2001 Saxo VTS track toy - Page 6 - Saxperience

simonsaunders · 16th November 2014, 19:41

So the floor pan needed a little love. The handbrake wasn't really attached. One of the 13 previous owners clearly had been giving it some serious car park action. Both myself and Gareth were quietly pleased that the car had been enjoyed, I think. OK, I was pleased. Gareth just had more welding to do.

Just a little plate, captive nut and now it is ready for some more handbrake turns.

And you may recall that the seat mount needed some love too.

I secretly hope that matey's 2007 handbrake turn helped him pick up a keen lass and they busted the seat mount going at it!

Another plate welded in, captive nut, and problem solved. Plate partially hidden by the seat mount.

Xplodee · 17th November 2014, 18:21

Nice work so far buddy. When are you doing brands hatch ?

simonsaunders · 17th November 2014, 18:23

Brands Hatch is the 5th Dec - it is a Mazda on Track day. Going?

Xplodee · 17th November 2014, 18:26

No, I'm going on 14th dec with msv trackdays. will be cold I think lol.

simonsaunders · 17th November 2014, 18:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xplodee

No, I'm going on 14th dec with msv trackdays. will be cold I think lol.

This is my 3rd Mazda on Track December Brands Hatch day. Last time it snowed...

Good fun though and the changeable conditions help keep the short track interesting.

simonsaunders · 17th November 2014, 20:09

"So to follow... The tale of the skinny car and chunky seat, some more welding, something round, some Saunders incompetence and the gear change of magic."

So... The seat.

I picked up some Sparco subframes, a little tatty, but sound. Like the factory seats, these bolt to the transmission tunnel and sill. On the sill side, another play bolts on top and this provides some adjustment. It is really awkward to photo, but here is a pic off the Internet:

The frame went in easy enough, but the seat interfered with the bolts on top. It was just too wide for the frame.

We discussed a few options and Gareth got the welder out. Again. Welding it all up, including the spare / unused bolt holes solved that problem. You can see the long weld all up the side on this photo:

After a bit off a faff, we got the seat all bolted up satisfactorily.

We had some mounting holes for the harness, but needed another for the crotch strap and one of the lap straps. More welding, no pictures, but you've all seen eyelets before, I'm sure. I hadn't quite thought through the eyelet, harness situation before we got to that stage, so thanks to Gareth for his patience and support! Currently the shoulder straps use the former rear seat passenger mounts, which looks like it is just in tolerance with the 45' angle, but I need to pull the seat forward a bit, so that will only get better.

As the passenger side has no provision for a seatbelt, I'll probably be back at Gareth's before too long to get another eyelet welded in, so we'll probably go for another horizontal bar on the cage so we can mount the harness to that.

That summarises a good couple of hours of painstaking work, overcoming one little niggle after the other. But seat, mounted, harnesses in, need to take a daylight photo!

As we were winding up, Gareth poked around under the car a bit. I had already spotted that the CV boot was off again. My fault for using a cheaper, mounting it too tight and not crimping the clamp properly. Or at all. Gareth gave me a look which suggested *idiot* and tidied it up... But I suspect this is one that will need to be done again, properly this time. Most of my mechanical experience comes from motorbikes, which don't have CVs, so that is my excuse.

And now, for the gear change of magic...

The gear change was always really floppy and imprecise and on the to do list. We worked out why...

This is the linkage diagram:

The issue is in part number 2, the selection controller, which looks like this:

The defining feature is the big rubber ball. These are known to wear, which is what I thought my problem was. Well, my Saxo has lost its ball. Completely. That is why it's sloppy! I have every part within the gear linkage in stock, apart from that part. Arse. New part is about £50 delivered and not difficult to fit. Best get that ordered as Gareth insisted on doing some remedial works to the existing part t get me home, as he was a bit mystified as to how I was even getting gears! Was like it when I bought it, did Goodwood. Magic, I tell you.

So, I promised you:

"So to follow... The tale of the skinny car and chunky seat, some more welding, something round, some Saunders incompetence and the gear change of magic."

As for the something round...

From this:

To this:

Much better! And Gareth got his Apache wheel back! Lucky him! Oh, and the deep dish definitely helps with my short arms!

Here is as good of a shot as I have of where we are now:

Oh, and the little car earned its spurs...

Next up, loads of tidying! Order up what I need already, so I'll crack on with that and show you all how I get on!

Massive thanks to Gareth for all his efforts... His name / company is on the side of the car for a reason!

hard_corejoeboy · 17th November 2014, 23:53

Looks good. Get rid of your gay front doorcards though!

simonsaunders · 30th November 2014, 22:03

Completely ignored the to do list and...

Pulled out the tatty subframes

Attacked them with a sander

Then attacked them some more.

Got the primer out.

Did some more some more sanding, because the primer really highlighted where I had been lazy. Then some more primer.

Got the satin black out a few times, rubbed down with some 2500 wet and dry, not least because it pissing rained on them before they dried.

End result:

Much smarter - not perfect, but I'm using cans and haven't done much spraying before. We'll see how well the finish lasts.

