Track car Build Thread

[aragorn]

I thaught i'd make a thread about the track car. Not sure why i've never made one on here before.

I started this think about 3 years ago, documented it over on SRS:

AudiSRS.com :: PPC �999 Challenge Build


Its come along somewhat since the last update, mostly undocumented, engine and box is installed, got some cheap coilovers for it (KW rears and FK fronts) and it more or less looks like a complete car, but lots of small bits needed to get it functional. I've also moved back to scotland, conveniently near knockhill, so the plan is a track day toy.


Pic of how it sits at the moment:

Finally pulling my finger out and trying to get it finished, so i sat down and made a list of what needs done to it:


Fit propshaft / headshield / Exhaust
Replace Fuel filter, check over fuel lines and sort engine bay lines.
Check over rear suspension, Torque settings and adjust rear coilovers.
Sort engine pipework, and tidy up remaining wiring, including starter feed (battery has been relocated)
Sort battery mounting (i've relocated it behind the passenger seat, needs some mountings sorted)
Finish putting the dashboard back together
Bleed Clutch and Brakes. Investigate iffy brake line.
Check over front suspension, torque settings etc.
Fit front bumper


Probably other bits will pop up along the way.


Cars sitting up on blocks as i got on with fitting the propshaft this week, and also replaced the fuel filter.


Need to get some jubilee clips to finish the fuel pipes, and i've ordered some other bits and bobs that i've needed to get on with other things.


Only other pics i've got at the moment is of the fuel filter:

And one of the engine bay showing the battery terminal from a BMW that i've fitted in where the AC pipes used to go thru, so i can join the starter cable to the lead coming from inside the car:

 

[Sandra]

I will follow this thread, see how your getting along. Let us know when its ready for Knockhill, i will pop up and see it going through its paces. x

 

[PaulJC84]

Yeah I would not mind a gander at your car too when its all finished.

 

[slepy]

Finally mate. Been waiting for an update for years! Are you running stock engine/turbo?

 

[aragorn]

Yeh for now. I'll probably stick a factory TQS tune onto it for the 180hp map.

Stock brakes too, bar DS2500's up front.

I tracked my TQS at knockhill on stock brakes and stock power and it was fine. Brakes held up to maybe 10 decent hard laps (with my crappy driving mind) and there was enough power to have fun.

Track car will be a decent amount lighter, so should be more fun and brakes should last a bit longer too.

My thoughts are that getting it finished and getting some seat time in it makes more sense than delaying the build further for various upgrades like fitting huge turbos and brakes. I get to enjoy the car and my driving can improve with what power it has. Once its being used i can figure out where the weak spots are and focus on them. Plenty folk run at knockhill in Clio 172's with stock power and its fine. Its quite a tight track, so i guess it doesnt benefit from huge power as much as some of the more open circuits would.

I suspect the first upgrades it will see are some new bushes, especially on the rear end as they're all a bit rough looking.

Still waiting on jubilee clips, hopefully they turn up today and i can get the fuel system finished and the car back on its wheels.

 

[slepy]

That's pretty much what I will be doing with mine. As soon as it runs fine, I will get it to the track and see how it behaves and what it needs.

 

[slepy]

Oh btw, do you have rear door cards? I was thinking about removing them but not sure because of the seal.

 

[aragorn]

The BTCC and STW cars ran door cards

Like you say, the doors seal onto the card, so you cant really run without them. I left mine off for a few weeks while working on the car and returned to a puddle of water in the footwell from rain getting in the unsealed doors. I suspect when moving it would be even worse.

I've just taken everything off mine that easily comes off to reduce their weight as much as possible. Weighed a rear door card at the weekend fully stripped and it was 1.6kg. I might refit the internal door handle though, unless i just stick a cable tie thru the pull cord or something, as theres no central locking so the only way to open the door is by pulling the interior handle.

 

[slepy]

That's good to know. I still need to remove the rooflining, front and rear pillars and rear seatbelts. Will strip the door cards and keep them. It looks weird though There is still a lot of wiring that could come out just need more time to do it.

 

[aragorn]

I stripped the WHOLE loom out the car, stripped out everything that wasnt needed etc and weighted the removed wires when finished...

It saved me 6kg...

Totally not worth the effort and time!


Did some more on it this evening.

Finally got some jubilee clips and finished off the fuel pipes. tried to prime the pump and get it pumping round the circuit to pressure test it all for leaks, however tank was bone dry. Fetched a gallon of fuel from the petrol station, but even then it wasnt enough to prime the system properly. Will have to get another gallon tomorrow and hopefully can test it properly!

