My Raider project

[caymanr26]

After joining the forum a few months ago due to thinking of buying another 5 Turbo I eventually ended up buying a H-plate Raider.

I previously had a white K-Reg Gt Turbo about 15 years ago and always loved it and have been thinking of getting another for the last few years. Back In November I sold my Megane R26 show car, paid off some debts and I started looking at all sorts of cars - nothing I really fancied though and always kept ending back up looking at Gt Turbo's. I wanted a car that is small enough to fit in my stupidly narrow garage that I can work on in the evenings etc - not interested in standard cars, in my opinion 5 Gt Turbo's are meant to be modded and thats why they were always so popular in the 90's so I wont be doing a back to stardard restoration - more of an OE+ look.

I was all set to buy Gibbo's organe car but at the last minute was offered the raider - the chap sent me some pics after hearing I was in the market for a 5 and as soon as I saw it I knew it was the car for me.

The guy I bought it off bought it as a project about 10 years ago - at the time he owned his own body shop so the car spent the next 6 or 7 years sat in there being worked on when he had some spare time. Over the phone the car sounded really good with over £15000 worth of reciepts for parts it seemed a really good deal.

All of the body work had been restored, was completely stripped to bare shell before painting and any panels that were iffy at all were replaced - new front inner and outer wings, new skirts, bodykit, sills, drivers side floor, rear wings, new glass all round, new seals, delocked, black bumper strips removed and smoothed over recess,

The guy explained what he had done to the car over the phone and it sounded too good to miss so arrangements were made and my mechanic and I travelled down from Cardiff to Southampton to collect it 2 days later.
Upon arriving I was amazed how straight it looked - bodywork is immaculate - looks like it has just left the body shop (was actually painted about 6 years ago!) - started having a good look over the car and found there was a lot more modified parts on the car than I had expected! Got the lad to take me out for a quick drive which didnt really show me anything other than it ran but didnt seem the smoothest of engines!

Deal was done and money transferred over so started the journey home. Agreed to stop at the first petrol station we saw but by that time the car had stalled about 8 times - idle was non existant and was a bit of a nightmare to drive, throttle pedal was very notchy and clutch pedal very high but gopt back to Cardiff without any issues and so the work began

I drove the car down to my mechanics garage the next evening and started having a good look over it - the seller included a new driveshaft and top shock mount bushes so fitted them straight away which stopped any knocking noises I was getting. Other than that just had a good look over it - both my mechanic and I were quite surprised and pleased and what we found. The whole underside of the car has been painted and sealed - not a spot of rust anywhere! every part of the front geometry set up has been renewed, Have fully adjustable AVO coilovers fitted which have been painted and again are in perfect condition, anti roll bars have been recond and look like new, could genuinely have thought I was under a 3 or 4 year old car instead of a 23 year old!

The engine looked very nice but was rough round the edges and the Carb was playing up badly - tried adjusting it but made no difference at all - still ran like crap. My mechanic quickly decided we needed to strip down the engine to work out what needed doing.

In the mean time I gave it a good wash and got some pictures - all these did though is point out that the front end needs lowering a bit more, does look clean though!

There isnt much that needs doing outside - need a new bonnet and grill but other than that is pretty much tip top. Going to renew all the lights just to freshen it up but all simple stuff.

Got loads that needs doing so ill update this thread as and when I get round to each of the jobs. Done loads already so ill try and post some pics of my progress in my next post and will try and write up a list of mods so far









It Fits!



Dodgy Halfords/Ripspeed Oz ultraleggera copies - also note the massive 291mm GT Tuning front discs - going to be fun finding replacements when these need renewing


Interior has been retrimmed but needs a tidy up

[Goobie]

Great write up and excellent find! Car looks top condition, your get bored soon as nothing to fix.

[caymanr26]

lol - thats a long way down the road - got bloomin loads to do!

Ive done quite a few things already - ill continue my write up if I get 5 mins later

[Mr Raider]

Looks a sweet raider there mate! Get the carb checked over/rebuilt and your away! what turbo/boost is it running, has head gasket been uprated?

