RS Motorsport :: Classic Speed Restored

Ok ints not an escort, nor is it a ford...probably does not belong here but tuff luck! Its a subaru justy/suzuki swift AWD
had a front driver version as my daily for 13 years 335,000 km's and it never missed a beat, so to see the rest of the UK in our last year, well all those bits we havent seen and cant get to easily via train we needed a car, and something very cheap reliable that wont have me sitting on the side of a british/french/italian/german etc motorway, nor chasing rust in the flats carpark or attracting the wrong attention, the only way to go was japaneese. pig ugly at the moment but plans are afoot to tart it up a bit, render it GTi like.

needs new wheels




only surface rust here




desperately needs wheel and lowering


seems perfect here


My old 4 door Gti killer!



and to prove, if its necessary (why do I open myself up to you like this) Im a suzuki fan my Nurburgring hire car!!!!


(ps still collecting escort parts but needed something to transport them home in

cheers,

GTP

thats a wicked little car mate

Bet the Swift was a hoot at the ring!

went tothe ring with the turbosport 2010 trip over easter. the car I was 'crewing' for died and we couldnt replace the bosch fuel pump despite looking for almost 50km in all directions...mind you we are in germany?
so along the way one of the garages we sought a pump from was also hiring these cars, Im familiar with suzuki, and it had started raining slightly, despite the days before radiant sunshine, It was not 1 million miles per hoour capable and Of course I had no idea where I was going and didnt want to arrive at an open flat corner to discover it was actually a tight elbow so the swift was ideal. +30Hp, -55kg's, cage, uprated brakes, race seat cage, R888's.
And yes it was a hoot first lap 10:38 with a passenger film verified! not sure about the final 3 laps but much faster the car is capable of 9's so they say.
Hoping to transfer GTi running gear into the green one and take it back there later this coming summer.
cheers,

The missus had a very similar car. Suzuki Swift with a 3 cylinder engine. Ran on the smell of an oily rag. A car definately named for Irony.

no not as fast as the escort, though some in Aus are running equal times to my escort. But Im shite!
here are some photos of the new wheels.
waiting for a spare carpark space to become available to park the donor GTi. Not sure the predominately office class residents are going to be too keen on me banging away inthe driveway of our gated community...but tuff luck I pay rent and Tax. I have great respect to anyone who does this ona driveway...its cold here in the UK.

needs lowering even more desperately now. awaiting Konis from germany to arrive!


Cheers,

JP

Ahh if you cant hit it cut it quietly with a hacksaw, all hanging panels are now loose and new panels are arriving daily
Finally the rain broke so got a good few hours on the car today
headlights and bonnet on, need bumper irons so I can fit the correct bumper...whod have though they would be different to ones already on the car



Side skirts on too. These are just held loose with self tappers for alignment while I await the plastic plugs to screw into

And rear spoiler...this was too easy as the holes were already marked with the inner panel of the hatch, just drill through the outer skin from below and hey presto.


cheers

Justin P

Hey Justin,

The swift held fastest FWD and 4WD records in Oz for quite a while...I think it was Jamie Bezzina's car from memory.

BTW is that a Subaru badge on the original grille? The name Justy rings a bell from Subaru Fast although we never saw them here. If it is a Subaru Justy its one thing Subaru that I never knew, didnt realise they were in bed with each other back then!!

Cheers,

Phil.

yes Phil its a subaru justy, built by suzuki in Poland for Subaru between 1996 and 2003 I think. filled a Niche. Australia saw imports of the JDM suzuki Cultus awd which was an Awd GTi...hopefully what this will be.
Will never challenge Jamies 'itsmad' as I have the escort for that. this allows us to travel far and wide in the UK sort of cheaply.
cheers for looking in
Justin P

well its beginning to look like a car again, ebayed a set of bumpers with mounting brackets and discovered the front end was junk. mounting bracket was bent in 3 directions so will go new on that so it all has to come off again to fit new reinforcing. Ebay seller claimed bumpers were in good condition, hate to see their version of average condition, a split through middle of lower section and the bottom half falling off even the vents were rubbish. Oh well rear is much better so that goes on next week.



managed to find correct sized panel bungs for fitting the side skirts so these are now secured into the sill panel after squaring off the 6 mounting holes to accept the bung...harder than I though upside down lying on cold concrete but wont pull out and fixed just like suzuki intended





Needs lowering still!

so 2 New front arches, all bolts and nuts rethreaded/cleaned, panels aligned, looms grafted. Just need to do it all again next week!^(@^@$##(