Managed to install the intercooler (standard one), and the charge pipes on the drivers side.

Went to fit the lower rad hose i got from the scrappy and noticed its got a *** hole in it, looks like its been pierced by something sharp. So that needs replaced.

 

[slepy]

Yeah that's not much for the amount of time needed for it. I think that losing weight at the front is more important really. Just not sure what else can be removed that's worth it. I have some power cables from my audio install ages ago so will move the battery to the back. Just need to think out the mount (dont have a welder).

 

[aragorn]

I've put the battery behind the passenger seat. Not sorted a mount for it yet, but i was considering just bolting the stock battery tray to the floor then fashioning some sort of cover.

I put it there because i figured i'd rather have the weight low down and in the middle of the car, rather than hung out the back in the spare wheel well, plus it means a shorter run of cable to the front, as 35mm cable is heavy!

What i did was run the fat battery cable up to central electrics, then used the original 16mm cable that went from the battery to central electrics to carry the starter feed out into the engine bay. I will then joint the two using the battery terminal i got from the BMW as mentioned above once i can borrow a crimping tool to fit the lugs.

 

[slepy]

I have a stinger distribution block for the positive cable so that should be fine for going from large to smaller ones. I was thinking to put the battery somehow where the rear seat was.

 

[aragorn]

List update, some items done, some new items added!

Fit propshaft / headshield - done
Replace Fuel filter, check over fuel lines and sort engine bay lines - done
Exhaust
Remove weight from doors.
Remove remaining sideskirt parts ready to fit to avant.
Check over rear suspension, Torque settings and adjust rear coilovers.
Sort engine pipework, and tidy up remaining wiring, including starter feed (battery has been relocated)
Sort battery mounting (i've relocated it behind the passenger seat, needs some mountings sorted)
Finish putting the dashboard back together
Bleed Clutch and Brakes. Investigate iffy brake line.
Check over front suspension, torque settings etc.
Fit front bumper
Fix sill
Paint sills, remove lower door pins and cover holes.


Got some more petrol tonight, filled it up and ran the pump for 5 minutes to check for leaks. Everything seems fine, so thats ticked off.

Fitted another charge pipe while i was out and about, only one left now is the DV to TIP, and i seem to be missing the hose for that

Set about the rear passenger door in an effort to finish the weight saving and get the doorcard back on so i can tick it off as finished:

Started by removing all the wiring and the motor for the electric window:

then i took the window frame out and attacked it with the grinder. Used a bit of the frame to create a little stay to hold the window up and bolted it all back in:

I've also removed the silver brace in the photo. just didnt take a pic after. Ideally i want to remove those two squares of tar, then the door card can go back on for good.

Weighed all the parts i'd removed from the door and it came to a pleasing 2.6kgs. Not massive, but it all adds up!

 

[slepy]

That's a good progress. Is the part holding window the one that has 2 bolts directly under the window? R u leaving window motors in the front ones?

 

[aragorn]

I'll take a close up of the window retaining bracket i made, its not that clear from the pic! But yes, its the silver piece with the two bolts.

I used a bit of the frame i'd cut out and two bolts from the window regulator. Recycling!

 

[aragorn]

Pic of the bracket mentioned above:

The two torx screws were originally used to attach the window to the regulator

Work has a nice lug crimping kit, so i borrowed it this evening:

crimped the two lugs onto the leads:

The insulated them and sleeved in corrugated plastic ducting and attached to the block:

 

[slepy]

Nice one. Definitely will be doing the same to my rear door!

 

[aragorn]

Did a bit more tonight, stripped out the other rear door, and refitted the door cards:

Cable tied the lock and latch cables to the door handle so they're accessible.

 

[aragorn]

Well i had today free, so i decided to get stuck in and try to get some jobs completed.

Set about the exhaust, i'd picked up a THS decat off ebay for a bargain price, so that went on along with a spare quattro downpipe i had, and a cobbled together exhaust consisting of TQS middle section and a 2.8 quattro rear box.

Decat wouldnt fit the turbo, so i had to drill the bolt holes out larger, and grind the welds down beside one of the holes to allow the bolt to do up flush.

Then realised the wee hanger that goes on the gearbox mount was missing, so i had to pull it back out, remove the mount, fit the rubber and bracket and refit it all. I took the opportunity to swap the gearbox mounts for the polytek filled ones i'd taken off Shed as they were too harsh. Should be fine for the track car!

Got the exhaust hung and clamped up, after dodging the rain a few times.

