So I've had the Rallye back a few weeks now so I wanted to do a bit of an update.
After a bit of backwards and forwards over the MOT.... knocking from the suspension (my own fault) I got the Rallye back. I am well aware I'm a MASSIVE sad-o but when I was given it back I wasn't best pleased because they;

� hadn't test driven it with the new brake pipes
� hadn't refitted the check strap on the drivers side
� all of the locking wheel nut dust cap/covers had been lost
� had stuck on the old number plate even thought I had asked them not to
� had made a mess of internally running the new rear brake lines

It did however handle so much better and didn't feel in the slightest bit crashy...which I thought it might.

20160716_172257 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

Much better with the smaller plate on

20160716_183059 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

The brake bias lever is also in a good position but I'm yet to experiment with it.

20160716_172403 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

Messy rear brake lines.... which are going to have to be redone because they will flex/bend and fatigue but also it stops me carrying much in the back for track days.

20160716_172313 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

They have done a great job of painting my new wheels thought. After a lot of looking at dark greys & light blacks I went for Mazda 38R which has a bit of metallic flec in but looks like a solid colour in anything less than direct sunlight.

20160716_171326 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

I couldn't wait to get the wheels fitted, so after a coat of Poorboys wheel sealant I got them bolted up. The light was really fading fast while I was taking the pictures so they look really dark but they are much more grey from most angles.

20160719_212052 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

20160719_212029 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

I ended up going for Yokohama AD08Rs R16/205/50 because a friend had some that he wanted to get rid of. After excitedly hopping in and rolling up the road I quickly realised they were rubbing badly on the front dampers, bummer. By this time I only had 24hrs until the track day at Goodwood so I quickly got back and changed the wheels over..by this point despite being less than ideal I've stopped being annoyed by everything and just happy to have it back and in working order.

Fast forward 24hrs and a 0500 set off to make sure we get to Goodwood for the 0800 drivers briefing. 2 hours into the drive and I'm just starting to get used to the new seats and suspension as the countryside gets a bit more hilly and the brake pedal sinks all the way to the floor as we are coming down a hill. Being the gentleman and considerate partner I am I don't tell my fiancé because she doesn't need any more ammunition about how expensive, old and dangerous it is, and decided to engine brake the rest of the drive to Goodwood.

20160723_144834 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

Once we'd got there and I'd owned up to why I was driving like a granny I got under the car and spotted that one of the new drivers side rear brake unions had come undone. Besides being angry that it had just been fitted I was very concerned because although I had some brake fluid, I had never bled a brake system and had no useful tools.
Track days being track days though, I soon had borrowed everything I needed from some very nice guys and got a couple of pointers on how to go about it. So with a section of washer jet tube and a paper cup, I set to work

received_10154298240516054 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

It just reminded me that proper car people are wonderful, it always makes me happy to be part of the wider car community when someone is happy to give up their time, knowledge and tools to a total stranger who is clearly in trouble and out of his depth. Absolutely brilliant.

After missing 3 sessions and getting a few different people helping with brake pumping duty it was sorted and we went straight out to cue for the 4th session.

received_10154298237666054 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

received_10154298240596054 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

The rest of the day was much more uneventful and the Rallye made every session. I haven't driven it on track since I've changed the seats, steering wheel, front & rear suspension, the brake lines, bias valve and removed the ABS, rear seats and spare wheel carrier...so it was a very different car. I was a bit concerned that making the changes would ruin the already great handling and adjustability the GTI6/Rallyes have, but it hasn't, if anything its improved it.

The seats and harnesses are SO much better at holding you in place and giving you the time to concentrate on driving, and the braking is so much stronger and feelsome... despite my Heath Robinson brake bleeding. What the new suspension did highlight though was how quickly the tyres over heat and reach their limits of grip. So it's about time I got the new wheels and tyres sorted out before the next track day.

20160723_132905_HDR by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

The misses even had a go behind the wheel!

received_10154298240441054 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

I'd forgotten what an exciting circuit Goodwood is. I particularly like the straight down to Woodcote which is over an indicated 115mph and then hard on the brakes for a slow 3rd gear double apex right hander. Brilliant.

I'm going to try and get my tyres sorted and then get a Bedford day booked purely because it's ridiculously close and I've never been.... that's a good enough reason isn't it!

Nice update, your car is looking well!
Hopefully meet you at some trackdays next year.

________________________________________

Goldie the track car.

Great read, really enjoyed it.

How did you do your rear hatch repainting - just mask off the glass or was it glass out?

________________________________________

Cherry Rallye SOLD

They masked it off with the glass still in. I thought it wouldn't look great but they reassured me it would and to be fair they did a great job. Did you take the glass out of yours? Or was it OEM Cherry Red?

Have a look at the cheap GoPro alternatives. I got one for the race car for about £30 and it does pretty well, not quite as good quality footage but good enough.

________________________________________

Rallye Race Car

Yes they are, particularly on drive by

It looks nice and clean in the pictures. Is that weigh bridge at Brands Hatch? I wish i'd weighed mine when i was there last month if it is.

________________________________________

Goldie the track car.

Ahh, i didn't know that when i went, i'm intrigued to know what mine weighs. I think a mate might be corner weighting mine in January anyway.

________________________________________

Goldie the track car.

Long over due update, I've been working on the car but have been distracted from posting by getting married. I also need to go back and change the pics over from Photobucket when I get chance. Please bear with me because I'm doing this on mobile and the Flickr app isn't letting me post the proper links.

