hello... this is all going to be very new for me

[pistol pete]

Well.. hopefully on thursday i will have a mk3 x reg roadster sat on my drive
mot till oct and 12 months tax...

It needs some love but its is purely being turned into my track car..
so i naturally have a few questions
Its got 104k on the clock.

anything specific to do to it before going on track?

what tire widths should be on it, will be putting the 16's from my mk1 on it..

how do i check to see if pre-cats still there and if so how do i remove them..
any one know where to get a rolloverbar
with later getting a hardtop or cage..

first time having a mk3.. last night was the first time in/driving one too..

its has a eml light which will be code read today, suspect 02 sensor after reading around, and its a little hestitant but pulls well so a full service should do it the world of good

any other susgestions etc or advice..


how easy is the coolant to bleed on a mk3 / how

thanks

and its yellow

[Ekona]

Bleeding the coolant is a nightmare, just get the end up as high as you possibly can.

O2 sensors are about £50 new (I replaced mine the other day).

Cage with a soft top is impossible if you ever want to use the soft top again. Cage with a hard top is much easier, but if you're running a hardtop you don't really need a cage unless you're going racing. Mine runs no soft top and just the hard top, and with some extra bracing underneath it's pretty much perfect.

You can check the tops of the precats from the O2 sensor holes, but you cannot check the bottoms without removing the manifold. At that point, you either gut them if they're there or just change manifold.

I'd probably go for 205/45/16 front and 225/40/16 rear, but that's going back a bit and I don't know if those sizes are easily available. Might try a 40 on the front and 45 on the back? Just make sure you keep at least a 20mm stagger between widths. I run 15" all round with 888s, the car doesn't have enough power to overwhelm those so no need to go any bigger IMHO.

Brake fluid is well worth doing before tracking, but otherwise the OEM disc/pad combo is fine. I run Yellowstuff pads on mine however, but would like to try something more aggressive next time. Aside from that, it's just the obvious suspension stuff if you want to do it.

[pistol pete]

thanks i was considering just keeping the standard wheels..
would really be happy with a just a hard.. but is there just a rollover bar goes just over the seats that works with the soft top untill i can sort a hardtop?

are there bleed points in the coolant..

and pre-cats.. i guesing they are in the exhaust.. it has got maragoni tires on.. so wonder if someone would have already taken them out...

yeah just looking to have fun on track with it
would like ot grab some braided hoses for the brakes so will do the fluid at the same time

thanks
Pete

[vinp182]

The bars you are mentioning are purely cosmetic and offer no protection at all im affraid.... I wouldn't worry too much though just for a few track days

The pre cats are in the manifold

There is a bleed point on the rad and one on the heater pipe work in the frunk... You need to move the spare wheel bin out of the way to find the heater one.. If you are lucky the clear rubber pipes will still be there for you to use

[pistol pete]

thanks buddy

i will get a hard top as will end up just being a track car... so may have to invest in a hartop soon..

not sure yet but exppect to fully strip it make it nice and lightweight

[Ste2]

a small point re wheel choice is that you should try to consider the range/cost of rubber available for any given wheel. for example semi-slick rubber for 16's might be more readily available and cheaper than rubber for 15s

as mentioned a break health check is worthwhile

I was also told NOT to put my handbrake on after a 'stint' as it can harm the brakes...

[pistol pete]

thanks buddy done a few track days now..
i have the choice of a set of 16's i have had on all my mk1's to put on it... or leave standards... must admit..
I still wanna put my 16's on it.. i have an attachment to the.. been on at least 4 of my mk1's and sold them twice and bought them back twice

they currently have 205 45 16's all round but they need new tires.. would dropping the fronts down to 195 be the right thing.. or should it try and get wider ones for the rears
?

[Ekona]

15" wheels and tyres will be lighter, so a much better choice for a non-FI mk3. If you're going to keep your 16"s, then I'd change the rears for wider ones. You need a 20mm stagger minimum, so either go 195 and 215 or 205 and 225, depending on the width of your wheels.

The rollover protection for the mk3 is the windscreen surround, so no extra protection needed unless you want to use it to aid stiffening the chassis as well. Personally I wouldn't bother with a hardtop as it just adds weight in the wrong place: Much better to leave the lighter softtop in and add some bracing underneath, like the TTET-style X-brace.

