Race Engine Forum UK

Evening all. Just a quick post to introduce myself and my collection of cars as I call it (also known as 'that load of junk' to the Mrs!)

Keep in mind that I'm not a mechanic, and have never had any mechanical training. My father was a geography teacher so I didn't have him to teach me either. I've had to figure this all out as I go and learn from experience as I go along so you may well find I ask questions that others find obvious. All it means is that I've never had to deal with that before!

MR2

First up is my Japanese import MR2 mk2, originally a 2.0 4-pot which I bought for £75 with a suspected head gasket failure. It still drove and had a month or so of tax left so I originally bought it with the intention of running it around until it blew up or the rent ran out, whichever came sooner. 4 years later it's had at least 100x that spent on it and has earned itself a place in my garage as my weekend toy.

- 1992 revision 2 chassis
- Toyota '3VZ-FE' 3.0 24v V6 conversion on stock ECU
- MR2 turbo gearbox with LSD
- Techniclutch 'uprated' clutch (actually complete poor)
- HiSpec 325mm 4-pot brake conversion
- K-Sport coilover suspension with adjustable ARB links
- Hayward and Scott tubular stainless exhaust manifolds and system
- Starform 17" alloy wheels refinished in black powder coat
- Respray in Triumph Roulette Green and black
- Carbon fibre bonnet, boot, engine cover, inspection panels, headlight covers
- Full custom retrim in black and green leather and black alcantara with contrast stitch

Last time it was on the rollers it made 198bhp and 210ft/lbs
Escort XR3

I bought this about 6 years ago and ran it around as a daily for a little while, but it was very smokey with the 1.6 CVH engine being on it's last legs. It's actually quite a rare car; one of the last XR3's before the XR3i came along, identified because it came with a 5-speed gearbox and electric windows but still running on the Weber DFT carb. I read somewhere that there were 200 such cars in the UK, but no idea if that's true. I converted it to Zetec power about 3 years ago using the stock injection system and ECU and took it to Ford Fair but other than that and the wheels it's completely standard. It's a bit rusty on the bottom rear corners of the doors, and I had to put a small plate on the floor for the last MOT (3 years ago!) but it's not in bad condition and it's now dry stored waiting for a full restoration.

- 1982 Escort mk3 XR3
- 1.8 Zetec-E from a 1997 Mondeo
- 15" 'RS Turbo' wheels (although I still have the original cloverleaf alloys stashed away)
Fiesta XR2

I bought this car in 2004 as a complete impulse buy after seeing it advertised locally. I had a 1.4 mk2 Fiesta as my first car when I was 17 and took my first steps in spannering with it before the usual Ford rot got too much for it. When this one came up in fantastic condition with loads of history and at a bargain price I couldn't resist it. I drove it around as a daily for a couple of years, then it became a weekend toy, then it got put in storage in around 2007 waiting for a bit of a refresh. I pulled it out last summer and decided it deserved a full restoration, so it was promptly stripped, media blasted and it's just come back from my fabricator's workshop having seen plenty of attention from the hot end of a MIG torch. Eventual spec will be a hot 2.0 Zetec, but spec as it was before it came apart was:

- 1987 mk2 Fiesta XR2
- Torque Developments 2.0 CVH short engine with steel rods and forged pistons
- Kent CVH22 cam
- Head from someone I can't remember now
- Weber DCNF 40's
- Ashley performance manifold and custom stainless exhaust
- Gaz 'Gold' coilovers
- Wilwood 285mm 4-pot brake conversion
- Australia 15" Super Turismo wheels

Performance wise, it used to make 155-160bhp at the wheels, depending on who's rolling road it was on
306 Cabriolet

The longest-owned car in my collection I bought this in 2001. I'd wanted one for a while as I always thought they were great looking cars, and still do for that matter. I'm sure the styling won't be to everyone's taste, but I think I've done a good job of making the most of the Pininfarina design, giving it a modern interior, and of course it has the power to back up the looks. It's just a shame it doesn't handle well on the big wheels, but in all honesty it didn't do much better on the stock 15's either and anyway, isn't a convertible supposed to be about form over function?

This is another car that's been in storage, probably for around 7 years now. It needs some attention to the engine mount (typical 306 problem) and a few other bits and pieces. Every spring I promise to get it out and get it going again but somehow I never get around to it!

- 1995 306 Cabriolet
- 3.0 24v V6 conversion from a 1997 406 Coupe
- Koni suspension kit
- 18" MasItaly wheels
- Custom black/silver leather interior
- Lots of welding and filling of the bodywork!
Audi A6 - the daily!

My daily drive, an Audi A6 Quattro 'Le Mans'. There's not much to say other than it's a 3.0 turbo diesel, soaks up the miles, and is more than capable of pulling a big trailer behind. I wouldn't mentioned it except that I've had it remapped, which some say is snake oil and I must admit that I was skeptical. But the map came with a 'money back guarantee' and it made 280bhp and 535Nm on a rolling road night (at a different garage I might add!) a couple of nights later which is about 50bhp and 100Nm up on the Audi figures, so I kept it.
So there we go, that's my collection of toys. Not to everyone's taste I'm sure, but if they were life would be very boring!

Good to see a wide variety of vehicles in a collection!

The XR3 of 1982 vintage being a particular favourite of mine, I always liked the styling of them, and ever since I was given a test drive ( read scare) in a colleagues series 1 RS turbo it became even further ingrained into my psyche as a desirable vehicle.

Good to see you're also running an sw20 with a 3vzfe, a friend and I did the Uk's first conversion of one of these and the raucous howl up and down the exit road still is as vivd today as it was in 2007., we also did one for another enthusiast, but I think that car succumbed to rust issues and was stripped, shame as I liked Zircon blue a lot.