Noticed you have alloy valve caps, might be worth checking they still undo as I had some that seized on the valve, and had to cut all 4 valves out and replace

[caymanr26]

il try and cover the list of mods next mate but in the mean time

it has
KTR180 turbo
Uprated head gasket
Uprated head bolts
Uprated valve stem seals

Ive got in car adjsutable boost - will be running around 14-15psi on the new reconditioned standard carb

Lol - yeah one of the valve caps is missing - probably why! ill get some nice ones eventually - had loads of them over the years and a few have got stuck but nothing a pair of mole grips didnt sort - just meant buying more caps! I have a passion for Carbon fibre these days so ill get some carbon versions on ebay when I stop spending on the engine!

Ive just had the wheel centre caps painted gloss black then ordered some OZ badges in the correct size for the caps - now look alot more like the real versions and dont have dodgy halfords badges on them! I also fitted those wheel bolts - polorised - look far better than the standard manky ones plus are 30% stronger

[5 turbo]

beast

love the bonnet

[Andyturbo!]

Yep gota agree mate looks very beastie!, love it, hoping to go oe+ with my gtt so will defo follow this thread pal

[caymanr26]

Lol well I'm not overly keen on the bonnet so that's going and the grill has already gone so already looks less aggresive. The seller gave me a brand new campus grill so I've had that painted for the time being until I can find a good gt turbo grill



So to continue where I left off.....

The chap I bought car off bought the car with the Intention of making it into a concourse show car - when he painted it he said he spent days painting then flatting then painting again just to get it spot on, he built new door hinges just so the door lined up better, removed the side repeaters, gutted the interior and the engine bay.
As he owned the bodyshop he knew some people in the trade and a local caterham builder offered to rebuild the engine in exchange for painting a car so the engine was stripped and rebuilt
The block was painted gloss black and all nuts and bolts replaced with new ones.
The interior was retrimmed by a friend in the trade as a favour and isn't a bad job but there is a small burn hole in the back seat which I want to get sorted and the drivers seat may as well be a rocking chair!
The door cards are trimmed in leather which looks ok but clios are missing and the speaks covers fall off when ever I close a door. Biggest problem on the interior side though is that everything that was originally grey plastic he thought would look better if it was painted grey - I imagine at first it looked good but now scratches etc in the paint and looks crack. New dash from mike eventually which ill get flocked before fitting
Has a stereo but its **** so that will be going - unfortunately he fitted 6x9's in the parcel shelf so ill get a new shelf eventually - one good thing Is that he wired in all the leads for an amp just in case he ever decided to fit one and bought top notch wiring so sub and amp, some tidy speakers and a nice retro alpine head unit will be going in

So on to the main reason for buying this one. The engine - one picture sold it for me



It had loads of good bits - stuff that I would want to fit plus the guy never really drove it - did 3000 miles since he finished building it - he used to take it on a trailer to shows then put it away again - proper show queen!

On closer inspection lots of brackets were missing, the polished and chromed bits were looking a bit rough, the samco's were filthy, and worst of all the engine ran badly - would take about 15 attempts to start then would stall every time you lift off the throttle, the choke was jammed, we found lots of studs missing from exhaust manifold and turbo, the guy had fitted a raceland manifold but it cracked within days (due to no brackets what so ever supporting turbo or exhaust down pipe), turbo gasket was wrong way round and blowing badly, rocker cover bolts were all leaking oil etc etc the list goes on

[caymanr26]

We stripped it down - I say we but in reality my mechanic stripped it down and passed me the parts but I helped in a way!
Everything came off easily enough and started compiling a list of all the parts I needed to try and source.

Gaskets,
Reconditioned Carb,
Missing metal brackets
breather hoses,
Stupid amounts of Jubilee clips
Replacement Samco's
Polished Oil Breather Tank
New Air Filter
Oil Catch Tank
New Speedo Cable - Both ends - lower end was near impossible to get but Mike sorted one out!
Starter motor Dowel
New Studs & nuts
All polished parts taken to my metal polisher to be repolished
All chomed parts stripped and re chromed
Various Nuts, Bolts & washers
All Brackets Stripped and powder coated Gloss Black
Washers & nuts for Rocker Cover

So over the next few weeks I spent a good chunk of time on ebay and managed to get pretty much everything - Both CGB and Mike at GT Turbo spares were fed up of my calls I think but both were more than helpful!
The Speedo lead was a nightmare to get - cant buy them new any more and lost of people have the same problem so not many around - Fortunately Mike took a car in with a working speedo so stripped it off for me

I think I have developed (probably through a mispent youth!) some form of OCD over the last 10 years - its gradually got worse and I have a realy issue with things being dirty - this not only goes for my car but pretty much everything else in my life - Im far from nuts but its definately present! To be fair it can be a massive plus point but it doesnt half bother me sometimes - so anyway with this in mind Ive spent approx 40 - 50 hours cleaning and tidying the engine bay.

