Matt's S1 competition car

[mattrallye]

Name: Matthew Evans

Location: Worcester

Job: Digital Content Manager - Major UK retailer

Car: S1 Rallye

Colour: Bianca White

Other cars:
Volvo V50 Estate, Mini 1970 Rally Prep 1293cc, Peugeot 206 hdi, Mini Van 1968

Previously owned:
Mini 850cc, Mini 1275gt, Fiesta mk2, Escort van, 2x 106 gti, Clio FF 182, Clio 182 Trophy

Dream cars:
Escort mk1 Twin Cam, Audi Quattro (Group B) and loads and loads of others!

[mattrallye]

I've been on the forum now for a few months so I thought it was about time I got a few pics of the S1 up. Having moved to Worcester about 7months ago I decided that I needed a new project to keep me entertained. I'd had 2 106 gti's in the past and have always been fond of them ever since. I decided to start a search for either a 106 gti or Rallye. I was also keen to find a car which had as much parts on it as possible as it would be used purely for motorsport, as I wanted to keep the initial build costs down. (I know how expensive parts can be having spent a fortune on my other stage rally car.) After a relatively short search I found a 1994 S1 Rallye in Cherry Red near York advertised on the 106 forum.

The spec of the car seemed pretty good and it looked ideal for what I wanted, with only a little money needed to be spent on it to get it just right. Here's the images from the advert:









Bringing it back from York



Not much work to do on it really except for tidying the wiring and a few extra goodies! ;o) So this will probably turn into a little progress blog!

[indigorallye]

Looks like a good little project.
Is it going to be another stage car?

[dunc]

Smart

[mattrallye]

Cheers guys! No doubt mate, I'm sure It will more than likely have pounds and pounds thrown at it! I bought it with the intent of doing a few road rallies and track days but I only think it needs a plumbed in extinguisher to get it log booked.

I just purchased this the other day too



So it's all ready taking over!

[indigorallye]

Haha, slippery slope!

[mattrallye]

I've also just been offered a set of Suzuki itb's! Off a mate... Only problem is if I fit them it will no longer be eligible for road rallying, as regs state it must be on standard injection. So I guess it boils down to what I decide to do with it really. I'm sure the little 1.3 would be a little screamer with itb's!

Few more pics of when I got it back:





First job

When I bought it I noticed it needed the strengthening panel under the front wheel arch replacing due to a little rot. So I ordered a panel from 106 parts and got on with fitting it.

[curl666]

Nice looking S1. Trophy aint bad either

Repair work looks good, I have just cut n replaced the boot floor rot on my S1. Pain!

[mattrallye]

Thanks, I'm glad the rest of the car seems OK.

When I bought the car I had some idea of the parts that it had on it, but had not much of an idea of it's history etc. Then I decided to contact Mankee re the cars gearbox as he'd apparantly built it. Mankee also found a load of old posts from previous owners which was really helpful as I found out loads more about it. I thought it had Bilsteins on it at the start but turns out they are PTS gravel inserts. Apparantly the shell had been prepped by JAM Motorsport a while back too. So a big thanks to Mankee for his help on that.

[Gareth Y]

How do you find the FF clio 182 compares to the trophy???

I always wanted a trophy...but didnt think it would be worth swapping and changing for the extra 4 grand at the time I was thinking about swapping. I had a test drive in one but couldnt really tell the difference on everyday driving.

[mattrallye]

The Trophy is quite simply brilliant! I guess thats why EVO Magazine have called it the best hatch of all time. If you compare it to a FF 182 for performance it would be marginable if anything for straight speed. But I do think it would be a fair difference in the twisty bits, as the Trophy is the most focused Clio there's been. I'm sure head to head it would totally out shine the new cumbersome 200 even.

Like you said too 'would it be worth the extra £'s over a FF 182 'Yes and No'. The differences in performance is very little however out of the box the Trophy is brilliant and is pretty much a road going track car. Most people (clio sport forum) end up spending a lot of money on their FF 182's suspension to get them to handle close to a Trophy. So really the cost issue isn't to disimilar in the end (depends on if you want to spend money on it).

I guess the plus side would be that a Trophy will and does hold it's value very well (future classic) only 500 ever built making it very rare. You also get the Recaro Trendlines, V6 spoiler, Speedline Turini wheels and of course the Sachs race suspension.