Decided to test out the MAF i got from the scrappy, so i jammed it into Shed and went out for a drive. It seemed mostly ok, but i noticed an odd "pulsing" at high rpm and high load. IE full throttle in 2nd gear once you got about about 5.5k it was like the engine was hesitating slightly. To make things more odd though, i then refitted the original MAF and tried again, only to find the same symptoms remained with the original MAF refitted. Not sure whats going on, cant find my VCDS lead to scan the car and see whats going on. I didnt notice this oddness before i swapped the MAF out, and noticed it immediately after i did, so somethings changed!

Tried to adjust the rear coilover platform, but failed, even with a cold chisel and big hammer i couldnt shift it!

Maybe if the weather is better tomorrow i'll get more done!

 

[aragorn]

Got a bit more done today, feels like i'm sort of getting somewhere with it all.

Finished off the drivers door, stripped out all the redundant wiring and the door lock heater etc. Also finished sorting out the wiring at the drivers A-Pillar and modified the loom to "activate" the window motor without the CL pump. Refitted the door card and tested the electric window and mirrors worked, All seems good

I need to get another wiring loom bracket thing that holds all the multiplugs at the A-Pillar as the old one was broken and wouldnt reattach, the wires sort of spill down in the way of the throttle pedal ATM, so that needs sorted, but pretty minor thing!

Tried to remove the sideskirt brackets, but they appear to have been welded on (bar the front two, which bolt to the wing fixings) so i decided to leave those be (bar the front two, which i unbolted!)

Wanted to get the engine bay wiring finished up. I'd removed the ECU box last week, and snapped one of the bolts. So i ground down the snapped stud and drilled a hole right thru. Fitted a bolt from the inside with some Epoxy and bolted the ECU box back into place. If it goes to plan, the epoxy will create a seal around the bolt hole and stop any water leaking in. Got the ECU installed and the harness connected up. Fitted my altitude sensor i got from the scrappy and bolted the lid on. Also chopped out the redundant wires beside the PAS reservoir for the stuff i've removed, like the headlamp washers/levelling, AC control etc.

Also fitted a new thermostat and installed the lower radiator hose, but its not connected to the rad yet, as the rad needs to come out so i can fit a thermoswitch to it (hasnt arrived yet )

When i had the bonnet off to fix the ECU box, i decided it was too heavy and attacked it with the grinder. Not sure the effort was worth it, but i cut out all the reinforcement and saved 3kg. Not a massive amount, but takes the 17kg bonnet down to 14kg! I could cut a bit more out, but i'm unsure how much more i'll get away with before turning it into a wobbly mess, so i'll see how it goes as it is before removing any more. One slight oversight was removing the mounting point for the gas strut that holds the bonnet open. I'll need to fashion up some new bonnet stay of some description.

Didnt take many pics, as it was all small bitsy stuff and nothing was really photo worthy, but heres two:

 

[slepy]

Looks like you are storming ahead mate. I've been stuck at work pretty much every day the last 3 weeks so didnt do much on the car

 

[aragorn]

Not really storming, still loads of issues that need attention.

My list of items doesnt really seem to be shrinking much:

Fit propshaft / headshield - done
Replace Fuel filter, check over fuel lines and sort engine bay lines - done
Exhaust - done
Remove weight from doors -done
Remove remaining sideskirt parts ready to fit to avant -done
Bleed Clutch - done

tidy up remaining wiring, including starter feed (battery has been relocated) - almost done, need to torque up starter lead and get the drivers a-pillar bracket thing.
Sort engine pipework - almost done, waiting on airfilter and radiator switch

Check over rear suspension, Torque settings and adjust rear coilovers.
Sort battery mounting (and buy smaller battery)
Finish putting the dashboard back together (and swap gear shifter with proper 5 speed one)
Bleed Brakes. Investigate iffy brake line.
Check over front suspension, torque settings etc.
Fit front bumper
Fix sill
Paint sills, remove lower door pins and cover holes.



The issue is the stuff thats left is all problematic!

Rear coilover platform is siezed (front ones probably are too, but i dont need to adjust those so much), so i need to figure out how to fix that.
The battery i have just now is massive (its a TDI spec thing i had laying in the garage), so i need to get a smaller one. Prawn has put me in the direction of a small, Sealed battery designed for mobility scooters that he uses, so going to try and get one of those. Might mean redoing some of the battery cables though.
Theres a few bits of brake hardline that have corroded and all the plastic has flaked off. I need to inspect these closely and see if the pipe is actually weakened and needs replaced. I hate brake pipes.
Sill is rusty, and needs welding. Not looking forward to that job.

