For those interested in "Modern Classic" Cars

[russ p]

1 hour ago, big jim said:

As I say I quite liked it but it really needs another gear and the seat to go lower, I do prefer the old shape one too 

 

i had a look last night and you can get the sporty one for around £3-£4K now about 3 years old which is really good value 

 

we too have a dealer 500m away 

 

They all have the same engine which is unfortunate as it really could do with about 130-150bhp 

[Nick C]

1 hour ago, DIW said:

 

When they designed the MGF car, were they still employing the bloke whose job it was to put brackets (usually with sharp edges) to be where your knuckles end up?

Yep - and they must have had plenty left over, the engine bay was pretty much entirely sharp edges!

 

Access to the engine was either by removing a vent cover in the boot, which gave you a gap about three inches wide, enough to check fluids etc, or by unclipping and lifting the back of the hood, then undoing about a dozen bolts to remove the parcel shelf, giving a bit more access. Anything big had to come out from underneath... Gearchange was by bowden cable, and when one of them snapped, replacement required dropping the subframe...

[boxbrownie]

59 minutes ago, Nick C said:

Yep - and they must have had plenty left over, the engine bay was pretty much entirely sharp edges!

 

Access to the engine was either by removing a vent cover in the boot, which gave you a gap about three inches wide, enough to check fluids etc, or by unclipping and lifting the back of the hood, then undoing about a dozen bolts to remove the parcel shelf, giving a bit more access. Anything big had to come out from underneath... Gearchange was by bowden cable, and when one of them snapped, replacement required dropping the subframe...

Yep, sounds like a Leyland car 

[SouthernBlue80s]

Here is mine. One of the quickest Subaru imprezas in Europe I guess. 500hp. 1100kg. A one off build, even the suspension build up is a one off. I gestimate with the traction control and anti lag switched on you would see a 0 to 60 of about 2 something seconds. My daily driver is 15 year old BMW 2.0 diesel with 340,000 on the clock which I bumble about in, not going particularly quickly.

[big jim]

A Proper shape one too! 

have you seen the latest top gear mag where Chris Harris drives Colin McRae’s old rally car, nice read 
 

 

[big jim]

4 hours ago, russ p said:

 

They all have the same engine which is unfortunate as it really could do with about 130-150bhp 

 

wonder what other GM lump you could get in one?

 

failing that put my mini engine in, 220bhp 

[russ p]

13 minutes ago, big jim said:

 

wonder what other GM lump you could get in one?

 

failing that put my mini engine in, 220bhp 

 

With it being loosely based on the ZR I wonder if a k series would fit. 

Problem is now you can't do swaps such as that and have it road legal as it wouldn't pass the emissions test 

[SouthernBlue80s]

55 minutes ago, big jim said:

A Proper shape one too! 

have you seen the latest top gear mag where Chris Harris drives Colin McRae’s old rally car, nice read 
 

 

I saw the film bit he did but not the magazine article yet. The early cars really move your soul, as it were. More has been cut out of the shell recently to get it lower. Pic attached. And Mr McRae what a driver.

[Quarryscapes]

15 hours ago, SouthernBlue80s said:

Here is mine. One of the quickest Subaru imprezas in Europe I guess. 500hp. 1100kg. A one off build, even the suspension build up is a one off. I gestimate with the traction control and anti lag switched on you would see a 0 to 60 of about 2 something seconds. My daily driver is 15 year old BMW 2.0 diesel with 340,000 on the clock which I bumble about in, not going particularly quickly.

 

Now this I approve of! 

[SouthernBlue80s]

That was taken at a very slippery Donington Park in January, I was just trying to keep the thing on the track. Then I did a shake down session to set up the suspension in early March. 

 

The crisis has temporarily or perhaps permanently wiped out my small business. So I am glad I did that session in March, as when it turns it's wheels again who only knows. I wonder if that was the last time I drive it. A first world problem given what is going on. It is what it is.

 

If anyone engineering minded wants me to post more details of this 10 year project, let me know.

 

Stay safe everyone

Edited April 4, 2020 by SouthernBlue80s

[big jim]

On 03/04/2020 at 20:59, SouthernBlue80s said:

I saw the film bit he did but not the magazine article yet. The early cars really move your soul, as it were. More has been cut out of the shell recently to get it lower. Pic attached. And Mr McRae what a driver.

just watched the top gear episode with the colin McRae tribute, Watched it with a tear in my eye, especially when it cut to jimmy McRae in the audience who was also welling up, as was Chris Harris 

 

well worth a watch, very informative, especially the bit where Toyota got found cheating, never knew about that 

[SouthernBlue80s]

What are you running Jim. I saw you had a Phaeton.

[Chrisr40]

On 03/04/2020 at 20:59, SouthernBlue80s said:

I saw the film bit he did but not the magazine article yet. The early cars really move your soul, as it were. More has been cut out of the shell recently to get it lower. Pic attached. And Mr McRae what a driver.

Colin had the best motto I ever heard "if in doubt, flat out". The only other one I know that comes close was a chap my dad used to race with called Barry Lee. His was " when the flag drops the bull$hit stops". Love your scooby btw.

