1.1 forte accidental project

[chompy_snake]

Well this is the second saxo I have owned so far ... My first started out life as a furio in posi blue and got converted to a vts bottom end and black top vtr head (or so i was told) with a vts gearbox, either way it was quick enough!
I killed that one on a rainy day after I hit a pothole that wasn't visible and tore the wishbone from the floor but hey she was cheap and only cost me £180 so you can imagine the condition of it.

This then brings me to the new car that was only ever bought as a cheap run around, besides the neighbours were selling it cheap and at £250 with test till 03/15 and tax til end of october, what could possibly go wrong????

So far in the last month, the seat mounts for both front seats have had to be welded back in (normal issue), the bottom balljoints on both sides had failed ... so 2 new wishbones (from the breakers), the o/s driveshaft bust the outer cv joint so had a brand new replacement and then to top it all off the rear axle bearings both collapsed requiring an entire replacement unit. I only payed £54 for the whole rear axle with everything on it but as soon as it was fitted found it was lowered

Happy with the rear arch gap at least, when you have ppl on board it gets lower so having the sprogs, it's best to go no lower! no idea how much lower it actually is from standard, I think between 35mm and 40mm ???


tried to get level with the car for this picture but the lowering isn't obvious


both 1.1's the blue one is a guy's down the street and stock height!

This is my biggest issue at the moment ....
monstrous front arch gap ... I need to address this before anything else is done to the car modification wise!

not liking the reverse rake thing going off here!

This has ended up being both my daily runner because it;s so cheap to run and my project car ... just because

Long term plans are:

lower the nose to a better height as it looks fugly as hell atm

paint or powdercoat the wheels white and fit plastic berlingo centres, just get the berlingo wheels if the centres are a no go

possibly fit a 106 interior as the seats are a little more comfortable imo

tidy the whole body and remove as many of the numerous dents as possible.
Followed by painting the entire car British leyland applejack

Black the headlamps

Fit a VTR inlet mani and injectors, with the throttle body icv and fuel rail

fit a turbocharger, most likely to be a garrett T25 as they are easy to source

find and fit a relevant size fmic

get stressed with the electrical nightmare that ensues with getting the fuel trims and general map sorted

Thats the long term plan anyway ... it's going to take forever and a day to get there as sprogs eat cash for breakfast, but i'm determined and that's something!
I have seen the 106? turbo that someone here built and that was extremely inspirational!

So there you have it, I'm new to the forum and already proving I'm a total nut job on my first long winded post lol

[Jigs2895]

The new axle looks shagged from the rear, have you tested it for play?

[chompy_snake]

I think it might be the camera angle maybe???
We tested it for play but couldn't really find anything ... but the one that was removed, you could move the wheels all over the place!

Just out of interest, what is it that you see that rings alarm bells? I'm not too up on the whole torsion beam setup ... still learning that bit.

It drives really nice compared to the old axle, doesn't wander or anything as it used too! But on the other hand if it truly is shagged, I will be exchanging it. And going lower lol

[Jigs2895]

It might just be the angle of the shot, but the first sign is camber on the wheels, they sit inwards, just jack it up and double check for any play.

[chompy_snake]

I will get the car on the level tomorrow and take a shot with the camera on the floor. That should give a clearer picture ... cheers for the heads up on the axle

[jamie106VTS]

Vts bottom end with vtr head? Think someome was well over them selfs haha

[chompy_snake]

Well car is in pieces ... Again! This week it has decided that the front suspension needs to be changed after blowing the o/s shock insert lol!
Never mind it's time to get it lower I suppose, The intention is to put it on a 50mm ish lowering spring at the front (being 1.1 I think drop will be less) and then match up the rear beam if required. Took a look at the rear beam for play ... can't make my mind up if the wheel bearing is pooped or if the end bearing has just started to go, Think I will change the wheel bearing first and see what happens ... if the slight play is still there it's off with the arm to see if it can be saved.

Last week it had brand new discs and pads up front as every braking situation was an emergency, glad I did it as the n/s disc snapped in 2 as it was removed ... will add some pics later today

[chompy_snake]

Originally Posted by jamie106VTS

Vts bottom end with vtr head? Think someome was well over them selfs haha

You didn't see the guy I got it off
It was the first saxo that I had and it was a good bit of fun ... besides vtr/s engines are the same god damn thing with 16v or 8v head iirc

[chompy_snake]

Right, weekends finally over and that meant that I could eventually get the car back together (well with mates help ofc)

I took the liberty of sourcing some 50mm lowering springs for a VTR (thy fit the 1.1 legs nicely) and bought the cheapest shock absorber available at short notice .... The end result was this



I like the ride height as it is, doesn't hit the ground at all. doesn't bottom out and sticks to the road well .... just have to figure out the best way to stiffen the rear end (unless I lower it another tad but not sure)!

