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Rabbit Farmer's 1.8T 4-door money pit

131K views 468 replies 41 participants last post by  Rabbit Farmer 
#1 ·
Hmmm, I guess I haven't created a project over here. Let me get you caught up with the progress over the years.

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I still have a bit to do to make it perfect. Engine build-up coming within the next 8 months to give me full boost on the turbo.

Here it is from the beginning to get everything caught up to the present....

Steve

Here is where the car started:









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Summer 2006:

Safety
FIA Cage (Done)
FIA Seats (Done)
5-point harnesses (Done)
2.5 LB A-B-C fire Ext. (Done)

Suspension
Bilstein Sport shocks/struts (Done)
Shine Racing coilovers and camber plates (Done)
Shine Racing anti-roll car (Done)

Tires/Rims/Brakes
EBC Yellow brake pads all around & new rotors (Done, thanks for Fast Addiciton)
Waiting for my Mintex pads to arrive.
17x8"" rims (Done)
Toyo RA1s (Done)

Plans over winter 2006-2007:

Engine
Turbo GT2871
Performance intake manifold
3"" downpipe and side exit exhaust
034EFI Stand-Alone Engine Management
APR fuel pump
57 lb injectors at 3 bar
Adjustable Fuel Pressure Regulator (FPR)
Cooler spark plugs
Might change oil pan (add baffles and trapdoors)
Fuel injectors
Cam shafts
FMIC
Sprayer for coolant radiator since FMIC will block some of its air flow.
Oil pan (trapdoors/baffle)

Transmission/Clutch
Lightened flywheel and performance clutch.
LSD

Body
No plans other than some minor body work.

------------- Project Update -------------

1st of two coats. All painted with a brush. (friend Nick helped tonight)









------------- Project Update -------------

Buring the midnight oil....



A little progress this weekend.

(1) Determined solution for sunroof hole. Going to Rathe's on Friday to cut some sheet metal from a Golf/Jetta III. This is just a temp. solution to plug the hole until much later when the body will be the concern. For now... getting it on the track/hill and going fast will be my priority. Won't look pretty for a while. :oops:

(2) Wiring: Just have to weld a tab in for the fuse box and then plug everything together that is on/around the steering wheel. Everything else is hooked up.



(3) Plug the air vents in the dash where the dash was cut for the cage and then installed the vents a little further up-stream. :D




(4) Did some cutting of the dash and glovebox to make it fit. Still a work in progress.



(5) ""Fixed"" front bumper (essentially it looks like Frankenstein) and test fit bumper and fenders. Ordered part that was broken on fender (goes between fender and bumper). After the part comes in the front end body work will be done.

------------- Project Update -------------

Another busy night.... finished a bit earlier than I had been this week.. midnight. :oops:

(1) Spoke with Pete down at VW to attempt to order little plastic tube that goes into the vacuum in the front right fender well... not really sure what it does, but it sucks air when the car is running so it must be really important. Anyway, Pete said that the little tube I need does not come separately and that I would have to purchase the entire tube for $50. :shock:

Here is the vacuum blue-ball thingy with the broken (half of broken tube is still in the flexible tubing) black connecting tube.



At lunch I decided to figure out what alternatives I had and came up with a brake line (the flared ends were a perfect fit)



Did a little cutting and sanding...



And done!



I did put tape between on the brake line so it could not slide inside of the blue-ball thingy (the lines are secure and shouldn't move around, but I still didn't want to take chances).

(2) Next, working with Eli at Shine Racing Services (www.srsvw.com) we are trying to determine the best suspension setup (done) and to see if camber plates will work on the strut towers with the cage there. Eli faxed an outline of the camber plate to test fit it on the car. Not looking good.



(3) Finished the dash with the exception of the trim at the driver's feet and steering wheel. Waiting on those until my brother Andy welds on a tab for the fuse box that is normally located at the end of the dash.



I cut off the back of the center section to make it easier to change/inspect the e-brake lines in the future. I don't want to have to remove interior trim.



(4) Trimmed the door panel (just one thus far) to fit around the cage. Not perfect (need to slam door) so I will have to tweak a little more. I might use alum. sheet at a later date, but this is what I have for now.



(5) Starting to look like a car. Fenders mounted, bumper mounted, broken grill mounted. All panels are a little bumpy, but body work comes later after the performance step has been completed. :twisted:



------------- Project Update -------------

Andy (my brother) came over today so we could get to work on the roof and fuse box. HE can fabricate.... I can't even come close. If it doesn't involve cardboard, a couple of nails, pop rivets, zip ties or duct tape, then I'm lost.

Anyway, headed to Rathe's to cut off the roof of a MKIII Jetta. Thanks to Chris (vtGTI) for the loan of the cordless sawsall.

Short and quick.

Put the new roof on top of the old roof, traced the sunroof hole....


Andy (love his shirt!) grinds off the paint to prepare the surface for welding.



Cut out and grind edges to match new roof to old hole.



Weld in new roof (including one brace from the original roof). Didn't come our perfect (a bit of warping).



Grinding down the welds....



Later... filling the holes and painting the roof.

