Original factory built Dunlop GTi challenge car

215 Views 3 Replies 2 Participants Last post by JOHNDQ, 9 d ago

JOHNDQ

Discussion Starter · 2 mo ago

As much as ive tried to leave R8 ownership behind it just keeps coming back to me :laughing2 After a 12 hour 45 minute rod trip i now own a genuine factory built 216 GTI Dunlop Challenge car :S Looks like the MG Cup race series is back on after all :clapping The car is in very good condition with just a few battle scars and has all the correct parts fitted apart from the steering wheel even down to the full Dunlop Slicks (2 wont hold air tho hence the strights on the rear) Plan is to go through it for safety reasons, paint the wheels, mirrors, grill and hockey sticks orange, take it to POL, rolling road test ( ive noticed it has a D16 Z Engine code and seems faster than my A9 engined car, ive been told the cars where tweaked to be around 140bhp) then to Snetterton on 15th May for a trackday with MG's on track and all being well a race in the MG Cup towards end of the session

IMG_20230325_204511_HDR by John Quincey, on Flickr

IMG_20230325_210241_HDR by John Quincey, on Flickr

IMG_20230326_134733_HDR by John Quincey, on Flickr

IMG_20230326_135020_HDR by John Quincey, on Flickr

IMG_20230326_135010_HDR by John Quincey, on Flickr

IMG_20230325_210536_HDR by John Quincey, on Flickr

IMG_20230325_210608_HDR by John Quincey, on Flickr

IMG_20230325_211252_HDR by John Quincey, on Flickr

IMG_20230325_210349_HDR by John Quincey, on Flickr

IMG_20230325_163449_HDR by John Quincey, on Flickr

Screenshot_20230312-172450~2 by John Quincey, on Flickr

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JOHNDQ

Discussion Starter · #2 · 16 d ago

Snetterton update

Was a fully booked with with MGs on Track a running 20 minute session per hour so was unable to get any real clean laps in to full a full fast lap but never the less had a great day, wasnt expecting to set any lap records as was my first time of ever driving the car and i dont think the car itself has been used since the late 1990's. Anyway once got used to it after the morning sessions (its completely different to driving my other R8 on track, slow to turn in and rear breaks away easy being the main problems as we cant run any camber aids etc and not much power on the straights) was ready to start the afternoon with some fast laps. unfortunately in the 2nd afternoon session it started to loose power and wouldnt rev past 6k then coolant temp was getting to around 3/4 on the gauge. After coming into the pits to do some checking over noticed the coolant was pressurising and leaking from the cap, gone very brown and smelt of exhaust gas :laughing2 To be honest i was expecting some of these issues as ive have to drop the tank (was full of rust to the point the sender unit had seized as a block of rust) and when replacing the coolant all the steel coolant outlets on head in take manifold were very badly deteriorated so i guessed the headgasket would have in turn started to deteriorate. Still at least ive had a bit of seat time and i know what to do to move forward, plan is to remove the head and check start of next month and get back out on track asap :cool

Few pictures of the day, theres 2 videos on the Rover R8 enthusiast Fb page if anyone wants to view them and a few pictures of the car on track on the MSV photo website (Snetterton, 15 May, MG Owners club, white cars)