 

[slepy]

Yeah thats a bit of a list you've got there

I think I need to make a list myself because I'm all over the place at the moment.

 

[aragorn]

Well, not much has happened, had a busy week and stuff on at the weekend, however i did get the bits to finish up the engine bay pipework and got the motor filled with coolant, charge pipes hooked up and whatnot.

Tried to start the car and unfortunately its not playing ball due to an immobiliser issue. However it does start for a second or two then stalls so at least its getting that far!

Picked up one of those flashable A3 M3.8.3 ECU's at the weekend and swapped that in to try to fix the immo issue, but i think its something quirky with the cluster and it just doesnt want to pair up.

 

[aragorn]

Bit of a list update:


Fit propshaft / headshield - done
Replace Fuel filter, check over fuel lines and sort engine bay lines - done
Exhaust - done
Remove weight from doors -done
Remove remaining sideskirt parts ready to fit to avant -done
Bleed Clutch - done
tidy up remaining wiring, including starter feed (battery has been relocated) - done
Sort engine pipework - done
Bleed Brakes - done (but might need done again as usual!)
Check over front suspension, torque settings etc - done


Check over rear suspension, Torque settings and adjust rear coilovers.
Sort battery mounting (and buy smaller battery)
Finish putting the dashboard back together (and swap gear shifter with proper 5 speed one)
Investigate iffy brake line.
Fit front bumper
Fix sill
Paint sills, remove lower door pins and cover holes.



I whipped the rear coilover last week, tried to free up the rings then got fed up and cut them off with the grinder. Ordered a replacement but i wasnt sure if it was the right thread so i only ordered the lock ring. It turned up thursday and after lots of effort with a thread file and WD40 i got the threads cleaned up and the new ring wound on. I've ordered the upper ring and hoped it'd be here today but it seems to have no turned up which is a bit annoying.

Did an IMMO-off on the ECU to get that working, unfortunately the pre-done file i flashed seemed to have some sort of error code about a checksum, so i've had to do it all again with a modified version of the original file.

Might try to get the gear linkage and console sorted out this weekend. Getting there, but as usual little stuff holding me up!

 

[PaulJC84]

I have some front coilovers if you want them?

 

[aragorn]

Sent you a PM.

Managed to get a wee bit done. ******* with rain today, but i went inside the car and sorted out the gear linkage. I'd originally used the 6 speed shifter mechanism, but it was proving impossible to adjust so all the gears were available cleanly, due to the push-down reverse limiting side to side travel (the 6 speed box uses quite a different selector linkage on the box)

Fitted a spare facelift 5speed linkage i had, and bolted the centre console in correctly. Also followed a guide on SRS to fill the gearknob to add weight to it. The original guide used lead, but i couldnt get any and was being impatient, so got steel ball bearings instead. These worked fine, but steel is lighter than lead, so the knob only went from 70g to 160g, whereas on the other guide the chap managed closer to 275g with the lead. I'll see how it goes, can always redo with lead if i feel it could do with more weight.

Also my coilover ring turned up, so i reassembled the coilover with its new rings. Unfortunately the new ring is 2.25" and the springs are 60mm, so its slightly loose, but i suspect once the springs loaded its not going to move and it'll be fine. If it gives me any trouble i can always buy/make a small sleeve to take it out to 60mm. I've built up the coilover and topmount ready to reinstall on the car, but the rains still coming down so that wont be happening tonight.

Once its back on its wheels i want to run the engine up to temperature, make sure the coolant systems bled thru and check for leaks etc.

 

[aragorn]

Some more done today. Finished up the rear coilover and installed it. Slightly annoying that the spring on one side seems to be older than the other one, and its compressed a different amount, so i had to wind the coilover up to level it out. I think once i've got some accurate weight figures for the car and can properly calculate the suspension frequency i'll get a pair of springs for it.

Checked over the rest of the rear suspension and its all done up, i do need to remember and check i've properly tightened the wheel bearings though.

Jammed the ECU back onto the car after my second attempt at the immo off, and its worked properly this time. Ran it up to temperature and it got up to 95c just fine (no fan so didnt run to too long once it reached there) No leaks, but it was emitting some blue smoke when revved. Hopefully thats just from it sitting, but wont really know until it gets a proper run to see if that will clear or if theres something wrong with the engine.

Its also moved under its own power for the first time in about 3 years. Drove it back and forwards across the driveway a few times.

Brakes need bled some more as the pedals long and mushy, sorta expected that, they're always a ****** nightmare to bleed!

