5 GT Turbo Phatty-The Return!

[Brucieboy]

After the last update the car came home from Gavins nice big dry garage to sit outside my house in the rain.

Unfortunately the car wasn't water tight like I had hoped and there was a bit of a puddle in the passenger side and about an inch of water in the drivers side after 1 night of rain. :ak:

A temporary solution was to wrap it in a tarpaulin but the wind destroyed it next day so I stuck the roof canvas off an old bedford mk army truck over it and bungied it to death.

A few days later I managed to source new outer window trims from James Mitchell and the clear front door glasses to match the campus fixed rears.

I fitted them all under a rickety gazebo to fend off the rain and just as I was about to drop out the old n/a f7r engine Gavin arrived.

A quick coffee and chat later we dropped the old engine and box out and fitted the new F7R turbo engine and LSD box with the additional help from James who had just popped round to drop off a window guide channel as my doors didn't have any.

Then after another coffee and chat we started looking at intercooler firment and pipe run. Got a good idea of where it is all going now and have ordered the required silicon reducer elbows and an additional 180 degree bend on top of what I already had on the shelf. :af:


That was enough for the day.

 

[Brucieboy]

Today I purchased something I have been considering for a while.

A Clarke CIG1020 instant garage.
I am fed up of getting rained on and not being able to work on the car so off I popped to Machine Mart Poole where I also picked up a low entry aluminium trolley jack as my big one won't go under the car on it's own.

Phatty looks at home now I think.

It needs a bit more tensioning and maybe some additional ground fixings but is pretty solid and butted right up against the garage.
I will be adding some strip lights and moving the car back away from the garage a bit so I am out of the way of the door as also fed up of smacking my head off the damn thing when it's open. ☺

 

[Big Steve - Raider]

That reminds me @Brucieboy, I must come round yours with a hot air gun and a scraper..... :bq:

 

[DaveL485]

Your back screen needs a clean Bruce, some rude fellow has scrawled some horrible graffiti motif on it

 

[Brucieboy]

Been slacking a bit with the updates but things are moving along nicely.
Intercooler pipes are now fully welded so there are minimum joins. Turbo has silicon reducer elbow, then 2.5" multi bend pipe and silicon joiner onto cooler. Then its silicon joiner to 180 bend, silicon joiner to 2nd multi bend pipe then silicon reducer elbow onto throttle body.

The cooler is actually mounted on cotton reel mounts inside the alloy box section cross member to allow for any slight movement. The cross member needs some extra work to be perfect but its currently bolted solidly to the body and hidden by the front bumper.

 

[Brucieboy]

Fuel system is almost entirely new. Tank was removed for welding so was cleaned out ready for refitting. James Mitchell came through again with the campus filler neck so I could remove the aux tank to simplify the system.
The fuel now comes out the pickup pipe into a Walbro 255 pump which was used before on the original F7R fitment. Out of the Walbro into a rebuildable filter, next into a 2l swirl pot. Out of the swirl pot into the Bosch 044 pressure pump. From there its on to the rail via braided hose run inside the car. From the rail, back into a Turbosmart 1000 fuel pressure regulator before returning to the swirl pot. Finally there is a return from swirl pot back to the tank.
The system has all new wiring and fused relays with 1 each pump and a spare in the middle just in case. The system is now wired to the ecu and correctly primes before starting. I have tested the system to almost 6.5 bar as fpr needed a LOT of adjustment down to the required 3 bar minimum but at least I know it is leak free and will be well beyond my estimated max boost level.

The battery is brand new as even though it was only a year old it had died and wouldn't hold charge. Glad I kept the receipt.
I have mounted it in a fibreglass battery box near the fuel system.

The battery wires are all new and run through an FIA approved master cut off switch before going through the chassis leg into the engine bay. I have also replaced the main alternator wire and fitted 3 new earth leads to various places in the bay to ensure I have no problems.

 

[Brucieboy]

So with some dash wiring loom repairs done and the rest of the interior just about sorted it was time to fit the seats. I ordered these at Autosport International show in January and they arrived a month or so afterwards.