I guess at the end of the day it depends on what suits you. Although the Trophy has the above extras, it doesn't have the climate control, rain sensitive wipers/ speed controls and of course comfort of the FF 182.

[indigorallye]

Sorry to keep the Clio theme going.........
How long do the Sachs dampers last? What do you replace them with, and how much do they cost?

[mattrallye]

Originally Posted by indigorallye

Sorry to keep the Clio theme going.........
How long do the Sachs dampers last? What do you replace them with, and how much do they cost?

No worries! I love it as you've probably noticed and could talk about it all day!

The dampers like many serviceable race parts need servicing from time to time. Mine started weeping with 15k on the clock while others have had over 100k without servicing them.

You don't really need to replace them, unless of course they were beyond replacing (if you ask me and many other Trophy nuts, if you replaced the Trophy suspension with anything else it wouldn't be a Trophy anymore!).

The cost of 'EACH' damper from Sachs is around £1200 + vat. Service costs vary, depends on how bad they are I guess. + There is only a few places in the UK who service them. I used BG Motorsport and was impressed by there service. I took mine off myself, took the springs off and cleaned them up and that cost me £450 for a service. Others who get BG motorsport to do all the work have spent £600-£700 for a service.

I hope that answers your questions.

P.S. The Trophy comes with Lowered Eibach springs as standard which I believe are around 160lbs.

Jobs done so far:

New exhaust polybushes fitted
Spot / air horn relays inside car
in car fuse box
cage padding fitted
cage light fitted
floor strengthening plate fitted
exhaust heat wrapped with brass nuts
rocker cover gasket replaced
engine de-greased
wiring tidied up
half way through building a navigator dash pod (can't wait to get that finished!)
New 12" Electric fan fitted

Still got another few bits to do, and I'm sure the list will grow!

I've taken a day off tomorrow and booked it in for an MOT, so busy day ahead no doubt.

[mattrallye]

Little update.

It was MOT day today, took a day off to get a few little things done on it. Not a great start to the day when you put the key in the ignition and... nothing!

Despite a bad start the S1 is now back on the road! Had my first proper spin in it earlier.

[indigorallye]

And????
Did you enjoy it??

[mattrallye]

Yeah. It was great to finally get it out after having it parked up for almost 3months. The little 1.3 seemed to pull pretty strongly throughout, although I can see myself 16v it very soon, I'm so use to having a lot more go!

I've got to iron out a few problems with it but I'm pretty sure it will be a great car then.

[mattrallye]

I took her out for a proper spin yesterday, and I have to say that I'm starting to love it. Made a few more changes to it now so I'll post some pics up of those soon. I'm just so impressed with how the 1.3 pulls. I've had 2 106 gti's in the past both with J4's (standard) and they both pulled very well, but I don't think they pulled much better than the 1.3 tbh.

Slight problem with the dashboard to sort out, I have water temperature and rev counter, but the fuel gauge oil temp don't work at all; and the speedo fluctuates like mad (am i doing, 30 or maybe 65!???) lol.

[lukem30]

Looks a really clean car with all the right bits on, what event are you aiming to get it out on? I just bought a gripper for mine with a spare cwp, may sell the spare one if the cwp that is in the box isn't to short or have you already got 1?

[mattrallye]

It's not bad at all, the wings could do with a re-paint but I've bought a couple of spares which I might replace them with. More than likely keep them for a while as it's more than likely going to have a few war wounds.

I'm down in Castle Combe for the action day on the 9th, just for a little testing I guess and a few laughs. Planning on using it for a few road rally events this year but will probably do a few 12 cars first. I'm from Mid-Wales originally where I've done quite a few events over the years so some of these border rallies would be new for me.

I don't think it needs much to get it log booked, I think it only needs an extinguisher system. So I think I would like to do a few single venues in it.

I have a straight cut crown wheel for it but no pinion, so it's next to useless at the moment! I've contacted a company who can supply one but a pinion costs a fair bit, so I might be interested. Do you have the pinion to match it? what ratio is it?

Few updates:

Few changes to the inside. I've removed all evidence of the cd player, speakers etc. Plus added a new dash switch panel in the cd player slot made from carbon fibre. I'm going to re-wire it to a push button start instead of the usual key.

I've also moved all of the relays inside the car and added a new fuse box for all the new interior lighting, spots, time clock, poti etc. I just need to add my new navigator pod to complete the navigators side.



