were do i start with motorsport..

[bevo]

hey guyz i have just signed up as a member and love this site already,
i have got myself a 1976 mk1 golf. it is basicly stock. it use to be a sound comp car for blaupunkt.

what would you recommend the first thing i do to prep the car for rally and a bit of motokana.

thanx bevo

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[KWICKS]

Remove unnecessary weight.

[Golf Houso]

Remove unnecessary weight.

This also includes going on a diet if your a bit pudgy !

[bevo]

ok then thats easy done. how far would u go to remove un needed weight such as carpet, door trims.ect. am i on the right track?

thanx for quick feed back

bevo

[Peter Jones]

My journey.

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newforum/upload/showthread.php?t=13857

I'd go and see a few rallies and check out the cars before you do too much.

You will need to weld the shock towers in and get the brakes 100% before you do much else.

You must finish races to win them so a lot of preparation is about reliability. Replace ALL of the radiator hoses and fix any wiring issues.

Read back on some of the old threads in here (use the search function), there's a lot to be learned.

Welcome aboard!

Pete

[RhysQ]

drivers seat (and passenger if you want to give people joyrides), steering wheel, gearbox, pedals, seatbelt and a drivers side door handle is about all you'll need inside so everything else can go . then strap in a roll cage and away you go.

as for door cards, i'm not sure how heavy the stockos are in the mk1 but if you can, get some aluminium sheeting cut to size (with the holes cut for the window winder and door handles etc.) and screw that in instead....its lightweight and it'll definitely look the part.

the mk1 is already damn light so if you get rid of "as much as you can" it'll be EXTREMELY light and agile for motorkhana use.

[gtimk5]

The door trims are light and I wouldnt reccomend not running any as there are a lot of sharp edges if something goes wrong.
Remove the carpets, mat and the rotten soundproofing packing from the front as it weighs a heap. I initiaqlly started competing in Gunter my old golf with a standard 1600 motor but with some decent suspension, Konis and gradually improved it from there. Learn what you are doing first before building an all out competition car. I was on a very tight budget the whole time I competed, it showed but I got some great results through the 6 plus years of fun. Search for "Gunter" and you will find a lot of pics from the past.

Motorkhanas are great for learning car control, you dont need a special licence and its all fun and sociable. Great place to start as power isnt everything there.
Welcome to the forum as well and DONT be afraid to ask anything!!!
Andrew

[bevo]

i have done a fair bit of research on the golf and i thought well i just got one given to me, so i may as well use it to my advantage.

the advice on this forum is exactly what i need to get the golf to the next step. (on the track).

i pick it up from the mechanics on sat, just had the breaks done, tune up and general service. now al i need to do is start to strip the interior.

bevo

[RhysQ]

that caked on sound deadening has proved to be a bit of a b*tch to strip off...has anyone found an effective method of getting it off.

[gtimk5]

A heat gun Polo. I removed it all from Gunter and weighed it, 1.3 kgs. Not a lot of saving there after all the work.
Then I put the 50+ kg. rollcage in!!!!
Still, in road rally trim I had to have it weighed for the log book, all up without passengers it came to 820kgs.
In race trim it would have been a bit lighter without all the extra gear fitted.
I mainly kept all the gear in it as I was running in the "Targa" class on the racetrack.
Andrew

[Water Boy]

Post up some pics mate...

[Peter Jones]

that caked on sound deadening has proved to be a bit of a b*tch to strip off...has anyone found an effective method of getting it off.

Just did it this weekend. A few hours with a heat gun and a scraper did the trick.

I reckon I pulled a lot more than 1.3Kg out of there! I'll have to weigh it all, mine had 2 layers in places, probably to hold the rust together!



Pete

[Peter Jones]

At some stage you're going to have to make the car track legal too.

It takes a while to get your head around it but have a look at this http://www.camsmanual.com.au/

You'll probably have a lot more questions after you get through that little lot.

It's not as daunting as it first seems but you will need to be able to get your car to comply with it so it's useful to understand it.

General requirements for cars and drivers covers most of the stuff you'll need to do.

http://www.camsmanual.com.au/general.asp

You'll get a hard copy of the manual when you apply for your licence.

Pete

[peedman]

Ive heard of ppl using dry ice to get rid of that sorta stuff but i havent done it myself. Just food for thought

[roccodingo]

Ive heard of ppl using dry ice to get rid of that sorta stuff but i havent done it myself. Just food for thought

Yeah, I used dry ice, let it freeze the tar mats , then gently tap the underside with a soft hammer...then vacuum out the crap, wash down with thinners will remove the last of the adhesive, maybe even some of the factory primer as well...