pete_griff

wow - £100 for that rear beam!!! top draw progress pal, greatto see the 'rado getting the attention :D

suprised you expoxy'd the old fitting... FYI, you can get a brand new mastercylinder from the stealers for about £80-100. they look similar to the one you've picked up, but the fitting for the solid line are in a different place to the OEM item (seen you've got around this by re-bending the existing solid line). you can also get round this by just running a braided line straight from the master to the slave and do away with the crap factory flexi. also, you have to change the pedal as it's a different fitment, but the pedal is only about £30 from the stealers. if you find the epoxy doesn't hold then look into doing that. also you can pick up pedals out out the earlier passats (around '95) - i did this and paid £5 for it from a breakers. changing the pedal is an easy job, just a little fiddly when re-fitting the return spring so how long before it's on the road now then? :D

hey Jim, sorry to hear of your troubles. hope you're more or less happy with the VR as it stands now though... glad to hear the valver is still getting the love too at the same time as the VR, hope you manage to get the leads problem sorted alright... by the way, i'm going to be getting Dave and Graham to remap the M5 for me when i get back, so oyu'll have to take it out for another spin then; it goes better already since i've sorted all the running eqpt/injectors etc etc :norty: some more pics of both of your cars would be nice at some point if you get the chance... :D

about time you finally got round to sorting a build thread out!!! would be very interested to see some more "mechanical" pics rather than the overall ones (you just want to show off how many wheels you've had while iving out your obsession! :lol:) on a more serious note, it really does look nice and it's been great to hear about how its come on with the various "teething" issues over the 45k or so you've been running it for now. also loving the gauges and traction control setup, if it was me though i would get rid of the gauges where the ashtray used to be and relocate them in an OEM gauge pod that drops into the bottom cubby hole (though they are getting like hens teeth to find now), then move the DTA unit (which is uber-cool by the way!) down where the ashtray was. i couldn't live without a stereo for that long - i'm as much of a petrolhead as the next man, but listening to engine and only engine for that long would drive me loopy! loving it anyway Kev - cheers for sharing (finally!) :-D

just FYI, i'm off out of the country tomorrow. while i'm gone the car is booked in for a complete glass-out respray and i also have a new set of (original) wheels getting refurbed and going on (existing wheels being kept for the track :norty: ) watch this space - can't wait to get the picture updates myself while i'm away :)

i had a go in my mate's 2.2 vx220 ages ago now (when i still had my impreza wr1) and immediately considered selling my own car! they're awesome cars and very very rewarding, BUT, i really couldn't see the romance lasting if i'm honest - too much of an all or nothing car IMO; you'd be better off sticking with a bike if you want to go along those lines. stick with the 'rado and keep that happy medium

i'm very happy with my e39 m5. insurance will be a bit of a bitch, but i pay £950 for mine and i'm 26; it pays to shop around. i can also put in a very good word for an evo 6, but the mrs won't be very happy with that one... to get decent m5 you'll be looking around the 10k mark. they are available cheaper, but you want the post 2001 car with the revisions (angel eyes, better interior/steering wheels, revisions to pistons/piston rings) as they are nicer and hold their value a bit better. runnings costs are fairly horrific, but they're definitely worth it and if you get an example with the expensive bits done already (brakes, clutch etc) then you shouldn't have to worry too much... here's a couple of examples: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1966391.htm http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2060201.htm (very well priced, if a little high mileage) http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1952838.htm http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2028323.htm http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2013360.htm http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1983986.htm http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1968944.htm (most sorted looking one IMO) alternatively the e46 m3 is also a great car. little more expensive to buy and much less exclusive, but i would heartily recommend one of theose too...