Welded in bracket for fuse box.

It is coming together.... slowly.

------------- Project Update -------------

Spent all day on the car and didn't seem to accomplish everything I wanted.

Cut off the top of the glove box so that it could be accessed from above by going through the airbag opening on the passenger side. The glovebox won't open because of the cage, so I figured out a way to access the box another way. Of course, I suppose I could convert the airbag hole to the euro box and call it a day, but that purchase doesn't make the car go faster or handle better.

Anyway, Did another door today. Reinstalled window and interior door trim... cut the heck out of it to fit around the cage. I will take a picture of it with the door open so you can see all the cutting that was needed. My goal was to make it look complete when the door was closed.



First coat on the roof.



Some misc. shots (new wheels are on)... needs to be washed very badly:





------------- Project Update -------------

Since the first event for the Golf is coming up very quickly, I took today off to work on the car.

A present arrived today.....



------------- Project Update -------------

Well, I took enough pictures of the whole process and will make my own tutorial for the VermontRacing site.

Rear shocks/springs are in. Ride height was reduced by only 1/2"", but I can lower it 1"" more. We will see how the front comes out. It is all about performance.

Here is the reason I couldn't figure out the rear... I had to remove the retaining clip and plastic washer, install the perch, and reinstall the washer/clip. I had to purchase a new retaining clip spreading tool (whatever it is called) since the one I had spent more time going sideways instead of spreading the clip. (junk!)





Installed....



Smoothed the roof out some more.... there are a lot of wrinkles.



Life on "the farm"... too many projects, not enough time!



------------- Project Update -------------

Took Sunday off because I worked on car from 9am (Sat) until 2am (Sun).

Had a real fight with trying to get the camber plates aligned. For now, they are held in with 4 grade 8 bolts per side until we can get it on an alignment rack to check the caster. I'm not worried about camber since the plates are adjustable, but caster is not adjustable once welded in. We will weld both the top of the plate and underneath to make sure it stays together.

Did the finally smoothing of the roof and plan to try the paint method posted by Rob (Elmer Fudd) since it is just white and the roof. Bret at Rally Grafix will take care of the graphics for the roof. :wink:

Anyway, Nick and Tim came over and helped with the drilling of the 4 1/4"" holes to remove the original strut towers. The drill was so powerful that it took Nick for a ride a couple of times when it caught. :shock:



Hole in the strut tower.



Camber plate installed....



What it looks like underneath....



It is kinda of strange taking a cutting wheel to a new strut



Installed.



I am still working on sourcing the brake rotors, but put it together for now (the brakes are easy on this car!) so it is mobile.

Short and sweet. I'm really looking forward to getting this on the road.

Dealer is coming over on Monday night to determine the actual value of the car for registration. NADA lists this car at $9700.... yeah right. Was that before or after it landed on its roof?

------------- Project Update -------------

A big thanks to Casey for coming over tonight with a rear brake tool to reset the rear caliper, help put the car together, and get it down to the shop (and me back). Plus, he didn't show up empty handed. :)

Pictures as promised.

Chris scuffing roof to prep for paint.


Me painting the first coat.


Roof when done.


Present arrive from Fast Addiction!


Rears before...


Rears after...


Fronts before...


Front after...


Seats are in. Harnesses are partially in right now.


------------- Project Update -------------

Camber plates installed...


------------- Project Update -------------

Thanks to Bret at RallyGrafix.com
(covering over a really bend roof)


End of 2006.....

------------- Project Update -------------

And now you are all caught up. Welcome to 2007.....

Tranny is out. What a pain. The actual removal of the transmission was easy. Big bolts on the axles, easy motor mounts, lots of big bolts all around the tranny (instead of those 10mm head bolts from the Rabbit that hold the sheet metal cover to the transmission to keep water out... and that little piece in the back/behind the passenger side tranny flange), easy to remove parts underneath, and it just slides out soooo nice. The pain was the hours we had to spend on the top of the engine trying to figure out how to remove all the crap.

Transmission goes to Fast Addiction tonight (11pm) to start its journey towards enlightenment (e.g. LSD).

The issue I did have with the removal is the bolt that holds the back of the dog bone to the subframe snapped off (I just barely started to turn it with very little force). The bolt looked more like chalk instead of metal. And, in my efforts to remove the dog bone (the bolt broke off leaving a stud still in the hole) it looks like I broke the back of the dog bone. So, I will need to get a new one. Doh!

This week: front bumper off, exhaust off, DP off, exhaust mani off, clutch/flywheel off, SMIC off, power window control in. That should do it. Then start ordering parts.

Still looking for a hood and front bumper. I believe I have a lead in NH for the front bumper, but local would be better.

No pictures... figured you know what it looks like to remove a transmission. I have to say that I do not like the Bentley for the MKIV. Funny part of the removal, there was one like that stated (in a nut shell) to go to the electrical section for removal instructions for the starter. Okay, looked at the section on how to remove the starter... zipped to the step near the end since all the previous steps were completed until I realized the ONLY step that I needed to follow in the starter removal process was to remove the lower bolt on the starter. Um, they could have told me that in the transmission removal section.

