Considering converting the Saloon to a track car.

Petrified · Post by **Petrified** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 2:26 pm

I'm seriously considering turning the saloon into a track day car.

it was cheap, it's a 1.3 saloon, didn't have much service history and the engine is up to 115k

Someone posted a link up previously for steel wheels?? I cant find it

Wondering what would be best for:

Wheels (I'm guessing wide 13" steelies would be best?)
Light weight seats (will any fit directly into a mk3?)
Engine (g40? 16v?)

Anyone has any thoughts it would be greatly appreciated!

The only downside being it has a glass sunroof, what can be done about that?

Just thinking about it at the moment.

James.

diablohowes · Post by **diablohowes** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 4:42 pm

I have not the slightest clue about track cars but I believe the website you're looking for is http://www.wellerwheels.com/

Krupa · Post by **Krupa** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 5:51 pm

Get the sunroof welded up, it'd be easier than doing so to a metal one.

The guy who services my car is making a Daewoo something or other into a 2l 16v Vauxhall engined rally car and he's taken the sunroof out and will be welding the hole up. He's taken the headlining out of that though, so the bare metal thing is fairly continuous.

Glass ones are just a hole in the roof basically, metal ones have sliders and stuff that go back in the roof.

Raceline make cheap bucket seats, quality seems reasonable and they come with Mk2 Golf subframes so they'd fit straight in. Probably lighter than the standard seats.

Petrified · Post by **Petrified** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 6:35 pm

Cheers!

Have a look where all the golk mk2 owners hang out then and check if they are selling seats.

The weller wheels look ace, I'm just wondering whether getting 14" golf steelies would be a better idea though so I have the option of upgrading the brakes. Or are the weller wheel super light? some 13*7 would be pretty cool

DanW · Post by **DanW** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 8:07 pm

Just thinking about it, wouldn't a MK2 be a slightly better option as that automagicaly saves some weight.

And if its only a track day racer, the dash could come out too.

amstrange1 · Post by **amstrange1** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 8:09 pm

I bought Golf steelies to clear big brakes - but they have to go, as I need the money for tyres and I can't see me affording big brakes for a while yet!

amstrange1 · Post by **amstrange1** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 8:12 pm

Oh, and don't rule out the possibility of a GT lump. With flowed head, the right cam, 4 branch exhaust I'd expect 100bhp+, which could be quite effective on the track. And cheaper and easier to maintain and run than a G40. A 6N 1.4 16v engine or 6N2 1.6 16v engine would be nice, but a little more work to fit, and more expensive.

Petrified · Post by **Petrified** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 8:16 pm

Cool, thanks for the advice especially as I'm having the wheels off you!

If I hold on long enough I might be able to get Alex (Krupa's) GT lump off him!

I'll do a bit more research on the Engines. There's a few G40 ARB's and things going at the moment so I'll try to pick up one of them too.

Apart from the engine transplant I want to do everything myself. So it's a bit of a project. As long as It's drivable I've got it as a back up to the G40.

should be fun doing it anyway.

Right, got some 13" G40 Alloys to sell now...

James.

amstrange1 · Post by **amstrange1** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 8:35 pm

I think the engine transplant (if you were going for a GT) is easily doable yourself. It's just like big mechano...

The GT engine is a much stronger lump internally than the newer 16v engines, but I guess is likely to have higher mileage. Swings and roundabouts really - but the GT is easy to install. I'd love a GT track car myself, as I'd want to spend huge sums on a G40 if I used one for the track - to make that I didn't break stuff.

Krupa · Post by **Krupa** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 1:40 am

Petrified wrote:If I hold on long enough I might be able to get Alex (Krupa's) GT lump off him!

Might not be too long a wait

hardhitter · Post by **hardhitter** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 12:45 pm

A GT saloon track car sounds good. Get the sunroof done by a good bodyshop as it will be a difficult task to get it right.

hayesey · Post by **hayesey** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 1:00 pm

I'm just fixing my sunroof panel in place in my G40.

I'm going ot make a metal frame out of strips of flat steel which will weld to the ledges that run the length of the car inside & then also weld/bolt to the roll cage roof bars. the sunroof try will basically sit on these & then I'll use tigerseal around the edges of the panel to seal it up but still allow it to move slightly.

Krupa · Post by **Krupa** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 2:37 pm

My mate's selling some nearly new reclining Cobra Daytona seats in blue for Â£400ono... in Cardiff. Any use?

Less than 6 months old, but might not be quite what you're looking for.

Petrified · Post by **Petrified** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 3:01 pm

No thanks mate, I'm on a budget.
Got some GT seats for now anyway which are a lot better.

GroovyCarrot · Post by **GroovyCarrot** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 3:08 pm

Glad you went for the GT seats rather than the mk2 golf ones - I have mk2 golf gti seats in mine, they fit, but not properly. The rear posts are longer in the golf than the polo, so the only way to get the seats in is to force them in and they get wedged there. Really not ideal, I'm trying to get funds together for some coupe s/gt seats to replace them.