fiestaturbo.com

[Project_XR2i_Trackcar]

I'm bored, so i've been flicking through my digital photos on photobucket and i've decided to start a gallery, come 'jackanory' story board of my trackcar in here.

The first post is gonna be massive by the way .

I bought it around April 2004 (i think) from Ebay, a steal at £200 for a standard XR2i 1.6 8v in black. Admited, it was a bit shabby in some places and needed some engine work but hey, i drove it the 40 miles or so home ok so it couldnt have been too bad .

I regret to say i don't have any photos of it when i first got it, or indeed when it had all the standard interior trim , the ebay link has long gone so i can't even get pics from there.

Anyway, these are the earliest photos i have of it on my pc....





This is still early days, but as you can tell i had already stripped the interior, had the cage fitted along with one of the seats which, in total came to about £1200 of my hard earned.

Starting to get expensive now eh!

I had also replaced the std 14" alloys with the 15" Fox Evo 3's. Looking at it now I kinda wish i left the blue strips on but, hey ho i'm sure they lost me a few grams of weight

At this time it still had the 1.6 cvh which i had just had the head re-built at a cost of around £200. An MOT shortly after cost me another £300 quid but all the sills were done, a new clutch was fitted, new steering rack and some other stuff got it driving spot on .



A few more pics of the inside 'post' hammerite attack.....







Obviously she was looking mighty high which isnt good for track so, i was lucky enough to source a set of second hand AVO coilovers which hadn't yet been fitted, sure enough the beast lost a few cm in height......

Before



After



At the same time i also fitted some better stoppers up front, Escort Cosworth callipers yay!...



As you can see, they certainly fill the 15's alright..



For the sharp eyes, i had also replaced the floppy standard wing mirrors with some snazzy DTM items and shortly after the next additions were both front and rear OMP strut braces and a mountney steering wheel in red alacantra.

By now, Nov 2004.................. it was ready for track



And here it is......waiting for it's debut trackday at Donnington park





It did me proud for nearly two full trackdays ,that was until near the end of the second day...........................when tragedy struck........................

The CVH gave up the ghost and melted my big end - ooh errr !!!!

Gutted to say the least it started a whole new ball game. Although the CVH was pokey, with the awsome handling and stopping power it just wasn't up to it on the straights, i needed more torque !! I had 2 options on my mind:

1. Rebuild the CVH bottom end and tune it, or

2. Go Zetec and BIG

So, you can imagine which option i went for . For those that can't, or didn't read the title properly , here's a quick clue to the how rest of the thread unfolds.....



So, out with the old....





and, 6 months later , in with the new....







The engine conversion took a while as i think i was one of the few first people to have done it, or at least recorded the full conversion anyway. In hindsight, I imagine the 1.6 si conversion to 2.0 ltr is relatively easier compared to doing it with a CVH based engine . This car is also a hobby and as such much more things took presedence over it.

Anyway, as i digress. During the conversion i managed to get a few other bits done too. In particular, a second Cobra Imola 2 was sourced and fitted for the passenger and i also happended to get hold of a fitted fire extinguisher.



I also fitted this snazzy little oil pressure gauge to make sure that the Zetec wouldn't repeat the CVH mishap, or at least i could see it coming this time....



So, by now it was Aug 2005 and time for Ford Fair. Time to put the 2.0 ltr to the test. I booked 3x 20 min sessions to see how it faired.

On the FT.com stand.....



Out on track (Silverstone)...



.....then, as schit happens....limping back in after session number 2:



.....and what it left on the trailer afterwards:o



Unfortunately, something just wasn't quite right. It didn't feel good at all and i was puzzled, a pressure test reveiled everything internally was ok but then........

Typically, i had just received a 2 year posting to Cyprus, i know - tough eh So the beast then went into storage near my folks place until i could sort it on my return.

However, in the meantime my brother kindly offered to have a look at it and suggested changing the complete loom to one from a 16v Si, to which i happily agreed (cheers easy ). He also took time to adjust the timing which was apparantly well out.

