Prawn and BigAls A3 Track Car

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sick to death of this fu*king weather!

it's ruining my holiday. 2 weeks off work and all it does is fu*king rain, havn't been able to touch the car, can't go and do anything, can't even drive the ****** thing because it's got no discs or pads as i took them off to start a mini refurb on the one remotely dry morning we had, and now it's rained ever since!

properly fed up, 2 weeks sat inside rotting whilst the entire ****ing world around us floods.
 
Mate i know the feeling, wanted to valet the car other xmas as its filthy but all is done is **** it down every day all day, its ****.
 
Know the feeling dude. Spent all day yester tring to get some lighting in the garage and ended up getting nowhere and loosing all enthusiasm.

And today....more rain...
 
Yeah it's terrible here too. Look we had clouds today...

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That's not fair Sam! Weathers crap here as well on top of that we have two vomiting kids. It's been a great Christmas.
 
Hahahahahah sam I was gona do that!!!! We all sitting at work with the aircon at full and 36degrees outside not a cloud in site!
 
No garage?
this time of year remind me why I pay the rent on my unit.
 
2 garages back at home in B-stoke, but one with no power, and one full of Mini and engine parts! Down in cornwall all we have is rain, and more rain, and a socket set.

Spent all day struggling with some suspension work and a stuck bolt on mums polo, in between trying to get this caliper refurb done.

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Then stuck a first coat of laquer on one caliper a bit too early, and it's reacted, so looks more like crinkle paint :(

Will look OK once all bolted up I'm sure, but it's really annoyed me.
 
I really need to do my calipers. Really badly, but I hate the idea of the paint going wrong . Did you get black brembo stickers and lacquer over them?
 
That was the plan yea Paul, i stuck the decals on, then went to apply the first coat of laquer which is when it reacted.

whether it was a paint issue, or I just did it too soon I don't know, but i wanted to get it coated as I'm driving 100 miles in the car tomorrow!
 
Nice work on your inner arch liner there Mate. :icon_thumright:

Genuine query.. Does it work?
 
andy 1.8t said:
Nice work on your inner arch liner there Mate. :icon_thumright:

Genuine query.. Does it work?
Click to expand...

i dont think it really makes a difference, i stand for correction but i think thats where the oil cooler sits?

iv been tempted to vent the wheel arch but only to vent air to the brakes lol
 
MIGGZ said:
i dont think it really makes a difference, i stand for correction but i think thats where the oil cooler sits?
Click to expand...

Behind the oil cooler yes :) Without the venting the cooler would be absolutely pointless though, as it can only cool by passing air across the surface!

TT's and S3's had vented arch liners as standard, because the SMIC's wouldn't work properly without them, so I vented mine for the cooler.

No issues with oil temp certainly, although I've no measurable data, but I think it's worth while :)
 
i was not sure if andy had a oil cooler like yours there? i should have been a little more descriptive lol
 
Worlds most boring update ever!!!!

Mums polo needed wishbones and bushes, so we bought them, then realised they were a crap design and needed a press to fit, so we improvised:

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and it worked!

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I needed to fit my new rear discs, so cracked on with that this afternoon.

8D6FE41D-D645-4412-8136-7A3B940D60D5-1442-00000152AF131A4D.jpg


694B9FBC-99F2-4D1F-BDE8-160C34C5C581-1442-00000152B46B4610.jpg


High metallic content of the new pads was apparent, standard coming off, Mintex 1155 going on to work with the mintex 1177 fronts

064DDE0E-5A7B-4F90-BEC8-D7ADFC5946AD-1442-00000152B924DDAE.jpg


Done!

3455C506-9BBD-4699-92E6-4A9F8B7164F7-1442-00000152BFE75E33.jpg
 
I think you need new front calipers mate, with that in mind i have decided i will buy yours off you cheap to help you out :) lol
 
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Prawn said:
2 garages back at home in B-stoke, but one with no power, and one full of Mini and engine parts! Down in cornwall all we have is rain, and more rain, and a socket set..
Click to expand...
Were abouts in Cornwall are you mate
 
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Ages since I updated this, no good news at all sadly.

I had a clunk/knock, which is driving me insane. I can't decide if it's dead wishbone bushes (I know they're dead) or the exhaust. I'm 140 miles from home so I can't even investigate!

Just after new year Jardo and Pierre and I met up on the moors for a little drive, which was cool.

16Klappe said:
A great day indeed :)

Prawn and Pierre came over, and we went out for a spin in all our A3's.

Prawns car sprang a substantial leak
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Pierres car looks filthy...



Prawn showing the three different colors of his car haha!

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Click to expand...

So that was fun, apart from the obvious - I developed a savage oil leak.

Bumper off investigations in Jardo's road showed that the oil cooler core had split along one of the fins! Not cool.

As a get me home, I just removed the cooler and sandwich plate totally and screwed the filter back on, running without the oil cooler.

Drove the car home 200 miles completely trouble free, going like a rocket despite well over 150kg of crap in the boot, less than half a tank of fuel used too, so still averaging well over 30mpg despite using the loud pedal on several occasions :)

Love the car to bits, but have so much to do still, and I really want to just start using it.

Also looking at a tyre change in the near future too, For track use these pirellis I've got are fantastic, and once warm the grip is crazy, but for cold and wet conditions, it's probably not my most sensible choice, so I'm going to sell the Pirellis, along with the yoko wets we have, and invest in some more road friendly rubber for general use.

I've also decided that size needs to be considered more this time, so I'm thinking of going for some 235/40/17's.

I've heard many good things about the maxxis MA Z1's which have appeared recently, so I'm half tempted to give a set a try.
 