Bought a couple of Dunlop CR311's soft x12 compound and just had them fitted to a couple of spare steels. Plus added a tool tidy and a helmet hammock I bought off aly051, cheers mate!

[Garry.M]

stick with the 1.3 and stay in class 1 , the 106 1300 usually does very well in class 1 if you've got it set-up right. Fittin the 16v moves you up with alot of highly tuned 1600's and ex-s1600 type cars . We've been rallying in class 1 since 2006 and found it really friendly

[mattrallye]

Great thanks for that mate. I'm actually really impressed with the little 1.3 since driving a bit more of it. So it will stay as it is for now. Are you running a standard 1.3 or is it tuned at all?

After having a look at the dash in particular the problems with the oil temp and fuel gauge. I finally got the fuel gauge moving as it seemed to be stuck in place however after a spin it seems the gauge moves from side to side depending on if you're going around a bend! which leads me to believe that there is a problem with the fuel sender. Has anyone else seen this happen?

I've also diagnosed that the oil switch is faulty so I've just ordered a new switch to fix that problem.

I taped the spindle on the speedo drive which has actually cured the fluctuation problem! )

The other problem is the mileometer that seems to be completely locked and doesn't change, anyone have any ideas on how to fix that?

[curl666]

The fuel gauge is temperamental on the 106's. There is a substance in the arm of the level sender which deteriorates over time. Causing the gauge to be inaccurate. If you search key words related to the fuel or fuel sender a member recently posted on how he replaced the substance in the arm and cured the fault.

The oil sensor on the front of the block, the cable running to this is often perished. Its usually a crimped connection on the sensor. Try giving the cable a wiggle you can usually feel its broken/snapped inside the insulation.

[Garry.M]

Well it wasn't a 106 ,,it was an AX with a 1360 cast iron XSI engine with a Puma Racing cylinder head , Catcam , Motorbike Tb's , Dta ,4-2-1 , sccr dog box ,,,enough to pi$$ off alot of the bigger classed cars inc 106 cupcars , 172 clio's etc ! :-). The engine stood up to 8000rpm from 2006 until we retired the engine last year ,never missed a beat

[mattrallye]

Now that's what I'm talking about!

[mattrallye]

Originally Posted by curl666

The fuel gauge is temperamental on the 106's. There is a substance in the arm of the level sender which deteriorates over time. Causing the gauge to be inaccurate. If you search key words related to the fuel or fuel sender a member recently posted on how he replaced the substance in the arm and cured the fault.

The oil sensor on the front of the block, the cable running to this is often perished. Its usually a crimped connection on the sensor. Try giving the cable a wiggle you can usually feel its broken/snapped inside the insulation.

Fuel gauge: Thanks for the info mate, I'll have to pull the unit out and examine what the problem is.

Oil gauge: I wigled the switch cable and the oil gauge backing light flickered, but still no oil light. So I've ordered a new switch and I'll have a look at the cable too.

Still can't get the mileometer working though!

[Pinguim]

wWOOWw...Awesome!

Is it still a 1.3?

It´s Fabulous! Congrat´s

[FabioDV]

i have no word´s...

great job

[mattrallye]

Thanks guys! I can't really take much credit for it though. Most of the work was done before I got it but it's now a lot tidier than it was.

New oil switch arrived last night so hopefully I'll have some idea of the oil pressure before I'm down in Combe.

Got to say I'm loving the little pug. Took it for a bit of a late night blast yesterday, great bit of fun.

[Mikele]

im pretty sure i saw this at the mini meet pub outside leigh sinton last night? am i correct?

Your rallye is almost identical to mine! and i should be a combe on the 9th in mine if i get the engine mapped in time.

Mike

[mattrallye]

It was in the Mini meet mate. Well spotted! Good to know that someone else in the area has one. Do you live in Pershore? If you get your car mapped in time you'll have to head down to Combe with us. I'm going down with the Mini club then meeting the guys off here for the club stand and track action.

[Pinguim]

Originally Posted by FabioDV

i have no word´s...

great job

FabioDV, You should post some random pics of your Lovelly Cherry Red S1 with White OEM PTS 14" Speedlines (Portuguese R2 Version).

trophy380 any updates?

[mattrallye]

A few new updates, mainly sorting a few issues with the dashboard!

