BAR,FROM 18MM DIA,TO 21 MM DIA,AND THE SUSPENSION,ALL AROUND WAS FINISHED OFF WITH ROAD-GOING GAS BILSTEINS,AND ALSO DROPPED 40MM ALL AROUND.I THEN FITTED SOME 'EIBACH' FRONT CAMBER ADJUSTING BOLTS& CARRIED OUT A LASER 4-WHEEL ALIGNMENT ON THE CAR,AND SET THE FRONT CAMBER TO -2.5 DEGREES.
THE MK3 GOLF IS A VERY STIFF BODYSHELL FROM THE FACTORY(UNLIKE ITS PREDECESSORS),THIS PARTICULAR MODEL WAS AVAILABLE HERE IN THE UK,FOR ONLY MAYBE 18 MONTHS,2.0 N/A 8 VALVE 115 BHP WITH BOSCH FUEL/AIR MANAGEMENT,AND VW OWN,VERY BASIC 'DIGIFANT' ECU.
AFTER THAT VOLKSWAGEN DECIDED TO RUN 'HITACHI' AFM,AND SENSORS ALL OVER THE ENGINE,NOT! WHAT I WANTED....
THERE WAS ALSO A 2.0 N/A 16V ENGINE AVAILABLE(AROUND 165BHP) ALSO,BUT I WAN'T TO KEEP THIS SIMPLE AND RELIABLE.
THE GOLF GTI,WAS READY FOR THE ROAD 1ST JUNE THIS YEAR. I MANAGED TO COME INTO CONTACT WITH ANOTHER GUY,WHOM IS A VW NUT,AND IS BUILDING A MK1 GTI FOR HILLCLIMBING. I VENTURED UP TO HIS 'BARN',AND CAME AWAY WITH A CYLINDER HEAD,READY FOR PORTING/FLOWING COMPLETE WITH A 272 CAM,WHICH HE HAD RUN ON HIS ROAD CAR,BUT THAT WILL HAVE TO WAIT TILL WINTER !!
FOR NOW,THE ENGINE/GEARBOX SPEC. REMAINS STANDARD,SO SEPTEMBER THE 1ST, IT ENTERED IT'S FIRST 'SPRINT' AT OUR LOCAL 'TIGHT AND TWISTY' KARTING TRACK,WITH 90 ENTRIES .TYRES WERE MICHELIN SPORT PILOT 3.
I RUN IN THE 'ROAD-GOING' CLASS,SO WAS DOING COMPARABLE TIMES TO THE OTHER ROAD-GOING 'BMW' MINI COOPERS(1600 SUPER OR TURBO CHARGED), 2.0 RENAULT CLIO 172 SPORTS,AND MAZDA MX-5(EUNOS),CAME AWAY HAPPY THAT IT IS STILL IN ONE PIECE,AND IT HANDLES EXACTLY LIKE ME 'SAAB 99 EMS' USED TO
CARLSSON TO BLOMQVIST......
''WHAT IS THIS TERRIBLE THING YOU HAVE TAUGHT YOURSELF,YOU MUST UNLEARN IT.....''
LEFT FOOT BRAKING
I GOT TO DRIVE ONE,BUT I DON'T OWN ONE....
LAST PHOTO,SHOWS WHAT IT IS LIKE,WITH HEADLAMPS ETC....
FROM EBAY? NOT ONLY THAT,BUT IN YEARS GONE BY,SOMEBODY HAD HACKED HUGE HOLES,IN THE NOSECONE,AND THE INDICATOR UNIT WAS VERY POORLY FITTED,IT LOOKED CRAP!!
IT WAS OVER 7 SECS QUICKER,OVER THE 1.6KM CIRCUIT.
BESIDES THIS,I ACQUIRED ANOTHER VOLVO,THIS TIME A V40 1.9 TD,WITH 'DRAGKROK',AND JUST 65,000 MILES.SERVICE BARGE 