Got 2 contis at work in 235/40/17 that are doing nothing as we don't sell that size. I know its not a full set but might be able to get them cheap.
 
oooooooooooooooh. if you could find out which contis, and an idea of price that'd be cool man!

Thanks very much :)
 
What split the oil cooler core? Going to get a direct replacement?

I've still not fitted mine but will do in time for summer. Just wondered whether it was a stone that damaged your fin and whether it's worth protecting the core with mesh or something?
 
Westy said:
What split the oil cooler core? Going to get a direct replacement?

I've still not fitted mine but will do in time for summer. Just wondered whether it was a stone that damaged your fin and whether it's worth protecting the core with mesh or something?
Click to expand...

....or maybe 100+ mph **** backwards into nurburgring armco... :)

<tufty/>
 
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Does anyone who's fitted a forge DV have a functioning old bosch 710N lying around that they fancy sending me for beer tokens in the name of testing an idea I've had?

xxx
 
Prawn said:
Does anyone who's fitted a forge DV have a functioning old bosch 710N lying around that they fancy sending me for beer tokens in the name of testing an idea I've had?

xxx
Click to expand...

If that is the standard bosch DV then yeah i should have one, if you want it. I will check later after work
 
I'd prefer a 710N, but I have a feeling most people won't have those! I've got two 710's in the garage which both leak badly :'(

Does yours pass the thumb test dude? (Thanks very much for digging it out!)
 
not a silly question dude, not one you'd really need to know I guess!

To test if the diaphram is split or not, use a biro or similar on the bottom port to press the piston back, then seal the nipple on the top with your thumb. release the biro, and if the piston holds it's position until you release your thumb, it's working. if the piston springs back regardless, it's split.
 
At least I know now! If I'm doing it right I'm sorry to say this one may be dud prawny.
 
No worries, Jay, I thought as much, almost all of them are dud if they've come off a car!

Just booked Silverstone GP circuit for next weekend (26th) with Circuit days, so that should get the trackday season off to a start :)

New tyres arriving today to hopefully make the car more useable in these weather conditions.

Also got a random array of poly bushes on their way to me to sort out the front end. SuperPro caster correction bushes for the front wishbone rear bushes, then some powerflex 30mm front wishbone front bushes (Superpro only make 45mm bushes for the later arms), and some 22mm superpro ARB bushes also.

This means I can get my nice rare 30mm front arms installed this weekend, which are what the silly expensive DEFCON inserts replicate. I somehow managed to find a pair of genuine 30mm wishbones that wern't recalled though, so very happy about that :)

it's amazing how so much work has been done on the car, yet silly things like bushes have been overlooked. Hopefully this will take me beyond 9 degrees of caster, and allow me dial in a touch more camber on the top mounts as well :)
 
audi upgrades
Will be installing these this weekend, along with the 30mm powerflex front bushes:

F19C71D4-945C-4EC8-8910-0236BFE83512-19689-00001027154FC896.jpg


And also hoping to find somewhere to fit these onto my SuperT's as well:

Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas in 235/45/17.

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I've been wanting to try some larger tyres for a while, as going up a size is the next logical step for more traction. I've also wanted some better road tyres that are slightly more suited to wet conditions than the semi slicks I've run for so long, so when these popped up part worn with loads of tread left, it seemed like an ideal chance to test out the size, and get some road legal all year round safe rubber on the car.


I also kept thinking back to Rockingham, and how awesome the car looked with massive fat tyres, even on moderately plain rims.

DSC06351.jpg


Hopefully it'll look pretty mean with big fat baloons on there :)

If they fit well without clearance issues, then I think future track tyres will have to be 235 also.
 
I'm also running vredesteins on my s3
245/40/18
rota gforce 35offset
looks amazing and feels so much more plated with extra rubber touching
 
thats the next thing i need to look at on my 18's currently on 215/35 and i hate it, feel every bump and is so crap around corners
 
Westy said:
I've just changed to Vredestein tyres too mate. Not only do they look nice but they perform really really well but aren't as expensive as most of the other premium tyres out there.
Click to expand...

gez said:
I'm also running vredesteins on my s3
245/40/18
rota gforce 35offset
looks amazing and feels so much more plated with extra rubber touching
Click to expand...

Both very reassuring, thanks lads :) I think bigger tyres were the next logical step really. Bills ibiza is what got me thinking as it runs 235/40's, although if I'm honest, Dad's suggested it in the past and I've perhaps not given it as much thought as I should have!

I took it for a decent drive on sunday night, in the dry, and the extra power, combined with all the massive suspension changes are really starting to make sense. With the tyres warmed up, pushing around a roundabout you can feed more steering lock on and regardless of speed it just turns tighter, where before it'd reach a point where it would understeer.

I also watched this vid a few weeks ago, and found it quite interesting:

Left foot braking - by Autocar.co.uk - YouTube

Now I've been heel n toeing for about 15 years now, but left foot braking is something I've always been in two minds about. I've found it has it's uses for keeping the car in check on tight twisty stuff in the damp, and around the low speed handling circuit at inters it was two pedals all the way, but this concept of trailing the brake on the way out of a bend seemed very alien to me, it's almost as if he trails the brake to stop the engine getting out of control too soon.

I tried it on Sunday, on my favourite second gear 'testabout', and the results seemed very cool indeed. Much more controlled, less wheelspin, and it 'felt' quicker.

I'll have to take a pax out to confirm if it is better or not, but it certainly seems like a technique worth perfecting.

MIGGZ said:
thats the next thing i need to look at on my 18's currently on 215/35 and i hate it, feel every bump and is so crap around corners
Click to expand...

My current 'road' tyres are 205/50! eek.
 
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