Project Marmite - wide arch mentalness

[chodjinn]

Hey everyone,

Having owned a 106 only since thursday morning, only picking it up this morning in the pi$$ing rain, and being a member for only a few days, I thought it was time to start my project blog!

Basically, I saw an 'unfinished project' on fleaBay which was dirt cheap and actually had some nice buckets and sparco harnesses which I fancied for my race/track car project thats been on the go for a couple of years. FYI its a 1972 MGB GT with a 3.9 litre Rover V8 . . . twin turbo:D

Anyway enough of that. I wasn't happy with the old Cobra buckets as they're a bit uncomfortable and tatty. So I bought this 1.0 106 purely for the seats. When I went to view it, the guy had put a fair amount of work in to the car, and although if you saw the photos no doubt it would be labelled a massive sh!tbox straight away! So I bid, won, and now the owner of Project Marmite, namely so because you're gonna love it or hate it! And its gonna be matt black to match the MG hehe.

So far I have managed to get the car back, removed the seats and harnesses and front bumper, put the old Cobras in from my MG. I've spent the afternoon working on the front bumper - a modified Mitsi Evo 5 item - which is fubared beyond belief, but I'm good with fibreglass and also a tight ar$e northerner and don't want to buy a new one. Plus I don't like off the shelf stuff anyway!

Will update with some photos later!

[rice_55]

Good lord...a 3.9 litre twin turbo MGB...sounds slightly twitchy? :P

[loudandproud205]

i like it v8 throb ftw

btw what you do with your old seats wanna sell to me il px my seats aswell so you got something to sit on

[chodjinn]

Dunno really, I was gonna stick them in the Pug as the Monacos are already in the MG and I need something to sit on lol. The ones that came out are just standard Cobra bucket seats, but I think they're actually lighter than the Monacos. Plain black cloth, I've changed them over as the monacos give me a bit more leg room width-wise as the old ones keep my thighs straight on . . . can't even scratch me balls while drivin hehe. What seat ya got mate?

[chodjinn]

here's a couple of pics, the seats shown are in my MG now and not going anywhere!

http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s100/chodjinn1980/Project%20Marmite/IMG_2640.jpg

http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s100/chodjinn1980/Project%20Marmite/IMG_2641.jpg

[loudandproud205]

ive got full standard vts interior, bolt straight in yours

[chodjinn]

okay I'll have a think and get a few photos of my Cobra seats for ya. I've got 3 point Sparco harnesses and some racing 5 point harnesses (can't remember make but they're pretty beefy) and haven't decided which are going in the MG yet. I'll prob be selling the ones I don't use in the Pug.

I had planned on using the other buckets in the Pug, but its going to be my daily driver and I don't think italian suits and buckets mix quite well lol, so yeah interested in the VTS interior. Can you sort me a couple of photos please fella?

[chodjinn]

oh yeah, since the first mod on the 106 is a 4 stud conversion, courtesy of eBay I'm now the owner of;

VTS front struts with -50mm GMAX springs
VTS front brakes, pads & grooved discs
VTS driveshafts (planning on an engine change as well!)

[loudandproud205]

yeah will do ive got full interior inculding dash and door cards front and rear i think they look bit nicer and more modern than 106.
ive used it daily and there quite good but am having striped out track spec in mine

[chodjinn]

lol well I'm toying with stripping my interior aswell, but I still need seats! What colour is the interior?

[loudandproud205]

grey its standard s1 saxo vts trim air bags the works lol

[Wizza]

Crikey it is marmite... LOL...

Kinda funky though...

Some interesting plans though!!!

[Stealth106]

come on get some propper pics up

[chodjinn]

hehe I'll post some more pics when I've done a bit on the bodywork - it's been stood outside for about a year and is in serious need of attention and filler!

Interior sounds ok, will try and sort osme pics out in the next day or two (sorry I'm really busy over the next few evenings!)

[loudandproud205]

no worries

[Dunnerz5]

look how high the fecking handbrake goes!!!!!

[chodjinn]

lol well at least it works!

loudandproud - my family lives in sheffield and I'm back quite often, and yuo're not too far away. I'll sort some pics out and we'll go from there, but I'm very keen!

[chodjinn]

more pics! Arch kit is from a Corsa C rallycross car apparently, try for the life of me I can't find anything on the web at all, other than this single picture;

http://www.irish-rallying.com/classified.php?classified_id=080208_214132

http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s100/chodjinn1980/Project%20Marmite/IMG_2632.jpg

http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s100/chodjinn1980/Project%20Marmite/IMG_2634.jpg

Awful rear arch extensions;
http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s100/chodjinn1980/Project%20Marmite/IMG_2638.jpg

http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s100/chodjinn1980/Project%20Marmite/IMG_2639.jpg

http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s100/chodjinn1980/Project%20Marmite/IMG_2642.jpg

[chodjinn]

hehe I bet i get flamed to death now for buying such a sh!tbox! I have nowt but time though and plenty of big ideas! All of major bodywork done (apart from fubared front bumper) - just needs a bit of love and care hehe

[mechsman]

Jeeeeeeeezz that is wide! Are those arches bonded onto the standard wings?

[chodjinn]

I don't actually know, as I've not yet ventured that far. Given the state of the work on the front bumper (one of the side extensions fell off with only minimal persuasion!) it's not looking good! However, the front arches and bonnet are all done and only require a bit of flatting the respray I hope - trying to minimise work if I can!

[JonB]

:o oh dear god

[chodjinn]

speaking of which, you still got that VTR motor jon? I've gotta go to bloody middlesboroguh via sheffield towards the end of the week so might be able to pop in and scoot out that motor of yours. Forgot to ask, you got the ECU for it?

