1st April 2014
So now the other half has a new car I have a KA sat on the drive with no brakes and no purpose.
With Llandow race track being so close to me, and the KA's engine being utterly indestructible I thought I'd build a little track day car.
This is probably the newest picture I have of it which was taken about 18 months ago...
We've had the interior out about the same time and the floor was totally solid...
So a week last Monday the master cylinder failed leaving the car with little braking unless the pedal was constantly pumped.
Unfortunately when trying to remove the master cylinder one of the pipes was rather seized in place and had to be cut off.
I now have in my possession a new master cylinder, brake pipe, a litre of brake fluid and a bleeding kit.
Hopefully the car will be drivable by the end of the weekend.
The car has a fair amount of worn out bits. Lots have been replaced recently but it has buckled wheels (don't ask!) and they seem to have rattled everything to death.
The biggest issue at the moment is the rear mounting bushes, they're knocking around and there's a fair bit of movement on the back axle.
There's two track days coming up, April 18th and May 2nd. I'm going to attempt to make one of them and see how she does.
Prior to going I need to see to the rear bushes. I was planning on trying to fill them with some polyurethane sealant for the time being to try and stiffen them up a bit, depending on how she does on track will be the decider of whether she gets scrapped or saved.
If she does me proud then the plan in my head is as follows...
1) Get a set of 15" steel wheels to replace the knackered alloys. (£100-150 with tyres minus the scrap value of the alloys)
2) Drop the rear axle, replace the bushes & bearings, tidy up the brakes and underseal the rear end. (Sub £60)
3)Get rid of the A/C and PAS. Replace steering column (has a pay in the U/J) and steering rack from a car with non PAS. (£60 minus what I can sell from the A/C and PAS system)
4) Replace front top mounts and drop links. I replaced these last year and they've failed already. (£30)
5) Find a cheap set of lowering springs and fit. (£100)
Then give it a few track days and see how she does.
I'm hoping as I have the time to search for second hand parts, sell whats currently on the car and install everything myself this should be a cheap build and a bit of entertainment for myself.
Bailes.