So, dash out, 8v car loom:



As i had a short trip back to UK last month, i popped upto the workshop to see how the beast was coming on.

So, when i opened the workshop it was looking like this, rather bloody dusty too don't you think :



Still an ugly mass of wires but, instead this is the 16v si loom believe it or not .



So, armed with some insulating tape and zip ties we did a little bit of tidying up. I also took the oppotunity to remove unwanted weight (sound deadening seen above, heater vents etc etc) including going at half of the dash like a scene from 'jig-saw massacre' .

Glove boxes, who needs em eh?



Fuse box still retained in its usual place 'for now', this section of dash cut out to allow for ease of fitment/removal.



So, after temporarily re-fitting the dash back in to check the speedo cluster etc i decided to take it for a quick test run up our private road. The result was awsome, this thing proper shifts now and is sooooo smooth. It pulls like a train through every gear........ massive improvement.

Anyhow, as it sits now in my workshop until i get another trip back to tidy it all up properly.



Note: Fogs removed and sold, no need for them either and they weigh a bloody tonne . After cutting out holes in the valance behind I'm going to widen the fog light holes in the bumper and have em meshed to allow for brake cooling. The number plate bit is getting cut out too and meshed also, the Mocal oil cooler i've had since about 2005 but not yet fitted will eventually sit behind the mesh there.

On a final note, i've just purchased some sticky slicks and a spare set of 15" Evo 3's for them to go on. more pics to follow once they're on

Thats it for now, hope you've enjoyed the read so far, it killed 2 hours of my time anyway . More to come........

[mike_wall15]

That was a good read, I remember the Ford Fair like it was yesterday, certainly not 2005
I remember us all walking to the burger van and talking about polish to you! Oh how things have changed on that front

Anyway, great to hear the 16v loom is better. Will you and the car be making an appearance this year?

Mike

[Project_XR2i_Trackcar]

Cheers Mike

All depends on when we come home next. It will be around end of Jul beginning of Aug hopefully. Funilly enough around Ford Fair time again. Was trying to get back during the period FITP is on but something else came up.

[mike_wall15]

Ashame about FITP, but if you can make Ford Fair then it'd be good to see you again. If you went round the track that'd be even better!

[hb69]

a good read. Car looks wicked, nice to see a 2.0 xr2i. whats the acceleration like? im currently in the process of changing mine from the cvh over to a 2.0 zetec, but keeping the cvh gearbox too.

[Project_XR2i_Trackcar]

acceleration is pretty rapid mate.

since changing the loom to full si it goes like a scalded cat

[heeman10]

That was a good read, I remember the Ford Fair like it was yesterday, certainly not 2005

Too bloody right dude! Seems like no time ago at all

Good thread Chris, I hope your brother hasn't been jacking it up on the sills, seeing those jacking point covers popped out! Tis a cool track car indeed, hopefully we'll be seeing it in the summer!

[slaney21]

thats i tidy lookin motor there its exactly what i wanted to do to mine but due to being in a band and lugging people around its just not possible
im sure if i can scrape some cash together sometime i can create a project similar to this. (well would like to anyway lol)

all the best matey

lance

[DAnG]

that was a good read, i remember the first pics from when you originally posted them back in 2004!

[Project_XR2i_Trackcar]

Thought i'd resurrect this thread seeing as all the other trackcar threads are dominating the members gallery at the moment

So, heres a little bit more for you which, pretty much takes it up to date.

Engine, as it stands now (note the black powdercoated cam cover - thanks Nomad - and blanking plate in place of the heavy heater fan). I plan to use rainex on inside of screen if i can't get the heated screen working again.



