sburrell's ph1 172 track project (maybe)

[sburrell93]

Evening people

Bored, so I thought I'd start a project thread for my most recent purchase! A ph1 172, 96k (roughly) on the clock, bought off a member on here on Friday, before that it belonged to Chi, and possibly another member on here before that. Unsure on it's full history, but the car seems good to me so I'm happy with that. No history for the belts so they'll be getting done soon by Rentec, but the dephaser is a bit noisy anyway so it was always on the cards.

Original plan was to get it, strip it, fit some bucket seats and harnesses etc and and turn it into a track car over winter, with a view to taking it up Knockhill at the start of next year's season. Unsure how that'll go, but it's a rough goal!

So anyway, since getting it on Friday I've fitted some Ph2 rear lights I had lying around, fitted a new high level brake light as the one on it was cracked, tidied up the front end a little bit (bumper had been resprayed at some point and there was overspray behind it, so done my best to get rid of that), gave the engine bay a quick steam cleaning, polished the headlights a little, and gave the car a half decent clean too. Other small jobs included fitting a new bracket for the UCH as it was hanging down at the passenger footwell, and sorting out the cold air feed for the standard airbox as that wasn't connected up (no induction noise now FTL).

Sadly only got this one photo of the car, but I'm trying to get my brother to send me some over that he took earlier today, so I'll fire those up when I get them.

Plans in the coming weeks are:

• Get the belts and dephaser done. Probably water pump and thermostat too, temp gauge is sitting just below halfway when warm which I don't think is normal?
• Sort out a click/clunk/knock from the steering. Happens under stress, turning steering opposite ways sitting still. Hoping it's bushes, but it's probably the rack. Good excuse to fit EPAS though!
• Fit some HID's. Standard lights are shocking!
• LCR front splitter
• Eibach sportlines
• Mist washer jets, aero wipers, silvervision indicators. The usual cheap stuff to do.
• Refurb the F1's in black again. Been rattle canned. Look s**t. Oh and get some centre caps for them.
• Get new front tyres, or swap the fronts with rears and go drifting
• Generally enjoy the car!

Long term plans and plans for over winter are:

• Find a new backbox. Current cat-back system sounds quite good, but drones a bit too much. Oh and the twin exit tailpipe looks like a chav's wet dream.
• Front suspension refresh
• Maybe coilovers
• Smaller steering wheel
• Strip it, probably including an A/C delete
• 2 bucket seats and 4 point harnesses
• Maybe a cage at some point
• Acquire more alloys (because trackcar)
• Acquire more tyres (see above)
• Bankrupt myself buying things from PMS. The list of things I've seen and want go on and on.

So yeah, that's about it for now. Will put up some more photos when I get them, and will try and keep this updated as much as possible. Will be more exciting than my dci project thread anyway!

 

[GrahamS]

Yay diesel friend in the fun club!!

Good plans matey, looks like you're going to throw a lot of money at it

 

[sburrell93]

Yay diesel friend in the fun club!!

Good plans matey, looks like you're going to throw a lot of money at it

Cheers mate. I actually bought it with the intentions of spending as little as possible on it! Thought of going down the budget track car route. Then I started looking at mods for track and it all went downhill from there lol!

It'll all depend on how much it ends up costing me to run both the cars though. If all goes well, this'll be getting 90% of my time and hopefully will turn into a decent little track toy.

 

[Chi]

I've got a cammed ph1

 

[sburrell93]

Is there a car you don't have? :rasp:

Been genuinely tempted by cams when getting the belts done, but I can't bring myself to spend that kind of money on it in one go! Will be going down the saving weight route rather than chasing power numbers.

 

[sburrell93]

Few more pics as promised!

 

[Brett]

Looks really tidy. Get the original rear lights back on it!

 

[Chi]

Was a nice example .. needs alloy bonnet which my cammed one has

 

[sburrell93]

Looks really tidy. Get the original rear lights back on it!

Cheers Showing it's age around the front bumper now but besides that it's in good nick for its age. I'm undecided on the rear lights. A part of me likes them but another part is saying it's too modern a look for an old school looking car.

Was a nice example .. needs alloy bonnet which my cammed one has 

An alloy bonnet would be immense for track! Must be properly lightweight?

