Discussion
When I last out in the car I had Xenon die on me. I was praying it was a bulb instead of a ballast but guess what, it was a ballast. I reckon I’ve changed them about 10 times in my ownership and at about £150 a piece it’s a bit of a pain, plus the bulbs are around £90 too. I looked into a solution and found a company called ledperf.co.uk who sell a D2S xenon to LED conversion kit. I took the plunge and got them fitted last night, very simple to do it’s just a case of joining two wires together. This way I’ve got rid of the ballast and D2S bulbs all together. I went for a drive last night to see how the compare, there really is no disadvantages. Beam pattern is great, light output is marginally better, a very crisp white light.
Overall I’m glad I made the jump to LED’s, anyone thinking of doing the same thing drop me a message on Instagram @claytonjoness
The first picture is the LED’s, the second is the Xenons to give you an idea, I know a picture isn’t the best way to show the comparisons.
Overall I’m glad I made the jump to LED’s, anyone thinking of doing the same thing drop me a message on Instagram @claytonjoness
The first picture is the LED’s, the second is the Xenons to give you an idea, I know a picture isn’t the best way to show the comparisons.
Was scrolling through the inter web over the weekend and come across some titanium brake pad shims to help dissipate the heat produced by the caliper and stop it transferring back into the caliper. Not sure why I hadn’t thought about it sooner. You can’t buy them for my Wilwood calipers so I ordered a sheet it titanium and got the grinder out lol. Turned out pretty well, not perfect but it doesn’t need to be 100%. A nice cheap upgrade that should help a lot on track!
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g][/url]Another fantastic day at Snetterton yesterday with Opentrack despite the weater. Once again the Lupo was brilliant, amazing how good it is in the wet with how short the wheel base is. I ran on my Michelin PS3’s and they do a good job in the cold and wet.
I noticed a clicking from the passengers side CV joint towards the end of the day so that’s something to sort. I’m back there on the 25th for one more day before my trackday at the Nürburgring in April with Circuitdays.
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I noticed a clicking from the passengers side CV joint towards the end of the day so that’s something to sort. I’m back there on the 25th for one more day before my trackday at the Nürburgring in April with Circuitdays.
[/url]Another successful day at Snett yesterday, 142 track miles completed without any issues. The car to some serious abuse too pushing harder than I ever had before. Checking GoPro footage I beat my PB by 0.5 seconds which I was happy with considering my Nankang AR1’s were past their best.
Also had no driveshaft issues after fitting a new one
temporary photo sharing
Also had no driveshaft issues after fitting a new one
temporary photo sharing
Managed to get a few spare hours after work today before the light went so I got my Wilwood calipers off to give them a fresh rebuild, the dust boots had started to split and deteriorate so I thought I’d get it done before more track action this year.
New seals, dust boots and stainless bleed nipples
New seals, dust boots and stainless bleed nipples
This has been one of those things on the list for so long, finally got the door cards retrimmed in Black Alacantara with Black stitching to keep things subtle, 2mm neoprene for the extra cushion. Tom @eastcountycustoms has absolutely nailed these, came out better than I ever imagine👏🏼 That’s the interior 100% complete, never thought I’d say that🤣
rip instagram pictures
rip instagram pictures
Max M4X WW said:
That looks great! Were they plastic before?
Something similar would look really good in my Up GTI too - would you mind disclosing the cost?
No they were a horrible fabric material, didn’t look or feel very nice. I’ll leave a picture below.Something similar would look really good in my Up GTI too - would you mind disclosing the cost?
If you message me I’ll let you know how much
I'm back home from another amazing Nurburgring trip, this time I done a private trackday as well as I felt I started to get comfortable on the track after around 65 laps now.
It was an extremely busy weekend as it was Car Freitag and the first time in over 2 years its been covid free. The atmosphere around the place is just something else, truly a special place.
The trackday was on the Tuesday and after doing a few TF laps over the weekend I was feeling confident I would beat my BTG time around there comfortably. I actually done that on my second lap with an 8.27! The car felt the best it's ever felt for sure!
BUT, it didnt end as well as i'd of hoped, 6 laps into the day and my engine let go. Coming down through Brunchen (youtube corner) I changed into 4th and immediately felt the engine bog, let off the thottle and knew there was damage to the bottom end. I haven't got the car home yet to investigate further but it doesn'd sound too bad and hoping a quick rebuild will get it back on road and track fairly soon.
Overall, a trip I will never forget for good and bad reasons lol.
Hope you enjoy some of these photos and the video of the lap.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYhwWjYMX0c
It was an extremely busy weekend as it was Car Freitag and the first time in over 2 years its been covid free. The atmosphere around the place is just something else, truly a special place.
The trackday was on the Tuesday and after doing a few TF laps over the weekend I was feeling confident I would beat my BTG time around there comfortably. I actually done that on my second lap with an 8.27! The car felt the best it's ever felt for sure!
