So, been fairly busy over the past few weeks... Not only with work and a small event in a field called Glastonbury but also managed to make some headway with the car.
First up, the intercooler's in!
Was a tight squeeze but really pleased with the end result:
Can just about see the alloy cooler poking through, had to trim a fair bit of the bumper by the fogs but you can barely see the pipework and most importantly I've kept my fogs in tact!
Pretty much exactly how I wanted it!
Obviously I removed the air-con condenser so I could set the cooler back a bit, had to trim a fair bit of the plastic surround so I could set the cooler back but the end result was that it clears the crash bar and more importantly I was able to keep my fogs but it is still tight. Here's a shot of how much it clears the crash bar by and how close it is to the rad... 10mm either way and it wouldn't have worked.
I didn't really have a clear plan for the DV take when I went into this, just had the idea of mounting it above the cam cover near enough where it is as standard but space was tight and I had to get a little creative. Luckily, with a bit of trimming, I managed to reuse the pipe that was already there and it all worked out pretty well!
Perhaps not the prettiest job in the world, but it works!
One thing I'd completely over-looked at the time was the MAP sensor... So i ordered one from forge (50 f-ing quid, thanks forge!) and a TB to IC hose from creative motorsport. Upon arrival the hose was instantly butchered to pieces, seemed a shame seeing as I'd just spent £50 on that as well but needs must! I then wedged the map sensor pipe in the, bit of a fiddle but does the job nicely.
So that all done, went for a little drive
Pleased to report that all seemed very well indeed! Seemed to pull a lot stronger all the way through the range and power deliver just was just a lot smoother and better in general. AIT's were dramatically reduced! Before you really didn't have to do too much to get AIT' into their 60's. Now, as long as there's air flowing over the cooler then they wont get much above mid 20's... Result! Now all I need is a trip to Niki to get that all fully mapped in and I'll be laughing!
While I was messing around up there I also whipped out the combi-valve, and plugged up all holes/hoses... Makes the bay look so much tidier!
Not long after that someone started a post about short shift kits for the 5 speed box and got me thinking about the B&M kit I had on my old A3 and how DAM GOOD it was!.. It's not the cheapest bit of kit in the world (circa £170) and I wasn't exactly minted at the time but I couldn't resist. . . before I knew it I was on the phone to venom-motorsport, debit card in hand. I'M SOOOO WEEAAAAK!
As soon as it arrived though, no regrets... Such a well made bit of kit!
Following weekend got straight to work on fitting that... Fairly fiddly to be honest: need to get the car in the air and remove the centre section to gain access to the linkage cover under the car. Once you've done that, disconnect both linkages and get back in the car to fiddle round at the the top end of things... Right hassle as everything's all lubed up and spring loaded, any way, got it done in the end.
Overall, couldn't be happier, not only with how it transforms the feel of the change but also it looks SOOOO OEM+ on the inside:
IMO this is by far the best short shift option as it keeps the VAG weighted linkage on the gear box end, gets rid of the weakest link (the shoddy standard stick it's self) and converts to "pull up" reverse... Ever missed second cos it gets stuck in that little notchy bit between 1st and 2nd where reverse is? This will completely eliminate any possibility of that!
Almost done rambling, promise!................
So the other day I noticed it sounded a little gritty from the turbo, had a look and there was air leaking from around the turbo/down-pipe area. Assuming it was the gasket there I ordered a new one and got to work on removing the DP only to find this:
Massive crack along the weld! . . To be honest I think it may have been a result of me being a little too heavy handed when trying to remove the centre section, it was a right pain to get off tho! Didn't really have many other options...
Oh well, hopefully get that all welded up this weekend. And in fairness, it doesn't exactly look like the strongest weld in the world to start off with.
Apart from that I've had a think and I don't think I'm realistically going to be able to afford to get to any track days this summer, not reliably anyway!.. Just going to concentrate on preparation for next year when hopefully I'll be able to hit the ground rolling.
Hope you guys like what I've been up too... Cue advice, opinions, questions and abuse......
P.s excuse the shoddy pics/state of the car... Being honest slightly reluctant to wash her until I get the flaking on the rear arches sorted. Which I believe I have Prawn to thank for!?
I still miss this one every day!
Went out for a little summer drive (I know, seems like a life time ago now!) and was having a bit of a tare up with this little Renault 5 GTT. The guy was a proper petrol head, was chatting with him inbetween lights, the usual exchange of compliments for each others cars etc and how they compared in a straight line (obvs I had the edge tho 