As i mentioned earlier, the fogs were removed and sold, so I fitted some mesh in their place (I will eventually cut out or remove the valance and fit brake cooling ducting)



However........seeing as i like the classic look of the XR2i fogs & spots I'm missing them . So, i've just purchased a set of fog surrounds which came with one lamp per side. Hopefully, with some white/silver painted mesh it'll restore the 'old skool 2i' look again and still allow me to fit the brake cooling ducts.

Moving to the interior, I directed my attention back to the dash - grey one now replaced with black one. No heater = no requirement for the console bit, so that got chopped off... (afternote, I wasn't happy with the look of the gauge holder and the carbon bit hanging below, so the gauge pods have been canned and replaced with a carbon blank for switches instead; fogs, heated screen etc. Gauge also relocated as below) - Pics to follow.

Looking to get the grey dash cut the same and flocked when time and funds permit.



Missle switch on the right is currently being utilised for the fuel cut, the same panel now also hosts the oil pressure gauge. You can also see the fitted fire extinguisher which now needs re-connecting to the pull switch and some new hosing.



I managed to retain and relocate the 12v ciggy socket (useful for powering camera's etc)



token shot from rear



Note the removal of the heavy electric window mechanism in favour of a much lighter & old fashioned windy up and down type (at least until the polycarbonate windows are fitted anyway)



So, thats pretty much it for now. Next on the cards (ie tomorrow) is fitting the baffled sump & maybe the oil cooler (which have been sat on a shelf in the workshop for a year or two now :whistle: ), removing all that gastly sound deadening and sorting out the front bumper, inc the fogs.

Pics of sump, cooler and updated dash to follow in the next 48 hours.

I might even find some time to drive it later this year

[Turboboy67]

Looking good fella,

Get the heat gun out on that sound deadening, at least 10kg when thats comes off you know

[Project_XR2i_Trackcar]

Job for today i think.

[Project_XR2i_Trackcar]

OK. Spent some quality time on the old girl today.

The main effort today was to fit the baffled sump that i've had on my shelf for a year or two now. Before that i jacked her up on some stands and wipped the front bumper off. Having seen turboboy's weight loss attempt by drilling loads of holes in the valance, i thought sod it and got the angle grinder out....

Before:



After:



Proper job

After that distraction, i eventually got round to fitting the baffled the sump:



In order to get it off i had to first remove the lower strut brace, downpipe and starter motor. Then i undid the bolts and removed the sump. At this point, might i add that it was a right cnut to get off as the gearbox register just fouls it enough to make it a struggle .

Sump removed & both sumps together:





I didnt bother taking an after fitted snap as it looks no different Oh, and it was a complete cnut to get back on as well

With the main effort done i set my sights on carrying out a few other small tasks that needed doing ie, Oil cooler (but got binned as i couldnt source some 1/2 hose) dash, fogs, fix coolant leak, re-fill oil etc etc. On the list was modifying the front bumper which, also included the removal of the metal brace within:



Throughout the day i also got the heat gun out and in between tasks set about removing the sound deadening. What a sod of a job that is, my hand is killing me:



Got pretty much 3/4 of it done, just under seats left. Also, I still need to finish it off properly with some thinners etc. I was gonna take some snaps of the dash but my battery run out

So, back up to workshop tomorrow. Main effort is to sort and tidy electrics and dash so i'll update with more then.

[Turboboy67]

Good work my friend

I see a "battle of the lightweights" emerging here

After my "feeble" attempt of lightening the front valance, mine will be looking the same as yours next week

Removing the sound deadening is such fun isn't it

Amazing how much it weighs though

Be good to see this sometime in the year, you doing any shows/track days ??

Also get it to a weighbridge, be nice to know what it weighs atm

[Project_XR2i_Trackcar]

It certainly was hard work mate. More to do tomorrow yet. Just noticed the time too, damn bloody LOST , only meant to watch one episode.

Anyway, back on track. Mate, i would love to attend some shows and stuff, expecially some trackdays in the summer but as my luck would have it I'm off the very same place from whence our very own Prince Harry has returned and very very shortly too - hence trying to get as much done as possible this weekend. So no trackdays for me until at least September/October .

