Next was some prop catchers, I originally planned to fit 2 sets of catchers inside the tunnel. One set at each end, but my prop is quite short and I had nowhere to mount them other than in the middle.

I got these from FastDan on LCB, they don't seem wide enough for the Haynes Tunnel I'm guessing the locost tunnel is a little narrower so I had to make some crude brackets up, while trying to work in a tunnel with the prop still attached. :o

I then decided to tackle the air filter location problem... Somehow I just got it to sit infront of the engine, the 73mm flexy cold feed JUST squeezes down between the radiator/intercooler and nosecone. That should hopefully be ok, just need to work out a way of mounting the air filter.

Hi Ben, I would run the air filter from the driver side of the car, run a duct from the side panel straight up to the filter. Exactly opposite to your exhaust exit on the passenger side. I would put a very small subtle scoop on, a bit like the mk3 Astra gsi ones. Should work a treat. ;)

Think the current location is fine. I'll look at finding a fixing for the bracket later once my hang over has cleared :D

Enclosed Airfilter mounted using the bracket that came with it, slightly modified. I used the cambelt cover bolt to hold it all in place.



I'll have to turn the hose clamp around to stop it getting in the way.



Mounting bracket

Small One....
 

Small update, couldn't find a t - piece the right size (32mmx18mm) to join that surprise pipe up to the bottom/water pump hose so I had one made :)

I already had the individual pipes so I cut and shaped the smaller one and drilled the larger pipe, then my friend tig'd them together for me.

Hoping tonight I can get all the water system finished :D

All plumbed in and filled up with water and antifreeze. No leaks so far:) ran the engine for a bit but it was too late and too noisy.

http://youtu.be/n3vVJiQOv-g



I had to turn the oil filter mounting so the pipe connections didn't rub on the alternator belt, I also found the wastegate was rattling, so tightened up the actuator arm.

Hey presto much quieter running engine.

Bit of an update, I missed my original tuning booking due to a leaking clutch cylinder and a noisy clutch.

The leak been fixed but the noise is still there, I replaced the clutch bearing but its not that. So don't know what's wrong. I've given up trying to fix it, so it'll either get worse or whatever's touching when the pedal is pushed down will wear away enough to stop :D

Tuning is now booked for Friday 14th March, so i'll update then.

But it does drive fine and the water and oil system all works. I've also fitted an oil temperature sender but i'll update at the weekend once its all working ok.

Forgot I missed a step, Faired side panels... I also meshed them to hide the chassis behind.

It would be a real pitty not to get this thing into a magazine ! Has your car got a dual mass fly wheel ? Could be the source of the problem if you do. My mate had a tdi golf, & his car made a racket. I know that traditionally vauxhall used pressure plates, but I am not sure about the VXR unit.

No dual mass mate. It's a lightweight flywheel, 2.9 galaxy friction plate and a c20let turbo pressure plate.

What could possibly go wrong :D

Wouldn't mind a magazine feature but no ones ever approached me!

Saturday morning I finished wiring in an oil temperature sender. Drilled and tapped the oil cooler line banjo bolt and inserted a smiths water temperature sensor. This was then wired to a switch along with the original water temperature cable.

Basically this all means that I can flip a switch and see what the oil temperature is, then flip it back for water temperature on the same gauge. Otherwise I've got to buy another smiths gauge which are over £50, plus £15 for the sender. That's fine but I'm running out of space on my dash!!

I'll stick a couple of pictures up tomorrow when I get to work as my laptops charger has had it at home.

So, the big day was on Friday! Tuning day at Bailey Performance!

Wow what a guy, Dale knows his stuff. I'm going to do a separate thread with a bit of a report with plenty more details.

But, the gory figures are:

272bhp and 308ftlb torque, it's was savage on the rollers and it kept spinning the rear wheels as peak torque come on. We ended up removing the splitter so it could be strapped down tighter.

I've not driven it anywhere yet, but Dale promises me it'll do 30mpg on cruise!

Happy bunny and no Major issues thankfully.

http://youtu.be/S0lndNHN5eY

So, how does it drive now? What's your 0-60 acceleration?

Not had a chance to drive it yet.

Dale recommended I fit colder plugs, also that I convert to a Ford Coil Pack because the GM one was causing a minor miss at high rpm.

Need to also flush the oil out as its a bit dirty.

Tax has run out from last year so i'll retax in beginning of april :D

Which means there will be a Go-Pro video of the first run out.:eek:

Drove it last night... Holy shit its rather quick. I haven't done any 0-60's as I'm nursing the gearbox slightly. The torque is massive and just throws you up the road.

Right, bit of an update.

Had an issue with too hot oil and the rad fan coming on while driving... so I did a bit of research.

Oil temperature is now fine. The thermostat wasn't opening properly and I had the oil temp sensor in the wrong place. Its now located in the sump plug and appears normal.

I also installed a massive oil cooler, but its obvious its not necessary so will probably swap it back to a smaller one.

Water cooling, I had a bit of an issue where the fan was coming on during normal driving. Appears that I wasn't getting enough air in the front.

I'll made some crude cowling to try and force more air through the rads. I've also removed the meshing from the nosecone... The mesh I had was very restrictive. Just need to find something to replace it with.

I've also replace the thermostat with a 82c one and put the heat bypass pipe back in.

I'm yet to give it a blast on a hot day, so I'm hoping for some nice evenings or spot of sun this weekend where I can give it a bit of a hoon and see what's what.

I'm also going to Stoneleigh so come and say hi if you see me / the car.