Hello everybody!

[R5 WRM]

Hello,

I have been a silent member of the club for quite some years now, mainly because my 5 has been in different storage units for a long time and only came out once in a blue moon!
Having got rid of one of my other cars, I have decided to get the 5 out of hibernation and use it as my daily for a while, and to also iron out any final problems that occur - none yet thank god!
I have actually had my 5 for 7 years now and I have not even put 1000 miles on it! I actually learnt to drive in my 5 with L plates on! I had it before I even had my license!

My car is a red 88 Phase 2, looks wise as standard as possible with the only modifications in the engine bay and suspension really. I had a full respray about 3 years ago. With it been stored quite badly in various different garages and barns and sadly been neglected for too long, Rust is starting to rear its ugly head around the windscreen, I haven't looked underneath yet! So I think in the next year I will be taking it back to the bodyshop to have it all sorted out again.

So far my car engine and turbo are standard with the basic things improved such as forge fmic, forge actuator set to give 14 psi, cup mod, ktec manifold, scorpion exhaust, green cotton air filter, gaz suspension (only fitted to the back at the moment, haven't got round to the front yet).

When I first got the car it had been stripped out and used for racing/rallying. It had rust, barely any interior, bucket seats, things like ball joints, steering UJ, brakes and many, many more things were shot.

I have replaced A LOT of things on the car, but I still have a long way to go, as I am sure we all do!!

I have had many problems with the car too, and this forum has been a godsend for fixing those problems, so thank you to everybody who has helped answer questions in the past, it really is a big help to everybody in the club.

I am currently stockpiling parts to give a jump in power, so far I have a T25 turbo, piper cams pulley and valve springs, uprated head gasket and bolts, valeo green clutch, lightened and balanced fly wheel.
I also have brand new engine parts such as water pump, alternator, juracing engine bay wiring loom and fog lamp wiring loom, full matte black samco hose kit and everything for a full service.

Couple of extra things I want before getting the engine out and fitting it all are a one piece downpipe/elbow (either big jim or rtoc club one), better radiator and fan.. and i'm probably forgetting a few things.

I am hoping to hit the 200bhp mark with those things combined with what I already have, do you think I will?

Below is just a few pics of the various different stages me and my car have been through, not in a particular order but the latest one is at the bottom.

EDIT - Few more pics added to the bottom after a clean today.

[James5]

Car looks very nice and really clean. Ref power sounds like you are on the right tracks to achieving your 200bhp gain I would suggest you buy yourself a decent wideband kit so you can check your air fuel ratio's and jet your carb to suit the increased boost that will be needed for the 200bhp.

What's the spec of the T25 is it a full T25? numbers of the front and rear would help let you know if it will be able to achieve your goal.

You'll have to pop along to some local meet's and hopefully next year come along to the RTOC national day event.

Any questions just ask away :-)

[Matt Cole]

Looks great that and really love red fives! Keep it as standard looking as you can as that's where the love is for these cars now.

200bhp is easily achieved with the right parts and good fueling. Keep the updates coming!

[tubbyG]

Hello 👋

Car looks like a real nice example. Once all of goodies are fitted they will transform it completely, as mentioned breaking the 200bhp barrier should be doable with a good Carb/boost set up

[Mattw]

Hello nice motor it's funny how many people are lurking in the mist I never say a lot. I'm just the fly on the wall most the time hahahaha

[Matt Cole]

We should all contribute a few posts, gives us something to read!!

[James5]

Hello nice motor it's funny how many people are lurking in the mist I never say a lot. I'm just the fly on the wall most the time hahahaha

Matt, you should get a little project up of your car it's been through a lot of changes and looks and sounds awesome :-)

Hopefully see you sat AM at the Surrey Rolling Road if you able

[Trevhib]

Yep, there are more lurkers than we realise!

Nice ongoing project/journey

[R5 WRM]

Thanks for the replies and advice.

Took it for an MOT today, failed on 8 points.

Service brake: efficiency below requirements
Parking brake: efficiency below requirements
Brake load sensing valve seized
Rear brake recording little or no effect nearside
Rear brake recording little or no effect offside
Rear parking brake recording little or no effort nearside
Rear parking brake recording little or no effort offside
Track rod end ball joint has excessive play nearside front


I was hoping for a straight pass, but I guess sitting in a barn for almost a year with the handbrake on has seized the pistons on the rears or something.

The worst part is I replaced the discs and pads for the last MOT and now they are rusted and seized!

So next job then is to whip the calipers off and try free them up and the MOT will be a pass. Oh and that track rod end, I have a new one of them sat about in the garage luckily.


