RetroPug's Ph.1 Diablo Gti-6

[RetroPug]

Yeah loads. Really starting to miss just driving it. I know it will all be worth it in the end though. Really struggling with the cat actually. Lot of people found it awkward but overall easy but I don't even want to look at the cat at the moment!

Really hoping to make pugfest this year but I'd love to be driving the car about for as much of the summer as possible.

Anyway, this morning while treating the spring like an unexploded bomb I got the front left strut all built up. Sadly rain has now stopped play so got to wait a bit to start removing the other side!

[RetroPug]

Front struts all fitted. Track rod ends are a pain though, one is 75% undone but now just spins, with mole grips and when jacked up, the other is fine but won't do back up even when jacked up.

[RetroPug]

Things to do:

Fit new rear beam with new rear shocks
Paint rear calipers and other bits
Fit front suspension
Fit new droplinks and TREs
Paint front calipers
Fit brakes front and rear and flush fluid
Refit all the now repainted things I removed earlier
Remove cat and get the outlet pipe welded (cat 75% off but bolts not budging any more )
Wait for new steering wheel in the post and fit it
Get tyres swapped onto TD wheels
Fit new steering wheel and boss
Get tracking done
Give it a really good clean

Not much now other than removing the cat and doing brakes. Tyre swapping and maybe even tracking can be done at work for free.

[RetroPug]

Fit new rear beam with new rear shocks
Paint rear calipers and other bits
Fit front suspension
Fit new droplinks and TREs
Remove cat and get the outlet pipe welded REMOVED just needs welding
Paint front calipers
Fit brakes front and rear and flush fluid
Refit all the now repainted things I removed earlier
Get tyres swapped onto TD wheels
Fit new steering wheel and boss
Get tracking done
Give it a really good clean

[ozonehostile]

Nice going man   

LLooking forward to seeing the results in the flesh/metal 

[RetroPug]

Thanks mate. Hoping to make it to Pugfest.
If not we'll just have to do a mini-meet and eat burgers again!

Fit new rear beam with new rear shocks
Paint rear calipers and other bits
Fit front suspension
Fit new droplinks and TREs
Remove cat and get the outlet pipe welded REMOVED just needs welding
Fit new steering wheel and boss
Paint front calipers
Fit brakes front and rear and flush fluid
Refit all the now repainted things I removed earlier
Get tyres swapped onto TD wheels
Get tracking done
Give it a really good clean

[S16]

Going well mate.

[7057sam]

Wheel looks good.

Mine was abit annoying when the suede gets warn into your hands look like you been shoveling coal all day

[RetroPug]

Thank you for the positive comments.

Progress has been slow, not got much time and I keep being supplied with faulty or incorrect items which slows everything down.

I did get my cat repaired though, and made into a sleeve joint with the centre-section modified to match. It should now seal very well.



Tried refitting it and my cheap fitting kit bolts turned to cheese 75% of the way through. Fire ring is stuck on the manifold as well which is annoying. New kit ordered.

All that's really left to do is brakes but I'm waiting for exchanged bits plus I really hate doing brakes for some reason.

Does anyone know how much the cat should be able to move when the fitting bolts are tight? Mine could still pivot up and down with the crap bolts mostly tightened but I'm not sure they were holding it properly.

[ozonehostile]

on my car with the bolts fully tight, the cat is solid to the manifold

[Matt-Rallye]

Thank you for the positive comments.

Progress has been slow, not got much time and I keep being supplied with faulty or incorrect items which slows everything down.

I did get my cat repaired though, and made into a sleeve joint with the centre-section modified to match. It should now seal very well.



Tried refitting it and my cheap fitting kit bolts turned to cheese 75% of the way through. Fire ring is stuck on the manifold as well which is annoying. New kit ordered.

All that's really left to do is brakes but I'm waiting for exchanged bits plus I really hate doing brakes for some reason.

Does anyone know how much the cat should be able to move when the fitting bolts are tight? Mine could still pivot up and down with the crap bolts mostly tightened but I'm not sure they were holding it properly.

On mine and zakks we just used brand new clamps and gaskets from ECP, was cheap as chips and sorted them both right out.

on my car with the bolts fully tight, the cat is solid to the manifold

And now sits level & central to suit your OCD

[RetroPug]

Thanks guys. Yeah as I thought the other fitting kit was a cheap, nasty waste of time.
I've ordered a new kit, if the bolts on that are bad too I'll just re-use the old bolts with the new fire-ring, should fit and seal just fine. I really don't want to put the car back together to find it really loud and blowing.

[RetroPug]

Had yet more incorrect parts turn up which is getting really old now, so that slowed progress somewhat.

Yesterday me and a friend fit braided lines at the rear, and redid the hard lines from the caliper to the flexi in copper pipe as the unions weren't floating on them and they just twisted as they were being undone, plus they were a bit corroded anyway. I did tidy it up a bit after taking this picture:



Braided lines will also go on the front but will probably have to re-do some more hard-line there are the unions are similarly shagged there.

[ozonehostile]

Urgh, I hate brake lines when they don't play ball, nothing more annoying lol 

Looking good though dude, look forward to seeing the results  

[RetroPug]

Thanks. The front ones are going to be a pain. Planning on cutting it, flaring it and sticking a new union on, but flaring the original pipe in-situ is going to be interesting, I'm not sure I have access to remove the whole hard pipe.

