New Plans

Massive tidy up in the garage at the weekend and now a bit better prepared for doing some more work on the car. The Rallye has just be taxed again and I now have just over six months to get to grips with the bodywork and welding as I’m fairly sure it’s not going to pass the MOT without some remedial work where the boot joins the inner rear arches. It’s splitting on both sides with additional rust penetration from outer to inner wing on the near side. This is a know area to look for on the 106. At some point some seam sealant (I’m hoping it’s automotive spec and not just domestic silicon) has been laid in this area and seems to have disguised the problem enough to get it through the last MOT.

I’m also looking at replacement of the entire exhaust system from the manifold back and replacement with a Peugeot Sport system with the motorsport catalytic converter. I had a pug sport on the S1 and found it to be a great bit of kit. There’s various other reasons for this change, one being that it’s currently a heavy 3-part system and the 2-part pug sport should be several kilos lighter and the other being I can’t be arsed with swapping cat and de-cat pipes around for MOT times and although I haven’t seen any factual evidence, the word is that the motorsport spec cat is barely restrictive and is what the 200BHP tuned rally cars use, so it should be good enough.

In other developments I’ve modified the spigots that arrived and found they now fit perfectly. The wheel spacers have turned up and I need to do a trail fitting to work out of the current wheel studs are long enough or will need replacing with longer ones. In terms of the spacers I’m also considering getting the solid lumps of alloy machined to match the pattern in the back of the OZs and reduce the rotating weight (really need to take some photos to illustrate this). I reckon that at least a 33% saving is possible and will be getting in touch with a good machine ship I know for this.

Having been looking at welding-related gubbins, here’s some interesting links. Nice homemade set of movable axle stands. A simple design so you can Roll your car for underside access. A rather fab Mark I Golf restoration and some other useful stuff to make.