After introducing myself in the appropriate section, I may as well start the build thread of my R53 summer DD/autox-er. After work hours, I put it on the lift (no, I'm not a mechanic, but my boss is a massive petrolhead, so we have a lift at work) and got started reviving the patient. The car is in decent physical condition given the mileage and the salted roadways during the winter months, but does have some mechanical issues and somebody cheaping out on plastic bits broken in a front center accident. I was sold on the recently rebuilt supercharger... Anyways, the previous owner bought it as a project car but was going through family issues and put it up for sale at a loss.

Immediate work:
- oil filter gaskets
- valve cover gasket
- serpentine belt
- rear brakes (complete overhaul... wait 'till you see the pics!!! )
- dead battery
- hood and hatch supports
- RF outer ball joint
- 4 CEL codes (all EVAP and O2 related, but won't attack those until the electric system is fixed)
- missing a-pillar trim

The patient:




First order of business? Missing wheel lock keys and summer tires. (Can't drive to the dealer due to winter tire rule and don't want to waste another tow from CAA.) Out come the drill bits...



Rear brake assessment... ready for the carnage?




Are you sure you're ready?




Yeah. The previous previous owner had a seized rear caliper and deserves a Darwin award. His fix was to remove the caliper and cap the line. Yes, I knew this when I bought it... hence my WTB ad. I'm keeing this to present as a trophy to someone.

Also, replaced the battery... fixed the startup problems, but doesn't fix the 11.86V while the engine is running. Currently getting quotes to have the alternator rebuilt. I'll be overhauling the rear brakes (maybe even the whole rear subframe) in 2 weeks time when all my parts arrive. In the meantime, I will find time to fix some other niggling issues. A-pillar trim is also arriving shortly.

 

well it looks like you found a good project, and hopefully you wont treat that car with the same disrespect =(

 

It's such a good project that I'm considering selling my E34 (or at least my M5 wheels) and my mk3 Jetta TD.

I scored a set of Dunlop ZII Star Specs (early bird gets the worm ) and am looking at a set of new wheels. Will update once I confirm the wheels in the next few days.

 

I was griping to my wife about a badly made electrical splice (twisted together and taped), but that "brake job" wins by miles. Pretty amazing that someone would disable brakes.

The parking brake cables tend to seize up over time. Probably extra likely when not used, so think about replacing them, too.

 

It's the by-product of no annual vehicle inspections and an I don't give a **** attitude.

Anyways, 3 of the S Lites have some bends in them, so a set of Konig Illusions has been ordered for auto-x duties... can't wait to save 7lb/corner. Now I really need to sell my E34 stuff.

 

Check out my thread on what's on my mini. Previous owner built it to autox and I dd it

 

I am the king of 'while I'm in there, may as well...' but got too smart for my own good.

Figured it would be wise to work on the Mini inside the shop while it was -20 to -30C outside. Pulled the alternator to be rebuilt, figured I'd replace the belt and tensioner to avoid using the tensioner tool. Why on earth do they not preload it to the second hole?!?!?!? Nothing a bit of scrap steel and some welding and drilling couldn't solve. Never argue with free, homemade tools that work well. Eagerly awaiting this week as most of my parts are coming in - big wrenching weekend coming up.

Oh, and the alternator & battery are now working fine.

 

I'd rather not look at my bank statement this month...




Thanks to a forum member, I was able to make it less ugly too; A-pillar trim was installed after prepping for the brake job(s) coming this weekend (need to do my dad's car too).

 

Well. This was an interesting weekend. The tax refund will be arriving right on time. Rear brakes were overhauled and discovered a broken rear control arm.

 

Ooof. Just got back from a 9-day work trip, preceded by 2 weeks of crazy deadlines, so no major work has been done to the little monster. I did sell my E34, so that money pit is out of the way.

Unfortunately a last-minute decision to head back to the US for Easter to visit family hasn't left me with enough time to order & ship goodies in order for me to bring them back duty/tax-free... which also means I don't have the car ready for some of my favorite roads in the Catskill region in NY. Bummer.

Despite being busy, I've managed to get some tasks done:
- mounted the Dunlops on my autox wheels
- purchased a set of 7-hole 15s for DD duties (potholes are car-sized here)
- started suspension overhaul purchasing (balljoints, ARB links, updated rear control arm)

I did get stuck when trying to do the outer balljoints - seized solid in the knuckles and seized axle nut. With only MAPP gas at my disposal, there was no way they were coming out that night. I might end up with a more complete overhaul this way. I should be home for a couple of weeks (and warmer weather), so I should be getting my hands dirty soon enough.

 

Seems like you and i are in similar situations lol. I DD an R56 MCS and purchased a 2003 MCS for track use. At the moment taking care of the maintinace work and at the same time getting goodies. Going to put in work tomorrow.

