The Building of another Rallye VR6 Turbo ---- This time In Track Day Flavour.

[Rallyevr6 0]

Hmm, where do I start?

First of all, I see IbiVR's Rallye VR6 Turbo and I raise him a Golf Rallye VR6 Turbo Track car. Sorry Tom, its gotta be done

Well I've had a Rallye for some time now (about 7 years I think) and never really had it finished. There was only one engine that was ever going to go in it,of course a VR6. This pic here is perhaps the time I was the most happy with it:

At the time I had had phone calls from PVW to feature the car and I know some people were very interested in seeing it however, things move on/you run out of money to get it exactly how you want it/other things take your interest and priorities.

While the Rallye ended up cutting a sad figure in my garage looking unloved and bits being sold off it to make a bit of extra cash, I started getting the taste for track days. After one or two drunken nights out, a mate of mine was also getting an interest in track days and wanted me to build him a Pug 205. Having no expirence (and to be honest, no wish) to start working on French cars, I managed to talk him into building a Golf Mk2 Track car with my favourite powerplant of choice, a VR6.

After about 3 years, including a 12 month gap after I blew the engine up we had some great time building it and more importantly driving it. Especially great track days at Donnington and Cadwell as well as the CGTI trip to the Ring in 2006. Here that one is in its prime:

Well, as Winter started to fall at the tail end of 2006 and the MOT was coming up we knew that rust was beginning to take its toll on the car and it wasn't financially viable to continue with the old car it was decided to scrap the car that had done us quite proud and embark on a new chellenge/project.

Enter the Rallye.

We could have spent time searching for a load of old Mk2's looking for a solid donor shell for what we had planned, but really with having the Rallye taking up space doing nothing, and still in good condition, we decided the only sensible option was to take a once Show and Shine desited Rallye, and turn it into a track weapon. So I gave my Rallye Shell to my mate for his new Track car on the agreement I get to use it (and still accidently call it "My car")

So a suitable local workshop was found close to home and the work commenced. First of all the plan was to Convert the Rallye to RHD and put everything from the previous car onto the rallye and run it FWD.

So the Stripping of the mk2 commenced:

With that done, The Rallye had to be prep'd to take all the bits we took off the mk2:

Off came the 4WD rear axle, (I have a feeling that we shall be seeing that back on again soon enough)

So, with any major parts taken off the rallye all that was left to do was put the major sections from the Mk2 onto it:

In went the engine/subframe/wishbones extra as one unit:

And the same was done with the rear end so it looked like this:

So, after a days work, starting with one running MK2 Track car and an empty Rallye shell were were left with a fully stripped MK2 shell hanging and a Golf rallye converted to FWD and fully VR6:

A few parts were needed soucing, mainly the front and rear bumpers and we also fitted a mk2 front end so it looked like this:

Now it was the interior time.

Due to mainly insurance and day to day driving issues, it was decided from the start to conver to RHD. That mean't all Wiring dash etc etc had to go, and lots of holes to be drilled. However this was perfect for us to put into plan the minimal interior look. As it will be used on track, we may as well lose as much weight as possible as the Rallye's are heavier than your regular Mk2 golf.

Also, due to the very high heats we will be getting in the engine bay (the reason for which I shall divulge on later) we have also taken the option of running all the wiring and brake lines, where possible on the inside of the car, and then up the chassis legs:

In the Previous car we, and any others that had driven it, always mentioned the shifter on our VR6 being rubbish. This was partly due to a broken shifter one track day at Cadwell, and partly due to the well known issues of cable shifters. We decided to go the route of the mk4 shifter mech and tower in the gearbox. A mounting frame was made up for this on the transmission tunnel so it was nice and close to the steering wheel:

With the RHD/wiring and Shifter all in place it was time to Fit the roll cage. A Saftey Device cage was originally purchased to fit in the Mk2, but with that gone it found its way straight into the Rallye. With a bit of plating and a touch of welding here and there the cage was installed.

Then the seats were fitted. The Drivers position put in the optimum place for both of us and the Passanger seat mounted lower down and further back:

During the process of the build we had always planned to run completely without the dash. I always was a fan of the old in car Vid of Big Dub from back when Inters was at Bracknell with the simple interior and all the custom dials running across. However this did provide a small issue of how/where to mount the speedo. We haven't got and didn't want to spend loads of money on custom dials so we had to come up with something else. That was proving a problem untill this picture of a Works Rallye Interior:

What started with a "ooh, I like the fuses in the centre consol" turned into a plan to do that with the rallye with a bit of custom fabrication and a standard Fuse box holder. Then came the solution to the Clocks issue. Why not mount them above the fuse box in the centre consol too?

So, a morning and afternoon later we had:

Not quite finished, just needs a touch of welding for strenth and ally plate over the top and we have all those little issues solved, and extra pace for all those much needed switched and dials etc.

And we also have space behind the steering wheel for other important dials like......

(cont....)

Oil Temp, Oil Pressure, Boost, Air fuel meter and Apexi.