When you consider that this used to be the front arch gap


It's a considerable drop !

I took the time to take a snap of the rear end at floor level, but the camera is a bit pants and the light was less than ideal ... maybe it will give a better idea of the axle condition ???


More to come in the next following months

[Jigs2895]

Looking much better. Can't really tell much from that picture in regards to axle condition.

Give it a good clean, get some VTR/S wheels and some colour coded mirror caps and your on to a winner!!

[Pricklep]

I'd go with VTS wheels on this. R wheels look shite on any saxo

[chompy_snake]

Some more progress has happened with the car, not much but it's a start.

Firstly I got sick and tired of how the car looked with the scabby steels, it made the car look really tired .... So I purchased these from Halfords for £14 as they were the nicest they had in stock


I am looking at alloys but there are more important jobs to do first + I have been told vtr/s wheels are a really tight fit on the 1.1's!

Then I got a little more bored after the bad rainy weather we had and decided that the spray paint needed to come out and play ...


But as you can see, It looks terrible with the grille as it is


So after a day or 2's pondering I decided that I had no option left than to do this


And finally a different picture of the back end, I think the tyres being dodgy from the old axle, the wheel bearing being fubar on the o/s rear and camera angles make it look out of whack!

I do plan on getting a pug 106 rear bumper fitted and a VTR boot lid with a spoiler just to make it look a bit tidier (smoothed boot ofc)

So there you have it, a little progress over the last 4 weeks

[chompy]

Just realised, my name!

[chompy_snake]

Originally Posted by chompy

Just realised, my name!

I thought I was the only one lol

[jeffchiz]

if you gave the plastic trims and coat of auto glum bumper care would make a world of difference!

only problem with fitting a 106 bumper will be that it wont line up saxo side bump strips

[chompy_snake]

Right the time has come for more photo's as I have been busy again!
After pondering for a while as to which direction to go with the wheels I was offered a set of 6.5j 15's from a friends C2 VTR, not original wheels but they look O.k on the car with the 195/50/15's fitted if not a little gash .....
here is my car with them fitted



I think they make the car look a little better stanced than the old rims that is for sure, especially from the front


And sure the rear arches are a little bit tight on space (they still will be when I fit 195/45/15's that is for sure, but hey after all what are hammers and angle grinders for???


The rear of the car also looks a little more sensible with the larger wheels and tyres fitted


As for the rear axle ... well, what a joke that was. Upon inspecting the thing further after developing a strange rattle when going over bumps occasionally, I found that whoever had messed with it on the previous car it was fitted to had managed to strip the threads in the bolt that secures the anti roll bar into the axle. This in turn eventually sheared off and was causing weird play in the axle! I have since mig welded the drivers side anti roll bar plate to the swing arm in the position it should be and all seems to be fine. There is no play in the rear axle and it will "do the job" until I get a recon unit from axlesdirect.com (£300 fitted with 60mm drop)!

Plans for the car have also changed a little, The black trims are all going to come off and the holes are getting welded up, Also the 1.1 fitted is that tired that I'm currently sourcing a TU5 JP4 to drop in there (but it's not modified ... honest)!

It's not exactly an easy job fitting 6.5's to a saxo either ... the fronts DO NOT RUB even with the 50mm drop including when loaded up (they are ET35 with 15mm spacers, so ET20 in the end).The rears are very awkward to fit (on the flat arch at any rate). The same ET35 wheels with 20mm spacers, arch lips carefully ground away and the straightest sidewall 195/50/15 you can find (any bulge in the sidewall and the ARB will sit on the tyre) ... I still had to get a hammer to the inner arches and there is still work to do with the rear bumper to stop that catching when people sit in the back, just going to cut off the returns the same as the arches because that is where it catches


So that is what I have been up to this week ... and the car is only so filthy as I drove the 210 mile round trip in the miserable weather to stockton on tees last night and the roads were terrible

[Pricklep]

VTS wheels would look better

[chompy_snake]

Originally Posted by Prickle

VTS wheels would look better

most likely, but these were extremely cheap and they have 7mm tread on them. so it would have been rude not to ... I do prefer cyclones though

[gox]

My saxo, just to get you idea what it looks like on VTS wheels

[chompy_snake]

that actually looks really nice ... the car may be going into the garage over the winter, Started to de trim it after some bozo hit my good back door so really annoyed at the moment! at least they only left a shallow dent I suppose and removed the door trim