306 S16...a small project that got way out of hand.

[Easty]

Hi guys,

just thought I would share with you my 306 S16 project, now that it’s finally club registered.
I’ll keep it short.

What I thought would happen:

Bought the car in Feb with the intentions of getting it roadworthy and having a bit of track day/hill climb fun.....

What actually happened:

Full exterior respray
Smoothed tail gate (pops via a solenoid wired to the rear wiper motor that used to be there) and roof aerial delete
Bistein shocks and 40mm lowering springs
C5 alloy steelies painted in Rebel Blue (Volvo Polestar colour)
Semi slicks
Fast road pads, grooves discs all round and braided hoses
Adjustable sway bar links
Baker BM group N engine mounts
Baker BM shift linkages
WRC poly gear knob
Sabelt suede steering wheel with snap off boss
Headlights stripped and rebuilt
Front and rear windscreens replaced and all windows tinted
Carbon vent in fog light recess for cold air to the air box
F1 style mirrors with custom made base plates
Door panels modified
Velo harnesses (yet to be fitted) also fixed bucket seats will be ordered soon too

Then, the old girl decided to spin a bearing on her way get a RWC...So:

Polished and lightened crank
Lightened and balanced flywheel
Decked block
Peter T cams
#3 1.9 inlet cam gear
1.9 injectors
GTi6 inlet manifold, painted the same colour as the exterior
Carbon canister air intake
Wrinkle coated rocker cover
New ignition modules
Stainless steel 2 1/2in manifold back exhaust with solid hanger mounts

Every seal and gasket replaced, timing belt, water pump, tensioners etc. new clutch, diff seals, driveshaft boots

Then all the stuff I decided to delete:

AC system, complete
Stereo system
Arch liners
Spare wheel
Rear wiper
Entire interior from the front seats back

Sure I’ve missed some bits out, looking forward to getting her out on the road next week!

 

[Dave]

That looks so clean mate. I'm sure it will be awesome to drive, well done!

 

[FedGrapes]

I'd love more details if you want to write up. I'm weighing up options for my S16 as it reaches 300,000km!!

 

[Easty]

That looks so clean mate. I'm sure it will be awesome to drive, well done!

Thanks Dave! Could do with a wheel alignment and I will replace the lower control arm bushes. Bushes are a bit soft so may as well poly bush them.

 

[Easty]

I'd love more details if you want to write up. I'm weighing up options for my S16 as it reaches 300,000km!!

That’s pretty much it in a nutshell. Been a bit of a roller coaster, the car has fought me every step of the way.

If I was to advise anyone who wants to refresh or rebuild their S16 I would say don’t skimp on anything and do it once and do it right. Couple of things i should have done that bit me in the arse!

I also found so many things that previous owners had either patched up or just left to deteriorate. The wiring loom in particular was a problem. Hoses and anything rubber pretty much fell apart when i touched them!

The whole car, including purchase price owes me less than $10k. If anyone out of the trade or without contacts who owed them a favour or two I imagine it would cost easily $15-20k. It escalated very quickly!

 

[cav91]

This car didn't come from Thomastown did it? The seats look really familiar, I reckon my mate in lancefield owned it. The seats are from a cabriolet, I think he had to use spaces or something on the outer tracks to make them fit. Then sold it his boss in Thomastown.

 

[Easty]

This car didn't come from Thomastown did it? The seats look really familiar, I reckon my mate in lancefield owned it. The seats are from a cabriolet, I think he had to use spaces or something on the outer tracks to make them fit. Then sold it his boss in Thomastown.

I got it in Reservoir so probably is the same one. Pretty sure it hadn’t driven for about 8yrs.
I bought the car from the back of a workshop with about 12inches of grass growing all around and through it.

The interior will be up for sale soon, once I get Xmas out of the way I’ll be getting some bucket seats.