I stipped out alot of parts we didnt need to remove, intercoler, header tank, swirl pot, horn etc so had penty of access to clean eevrything plus got the parts I removed re-polished while they were off. Am really pleased with how mint it all came up - this is when I started to realise how good a shell it is and just how lucky a purchase Ive had

After Strip Down - Looking pretty sorry for itself





Tappets adjusted and new Rocker Cover washers and Nuts Fitted


First Corner Clean!


Then on to next bits

[*MrB*]

Great project, look forward to seeing this progress

[caymanr26]

Following the weeks of cleaning and ordering parts it was finally time to start putting it back together

Had built up quite a pile of parts - this is one of my 2 work benches that was covered in bits



I did what I could do myself until my mechanic was able to come over my house to do his bit

I fitted a new Distributor Cap, Cleaned up all the plug leads and fitted some clips to keep the leads all nice and tidy - since wish I had bought silver ones but ill just buy some more when my bank balance recovers!

Old


New


Sent the Tracked down Turbo brackets to be shot blasted and powdercoated (will probably melt with the heat but worth a try)



Got a couple of blanking plugs - 1 for the main boost pipe as was removing the Perc fan canister and pipework and the other for the Telephone bend as bought an oil catch tank to re-route it to



Oil Catch Tank



Then my newly refurbed Carb arrived from Mike at Gt turbo Spares - has been completely shot blasted, completely rebuilt etc with all new standard jets (for now) - my original was a bit of a mess - choke bracket came off in my hand, idle was awful, stalled every time you lifted off the throttle etc - over the moon when this arrived - looks great!

[Nad-5GTT]

He it's not just me that's got ocd I was hoovering more cobwebs from under me car the other night

[caymanr26]

Picked up some of my polished and chromed bits so started fitted them back on








Also got a few external bits and pieces back around this time - fitted the wheel centre caps as pictured above



Then on to more Shiny Bits! Decided to get the Horn workings polished while it was off - must say Im well pleased with this compared to how it was



Header Tank Back on with some Nice Hose finishers to tidy it up (plus hides a dodgy mark on one of the Samco pipes)



Swirl Pot back on & also bought an alloy Oil breather pot from a lad on here so had that repolished while picking up the other bits



One of the other bits I got with the car was a stainless manifold as mentioned earlier - I took this to Prospeed exhausts in Cardiff as it had cracked due to the weight of the turbo with no supporting brackets and it was all welded up neatly within minutes, only other problem then was it looked awful as the previous owner had wrapped it to stop the heat getting out but the wrap stuff had made a right mess of the stainless steel - nothing that stopped it working but as said I have OCD and it wasnt siny as it was meant to be
So I spent 2 hrs sanding it down to this





I thought If I just sorted out the bits that will be visible once fitted it would be good enough - I was quite pleased with this but thought it was worthwhile letting my metal polisher have a quick go at it just to finish it off

When I picked it up it was like this - I was very Please

[Jonny5]

Lead tidy and catch tank look good
Coming along nicely mate

[caymanr26]

So things were now progressing quite well - my mechanic got the Starter, Exhaust Manifold, Turbo, Turbo Heat Shield all back on during his next visit (I like only doing a few bits each night so I can clean them before the next stage!) - was a bit of a jogsaw trying to work out where all the brackets went but wih help from photos on here we did it and its all rock solid now

Had to grind a small section out of one of the brackets as the downpipe was touching (downpipe was built without any brackets in place so they werent taken into account) - but was easy enough and all fitted like a glove in the end





So it was starting to look like an engine again - allbeit a very blue and shiny engine!

