PROJECT MARSHALL:- Track day / DRIFT cossie updated 18NOV`07

[jeek]

I havent fitted the tcs's or compression struts i couldnt tell you what camber im running as the car has only ever been set up by eye. I was running maximum but have now moved it round. so i think that gives me more toe! (still learning all the suspension stuff). going to try achieve insane lock so i can do some backwards entry drift initiations.

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[Mr C]

OK Jeek, just to confirm that the std bent ARB will allow more lock on the limit as the straight line of the comp struts fouls the tyre on the above current set up( though a touch more toe in and spacers up front does sort it, only really an issue if MOT`d ), Ive not driven it properly let alone reverse entry drift techniques, it would be good to meet you when mines finally done, I cant wait to drive it, nothing much should break-fingers crossed!
Im going to work on a granny, sierra, custom, cut mis match steering rack for more lock though its not really needed now at my std of driving.
Do you know what mods Stavros has on his purple taxi steering wise, it looks like MAJOR lock

[Stavros]

It has Chaser amazingness. Or in reality, fuck knows, no adjustable arms on it at all, its some mad custom shit they obv did in Japan.

Its pointless totally tho, this "sierras cant drift well as they have no lock" is just a myth that came from the internet and people making excuses, so dont worry. They not got loads, but the more you can get should be OK, as Jeek has proved.
You dont need THAT much lock if your going fast, my car has more than whats needed for anything but slow speed complete fuckups IMO.

Lock is a funny thing, when your shit it helps you loads to not spin as much, but when your better and faster it becomes less needed. Im not great and even I can already see my car has way more lock than whats needed.

So basically, get more fair enough, but dont worry too much, way more important things, even crazy entries are more about speed than lock.

[Mr C]

"Lock is a funny thing, when your shit it helps you loads to not spin as much, but when your better and faster it becomes less needed. Im not great and even I can already see my car has way more lock than whats needed."
I need more lock then LOL. Cheers for that, Im not losing sleep over it, I just want to practice now, cant wait

[jeek]

I run 20mm spacers and longer wheel studs up front and im gonna try push my track out as far as it will go! then move the pivot point on the hub to get more lock. I notice my lack of lock in comparison to my 2 mates E36 bmws with Chizfab rack spacers at top of third gear at crail im on the lock stops going to fast and need to slow down with the handbrake but due to being on the lock stops the slightest tug on the wand spins me as i have no more lock to counter it with. where as the BMs can hold much more angle and still come back from it!

As stav said Std sierra lock is only an issue once you get good at doing circley skids! i have been rocking std lock for almost 3 years now and im only just now starting to run out.

When your is finished id love to meet up at a skid day! This is the first YB drift car i have heard off.

Nice work. We can swap cars id love to see what its like in a turbo.

[Tev]

oi puff more updates needed

[Tev]

bout time you posted some up dates

[Mr C]

Time for a quick update, its been so long since the last that I forget what has and hasnt been covered without reading it all, basically the full car loom has now been swapped for a much slimmed down item with bits removed that werent needed (and some that was oops) and fuse box mounted under the dash, the lower dash has now been removed totally for now
the new loom layed out and tested

fuse box

the std power steering rack has been modded to improve lock but not increase track up front and the addition of a braided hose from the pump too,


switches were put in for the ALS and L/C... CHRIST STU that L/C is fairly severe, it shows the ALS up though!!! LOL
It was severe enough to show a leak in the side exit exhaust so it had to be removed untill I can get one fitted that doesnt bang around and leak, I fitted the old faithful Milltek rear exit road exhaust for now instead. This did mean removing the GpA rear ARB though for now at least


I also fitted up the gear box cradle with CNC box bracket and vibratechnics mount so the engine and is held near solidly in place

[Mr C]

With the std 2wd front ARB mounted on poly bushes the front tyres no longer rub up front, I have 10mm clearance on the inner arch and the ARB so mission accomplished