I have a new oil switch to fit on Saturday + try and sort out this fuel sender issue! and probably give her an oil change.

Just bought a new poly lower engine mount bush.

I think I'll probably need a new fuel sender unit for my S1. Does anyone know if any sender unit will fit from any S1 and S2 or do I need a S1 Rallye one?

[kingyIndigo]

Nice car you got yourself there!

[Mikele]

Originally Posted by trophy380

It was in the Mini meet mate. Well spotted! Good to know that someone else in the area has one. Do you live in Pershore? If you get your car mapped in time you'll have to head down to Combe with us. I'm going down with the Mini club then meeting the guys off here for the club stand and track action.

I thought so! my girlfriend has a mini so we go there sometimes too, so i know a few people from it. I might bring it along next tuesday as the engine needs running in before the map anyway.
Yeh i will come down with the mini club if i manage to get it ready in time.

[mattrallye]

Great! It would be good to have a chat and see your car.

Found another pic of the exhaust heat proof which I put on when I got it.



Added some new brass nuts now too.

[philmh]

Nice rallye Matthew. Loving the Trophy too! (i'd have one in a heartbeat if funds allowed (sadly they dont)

Originally Posted by trophy380

After having a look at the dash in particular the problems with the oil temp and fuel gauge. I finally got the fuel gauge moving as it seemed to be stuck in place however after a spin it seems the gauge moves from side to side depending on if you're going around a bend! which leads me to believe that there is a problem with the fuel sender. Has anyone else seen this happen?

I've also diagnosed that the oil switch is faulty so I've just ordered a new switch to fix that problem.

I taped the spindle on the speedo drive which has actually cured the fluctuation problem! )

The other problem is the mileometer that seems to be completely locked and doesn't change, anyone have any ideas on how to fix that?

Someone will correct me if am wrong, but the s1 has a seperate sender unit to fuel pump unlike the gti's which are all in one unit (not sure about the s2 rallye).
I replaced the sender unit in my old s1 a couple of years back and the genuine pug item cost £120 +vat ( sure they'll be more now).

Regarding the speedo, the fluctuation on mine was a dodgy speed sensor on top of the gearbox, bought a cheap brand new one from ebay and that was goosed after a few days. A genuine pug one is £130 from 106parts.
Benji on here fixed mine by fitting gti clocks which are identical and gti speed sensor ( much more reliable as electronic instead of mechanical/electronic). The only difference being i don't have side light illumination on dash now, but dont have the expense of the s1 speed sensor.

Hope this helps, Phil.

[mattrallye]

Thanks mate, I love the Trophy it's a beautiful car to drive and I'm really getting quite fond of the Rallye now too.

Thanks for the info. I've noticed that it seems to have a separate sender unit, but I didn't realise that the gti's pump and sender we're as one. So thanks for that as I may have bought one of those instead. I've kind of bodged the speedo now with a little bit of tape on the drive, stops it fluctuating so much. Although a long term fix might be a gti set up.

[B]I thought I'd add a few photos of my other Rally car. It's a 1970 Stage Rally specced Mini. It's been an on going project since 2003 and I've literally spent a fortune on it fitting all the best parts. I hope my partner never sees that!.

Anyway here's a few of pics, more to follow when I find them.

During it's second build:





The all steel engine:



Engine spec:

1275cc A+ MG Metro Block bored & Cross Hatch Honed + 20 Capacity 1293cc
Block and gearbox drilled for 5/16 ARP bolts, 11 Stud Head Fixing
+20 Omega OP120 Forged Race Pistons
MED .T. Crank lightened/balanced/polished/wedged & bladed/ back drilled & cross drilled (standard journals)
Innocenti Cooper S lightened/Balanced/Polished Con-Rods with ARP bolts
New Vandervell VP2 Shell Bearings & Thrust Washers
New Vandervell Cam Bearings
STR 930 full Race billet cam 3000 - 8000
Kent Vernier adjustable duplex timing gears
Isky lightened steel followers with oil drain slot
Polished Pushrods
Steel centre main strap
Turbo Powerflow oil pump
Ported and polished stage 5 head (new oil seals, valves re-lapped, thermostat blanking sleeve, Titanium valve caps, Isky Race 240lbs double valve springs) 0.30 skimmed for higher compression
1.5 ratio roller rockers
Lightened steel flywheel (pre-engaged ring gear)
Steel back plate
AP Competition Clutch
Orange Clutch Diaphragm
Aldon Red distributor
Lightened distributor drive
Sports Coil
Catch Tank breathing system
Mocal 13 row Oil Cooler
Mocal 10 row Water Cooler
Maestro High capacity Alternator
RadTech Alloy Radiator
Lightened Alloy toothed belt pulleys
6 blade steel fan
Alloy rocker cover tapped for breathing
Breathing pipe out of fuel pump blanking plate
ARP Head & Rocker studs
Gates Toothed Belt Pulley System