do you know when the law is set to change? i'm looking to do the direct access course around march/april next year... (also looking at getting a gsx-r 600 round about a 2001-2003 plate for the record)

thanks again all for your replies on this one - some very good food for thought there :) i've actually pretty much decided what i'm going to do now due to having to make commitments before leaving etc i'm going for the house option! (but with some caveats...) owing to the fact that i can get very very good mates rates from my bodyshop the M5 is going in for a complete glass-out respray, and i'm also going to get a spare set of wheels and get those done at the same time, so externally the car will be pristine! mechanically it's pretty much there now, going to get it remapped when i get back and also iron out a few other small kinks, but tbh i'm being pretty fussy and it's more or less all sorted mechanically as it is right now. i'm also going to spend a couple of hundred quid on the leather (about £200-300) and get it restored and one panel replaced and that should complete the whole package. :D so that's the car sorted - should cost me not much more than £1800ish to get all that sorted. for the second caveat - i've finally decided i'm also going to get one of these..... (and obviously the licence associated with it) i figured i'm still young and this is another thing i've always wanted so there's no better time really. after spunking the cash on the bike and the car i'll probably have to wait another month or two before i can realistically have enough for a decent house deposit, but not much longer than that and that way i'll have time to do some shopping and look into mortgages etc. also, once i've got the house i'm on the ladder i'll know it's all mine - i've earned it and not sponged it etc etc and i won't have to worry about that commitment again (well hopefully not for quite sometime anyway!) once i'm on the ladder and have tennants in paying my mortgage for me. in my next work location i'll be expecting to be away a fair bit, so that will give me plenty more time to save and if i still want to scratch the porsche itch (which tbh i almost certainly will...) then i can do it in a few more years and still be driving round in a mint M5 in the meantime, which lets be fair isn't a bad trade-off. (also gives me a chance to save for a 997 instead of a 996 :norty: )

happy days with the lambda, that's always good news :) as for the oil that sounds right too if it was me though, as you're running a naturally aspirated 12v (and also for a NA 24v), i would be running a high quality synthetic 5/40 e.g. silkolene pro s. if you drive very hard for long periods with only the standard oil cooler then you might see temps creep up over the 120 degrees mark which is bad news for 5/40. that said though, if you're driving like that then you should have an aftermarket oil cooler which will keep temps down below 120 anyway. IMO, you only need the likes of 10/50 in a VR6 engine when running forced induction and having hot turbos etc to cope with...

gauges looks great - i had a set in my car, but mine were the early jobbies. those ones are perfect, much better use of the cubby hole as you say. that oil pressure is good, nothing to worry about. is that 2 bar on idle when warm or cold as 2 bar sounds a bit high if that's when the car is warm, what grade oil are you using? as for the lambda... i'm no expert (hopefully an electrical geek will be along shortly to tell you for certain!), but afaik the readings are supposed to vary (in range) much more than that. when a lambda is giving readings that are barely fluctuating it means the lambda is buggered.

thanks very much for the replies all :D tbh i'm still not certain - i appreciate that i'll still probably be able to drive with the same or more skill etc when i'm a bit older, what may well change between then and now though is me "settling down" and becoming responsible for a sprog or two which would certainly kick the porsche plans into touch for a good few years! hopefully, that won't happen for a while yet though... Karl and Matt - thanks for your comments about tuned Evos; I LOVE EVOs and i will definitely have another one at some point, and probably a project in the garage only to be used at weekends so i could make it a monster. i'm also always hankering after a project of some description, so i'm absolutely certain i'll build a monster evo when i'm a bit older and more settled in life. i wouldn't want another as a daily now though - not now i've had the refinement etc offered by more "civilised" metal that's available. as it stands, the head obviously says house and the heart says porsche. the sensible thing would definitely be to get a house then in a couple of years if i wanted i could remortgage to get a car - the only thing is that i'm REALLY not a patient person (not a good character trait, but it's never going to change) and when i set my mind on something, it has to be RIGHT NOW! also i'm not sure what would happen in between buying the house then in a few years looking at getting the car - would things change so it would no longer be feasable to get one??? i don't know! also, on a very morbid note (my parents mention this more than me strangely!) - my mum has a big house to herself and my old man has two good sized houses - one that he lives in and one that he rents. i'm an only child; without stating the obvious you can see where this is going now. my dad actually told me a while ago he thought it would be a bit pointless for me to buy my own house, but that said, you really can't be much more assured than if you have your equity in bricks and mortar... i could always buy the car first and then save for a few more years to get a house deposit - i just don't know! i've wanted a 911 turbo since before i could even drive. i've got 6 months to mull it over - if i'm honest, i really should be sensible and get the house - but there's always that nagging feeling....