Helped get my eye in too - more painting to come!

simonsaunders · 30th November 2014, 22:05

So the to do list, as it was.

Fit braided hoses
New brake fluid for the above (obviously)
Buy and fit gear selection controller
Paint cage, footplates, etc.
Underseal
Move seat forward
Check flex / rubbing / contact on anything near cage parts
Secure loose wiring in place

simonsaunders · 30th November 2014, 22:06

Been absolutely buggered for time, so I've been snatching minutes here and there. Had the option to pop back to Gareth's and make use of the ramp (and an extra pair of hands), but just no time. I worked from home a couple of days and even got out there for the chilly 07.30 - 08.50 window. Brrr.

Fit braided hoses - this job was sacrificed. I could try to squeeze it in this week, but on the week of a TD I'm best of leaving it.

New brake fluid for the above (obviously) - this is is stock for when I'm ready.

Buy and fit gear selection controller - done. This was quite easy - 2 bolts on the controller and had to move a brace - just another two bolts, but obviously has to slip under the car and squeeze the tools up the back of the engine. So just a tad awkward.

Spot the difference:

Old:

New:

Balls! Or rather, no ball. Makes quite a difference.

Paint cage, footplates, etc. - done. Bloody cage fought me every step of the way going back in, and I scratched some of the (visible) fresh paint. Not the end of the world though - I ran out of paint for the new diagonal, so more paintwork to be done - so a touch up here and there won't hurt. The factory paint is far from consistent anyway. Quite enjoy the painting actually. But mostly because it is satin black (easy to use) and largely hidden. Went over all the newly welded patches and whatnot, slipping an old bolt into each hole to protect the thread. Did the cage in / out on my own, managing to get to both sides of the bolt by wedging spanners in here and there, cable tying breaker bars to the cage (pushing against, not away from, the bars), etc. The bolts were easy actually - even the ones by the fuel filler - it was just the cage itself that didn't want to go back. All bolts FT.

Underseal - done. Obviously where there was any welding completed, over bolts, etc. I used some Comma stuff. It is clear in colour and I was expecting black, which weirded me out for a bit. I'll see how well it sticks.

Move seat forward - done. Oh you ****er. The most annoying, fiddly **** of a job. Getting the crotch strap just so, seat in and out, ****ing about, realising it was on the wonk, squeeze in, move it a bit, have a little cry with frustration as such an easy job was so annoyingly fiddly! Done now though. No pics, as it just looks like a seat. But I'm happy.

Popped some split pins into the belt clasps as directed by Gareth.

Check flex / rubbing / contact on anything near cage parts. Done. I'm happy.

Secure loose wiring in place. Done. Sort of. Got the cabling cable tied and tucked nicely (but not too tightly) behind the front legs. Forgot to do the same with the rear legs, so the cabling goes, from a visual perspective, the wrong side of the legs. The cage isn't coming out again. That was a right bastard, so I'll have to disconnect some plugs and re-route. Not dangerous, just not ideal. Still got some more to remove, but it is all secured.

Just want to give it a clean and a Hoover ahead of Brands.

For another day:
Look at electric mirror switch (prob needs replacing, can adjust mirror externally anyway)
Coolant flush
Remove some odds and sods of wiring, a few bits of sound deadening, etc.
Paint diagonal and some other bits.
Fit braided hoses
Fit uprated gearbox mount. It is purple, was cheap.

simonsaunders · 8th December 2014, 20:40

So a bit of a post Brands Hatch update / brain dump. For those that were there, the 3 and a bit hour closure (inc. lunch, so 2 and a bit hours of lost track time) was very frustrating. Bloody twat in the RX8 'race car' ignoring the marshals and dumping oil all around the circuit from a cracked block. Still a good day though.

Car ran faultlessly all day, albeit covering fewer miles than I would have liked. I did Brands this time 2 years ago in an mx-5 and it was definitely a lot easier in the FWD Saxo. Quicker too, I'm sure, simply due to driver confidence. It is fun sliding around in RWD, but can be annoying when you want to be going forwards! In terms of pace, passed way more mx-5s then passed me and it was about 50:50 on RX8s... So competent TD pace from the little Sax. A largely Mazda day, hence the benchmarks. Quite pleasing really as I was in a quick group at Goodwood, so had no real ideal of pace - 911s, M3s, etc. will always be faster. Way faster.

Check engine light came on again, but it didn't impact engine running so I'll assume that it is just being French. I have a fault reader / clearer so will investigate, but I'm not too fussed.

Maybe I'm being a prick with the check engine light, but it is only an issue when it is getting a razzing on track - fault never returns in road use. Based on the last lot of codes, following Goodwood, potentially the issue was in and around the ignition system. Depending on my mood and advice I may refresh all of that, but others have done the same (coils to plugs) and found no change.

Headroom is marginal, so the sunroof is definitely on the delete list, probably with a simple glued and riveted plate.

Harness bar would be nice too... But with no more TDs planned, just yet, I'm in no rush.