Gearbox:

Jack Knight SCCR box (works ratio)
Jack Knight SCCR 1.1 ratio drop gears
Central Oil pick up with 2 x Magnetic Oil Traps
3.9 Jack Knight LSD
KAD Internal rose jointed gear linkage

Carburettor:

Split 45 DCOE Weber’s on Longman manifold

[philmh]

Your collection just gets better

[mattrallye]

Thanks. The mini has changed quite a bit since those photos, it's since had a full safety device cage fitted, extinguisher system / pulls, and poly carb windows etc... + has since been log booked. I'll try and dig out a few more pics of it soon. I'd probably need a few pages on here to list the other parts it has fitted! lol

[dunc]

Mini looks fantastic

[lukem30]

Mini looks mint. I checked the spare gripper cwp, it's a 14/60, the same as a 106 xsi

[mattrallye]

OK mate, how much would you be looking for them?

[EdCherry]

Your windscreen spoiler is the wrong way up on the mini.

[mattrallye]

Very true! It's not on there anymore though mate!

[lukem30]

I'm not really sure tbh, can't find a price for a set new and i havn't seen any for sale second hand, all I've seen for reference is the gripper pinion on eBay for £300. Pm me a reasonable offer? I can pm you a pic if needed

[mattrallye]

Thanks for the offer mate, but I think I'm going to get a pinion to match my straight cut crown wheel. Spoke to someone the other day about getting one done so I'll probably end up doing that.

Couple of updates:

New dipstick after mine totally dissolved!



On the weekend I knew I had a few little jobs to do on her before taking it down to Combe, so you can imagine how surprised I was when after taken her for a quick spin I had a shock when all of the water decided to leak out of the rad!

The old one:



Thank god I had a spare on the shelf! call it foresight!

New one fitted:



I've since fitted the new 12" electric fan on the front using a couple of aluminium mounts rather than through the new shiny rad. I've also got a serious air lock too, though I'm trying to get that sorted in the mean time. Another major problem I've got is that the new rad is a screw on cap and not a push on like the previous, so now I don't have one that fits! Typical!!

[mattrallye]

Few new parts arrived in the post today. Got a set of steel gear linkages, new braided brake lines plus a new poly lower engine bush, which may be up for sale soon as I think I've already got a solid lower bush fitted!

After going down to Combe on the weekend, I really need a bit more pace which is making me think about changing the 1.3 for a jp4. The only issue is that I would like to use the car for possibly single venues / stages in future and would be much more competitive in class 1 rather than against the bigger motors without spending a fortune.

I know you can stroke the jp4 to a 1.4 but out of interest is it possible to use the 1.3 bottom end with a j4/jp4 head? anyone got any ideas?

It cant be that different because people do all sorts of conversions including a mini a-series block with a bmw k-series head, can't be much more different than that!

[dunc]

Originally Posted by trophy380

First job

When I bought it I noticed it needed the strengthening panel under the front wheel arch replacing due to a little rot. So I ordered a panel from 106 parts and got on with fitting it.

Hi bud, any chance you have the part number of the repair panel you used? Have found rust int he same spot on mine.

[mattrallye]

Yes mate, just found it for you:

R/H Floor Stiffener Panel 106NEWP00007213H0 came to £24.65 +vat

[mattrallye]

Few new updates.

Fitted the costella group n linkages, I thought this was going to be a tough job after hearing a few people say it was a big job, it was simple took about 10mins.

Fitted a new powerflex poly lower engine bush too. It was a pain in the arse trying to get the old bush out so I just set fire to it and left it to sort itself out! Accidently caught the lighter with the blow torch too, in my little wooden shed, almost blew the roof off! lol

Carpet ripped out, I can't believe how heavy a carpet is! Well chuffed with the weight it's saved, now means I don't need to go on a diet just yet!