1980 Mars Red GTI BRMotorsport 142

Wheels are looking great ben, I will interested in your thoughts of the nankangs once you have run them for a bit as the internet throws up mixed opinions on them.I would like 185 45 s on mine but not sure of nankangs performance…..  shame no one makes else makes this size.

looks great ben we should meet up for a photo shoot as i have your cars twin, im got a set of old skool splits that need building and have been sitting in bedroom for 4 years! there NOS ronal racing wheels  8O

Pretty freaking awesome job there. Kudos

5 years have gone by since I started posting this build thread up.

Nothing more to say, just a realisation as I was thinking about the car whilst stripping the door panels down to rebuild them again. I used 3mm board instead of 2mm, and it's been driving me mad for 5 years!

I thought I was going to see picture's with the new wheels fitted ?…….. are they finished ?

5 years where does time go !!

I've not really got a decent photo of the car on the new wheels. Possibly because the ride height is still like a Baja bug and I've not quite positioned the rear wheels properly either. As the rear beams are not central to the body it creates a problem when you're pushing the wheel's edge so close to the arch. With most wheels, the 14mm difference isn't apparent as they are neatly tucked well within the limits of the arches. I've found a photo that illustrates how much more room is in the arch, but now I've done the door cards properly my next task are the wheels.
The door cards were originally made using 3mm board earlier in the thread, but the poppers kept opening and they never looked happy. i stripped a set of mint series 2 cards to investigate what was wrong. Instantly i could see that the OEM stuff was 1mm slimmer! you'd think it was easy to make some more, but trust me, 2mm fibreboard is very hard to work with, as it likes to break up. I also copied the original series 2 door card's locating holes. They are a 9mm hole with a 5mm elongated bit to allow the popper to float a few mm either side, which helps it locate precisely on the door. Plus, the elongated bits all seem to go in different directions (which I duly followed, exactly matching the s2's).
I'll post some pics up of the wheels on the new coilovers over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, you can see that front and back wheels now have a very similar relationship with the arches, making t
he car look more balanced. The other side is needing a 15mm hubcentric spacer adding.




The other side for visual comparison. It doesn't look like 15mm, but I've accurately measure it!



And the hubcentric spacer…

Seen a set of gold e30's on ebay t'other week, wonder if they was your old ones

Wow, this thread is alive again! So much love for this car..

C'mon Ben, let's see some more pics!

Love this project =] the perfect mk1 golf =]

I booked today as MOT and suspension change over day.
Everything went to plan, and the shocks were changed for KW's. Dialled in the desired ride height, sorted the camber and tracking, and then gave the engine a mini service before breezing through the MOT. Incidentally, for anyone wishing to know the camber settings, the rears sit naturally at bang on 1 degree negative, and the fronts are set at 1.25 degrees negative.
Anyway, took the car out for a drive an hour later, and just smiled permanently. I love that engine! The tyres actually perform ok too. I know people give them mixed reviews, but I won't be driving the car in the wet, and I don't drive like I'm being chased anymore.
Interestingly, the MOT station were very keen to enforce the new rule of the whole wheel needing to be under the wheel arch, as opposed to the older ruling of the tyre's tread needing to be under the arch. The new wheels are well within the arches, and although they aren't as dramatic in appearance, they're legal and they don't rub. It was an expensive and calculated gamble to change the old wheels, but I think I've pulled off what I was trying to achieve.

My apologies for blurry photos, I'll try and get some better ones over the next couple of days, but was excited and wanted to share my achievement.

Looking good Ben, bet you are chuffed to be back out in it. Any picture's of your new addition ?

Just read it straight through, great build.

Your passion for detail has more than paid off!

Stunning mk1 Ben.
You must be very proud.,I know I would be.. 
Hats of to ya!

Stunning!

love it! if you ever consider selling please give me a shout ;-)

What a beauty! I didn't think this could get better when it had the old wheels on. how wrong I was!

Oh my sex wee alert. Beautiful car Ben. I'm green with envy mate.      

benandemu said

new wallpaper, just stunning mate, great attention to detail, and them BBS are just wheel porn!  

Good nomination for the 2014 calendar I reckon

Thanks for all the kind comments guys.

I took some more photos with a better camera…