396 replies to this topic

[chris_uk]

i suppose i will put my project thread in here now

all the older updates i will leave on the site for you to sift through at your leisure, but i will put on the latest here. http://vx220.ukct.net

1st December 2008

Heater Fix

When I first got the car back in April 07 the heater was poor, it blew lots of air so demisting wasn't a problem, the problem came when you tried to get some heat into your frost bitten fingers!. After reading the forums for a little bit the heater just seemed to be a known problem, either the heater matrix has packed in or the tubing had come dislodged etc. I came to the conclusion that my matrix was dead, so I left it.. I had to survive the winter days/nights with 30 jumpers 1,000,000 socks and a woolly hat. After the heater knob got stuck and I had a look under the bonnet to see why I couldn't turn it to hot, I noticed that the lever wasn't where it was supposed to be.. moved it over and I got hot air! it gets that hot now you start to sweat and strip (James May anyone!)

This is a picture of the lever in question.


Astra Engine Cover

I got this cover as a permanent solution to the temporary one here.

Some things bothered me with this cover, although it does act as a brilliant water ingress cover some questions popped up on the forum about heat temps and air flows etc.. coincidentally these are the same ones that I was asking myself. To answer these I could only do one thing.. and that was put it on and monitor the heat temps.



Sunstrip

Well what can I tell you about this.. well if you have driven a vx220 in the glaring sun you will of noticed there are no sun visors.. so I had to improvise, at the moment this is a temporary solution, I'm not that happy with the external look of it, I think its a bit 'chav' but it does server a purpose, and it serves it very well, so at the moment its staying.

This is from the inside


From the outside


[b]Leathered Interior[b]

The interior of the vx220 is very very basic, lots of bare aluminium and metal, personally I don't mind this look for track prepped cars, they have to worry about weight and not to much on comfort. Myself on the other hand, I like a bit of comfort, and other than that it also helps to keep the heat in and the noise out.

I don't have any progress shots but I do have some low quality finished pics.

[chris_uk]

2nd December 2008

TMS Carbon Splitter

I had the Seat Leon splitter up to now, and I got it mainly because of aesthetics, I wasn't keen on the front end of the n/a, looks very boring to me so I got the Leon one and was happy with the appearance.

When I was driving round the track at higher speeds '100+' I noticed the steering began to go very light and was very uneasy, it didn't give much confidence at all driving at the higher speeds..

I read up about the TMS one, which is made of carbon fibre and it has proved to give better downforce than the turbo splitters do, they also run this on their 2.2 race car. I managed to source one for cheap and fitted it without any problems at all.

The fit was very straight forward, the only hard part was lining the splitter up with the front clam, but was easily done.

Here are some pics.

[chris_uk]

5th February 2009

Piper 4-1 Manifold, 2.5" Downpipe and 200cell cat

I fancied abit of a change with the manifold side of things, since i did the inlet, i thought it would now be a good idea to explore the exhaust part of the engine..

Piper were kind enough to develop a new 4-1 manifold for the VX and a downpipe that has a better flow rate than that of the standard one, and coupled with the 200cell cat, its just better all round.

here is a picture of the items

downpipe


manifold


with the system being stainless steel it also weighs a lot less than that of the standard cast manifold..

these two items alone are proven to produce about 15bhp.

[chris_uk]

11th February 2009

Carbon Fibre Dash

I got this carbon dash to replace my standard item, doesnt give any weight saving, well maybe 1 or 2 grams but thats all, plus it does look much better.

[rsg]

Looking good Chris When are you planning on removing the balancer shafts??

[chris_uk]

probably soon.. ive just been paid and even tho the missis said no spending (were saving for a house) i might get the kit on the sly.. lol although i will have to re-read what i need to do as i cant for the life of me remember, and it might also be worth putting the cams in at the same time.. ad that.. i have no idea what to do..

[PiperRS]

Not to mention that amazing rear box Although 200bhp without throttle bodies or a CR Increase is going to be tough Cams will help tho Kind Regards Garry Curley Race Product Development Dept

[chris_uk]

im sure that 200bhp would be achevible easily, its just the cost of the parts, etc and tuning thats going to be the downside..

[PiperRS]

im sure that 200bhp would be achevible easily, its just the cost of the parts, etc and tuning thats going to be the downside..

Yes anything can be done if the world had no budget, lol

The cheapest and easiest way to 200bhp is with throttle bodies

But then once you did that you will want more, so you may as well go and save a little longer and get a Supercharger, but then once you done that you will again be wanting more and you may as well have bought a VXT.... Its a slippery slope your on I should know. I have 4 cars in my Garage and none of them are close to standard anymore, lol

Enjoy modding mate.

Kind Regards

Garry Curley
Race Product Development Dept

[The Batman]

you know you want to make that 5 and add a vx to the crowd

[PiperRS]

you know you want to make that 5 and add a vx to the crowd

I have to be honest and say yes i would. Would mean selling the RX tho to make space and justify it, lol.

Garry

[chris_uk]

1st May 2009

New Expansion Tank

the old one was becoming warn and tattered, so it was time for a change



an engine bay shot.

[Jameshs]

What intake pipe have you got?? anymore pictures?

[chris_uk]

What intake pipe have you got?? anymore pictures?

its vocky's old one before he got the ITB's i believe.

thats the only pic i really have of it.

[chris_uk]

17 May 2009

Team Dynamics 1.2 with Toyo R888 tyres




and on the car



only problem is i've had to put the 308mm discs on as the wheels wouldn't clear the calipers with 325mm discs on ill get the discs machined back by 2-3 mm and then ill beable to use them again

here is a pic of the 308's

[chris_uk]

21 May 2009

MTech Short Shifter

I had the opportunity to get a short shifter for pretty cheap so i bought it and set about installing it..

I have no pics of my own atm, but these are two pics someone else took.



in short the shifter works as its intended, making the throw of the gear change shorter and it feels nice, but because its shorter there isnt as much leverage on it as id like so it makes the shifting of gears much stiffer.

over all tho, its good and i prefer it to the standard throw length, but i just need to get used to how much force needed to change gear.

[oakmere]

in short the shifter works as its intended, making the throw of the gear change shorter and it feels nice, but because its shorter there isnt as much leverage on it as id like so it makes the shifting of gears much stiffer. over all tho, its good and i prefer it to the standard throw length, but i just need to get used to how much force needed to change gear. [/quote] Make sure all the linkages and cables themselves are well lubricated (including in the car) and after a few weeks you will not notice the difference from original. Cheers Oakmere

[chris_uk]

ok cheers, i will try that.. when you say in the car, do you mean under the gear surround?

[alanoo]

If they are stiffer, readjust the cables a bit, it worked for me

[chris_uk]

9 June 2009

Standard Exhaust

i have recently put my standard exhaust back on now, the noise of the VSE was just tooo much, even for me. and ive never had a quiet car, and i kinda like it, it still has that nice growl above 4k, but below it just nice and quiet.

hopefully the piper one should be here soon then i can swap it over, and hope its not too loud