4v6 wrote:Good to see a wide variety of vehicles in a collection!

The XR3 of 1982 vintage being a particular favourite of mine, I always liked the styling of them, and ever since I was given a test drive ( read scare) in a colleagues series 1 RS turbo it became even further ingrained into my psyche as a desirable vehicle.

Good to see you're also running an sw20 with a 3vzfe, a friend and I did the Uk's first conversion of one of these and the raucous howl up and down the exit road still is as vivd today as it was in 2007., we also did one for another enthusiast, but I think that car succumbed to rust issues and was stripped, shame as I liked Zircon blue a lot.

Thanks for the positive feedback.

I'd like to build the XR3 into an RS1600i replica, paint it the orange from the new Focus RS, and put the Sierra Saphire 17" RS7 wheels on it. With a refresh of all the bushes, ball joints, etc in the suspension and a bit of modernisation of the interior it would make a really nice usable classic I think.

If I was going to have an RS Turbo it would be an S2 aka mk4 Escort. In fact, if a mint one came up at sensible money I'd find it very hard to resist. My main problem is that I'm running out of storage space!

Of all the cars, the MR2 is most definitely my favourite to drive. Well, 'performance' drive of course; if it's a long journey (Le Mans excluded) the Audi wins hands down. The V6 is just so perfect for that car, and dead easy to do. It's just a shame there are not many bits available to make it faster. I'd love to have one with all the bits to make it rev out high, big cams, throttle bodies, etc. V6's sound awesome at high revs, almost as good as V8's at idle!

It may be coincidence, but you're not the same '4V6' that makes the V6-SW20 mounts are you?

Chris

bigcw wrote:
Thanks for the positive feedback.

I'd like to build the XR3 into an RS1600i replica, paint it the orange from the new Focus RS, and put the Sierra Saphire 17" RS7 wheels on it. With a refresh of all the bushes, ball joints, etc in the suspension and a bit of modernisation of the interior it would make a really nice usable classic I think.

If I was going to have an RS Turbo it would be an S2 aka mk4 Escort. In fact, if a mint one came up at sensible money I'd find it very hard to resist. My main problem is that I'm running out of storage space!

Of all the cars, the MR2 is most definitely my favourite to drive. Well, 'performance' drive of course; if it's a long journey (Le Mans excluded) the Audi wins hands down. The V6 is just so perfect for that car, and dead easy to do. It's just a shame there are not many bits available to make it faster. I'd love to have one with all the bits to make it rev out high, big cams, throttle bodies, etc. V6's sound awesome at high revs, almost as good as V8's at idle!

It may be coincidence, but you're not the same '4V6' that makes the V6-SW20 mounts are you?

Chris

I actually owned a Mk4 escort Xr3i for a while but to be honest I hated everything about it, it certainly wasn't in the same class as the mk3 escort van we had and that was only the 1.3 litre cvh with the old V V (variable venturi) carburretor.
The van was quite an enjoyable vehicle and useful as well.
I think maybe something was lost in the evolution from the mk3 to mk4 models, but having said that I'd probably have loved the RS version just for the power delivery.

Well the 3vz fe V6 motor isnt the most potent engine out there but it certainly does have a unique soundtrack all its own, I enjoyed my ownership of the one in the celica but I didnt like the fuel consumption!
I can well imagine that the Audi does the long haul work better, modern motors are just so comfortable now, I'm half expecting one to drive itself before too much longer and then we'll all be out of the picture, relegated to being passengers.
Yes I'm the same 4v6 but the engine mount stuff all went way down the tubes way back for reasons I shan't bore you with, its been a while since I had anything to do with Toyotas on the modification side really, I'm more Audi/VW orientated these days.

bigcw

RE:

So there we go, that's my collection of toys. Not to everyone's taste I'm sure, but if they were life would be very boring!

Beleve you me it looks like a fascinating collection, but as far as not being to everyobdys taste look at my (strange) collection of toys) :

Sports and pleasure: (all RWD)
- Fiat 131 Abarth gr 4 replica - 1980 (fully competition prepared)
- Fiat 2000 Spider (CS0) -1980 (with targa hard top) ( club sports events , regularity rallies, etc)

Work horse
- VW t4 1995 FWD ( white Van - a three seater version) for hauling cargo ( mostly my car parts collection LOL)

Daily:
Mercedes 124 E200 - 1994 RWD (with LPG) for cheap and comfortable long distance travel, and city driving)
Subaru Forester S-turbo 4X4 -2001 (hauling tralier with my sports cars, hard winter driving, hunting )
Volvo V40 2.0 trubo (162 hp version) FWD -2001 (for when I want to get somewhere quickly)

Miro

PS : As GC has pointed out to me one year in 2009 : a car for everything is good for nothing. A real sports car is not usable as a civilian daily drive.

I carried this to the extreme and build a collection of specialized cars : each of them is very different and serves ( was build for) a different use and purpose. Incidentally as you see the vintage range is about 20 years (from 1981 to 2001) I have started at 1980 as this was a very good year ( with the cars build based on 1960 and 1970's technology - reliable, fairly modern and expecting a driver who knows how to drive ). I have stopped at 2001 as anything newer is:

- largely build in china
- is rather driven and manged by computer
- must be serviced at a dealership ( replacing a headlight bulb takes taking off the front wheel , and putting new brake pads requires a hook up to a computer)
- tries to second-guess the driver, correct his "mistakes", deprives him of the driving pleasure. (Soon they will have a joystick or a pad instead of a steering wheel and a set of pedals.

M
So if you think your collection is strange : think again .