It's Baaack..... return of the Rally Golf Pt1

[Bluerex]

After a truely painful 6 months, I finally have my MK1 shell back from Melbourne. I hereby formally retract and appologise for any and all un-charitable thoughts I may have ever had about the time it has taken. The work done by John Rawson and the other Tayel crew (hi Darcy!) is nothing short of breathtaking.
The most obvious is the roll-cage..





Then there is the 6mm alli plate used to reinforce the foot-wells. Remembering that I had some major rust in this area when we started, the plating (and the 30+ bolts each side) makes for a super solid floor.




More in Pt2...

[Bluerex]

It's Baaaack... The Golf Returns Pt2

And then there are the hours spent stich welding the engine bay and suspension points






The extra steel that has been added to the fragile bits




And on to Pt3

[Bluerex]

It's Baaaack... The Golf Returns Pt3





So I have lots of work ahead of me.. but what a boost to have the shell back with such a brilliant base to build on.

Charles.

[gumbootracing]

Looking good how far off is the expected completion date?
Ready for the Alpine in November Cheers T

[Oneofthegreats]

Awesome work!!!

Your not wrong about how much time would have been spent on the engine bay. Did they also stitch weld the steering rack mount's? I had a problem with mine cracking with uprated suspension & bigger wheels.

I'm suprised they didn't incorparate the cage to the front strut housing's & chassis legs & also bar across the dash support too.

[gumbootracing]

Post 2000 regs dont allow cages to be attatched to the forward suspension I believe its about progressive crumple zones T

[alex g]

looks great

i know all to well about seeming the bay but the results should be excellent

[blackgti1.8]

Hey - great to see someone who obviously intends to use their Golf in anger (and on dirt) Look forward to seeing it all come together...
Looks like the basic (time consuming) strengening is there now.

Have you (or do you intend) to seam weld any of the rest of the car? Gives the car tremendous rigidity when you do (lots of time though).

Some nice touches on the roll cage. Looks like a good strong cage.
You didn't consider adding a cross bar between the front legs, and/or bracing the front legs to the firewall? Shouldn't affect the crumple zones, but would give some extra strength.

I like the rear design - bracing the rear legs to the rear struct towers is good - that's where you need the rigidity. The double triangulation should stiffen things up nicely

Not sure if anyone else out does this, but foam-filling all the box sections is worthwhile too - keeps the water out, and adds more strength.
Make sure that you run everything that that you're going to through them first though

What are your plans for the car when it's finished?
It'll be good to get a core of members who are into motorsport...

[Bluerex]

Not sure if anyone else out does this, but foam-filling all the box sections is worthwhile too - keeps the water out, and adds more strength.

The foam debate has been raging for years . The final decider for me was that it tends to trap water and so rust out. Damn shame because the Golf side sills are just begging to be filled but I just cant bring my self to do anything that will re-introduce rust after all the efforts to remove it.

As for asperations and goals, check out my photo gallery.
After all John's hard work, I am not planning on any further welding (did anyone notice that the windscreen, door, hatch and side window frames were all stitched as well?). So it is on to the painting stage now

c

[Golf Loon]

Looking lovely Charles. Truly a concours standard Rally Car. Cant wait to see the paint stage.
Are you gonna race it or show it?

[Bluerex]

Looking lovely Charles. Truly a concours standard Rally Car. Cant wait to see the paint stage.
Are you gonna race it or show it?

and why should it be an OR ??

If I was truely serious about showing, I would not be painting it in the driveway.

C

[gtimk5]

Well done bluerex! Definatey looking the part. Looks very tidy under the bonnet, hope you can keep it nice...
Dont make it too pristine though as you will be worried about having a good go in it.

[gotrice]

Having seen the man in action I have no doubt that he will have a very good go in it.

[Bluerex]

Having seen the man in action I have no doubt that he will have a very good go in it.

*Blush*
Oh it will certainly be used in anger and while I don't ever imagine I will be at the pointy end, I hope to have some fun along the way.

Interestingly of the 15 classic cars entered in the recent Nat Cap rally here in Canberra, only 6 finished the course! So If I can keep the wheels pointing down and the engine running........ who knows I may make top 10 (hehe)


C

[alex g]

what engine will you be running??

are there criteria for engine size and so on for classification