The engine runs again on the new loom and all lighting is A1, Earths have been added to improve voltage and the lambda sensor wired in too, and all is left to nip up a couple of brake pipes and odd bolts, give it a once over and tidy the wiring to satisfy the MOT test station operator. I will blank the roof vents off with tape again untill I find somebody who can do me a pair of vacuum form vents or similar?
Time to wash and polish the thing too, fix the front n/s wing on securely and bumpers again, I also need a fuel guage to work with this VDO tank sender??? ideas?


more details on the finishing to be done soon

[Mr C]

JEEK: this is the trouble I was having with the lock on the front end without going wide track at the top mount too, you should be OK though

[Tev]

Great up date but im not interested as u have no pictures of me or my car

[SteveH]

Good read mate, will catch up soon dude.

[RSturboJET]

Quick question:
1) Does a Granada rack have more travel than a Sierra's?
2) Are Sierra and Granada rear ends the same? (beam, rear arms, diff)

[bigjim172000]

Hows this comin on mate? Ive just got my cossie finished and running, not using your shell as it still needs welding Was going to scrap it but now the prices crashed im going to put it into storage and restore it over the winter/early next year and make a track car of it.

[olek]

any updates on this?

[SteveH]

Come on mark you enormous puff..... I know you've been out in it, whens my go!!

[Mr C]

A quick update, work on the cossie ceased while I had some personal issue to sort at the end of last year but I am on it again now. I will get a proper pictures included update later this month so watch this space.

A few little bits done;
Electric window switchs mounted,
oil pressure and boost guages mounted and plumbed in,
dash vent holes covered,
ALS and Launch control tried with 2x box rear exit exhaust= much better
steering cowls and ignition wiring adjusted and fitted,
screen wash plumbed in and working,
a couple of poor connections on rear lights sorted too,
handbrake and bias setup
not much left to do now, should get a check up and MOT pre test next month then tax test, insure, setup etc etc ŁŁŁŁ

[Tev]

good work fella let me know when your about, i will pop over look at ur handy work

[Zetecfiesta]

cool cossie!!

[Mr C]

quick update:
New bigger cooler and alloy rad been fitted,front towing eye fitted too, brake light switch re-wired and bulbs changed. took the car out for a drive this week and found a few problems, sticky rear calipers but they did free up, I need vents routed in the cabin, masses of vibrations from footplates and also knocking rear shocks which are annoying if nothing else
Steering lock is good & the handbrake too. I has the emmissions checked and a pre MOT done... and it was that good it passedthere and then. SUPERB!!!!!!
just a couple more bits to sort and I can get it ready to use on the road

[Mr C]

Minor update, I finally got the ancilliary hoses through and everything buttoned up and running sweetly
enginebay finished


I took the car out for a quick drive Thurs night before USC `09 and found a couple of roundabouts to play on before heading to the shops where I got a Section 59 for leaving black lines in ASDA car park while turning round, petty Errm
having the alarm fitted my a monkey on Thursday

I wont ever use ICS again, the boot sloenoid wasnt connected, all doors didnt lock and I couldnt put my headlights on- all on a certified Cat1 alarm and immobiliser?!?!? Also I now have a dent in the boot lid and the indicators and hazards blow fuses when I use them knobs!

All ready for its first legal road trip

Marshall got taken to USC `09 @ POD at the beginning of the month for a shakedown, he ran a bit hot on the Friday sat in traffic so a couple of things there to sort but got there just fine. The front end is sorted, Ive genuinely not driven a sapphire like it, really positive without being harsh and even with the track rods at their current angle there was no bump steer at all. A brilliant drive. The rear however is another story, it wanders on power, has no grip, and the spring rate is far too hard for the strip- it didnt transfer weight well at all


Sat on the Spoox motorsport stand for the weekend


I managed 6 runs with anti lag and launch control but the ALS is weak and the Launch control only set to 3000RPM, but it was very consistant, peaked 13PSI held 11PSI ran several 14.5s. I managed a quicker time on the Sunday without them both on but hampered by running low on fuel (fuel guage is half a tank out tut) and very poor 10 yr old rubber.
I eventually managed a 14.3 @ 98 with a 2.3sec to 60ft and managed 100 terminal on one run so some potential there

I couldnt get the full 26PSI of boost that the MSD stg 3 chip is set to but what I do have will be plenty to learn with for now. I did manage 10x full bore launches before the box decided it would hold onto 1st gear and I couldnt disengage it so possible bearing failure or cover/plate problem? Anyway I have a list of 30x things that need sorting before using it again including new rear brakes as the AA man towed me from Wellingborough to the M1 with the handbrake on Complete dickhead.