Yep, thats right we decided to go ahead and turbo it. We had sourced the turbo parts pretty early on in the rebuild process, but the plan was to leave them till next winter before we put them on. However, we got impatient and with what has been described as a "Box full of Naughty" just sitting around doing nothing it made sense at the time and we decided to crack on straight away []

With the Turbo going on, we had to find a load of VR6 syncro parts. A VR6 rear diff was sourced quickly and easily through a friend and so off came the 2wd rear beam and on went a newly fully polly bushed rear 4WD beam and a Mk3 VR6 Syncro rear diff:

Yesterday however was the day to prep the engine. We've got a VR6 Syncro Box heading over from Germany, hopefully as I type, so now was the time to take out the engine. We had a lot to do.

We had to fit all this and more:

So, Engine out, Gearbox off, Clutch taken off, Engine Stripped down, head off, Completely strip the head to change Valve guide seals (previously fitted GSF ones were crap from almost the moment the engine was rebuilt and running)rebuild the head and then refit the head with turbo spacer plate and new head gasket going in and get the engine to a piont where the engine is ready to go in once the Gearbox arrives.

Once the engine was all but rebuilt we then added the turbo manifold and Turbo. The manifold needed modding because we had previously fitted large exhaust studs in the VR head as we had suffered from bolts losening and coming off due to the heat. So the drill came out and largened the holes and the manifold slipped on nicely.

Then on went the turbo:

We had to wait a while to get hold of a MK3 VR6 Syncro box, but eventually we got hold of one and it arrived early part of this week:

So, next job was to put the Clutch in and then slip the box on.

Once the engine was ready to go in, we jacked up the car to fit the front section of prop. Shell nice and stiff sitting level with one axle stand under it. Of course second one went under the car before I did.

Then it was a case of putting the engine back in. Took a while to get the 2 drive shafts and prop as well in the right place and get it on the mounts but we got it in fairly quickly. Then the inlet manifold was put on and the wiring etc all hooked up.

Its a bit dark but a shot of the back of the engine, Lots of Space for a 3 inch downpipe and boost pipes.

Bit tight on the Clutch master cylinder (turbo is MM's away) so the current one will be changed for a later Passat one along with the Clutch pedal.

Now it seems a good a time as any to figure out a place to put the intercooler. So in went the Rad and the cooler was mounted in several trail positions before settling on the best place for it. No many pictures taken during this process, but you can see the cooler through the grille here. The face of a VR6 Turbo Rallye :

So there we have it. Next job is to get the cooler fitted tightly into teh car and then we will be able to make the Downpipe and boost pipes. I really like the way the cars looking at the moment, and should look really good once we get the shiney boost pipe type bits in

So, there we are so far. The project is yet to be finished but we are beginning to see the end. Theres still alot to do, but hopefully it will all be in hand. We're planning on only running about 350bhp (turbo is good for 500bhp) from it once its fully shaken down and tested but the plan will be to run it low in boost throughout the summer to see how it reacts to regular driving and the occasional track blast and then come October time we may feel brave and confident enough to complete a full track day with it.

We'll then take stock of how it has gone and improve anything that needs going over the winter and hopefully hit a full year of track days and general malarky with it up and down the country. Already some plans are in the mind to help reliablitly and strength, like 100cm CV's on Prop and Rear diff etc.

I enjoyed trying to prove some people wrong when they still tried to claim mk2 Vr6's were useless as a track car now I'm looking forward to expanding that and seeing how a Turbo'd VR reacts to a life on the track.

Moderator edit by: PeterVR6

[IbiVR 0]

Hehe, good to see you on here at last nick.

Looks like its coming on great - they should both be ready for the summer!

Tom.

[rigs 0]

*waves*

[mpm 0]

quality write up, look forward to seeing how it all plans out!

[bigleem 0]

Not another person building the best car i can think of,rallye, turbo and vr i'm starting to hate some people now

Loving it, are we going to see it at any shows

[Rallyevr6 0]

I'm hoping to get it to some shows in the summer or track days.

Its being built to be ready for The French Car show on the 15th July. Odd location/show I know but they have track sessions to test your car on and it will be the perfect shake down test for it as you don't have to commit to a full day of driving.

Then after that I may persuade Rigs, my mate and the owner, to bring it along to a VW show. Maybe one at Santa Pod or something.

Next year will probably be the year that its att all the shows. The rest of this year will be used as testing/development as its going to be used in a completely different environment to toms (IbiVR) one and we don;t quite know how it'll react.

[gav_113 0]

i must say i am loving this car....