 

[cav91]

I got it in Reservoir so probably is the same one. Pretty sure it hadn’t driven for about 8yrs.
I bought the car from the back of a workshop with about 12inches of grass growing all around and through it.

The interior will be up for sale soon, once I get Xmas out of the way I’ll be getting some bucket seats.

I reckon it is then. It was about 8-9 years ago. My mate was getting a rwc on it. I was the one who had to take it in for him. On the way home cruising along at 100 kms, the oil pressure light came on. So I pulled over. Checked for leaks, checked how much it had. Then decided to limp it back the last 5 kms. The engine didn't make any horrid noises at all. So we decided it most likely had a faulty oil pressure switch. That was about the time he lost interest and sold it to his boss. Maybe it did have an underlying problem, which re-surfaced itself for you. Anyway ill show him this thread tonight when I see him. He'd be glad to see its amounted to something! It wasn't a bad thing when he had it. Was pretty tidy and for memory had pretty low kms!

 

[Mingus]

Awesome stuff! Does it go fasty?

 

[Easty]

I reckon it is then. It was about 8-9 years ago. My mate was getting a rwc on it. I was the one who had to take it in for him. On the way home cruising along at 100 kms, the oil pressure light came on. So I pulled over. Checked for leaks, checked how much it had. Then decided to limp it back the last 5 kms. The engine didn't make any horrid noises at all. So we decided it most likely had a faulty oil pressure switch. That was about the time he lost interest and sold it to his boss. Maybe it did have an underlying problem, which re-surfaced itself for you. Anyway ill show him this thread tonight when I see him. He'd be glad to see its amounted to something! It wasn't a bad thing when he had it. Was pretty tidy and for memory had pretty low kms!

Yeah mate, it’s definitely the same car! Found the receipt for the seat and a handwritten receipt of sale to a Lancefield address in 2012 in the paperwork I’ve got for it!
Kind of glad the engine let go, now I’m so happy with it, absolutely hammers after 3,500rpm and sounds nuts!

 

[Easty]

Awesome stuff! Does it go fasty?

Sure does! Best bit about it is you don’t touch the brake pedal going around a corner and it has heaps of torque a power to pull you out of the corner.
I’ll have all the poly bushes in it this week and an alignment done. Then the 1/2 cage in 2 weeks. It definitely needs better seats, the cab ones look great but you slide around all over the place. Buckets will be on order shortly...

 

[cam85]

If you go near a track with it make sure you put an accumulator or something to help the oil starvation. It wont last long on the track...

 

[cam85]

Did u get the chip in it yet?

 

[Easty]

Did u get the chip in it yet?

Yeah sure did! Pretty impressed with it actually. Runs smoother low down now. It’s always going to lack a bit down low because of the GTI6 inlet but at 3,500-4,000rpm it really takes off.

 

[Mingus]

What chip is it? Why did you do away with the S16 ACAV system - Pods too annoying?

 

[PeterT]

Yeah sure did! Pretty impressed with it actually. Runs smoother low down now. It’s always going to lack a bit down low because of the GTI6 inlet but at 3,500-4,000rpm it really takes off.

Excellent. I thought it would be perfect.

 

[Easty]

What chip is it? Why did you do away with the S16 ACAV system - Pods too annoying?

Pods were broken, plus the starter died and I hate the way the manifold looks. Also I like doing things the hard way! Hahahaha!

 

[PeterT]

What chip is it?

A Peugeot Sport chip I obtained a copy of many years ago. We tested it out on Cam85's engine first. It works best with 1.9L injectors. Let me know if you want one.

 

[Mingus]

A Peugeot Sport chip I obtained a copy of many years ago. We tested it out on Cam85's engine first. It works best with 1.9L injectors. Let me know if you want one.

Yeah I just ordered some new 1.9L injectors - could be a good idea. I'm using ACAV though, so the lag before 3500 is improved is it not?

 

[PeterT]

Cam’s car has AVAC. It pulls hard.