Mr Simmonds 3B lite project.

[K Simmonds]

it will be similar to my hybrid k26/27 with 360 bearing??

If your turbo is from Hoffer then it's capable of more than my unit with the correct EM, injectors, inter-cooler and map. Though on standard internals there wouldn't be that much in it on a 3B, ABY's benefit from a superior ignition system and can safely be pushed that little bit further. I assume your cars a 3B as well, you need to be wary of pushing your turbo too hard on standard internals, make sure your ignition system is in tip top condition. It's the way the torque comes in early in the rev range that kills the rods not outright power, all down to mapping. I believe Hoffer can help you with this.

I have a mate who's Avant has the one of the Hoffer 26/27's and it's a highly impressive turbo, spools very early considering the size and will hit 2.0 bar VERY quickly, his car isn't even set up right at the moment and it's a proper flyer! Just goes too show old school stuff needn't be dismissed.

[Error404]

Kit I eventually bit the bullet and bought 4 new copper ABS sleeves for my hub refresh off the stealer.

Got them through to see they are a Wabco part, no part number on them though - wonder if they are an off the shelf item? Maybe worth a look as i'm sure they will be pence each rather than the £8 odd quid I paid (even including my 15% discount off retail price )

[K Simmonds]

Kit I eventually bit the bullet and bought 4 new copper ABS sleeves for my hub refresh off the stealer.

Got them through to see they are a Wabco part, no part number on them though - wonder if they are an off the shelf item? Maybe worth a look as i'm sure they will be pence each rather than the £8 odd quid I paid (even including my 15% discount off retail price )

Cheer's Alex, that's interesting I'll see if I can find mine cheaper that way, might help being in the trade.

[K Simmonds]

Just a brief update, with some oldish pics. The cars now back on her wheels, I've also gotten a set of original 3B rims reconditioned in Anthracite which will be wrapped in some tasty rubber when funds allow, I reckon the they look great. Finished the surround for my boost gauge and Zeitronix unit, it's had another couple of coats of paint since the pic's were taken so the paint is now even, obviously it's just loose fitted in the pics and the cable will be routed round the back. It all fits really nicely when bolted up, took ages to get right.

As some of you know I've badly damaged my right Thumb with a grinder so I've not been able to work for the past Three weeks let alone work on my own cars and being self employed funds have taken a hammering. Once it gets better I'm going to be spending my winter evenings in the workshop getting her back together, got all the parts sat waiting to go, finally.

My Alcon callipers have been chemically stripped I just need to pick them up and paint them. The carriers and disc's are going to be reworked to clear 16" rims by a mate who runs a small engineering business.

More pic's and progress to follow soon.

[Rusty]

Neat and tidy, just have to re-route that wire and it'll be easy to read at a glance.

Got to be honest, I wouldn't go to all the bother of fitting the OE rims, the 5 spokes are 7J and offset is what, ET37? (6 spokes are this ET) You won't want to fit 225/50s on 7j rims and then start driving like the Stig and the offset and narrower rim mean that you're losing on ~30mm track compared to an 8J ET35. Having just swapped back to 16s for winter, the car handled better on 17s, the ride was about the same and the car was more stable and there are 1001 performance tyres that you can get in 225/45R17 as it's a super-popular size at the moment. The only good point of the OE wheels is weight and some lightweight 17x8J are the same @ about 19kg / corner. IMO, get some proper 17s on there and it'll work great AND you can leave the discs the correct / original size. Win-win...

If you do want 16s then do like I am an run them in winter and have some 17s for the summer. Cold and wet mean lower corner speeds and 205 helps cut through the crap with higher pressure / smaller footrint. Was over your neck of the woods today (well, East Wales) and had a nice drive about on some wet and slippery B roads (Chepstow-Usk-Monmouth; repeat). Didn't have one incident on mud, leaves or water where the car felt anything other than planted, speeds were lower than on a dry, warm road though and the car did feel floaty where grip was high enough to lean on the Michelins a little.

Hope you don't mind, just sharing my 2p of experience.

[K Simmonds]

No worries Andy, thanks for the input. I hear what your saying on the wheels front but I'm a stubborn ****** and I'd like to be able run 16"s should I want to, especially in the winter with a set of proper M&S's and as you've said they are light and I think they suit the Coupe perfectly . I've got a nice light set of ET 35 7" X 17"s as well so I can swap and compare, I've just always preferred smaller wheels/higher profile tyres on cars that are lowered/fully poly bushed ect, some of the lanes round my way are VERY bumpy. From what you've said I think I'd need a light weight set of 8" X 17" for prolonged track thrashing, I love Compomotive MO's but their so heavy, strong as f**k mind you.

My current 330mm rotors have about another set of pads worth of life left so I don't mind experimenting with them. Maybe it would make more seance to get my mate to make some carriers that allow me to run 314mm A8 discs and leave the original set up alone. That way I could fit smaller brakes for winter or bumpy hill climbs and track days.

[K Simmonds]

After crappy few months due to injury and illness I'm getting back on track with the S2 project. Finally heard the old girl run again last week after bolting up the new EM, turbo and down pipe with all new fixings and gaskets. I also fabricated new heat sheilds as the old ones looked pretty moth eaten. I welded in bosses for EGT and wideband lambda sensors for the Zeitronix unit, the wide band lambda is located about 30 cm down the the down pipe. The supension is the tried and tested H&R/Koni combo all round. Next jobs are brakes and the rest of the exhaust system.

[Error404]

Good to see you're back in business mate

What are your plans brakes wise, are you going the 996 route?

[K Simmonds]

Cheers Alex. The car came with an Alcon 330mm set up which needs refurbishing with new pads ect so I'm going to use stardard G60 brakes for a while as funds are a problem and I have decent set of discs, pads and callipers knocking round. The Alcons will be going backon before the car is remapped.

[Rusty]

Welcome back Kit

[K Simmonds]

Cheers Andy, good to be back.

[re2500]

Looking good Kit, keep up the hard work.

[Error404]

Over a year now Kit, hows progress mate?

[Ian Simmonds]

He's a Simmonds, with a 'd'....


it'll be slow, but done properly....

[K Simmonds]

Over a year now Kit, hows progress mate?

Cheers for the interest Alex.

As Ian is say it's slow going but I'm trying to do everything to as high a standard as I can afford to do so. To be honest I've not done anything on the S2 for a few months, my spare time has been taken up working on either my Corrado or 16V Golf. The Golf's been put away for the winter and the Corrado is now mechanically spot on after a major service/charger rebuild, I'm really enjoying using it. Unfortunately what was going to be a few hours work sorting out the Corrado's parking dents/scrapes has spiraled into a partial respray after a mate did considerable damage to the off side door and rear quarter whilst reversing his tossing Honda. Something I'm pretty ****** off aboutHe is going to pay for the damage, but that's not really the point, loads more of my time is going to have to go on prep.

The S2 is running again after being partially taken apart yet again to do work on the breather system, but I've still got the swirl pot and catch tank itself to fabricate. Then mechanically it's just a case of sorting out the brakes, all four calipers still need rebuilding from scratch. But there's hour's of other odd's and sods to sort out, like fixing door cards and trim ect. Trouble is I spend all week working on cars, normally sorting out heaps of poo so they can scrape another years MOT which I find kinda puts me off doing anything on my own cars apart from basic maintenance. Money is another major factor, I'm still catching up after that nasty thumb injury a couple of years ago. A couple of time I've thought about breaking the thing but decided I'd rather keep it for when I have the money and motivation to finish off. After all too many other cars have been broken and the remaining ones will hopefully be worth something one day.