[SouthernBlue80s]

5 minutes ago, Chrisr40 said:

Colin had the best motto I ever heard "if in doubt, flat out". The only other one I know that comes close was a chap my dad used to race with called Barry Lee. His was " when the flag drops the bull$hit stops". Love your scooby btw.

 

Thanks it has been a long journey to get it running that power reliably in a track environment. And to get the handling and braking to match.  And yes sometimes the best policy is to keep your foot in. A good example of that is that when I take it through craners curves at Donington I am hitting about 120mph in the bend and you can feel the back go light, so you just ease off a touch for a fraction of a second and then floor it to get the front to pull the car through, which to many would be counter intuitive. With cars at this level I think you need to be considered about your actions, know when to take it easy and know when to go balls out. The car is important but over the years I have observed the main factors in going quick are. 1.Is the driver having a good day or a bad day? 2.Track knowledge. 3.Tyre choice.  Cheers Steve

[big jim]

54 minutes ago, SouthernBlue80s said:

What are you running Jim. I saw you had a Phaeton.

Both the phaeton I had have gone, quite fancy another one though!

 

got a couple of older BMW mini’s now, both modded, plenty of pics elsewhere in the thread of them one is a mini one convertible superchipped and putting out 140bhp the other is a cooper s which at the last dyno was 218bhp but had had a new smaller supercharger pulley and stainless exhaust fitted, ive also got bigger injectors to go on once lockdown is over and I can get it to the tuners in Cambridgeshire for a custom map, I’m hoping for around 230bhp out if it after that 

[SouthernBlue80s]

They can make for a very good track car. I have a friend with a cooper s that has had money thrown at the suspension and it fly's round bends.

 

Can you use the existing ECU and they flash a map on that works with a set list of mods. Or do you go to an aftermarket ECU? 

Edited April 6, 2020 by SouthernBlue80s

[big jim]

Mmmmm, aero wing, I’d love one of them!

 

thats a later model than mine but almost identical

 

its currently running a superchip bluefin stage 2 chip that is flashed to the ecu via the OBD port, it’s a modified program that Superchips don’t market to allow for the fast road cam I’ve got in it

 

the tuning I’m going for is a ‘real time’ ECU remap on the rollers done by 1320 mini in Cambridgeshire 

 

as for handling I’ve just had a set of bilstein B14s fitted, in the last hour I’ve had the call to say I can collect it, be interesting to see how it handles with the new set up, of course I need it properly aligning, ABP motorsport is my nearest specialist followed by demon tweeks and lohen so I have a good choice of places to go

 

the only downside I have at the moment is it’s got winter tyres on the front so it isn’t the most surefooted of vehicles round the bends, I’m going to actually treat myself to some decent tyres at some point

Edited April 6, 2020 by big jim

[SouthernBlue80s]

14 hours ago, big jim said:

Mmmmm, aero wing, I’d love one of them!

 

thats a later model than mine but almost identical

 

its currently running a superchip bluefin stage 2 chip that is flashed to the ecu via the OBD port, it’s a modified program that Superchips don’t market to allow for the fast road cam I’ve got in it

 

the tuning I’m going for is a ‘real time’ ECU remap on the rollers done by 1320 mini in Cambridgeshire 

 

as for handling I’ve just had a set of bilstein B14s fitted, in the last hour I’ve had the call to say I can collect it, be interesting to see how it handles with the new set up, of course I need it properly aligning, ABP motorsport is my nearest specialist followed by demon tweeks and lohen so I have a good choice of places to go

 

the only downside I have at the moment is it’s got winter tyres on the front so it isn’t the most surefooted of vehicles round the bends, I’m going to actually treat myself to some decent tyres at some point

I don't know much about them. But it sounds like the stock ECU is pretty flexible when it comes to mapping and more modern ECUs tend to have more ability to 'learn' as it were.

 

My good mate, who was a main mechanic on group n winning rally cars - driver David Higgens. Runs Bilsten B16s on track and is very happy with them, and he knows his stuff. So you should be good and as you said it is in the set up. Hopefully a good set up guy will know what ARBs to run, what tyre pressures, camber and so on and can set it up as whole.

 

Personally for a road tyre I rate Goodyear eagle F1s good at everything, master of nothing. A great all round road tyre. Crap on track take them no where near a track. Side wall can be a touch soft. But very progressive in the way they loose grip. Inspire confidence. However different tyres suit different cars.

 

It is always good when a car comes together. Hope it puts a smile on your face.