*** Brake load sensing valve... is this the servo? If seized, is it easy to fix or do I need a new one?

Thanks!

[B18ftMOJO5]

Is brake load sensing valve the brake bias bit at the back with the spring attached?

[Ian S]

Yes.

Under the back of the car with pipes going into it. And the spring attached to the suspension rear beam.

No, not the brake servo.

I presume the tester knew it was seized by attempting to move it forward and backward and not being able to.

If so, that might be why your rear brakes aren't working.

Or it could be the little metal angle bracket at the rear of those rear callipers. That's a known issue with them. I used to grease mine, more or less, each year and move them side to side, usually before each MOT.

If rusted in, they need hitting out with a hammer and something suitable, cold chisel, etc., then cleaned, lubed and then should slide in with only a small steady push.

They tended to fail my rear parking brake when it was all working OK. They had the wrong data sheet at one of the MOT places for the weight of the car and braking force, not sure about the other, nearly all new parts. Maybe the was the footbrake, or both, it's been enough years to not clearly recall now. Rear brakes were often a problem in the MOT in later years, never in the 1990's.

[Mattw]

Matt, you should get a little project up of your car it's been through a lot of changes and looks and sounds awesome :-)

Hopefully see you sat AM at the Surrey Rolling Road if you able

cheers James I do have a thread somewhere I'll add some more bits soon. Can't make rolling road now got to work but if I get finished early I'll race up if not fingers crossed yours runs sweet 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🚗🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀

[Trevhib]

Yep, if you ever leave a GTT to stand for more than a day, if at all safe, then leave the handbrake off and the car in gear!

Not too bad for MOT given that most of this is just time and very little cost to fix

[R5 WRM]

The car is back in for the MOT today after a full service of the brakes and load sensing valve.

The brakes definitely work better now, had to drive around for nearly half an hour to clear the rust from them

Hopefully by the end of the day I will get a call and the 5 will be back on the road!

I have also just bought a one piece downpipe and elbow from matty on here to go with the parts i have stocked up - Getting there!!!

[Alex]

So, the result of the MOT was??? Those 1 peice down pipes off Matty are awesome bits of kit.

[R5 WRM]

Bad news unfortunately, the brakes failed again

Both sides were only registering 40% on foot brake and hand brake.

Everything else was fine and the load sensing valve was fine too.

I jacked the car up and left the handbrake on and got a friend to press on the brakes while I tried to undo the wheelnuts, the wheel was turning quite easily with a bit of pressure on the socket bar.

I am not sure what the problem is as the pistons in the calipers move freely and the brakes have all been serviced and derusted etc.

I am thinking along the lines of brake hoses? maybe collapsed/blocked inside restricting flow? Or is there something else that is common which I am missing?

Thanks for any help

[Ian S]

If you jack up the rear, the brake compensator reduces the pressure to the rear (foot)brakes. Lowering it, increases the pressure.

It's not brake fluid pipes if the handbrake is also not working much.

[R5 WRM]

Excellent information and something for me to go at over the weekend, thank you Ian.

[R5 WRM]

Finally, after backwards and forwardsing it from the test centre 5 times, it has passed the MOT!

Everytime it kept failing on the handbrake efficiency being too low, but I can't see how as it had a very good hold when on 5 clicks. on 6 clicks I couldnt turn the back wheels with a bar when tightening the nuts, and the car stays fine on a steep hill...

Anyway, its a pass


One more problem to sort now which has come out of nowhere.... the battery will not charge.

I have put a brand new battery and alternator on and still nothing, so tonight's job check the wiring and earths

[R5 WRM]

No luck yet.

I have replaced the main charge connection with a thick wire andI have tried to put permanent live on the yellow spade terminal. Also checked earths.

Only thing I haven't checked is purle dash light wire because my plug of doom has been cut off and its all wrapped in tape and that part of my loom is a right old mess.

I have a new loom from Julian (juracing) and waiting for the other part of it to arrive so next attempt will be ripping out old wiring loom.and putting nice new ones in!

[R5 WRM]

Still waiting for the other part of the new loom to hopefully fix the charging issues, aswell as dodgy wiring issues the car has always had in that area.

In the meantime I have bought a few other bits, reserve fuel tank bracket as my old one has given up (somehow this managed to sneak past the MOT!), Windscreen wiper timing relay because I have never had an intermittent wiper - quite annoying. Exhaust rubbers because the others have corroded and the exhaust rattles all over.

And finally I have fixed the electric door locks and passenger side electric window - as these haven't worked in a long time.

My car is finally starting to feel like a complete and solid car