[RIX 0]

a shame you had to make it rhd.

i see the point in putting the normal golf front end on cause you can get more air with that grill

but why didin´t you use a rallye gearbox

the center diff. is if i remeber fixed 50/50

and abit lower ratio idell for track days

i was thinking of getting that 50/50 splitt for my mark 3 syncro.

i really like your projekt very nice. our car prices over here are so bad plus mot. is very strigt too soo we don´t see as many wild projekts very sad

best regards

RIX

[Rallyevr6 0]

A Rallye Gearbox wasn't used for several reasons:

1. We didn't have one.

2. It doesn't fit on a VR6 Engine.

3. IMHO G60 rallye gear ratio's are horrible. You have to shift to 3rd to hit 60mph for example and then 4th + 5th are too long.

and

4. I have already been in a car that has broken a G60 Syncro rear diff with about 350bhp. The VR6 syncro rear diff is stronger than a G60 Syncro one due to the differing ratio's. A gearbox is nothing but a is a torque coverter at the end of the day and the VR6 one will deal with the power hike slightly better, I know of a car that has run 400 bhp through a VR6 syncro rear diff from a standing start all day long without it braking. Strength of teh 4WD system takes priority over little improvements through differing gear ratios

Overall speed through the gears will be aided by the turbo and boost, so we don't really need to worry about the ratio's between gears. If anything we might need to put diesel internals in it to strengthen and increase top speed.

The front panel was changed for another couple of reasons. Yes this one will allow better air flow, but more simply, Golf rallye lights are fucking expensive and on a track car, we would be a fools to run with them as a trip into the kitty litter/a stone flicked up will be a quick and easy way to spend £500. We might get some for goign to shows etc, but I can think of better thinsg to spend the money on now. Also, Golf Rallye headlights are pretty awful even with an uprated headlight loom.

Converting it to RHD also makes it alot easier to turbo it also as it allows a massive ammount of room for a 3 inch down pipe.

Personally I would have had no issues with it being LHD on a day to day basis, but it does add a large %-age to the insurance and in the heat of the moment on track I would never be 100% confident on shifting gears using my "wrong" hand. It would only take hitting 3rd instead of 5th once to destroy £3+K's worth of engine and turbo.

i must say i am loving this car....

Why thank you. Its always nice to hear feedback from people.

More updates will appear as and when work on the car continues.

[rigs 0]

Right hand drive is the correct way

It's not our fault the rest of the world decided to break it Atleast the japs got it right

I suspect someone may need to know the facts before opening their gob

[IbiVR 0]

100% agree on the box. The rallye box is no use on a vr6 turbo. The rear diff is only good for ~300hp before the sprag clutch snaps

The fd of the diff and xfer box's are different for the vr syncrho stuff, so use the vr6 diff, you need the matching box.

Also the gear ratios of the rallye box are no use for turbo, way to short. if you rev out to quickly in 1st/2nd 3rd (which you will with some power up it) you dont have the time to build boost and use it. Longer gears means more time in each gear, more time = more boost=more power.

I am using the std rallye box with a vr bellhousing (waste of time - i didnt do it) on my vr6t rallye for the time being, and to stop it exploding i'm limited to 11/12 psi and wont drop the clutch froma standing start. It will be going in the bin asap....

Awesome work on the car Nick/Russel, cant wait to see how it performs on track!

Tom.

[RIX 0]

Right hand drive is the correct way

he he depends where you are living for that too be true,but i have been driving i a left hand drive car i britten and thats not fun,but alot off guys over here are are starting too import alot off supras and skylines right handdrive and driving the alot.the tax on a right hand car is alot lower maybe around 10k pounds.

i didn´t know how much you had sold from the car,it was mainly for the center diff(with the fixed 50/50 split) but i have read some where on the net that the 80/20 can bee changede to around 60/40 and stil send more power back and forth.

[Rallyevr6 0]

i didn´t know how much you had sold from the car' date='it was mainly for the center diff(with the fixed 50/50 split) but i have read some where on the net that the 80/20 can bee changede to around 60/40 and stil send more power back and forth.

[/quote']

I think thast with Haldex stuff which is all controlled electonically. We've not fitted that as it would be alot of extra work. The VR6 Syncro stuff is especially the same as G60 Syncro stuff but stronger.

Quick photo update. 2 of the 3 boost pipes have been made up, and all water pipes etc fitted and on:

Its all coming along rather well.

[rigs 0]

Went down to the workshop yesterday and had an unusually productive day - all boost pipes are now done - just missing some vacuum lines for boost control.

First trip up the trail - very tentative 1/3rd throttle - first time on boost for the engine + boost pipes. Scarey moment

http://files.3rd-dimension.com/Car%20Stuff/My%20Cars/RallyeVRT/Boost1.avi

Fixed a few air leaks and tightened the battery terminals up (one was loose causing a misfire! oops) and went for a few funs up and down. In-car this time - 50% throttle 1st/2nd gear 5mph > 40mph ish.

http://files.3rd-dimension.com/Car%20Stuff/My%20Cars/RallyeVRT/Boost2.avi

We haven't got any boost gauges or boost control wired up yet so couldn't really let it boost up properly as the turbo is probably capable of doing damage to the engine if it boosts beyond what we are aiming for.

Interestingly, the dump valve is a non atmospheric/recirculating one - same as fitted to most VAG 1.8t engines yet has a nice to atmosphere dump sound.... not sure if I like it or not - its a be chavvy but certainly rouses a grin

[rodney 17]

I do like the sound of a good dump valve LOL

[RIX 0]

no the syncro diff in the rallye golf is diffrent 50/50 split fix,

but the std. vr6 is 80/20 varibel nothing to do with haldex.