 

(Mine needs more down force/areo on the back and even better brakes)

Edited April 7, 2020 by SouthernBlue80s

[big jim]

I may look at getting some adjustable camber plates for the front struts one day and maybe some adjustable rear control arms but as it’s my every day commute car I don’t want to go too mad with it

 

I fitted some eibach springs to my convertible, totally ruined the drive so I took them back off after a few weeks And put the originals back on

The ECU on the mini one is the same as a cooper but it’s limited by only opening the throttle to 70%, the superchip opens the throttle to 100% giving it 130bhp, the scorpion exhaust and 57i induction kit should give me an extra 10bhp, I’ve not had that car dyno’d yet 

 

the cooper s superchip only gives it an extra 8bhp if you you have no mods but once you change the pulley for a smaller one, put a bigger intercooler on, induction kit and exhaust you can upgrade for free to a stage 2 which I did and it gave me an extra 40bhp, I then changed some components for better quality items and had a new cam fitted only for it to lose 2bhp, Superchips then supplied me with the chip I’m running now which is a ‘stage 2 with cam’ chip which bought it back up to 218bhp 

 

as I say I’ve done a bit more since, the pulley is Now a 15% having changed from an 11% and the cheap toyosport budget stainless exhaust has been swapped for a milltek, I resisted doing the manifold too but that’s not a huge task for later in the year, my mechanic has a spare one that needs a new flexi welding on, possibly do that before the major remap and injector swap

 

I’ll hopefully pick it up later today on my way to work and see how it goes with the new bits on compared to before 

[Classsix T]

9 hours ago, Chrisr40 said:

Colin had the best motto I ever heard "if in doubt, flat out". The only other one I know that comes close was a chap my dad used to race with called Barry Lee. His was " when the flag drops the bull$hit stops". Love your scooby btw.

351 Barry "Leapy" Lee? Saw him belt his RS2000s around Foxhall Stadium Ipswich regularly when I was a nipper!

 

C6T. 

[steve1]

5 hours ago, Classsix T said:

351 Barry "Leapy" Lee? Saw him belt his RS2000s around Foxhall Stadium Ipswich regularly when I was a nipper!

 

C6T. 

 

I used to watch him at Wimbledon Spedeworth events in a Mk 1 Escort in Custom Car mag colours.

 

Didn't he move into tintops 'proper' eventually?

 

steve

[Classsix T]

36 minutes ago, steve1 said:

 

I used to watch him at Wimbledon Spedeworth events in a Mk 1 Escort in Custom Car mag colours.

 

Didn't he move into tintops 'proper' eventually?

 

steve

Check out his Wiki, had a go at more or less everything I think!

 

C6T. 

[MJI]

7 hours ago, big jim said:

I may look at getting some adjustable camber plates for the front struts one day and maybe some adjustable rear control arms but as it’s my every day commute car I don’t want to go too mad with it

 

I fitted some eibach springs to my convertible, totally ruined the drive so I took them back off after a few weeks And put the originals back on

The ECU on the mini one is the same as a cooper but it’s limited by only opening the throttle to 70%, the superchip opens the throttle to 100% giving it 130bhp, the scorpion exhaust and 57i induction kit should give me an extra 10bhp, I’ve not had that car dyno’d yet 

 

the cooper s superchip only gives it an extra 8bhp if you you have no mods but once you change the pulley for a smaller one, put a bigger intercooler on, induction kit and exhaust you can upgrade for free to a stage 2 which I did and it gave me an extra 40bhp, I then changed some components for better quality items and had a new cam fitted only for it to lose 2bhp, Superchips then supplied me with the chip I’m running now which is a ‘stage 2 with cam’ chip which bought it back up to 218bhp 

 

as I say I’ve done a bit more since, the pulley is Now a 15% having changed from an 11% and the cheap toyosport budget stainless exhaust has been swapped for a milltek, I resisted doing the manifold too but that’s not a huge task for later in the year, my mechanic has a spare one that needs a new flexi welding on, possibly do that before the major remap and injector swap

 

I’ll hopefully pick it up later today on my way to work and see how it goes with the new bits on compared to before 

 

 

Just out of curiosity how much has it cost for this amount of power?

 

My tuning comes down to a 100cc bike, a Diesel, a V6 and a pushrod 4.

[MJI]

Tuning.

 

I used to own a 2.6 V6 Vauxhall Omega. It neeed some minor engine work (bad valve seals as it saved GM 24p).

 

So I bought some spare heads, a set of X30XE cams, a X30XE inlet spacer.

 

All the mods knocked about 2 seconds off 0-60, was a tiny bit quicker to 90 than a standard 3.0.

 

So the spare heads were fully stripped and the inlet ports matched to the inlet spacer, no step just a smooth transition, all valves lightly ground in and fitted with older & newer valve seals (they spent the extra penny a seal a year later).

 

Then one sunny bank holiday weekend I top end stripped and fitted new heads and cams, also cam belt kit.

 

After bedding in it felt like it was knocking out around 200bhp up from about 170bhp.

 

I will admit I drove that car quite hard as it also used LPG. I was also prepared to boot it while towing, especially up hill, or at traffic lights.

 

It was killed in a RTA when the car in front of me hit a car coming the other way head on. A wheel exploded forcing to wrong side.

[Chrisr40]

7 hours ago, Classsix T said:

351 Barry "Leapy" Lee? Saw him belt his RS2000s around Foxhall Stadium Ipswich regularly when I was a nipper!

 

C6T. 

That's him. Pic of my dad from the time