There is a weighbridge where our old workshop is but that's now 10 miles away from the new one and my car isnt road legal so it'll be a while yet before it's weighed again. Although it was only weighed a few months ago and it was about 860 ish. I reakon now its probably 840 with the sound deadening removed, chopped valance, heater gone and the bits from the bumper removed.

Polycarb windows are next on the cards, as well as the carbon bonnet when that gets off the ground. Should see 800 easily i think.

[Project_XR2i_Trackcar]

Spent a few more hours at the workshop today. Mainly tidying things up ready for another 6 months storage .Typically enough though, bar re-fitting the fire extinguisher after removing the sound deadening, it's pretty much ready for track again.

Just a few pics of how it is as of end of play today (last in a while ):

Exterior:





Interior:




And as she is now:


And finally, check these badgers out, they're just waiting to be abused :


That's all for now. Hopefully I'll be doing some catch up trackdays during my couple of weeks leave in Oct

[hb69]

i had some fox evo 3's on my car for a few weeks, our cars could have been brothers

Have you still got the catalytic converter fitted? i want to get rid of mine but cant find a cheap enough replacement

[Turboboy67]

Shame your going to to miss the summer of fun fella

But at least you know theres not much to do on your return

When are you off ?

[Project_XR2i_Trackcar]

When are you off ?

Can't say when on the forum for obvious reasons mate. I tried but, i dont think i can even drop a hint.

[Turboboy67]

When are you off ?

Can't say when on the forum for obvious reasons mate. I tried but, i dont think i can even drop a hint.

I understand mate , look after yourself whenever you do go

[Project_XR2i_Trackcar]

Gentlemen (and ladies).

I'M BACK !!!!!!!!!

No more sand, dust and taliban for a while so, onwards with the trackcar.

As you can see i've made some changes already in the few days i've been back:

New boots in the form of Toyo's sticky R888's
A quick wheel refurb in white (ie 4 rattle cans)
Morrettes
New 3" 4 point harnesses
and......finally, i've got around to fitting the MOCAL oil cooler i've had in my garage for about 3 years now!!!

and here she is......







Took her out for a quick spin before these photos were taken and she pulls like a train through every gear, that and she sticks to the road like glue!! Just a couple of minor interior jobs to do tomorrow, ie plumb in the fire extinguisher and we are squared

I'll be out in her on Castle Combe this friday (26th - all day) if anyone is bored and in the area.

[m3matt]

looks brilliant mate

love the morettes! jus read the whole thing, top effort, love the time scaling, glad its working out for ya!

[Ruishy1]

loving it mate

I wanna build a track car now, think i just might

[slaney21]

i still want to come see this as im literally just down the road

pretty please il come in my 2i

[Project_XR2i_Trackcar]

Bit of a taster from Combe today, loads more of these to sift through.......



Awsome day out, proper knackered though and deaf, the drive back from Combe saw to that. Saw off some bigger powered cars too lol.

Slaney - I'm in Andover until Monday 3am ish. Will be at workshop tomorrow afternoon packing it away until Rockingham next month, otherwise do you fancy Sunday somtime? PM me and i'll give you my mob number. I'll text you when i'm up there (location too).

[slaney21]

yeah no worries matey il pm you now

[Turboboy67]

Looks like you had fun @ Combe fella

I'm up there 2 weeks today hopefully, for my last outing of the year.

How did you find the R888s ?

[Project_XR2i_Trackcar]

Hey up Shaun

R888's were very good, i expected them to be even stickier but its been so long since i've been on a track i cant really compare. bugger all tyre squeel and plenty of grip though, especially when warmed up.

what date are you on? (edit: doh, just re-read your post ), who with and how much? I'm off to germany for a month from monday. looking to do rockingham w/end 18/19th oct.

chris

[Turboboy67]

I'm @ Combe on Friday 10th October Chris.
Then the car is off the road and coming apart

My R888s were good when I used them @ Rally Day last week,
I think I had them over inflated slightly, ideally should be running around 25psi on track, mine were closer to 30psi, but they still gripped like hell

I still have that polycarb tucked in the back of my garage for you btw

[Project_XR2i_Trackcar]

shame i'm not back then, would have joined you otherwise.

