Which choice of MK1, 16V bad body or 1.6l good body?

[Bluerex]

... a rod change gearbox, 14 inch wheels with 270mm brakes and drums at the back.

Not wanting to hijack the thread, but that is an interesting combo. Really interested in your reasoning (I have a similar setup but with mk4 disks at the back)

C

[h100vw]

There's nothing wrong with the rod box. They fall apart if you try and put G60/200hp through them but otherwise they are plenty tough enough.
Cable change boxes have a long throw and are a bit heavier. A 1.8T conversion you could justify the weight and engineering time to do the gearbox mounts.
I have driven MK1s with all sorts of wheel combinations. Standard 13s, 14s and 15s and you can try and tell me until you are blue in the face but 14s are the best all round for tyre availability/unsprung weight/etc I would stick with 13s if they were 6 inch wide and had 185 tyres on them.
270mm brakes because they fit under 14 inch wheels, that said I could handle 256mm at a push. A mate in the UK has a Turbo Technics MK1 with 175bhp and 239mm standard brakes. He thought they were ok.
No need for discs at the back except for cosmetic reasons.
Happy to keep debating with you on my choices mate.

Gavin

[Bluerex]

Happy to keep debating with you on my choices mate.

Gavin

No debate, just curious.
This was my first foray into car building and many of my decisions were made for me by;

• The CAMS regulations (choosing the 5 speed 020 - rod change and cable clutch)
• Chance (finding a bunch of nice 14" BMW wheels that had good offset)
• Advice from those that came before me (nearly everything else)
• $$$$$

I kept to the 1600 8v because I wanted to run in the P2 class - this may eventually change as my abilities improve, but the competition is fierce but friendly in P2 and it keeps the costs down.
I was chuffed that my "compromise" setup came close to someone else's "ideal" build.

c

[Water Boy]

Worm I have some photo's of your red 4 door some where on my computer.