A quite weekend on the car, not really done much other than a bit of a clear up, had to sort the wife out with a new car so we picked up this on Saturday, not going to get caught speeding in it but 70mpg sounds ok… I did ask if she wanted it 4wd I was told to keep my f**king hands off it



Had a delivery today for the Astra, another eBay bargain a pair of 4 pots plus a set of new pads £62



Going to make some new back plates for the front disks with cooling built in from the front bumper something like this,

 

Are you using 5x100 hubs, if so I'd be interested in seeing how you get on with the backing plates

 

Yes using 5x100 i've got some 76mm OD pipe just need to get hold of an old disk to use as a guide as i would like to get air into the vented area so it helps cool both sides of the disk... i was going to draw a diagram but i think its going to be a case of trying the pipe in different positions,

if it works out i will take some measurements and decent pics..

 

 

I'd also be interested in a set of those...bargain btw on the brakes

 

Ordered my cage today… so now need to get a few jobs completed, the first was whether I had to chop the tunnel but I have got round it, I mounted the diff up in the correct place and tried the prop shaft for clearance looks very tight so I decided to make some spacers and mount the rear cradle 10mm closer to the ground to help with some clearance,

Some 10mm Alloy Plates fitted in…





Although it doesn't look like it in the pic i now have around 5mm of clearance would like a bit more, luckily there is a lip on the tunnel edge, with a bit of grinding should be able to get at least 10mm clearance quite easy.



I fitted the new rear spoiler after tiger bonding a new bolt into it…



And did the lovely job of getting the sound deadening out, much easier now its cold though.

 

just a bit of tatting today... fitted some hydraulic struts for the bonnet got them off eBay there for a GTO but fitted ok in the end...

 

I agree with the above! MSA has changed Rallying regs, so this will more than likely not be allowed. I have just seen a rather nice fiesta (4x4, cosworth engine) build that will not be eligible due to bulkhead modifications.

Could go RallyCross/Sprint/Hillclimb I think...

 

Yeh I jumped in the deep end not checking for reg changes before I had gone to far, but I was never going to do anything serious rally wise due to budgets ect so sprint and hill climbs are probably better suited.... But track days to start

 

Waiting for the cage to get delivered… so I made a start to some strengthening on the rear,

Started making some plates up for the cage and rear strut brace to attach to.



The cage will come down and attach to the turret somewhere on this plate



Using some 32mm CDS tube for the strut brace I decided to build like this..









I was going to have the straight bar at the top but how it is and the cage will be an ‘X’ it will leave a decent space for access to fuel tank etc.

Also decided I need a new welding mask with the welder cranked up It was still quite bright think the solar panel must be on its way out and can't see anywhere to replace a battery, so a new helmet before doing the cage.

 

Not much progress lately, didn’t get much chance over Christmas and waiting for cage to be delivered so doing some tidying and tatting…



Welded around the outside of the new filler cap and grinded down, Will finish the rest with filler…



Sealed the inside of the old cap as the wheel will flick water and crap up in that direction



Then tacked a plate on the outside, learned from doing the new cap not to get too much heat in the panel so will leave it just tacked and skim with filler later.

 

This is great, ill be watching this thread. Keep up the good work!

 

Love these projects. well done Ian cracking job so far mate...

 

cheers guys...

 

Done a bit more today, started by giving the car a clean out as it started to look like a rolling storage container…



Then decided to fit my aerocatch bonnet catches turned into a bit of a pain getting them to sit flush and still have somewhere to fix the pin… so ended up with them like this (remember the car is being sprayed white)



But after cutting the hole found they hit the front panel so ended up chopping this high spot off, and the pin sat to high with a nut top and bottom so I have welded a nut in position…





Then patched up and nut fixed…



I have ordered some of these fixing plates to save messing with the nuts on the back…



also nearly a year in probably not as far as I thought I’d be but then again I have changed plans during the build so not bad really…

 

Keep at it mate, looking good. It's always the little bits that take the time.

 

I love this thread! Deffinatley subscribed
Hope to see a video of the beast when it's finished

 

Yeh i was messing with that bonnet catch for about 3 hours still got the other side to do but should be a lot quicker no i know what i'm doing...

video!!! yes it would be rude not too...

 

My roll cage and extra tubing arrived today so it's time to get motivated this weekend...

 

Coming along nicely Ian, and as soon as the cage is in I can see it moving more in the direction your hoping for, surprising how much motivation comes from seeing bits like that go in

Keep up the good work pal, always enjoy checking the updates of yours, I started out with vauxhalls so look forward to you completing it and to see it going

 

Cheers for the comments much appreciated and helps keeping it going...

 

Got this neat little tool today… it puts a bevel around a hole in sheet metal to give extra strength and a better finish… going to use when making my own gusset plates for the cage to body connections

 

Sounds line a handy little tool that does
Can't wait to see more

 

Cage laid out and checked all parts are here,



I tried out the bevel tool first on 1mm steel, worked well and easy to tighten up just have to make sure it is central…



Then tried it on some 1.6mm steel still easy to tighten up and result looks good



Also did the welding sample for the cage so that can be sent back this week see if it passes...

 

This looks fun, cant wait to see it finished but don't think the scoop looks right.

 

Yeh the scoop definatly splits opinions... i've had a couple of people seen it in pictures then for real and say it's better now they have seen the car, i'm going to see when its in one colour if it looks to much will get a new bonnet...

also need to put lights and bumper on to see how it looks.

 

I love the scoop! Makes a big difference to the normal boring Astra front end.

 

Good news - just heard from CC my weld test passed So full steam ahead with the cage - shame i have to work this Saturday

 

Looking good Ian! I'm so jel of that bevelling tool looks so much better then just a hole.
Now the fun begins with the cage, there's a lot of tubing there that's going to look pretty darn trick.
Mines coming on nicely now too.
Maybe we could have a hybrid off on the track one day!!

Also, im sure uou already know but I'd have a good think before you start the cage and put it together so you can fully weld all the joints.

James

 

Cheers James, got the bevel tool off eBay items in FAB PARTS 2009 store on eBay!

Yes defo up for some track action...

Agree on cage I cut some holes in the floor/sill for the main hoop to drop back down and cable tied the front section in last week with it dropped down I think I will get everywhere, one part of the door bar looks really awkward...