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New GRP front end

Cater_Racer

Cater_Racer

PCGB Member
Member
Hi Chaps,

I put a new front end on the car over winter.

P1050666.JPG


Didn't tell Tom until we met at Snetterton on Friday evening.

Gerry
 
Looks like a nice fit! Most I've seen look a bit wonky...

How did you do on Saturday? Conditions must have been 'interesting'! We raced Tintops on Sunday and we certainly had the best of the weather :)
 
I'm not sure, John. I have a feeling (might be wrong) that Gerry's car was originally a 2.5 car with associated panels. They have put an S2 engine in it and now fitted S2 front panels To compltee the look.

hopefully Gerry will be along shortly.
 
Original style wings with a Turbo style GRP 'PU' to match. Very popular on racers and probably from CAS/Pro9.
 
The bonnet was the big saving circa 20Kgs, each front wing 7kgs badge panel 6Kgs I guess. We also took out a load of junk associated with windscreen washers and such, so i recon to have added about 50Kgs lightness.

It all came from ClubAutoSport in Halesowen.

The car is a 1989 S2 so always an S2. We have de-catted and it has Promax chip and free-flow intake filter, so I'm thinking about 220BHP but not RR it yet.

We had FUN on Saturday, it was p*ss**g down and Snett was awash, so everyone in the pit lane was busy putting on rain tyres, we had V old R888's that were new at Spa 2014. So we booked to get new rubber before qualifying. Only problem was the guys who sprayed the GRP had taken the wheels off and rounded off the locking wheel nuts with a airgun.

Couldn't get the wheels off the car!

So ran with 2 year old R888's Tom went out and qualified 21st, I didn't get to run due to red flag, so "qualified" behind the safety car in the lunch break. The first time I got to really try was in the race! By the time I got in the car, Tom had spun away 21st to 26th (30 seconds lost on lap 4). So after a couple of installation laps I got the hang of it and we ended up 21st again.

It was great fun.
 
Sounds like you had an interesting day Gerry!.. Locking wheel nut on a race car :p

I think Pro 9 must get their body parts from Club Auto Sport, I called by Pro 9 today to pick up a bonnet and they get them made locally so I've put 2 and 2 together.

I'm only doing the bonnet on my car though as it's staying road legal. I'm hoping to join you guys in Future Classics at Donnington in September. :)
 
In your position I would still replace all of the front panels. The wings aren't really lighter, but the fitted wings are far, far heavier due to the underseal. The GRP replacements are also far, far cheaper, particularly when you consider the cost of a GRP PU compared to an original part, plus bumper and lamps.

The 'PU' will require the wings and vise versa, as the GRP replacement is adapted to suit original pattern wings, as it was originally made as a cheap facelift.

 
Its the line between the front PU/bumper and the wings as the kit was original designed for an 8v 944 to give the race cars the turbo look back when EMC et al were in that 944 cup race series shared with the Rover Tomcats. The only reason why I remember that series is I still have an excerpt somewhere from the CCC magazine advertising it and the exact same picture used to promote the series is used on Pro-9s ebay add for the front bumper.
 
944 man said:
In your position I would still replace all of the front panels. The wings aren't really lighter, but the fitted wings are far, far heavier due to the underseal. The GRP replacements are also far, far cheaper, particularly when you consider the cost of a GRP PU compared to an original part, plus bumper and lamps.

The 'PU' will require the wings and vise versa, as the GRP replacement is adapted to suit original pattern wings, as it was originally made as a cheap facelift.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the info Simon. At this time I'm not keen on the idea of going full GRP as the car is remaining road legal and therefore I'm retaining the headlamps (but have removed the driving lamps to make way for brake ducts). The full GRP front ends normally look a bit wonky which I'm not prepared to live with- I'm not building the car with the intention of winning races I just want to be at the sharp end of things and to have some fun! Undoubtedly I was building it to win I would go full GRP though as it knocks a fair bit of weight off right where you want it.

My car will be closer to a cup car that a full clubman spec car... For the time being any way!
 
Only issue with head lights and the kit from Birmingham is you need the badge panel from an 8v N/A, maybe a 2.7 not sure but it needs to be from an 8v N/A car as the line on the bumper/PU will only line up properly with that badge panel.



My car just after it was built, the whole front end is fibreglass apart from the 2.7 badge panel and head light covers. Fully functional headlights are no problem at all as you can see.
 
Another issue is the PAS. I would like to put mine back on but I grabbed the bag earlier with all the bits and my god it weighs a tonne, and its mostly weight low done as well which screws with the corner weighting. The weight of the headlights is a huge myth that really annoys me, waste of time taking them off really except on pure track/race cars. I would put mine back on but its grief for little benefit as the car is only ever really going to be driven for the half of the year when the days are long.

Link to my original thread several years back when I weighed everything we took off the car.
https://www.porscheclubgb...p;mpage=1&key=part

 
Thanks for the info Neil, very interesting! I have time on my hands at the moment as I'm laid up following surgery so I'll have a read through. The front end of your car looks pretty straight in the photo though, much better than many I've seen before...

I've already removed the PAS on mine and have converted a PAS rack to manual by welding the pinion shaft. There's a fair bit of weight in the pump, brackets and all the hoses!
 
Yeah its really shocking as it doesn't look like much but it must add up to a fair few Kgs and more with the fluid in. Make sure your arms and shoulders are really fit though, every time I thought I had got used to it I went a little faster and the kick back + loading on long exits just takes another step up again. Its pretty brutal really. Last autumn at Combe was a shock, I did 1.5 laps to chase down and pass a 996GT3RS that had caught and passed me, easily the best and fastest I have driven on a UK race track by a very big margin. I only managed 1.5 laps at that pace and came in because I was 1) In shock like I had just had an out of body experience 2) knackered, lol. It was after that day I decided to start properly working on my fitness so I have the torture now of a cross trainer machine to work out on, proved to myself that I could get the pace out of the car but found I just can't sustain it for any useful length of time.
 
I have to work at too Neil, the 944 still has the PS pump, but I'm rallying and 14 hour stints with no PS make you feel like you've been struck by a bus. I've got a Volvo PV44 entered in the RAC Rally of the Tests in November 4 x 14 hour days behind the wheel throwing 1.5 tonnes of un-assisted metal around forest stages............. Not for the faint-hearted.
 
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