Since the last post I've fitted the new front -40 HandR springs which has leveled the car out nicely.

There wasn't that much difference when you compared them side to side.

20170108_133628 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

But it's deffinately dropped the front end enough and it still handles just as well.

20170128_101953 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

I've also stripped out some unnecessary trim..

20170128_115438 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

20170128_120547 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

And the wheel arch liners because the rear wheels needed all the clearance they could get.

20170108_151317 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

I've also fitted BakerBM engine and gearbox mounts and made a chock for the top engine mount which has made so much difference.

This one was broken...you might be able to see the bottom thread is at a slightly odd angle compared to the new one.

20170408_181220 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

And there was loads of play even with the new top engine mount in. The difference it's made to the gear changes is great.

20170408_191309_HDR by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

It's also had some boring maintenance bits done (new front wheel bearings, new front discs and pads and flew through her MOT).

It's also been out to Blyton Park, Bedford & Rockingham.

20170520_123129_HDR by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

20170520_143305 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

IMG-20170520-WA0003 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

IMG-20161008-WA0000 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

The Mrs getting ready to go out at Bedford in Feb....it was so cold and wet that day.

IMG-20170215-WA0005 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

My mates lovely Z4 Coupe at Bedford..

IMG-20170215-WA0006 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

Rockingham

IMG-20170820-WA0009 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

IMG_20170824_054244_424 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

IMG_20170824_054444_776 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

IMG_20170824_080412_987 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

Rockingham was great fun. I wasn't sure if the Rallye would suit it but the infield section is quite technical which was satisfying to get your head around. I also got a shot in the drivers seat of my friends Exige Race car which was VERY brave of him (supercharged K20, sequential box, centre seat, slicks, proper aero...you get the picture)

IMG_20170824_054752_403 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

I was amazed how tracktable it was and less intimidating than i thought...once I'd got the hang of the sequential box. It was great fun but it's one of those things now where the Rallye felt very slow when i got back in it and made the want for sequential verg strong!....maybe in the future.

I've also bought a Satchshift and lightened flywheel ready to go in ahead of Snetterton on the 4th November so I can't wait to get that fitted. Also on the to-do list is some brake cooling like Prism7guy has done on his, I'd like to try and prolong the life of the TREs, discs and pads if I can.

So after a while of hording parts I've had Pug1off fit my satchshift, Nissens rad, lightened flywheel, new clutch, rear tow strap and sort out the horrendous rear brake lines.

20171028_095033_HDR by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

20171031_182206 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

The cat inspecting the new radiator

20171028_101922 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

I'd never used Pug1off before and I must say I'm very impressed. They not only did a great job but were fantastic at communicating what they were doing, the options and suggesting what they would do....which for car loving control freak was brilliant.

It's also had a new set of AO48s all around before we did a very wet track day at Snetterton.

20171028_095818 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

The day itself at Snetterton was really hard work and despite being a great track the torrential rain really did stop us enjoying it as much as we could. I didn't even take any pictures...which is very unlike me!

The Rallye was amazing though. The Satchshift and the new engine mounts have made massive difference to shifting speed and control going up an down the box. The engine also runs a fair bit cooler now with the new rad. I properly fell in love with it again rowing up and down the gears and feeling completely confident in the chassis.

I've treated the old girl to some tarty lightweight bits too (which I couldn't pass up) so I'm just going through the process of fitting them.....

20171204_115912 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

20171204_122739 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

Everyone loves a bit of carbon!

I've also updated the old photobox broken links through the rest of the project....which was painstaking.

Cheers Si. Yeah, it wasn't cheap but they did a good job. I love working on it but didn't trust myself doing the Satchshift and I wanted someone to do the brake lines for me....they just did the other bits only because they had it.

Yeah, keep me in mind if you book anything at Bedford. I'd love to see yours and get a passenger ride. Where abouts do you live?

I got a bit more time to sort the bonnet out over Christmas.

I got the hinges bolted on which was straight forward but it wouldn't shut. So after scratching my head I couldn't quite figure out what was stopping it latching. I figured out that it wasn't anything in the engine bay that was pushing the bonnet up so I compared the two bonnets side by side and they both had identical bracing.....but after a bit more looking I noticed the latching hook had a bigger diameter which was stopping it latching.

Original
20171222_104748 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

New bonnet
20171222_104932 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

I was worried that if I trimmed too much material away from the latch it might not hold the bonnet safely. So I took my time and VERY steadily trimmed and checked, trimmed and checked until it fitted snugly.

20171222_115653_HDR by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

But once it was latching it pulled the bonnet forward and left which upset my OCD so I fiddled with the hinges and latch until it sat inline with the wings.

20171222_115610_HDR by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

20171222_115552_HDR by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

And then got the Rallye sticker...which surprisingly makes it look much more OEM! I'm not quite sure the sticker is straight but I think I need to see it in some proper light...out of the garage.

20171222_141235_HDR by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

The eagle eyed among you will notice that there aren't any washer jets in the bonnet, which is because there aren't any holes in the bonnet. So I decided instead of cutting holes in the bonnet I'd fit some 405 style washer jets that are wiper mounted.

20171229_170009 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

The wiper blades in the kit were the wrong size but after a bit of fiddling I had working washer jets...and despite not being as elegant a solution as bonnet mounted ones they actually work much better.

20171229_181704 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

I've started getting the boot on too but it's just hung in place at the moment.

20171222_171307 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

20171229_165409 by Nick Buxton, on Flickr

I couldn't believe how much weight it was than the standard boot....it will be really interesting to get the car back on the scales.