Cheers for looking

JP

Bit of an update,

have had the rear end finished for a while, cut and spliced looms as it was easier than changing the whole loom, 9 wires to connect.



got some GTi seats on the weekend, scrubbed them up like new, probably replace the rear pocket as the backing boards are soft and bent...but look and feel great for the money.



unfortunately in putting the seats in last night discovered a wet patch onthe ground, the drive around south England on the weekend saw a stone pierce the radiator so a new on is on the way...damn cheap to, so cant complain too much.
have new speakers and stereo and momo steering wheel to go in and hope to collect GTi interior door cards, spot lights and front hubs ready for wilwoods...

Also hoping to find time to undertake lowering this weekend possibly, as I also picked up lowering springs...and its still bloody necessary

cheers

GTP

Spotted this at u know where.
Junior took photo, I wouldnt.

Nicely spotted by the young man...he has taste.
Interestingly you also know the owner! most of the good bits on that one were from my old one and the owner was helping me out at most of the practice days.
And damn him if hes not quicker than the escort.

Cheers,

JP

Bit of an update, all the wiring for the electric windows finished and they work, a factory option ont he GTi which bolt in, only had to splice 1 wire to get live power.
replaced door cards and rear 1/4 cards to suit only need rear seat now to finish the inside
An inside shot of new door cards and electric windows...well not that a photo is that interesting of electric windows just sitting there but hey, I know they are there

35mm lowered



singularily the worst job I have ever had to do, rear was easy took 20 minutes or so, the fronts needed the strut bolt nuts to be hacked off. all 4 were rusted shut and or rounded off. all 4 needed the nut breaker then to be turned by hammer and chisel. my left side is numb and aching from 3 hours of chiseling. Holy s..t what a task. so new high tensile bolts and copper grease should see them last for a while longer.

anyway its done just the GTi brakes to do now, waiting for a set of caliper rebuild kits and bob will be my uncle.
Also finally got the local boidyshop (next door) to quote making everything original green

cheers,

JP

Finally got around to installing the rear brakes.

rebuilt the calipers, repainted the backing plates, new slotted and cross drilled disc, new bolts and bits and pieces, new EBC pads, New Goodridge hoses which dont fit.
The metal sleeves on the hoses that clip into the mounts are backwards.
anyway all bled up and bedding in.
and This should work a treat on the front,
new disks vs Old

old brakes

new brakes

all fitted up behind 15 inch wheels

just waiting on 90 degree elbow for brake hose and redrill mounting screw in hub holes to complete


Cheers
JP

Not much an update but just some photos
brake brackets:

exhaust and konis


more lowering and body work has begun


Justin P

what does this do?



Ok I know what they do and where they go...
166hp on a uk engine dyno so I think its optomistic but its a starting point.
I bought it this way 6 meeting old bill falconer race engine.
Head has been extensively ported and the throats reshaped, the valves are all +1mm oversize. 76.7mm JE forged pistons on H beam rods making a capacity of near 1396cc
11:1 compression will run normal 97 octane fuel.
42mm throttle bodies and MDE management
Kent d522 cams uprated springs
and 4-1 exhaust manifold
all balanced, revs well over peak power at 8500 redline 9600
baffled sump,

should be fun



GTP

Nice pick up & is that a Jaguar workshop you have there with the timber floor?

Finally got to se the escort all tucked up and out of harms way. I have now united the UK parts and the Australian car well piles of parts not actually on the car, of course it will now start rusting. Progrtess will be slow as work is not forthcoming so need to save somepennies, and also the road car arrived and now while finally in the warm garage I discovered rust. damn pommy cars the entire right hand sill was rusted int he lower seam taking out the floor and outer sill. so out with the grinder for some exploratory cuts




then the action cuts




Then some hole filling
inner sills
]
outer sill


some final welding and seam sealer and this repair is ready for paint of course I also discovered this

so this is next for repair. Thankfully I have found a rust free 1998 wreck that has donated all the loverly purple bits
GTP

Onto the next bits of rust, this mornings job!


Thanks again purple cino

new panels prepared

Like a new one

while I had the wire brush out in an anti rust campaign I thought Id decorate the disks.

will do a bit of bodyfilling next weekend and close out the front chassis rail with the next new panel


I have collected new front and rear arms as these look scabby and am possibly after a new AWD rear subframe...If mine is actually bad as it looks scabby too. As I said Damn british roads!!
Cheers,

JP