Transmission Fluid
Change Fuel Filter
Try to Lubricate the Coilovers and raise the car.


Keep the post updated. Nice to see more and more people into tracking there cars.

Are you going to stay with stock brakes?

 

Yeah, looks like I'll be hanging onto the 'ol diesel Jetta until it falls apart and can build up the Mini. By then I should be either getting a new DD. For the time being, I'm staying with stock brakes but I am trying out a more aggressive Stoptech pad on both the fronts and rears.

I got in touch with a local guy building a R53 for racing. He has quite a bit of spares from 3 parts cars. Should fill in my shopping list nicely.

 

I've been making the shopping list a bit longer...
- Sorted the sound system with a Kenwood HU and JBL speakers (gave the H/K system the big heave-ho) and it sounds GLORIOUS!!! (I do 6-14 hour road trips relatively frequently, so it was a priority)
- Installed outer ball joints and left rear lower control arm to be able to drive on a more regular basis
- Acquired front hubs, strut mounts, front right axle assembly, and a Valeo SMF/clutch conversion
- Shopping around for new shocks and building up a list of seals and maintenance items to do when the engine and trans are out. Intake boot needs replacement too...

- Need to sort out the P0030 and P0456. Pics coming soon...

 

Some work done... Installed new strut mounts and front shocks. Got OEM Bilstein (B4) replacements despite my intentions to autox it this summer. I figured the stock damping would be enough for a winter setup for the time being. (coilovers planned for next spring!!!) Aiming to 'one-ball' it before the weekend and a run through the twisties up to the cottage for the long-weekend.

My last spending spree is coming in order to supplement the SMF swap... I have a few trips to NH and NY coming in June and the last thing I need is a slipping clutch in the mountains. Still weighing doing the timing chain for peae of mind... HELP!!! In the meantime, the new shoes are on. Unfortunately, I was seeing snow flurries on my drive in to work today. Star Specs and cold weather = not an ideal combo.

 

Congrats on the R53 and bringing it back to life, wow those rotors are paper thin.

 

nice work, looking good

 

Thanks guys! Will try to complete the One-Ball mod tmw after work. Big weekend coming in 9 days... Have about 50 parts to be changed.

 

I'm almost finished with my build for this season. Thread is "racing turtel" (typo but dont know any admins so they can change itlol)

 

I've read through your build... Good work!

I'll just post this for reference... From memory, I drew this up using a single Jegs mandrel J-bend 2.25" diameter. I have it welded and looks like it fits perfect, but will be mounting it Fri evening to confirm. Yeah the drawing is upside down...



R53 One-Ball mod

 

/\ Best $60 mod I have ever done on any of my cars. Not too loud, no drone and a nice burble and pop on the overrun. I ended up flaring the pipe 2.25" ID and 2.5" ID accordingly (done by a local muffler shop) and some slip-fit band-clamps. Tips are hanging a bit low, but not annoyingly low. I might have goofed on the angle of the turn-up slightly. Oh well.

I have decided to tackle the timing chain while I'm in there for the clutch job this weekend. Slight tick on startup - would rather nip it in the bud before I pop something on track.

Also 17s are coming off........ for daily driver/road trip duties. I love stiff cars, but I'd rather not be paranoid about dodging the craters around town. Also Star Specs and dirt roads up to the family cottage don't mix well. When roads are muddy, forget it.

 

17's for autocross? arent they really heavy? I went down to 15's and cut the wheel/tire weight quite a bit, big difference in performance

 

My set is about 7-8lbs lighter per wheel than the stock 17in S-Lites it came with... Don't worry, my FSAE background has me in full race engineer mode (finding creative ways for cheap data logging) and will eventually find the fastest setup. I do have a reference with one of the fastest and most experienced guys running the R53 as well.

 

how much per wheel is that? I think mine were something like 22 pounds with tire

if your data loging on odb2 it's slow, like 1 update per second because kline sucks. We need a canbus to obd2 adapter or you will have to run a pro level datalog setup that can read the raw canbus

 

I may be borrowing/buying the old Race Technology DL2 data logger we had at the FSAE shop... switched to Motec during the past few years, so it's possibly collecting dust on some shelf.

Math says the current wheel/tire combo at just under 40lb per corner... haven't weighed them yet. Stock would be over 47lb. Hard to imagine you've reached 22lb/corner. Even a 15in Star Spec is at 17lb, with the lightest wheels being 8-10lb you're up to 25-27lb. I'm willing to give up some acceleration for more grip and some turn-in. Trust me, next year I'll be reading between the lines of the rulebook.

 

I'll weigh them againn tomorrow they can't lose too much tread from just a couple events