John at FastAddiction.com has the transmission and is installing the Peloquin LSD. Want a go fast modification? This is a great thing to get!

I recent purchased a MINT front bumper from a fellow Vortexer (I had to drive to the intersection of 89 and 93 to pick it up... and then on my way home stop by at FA to get some parts).

Here are the 'some parts'



I am still lost on what I should run for for electronics. I have an e-mail out to Unichip. APR is a no go. Revo is a no go. I can't find a product that will run a big turbo (short of engine management).

I finally got to dig into the engine today to swap out the plastic water pump with a metal one. Doh.. it already had a metal impeller. Such is life. I guess I needed the practice. 2.5 hours start to finish. :) It did make it easier with the fact that the transmission was out of the car so I could hang the engine more in the middle of the engine bay giving me more room to work.

------------- Project Update -------------

Progress continues..... Car still isn't faster, but I now have all the body parts I need and the transmission is back in. I wanted to drive it around a little tonight to make sure everything was good (plus I'm supposed to put 450 miles on the clutch before any hard launches... I don't drive that much in a year with that car... LOL). But, since I didn't completely bolt the DP to the turbo it was loud as hell. Don't worry, it is just hooked up for moving the car around (get on the trailer, etc.) and the ol' foot won't punch the throttle creating a lot more boost that it can handle.

Anyway.... a little progress.

Thanks to John at FastAddiction.com, I now have my new flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate (I installed this on Saturday) and the transmission back with a nice toy installed inside. I also purchased a set of Driveshaft axles (good for 400 HP). The MK4 axles are soooo much easier than an MK1.



Clutch installed..... (bolts not tightened yet)



Something to keep me warm when the heater ran out of gas.... a little bit of apple infused vodka thanks to a friend.


The stock axle vs. the driveshaft axles.


Spent most of my time researching the internet for ways to make the car faster. Thanks to John at FA, he was able to give me some direction since I am new to the whole leaf blower mounted on an engine thing.

------------- Project Update -------------

Spent the last few weeks making it look pretty. Waiting for go-fast parts to arrive.





------------- Project Update -------------

Some assembly required.....



------------- Project Update -------------

Some progress... all the big parts have been removed from the car so it is now time to put it all back together. The oil feed line to the turbo was the biggest PITA as it was impossible to get to.

Anyway, some stock vs. go-fast parts side by side.

The pile of 1.8T parts I took out yesterday.... my green Rabbit suspension makes for a nice frame.






I think it is very impressive the HUGE difference between the stock exhaust manifold and the ATP setup. Stock is tiny.










------------- Project Update -------------

The past two days were productive.

The FMIC has been installed and most of the plumbing is done. I did not connect the tubing to the intake yet as I need to change the throttle body from DBW to DBC. I have not installed the front bumper cover yet (will require some shaving). The installation was a bit of a pain.... I had to cut the lip of the bumper bar so that IC would sit flush against the bottom of the bumper. Per ATP's instructions, I had to cut the lower radiator support, but after I finished and reviewed the work, I have no idea why I had to cut it. The IC doesn't hang anywhere near the radiator support. Looking again at ATP's instructions, it looks like the IC in the directions is different than what I actually had to install. There was some wasted time. I cut part of the battery box base (I do not have the battery box anymore since it was a causality of the rollover) to make room for the pipes. I also had a little problem clearing the headlight (throttle body side), so I cheated by removing the back cover of the headlight for clearance.

IC mounted to the bumper/rebar:


I had to drill a hole all the way through the second layer just so I could see. Then I worked an open-end wrench with the nut duct taped to it over to the correct position. The photo is at a sharp angle so you can see the nut.


Mount on the car with the tubing. I had to put the tow hitch at an angle (I want to leave it mounted on the car)


The removal of the old turbo was very difficult with the oil/coolant lines and miscellaneous bolts/nuts. Installation of the new oil/coolant lines looks like it will be much easier since I can see all the connections because the turbo doesn't hang below the exhaust manifold.

Installation of the ATP manifold was a royal PITA since it was impossible to see the nuts and even move impossible to (a) get an open-ended wrench on the nuts and (b) to be able to swing the wrench to tighten the nut. Well, I don't think Sears will take back my 12mm combo wrench after I shaved it down to make it thinner both in depth of the wrench and the thickness of the round part. I also bent the wrench to allow for the swing. It actually worked quite well. I wish I had thought of it before (as does my friend Nick) since Nick tighten (mostly) the hard to get nuts with the open-end wrench over the course of an hour. I just had to tighten them with the modified wrench.

Hard to see/work with nuts:


The fabrication:


I hung the turbo last night. Good thing I didn't start tighten the top nuts because one of the bottom nuts required the turbo to be at the end of the stud to be able to fit the nut between the turbo housing and the top of the stud. I was able to tighten all but one of the nuts since I needed a 12mm combo wrench. Hmmmm, somehow my 12mm got bent and didn't work here.

