Camshafts

[Dan]

Good to see you made your way here daniel, how's the MK1 coming along ??

Hi, my mk1's are gathering dust. I have been really busy with the house and work. I drive the mk1 once a month just to keep the battery charged etc. The good news is that i am not spending much $ on it and have a bit of $ to spend on it when i get around to it.

about the g-grinds...
I have two cars with mechanical lifter gti motors (1.8 and 1.6) and i must say they are very mild cams. They have good bottom end and midrange but run out of puff up top( obviously not as bad as the stock cam). That's why i bought a 16v and some 276's. If you are racing this thing you'd appreciate a bit more aggressive cam. Has the motor any headwork?

[Bluerex]

Thanks for all the input..
Currently the head is stock (I think) but compression is up. Without starting a flame war I was looking for a good match for the webbers without getting silly. At this stage of the car's life it will be used for rally-sprints and kahna work. This is not a track car so top speed is not so much a goal as the power to punch out of corners (on gravel) and not bog down on tight uphill hairpins. Lots of revs, left-foot braking and hand-brake assistance around the twisty stuff (tell me that dosen't sound like fun!!!)

So do we have a go or no-go for the G grind????

C

PS for the late comers, I do not need road rego as a dedicated race/rally car is granted some exceptions to normal ADRs and stuff. Nor does it need to be driven in traffic at peak-hour.

[mrgolf]

For all you doubters...

I have that exact cam gear, and I have a Neuspeed 268 cam (which some may still consider mild, but Neil Trama, who builds race engines and has a long history with VW 8V's advised this course of action). I ran the cam for a while with stock pulley, and it was great. it left a small torque hole by comparison to standard cam, but it was still an improvement overall.

Then I got the cam gear. Neil needed to test out his new dyno, and invited me along so he could play with an old style adjustable engine, and with tweaking of the ignition and cam gear, managed another 10 bhp over the stock setting. Doesnt give extra power? My ass!!!!

G-Grind was what the Mk2 8V's had stock, and it is a great low to mid cam. With timing changes, I reckon it would be great for a fairly standard low capacity 8V engine.

[evorobin]

Go 286. 270 is tame as

[golfnutracing]

IMHO P2 is a waste of time and money in a mk1. I am running in P3 1800 (900kg weight limit for under 1800) G grind cam is ideal, i am running VWM close ratio gear set and a custom 4.28final drive with quaife. Rallying you will spend most of your time between 2800-5500 rpm, and the great rev range and low down torque is fantastic. My motor is very nearly stock, and with good gearbox, good suspension (bilstien inserts, dms struts) i am beating 200hp escorts and gettin double the tire life. The close ratios i am maxing out at about 160kph, but i was quickest over 5km of flat out roads (including 2 wrxs).

Tires, Brakes and Suspension are the most important things, high reving motor will just give you the ****s

[Bluerex]

Hey Golfnut, nice to meet another rally body!
I was going for P3 when I started the project, then I found that for classic/historic purposes (and not having to compete with the 2.0l boys) plus the freedoms that 1600 cc pre-1986 cars get, the P2 had more appeal.

Agreed totally about tyres/suspension and brakes - currently talking to a guy in UK with pedal-box (and dash bias adjuster). I have heavy duty Billies all round but would consider KW or similar coil-overs in the future.

Love to see your cage - did you do any chassis reinforcement ?

Charles.

[golfnutracing]

I did not build the car, but all the struts pannels and inner guards are double skinned, radiator support pannel is reenforced (bars through the inside) with the bash plate bolting out of it (bash plate "chassis" is made from chrome molly roll cage material) which bolts to the bottom of the front struts (where the cage meets up, it is on to board of legality, but basicly the cage extends to the rad support pannel). Whole car is seam welded but the biggest gain is down the front struts and front sway bar. Have made rear toe stabilisers, but i am modding them now to make adjustable. I run the front at -ve1 deg camber 0 toe, and rear at -3mm toe (front of the wheel pointing in) per wheel (huge gain).

The 2ltr boys are actualy easier to beat than the charade detomasos and some suzuki swifts. I have a mechanical adjustment at the pedal which basicly adjusts which master cylinder is activated 1st (no brake booster, drags your motor down when left foot braking) and i also have a hydraulic tap at the hyd handbrake. I have found once the brakes are set no need to touch, im not good enough driver to be able to adjust the brakes for surface etc.

Also on my mates rally car, when u pull of the front guards, he has run some box section up the rear wall / part that joins with the pillar. and then triangulated foward, seems to work okay, but his front end is not that strong.

[mrgolf]

Say, were you displaying your car at a VW car show in Freemantle about 2-3 years ago on the same day there was a kite show? It was in Nov 03.... if so, I saw it...

[golfnutracing]

Could have been my mates rally car, it was yellow/blue until about 02, then in late 03 it went to qld, photos on "altime fav mk1 pics" topic.