Anything else to mention - driving position is great. The seat / dished wheel combo really works for me. The brakes, despite changing nothing since Goodwood, felt much better. Maybe the pads settled once fully cooled (Yellowstuff), maybe I didn't work them as hard in the cold, damp conditions?

Car is definitely fun though. Rear a little flighty into Paddock, kept in check with just a little corrective action - just an eighth of a turn of lock and barely noticeable on film. The rest of the time it was just a case of managing the front grip. Didn't understeer badly unless I was a dick, just a case of not overloading the fronts. The video is a bit dull compared to RWD ones, but felt good at the wheel.

Retaining all wipers, heating and stereo was a good call.

Does the car feel lighter on its feet since the strip? Maybe, but I'm not convinced. The whole stripped and caged car felt better though - better held in place, able to use the wheel for steering and not bracing myself against in corners, the reassurance of the cage (no excuse for being a dick though) and ultimately a lot more confidence that nothing is going to fall off... Which was one of my concerns at Goodwood!

I'll post up a photo or two later, but I've not bothered uploading the video to YouTube. I placed the camera in a poor position - too much interior, rear view mirror in the middle of the shot, etc. - but ultimately nothing much exciting happened from a casual viewer perspective - a whole quarter lock represented the biggest moment. No one bailed off in front of me. The lines worked in the conditions, but look wrong (go where the grip is, not the dry racing line) so basically I can't be arsed uploading as they serve no purpose! Other than perhaps indicating where NOT to place a camera.

Oh, and I sorted a little tea station for the 15 or so of us. We had more mugs, obviously... But they were all in use at this time. Absolute genius. If it is good enough for Guy Martin...

hard_corejoeboy · 8th December 2014, 23:17

Haha nice update liking the tea! Good drills!

Brands can be a little boring and repetetive but a saxo is quite well suited there in my opinion. I did a day there quite a few years ago now when I was rather useless at driving and also at camera positioning (since fixed with a gopro)

Funny you should mention m3's

Watch "Saxo vts vs BMW M3 at Brands Hatch Indy" on YouTube
Saxo vts vs BMW M3 at Brands Hatch Indy: http://youtu.be/s4IWfb2o07w

simonsaunders · 9th December 2014, 07:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by hard_corejoeboy

Haha nice update liking the tea! Good drills!

Brands can be a little boring and repetetive but a saxo is quite well suited there in my opinion. I did a day there quite a few years ago now when I was rather useless at driving and also at camera positioning (since fixed with a gopro)

Funny you should mention m3's

Watch "Saxo vts vs BMW M3 at Brands Hatch Indy" on YouTube
Saxo vts vs BMW M3 at Brands Hatch Indy: http://youtu.be/s4IWfb2o07w

That M3 is not particularly well driven, braking way too early, lines are awful; I'm not surprised a well driven hot hatch can keep up!

hard_corejoeboy · 9th December 2014, 17:57

Except it wasn't well driven lol in those days I was still flirting with driving fast. But yeah he was slow as hell especially as it was a CSL

simonsaunders · 18th April 2015, 20:06

Had a little day on the Saxo today. MoT has expired and I had a couple of jobs to do before sending it to the MoT station.

1. Having removed the air bagged steering wheel, and the factory seats / pre-tensioners I had a warning light on the dash.

Ripped out this little lot, but the important bit was the airbag ECU.

Also got the passenger airbag out (the little folded fabric thing above), which is an absolute ****. No access room really, but you can just get to the bolts through the air vent (once removed) and up through the hole for the diagnostics port. All blind, all scratchy. Got it out though. Next problem was retrieving the plastic cover, which (via a sandwich plate) riveted on to the airbag module. Angle grinder and airbag is a scary mix, but got there without blowing my cock off. Dash looks normal, but I know it's better.

The important bit was the dash start-up... The Internet said that taking out the ECU would deal with it. And it did - no warning lights!

:rave:

Now let's just hope that the MoT man views it as a proper job and doesn't get funny.

So what next?

I had noticed that the rear wiper blade was split. Good excuse to lose it! Should be a few bolts, take it out, easy job. It was, of course, all pretty rusted solid. More grinder action (no, not *that* sort of grinder action)!

The Nelly plaster is short-term measure - I'll get a blanking grommet off eBay.

While all of this was going on, I was also finally getting some paint on the cage, specifically around the new bar / welds (I'd done the chassis previously, but not the cage). Got that done with some etch primer / satin black. Not perfect, but good enough, especially as the cage has seen all sorts of paint over the years. One day I'll pull it and do it all in a uniform colour.

And the final job was the door, which had sagged, again. I can see why now - the metal around the hinges is quite fatigued, which I put down to spotty youths getting out of the back and levering themselves out on the door. Not in my tenure, obviously! That doesn't happen now, but leaving the door open does it no favours.

I pulled the door card and speaker to lose a little weight, disconnected the central locking, jacked the door back up, got it shut and locked. Opening will be carefully considered here on in! When I get the harness bar welded in (which I'll probably source, cut and get a local firm to weld), I'll try to get them to tidy it up.

After that a good clean (as seen in the Nelly plaster shot) means it is MoT ready.

We'll see what the man says next week!