Turbo partially installed:


The nut that had to be installed first (lightened area) and the nut next to it (left side of image) that I couldn't tighten without a straight 12mm wrench):


The turbo from the bottom:


Hopefully tonight I will be able to install the oil and coolant lines and complete the intercooler pipes. That leaves Wednesday night to install the FPR, injectors, and BOV. If there is time, I get the exhaust completed.
EDIT: Didn't get a chance to work on the car tonight due to an SCCV meeting followed by the gym.

The engine management should be in the mail to me today. Hopefully I will be able to get that on by Monday (busy this weekend drinking that 1/2 barrel of Switchback).

I need to get to Fast Addiction to pick up some last minute items.

------------- Project Update -------------

The saga continues.

Big BOV... no idea where/how to install it.



The hairdryer installed...



Engine... not all hoses connected yet.


------------- Project Update -------------

Now I'm above my head....

How the car has been sitting for 5 weeks....


Package arrived today with some wires in it...


Starting to sort out/layout the harness. I plugged in what I could figure out so that I could determine the flow of the harness, and therefore, how/where to mount everything. A bit of a brick wall here so I have some deep thinking to do.


Letting the turbo breath with full 3"" exhaust. Chris Achilles is doing the side exit for me.


Split race muffler... the muffler is 5"" round and only 6"" long.


Bigger is better... :)


------------- Project Update -------------

Done. Car is down at Quintin's Brothers in Williston to get dyno tuned. They may or may not get to it today. The exhaust system didn't do a very good job of making the car quieter.... I think it sounds nice.

Joe from axismotorsport.com was making sure the 034EFI wiring harness was functional. It turns out that 034EFI did not include a mini-harness to allow the stock tach to work. Because the stock tach didn't work, the fuel pump wouldn't stay on and the oil warning light kept flashing.

Cyrus, Chris Marotti, and Chris Achilles came over later with the Achilles custom exhaust.

While Cyrus, Achilles and I worked trying to get the exhaust hung we got to listen to Marotti play us a ditty on the guitar. Much enjoyed!

I still need to do a better job with the after-market tach (temp fix until I get the missing harness) and boost (hack!) gauge (hack!) install (hack!!), but I think I'm all set now. Oh, and finish hanging the exhaust.

I think I got a total of 10 hours of sleep over the past three nights.

Pictures....






------------- Project Update -------------

We still need to mount the ECU inside the car (it is in the rain tray at the moment), but this means I need to remove the wires on the left side of the car (driver's side for me) and relocate them along the right side of the car.

We had some problems with the car at Lime Rock (track event) where the spark plugs would foul (oil from PCV) and turbo would become loose. Issues that I will address this week as I have a hillclimb in two weeks. I also need to make it quieter.....

Photos and videos from its first track event will be forthcoming.

Due to the stock internals of the engine (building it over the winter), we stopped at 18 psi and got 277 wheel HP from it. The turbo can breath right up to 28-30 psi quite efficiently, but I want to keep the engine in one piece this summer. This will turn out an easy 400 crank HP when done and a GREAT power band (good low end and top end). Very pleased with the GT2871R!

Steve

------------- Project Update -------------

Brady at Quintin's (dyno shop) e-mailed me today to tell me how to use the program to view the results. I didn't realize that that graph x and y titles were clickable menus. I'm unsure which program I ended up with (both displayed), but it is a very conservative number (18 psi) to where we are going (28 psi +/-).

Fun for now and the engine should hold together just fine.



------------- Project Update -------------

Stock piston gave up the ghost at the first race (it made it through the first track event just fine). I believe it was because the manual boost controller wasn't tight so it allowed for an over-boost condition.

Time to rebuild......

Not too worried about the block as I can bore it out if needed. The head is my main concern.










------------- Project Update -------------

Done. I might procrastinate, but I get things done (now, about that turbo single round headlight Rabbit I have been talking about for years....)

Anyway, a number of late nights and one weekend I was able to pull out the old engine, put together a new one (never opened the new engine.... should have only 40k miles). The whole process was not difficult, but it was time intensive. Surprisingly, everything went together... kinda intuitive. I did discover that almost all the parts on the NB engine (stuff bolted to head, valve cover, block) are different than the Golf. Right down to the hard metal coolant tube that runs along the front of the block (found that out after I install all the tubes, wires, etc.).

Anyway, some pictures for those of you bored with the text (I know I am).

Engine out (removed head and then lowered block/transmission out the bottom)


New engine with everything bolted on, Spec clutch, flywheel, transmission installed, etc.


How many 20-valves can you spot in 4 seconds? ...go!


I removed the DP and both axles and was able to (quite easily) bring the completely assembled engine up through the bottom. I had thought the turbo being bolted to the engine would prove to be too big for the engine bay opening. Good news!




Every wonder why VW's have some electrical issues? This is what the wire looks like that went to the secondary air pump and power steering pump. The power steering pump wires were also broken off. Of course, the damage could have occurred when I removed the engine, but honestly I have no idea how that could have happened.


I don't think that I need ANY of this. I already removed the secondary air pump from in front of the oil pan. Since I wasn't sure what I needed/didn't need and didn't have time to experiment, all the parts went back in.


