The Racetractor. The End.

[kentiiboii]

I would of thought you'd go for something lighter than nimrod for track?

[Piggy]

Looking good  piggy. not as hard to do these  manifolds as you would  think.  Have you checked  clearance  with gear links etc?

they should be fine, did a zillion measurements and made that mock engine bay/engine

---

so....
items removed this afternoon...
+breather pipes
+oil catch pipes and tank
+dipstick holder/breather unit
+inlet manifold
+air filter and pipe
+PAS pump
+alternator
+top engine mount
+fuel filter
+oil sandwich plate
+oil/water plate
+starter motor

---

I would of thought you'd go for something lighter than nimrod for track?

meh.
£20 for the wheels, £40 for the tyres and £5 of paint.... can't grumble

It's these or my road wheels/tyres

[Piggy]

SO, sit down. 

You are about to laugh. Probably out loud.

I went to Mickey kellets who was painting his defender on BH monday. 

He let me use his pretty expensive Snap On mig. Nice big bottle of argon on it. I switched with my reel of stainless wire and started....

With about three joins left and me thinking that I will never be able to weld and how crap I am at it...Mickey comes over and asks how I am getting on.

He looks a bit bemused and asks for a go...which he does...and within about .5 of a second, goes "is the gas on"?? 

To which I nearly cry. No. The gas was not on. Poo. So its not very pretty.


Next laugh....

Remember Ash asking about clearance to the gear linkages...well no, it doesnt. It was close but I think with all the heat it pulled it down enough. So I have chopped off two runners, retacked it all and Im going back tomorrow to use the mig WITH gas to finish this!

Also spent about 3/4 hour remodeling the coolant pipes at the rear, they are metal...not anymore. Will need to make a little head shield me thinks. But it all fits and has clearance which is a good start!



So current state of car:


[attachment=23398]


No aux setup at all.
No inlet.
No turbo.
No exhaust other than downpipe.
No manifold.

Hmmm.   

bit worried.

---

oh...but the block has a fresh lick of red.

At least I have a clean block!?

and I didnt mention the gearbox has been drained too. Need new shaft seal

[Danny Wideboy]

Lol.
Fair play for admitting your mistakes though.

Nothing is ever as easy as it should be.

[ash23]

Shame about the clearance issue but at least it's easy sorted
It will be good to see what benifits you gain over the link pipe

[Piggy]

Shame about the clearance issue but at least it's easy sorted
It will be good to see what benifits you gain  over the link pipe

no ruddy leaks I hope will be the main benefit!

[ozonehostile]

Oh man, at least if you managed to weld most of your manifold with no gas doing a couple of bits again should be simple  

OI'm sure you've had your engine apart enough that bolting it all back together should only be an afternoons work 

[ADV_93]

WOO EPIC WORK PIGGY

KEEP IT UP

[Piggy]

Oh man, at least if you managed to weld most of your manifold with no gas doing a couple of bits again should be simple  

OI'm sure you've had your engine apart enough that bolting it all back together should only be an afternoons work 

bloody hope so

[1616six]

Looking good James.

So what is the long term plan for this? Finish it & keep it as a toy? I seem to have something in the back of my mind telling me you mentioned somewhere that after summer it might be ripped apart? Or am I making this up?

[Piggy]

Yeah I had serious thoughts of keeping as a reliable toy.

But for personal reasons I don't think she will she her MOT in December.

[bashbarnard]

That's a shame man.

[1616six]

Yeah I had serious thoughts of keeping as a reliable toy.

But for personal reasons I don't think she will she her MOT in December.

I reckon you'd get good money if you sold it on. If I were in the position to buy I'd certainly take an interest as you pay attention to detail which most don't!

[bashbarnard]

Gotta be worth above scrap surely [WINKING FACE]

Jokes aside gotta be worth a bit to sell as whole.

[7057sam]

Gotta be worth above scrap surely [WINKING FACE]

Jokes aside gotta be worth a bit to sell as whole.

Doubt it will all the weigh his stripped of it  

In all fairness it s one of my favourite projects and will be a shame to not see it on here when the time comes. 

[Poodle]

You bellcheddar!

Horrible feeling realising something like that, feel for you, hope it's all alright. The welds aren't porous then?

[Piggy]

Duno poodle. they were a bit dry. But there we go. Never done stainless before and never done a manifold. So steep learning curve.