 

[Chi]

I believe they are lighter than carbon

 

[Brett]

My 172 has the alloy bonnet, as my first one did. They're so light you almost throw it up when you lift it up, ridiculously light they are.

I believe it was mainly the W plate ones that had the alloy bonnet, should be able to grab one second hand.

 

[sburrell93]

Read that the carbon ones are 2500g, so the aluminium ones must be insanely light! Will be keeping an eye out for one.

 

[Djw John]

The alloy ones weigh the same as air.
Good choice young man, get those ph1 lights back on it though I've gone for ph1 lenses with ph2 bulbholders.

 

[sburrell93]

Cheers John, loving the car so far! I'll see how I like the lights for now though What's the benefit of using the ph2 bulbholders with the ph1 lenses? Just the different layout for the fogs and brake lights?

Oh, don't suppose you have a spare o/s arch liner kicking about? I know you and Dave have a decent collection of ph1 parts lol!

 

[Djw John]

Yeah it moves the tail and brake lights to the bottom.

No idea, Dave has been on a mad tidying/binning frenzy! I need to go have a look anyway

 

[sburrell93]

Might give that a go tomorrow, see how it looks.

Lol no worries!

 

[Fraser.J.]

Lol at cheap track car [emoji23]

Mine started as a cheap track toy [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

Looks clean bud

 

[Arctic_Monkey]

Looks good mate. Looking forward to seeing this progress

 

[JP83]

Lol at cheap track car [emoji23]

Mine started as a cheap track toy [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

Looks clean bud

This. I paid 380 for my 172, and the list I've written up of parts (cage, seats, harnesses, etc) comes to about £2k minimum!

 

[AlexW]

I seem to be the only DCi owner not building a 172 track car. Meh!

Car looks good, and plans sound epic!

 

[sburrell93]

I seem to be the only DCi owner not building a 172 track car. Meh!

Car looks good, and plans sound epic!

That's because you're building some sort of awesome Frankenstein DCi instead!

I'll see how the plans shape up. Depends on how much money I can throw at it but that's pretty much a list of everything I want to do.

I'll probably end up going at it with my mates DA soon (just because I can), end up liking it too much and not want to track it [emoji23]

 

[barnesautos]

Here's my EMN . Shame it's being broken .
But needs must .

I also have a Cammed Ph1 like Chi and I can understand you not wanting to chase big numbers , Cammed and weight loss to are def the way in my opinion , these little rockets just put the biggest smile on my face every time I'm out in mine.
Good luck with yours and I hope it serves you well as mine has. [emoji106]

 

[AlexW]

That's because you're building some sort of awesome Frankenstein DCi instead!

I'll see how the plans shape up. Depends on how much money I can throw at it but that's pretty much a list of everything I want to do.

I'll probably end up going at it with my mates DA soon (just because I can), end up liking it too much and not want to track it [emoji23]

True, I think its got to be a little more track focused this time round, but still a daily drive.

Don't pamper it too much, just turn it into a good well built track car, Don't bodge it and make it look respectable and you're onto a winner.

 

[sburrell93]

Here's my EMN . Shame it's being broken .
But needs must .

I also have a Cammed Ph1 like @Chi and I can understand you not wanting to chase big numbers , Cammed and weight loss to are def the way in my opinion , these little rockets just put the biggest smile on my face every time I'm out in mine.
Good luck with yours and I hope it serves you well as mine has. [emoji106]


View attachment 114790View attachment 114791

ENM fwiends!

How come you're breaking it? I could be doing with an o/s arch liner

I wish I had the money just now to whack some cams in, but can't afford to do it with the belts at the moment, and the dephaser is needing done now so I don't want to wait it out

True, I think its got to be a little more track focused this time round, but still a daily drive.

Don't pamper it too much, just turn it into a good well built track car, Don't bodge it and make it look respectable and you're onto a winner.

Will be epic. A 60+mpg track car/daily driver is just full of win.

That's the general plan! Car will never be up to show standards and was always going to be better suited to track use, but I'm a sucker for a clean car lol

 

[sburrell93]

Ordered a load of different bits for the car this week. Got powerflex steering rack bushes and new inner track rods, a set of HID's, some yellow fog light bulbs, new wipers, and mist washer jets.