Location of 034 ECU and relay board. I took the time to remove all 034 EFI wires that ran along the driver's side (left side of car for those of you with the steering wheel on the incorrect side) and ran everything on the passenger side of the car. I took the ECU out of the rain tray, cut a hole through the fire wall with an air nibbler (love that tool!) and put the ECU where the passenger airbag was. In the future, I'll have to get it mounted better, but it will get me by for this season. No pictures of the changes yet, as I need some sleep.


Heading to Moon Performance in NY at 2:00 on Thursday so that they can dyno tune the car to get it ready for Watkins Glen. Fingers are crossed that everything works.

------------- Project Update -------------

Son-of-a-Fahvergnugen-hatch-backing-knuckle-cracking-hub-capping-no-compression-valves-making-noise-pain-in-my-butt!

Engine makes noise when it runs. I will be getting new rings in the mail on Tuesday and changing them Tuesday night. If there is an issue with the head (which it sounds like this is the issue), then I have a real problem as I don't have any extra good heads to us. I have my $200 block/head setup, but that has bent valves and I have the old head that the pistons were throwing the rings against them at 6000+ rpms. I just might have to use that…

Picking up car from NY tonight. Bringing it back on Wednesday night assuming I have it together.

ACK! I am so sick of this crap!

------------- Project Update -------------

22-Aug-2007

The rings on the stock pistons looked okay. There was a little peaning of the top edge of the piston that I had some concerns with, but it might have been okay. I just happened to get good pistons and rods in so I started on that last night since I couldn't go anywhere with the head.

------------- Project Update -------------

23-Aug-2007

More progress... bottom end is done. I just need a complete head and I should be done in about 3 hours. (that's 3 hours on Thursday night)

Anyway... tired so here are a few pictures.

New pistons and rods finally arrived. Since I didn't have them the other night when I knew that I had to rebuild, John at Fast Addiction was nice enough to next day up rings and a head gasket.


Compared... notice the location of the top ring on each piston. The new piston is covered with assembly grease, hence the dirty look.


The old pistons. For some reason that had dents (old dents!) in the pistons.


Three in so far... notice the new EGT sensor. :)


Bottom shot with hanging oil pump chain.


And finally the last one going in. Pump back on, oil pan back on, etc. Done with this step. One more night and then it is a trip to NY.


------------- Project Update -------------

25-Aug-2007

Turns out the head I finally ended using was crap also. It dropped a valve inside the engine. It started and ran great... never sounded so good. Put it on the trailer at 6am (when I finally finished working on the car after an all nighter), took a shower (needed it!), drove to Moon in NY, started it (sounded great), it stalled, couldn't start it again. Tried starting it a number of times with the laptop hooked up to it to figure out what was going on and about the 6th time we heard a clunk. Took the plug out and the end of the plug was flat.... huh!?! Looked down the plug hole and we could see the face of an exhaust valve looking back at us. Thankfully the head failed during a starting instead of running action. So, the Golf isn't going to Watkins Glen and won't be rebuilt for a while as I plan to get a new head.. perhaps ported and polished and ready to bolt on. Hmmmm, maybe some new Cat cams while I'm at it. Snow will be flying before that happens, but I do plan on taking it apart sooner than later just to see what happened. Hopefully there was not damage to the new pistons. "
"It is March 2008 which is the month I scheduled to start working on this car again for the next race reason (tax refund comes in the mail in March).

Plans:
Getting new head (naturally)
Kevlar cord timing belt
Perhaps getting rid of the coilpacks and going wired
Getting rid of OEM wires/tubes under the hood that aren't needed as I have stand-alone.
Electronic booster controller (controlled by 034EFI ECU)
Dyno tune with two maps (high HP and moderate for the rainy days)

That is it for March (I think).

Big brakes planned for later.

After running 100% with bigger brakes, I don't think I will be doing anything with the car for a while. I want to change the suspension to lower it more without changing the suspension geometry (read as "lowering the car with shorter springs or coilovers is not the best way to make a car handle"... I need re-engineering). For example, my other Rabbit (a 1980 Rabbit) is lowered in the front using heightened strut towers and modified mounting points for the front and rear spindles... the rear is independent suspension to boot!

Progress (and therefore photos) will start in a couple of weeks as I am busy right now shopping for parts and weighing options.

Steve

------------- Project Update -------------

I'm still waiting for my website to come back online, so for now, enjoy the little red x's.

------------- Project Update -------------

May, 27, 2008

Progress.... picked up a complete 1.8t engine with transmission.... unfortunately it is an automatic with front end damage. (free auto tranny to anyone who wants it... it is just weight at the scrap yard to me... want to practice working on auto transmissions? Here is your chance. But wait... order the FREE transmission now and get a free under the hood wiring harness.)

Picture of disassembling "new" engine... and taking stock wiring harness out of the car so just the 034EFI will be there plus the 6 or so stock wires needed for sensors, etc. I will be working very fast on this in the next couple of weeks as I have a track event on July 14, 2008 that the Golf would be better than the Rabbit (5 hours of driving at the event).





------------- Project Update -------------

June 20, 2008

Progress.