Well i am knackered.

Today: cut my manifold in half and started again on one section. Went to mickeys early and got welding again. WOW, gas is gooood.
They came to fit it. Fitted it. Then had to remove the coolant piping and cut and splice and adjust, all custom.
Then had to move the oil drain.
Then had to cut up my downpipe and add 20mm and a bit of angle.
Then tested my EGT probe and gauge. Faulty gauge. So fitted new gauge.
Fitted EGT probe to new manifold.
Plumbed in a brake line to the manifold for a EMP gauge, hole in bulkhead, line now needs connecting inside the car.
Then built the rest of the exhaust up. Thats now finished too. Nice 2.5", straight through with a powerflow outwardly rolled tip
Also redid the support brackets on the turbo.
Fitted freshly painted vaccuum pump and dipstick holder/oil breather cylinder along with nice new breather piping and O rings!
removed leaky o/s driveshaft seal and fitted new one, refitted shaft and refilled gearbox.
Hot side of turbo fitted, new gaskets, exhaust all bolted up!

So tomorrow its the turbo to built up, it arrived today all balanced with a balance report sheet n everything! So the vanes need fitting and shiny cold side fitting. then plumbing in.
Hope to get the aux setup back on and oil cooler fitted too be nice.
Got two big days of work and Ruan is over friday eve for tuning, so it needs to be done.


Anyway. Sorry no pics, too tired, need shower and a brew and bed.

night.

---

Gotta be worth above scrap surely [WINKING FACE]

Jokes aside gotta be worth a bit to sell as whole.

I would be surprised if someone is willing to pay what its worth to me/worth in parts.


I expect it will come off the road and get stripped for donor parts to live on in other 306s.

[Niall]

Gotta be worth above scrap surely [WINKING FACE]

Jokes aside gotta be worth a bit to sell as whole.

I would be surprised if someone is willing to pay what its worth to me/worth in parts.


I expect it will come off the road and get stripped for donor parts to live on in other 306s.

This is the problem with a lot of highly modified cars. They are worth a lot more to the owner than they are to most regardless of how much work, blood, sweat and tears went into it.

[Piggy]

yeah, and I realise that

Hence why it will likely end up going for parts.

[bashbarnard]

Its a shame but I understand that at the end of the day. I don't think I could rip apart mine after all the effort that's gone in. Saying that the time may come one day I guess.

[zx_volcane]

Not sure why you're talking about breaking it before you've even finished it tbh, unless you've already got the next project in mind to fund ...

[Piggy]

Not sure why you're talking about breaking it before you've even finished it tbh, unless you've already got the next project in mind to fund ...

yup.

Project: 

get out of debt and spend more time with wife and friends and less time with oil in my eyes and grit in my hair

[zx_volcane]

Not sure why you're talking about breaking it before you've even finished it tbh, unless you've already got the next project in mind to fund ...

yup.

Project: 

get out of debt and spend more time with wife and friends and less time with oil in my eyes and grit in my hair

Can't knock that Life balance and all that

[Piggy]

yeah. August time I will start looking for a tidy dturbo/late hdi. A good daily. I can't NOT have a 306. But I will have to have people keep an eye on me so I don't go nuts again with mods.

---

So after a couple MAMMOTH days....

New turbo, manifold, downpipe, exhaust and loads of other little bits either replaced, cleaned, painted, polish, customised or chopped up and repositioned! EGT gauge swapped and EMP plumbed in.

[attachment=23470][attachment=23471][attachment=23472][attachment=23473]

She has a very naughty off beat tone due to the manifold, exhaust is quite a bit noisier but then the old one was quite quiet. 

Next... dash finish trims and support bracket. Retrack it. Setup arduino.

start cleaning and polishing!

[Ben]

Engine bay looks awesome

[205dtub]

Car is a credit to hard work and attention to detail. Kudos. Hope you decide never to break it.

[Piggy]

[attachment=23478]
[attachment=23479]

dash done! just need a clean and interior is all but finished for FCS.

Got a set of composite seats I want, but the guy is taking ages to get back to me.


Ruan should be here soon....

[kentiiboii]

You shouldn't break this.
At least just store it for winter and get it back out in summer.

[adam b]

Good effort

[Kezzieboy]

One of the most complete projects I've ever seen tbh, the attention to detail is phenomenal, no stone left unturned.

Congrats dude, she's a beaut.