V8 Mk1 6 speed with power steering

[PW@Woodsport]

When all of the niggles are ironed out i will definately do a track day in it, still a long way to go though.

[PW@Woodsport]

Today i decided to sort out the frunk, mine was pretty rotten and i wanted a sunken type battery tray so i remodeled the whole thing....





Then seamed the whole thing up and sealed it, this is a much cleaner looking frunk and all i need to do is paint it and add some nice black carpet with maybe some chrome framing around the battery tray.





Oh yeah we also had a little bit of playtime left, still limited to around 4000rpm in straight lines or it just loses traction, but the non LSD doughnuts are pretty funny, enjoy....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdW7mJ5g7GQ

[PW@Woodsport]

Now that the car is mobile and it just needs external bodywork doing i really don't have a need for my mobile lift anymore, and i need to raise funds for my Quaife LSD unit, so if anyone fancies buying this lift before it goes on ebay let me know...



It's a superb piece of kit and hard to come by these days.

[Danthrax]

I just had a good look though this for the first time and it's an amazing project, fair play to you for giving it a go if you got the time and money. Can't wait too see the finished car, bet it's gonna be a proper beast. And that V8 sounds amazing, can't beat it

[PW@Woodsport]

Thanks! Yep it's already an absolute animal to drive, yet still very refined and smooth off throttle, i love it.

[PW@Woodsport]

Today i worked on my power assisted steering upgrade, for those that don't know this is a hybrid Vauxhall Corsa/Mk1 column that i have made, it allows all of the original Mk1 switchgear, steering wheel boss and plastic cowlings to go back on and even retains the Mk1 rake adjustment for height control. This hybrid column allows 3 modes of operation....

1. On fulltime- giving maximum assistance at all speeds
2. On but adjustable- i can set whatever level of assistance i want
3. Off- behaves exactly like a standard Mk1 column when off, there is no drag through the motor with it turned off, in effect it's just a column.

I managed to install it without hacking into the dash support frame, but there will be mods to do to the stereo housing and brackets where the motor now partially sits...





I had to make a hybrid lower knuckle joint that marries Corsa knuckle with Mk1...



I'm pretty chuffed with this upgrade, and it makes this car the only one worldwide with optional and adjustable PS assistance.

[PW@Woodsport]

I wired up my PAS tonight and gave it a try, absolutely brilliant result! It turns lock to lock at a standstill with fingertip effort on a very small 12" steering wheel. Turning the assistance to minimal was still very light at a standstill but could not be done with fingertips, i needed to use light hand pressure. Turning it off just made it feel like a Mk1 steering again.

A very strange sensation not having the engine running and having full PAS.

Made up with it!

[PW@Woodsport]

Thought you might like to see how well this power steering conversion actually works, bear in mind this is at a standstill, with big 17" wheels on the front with 215 tyres and a tiny steering wheel. So you can see before the ignition is switched on how much effort it takes to turn the wheel, then one finger with the system turned on.

Excuse the mucky hands, it's been a busy day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7ee7QUp5z8

[Tiamat]

Paul, may I ask why you felt it needed PAS?

Have obviously never driven a MK1 with PAS, but having driven a MK2 with power steering I felt it had no feedback compared to a MK2 without it.

[PW@Woodsport]

Malcolm on this car i am running very big wheels (for obvious reasons) and with a smaller steering wheel it makes it very hard to manoeuvre at low speed (under 5mph).

So it's a V8 Mk1 parking aid really, a Mk1 in general with the correct size wheels/steering wheel does not need PAS. At speed my car steers fine, so i might end up just having the PAS on only at low speed, fairly easy to configure it that way with a simple speed controller.

Anyway that's the reason

[Tiamat]

Malcolm on this car i am running very big wheels (for obvious reasons) and with a smaller steering wheel it makes it very hard to manoeuvre at low speed (under 5mph).

So it's a V8 Mk1 parking aid really, a Mk1 in general with the correct size wheels/steering wheel does not need PAS. At speed my car steers fine, so i might end up just having the PAS on only at low speed, fairly easy to configure it that way with a simple speed controller.

Anyway that's the reason

Cool, I can get with that.
Just I know how PAS ruins the MK2 feedback so it seemed an odd choice.

[PW@Woodsport]

Hopefully if i have the assistance turned on a little bit it won't ruin the feedback, but it wouldn't be a disaster if i just used it for parking. The beauty of this system is you can add as much assistance or as little as you like, very cool.

[ROB-E]

[monkeymax]

So Paul,
When are you going to fit one of these into a Mk1?

[cartledge_uk]

So Paul,
When are you going to fit one of these into a Mk1?

I cant see if its the supercharged version, I think it would be a bit heavy though!

[PW@Woodsport]

Oof! I'm gonna need a bigger boat....

[Neil Turbo]

Paul, as awesome as this build is, I can't help but think you've overlooked something rather important.......











Where's the wheelie bar?

[PW@Woodsport]

If it ever puts its power down properly and grips i may well need one!

[PW@Woodsport]

Cooling on a Mk1 V8 is of ultimate importance, despite fitting the aluminium 50mm thick rad and twin 10" spal fan set up and upgrading the size of the radiator pipes by 8mm diameter i wanted to get the ducting right through the rad.

I have the Styleauto front bumper which has a huge gaping mouth on it, from here air hits the rad, goes through it and is then trapped against the underside of the bonnet with nowhere to go, not a major problem on a stock Mk1, but on a V8 we need to address this. This mod is 50% function and 50% form though as i really like the aggressive look it gives. We also get the added bonus of possibly a bit of free downforce on the front end as air sweeps over the bonnet.



The airflow path....



Mods to do to the inside include a box section in yellow, the bonnet vent sits on top of this meaning rain water falling on the bonnet gets channeled back to the road, no wet frunks! Also the original frunk seal edge will go back in (red).





The vent is made from light angle and plated sides, using the original bonnet surface bent downward to form the slope. This needs seam sealing etc before paint.



Lots of ventilation for the big rad now....



Functional and aggressive, i love it.

[surferdude]