Turbo/exhaust manifold is bolted to the new head. The broken valve damaged one of the pistons. I had two options: 1. get one piston and have it balanced to the weights of the other three, or 2. get a new set of pistons for now (JE pistions) and do the "get one piston to complete the set" for later engine builds. Anyway, new pistons will be here on Monday.

Right now I have all the pistons/rods out of the car waiting for the new pistons. Everything should be together by Saturday.

Now, time to work on the new Rabbit and the water pump on the Cabriolet. I need a vacation.

Steve

------------- Project Update -------------

June 27, 2008

Well, I have been away in MI for a week (Sun-Fri). New pistons were in this AM and I started installing them around 3:00 PM or so. I bolted the head on around 10PM and ran into a little snag (one with two solutions). The 5mm x 50mm stud that is needed to compress the timing belt tensioner is way too short when the tensioner is already fully extended (i.e. the belt is not longer on the car). I plan to head down to SAC in Williston on Saturday morning to get a 5mm x 70, 80, 90, 100 (hopefully they have it). I could get a bunch of 100mm and cut them down, but they should be cheap enough to just buy the different lengths.

Plans are to fire this up on Sunday..... Saturday is busy with a BBQ at our place so time is limited on Saturday.

Boring photos to follow on Saturday.

Steve

------------- Project Update -------------

June 29, 2008

Some progress today. It was a little slow since I took soooo much time just to get the timing belt on the engine. :censor: :censor: :censor:

Big thanks to Jodi Doyle for some help with the intake today (added some nipples for vacuum lines)

Anyway, new JE pistons are installed (still using Scat rods).


And them purty?


The turbo setup on yet another head. :censor:


Those hard to get to nuts on the exhaust manifold.


I bought a 10mm flex wrench years ago to be able to get those nuts in between the oil pan and transmission on my Rabbit. Well, it is the same tool that is needed for the Golf, but thankfully, only two bolts need this tool on the Golf.


Close up of the end....


In between oil pan and transmission....


Close up of the bolt....


5mm x 50mm bolt with head cut off + standard thread connector + 5mm x 50mm bolt cut to 10mm + (nut+washer+washer) + brad (nail) = "tool" to compress the timing belt tensioner.


I had a hard time getting my hands into the tight spot so Julie gave it a go....


Next project is to replace the bearing on Julie's Jetta (and do the brakes also... it still has my track compound pads on the front).

Then finish fixing the Cabbie....


Then.... get the turbo Rabbit read for the next hillclimb.

Of course, around 11PM tonight I started to notice water coming under the garage door while it was raining.... so, I was outside in the rain cleaning the gutters over the front and back of the garage.

Steve

NOTE: I changed the first post to show a new link to the complete build (and re-build) of this car. It has been a royal PITA, yet a bit of a learning experience.
 
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#377 ·
How about a whole season in one post!

I am happy to report that we seemed to have a pretty smooth season this year… nothing broke. (or I am just very forgetful)

---- To catch up with the 1980 MK1 Scirocco ----

Thanks to a lot of expertise and advice from the members of the New England Hillclimb Association (NEHA), especially John Reed for the information on the different properties of some of the typical roll cage tubing, we settled on using the Rocal R-8.

Joey Kale (who is doing the cage) said this has been some pretty tough stuff to bend. Very impressive.



The Scirocco at Joey's shop in June 2019



Some updates throughout the summer… main hoop installed.



The new halo seat (that I used the entire 2019 season in the Golf) is made to fit and the old Sparco seat (my old Golf IV seat) is being used for the passenger side after some modification to the center tunnel to make it fit.

I plan to buy another halo seat so that both the MK1 Scirocco and MK4 Golf have the same seat.



Cutting out some of the light sheet metal to mount the main hoop to the non-stock framework that was built into the unibody of the Scirocco to stiffen the chassis and create better platform to build the original cage.



A lot of the tubing is cut and ready to install in October 2019.



The time to get a spare part is when you don't need it and there is a deal. My brother (Andy… still plays with cars) ordered three new M1 Scirocco windshields… of which I purchased one of them.



Pretty cool custom "Rabbit Farmer" badge that I plan to install on the Scirocco. It looks identical to the stock MK1 Rabbit badges. Very good quality. I highly recommend.

Vendor:
Pop Zombie Laserkraft
www.facebook.com/PZLaserkraft
pzlaserkraft@gmail.com



---- Updates to the MK4 Golf ----

The earlier posts showed the power steering lines that I planned to install.

Here is what arrived for the complete kit for the Golf.

Two braided steel lines for the rack
One braided steel/rubber line from the rack the power steering pump
One rubber line from the rack to the reservoir



The lines on the actual power steer rack seemed to fit good. Great quality.





The lines almost installed on the rack. I did grind the rust and repaint the clips that hold the lines to the rack. These are parts that do not seem to be available on the aftermarket.

Kinda like the power steering lines… you need to purchase the entire complete rack to replace the lines.



For some reason, the line that went from the rack to the reservoir seemed to be too short. I spoke with the company and they tell me that the line was the correct size, but I didn't see how it worked.