Apart from that it was a wicked weekend I got drunk Friday night I pulled on Saturday and broke the car on Sunday

[Tev]

Nice to see the car on the road fella, looks eval,

Thanks for bringing the hose over yesterday was good to see you

[Brettski mk2]

Been looking for a GRP A shell

[Mr C]

I haven't updated this in ages so a quick update a year on from USC '09. I took Marshall to a DWYB at Santa pod on Feb 14 this year and spent the day learning the car and finding any weak points, I trailored it there so gave it death all day. It did really well, the diff was consistent but I had no brakes all day, no H.Brake and often no front brakes either!

Also the car ran really hot all day, oil got hot and water temps rocketted, the fans blew their fuse and I cooked in the car all day. There was massive banging from the drive train, the exhaust leaked a bit and I couldn't catch the car when swapping directions. I had a lot to do to improve the handling, lock, running temps and general driving comfort. All that and I need to learn how to drive again!!

[Mr C]

Soo I added an oil cooler, new MSD fan switch, fitted an MSD 82deg thermostat, wired up the fans to their correct polarity and resoldered some connections as they were trying to blow air forwards derrr and temperatures seem to be under control now. The car has been lowered a touch more and steering lock increased another few degrees, the rear trailing arms have been poly bushed too as the original ford items had collapsed at POD.




The brakes have been a pain in the arse but the rears are now spot on and doing a lot of the braking and the handbrake is superb even locking up at over 70mph from cold! Some of the vibrations have been taken out and I've now covered a couple of hundred road miles in it so am getting to know the car better.
The temperatures in car and by the turbo are excessive so they still need to be addressed as does the weight of the car which while feeling lighter than my road car can still be improved on. Apart from that I can just about live withthe diff pushing the nose on into corners for now until I can afford a gripper or 9" diff that isn't quite as tight as the current set up

[Mr C]

As D12 FTR looks from day to day

[James_RScos]

LOVE LOVE LOVE this car, was lucky enought to see it at services on the M1 heading to Trax, stunning car that court my eye whilst driving out the services, could of been another sapphire cosworth to anyone else, but i know what im looking for and this one stood out a little and on closer inspection confirmed by the owner to be an Ex work/ rally shell

How very cool

Great work mate, shes stunning!

[fiestamad]

looking good mate just read through it all thanks for letting me have a look round it on tuesday night at thurmaston mate looks better in person and seen u giving it a bit of side ways action on the way out of thurmaston carpark

[Mr C]

A pleasure fiestamad (I never got your name), glad you like it too, Tuesday was it's hardest drive just after I left Thurmo , and James, I've still not been to the meet on the first of the month at what's it's name??

[Mr C]

Since the last post I've had a change of employment which meant selling the BMW I used for driving to and from work and instead using the RS as a daily driver. Lets just say it wasnt the most comfortable commute LOL.
Since then I've gotten a new job and bought another car for daily duties so spent some time sorting some of the problems with the sapphire.
** The knocking from the rear drive needed addressing so the driveshafts were removed and joints re greased bit they looked fine

so the rear diff was removed and opened up to find out what the knocking was

brilliant welding Dan at rapidford. So it got rewelded locally and refitted.

I also set about losing a bit of excess weight from the car so chopped out the rear window glass and motors and fitted Lexan, replaced the standard headlights for the morrettes I've had laying around for a year (also improving the light pattern).


I picked up a cheap drivers seat and a lighterweight carbonfibre ex touringcar seat which I've since fitted to the passenger side as it wasn't practical to use on the road. The Sparco pro2000 Ford seats are up for sale now.