Bloody Hell Pete - you haven't turboed it have you?! :lol: :lol: no i haven't turbo'd it, nor will - check out the piccy below and you'll see just how little metal there is between the bores. why people turbo these things i really don't know - if you do the right bits, you can achieve the 625bhp of the ascaris etc without needing to force feed them. but anyway - it's staying totally standard during my tenure...

righto! as the post title suggests i'm in a bit of a dilema! thankfully i have 6 months to think about this and frankly it's a bit of a stupid question, BUT, i thought it would be interesting to see what people think... as a perk of my job it means that i'll have food in my mouth and a roof over my head come rain or shine, meaning that a house purchase is obviously not as much of a priority as it would be for some others. however, the good points to buying a house - it will keep the mrs/parents etc etc happy and i can rent it and get someone else to pay my mortgage for me - bonus. bad points - no porsche! good points for the porsche - it would be amazingly amazing, also running costs would probably be pretty similar to my current steed. bad points for the porsche - not having someone pay off my mortgage for me as i wouldn't have one and getting a massive bollocking off parents! (though potentially not the mrs...) it also may mean not seeing the mrs as much due to housing arrangements, which would be pretty bad and qute selfish if i'm honest. the thing is, that the M5 really doesn't seem fast enough for me (i know i know - i should be happy with what i've got), but it really could be faster. also i had a bit of banter with a GT2 a couple of weeks ago and the way that he pulled away from me was just embarassing! i also have this quote from my friend ringing in my ears - "you're better off getting it now and enjoying it while you're still young and can still get the best from it. wait until you're older and you won't be able to exploit the full potential..." thoughts (and insults!) are all appreciated... :)

don't think i'm going to be able to make this :( :( :( as it stands i'm set to fly out of the country on the 17th and somehow i don't think getting a later plane is an option for me! obviouly i'll keep you posted an if i can make it then i will... anyone want to take the M5 along for me?!? :lol:

i would DEFINITELY be up for a trip to the 'ring - can't even describe how much i've always wanted to go there! if we do i'll even buy a game in an attempt to familiarise myself with it (and i hate racing games!)

:clap: happy days pal can't wait to see it now, gutted i won't get the chance to see it before i go :( you'd better have it finished by the time i get back - you've got no excuse at all now! forgot to say the other day - it's a shame you left slightly early from the supercar day. as the cars were leaving they all revved up and sat in a queue to get out, the chorus was orgasmic! :nuts:

Certainly is :D I had the same style and length of springs on my Gaz Golds and they felt spot on. I personally don't like progressive rate springs. The transition from the regular to stiffer rate always feels a bit too bouncy for my tastes, but each to our own :D Yeah Rob, hurry up and get me fitted :D interesting - i've only been in one (non-standard) car ever that didn't have progressive rate springs and that drove terribly! that said, one car isn't exactly a great basis to form an opinion on! - like everyone has said - HURRY UP ROB! :D cheers for sharing with the pics btw Rob - loving the workshop, engines, everything! mmmmmmmm V8 goodness - mwahahahaha! don't blame you about waiting for the ramp; the final straw for me was when i did my evo clutch on the floor, on my own! i got it done just fine, but afterwards i just thought i really never want to do that sort of thing again. thankfully i've managed to barter with a local garage and i now get occasional use of their ramp :clap:

nice - bet there's enough torque to turn planets! :nuts: i didn't notice the one piece springs - that is nicer than having the little "helper" crap be interesting to see how progressive they are though - looking at the layout of the coils they might not be as progressive as some others.... Rob - very interested to hear your review - hurry up and get 'em fitted! :lol: that's cool - did wonder about the ignition switch (as i figured you'd probably already fitted a replacement!), sounds a bit funny that's it's acting strangely now though... that's cool about the column - did one on a friend's scirocco a while ago and that was pretty easy (even with drilling out the sheer bolts) those UJ's are a bit of a pain to line back up again aren't they! - if i ever own another 'rado i would also get hold of another brand spankers UJ from the dealers, as they're so much easier to fit when doing this. really pleased for you to hear the car is coming on now - looking forward to future progress from seeing your plans 8)

nice - i fancied doing the fixed column to mine if i kept it. did you fit a new ignition switch while you were there? also how easy was the job to do? cheers for the pics - loving the workshop 8)

that's a nice refined way of doing it - i just blanked mine off with a hose, but another new core plug is much nicer 8) i just put the 24v aux pump onto the 12v bracket (obviously in the same location as the 12v pump) and that worked fine.