Still lots of stupid small things i need to sort out though. Engines missing its lambda sensor, need to wire up the fan, and tidy up the wiring beside the drivers a pillar as its in the way of the throttle pedal, as well as the bigger items on the list above.

 

[slepy]

Mine was smoking like mad after it's been standing for over a year. Now it is ok. Did you completely remove immo?

 

[Bradderz_1988]

So you manage to get the AQ ECU running then ?? Might get one end of this week

Do all the CJ ecu's give the abs missing error message or has the AQ got the same now its up and running ???

 

[aragorn]

Yeh just turned off IMMO in the ECU, there was some weird issue with the cluster not wanting to pair up even though i was doing everything correctly, and i decided that instead of spending hours chasing it and probably having to swap the cluster, i might as well just disable it.

The AQ is running fine, it does still have that ABS missing message error code though, it only appeared after the car was started.

The engines also quietened down a lot. It still sounds a little rough, and theres a rattle coming from somewhere that i need to find (sounds like a washer rattling on a loose bolt), but the loud tappety ticking has gone.

 

[Bradderz_1988]

How did you turn the immo off ?? Thought it was a ECU strip doen job ??

Good stuff nowt worse than chasing annoying noises lol

 

[aragorn]

It was:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qj8722wsmovj1ss/2014-07-10 12.53.04.jpg

Desoldered the EEPROM, read the contents, modified it, and wrote to a new chip. I could have rewritten to the old chip, but i wanted to keep that unmodified incase something went wrong.

First time round i did the same thing, but instead of modifying the data from the original chip, i flashed on a pre-done binary i found online. However that binary had a "death code" in it due to someone having extracted it from an ECU with a faulty main ROM, and the deathcode cant be cleared. So while it worked, it had a permanent fault code saying there was an error in the checksum of the main ROM.

 

[PaulJC84]

Any further updates. I saw on the thread you are off to Knockhill on the 1st November. What event is it please as I may pop up for a gander.

 

[aragorn]

Its a trackscotland day, 12 till 4, i'd imagine spectating is free so just pop along if you fancy:

http://www.trackscotland.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7221

They basically rent the track out and then you pay via them. Its seemingly a bit more civilised than the Knockhill organised days, fewer chavs/idiots etc.


Got a few final things to sort out before the first, Battery and its mounting needs sorted (new battery should be arriving today actually!), i need to fit some headlights, i need to get the alignment checked over, and no doubt some other bits ive forgotten about. Brakes feel weird, but i need to bed them in a bit and see how they fair, i'll take my bleeding stuff along with me to the track just incase its an air issue so i can bleed it on site.

 

[PaulJC84]

Good stuff, should be able to pop up.

At least your car should be easy to spot!

 

[aragorn]

My little battery arrived today:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0p7zqsjkbkuwn5a/2014-10-15 15.27.28.jpg?dl=0

Its about 6kg, prawn uses a similar unit in his A3 and has had no trouble with it, so fingers crossed it does the job.

I need to sort out a mounting bracket, and some leads, as the cables i'd made up before to fit the full size battery wont fit.

 

[aragorn]

With the upcoming track day i keep finding extra things that need sorted, fixing them only to find more things.

This weekend i managed to find some headlamps at the scrappy, and also finally found a turbo car to get the heatshields and other bits i was missing.

Sorted out the brake light switch, and sorted the battery mounting.

http://friesian.lr90.org/gallery2/d/3388-1/2014-10-18+16_05_37.jpg

I'm waiting on the fuse holder so the fuse stops dangling around dangerously, and i've also already moved the ground isolator switch from the rear bench up to the centre console, so i can actually reach it from the drivers seat.

Mounted the headlamps on the car, which required removing the bumper as it was too high. Still need to finish the wiring for those as the facelift connectors need spliced in.

Craig gave me a hand and tidied up some of the wiring in the passenger footwell, and that looks much better now. Need to finish off the drivers side the same way.

I also discovered that my carefully installed fan wiring isnt upto the job, as the startup current of the fan blows the 30A fuse after 2 or 3 startups. I need to see about sorting a larger fuse holder or something.

Plus after an hour of messing around with it, i somehow managed to round off the bonnet pin on the passenger side, while trying to adjust it, so i've had to order new ones, in stainless steel this time.

Stuff left on the todo list includes:

Fix odd Lambda Heater error.
Wire up Headlamps
Attach Seatbelts.
Tidy up inside the car
Fix wires in drivers footwell
Sort Cooling Fan
Re-do bonnet pins.
Sort engine breather and catch tank.

I also need to take the car to a garage and have them check over the alignment!

 

[slepy]

Are you fitting standard belts or harness?