They are FIA approved Carbon Kevlar Corbeau Sprint XL, black with electric blue stitching, inflatable lumbar support on drivers seat and custom Renault Sport stitching.
As part of the deal I also got Luke 3" 6 point FIA approved harnesses and competition spec alloy side mounts.
I have just added a harness bar for now but a full cage update is coming eventually.

 

[Brucieboy]

Although things are coming along it hasn't all been plain sailing. A few weeks ago whilst mocking up the intercooler and cross member I had a slight misshap.

It stung like a bitch and bled lots!
Once the bleeding stopped I had a closer look at the damage.

The nail was completely sliced through and the gash continued about 5mm down into the flesh. I was a little concerned being both inquisitive and a little sadistic I kept playing with the nail.

Eventually it got more loose.

Until it came off completely.

Luckily the wound healed without infection and the nail has grown back almost all the way to normal.

 

[Brucieboy]

I have a few bits and bobs to do in the interior. I have bought lots of rollcage padding and a passenger alloy foot rest which need fitting.
I also have an emergency tool which can slice through harnesses and also has a glass hammer which needs mounting within reach whilst strapped in. Lastly I will be fitting an FIA approved fire extinguisher system, boxing in the fuel system and fitting a better floor in the back.
I will be fitting a modified gear selector to raise up the stick. I have been told Pure Motorsport are developing one of their shifters specific to the 5 but if not I will design my own.

 

[Chris Smith]

Great work Bruce, loving the seats bud. That nail looks painfull..

 

[DaveL485]

Epic nail carnage, well done. 8/10.

 

[Brucieboy]

More done this weekend. Finally got the exhaust manifold fitted and hung the turbo for the first time properly. This allowed me to finalise the water and oil pipes that have been sat half finished for a while and test fit the air filter to see if it would sit where I wanted it.

If you notice there were a number of part done tasks like the white vacuum line for the fpr and various pipes and wires all over the place.
I found a roll of black pipe to reroute the fps pipe and also to run the actuator pipe. I have loosely cable tied it to the oil feed for now until I check temps. The throttle cable has been routed behind the heatshield and the exposed length run through heatproof sock. Coilpack wiring is also in the heatproof sock as it crosses the manifold at the moment. I am thinking of going back to the std coilpack as it looks cleaner in the bay and doesn't need leads.
So the bay is almost complete for now but I do still have to source and fit a rad fan as the 14" one I have no longer goes in due to long clutch arm and intercooler pipes.
So this is how it looks as at today.

 

[Brucieboy]

I previously fitted the Goodridge brake flexi's but as I didn't have the retaining springs or some of the pipes fitted I thought it was about time I finished the brake system. I reconnected the handbrake cables which had been removed to take the tank off and moved on to the service brakes.
I made a new nsf and osf brake pipe and fitted the retaining springs to them.

I started on the rear pipes but am still missing 2 retaining springs so couldn't finish it off.

 

[la21t]

I gagged at the nail

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[la21t]

Love the work though mate, I watched from afar (21turbo.com) your first time around with this.......had sod all to do with rtoc other than I knew Rachel.



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[Brucieboy]

Love the work though mate, I watched from afar (21turbo.com) your first time around with this.......had sod all to do with rtoc other than I knew Rachel.

Were you an rtoc member or was someone posting it on 21turbo.com?
Can't believe that was about 13-14 years ago.

 

[la21t]

I was an rtoc member mate....I had 'Smurf' a baby blue 21.

.....and yes was me who fitted the shocking Evo 6 spoiler

Yeah I built that 11yr ago

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[Brucieboy]

Wheels were in a very poor condition when I got the car back. The previous owner had scraped off the gold paint from the centres and the rims were badly damaged and corroded. I have taken the wheels to Max at M.S.Engineering in Trudoxhill, Somerset to be blasted, painted and repaired/polished as best as possible.
120 new allen head bolts and locknuts have been purchased to replace the manky ones that came off and a couple of quid has been spent on new tyres. 4 x 205/50/15 86W Toyo R888R Trackday/Race E Marked Tyres - 2055015


Wheels not included, Ebay library picture!
I am looking forward to getting the wheels back and fitted ready for FCS in 10 days time.

 

[DaveL485]

Is there anything on that car that the owner hasn't ruined?!

 

[Brucieboy]

Is there anything on that car that the owner hasn't ruined?!

Nope!