Project Group 4 Door

[Peredur]

Hi,

Bit of background info; I live on the Llyn Peninsula in North Wales where basically everyone and their brother is involved in rallying, myself included. I currently marshal and navigate on road rallies and have started co-driving on stage events.

Now on to the car;

My mate is building a 3dr hatch road rally car so I thought I'd build something to give him some competition lol
Initially wanted a 2 door 'loon 'till I saw the prices :eek: so as the escort lads do, settled on a more door.

Pics of the weapon of choice:

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/DSC03462_zps24933e56.jpg

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/DSC03459_zps74553459.jpg

Needs a front wing but otherwise solid :d

So, Plan of attack: :d

Gather funds and parts now until the summer then get cracking on building it over the summer ready for a local event in November.

Probable Spec:

Engine:

1.4 Block & Crank
1.3 Rods
1.2 Pistons
1.4 Ported BVH
Rally Cam
Solid Lifters + Uprated valve springs
4 Branch and exhaust
38 DGAS Carb


Box:

F13 CR
Swap a few cogs about from various other F13s
4.53 FD (Hopefully)

Suspension & Brakes:

Bilstein or Similar spec struts
Gravel spec springs
Both ARBs
236*20mm Corsa Sport Discs and Calipers
13" Wheels

Shell/General:

Roll Cage
Bucket Seats
Harnesses
Fuel and Brake lines inside
Fuel pumps in box behind seat
Battery in back or boot
Sump and tank guards
FG Bonnet
Spotlamps
Dual Reverse lenses
Misc rally wiring
Dual cowl dash
Lightened doors (possibly)
Polycarb Windows (possibly)
Misc Lightening

So, Any comments or observations welcome.

Picking up a few bits this weekend :d

[Mazz]

Miami blue is a awesome colour imo, spec sounds like it could be a right giggle

[Peredur]

Hoping it'll be a good competitive motor, ~110 bhp hopefully, box I've worked out to give a top speed of 98 mph @ 6500 rpm on 13's :d

[jimbob-mcgrew]

it'll prob be less than that, but it will get there fast ! as quick as you can move the stick probably (whilst dodging tree's lol).

ill keep an eye on this, im curious to see what you do with the inlet manifold, as ive got a similar idea.

you mind taking a few pictures of the corsa brakes for me when you get them please mate :thumb:

sounds good man :cool:

[Peredur]

Won a sump guard for it on ebay just now, and I'm picking up some parts on sunday, progress is occurring although slowly lol

[DAVIDKEDENS]

Exciting thread, Miami Blue is a cool colour :thumb:

[Peredur]

So, my mate bought a shagged rally car for the cage etc so stripped that with him on thursday:

Me stripping the suspension lol

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/Donor_zps88bce52c.jpg

Got a big valve head, set of konis and a few other odments for my build,

Pic of the BIIIIIIG Valves! :d

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/Head_zpsc4da6c29.jpg

Any suggestions about the engine spec? Thinking about a AST3 or NVO63 cam and maybe a X14XE bottom end. Advice or comments?

[_Jake]

piston cut outs will be wrong on the 14xe bottom end as its a 16v engine, x14sz's seem in pretty good supply i recently got one for cheap for my track cars bitsy engine.

[Peredur]

Been reading up now on the high comp 1400 build with 1.2 pistons etc so reckon that's the way I'm heading

[Peredur]

Right, gave the garage a clear out today as the parts had just been chucked in after picking them up lol

Got a few better pics of the 'Loon as well

The 'Loon :d

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/Loon4_zps6013fd71.jpg

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/Loon5_zps67bb89b3.jpg

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/Loon6_zpsfd7c71e4.jpg

And some of the parts so far:

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/AllParts_zps713a67b3.jpg

BIIIIIIIG Valve Head

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/BVH_zps7af71368.jpg

One of the Scirocco wheels I'll be running, got 5, need a few more if anyone sees any :thumb:

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/SciroccoWheel_zps82d71433.jpg

4 branch manifold I got off Paul James off here, Spot on!

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/4Branch_zps68a0d885.jpg

OMP Strut Brace, Needs a refurb, but it was free

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/Strutbrace_zps34f75c23.jpg

Konis I got off the white nova stripped earlier in this thread

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/Konis_zps8d2b145c.jpg

10mm alloy sump guard, should take a beating lol

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/SumpGuard_zps6125514f.jpg

F/G Bonnet, needs a bit of TLC on one edge, hence why it was cheap

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/FGBonnet_zpsd30be337.jpg

That's the story so far!

[shaunboy84]

vw wheels ?? will they fit? you have gave me ideas now haha

[Peredur]

Yup, they do, 4x100 pcd and a centre bore of 57.1, ET45,

All the numbers stack up, Looking for more of the same type now, Bit of a needle hunt in a hay storage facility lol

[Peredur]

Got a set of astra gte wheels yesterday so slapped them on and took a few pics.

IMO Looks miles better with some decent wheels on. :d

Also got a chance to play about a bit with my flashguns :)

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/2_zpsf0bc518c.jpg

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/Edit1_zps98f93745.jpg

[Peredur]

I'm not planning on catching fire but in case things go tits up! lol :roll:
Ebay bargain so made sense :)

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/A5E02A6E-F9EA-45D4-9D85-4743EF8BF30B-134-00000002EB463C10_zps40cd42ac.jpg

[jimbob-mcgrew]

got one in mine too, just incase :)

I can imagine its one of the worst things to stand at the side of the road and watch your beloved car, burn to a crisp infront of your eyes, and not be able to do anything about it.

ive had a couple close calls, with smoke coming out the dash whilst driving - deffo worth the peace of mind for sure.

looking good so far peredur - you should start stripping her out - get her light as poss :)

[Peredur]

My thoughts exactly,

Can't start on it till after my uni exams now, so beginning of June, still collecting parts here and there

[Peredur]

Picked up a set of 12ST pistons and a set of 236*20mm discs and calipers. Progress :d

[Peredur]

Started stripping it now only to find the front panel to be shot and one or two smaller bits of rust, looking forward to get cracking on the shell now though. Pics later on tonight probably.

