The bought not built ph1 VNT Estate

[clarkey2010]

Well i thought i would do a small thread to keep things rolling. i am sure everyone knows the car and what the previous has done to it so i wont bore you all with the details (credit to Ash for all the hard work)

have no idea on future plans (feel free to suggest) but it is now my daily driver and so far so good. 





few niggles to sort out but i will probably update this thread at some point in the future if anyone actual cares.

but yeah here she is!

[Frosty]

Really glad to see it still on the forum, just carry on ash's good work

[bashbarnard]

Do love this car. Like the phase 1 thing. Diffrent.

[Piggy]

Yeah v pleased to still see it about!

[Mattcheese31]

Yeah this car is great, phase 1 estate was a sweet idea, glad it's still on the forum also

[Jamieh2013]

Love this car, wanted to buy it myself but had no where to keep it

[Chris_90]

How's it going? What's performance like? And spool times? Need to see a vid of it in action

[Jonny81191]

I do like this, are you going to paint the bumper strips black?

[rd070707]

This is nice, I would remove the front overarches and paint the bumper strips black to make it more retro looking

[1616six]

This is nice, I would remove the front overarches and paint the bumper strips black to make it more retro looking

This, make it OEM ph1 looking.

Good buy.

[Poodle]

Would look epic de-barried imo, could lose the skirts too for proper oem-ness. Lasers?

[Matt]

Love the look of this, IMO loose the arches and paint the bumper strips black and it will look the tits!

[clarkey2010]

Cheers for the comments!

Yup being a big fan of the OEM+ look I'll be going down that route. I'll be adding little extras at some point like the outside temp. sensor and media stalk etc...

Il be on the look out for another ph1 bumper if anyone has a good one along with some new hockey sticks or clips just to tart the front up abit.

Did actually run into my first small problem as the car wouldn't start (glow plugs). 30 mins wasted with the multimeter in the bloody rain and the problem was smack bang in front of me lmao 





Also tempted ditch the Nimrods for the typical Clones 


More to come tho

[clarkey2010]

Small update. 

Typical mist jet upgrade + new door switches to solve the interior light issue 





Slight knocking noise has been found which was one of the Rear wishbone bush on the front. 

Next on the list was the blow coming from the down pipe area which has been annoying me for a while now. Was taken to my mates garage as I didn't want tackle it on my drive lol 

After a couple hours of swearing it finally come out with the engine still in place.

Sadly after pulling the heatwrap off it was pretty bad with cracks all over the place (down to the heat wrap maybe) , warped and had twisted slightly near the head.




Cutting a long story short , he decided to scrap the idea of even trying attempt to fix it due to costs and time attempting to unwarp it as they say and come up with another fix which would also be easier to work with in the future.


So he used the original cast manifold from a t2, but ported the end out to just under 2.5 inch, then made a new flange,  welded up a 2.5inch stainless pipe to it in the shape of a U and recycled the flange for the turbo from the old manifold.

Not the best pictures but certainly a bigger improvement, with no more blowing , feels abit more responsive and will be easier to work with in future if something goes wrong.



Will grab a few better shots when I head back to his garage to swap the rear poly engine mount out for a standard one as the dash rattles like bastard on idle.

Also removed the arches and on the look out for replacement trim pieces on the wings if anyone has any 

[zx_volcane]

that was a tubular 4-1 mani that you've replaced?

[clarkey2010]

that was a tubular 4-1 mani that you've replaced?

Sadly so yes.

[zx_volcane]

and it was a total write off?

[clarkey2010]

and it was a total write off?

Pretty much. Turbo side was chopped off and reused that's about it. 
Someone with the time and money might of been able save it but starting again would of been the easier option imo

[zx_volcane]

christ, didn't last long that :/

lets hope your new one gives you many miles of untroubled boosting

[clarkey2010]

Shame really but we will see how the new one holds up , really need get it on a RR to fine tune it and actually see what it makes as well at some point

[Ricky volcane]

Was this a oem estate? Or has someone converted it to ph1?? Will be really nice when you've the black on the front bumper again

[Mattcheese31]

Was this a oem estate? Or has someone converted it to ph1?? Will be really nice when you've the black on the front bumper again

they didn't make a phase 1 estate fella

[darrenjlobb]

Shame really but we will see how the new one holds up , really need get it on a RR to fine tune it and actually see what it makes as well at some point

Sounds like a trip to Cornwall / Derv mini meet is required!!

[clarkey2010]

Shame really but we will see how the new one holds up , really need get it on a RR to fine tune it and actually see what it makes as well at some point

Sounds like a trip to Cornwall / Derv mini meet is required!!

5hr and 37mins away   probably need my passport as well heading that far south  but keep us posted

[thododd]

Theres plenty of tea at mine if you fancy stopping half way to darrens .... i might even join you for a tune up session

I still cant believe you sold the robocop to jamie

[darrenjlobb]

Hm bugger didnt realise the distance

[clarkey2010]

Theres plenty of tea at mine if you fancy stopping half way to darrens .... i might even join you for a tune up session

I still cant believe you sold the robocop to jamie

Ahhh now I know who you are, I had your forte off you didn't I with the GTI engine in as well.

Yup sadly it had to go and my old man is starting to regret it now :/

[clarkey2010]

With having a couple of cold mornings and struggling to start I have invested in some Bosch plugs to ditch the crappy NGK and replaced all the leak offs while I was it








Next on the list of things to do:

* Replace the rear engine mount as the polybush one shakes the dash like hell

*need a new EGT gauge and probe (suggestions welcome) 

* sort the interior trim pieces out

* investigate the clutch as I have some slipping :/

Looking for some future ideas engine mod wise as well. But I think I might be limited without having some forged rods ???

II will definitely have make the run down to Darren to let him fine tune it maybe at some point who knows

[clarkey2010]

Right this may be up for sale again soon due to apparently needing to "grow up" and stop messing around with "sh*t" 306's pfffftttt! :0

But we will see...

[Mattcheese31]

Don't let women boss you mate tut-tut, you show her who's boss son