Mine only has a hardtop and no softtop because that's what the previous owner did. My choice would be to do it the other way round, as above.

With regards to the precats, in the real world you can just pop the top O2 sensors out and have a look. Either you'll see them (which will be obvious), or you'll see nothing (which means they've either been removed, or they've disintegrated and are blocking your main cat! You'd feel the latter easily though, so no sign of them would convince me that they're not in there and no further work required).

A decat pipe will lose you a lot of low end torque but gain you a few bhp up top. For a road car I definitely wouldn't bother, for a track car you may want to as it'll remove a lot of weight. Ditto if it has the stock exhaust, as that's really heavy.

[pistol pete]

thanks thats some good advice...
i might well stick with the standard wheels then.. makes it easier...
okay if the windscreen surround is stong enough ill stick with that for now then.. and yeah don't want too much weight up top

could not decide between stripping it for track or making a good mk3.. but i have my 331hp st and my main car that gets well looked after
and the point of the mk3 is to track it so dents could happen so don't want to spend lots making it look pretty

better to strip it and brace it along with suspension mods etc ... just make it handle on rails..

what do the weigh in at..and how much weight can you get out?

i am hopng the pre-cats have already been done

code read today and 02 sensor confirmed. so at least i can do both at same time...

big thanks for the advice its really helping.. like said i know nothing of mk3's as of yet.. sure i will soon though

its got standard exhaust and airbox on at mo.. have a cheapy induction at hope i can throw on it for now.. if needed and wil look at exhaust at some point...

[Ekona]

If you're after power then stock air box + decent filter + markiii pipe is the best combo. If after noise, then induction kit is the solution. Bearing in mind the use of the car, you want to keep it as quiet as possible really.

Weight for a pre-facelift car is 995kg they reckon. You can get a fair bit of weight out from the usual places, no idea how much though. Mine is stripped bare apart from the dash (which I'm leaving in due to a combo of not being ar$ed and wanting to keep the heater), so probably as much as you'd reasonably want to. I'm going to get it weighed at some point, if I'm down to 900kg I'll be very happy.

[tonigmr2]

That should be doable, my mk3 race car was down to 900.

[pistol pete]

That sounds sounds fair awesome
Will report back

What sizes can I fit on Strandard wheels

[Ekona]

I'm running 195/50 and 215/50 888s. That's as close to stock sizes as I could get whilst maintaining the correct stagger, and the car handles very well in the limited amount of running I've had since having them fitted. Nicely balanced.

[pistol pete]

awesome.. ill go for the same sizes then.. huge thanks

arrives tonight.. got to phone up and get the insurance swapped over now

[pistol pete]

I'm running 195/50 and 215/50 888s. That's as close to stock sizes as I could get whilst maintaining the correct stagger, and the car handles very well in the limited amount of running I've had since having them fitted. Nicely balanced.

struggling to find 215s..

hmmmmmm can do 195 and 205 easy.. which it what i think it has on it... prbably for the same reason...

okay i gotta stay 20mm difference... hmmmm looks like ill be sticking with the 185 and 205 standard setup

[Ekona]

Available here, from 7 day delivery (although mine turned up in two days).

[pistol pete]

So how stripped out shall I go
It will be used on the road but not ofter and onlynfor fun..
Strip everything inside and under bonnet

[cabbydave1]

If your car has the style roll bar fitted you can easily sell it for around £200 they are only there for looks and wouldn't save you if you rolled over

[Ekona]

So how stripped out shall I go
It will be used on the road but not ofter and onlynfor fun..
Strip everything inside and under bonnet

Be careful with that. Like I say, mine is totally stripped (will get you some pics this weekend) and I now have to either wear ear defenders or noise-cancelling headphones when doing long drives as it's very loud internally. Doesn't seem like it at first, but after a 30 min drive you'll get out with your ears ringing.

[pistol pete]

I just fitted my old mk1 16s they looks great
And.they are 7 inch wide
Will I notice the benefits of 225 on rear and 205 up nt otherwise I'll go 195 205 on the 15s and got a good set of 195s coming

And will I notice a slight buckle in the rear wheel?

Brake pads changed.
Fluid changed and precats are out