With the limited time before the first event of the season (first time since the 1970s that the Mt. Philo hillclimb is in the spring) I ended up not using that line. I also returned the line that went from the rack to the pump as it wasn't needed as what I had was in good condition.



For the original line that went from the rack to the reservoir, I sanded the metal surfaces to remove the rust, painted with high-temp black paint, and put a Cool It / Thermo Tec heat shield around the line from the rack up the firewall.



Since the last time that I purchased tires was for the 2017 Mt. Washington Hillclimb (I normally purchased a set every 1.5 seasons… they were getting VERY thin mid-2018 season), I purchased another set of Toyo R888R tires 235-40-17.



I noticed that there was a still leak under the engine (noticed it last season also thanks to the skid plate catching everything). In 2018, it seemed to be some loose bolts on the metal part of the oil pan (this is the hybrid aluminum/metal pan). I torqued them.

At the start of the 2019 season, I removed the metal portion, cleaned it along with the bolts and engine block, and reinstalled everything using Permatex Ultra Black.

It still seems to be leaking a bit come the end of the 2019 season, so that will be another project over the 2019-2020 winter. I might just return to the all-aluminum one-piece pan. I have a robust skid plate to protect the pan. We will see.



I noticed that one of the holes in the transmission mounting bracket was a little stripped. It must have been a little stripped by the constant removal/reinstall over the years, but it was never noticed until I install the VF Engineering mount that uses shorter bolts. I guess the threads that actually worked were at the bottom of the hole.

Since I did not have a spare bracket that mounts to the transmission (well, at least not for the 6-speed), Joey Kale was going to install a HeliCoil to rectify the issue.

Turns out the HeliCoil thread was exactly the same as a bolt he had, so we just used the larger bolt.



Time for some new front brake rotors. In the second image you can see the ridge on the edge of the old rotor.





And the final thing needed for the 2019 season was the reinstall of the skid plate threaded mounting points on the subframe… I replaced the subframe earlier as it was 3/8" out of true. That is Joey under the car doing the welding. Thanks to my friend Chris Achilles for coming over to install a 50amp outlet in the garage so that we could plug in the welder. Good thing I had a 100amp panel installed in the garage shortly after moving it.



And… the first hillclimb of the year! Mt Philo in the spring. (same for 2020)



The season progressed with zero (recallable) issues. We heard that the Mt. Ascutney hillclimb in the fall was going to run the full 3.6 mile hill course.

My favorite hill of the NEHA series, but over the past 10 years +/- it has gotten very bumpy between checkpoint 7 and the normal finish line at the 2.8 mile mark.

The fall 2019 event will bring us to the very top of the course at 3.6 miles.

My suspension was built back when the hill was a lot smoother. I believe that the bumps, a little airborne with the hard springs with some wheel spin, followed by the shock to the drivetrain upon the wheel making contact again (lots of grip) has been the cause to transmission and axle failures over the years.

Digging up an old photo from 2006 that shows the Shine Racing suspension prior to install.

Front: 8" 500# spring
Rear: 8" 350# spring



I borrowed some springs from Chris Putzier (he does a lot of rallying since… well, forever ago) to try.

Rear: 10" 140# spring replaced the 8" 350#





Originally, before Chris offered the loan of the softer springs, I looked at some alternative tender spring options for the springs sitting in my tool box.

The current setup was the 8" 500# spring with a helper spring (0# spring rate).



I had a 3" 200# tender spring that I thought of trying (remove the helper spring), but it seemed that it was too long.



Front: 12" 130# spring replaced the 8" 500#



Fronts installed.



Because I now had softer springs, there would be more body roll… so, I reinstalled the Shine Racing anti-sway bar.

I originally removed it during a HPDE day at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) where it was raining and the combination of stiff springs and the big anti-sway bar created some undesirable oversteer.



When installing the tire, I noticed that the wire that goes to the wheel speed sensor (used for ABS) was damaged as it was making contact with the rim. Something that I will replace during the 2019-2020 winter. For now, addressed the wires with issues and wrapped it in electrical tape.



Both sides of the front now have wheel spacers.



During the fall Ascutney event. Nothing broke.

Even though I thought the new softer suspension would help suck up the harsh bumps (and protect my axles from breaking), I did take it easy as I only had one replacement driver's side axle. My times show slower times to the traditional finish at the 2.8 mile mark.

Best time 2:56 (2016)
Fall 2019 3:02.17 (traditional) and 3:49.27 (full hill)

I got into it on Sunday after a few easy runs, but put it in the trailer early as I had to get home to my lovely wife.

While the softer springs did help with the bumps, they were actually too soft.

Winter 2019-2020 will provide a new suspension that has a better spring rate that will work for all the hills (I will keep the stiffer springs for the track) and adjustable shocks/struts.

 
#378 ·
The research continues on the upgrade for my suspension.

Something with good suspension travel, adjustable struts/stocks (two way), beefier construction, etc.

I looked at some brands and after contacting the company found they were outside of my racing budget. (i.e. Ohlin and Reigers)

Great quality, but I need to eat also!