Another of the external mods that I always like is to add some Carbon fibre to my cars - First Carbon part for the 5 was a front diamond. Streamline Carbon are manufacturing a number of parts for the 5 now Ive asked so will be looking great very soon - first part arrived and fitted now

[Nottswoody]

Looks the dogs danglies but shouldn't the lamber be facing up? I was just told that by the guys I could be wrong?

[caymanr26]

Which bit do you mean - on the downpipe?
If so its a custom made jobbie - I haven't got a sensor fitted and don't intend to so not overly worried.
I'd like a better downpipe eventually with the upper bend built in

[Nottswoody]

Which bit do you mean - on the downpipe?
If so its a custom made jobbie - I haven't got a sensor fitted and don't intend to so not overly worried.
I'd like a better downpipe eventually with the upper bend built in

Yes bud the bit your afr fits to

[tubbyG]

looking great


nice additions to what looks an already tidy car

[mattk]

That carbon badge looks spot on mate, think i may get one

[caymanr26]

On yeah i agree - think it looks great - goes well with the raider blue! they are on offer in the group buy section mate
It'll have a few more carbon goodies soon - exhaust surround for rear bumper, a GT tuning elliptical bumper vent but in carbon and also a nice carbon cover for the horrible looking perc fan pipework

So the update hasn't quite finished as yet! Been a busy month!

So all was going well - my mechanic returned on a couple of days later (6 days ago) and fitted the inlet manifold and carb - all went smoothly though had to cut a section out of the inlet manifold so it would fit on with the tubular manifold already fitted but got the Dremel out and went on a treat.
Got all the pipework plumed in to the inlet manifold and then tried to work out where all the breather hoses go. Forgot to mention earlier we decided to carry out the 'cup mod' so my mechanic took the turbo to work and fitted a bolt into the now unused hole and chopped the end off.
So it was then on to the freshly polished carb top - my mechanic asked me for the seal that goes between carb and lobster at which point I remembered I sent it to mike when I part ex'd my old carb for the new one!!! Arrgggh
Nevermind - so then went to fit the throttle spring which instantly decided to disintegrate!
We decided to try starting it up anyway just to check it ran so whacked on the main boost hose and have it a whirl. Battery was flat!
So stood for 10 mins while my turd charger put an AA battery worth of power into it and it fired and started first time. Result! Ticked over nicely - no stalling etc - only ran for a min as no coolant in it yet but it was looking good!



So a call was made to mike the next morning and a new seal and spring were on the way.

[caymanr26]

Samco will be using the car at shows so are getting me some new hoses to replace any oil stained or damaged ones - which leads me on to the next problem.

Mike got the seal and spring out to me straight away (thanks mike) so my mechanic returned last night - got them on within minutes and all was looking good
Next job - coolant
We were both concerned beforehand that the bleed screws looked a bit dodgy - one has silicon all round it from a previous repair so were quite nervous
Put some water in - started it up - warmed up a bit and water started to move round - so top rad hose bleed nipple was first up - within a second of turning the hose has ripped all the way round the screw - we thought it hadn't gone all the way through at first as no water came out but as soon as it warmed up properly it was coming out fast! Gutted to say the least!

So stuck the bonnet back on and Managed to get it out of the garage for a pic but was getting dark so not great - I'm really pleased with the look now - far better than with the grill it was fitted with when I picked it up and makes the bonnet look a little less ott. Still want a proper GT grill though.
Also forgot to mention earlier that I purchased one of the club towing eye covers and had it painted so the gap is no more



So final pics and as it currently stands. Perc fan back on - wires and hoses 90% tidy and I bought some unibond repair extreme glue today which they reckon works on anything, is crazy strong and flexible oh and also water and heat resistant to 120 degrees so I've just whacked a load on the hose in the hope it will seal well enough for me to go and get it set up, I've spent so much on the rebuild I can't afford a new hose yet - plus I'm going to try and blag Samco into sorting me a new one

Lots more plans but Im liking it so far



Ive got new breather hoses to go on instead of the light blue ones that lead to my adjustable boost



Oh and the only other upset I had last night was upon taking it out of the garage I found it still has an oil leak. Sump is covered! It's never ending! I just want to drive it!!

[caymanr26]

Need to update this badly but in the mean time check out the feature Samco have done on their Facebook page

[safehands]

this is a beaut

[BabybluGTT]

Mate your bay is looking spot on! Also carb top arrived yesterday, cheers fella