Ben's Garage & Girls (not work safe)

[Chavtastic]

Cheers dudes! I prefer the 996 too. I had the money for a decent 997 but they just look like beetles in my opinion

Here's the pictures from my Cadwell Park trackday!







I went into the session fearing it was going to be like driving on ice, all those horror stories about the engine being in the wrong place etc. So I had low expectations! In reality it all made a lot of sense on the track - the steering in these things is amazing. It gives you so much feedback and pinpoint control mid-corner! The brakes are phenomenal as well, even with just OEM pads. Handling wise it was fine, so long as you're smooth on the steering and don't provoke it or try and chuck it around like you do a FWD car.

My best lap was 1min 55 seconds, although it does have the EML on for a bad lambda sensor so was down on power.

Now I'm in the situation where I'm impressed with the Porsche on track, but possibly not enough to keep it.

Decisions.... decisions...

[Chavtastic]

Also I got let down by my new models so I'll bring you some never-seen-before pics from the archive.







I was dancing my heart out with her on Friday night at Mosh in Derby, and she's so much fun. Really knows how to party. We went to a strip club as well and lamented how fat strippers seem to be these days.

Good times!

[KERR_SE9]

Looks good,how did it compare with the ep3 time wise? assuming like me you've pretty Much got fwd covered, I take it you were restrained a little, I know I would be in a rwd car!!

[Chavtastic]

Looks good,how did it compare with the ep3 time wise? assuming like me you've pretty Much got fwd covered, I take it you were restrained a little, I know I would be in a rwd car!!

By comparison the Civic is furious and able to be thrown about forgivingly. But less challenging to drive quickly.

The Civic did a 1m48s
Porsche a 1m55s
Mates' Standard E43 M3 1m56s
Mates' V6 4-motion Golf 2m01s
Mates' well modified Clio 172 did 2m05s

[eyeopen]

Cheers dudes! I prefer the 996 too. I had the money for a decent 997 but they just look like beetles in my opinion

Here's the pictures from my Cadwell Park trackday!







I went into the session fearing it was going to be like driving on ice, all those horror stories about the engine being in the wrong place etc. So I had low expectations! In reality it all made a lot of sense on the track - the steering in these things is amazing. It gives you so much feedback and pinpoint control mid-corner! The brakes are phenomenal as well, even with just OEM pads. Handling wise it was fine, so long as you're smooth on the steering and don't provoke it or try and chuck it around like you do a FWD car.

My best lap was 1min 55 seconds, although it does have the EML on for a bad lambda sensor so was down on power.

Now I'm in the situation where I'm impressed with the Porsche on track, but possibly not enough to keep it.

Decisions.... decisions...

I didint think u had that kind of money, good for you.

I think they can look of with a few minor mods I prefer the back lights of the 997's. I like some of the tech art stuff. Have you driven a turbo with 4*4? Can imagine the grip must be unbelievable.

[Chavtastic]

Update time, 911 first:

I've had a misfire for a while now, coming up as lambda sensor for cylinders 4-6


New plugs and leads were fitted, what a job! You have to remove the rear wheels, and then reach down a tight tunnel (lol) between the exhaust mufflers and the cylinder heads, obviously 3 cylinders on each side as it's a flat six. It's mega tight, the cylinders at the rear took about 30 minutes a side! And required double joints!


All fitted but still got a misfire.

I then went ahead and did the lambda. Again a nightmare, ended up having to remove half of the exhaust to get the lambda in the vice. This meant burning out half a dozen bolts with oxyacetylene


New lambda is in and still got a misfire!

I've also compression tested her, to good results.

In other news I've given her an oil change too, partly as it's due...


And partly to do a post mortem on the oil filter. I'm sad like that...


The bowl wasn't clean when I started, but I'm happy there was minimal residue inside. Always good to see.

It's now sitting with 8 litres of Fuchs Titan fully synthetic inside it

I think my next step in chasing this misfire is to get it back on the Snap-on fault code reader, and maybe clean the AFM

[Chavtastic]

Last night's eye candy!

[Chavtastic]

Just a bit of an update on the Calibra from the past few months:

Since switching to the 8v engine, I've been ironing out a long list of teething problems with the car, one-by-one.

One of them being a slow PAS leak, which this might fix.


I also had a series of fuel leaks, so in changing the lines I thought I'd do the fuel tank top plate which was on it's last legs.


Sourced a new one




All good again Fuel system should out-last the car now at least


The ICE is also coming along well, since fitting the Focal front door speakers a while back...


I discovered the car already had components in the rear. They sound okay so I'll leave them in for now


I measured up the boot, around the LPG tank and drew up a plan for a boot install. I'm running a 12" VIBE sub off a Vibe Slick A0 amp, and then looking at using my Vibe Black Death amp to run all four door speakers.


That's been built and tested (sounds great), and is away being flocked at the minute.
[IMG]http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z28/benn859/Calibra/Interior%20n%20ICE
/20140212_154535_zpsc3cc6c84.jpg[/IMG]

Once it's all back I'll get it all carpeted up and looking nice and neat.

The lack of boot space has been remedied with this detachable towbar


A gay trailer


And a slightly less gay numberplate


Other than that it's just had a few nice bits

LED white sidelights


Irmscher skirts in the bodyshop




And a freshly powdercoated set of legs, subframe and anti-rollbar


Most recent pic of her!


Next plans:
- Finish ICE
- Get remote central locking working
- Finish LPG installation

[Chavtastic]

I would recommend using Slick 50, because

a) It stops leaks
b) I've never had a problem after using it on any of my Calibras, which have probably done 50,000 miles between them on the ones that have had the treatment

Anyway moving on...

[Chavtastic]

Update time! New car!!!