[Mr C]

The leaking inlet has been welded up, and other gaskets replaced and air leaks cured, a new modified ISCV and throttlebody was fitted as well as a freshly braided turbo water supply hose being fitted to the thermostat housing


I've had the intercooler inlet pipe modified to fit the sapphire and a new *PRO-ALLOY that's PRO-ALLOY radiator fitted and the post turbo water cooler has been removed

This is the fantastic repair done by PRO ALLOY, thats a Ł440 radiator, sent back for repair because of leaks TWICE and it turns up like that!!! Will I heck be using buying anymore if their products if I can help it :-(

This leaking rad meant I didn't get to drive at AWESOMEFEST at the end of July, shame!
** The rear end of the car bouncing off the ground in turns and generally getting airborne and also the knocking when going over bumps from the rear AVO shocks has been sorted all at once by fitting softer sprung Leda shocks, it might even launch better too as it has better grip through turns and doesn't skip round corners

The cause of the knocking- the cup on AVO rear cosworth shocks are too wide and sat too high up on the rod, Leda have it correct with a smaller diameter spring cup and mounted lower on the shaft

** The turbo has been rebuilt ready for next years abuse and new oil return hose fitted aswell as a taller oil cooler. Bonnet pins were added to remove some panel*vibration and add security. Now though the battery is completely dead bless it so will get replaced by another gel item next month. The front brakes have been bled yet again and are finally a lot better and dependable for the first time ever.*
It's just been re MOTd and taxed for another year so it's time to get it setup and enjoy it

How it looks now:

[meanxpress]

the radiator fix are horrid,hope it was a free fix, hope they never sell another rad with that quality on hand.

great car will be fun when sorted

[massivewangers]

What sort of shell is this?

[Mr C]

The repair wouldn't have even been made if it were my company!! I womt be sending it back as it took 3x weeks for THAT! I rang twice and never got a return call as promised either. Shocking service and poor coolant was blamed- why would that affect the top 2x rows only? It wouldn't, I would have said a dodgy core more like.

The shell is a Boreham built ex Ford works GpA rally shell, it ran in navy blue Q8 colours

[massivewangers]

And you're using at as a drift car? You're mad

[Mr C]

I'm hardly going to polish it and leave it in my garage, it's built to be driven hard- it's an exrally car so just drifting it will be treating it kindly, no trees or ditches to hit on an
hourly basis for a start. And it is only a sierra haha. It was better value using this shell than stripping and caging a road shell to that spec. Almost any damage to a shell like that can be repanelled out too soo not really an issue, it would be nice to run it in OE colours one day maybe

[Glenn.]

Nice toyi bet its bloody fun.

[Mr C]

A quick update after using the Rs this weekend to take my mate 80 odd miles to the east coast to pick up his new car an E36 328i.


How Marshall arrived in Kings Lynn, the gel battery decided it had enough and started to expand spilling it's liquid guts everywhere, still worked though.
Tidy sexy coupe, pretty much all I saw of it for most of the trip back, they are rapid swish good allrounders


So we drove home and on one wide roundabout I ran out of tyre grip, then steering lock and finally talent, losing the back end on boost and went backwards up the kerb at maybe 40? Hitting the poimt of the kerb on the way round, had a bit of a bump and stopped dead and was left with this


I tried driving it back to Leicester but ran out of rubber with 35miles to go lol


So got recovered by the AA and had a quick look at the damage and rang round to get some spare parts ready to swap


The damage was a bent swing arm, 2x stripped bolt threads in the arm, a badly bent alloy on the inside face, both rear tyres bald from crabbing, the rear bumper scraped up the O/S on the street furniture, the exhaust dented underneath right upto the gearbox

That's a bent hub mounting face




The car came off really lightly considering how it could have ended, no more skinny crap tyres on my RS for road driving LOL.
We stripped the old and refitted the replacement parts, and took it out for some playing/testing as it started raining- rude not to *

At the pub inside of 2.5hrs YEAH! Ready for the same again next weekend