just had a quick read through this and it looks like you've covered most of the bases there matey - good work :clap: i think this has got to be the way forward for all those tired vr's out there that need attention - financially you'd be better off going down this route than rebuilding a 12v IMO. personally i would like to retain the oem r32 twin cats/ 4x lambdas etc etc - but as you say, there are many ways to do the conversion and you can tailor it exactly as you want it. how are you getting on with your manifold issues now - any progress?

howdy again pal dyno is defo on the list of things to do (want to make the stealth day if i'm still around...). and yeah - anything around 350-360 and above corrected at the flywheel is generally considered the norm. as for when i said manifolds - i meant both exhaust manifolds - the intake system is a thing of beauty as you say; don't think there's much more power to be gained there... tbh i' uncertain exactly what spec Ascari run, i think the engine was used in one of the early Koenigsegg's too... would love to have a go in the Ascari after experiencing the engine in my own car though :norty:

that's interesting! i guess that's a health and safety thing... when i did my subframe i just supported the back of the engine on massive blocks of wood via the sump and was v careful when lowering/raising it. they make things so much easier though and still leave you room to work around things without gearbox jacks etc getting in the way underneath

well after all that effort, the ca is driving very nicely - low revs and part throttle have been transformed with the new injectors and the car is now torquier than ever! i still don't think it's as fast as i would like, but then it is big and heavy and i have to live with that. had a bit of banter with a gt2 last night and realised just how insanely quick they actually are :shock: cheers Kev - thought you might like the pics! and NO!!! the engine won't turbo extremely well! - mainly because i won't be doing it! also, simply - i'm not brave enough - not because of the power, but the s62 engine only has 4mm of metal between each bore, not to mention a triple layer steel head gasket as standard, oh and also a compression ratio of 11:1! also, i'm not sure about how much meat the ringlands have on them, but there is zero squish-bowl on the pistons. people have supercharged/tubocharged them, but i certainly won't be doing that to mine (sorry!) on the subject of turboing tough - randomly found this thread here a while ago and this will be absolutely insane when finished! as for gaining extra horses - there's a lot to be gained from different/no cats and a GOOD set of manifolds/exhausts. the oem manifolds on the m5 are the same as on the 540 and are very restrictive. there's some bloke in London who runs a company called Van Manen (i think) and he's just finished a VERY nice set of manifolds that will basically give you an extra 40bhp without doing anything else! (and that's dyno proven on several cars!) the standard exhaust system is also reasonably restrictive - if you've heard an m5 with an aftermarket system they sound positively EVIL! they are lovely, but you wouldn't want to live with it daily though. mate that with some better cats, cams (effects of which will work very well due to the high compression), remap (as i think the standard map is considered to be fairly conservative - probably due to the high compression) and you should be hopefully be creeping towards the realms of 500bhp... also the cylinder heads while fairly good as standard can also fit bigger valves in and respond well to proper porting on a flow bench. CnC Heads sell a set which will allow gains up to about 625bhp when using an 8000rpm limiter; i think these are a bargain at 2400 notes actually as the heads are brand spankers and they also include guides, valves, all machining work etc etc (and i think possily tappets too!). howdy pal, cheers for the pointers before and sorry i never replied to you (very rude of me :? ) luckily the parts guy at cotswold bmw loves me due to the amount i've spent in there since owning the car, so i am on first name terms and get a decent chunk of discount! did you get your issues with the alternator sorted afterwards? i'm afraid i won't be at Gaydon on Sunday, but i will be at the supercars show at Wilton on the Saturday if you're about for that one...