[JonB]

yea still got it pal its tucked up in my boot, i have got an ecu just not sure if it works or not

[Ross]

balls to those seats, pull the v8 out the MG & fit it to the 106 - you know with only some slight modification it'll fit!!

[mat106]

I think now ive lost the award for the widest 106, as those arches are mahoosive. It needs some 3 piece rims now though to fill them properly. At least the car is getting some tlc, as it could be nice once finished.

[chodjinn]

I dunno matt your's a fooking hyowge as well!

And yeah I'd like nothing better than sto stick a V8 into it, but i only have one garage - I'm worknig on the pug in a mate's parking space in a secure compound lol! And I've jsut found out I only have aboutt wo months to finish it all and get it road legal!

[106_Andy]

eak, you've picked up some sticky marmite there for sure!

Gonna be alot of work, good luck lol.

[mechsman]

I think now ive lost the award for the widest 106, as those arches are mahoosive. It needs some 3 piece rims now though to fill them properly. At least the car is getting some tlc, as it could be nice once finished.

/\ nah your arches are still nuts even compared to this! Think it may need 0 offset or maybe even -ve offset rims tho! :eek:

Agreed tho, it could look very good!

[chodjinn]

well I've just bought some 17" alloys for it and I won't know if they'll fit or what spacers I'll need until I finish the 4-stud conversion, and I'm still minus a rear beam!

[mechsman]

17's?!?! You could probably get 20's under that if you wanted to. Would look gash though. Are you gonna drop it on the 17's? Which ones did you get and what offset are they?

[chodjinn]

Dunno yet lol. They're TSW 8 spoke alloys and came with tyres as well, a bit scuffed but for the price I can't complain. I would have bought 18s but as I said its gonna be a daily driver and I don't wanna totally fubar the handling. Yeah planning on slamming it to the floor - the front struts I've just bought are -50mm so we'll see. Will prob need some spacers fo some sort.

All I need now is a complete rear beam and a 1.6 engine lol. Oh and maybe that VTR interior!

I spent 4 hrs on the front bumper last night and it'll probably need a hell of a lot more - I'm in two minds whether to fix it with about £40-50 of fibreglass or just buy a new one!

[loudandproud205]

i had 18s on my zr replica and it was daily driver and was nice and low.
can i see pics of front bumper

[chodjinn]

will try and sort some tonight but I've also got a shed load of ebay stuff to post lol. I'll get soem of the buckets as well for ya. Bumper is pretty much standard Evo 5, except its had parts grafted on the end to make it fit the arches. After fiddling with it, I found out the drivers side was 1" taller than the passenger, so out came the angle grinder hehe. Man I love power tools.

I can make it work, its just gonna take hours and hours of fibreglassing and sanding. I'm just weighing up whether its worth it or not!

[mechsman]

/\ Do it! lol unless finding another one and modding that to fit is cheaper? Doubt it somehow tho :D

[chodjinn]

hmm, well I've just bought some fancy fibreglass kit so I guess I'll be fiing it! I like a challenge.

BTW, been offered a lowered VTS ream beam, complete, for £170 - is that too much??

[mechsman]

Depends on the mileage. Bit on the steep side for just the rear beam I think tho. But then again i'm a tight wad! lol!

[chodjinn]

low mileage from what I know. I was thinking no more than 150. Its from the same guy i bought the fronts struts/brakes off, so it's kinda convenient . . . ad I need something to bolt my new wheels to when they arrive lol!

[mechsman]

Why didn't you buy the beam at the same time as the fronts if its the same guy? Still think £170 is too much but I don't know values really cos mine was 4 stud 2 start with thank god :D

[mat106]

A vts beam will give a wider rear track, so less spacer required, its about 10mm per side wider than a drum beam.

The 17`s on mine are et00 offset, rims in that or negative offset are rare to find second hand. If the car was driveable, you could have brought it over to try mt wheels on to see what offset wheels you need, measure the width of the bumper and i can tell you how much wider it is than mine and what offset you probably need to get.

[mechsman]

I wondered what offset yours were matt. ET00 = b.e.a.utiful deep rim :D. Can't see this being wider at the back than yours, maybe at the front?

[chodjinn]

There's no way mine is wider at the rear, have ya seen Matt's arches?! They're silly big! Think mine are about 5" or so front/rear. Spent a few hours flatting the bonnet/front arches today and sanding down the crap resin off the back. It needs a lot more work than I thought, but I'm resisting the temptation to remove the bodykit and start again . . . It ain't gonna be a show car, just my hack car for mooching around in!

The rear beam is complete with discs and caliper etc. so it's not all bad. Bought the bits off ebay - but he removed the auction before I had time to bid - and it was up for £200 which is waay to much IMO.

Thing is with my 106 project, its on a proper tight budget (less than a grand for everything!) as I'm supposed to be getting the MG ready for the start of the summer. I've bought the pug to keep me busy for a month or two while I wait for a shed load of custom piping for the turbos etc. and I rewire the whole car myself (not looking forward to that hehe!)

[mat106]

If your new wheels are not at least an et15 offset then you will need mahoosive spacers, as i found out even with pug offset, i needed 40mm spacers originally with the first set of arches, then ive gone another 2 inches wider all round. Get the bodywork sorted, if you need any help then im just down the road.

[loudandproud205]

looks like i need to make the 205 wider then lol

[mat106]

looks like i need to make the 205 wider then lol

You need to move to the north west, then wide arches will become natural. ;)

[chodjinn]

Small update; managed to get hold of a lowered VTS rear beam complete with discs/calipers. Got the 17" wheels and tyres now, just need some spacers.

As for the body, I've started on the front bumper, and all the tiny cracks in the bonnet are now filled and flatted ready for spraying. Roof has been taken back to near bare-metal ready for primer.