Ideas

[MiiTCH]

I've been neglecting my car lately and been focusing more on my mx bike than my car... So I've decide to swap those priorities around...

I'm stuck for ideas though, but I want my car to be a little more personal and 'custom'... Not on a huge scale such as turbo conversions as I don't have the time or money for that...

Here is a picture of my car, what would you do if you had it? I just want to tinker...

It's a 2001 1.8 XS, standard engine, no work done... Straight through centre pipe, sportex back box and lowered, that's it really.. Not enough!



I wanted to have the boot smoothed... I so nearly bought C.A.R's smoothed boot from the previous owner, off the HDI, but I turned the offer down when C.A.R became the new owner and seriously regret that now so that's one thing on my list

[kentiiboii]

Mines same colour. So was my old hdi.
Current plans for this is...
Already have smooth bonnet, grill and boot so they'll be painted to match the car.
I want to smooth my bumpers out but keep the number plate recess so it still looks oem.
I have my 17" aidels going back on which at the moment are anthracite.
It's hard to find a colour that match moonstone. But I recommend refurbishing your alloys a different colour as it makes the world of different. Also if you havnt got money for smooth bonnet and boot you could think about painting your badges. Gareth7 did my old ones anthracite with moonstone lion and they looks great!

[MiiTCH]

I could afford the boot to be smoothed which I will eventually do but not the bonnet as that's more smoothing and painting involved... I don't know what colour to get, because there isn't many dark colours on my car so I think dark wheels would look odd... It took me long enough to decide on getting the windows tinted

[kentiiboii]

Moonstone is difficult to colour match. With 1 single colour.
I bet if you got window tints then black would work.

[kingy]

car looks sweet and tidy. i would keep it like it and concerntrate on small things like wipers, washer jets, better bulbs for spots and head lights, give it a service, trfurb alloys and replace anything thats broken/worn.
its good to see a nice example of a 306 thats not been pissed about with.
all this can be done on the cheap and just buy bits and bobs for it when you can afford them.
if you start swopping body work over it can become very expensive. ( i know).
imo mate, just be proud of a good looking 306.
edit... please dont tint the windows.

[MiiTCH]

Moonstone is difficult to colour match. With 1 single colour.
I bet if you got window tints then black would work.

My windows are tinted now, but I still don't think dark wheels would look right

[kingy]

Moonstone is difficult to colour match. With 1 single colour.
I bet if you got window tints then black would work.

My windows are tinted now, but I still don't think dark wheels would look right

just get your wheels referbed in a nice silver.
keep it clean.

[MiiTCH]

car looks sweet and tidy. i would keep it like it and concerntrate on small things like wipers, washer jets, better bulbs for spots and head lights, give it a service, trfurb alloys and replace anything thats broken/worn.
its good to see a nice example of a 306 thats not been pissed about with.
all this can be done on the cheap and just buy bits and bobs for it when you can afford them.
if you start swopping body work over it can become very expensive. ( i know).
imo mate, just be proud of a good looking 306.

I agree with the 'clean' look.... There are a few things that need doing... My quick shift is the shittest thing on the planet as the little bits that hold the lever in place keep coming lose although its been drilled and the grub screws are thread locked in place, so that needs welding... I replaced the washer jets with mist ones as the standard 4 jet ones are useless I think... The alloys could do with a re furb I agree, and I'm currently looking at some Philips ultra blue halogen bulbs and pressed number plates

[kingy]

their you go then. sort the little things out and i promise you will feel different about the car.

[MiiTCH]

Also the front and rear bumpers need replacing as the colour on one corner doesn't match where it suffered a slight wall rash in certain light you can notice, and I know it's there so it bugs me...

Fogs could do with replacing as they aren't very nice inside anymore

I was thinking about spacing the rear wheels out maybe 10/20mm?

[kingy]

you got the idea lol.

[MiiTCH]

These are the most recent pictures

[mr_fish]

very nice clean example there, as kingy said, just replace any older parts on the car for good quality replacements.

[C.A.R.]

Needs the B-pillar trim, moonstone looks odd without it...

[cjm_harris]

Looks good, bar the headlight eyebrows! yuk! :laugh

[MiiTCH]

Needs the B-pillar trim, moonstone looks odd without it...

Is that the part on the door? Would you say carbon wrap or just satin black vinyl?

Looks good, bar the headlight eyebrows! yuk! :laugh

I've really been debating taking them off, if they come off, I will have the break them off as I've used aircraft grade glue so they aren't budging...

Do people agree? Loose the headlight eyebrows?

[C.A.R.]

I'm not a fan of fake carbon personally, I think it's had its day and looks a little chavvy nowadays! I actually did mine gloss black. When you think about it the idea is that the B-pillar blends in with your windows, which are glossy...I can't find a pic right now but I think it looks good. Just make sure the surface is damn clean, I trapped a tiny piece of dirt under one of mine and it bugs the hell out of me!

[kentiiboii]

I agree with car.
Don't do carbon it's slightly getting past it. Gloss black looks clean and matches with the tints

[kingy]

tell ya what mate, im struggling to find major things wrong..
apart from wind deflectors, and the tinted windows and maybe alittle more lows at the back then this would be mint.
but thats just my views mate.

[kentiiboii]

Lows is just fine. He has a small amount of tyre tucked. Go too much and it will become clear its lowered.