BUT, it didnt end as well as i'd of hoped, 6 laps into the day and my engine let go. Coming down through Brunchen (youtube corner) I changed into 4th and immediately felt the engine bog, let off the thottle and knew there was damage to the bottom end. I haven't got the car home yet to investigate further but it doesn'd sound too bad and hoping a quick rebuild will get it back on road and track fairly soon.
Overall, a trip I will never forget for good and bad reasons lol.
Hope you enjoy some of these photos and the video of the lap.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYhwWjYMX0c
It’s been a while since I’ve updated this, simply because I still don’t have the car on the road and I’ve been busy getting stuff done.
So, I got back from Germany, waited a month for the car to arrive home, insurance breakdown takes forever but it didn’t cost me a penny so I can’t complain.
As soon as the car arrived home, the next day I pulled the engine out, took it to my mates to rebuild the bottom end. I had already gathered all new bearings and shells from VW. Upon inspection we instantly noticed it had spun a bearing on cylinder 4 (as expected). The crank was also damaged but I had a spare one that had been polished ready. We checked, cleaned and reassembled everything thinking it was good to go.
I put the engine back in the following day, installed an oil pressure and temperature gauge whilst I was in there to keep and eye on things. Got the whole done by myself in a day, fired it up and it sounded perfect, over the moon I was. It was late that evening and I was filthy so I waited for the next day, Sunday morning to go for a drive. Jumped it, fired it up and it sounded great. Pulled it out of the garage and down the driveway and instantly noticed the oil pressure looked low and then I heard a very minor bottom end knock again. At this point I wanted to scrap the car lol. But obviously not the case. I then pulled them engine back out AGAIN! Took it to my mates to inspect again, spun bearing on cylinder 4! So we have come to the conclusion the rod was at fault, it’s currently being completely stripped down and cleaned, every bolt is being zinc plated also. Hopefully when it goes back in we are all good this time. I’ve also installed a new 10 row Mocal oil cooler too.
The Lupo also got an awesome feature in PVW magazine, go check that out if you haven’t already👌🏼I’ll leave some pictures of that below.
Whilst mine has been away I’ve been busy with my missus car, a Polo GTI 1.8t. That’s received a whole host of goodies in the last month including a set of ST XA adjustable coilovers, a Quaife LSD, AP Racing 4 pot calipers, Creation Motorsport TIP, Full Miltek decat exhaust, battery relocation kit and a set of Nankang NS2R’s as she does plan on getting it on track. It’s going to Devil Developments for a map next week, should see around 230-240bhp which is more than enough in a car that weighs around 1100kg.
So, I got back from Germany, waited a month for the car to arrive home, insurance breakdown takes forever but it didn’t cost me a penny so I can’t complain.
As soon as the car arrived home, the next day I pulled the engine out, took it to my mates to rebuild the bottom end. I had already gathered all new bearings and shells from VW. Upon inspection we instantly noticed it had spun a bearing on cylinder 4 (as expected). The crank was also damaged but I had a spare one that had been polished ready. We checked, cleaned and reassembled everything thinking it was good to go.
I put the engine back in the following day, installed an oil pressure and temperature gauge whilst I was in there to keep and eye on things. Got the whole done by myself in a day, fired it up and it sounded perfect, over the moon I was. It was late that evening and I was filthy so I waited for the next day, Sunday morning to go for a drive. Jumped it, fired it up and it sounded great. Pulled it out of the garage and down the driveway and instantly noticed the oil pressure looked low and then I heard a very minor bottom end knock again. At this point I wanted to scrap the car lol. But obviously not the case. I then pulled them engine back out AGAIN! Took it to my mates to inspect again, spun bearing on cylinder 4! So we have come to the conclusion the rod was at fault, it’s currently being completely stripped down and cleaned, every bolt is being zinc plated also. Hopefully when it goes back in we are all good this time. I’ve also installed a new 10 row Mocal oil cooler too.
The Lupo also got an awesome feature in PVW magazine, go check that out if you haven’t already👌🏼I’ll leave some pictures of that below.
Whilst mine has been away I’ve been busy with my missus car, a Polo GTI 1.8t. That’s received a whole host of goodies in the last month including a set of ST XA adjustable coilovers, a Quaife LSD, AP Racing 4 pot calipers, Creation Motorsport TIP, Full Miltek decat exhaust, battery relocation kit and a set of Nankang NS2R’s as she does plan on getting it on track. It’s going to Devil Developments for a map next week, should see around 230-240bhp which is more than enough in a car that weighs around 1100kg.
Edited by claytonjones on Friday 10th June 16:46
I love how you take out, dismantle and repair an engine over a weekend with nonchalance. Twice!
ETA
Especially so if you consider how many threads there are in GG from people who seek advice when their new to them 15 y.o. car needs new brake pads after a year and whether they can reject the car for on counts of it not being roadworthy
ETA
Especially so if you consider how many threads there are in GG from people who seek advice when their new to them 15 y.o. car needs new brake pads after a year and whether they can reject the car for on counts of it not being roadworthy
Edited by Filibuster on Monday 13th June 16:10
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