Decided to leave the steering stuff for another day, since I never had the right tools for the inner track rods, so cracked on with fitting the simpler stuff instead. Started out with the HID kit:

Didn't trust the eBay kits, so got one from HIDs Direct instead. Bit more expensive, but I figured it was worth it for the warranty and lower probability of my car being set on fire 😂
Didn't realise how simple it would be to fit. Literally just a case of swapping the bulbs over and plugging in some wires in different locations to usual!

Figured that by paying a bit more, it would be a quality kit. After fitting, I turned them on only to find one of the bulbs was flickering on startup! Fine once warmed up, but they flicker a lot on start up. Swapped ballasts, and it's definitely the bulb, so I've contacted HID's Direct and hopefully they can send me out another set. At least I know the ballasts aren't at fault, but I'm still a bit pissed that there's an issue with the kit to begin with.

Old halogen bulbs:

New 5000k HID bulb:

Fitted my yellow fog light bulbs after this. I know this wont be to everyone's taste, but the ph1 fog lights are big enough to work well, and I liked the idea of having some yellow light for low visibility without using tint film, so as to keep it more standard looking. Drivers side fog has the yellow bulb in both photos below. Also both HID bulbs are fitted at this point.

Fitted my mist washer jets and wipers too. My window actually washes and wipes properly now!

Oh, and saving the coolest for last. My 3D printed centre caps for the F1's arrived! Well impressed with these. Just need to get them painted.

Bit of a s**t update for something that's supposed to be a 'track car', but after having the xenons in my dci, I couldn't live with standard bulbs!

 

[sburrell93]

Little bit of progress. Bought a Whiteline rear arb off @Fraser.J. so popped over to his unit and managed to get him to fit it for me today. Quite impressed with the handling now. Can definitely feel a difference and currently got it on the softer of the two settings. Might try changing it at some point.

Couple of pics:

So after that I mentioned I had a clunking noise (mentioned this in OP, and I thought it was the steering rack/rack bushes), but found out it was actually the spring not seated properly. Got the car jacked up to have a look, and was greeted by this:

Looks like the completely wrong spring had been fitted to the car, but no, looked up to the top and saw this:

Yup...spring was fitted upside down! Passed an MOT like that last month as well! So Fraser very kindly agreed to take the shock off and turn the spring round as I didn't really fancy driving home with it like that. The full extent of the problem could be seen once we had the shock off.

So with that sorted, and the Whiteline fitted, the car is now handling better than ever, and there's no clunking from the steering/suspension either!

Going to try and get some more work done tomorrow if the weather holds up. Either get my sportlines fitted, or change my steering rack bushes and/or inner track rods.

 

[sburrell93]

So since I last updated this I've managed to fit a set of sportlines in order to get rid of that dodgy as f**k spring above! They didn't last long though, as I got a bit of a bargain on these!



Spax RSX, full coilover setups all round. Cracked on today and got them fitted. Ended up nice and close to the tyre on the rear ones! Think some spacers are in order.

And fitted

No pics of fitting the fronts but the car is currently sitting like this now

Pretty much the same as when I had the sportlines on it from what I can tell. Will probably wind it down further when I get time, but it's fine for now. Pretty impressive with the ride on them too. 12 clicks from soft and it's still a really comfy ride which is good for the roads round my way.

Couple of other jobs I've done now. Firstly, bought and fitted @The Fatty's induction kit setup. It sounds f**king awesome. Almost like throttle bodies!

Also made an Autofinesse order for the halloween, which included some Mercury metal polish, so attacked the air con pipework because I was bored one night, which left this.

And finally, bought some harnesses. Just need bucket seats now. Been looking at Corbeau Clubsports but I'm keeping my options open.

That's about it for now. Still need to fit new inner track rods (and track rod ends now as I noticed splits in the rubber today), fit my powerflex steering rack bushes, get the belts done, and figure out if the n/s driveshaft oil seal is shot. Seems to be fresh oil around it, so will have to investigate that one. Also got a spare set of brake calipers that i'll be refurbing and getting fitted, with some new pads ready for track use! I'll keep the current discs as they look pretty new. Will be booking it in to get the belts and dephaser done soon too.

 

[AlexW]

Looking good dude.

Those coilovers arent bad at all, mate has them on his Ph1 track car and I've found them pretty good.