Really can't wait to have this done, I've ordered a genuine cat fitting kit so it goes on, is correct and isn't made of cheese, and will be exchanging my ECP order for the correct fitting kit. I'm very, very disappointed with ECP generally.

[RetroPug]

Spent most of the weekend this weekend getting it to the stage of being on the floor in one piece and running, which is a great milestone! Did so much and can't remember it all but off the top of my head refit repaired cat so exhaust sounds good now and not drony, new discs and pads all round, new hardlines to rear calipers, repaired unions on hardlines on front calipers, new braided hoses all round, new pressed plates, replacement roof gutter trims courtesy of piggy, etc. etc. Of course this is in addition to all the other things that have been being put on as previously mentioned in this thread such as Koni Yellow adjustablesall around all brand new, brand new Eibach Pro Kit springs, Team Dynamcs Pro Race 3s, new droplinks, new TREs etc. etc.

Took it for a drive yesterday evening and the exhaust is hitting the tunnel quite violently so it'll need to go back up in the air to relocate that and have a tinker. That was a loud knocking so it was difficult to tell if it obscured other knocks but suspension-wise it certainly seemed not to be knocking nor clunking etc. which is great news. It is EXTREMELY stiff. Quite a harsh ride over bumps at slowish speeds but the ride gets better as you speed up a bit, VERY planted in corners with very little body roll. Steering is also nice and tight with new TREs. I imagine this will handle quite nicely on track which I'll have to see about soon! I'm wondering whether the ride might get a little more compliant once the dampers and springs have had a few miles put on them. Very happy with the ride height, slightly lower but not silly-low.

Still lots of things I want to fix and tidy up and play with but overall I'm very, very happy!

[Matt-Rallye]

Really pleased to see this back on the ground and glad to hear your happy with it exhaust fitting is a pickle on these to get it perfect but its so worth the hassle!

Cant wait to see it in the flesh!

[RetroPug]

Thanks mate.

It was really weird driving it again, feels very old-school compared to the fiesta, more gradual application of the brakes over the travel of the pedal instead of barely touching it in the fiesta was the most noticeable diference. Pretty sure it bled up all fine but will re-bleed soon anyway. 306s always did have a fairly "forgiving" brake pedal.

I think the cat just needs loosening off a touch and angled down a tiny bit before being nipped up, other than that the centre section isn't very central which needs some head-scratching.

Other than that.....time to get it out on the roads and the track and get hooning (in a sensible manner at or below the legal speed limit of course)

[RetroPug]

This is now a joy to drive. Had a new ball joint on both sides and mounted the radiator more securely which got rid of the knocking. Just needs tracking as I just did it as best I could by eye, tracking will get done at work this week. It vibrates at high speeds. Felt like the cornering was bad as I couldn't feel anything dramatic happening...then I looked at the speedo and realised it was taking corners at speed without even breaking a sweat.

I fit a K&N cone for bwarps and also made a shield to stop muck swirling up from the road straight onto the filter, it will also guard against splashes. At some point I might make one that encloses the filter a bit more.





There's still a fair few things to do and sort out on this car, but it's definitely heading in the right direction and is great for just enjoying for the rest of the summer. Once the winter comes the next round of fixing and fettling will begin!

Bring on Pugfest.

[S16]

whats the sticker off? 205? looks pretty cool, also got a set of ph1 headlight protectors, brand new sat on my wardrobe I darent use!

Do you fancy selling your ph1 headlight protectors to me. Name your price. I really want a set to protect my angel eyes. 

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Have to say mate, this is looking really good now. Great work

[7057sam]

Looks good,should of used black cable ties though

[RetroPug]

Cable ties are on the arch liners, I didn't have any at the time, and still don't actually!

[Redordead89]

Got lots of good bits sitting around and more coming in the post for this, haven't done much to it for absolutely ages due to work and other things.

It got a sticker on the front grille and I got hold of some Ph.1 Headlamp protectors for it, not sure on them looks-wise really but I am an absolute geek about rare optional extras and upgrades.
Currently it desperately needs a wash and it looks like this:



Getting ready to swap on a rebuilt rear beam that's been lowered 30mm.



I have, however, in a moment of brilliance forgotten to undo the brake disc retaining screw on one side before removing the calipers. Can anyone think of a good trick for stopping the rotation of the disc without putting the caliper back on and having someone brake?





Also, a garage or a previous owner has been a total moron and jacked this up in completely the wrong place as has been done to so many of these cars. The other side has also been pushed in a bit but hasn't rusted. This one doesn't look great though:

Did you catch my shout in the shout box last night about the rare leather Rallye colour pug steering wheel in Germany?

[RetroPug]

No I didn't. Link?

[S16]

No I didn't. Link?

If you ever think of taking those headlight protectors off can I have first dibs? Also can anyone get hold of ezb. I wanna buy his too. Cash waiting immediately

[RetroPug]

They are off but I'm not sure I want to sell. They are fairly uncommon and will only appreciate.

[RetroPug]

Could not have happened at a worse time, MOT due and got one weekend at Pugfest and then going away for 2 weeks, so basically unlikely to be able to repair it before it is then illegal to drive which is going to make repairing it even more of a ballache.

[ozonehostile]

aww man that on the box section behind the front wheel arches?

[MisterGTR]

Ahh crap. Sorry to see this. Hope it's not too painful to fix.

[Matt-Rallye]

Oh no get it sorted asap mate! shouldn't cost more than 60-100 quid to sort that thankfully. Get those sideskirts off for a look too!!!!