[Peredur]

So, managed to clear out the garage, build some shelves and make room for the 4dr

Here it sits in its new home:

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/null_zps3a8b1832.jpg (http://s1279.photobucket.com/user/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/media/null_zps3a8b1832.jpg.html)

Started stripping the day after, managed in a couple hours to get all the removable panels off, seats and all interior trims out

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/null_zps80318a26.jpg (http://s1279.photobucket.com/user/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/media/null_zps80318a26.jpg.html)

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/null_zps5ba8cd8d.jpg (http://s1279.photobucket.com/user/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/media/null_zps5ba8cd8d.jpg.html)

Stripped a bit more by now, all the sound deadening gunk out, carpets, dash, loom, shafts out ready to drop the engine out.

Today for lack of anything better to do and after reading novarally's sprint car thread I decided to lighten the boot hinges to see how much I could lose (or gain;) )

Progress so far on one, bit more holes to do then repeat on the other side

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/null_zps503ec731.jpg (http://s1279.photobucket.com/user/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/media/null_zps503ec731.jpg.html)

[Peredur]

Been a while since I updated this, been gathering parts and panels to start the shell.

In the meantime, I've lightened one rear door with the other one in progress.

The aftermath:

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/null_zpsa2669a90.jpg

Drilled round top of window frame.

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/null_zps0bfc59bb.jpg

Front edge:

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/null_zpsc0237932.jpg

Overall

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/null_zps729a9d09.jpg

Got it down to 6.25kg with the latch in place.

Any comments welcome

[Peredur]

Decided to get my **** in gear and get on with something so got the engine and box out, ready to start seam welding.

However, I don't have neither an engine crane nor a jack that lifts high enough. Soooooooo, in true country bumpkin fashion borrowed my uncle's telehandler :d

Car being hoisted over the engine.

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/null_zpsdb617c77.jpg (http://s1279.photobucket.com/user/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/media/null_zpsdb617c77.jpg.html)

A bit OTT? Confused looks from passers by :wtf:

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/null_zps77dbca16.jpg (http://s1279.photobucket.com/user/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/media/null_zps77dbca16.jpg.html)


Looking forward to start properly on the shell, hope to have it ready to rumble in a year from now, we'll see how it goes :roll:

[mk1nova_rich]

Wish I could have a road rally car :( should be interesting...not many loons out rallying lol

[Peredur]

Hoping it'll be interesting by the time it's done. Think it'll be a loon in a 'loon though lol:roll:

[Peredur]

Got a great big rev counter for when it eventually will need one. Now to build an engine that'll turn this all the way :roll::dlol

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/null_zpseb9efb2a.jpg (http://s1279.photobucket.com/user/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/media/null_zpseb9efb2a.jpg.html)

[jimbob-mcgrew]

you've gone to town on that back door lol I like it :thumb:

[Peredur]

As it says in my sig, lightness is the key, hoping to hit ~750kg fully built, caged etc. Might be a bit too ambitious but I think that it's do-able
I've picked up a few nifty weight saving tips from colin's (novarally) build

[jimbob-mcgrew]

theres weight reduction... and then theres weight reduction lol, it makes a huge difference :)

I stripped a nova out a couple years back, and it went so much better... even on standard gm shocks and springs you could throw it into corners about 15 mph faster. and the engine felt like it was on steroids.

handling wise - I noticed a big difference in taking weight from the front of the car, to bring that 50/50 ideal weight balance a bit closer together, as pretty much all front wheel drive cars are front heavy and miles out. (I went a bit mad and ditched most of the cars wiring loom, as well as the whole heating setup.) taking weight from the top of the car to lower the centre of gravity helped a surprising amount too.

steel wheels save a few kilo's too, and take a bit of weight off the drive load. ( I don't think they'll stand up to smashing into rocks and potholes in a rally tho lol )

If you keep going as you are, I reckon you'll hit your target weight. and those 14xe's are pretty beasty too. itll end up like being a little rocket I bet. :thumb:

[Benn]

hoping to hit ~750kg fully built,

I'd have thought it be a 4 door will have more weight to start with so i think you might struggle.

[Peredur]

A four door loon is the heaviest model but, hey, it's a challenge!

[Novaload_Nick]

Hole saw is definitely coming out ha! Be interesting to see what weight you end up with

[Peredur]

Right, so after a shocking lack of progress due to uni work and exams I managed to get an evening on the car.

Got the front and rear screens out and mocked up the cage that I recently bought for it. Some modification to the pillar might be necessary for the door bars to fit spot on but we'll cross that bridge later on.

Hoping to get the shell sorted before the end of summer to be on track to finish the whole thing by next March for a local event.

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/null_zps8353abaa.jpg (http://s1279.photobucket.com/user/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/media/null_zps8353abaa.jpg.html)

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/null_zps87b30730.jpg (http://s1279.photobucket.com/user/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/media/null_zps87b30730.jpg.html)

[Peredur]

Managed to get a bit more time on the car yesterday, drilled and swaged the top edge of the rear seat panel and marked it in preparation for cutting the lower section away.

More to come soon hopefully! :)

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y528/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/null_zps0741b51d.jpg (http://s1279.photobucket.com/user/Peredur_Wyn_Davies/media/null_zps0741b51d.jpg.html)

[Bubba]

ive got some poly front windows that i make to go in my more door hatch for sale.