[MiiTCH]

I'll try and get hold of a sheet of gloss vinyl then...

At the back you can't get your fingers round the tyres at the top, its just low enough that the tyre tucks under the arch just a little...

Is everyone agreeing with removing the eye brows and putting the black vinyl on the bpillar then?

I'm thinking of fitting the GTI6 intake manifold and front brakes, but is it worth it? I know the manifold job people notice a difference but would the brakes on mine be far off the GTI6 brakes?

[samass]

Can't comment on the brakes, I've only ever had 266s on mine.

as for engine, if i was you, I'd do what dan86 did and put the gti head, manifolds, loom and managment on the 1.8 bottom end. Then stick it on a dyno to see what its running power wise.

[Eeyore]

yeh the 1.8 can have loads of gti6 engine bits. I had a gti6 manifold on mine and was planning to have the exhaust manifold and gearbox fitted but never got round to it before i got a hdi! As samass said you can fit the gti6 head but i think there is a lot more work involved there!

[MiiTCH]

Yea fitting the head seems pretty fiddly and wouldn't exactly be a day job, I use my car daily so wouldn't have the time for that... I want to do the GTI6 intake manifold though, I've found one on eBay with all the bits, just need someone to point me in the right direction for the other parts I need like pipes, cables and all those little bits

[puglove]

If you dont want to spend mass amounts of money. Consentrate on the handling. Just buy somthimg each month. That way it wont cost an arm and a leg. And trust me you'll love they stick to the road like shit to a blanket once you start up rating things. And makes for more fum driving than silly amounts of ppwer.


Oh and loose the eyebrows

[MiiTCH]

I've got polly bushes on the front which made a difference in handling... I think it handles pretty well tbh, can chuck it around nicely...

Ill get the eye brows off on the weekend probably and look into the GTI6 intake manifold and price it all up

[cjm_harris]

I have a gti6 inlet manifold and brakes for sale if you are interested?

Unfortunately, I have sold the injectors and rail, but still have the throttle body etc

[MiiTCH]

Will I need the 6 injectors or would I be able to use mine? How much are you looking for the inlet?

Are the brakes any different from the XS and 6? Ill probably take the brakes if they are noticeably better, does the 6 run bigger discs?

[C.A.R.]

In my experience, don't bother with the GTi6 inlet.

The management is extremely fussy on these engines and doesn't take well to the upgraded inlet - more notably the much bigger throttle body which is about twice as big. I have a photo of them side-by-side somewhere. Without an expensive aftermarket engine management system the ECU will run the car rich with the GTi inlet and you can have some dodgey running issues. It's a half-day job to fit one if you've not done it before, but the gains aren't worth it. It sounds good and looks good and vastly improves throttle response, but my experiences from two different 1.8 engines is that the MPG and driveability suffers. If you want to do it you need to retain the old injectors else it will run VERY rich, you may also want to look at what Dan86 tried with the adapter plate using the original throttle body, but in my opinion this is just mitigating a bigger problem instead of improving the engine, since one of the biggest advantages of the new intake is the increased response, which is lessened by putting a restrictive throttle body on.

GTi6 camshafts again, not worth it, these 'come on song' too late in the rev range and you can't take full advantage of them in a 1.8 engine as the rev-limiter is lower than that of a GTi. It will run nice and smoothly (contrary to some sources) if timed up correctly, but it's only worth doing if you can raise the rev-limiter... (which I think Dan86 did)

Exhaust manifold from a GTi6 does give positive gains however and I think it's worth doing. You'll need a full system though, cat/downpipe, mid section and backbox. It would pay to upgrade to an aftermarket system. Installing the manifold is a b*tch of a job, it's a case of either tilting the engine forward on it's lower mount (at the risk of damaging the radiator) or dropping the subframe down. Whereas a diesel will benefit from having as fewer silencers a 1.8 is really sensitive to having a straight-through system and you will lose a lot of low-down torque as a result. It may sound epic, spit flames and increase top-end power by a tiny amount, but it makes the car a pig to drive.

IMO, keep it relatively standard, induction cone (they sound really good on these) and if you haven't the space/time to do the GTi6 exhaust manifold just upgrade to a nice stainless system for a bit of noise.

EDIT; Regarding brakes, the GTi6 upgrade is well worth it, as they have a much better contact patch on the larger diameter discs (288mm vs 266).
You have a late-model XS so probably already have the 23.8mm Brake Master Cylinder, but it's worth checking as earlier 1.8s had a 22.2mm MC and this is not sufficient enough, whilst it has enough clamping force the pedal becomes really spongey, so if it has a 22 on it, that will need upgrading too.

You'll need calipers, discs and pads, I think the standard fluid hoses just about reach but it would be wise to replace these too.

[cjm_harris]

Will I need the 6 injectors or would I be able to use mine? How much are you looking for the inlet?

Are the brakes any different from the XS and 6? Ill probably take the brakes if they are noticeably better, does the 6 run bigger discs?

I think you will need the injectors, rail etc. And to be honest, for best gains think you need throttle body, sensors, exhaust manifold etc etc for it to work best.

Looking for £20 excluding delivery, but also have exhaust manifolds and most of the other bits you need if you do decide to go down that route, PM me if you do

The gti6 brakes do run bigger discs, yours will be 266 I think and the gti6 are 283mm. I think the gti6 brakes are brilliant, I still run standard with uprated pads, lines and fluid and my car is supercharged