I've been dying to build something very track focused! My goals are a sub 1min 45 lap of Cadwell Park and an 8 minute lap of the Nurburgring, both of which I expect to be very difficult and require multiple attempts!

The shortlist for a car was:

BMW E46 M3
Honda Civic EG with a K20 swap
Honda Integra Type-R DC2
Calibra B204
Porsche 911 Carrera 4 / 4s

After a lot of soul searching and research I decided to take another trip out to the Nurburgring last month to evaluate a few options and decide. The result is I've chosen to do an E46 M3 and a Calibra B204.

So, the initial requirements for a Calibra shell were:
- As rust free as possible
- As new as possible
- Sensible mileage
- Non-sunroof model (rare, but saves weight and reduces risk of rust)
- Reasonably cheap

I met all of those requirements with this absolutely delightful "Ripspeed edition" Calibra SE8. Look at that bodykit... wow!



Lexus lights were removed shortly after this picture was taken, as was the rear bumper!



No complaints underneath


Bodywork and arches all straight and clean


Even the rear panel was tidy (they are commonly starting to go here!).

I'd go so far as to say it's one of the cleanest Calibras I've ever seen (and I've seen a few lol). It's by no means perfect. A nasty stainless door sill cover trapped enough water to cause surface rust, and there are a few little bits where seams are starting to discolour. But overall it's 95% as good as when it left the factory. Probably won't matter when it's wrapped around an armco somewhere on the Nurburgring!

Powering this beast is the X20XEV, soon to be removed


The car with full interior, spare wheel and 60 litres of fuel weighed 1300kg on the nose. That makes 1256kg with an empty tank.


I'm aiming for around 1000kg, with some serious dieting! Plans are fully stripped interior, plastic windows, cut down wiring loom, fibreglass bonnet, lightweight wishbones and aluminium plated spare wheel well. If I'm still well over 1000kg I'll look at casting the doors in fibreglass and possibly the tailgate.

So, onwards... time to get rid of the chav bumper!


Stage 2 race bumper, featuring no metal support and aerodynamic holes! Reason for the holes being rear bumpers act as parachutes behind cars, trapping a pocket of high pressure air. These holes relieve that pressure. It's proven on the drag strip to add a few MPH to terminal speeds... speeds I will be reaching on the Nurburgring. It's also cool as F***.


Colour wise I have bought some Nato matt black military paint which will be put on with a roller, and topped with vinyl decals. Why? Well because a proper paintjob costs money I'd sooner spend on stuff to make it go quicker.

Next up came this lovely piece of real BTCC heritage, the actual Recaro seat from James Thompson's race winning Vectra from the 1996 season!




This will be bolted in using the supplied alloy mounts, saving probably 20kg off the weight of the standard drivers seat that uses a bulky steel subframe/slider. I'm on the lookout for a "milder" passenger seat by Recaro and of course a pair of 3 or 4 point harnesses. I've already stripped the rear of the car out.

The car failed it's MOT only on trivial stuff - no rear numberplate light, battery insecure, a missing wheel bolt and a blow in the exhaust. It'll be MOT'd shortly so I can then begin ripping it apart for the serious stuff!

More soon

[Chavtastic]

Yesterday I managed to pick up a bargain of a fibreglass bonnet!


It is by no means finished, it needs bracing to stop it flexing and some form of fixings to hold it in place, but I'm sure it can save me around 20kg.


I also got hold of some Gaz coilovers which I will be running with adjustable topmounts to give camber and caster adjustment for the track.



It's MOT re-test is booked for Tuesday so the major work can begin next week! Can't wait!!

[Chavtastic]

The heart has arrived! One B204 with all ancillaries



I also have a complete Saab B205 here, which I plan on using parts off to assist the build such as mounts, pipework, radiator, APC... plus the aluminium suspension arms. I will also be keeping the cylinder head off the B205 as it's allegedly better flowing and more suited to big power.

More soon

[Chavtastic]

Just a little progress!

It's passed it's MOT, so that's cleared the way for engine removal and stripping the running gear off


Next up I thought I'd test out a paint finish I'm considering:

Nato military matt black paint. Brush on, smooth finish


And some cheap mini rollers, with two different heads (foam and a wool-like one)


One scrap Calibra shell to practice on


It went on really easily.


After masking a line up the rear quarter, here are the two types of finish

Here's the foam roller finish, which was s**t


And the wool roller finish, which was 99% perfect




It was touch dry in half an hour, and any minor flecks of dust etc can just be sanded out and re-done with a second full coat. I'm very happy with the result and have decided to use it on the whole car. Why? Well it's going to have a few fibreglass panels on it, and instead of paying a grand or so for a paintjob, I'd sooner put that money towards something manly like a diff. So it's going Matt black, inside and out.

The only question is - what colour to do the wheels, wing mirrors and vinyl graphics. Neon green, tango orange or hot pink? Not very important. For now I'm focusing on collecting more parts and getting on with it!

[Chavtastic]

I picked a different set of brakes to use in the end and cleaned them all up. They are 300mm floating discs. Nice and light and plenty powerful enough.

I'm torn between Ferrodo DS2500 and Mintex 1166. I might just stick with what I know (Ferrodo). They are really good when they get warmed up to operating temperature!


I also dug out the wiring loom for the B204 engine today along with the ECU, and a spare set of footwell plugs from a scrap Calibra. These will be sent off to Nige tomorrow for a custom loom adapter, immobiliser delete and of course a remap!


I can really feel some good momentum here in getting this thing built!

[Chavtastic]

Today I did a little photoshoot of my daily driver Calibra







She's now done around 10,000 trouble free miles since I built it from a rolling shell.

She needs a few jobs doing before winter, mainly a service and sorting out a few minor niggles.