Is the gearbox leak certainly driveshaft and not selector seal traveling, I'd probably guess not with how you describe, but its always a thought.

 

[sburrell93]

Cheers! Will see how they stand up on track next year. Won't be making any days this year now.

I'm pretty certain the leak is from the driveshaft. It's wet around there and down onto the edge of the subframe where the lower arms connect to it. Hasn't leaked onto my drive though, which either means it's nothing serious, or the oil level is too low to leak when it's sitting still lol!

 

[AlexW]

Haha, probably is the driveshaft seal.

Be a good idea to change the box oil anyway.

 

[JoeMarano]

Just out of interest why do people on here always have the engine cover on? I puy mine in the shed as soon as the car had its first clean! How is the induction kit fitted by the way?

 

[sburrell93]

Haha, probably is the driveshaft seal.

Be a good idea to change the box oil anyway.

Yeah, feels a bit notchy anyway tbh so could probably be doing with an oil change!

Just out of interest why do people on here always have the engine cover on? I puy mine in the shed as soon as the car had its first clean! How is the induction kit fitted by the way?

I've no idea why mine is on really. I take it off half the time I'm in the engine bay for a bit more room at things. Guess it's easier than having another bit lying about the garage.

Induction kit is pretty sweet. I'm unsure on any difference in power but the noise is great! I'm tempted to test it against the standard airbox on a rolling road. Just need to find the time.

 

[JoeMarano]

Ah cool. I thought maybe there was a reason why people tend to have them on. I was thinkingnof removing the bonnet mat thing too but realised it probably helps things look clean so decided to leave that on!

I must say im not a fan of mk1's but yours looks pretty tidy. Plans sound good too.

I can imagine the induction kit sounds pretty good. The standard one makes a nice noise over 5k on mine so im guessing it must sound amazing.

 

[sburrell93]

I suppose it covers the coil pack, so there's always that. I just removed the sound deadening on the bonnet because it was old and horrible looking. Plus it's unnecessary extra weight for a track car

Cheers though, I was unsure about them at first but I think I prefer them to the ph2's now.

I'll maybe try and get a video up of the induction kit. Sounds mental over 5k but it's hard to capture in a video.

 

[sburrell93]

Boring 'not-so-track-car' update, but after buying myself a DA at the end of last week, I attacked the front end to try and bring it up a bit, remove a few marks, and generally get it covered in some form of protection if it's going to be sitting over winter.

Bonnet came up reasonably well (s**t iphone photo in the dark, but the flake is pretty impressive on it now). Polished with menzerna 203s, then tripple by DA and 2 layers of tough coat.

Full car will be getting done at some point to try and rid it of some scratches and basically use it as a practice for polishing since if I f**k anything up I won't be caring!

Also done the headlights with poorboys master cut, and then 203s. Final results are shinier headlights and HID's which no longer scatter everywhere and actually give decent light output! Again, crappy pic.

Finally, bought a ktec stealth backbox for it on Sunday. No photos, but it's in almost new condition, so just need to get a mid section for it now. Anyone got any recommendations as to whether to get a sports or supersports mid section? How loud is the non-res supersports one?

Car is going in to SWR on Thursday to get the belts, dephaser, water pump, thermostat and fluids changed, so will be quiet for a while as I'll be skint!

 

[JoeMarano]

Also in the same position. Not sure on the loud or the quiet one. Paint your centre caps and get em on!

 

[sburrell93]

I was thinking go for the supersports since it's not a daily or anything, but I don't want to end up decatting it and it ends up stupidly loud!

Wheels are getting refurbed and powdercoated after winter, so the centre caps will be getting painted then. Although I do want then on now, looks awful without them.

 

[JoeMarano]

From what I hear with decat it may be too loud for track.

I think I may go for the silenced version in case I ever get cams etc. Don't want to turn up to a trackday and get sent away!

 

[Fraser.J.]

Never had a noise issue at knockhill and that's with a decat no silencer PMS exhaust

 

[sburrell93]

Yeah, knockhill's noise limit is pretty high though is it not? 105dB or something. Also, I've never thought your car was that loud anyway tbh Fraser! I can deal with a bit of loud, just don't want something that'll drone.

Can't seem to find any videos specifically of the ktec stealth with silenced mid section. All seem to be the supersports one.