I will definitely have that plastic mate, just keep it back for me , i may pop down and grab it late october if thats ok

How come you are stripping? I am contemplating doing the same, ie a complete refurb, respray and rebuild in slow time.

[Turboboy67]

Give me a shout when your back mate, we will meet up

Cars being stripped for 2.0 + throttle bodies+ K3 emerald management

CTS stage 2+ box + plus lots more lightening

Pro-Alloy fuel cell + Leda 3 way adjustable suspension

[Max M4X WW]

Looks great, Do you still have a rear wiper? Central locking?

[Project_XR2i_Trackcar]

Shaun - sounds wicked - you have too much time.

Max - wiper yes, locking no.

[philip_d]

Looks great, Do you still have a rear wiper? Central locking?

Yeah he still has the rear wiper, but no central locking due to the car loom being out of an SI that had not central locking or electric windows.

Just incase you don't know, I'm Chris's brother and one of the people that has helped him get it running better and track ready this year. And also borrowed it this year for RS Combe and Ford Fair if you saw it, while Chris was on tour.

[Project_XR2i_Trackcar]

Bit of an update.

Well, after the trackday at Combe I noticed something dodgy with the steering plus, I nearly lost my wheels half through a session. Because of the R888's I'm having to use 5mm spacers and subsequently the nuts don’t do up as tight as they used to , I only found this out when I had some mad vibration 10 mins into a session.

Suffice to say, the car is now on axle stands again . First off, to resolve the 'wheel falling off scenario' I have since purchased some 20mm+ extended studs along with some open ended wheel nuts.



New on the left, old on the right.



Changing the rears was pretty simple, all you do is remove the drums, knock em out with a hammer and knock in the new ones. Whilst the drums were off I took the opportunity to give em quick lick of paint to tidy them up .



And how the rears look with the wheels back on .



Moved into its usual bay and up at the front .



The fronts were somewhat more of a sod! You will need to remove the calliper and disc and the studs are knocked out easy enough but getting the new ones in are a bit of a fiddle .



As per my previous post, I’ve now taken some photos of the oil filter relocation kit and cooler fitted. I had to cut away at the wing in order to get access for fitting, will tidy that later .





It made such a difference on track, I had a makeshift tub come catch tank temporarily fixed in place and it would fill up within one session before. Now, with the cooler it didn’t even get half full after the whole day. Subsequently I have now purchased an alloy catch tank for permanent fixture.

Alloy catch tank on vs temp fix .



I’m also in the process of relocating a race battery behind the passenger seat so I had no need for this lot anymore......



Couple more kg’s gone



Note: For anyone thinking of removing the tray, word of warning. It’s a complete Cnut to get off !!

And this lot arrived on Saturday .



Just waiting on the battery to be delivered from Rally Design and the alloy tray from Ebay.

Fire extinguisher all plumbed in.



Dash (gonna change the switch layout again for toggle ones ).



And finally, a bit of a personal touch.



Recent purchases, awaiting delivery this week.

Sabelt 3” wide, 6 point race harnesses (the blue ones above were borrowed from my brother for Combe)
Varley Red Top 15 Race Battery
Alloy Battery Tray.
and…….
I have also secured a recent purchase that is likely to see me get 175 bhp through N/A .

So, jobs still to be done:

Remove glass and replace with plastic (big upto Carbonboy67 for the plastic).

Replace home made oil catch tank with alloy job.

Fit race battery behind passenger seat. Connect battery cut off.

Flock my spare grey dash (being dropped of at Suffolk racing on Wednesday)

Fit new harnesses.

Prepare for its future engine modification .

More to come....