My research for "racing coilovers" kept bringing up brands that use "racing" in their names (i.e. BC Racing) that might not have meet my needs.

KW Competition did come up in my research, but I am unsure (like I don't know) about the quality of the product. Anyone with insight?

So, three options that did come up were:

D2
https://d2racingsport.eu/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Rally Asphalt Coilover Kit - #D-VO-23-RA - Volkswagen JETTA 4-MK4 (2WD)


K Sport didn't seem to have anything that fit my car.
https://ksportusa.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


And finally...
Gaz Gold Coilovers
VW Golf Mk4 2WD Gaz Gold Coilover Suspension Kit
https://gazcoilovers.com/vw-golf-mk4-2wd-gaz-gold-coilover-suspension-kit-96-p.asp



I sent an email to Gaz to start that conversation.

What I like, so far, about Gaz, is that they seem to be speaking the language of "racing" while they still seem to be in my budget (assuming I'm converting that crazy looking L to the $ properly).

They also have the cheaper GHA coilovers (and this is what peaked my interest), but they stated:
"The GHA kit is not recommended for cars running semi slick track day tyres or full racing slicks as they are not designed to accept the high side loadings the extra grip of these tyres exert on the main seals and bearings within the dampers. If you run these tyres, you will be better served by our Gaz GOLD coilover range."

Great... so, the Gold is the better option for racing. They recognize side loading and the strength of the suspension.

What really caught my attention with the Gaz Gold are all the options available to setup the coilovers right down to their assistant with picking the correct spring rates for the type of racing you do. Sweet!

Going back at little bit in time, I was having a conversation with MurrayMotorsport.com (great company! highly recommend them) about Gaz coilovers, but the Gaz brand doesn't seem to be on their site anymore. I do see in their 2019 catalog, that they have Proflex, Ohlins, Gaz, Koni, Bilstein, etc. available. Unsure which is current.

Research continues.

Lots of upgrades to various parts throughout the car. Going to be a busy winter/spring in preparation for the first hillclimb of the year in May.

Lots of snow forecasted for the next few days. Good excuse to spend some time in the garage working on the car and doing research for parts.

Still having an issue finding good lightweight rims ( 17 x 8 ) that aren't crazy expensive.

Steve
 
#379 ·
A few updates, but no real progress on the Golf.

Planned for this weekend is a compression and leak down test. I haven't used the lead down tester yet, but I get the general idea. I might be a YouTube-certified Master Leak Down Tester by tomorrow.

The few things that I have been researching are spare rims (perhaps a little lighter) and a better coilover suspension.

Rim research continues, but I haven't narrowed it down yet.

I know it will be 17x8, 5x100, ET35, around 22-23 pounds, and around $150. And a dark color... I like black and gun metal. There are a number of options on Tire Rack that caught my attention.

The current rims that I purchased back in 2003 are quite heavy coming in at 26.8 pounds. The company that made the rims hasn't been around for a very long time. Edge Racing. I purchased them because they were $99 each.



Part of getting ready for the 2020 season is to make sure that I have extra parts and purchased some basic maintenance parts.

HANS replacement tether (dated 2020) from Summit Racing.
Simpson model number TK 1231.4



Extra 2.5 and 3.0 silicone couplers and T-bolt clamps from Mishimoto (New Castle, DE)



I often thought that if I dropped just one lugnut that I would not be able to drive. So... I ordered 20 new nuts from 034 Motorsports.



From FCP Euro, new bolts for the trailing arm bushings, new wheel bearings, speed sensor wire (front left was damaged), and rear spring rubber perch are all going in now. The ball joints are spares.



For tools that love to fly across the garage when in use, the strut spreader is one of those. The current tool I have is just the bit that I have to insert into a 9mm (or so) socket to use it. Enter the Metal Nerd strut spreading bit with a larger end for easier handling. I might glue it into a socket since everything at Sears is (was?) on sale. I picked up two of these tools due to the likelihood of them taking flight. Ordered from UroTuning.



Now the fun stuff.... Rear trailing arm bushings with spherical bearings from 034 Motorsports. (that's what I needed the new bolts for)



One problem that I have experienced over the years is that the brake pedal was a solid rock when it was used during or shortly after full boost. Bit me at Mt Washington in 2017.

Enter an electric vacuum pump from Leed.

This is the Bandit pump in black. It is approx 8" tall. I thought it was a bit smaller when ordering it as I had plans to install it under the hood, but since it is quite large, it will end up in the back of the car.

Ordered from Summit Racing.



I settled on Gaz Coilovers "VW Golf MK4 2WD Gas Gold"

https://gazcoilovers.com/vw-golf-mk4-2w ... t-96-p.asp

9" springs. Front 400# and rear 350# with everything valved accordingly.

Able to adjust the rebound and compression damping.

I had to measure the current spherical bearing in the Cusco (part number 566-410-A for "Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X (08-13)"... reminder for myself when I am trying to recall what I have) pillow top to ensure the Gaz shaft was machined to the correct spec.

 
#380 ·
A few MK4 and MK1 updates.

The 2020 hillclimb season is fast approaching and I just realized that are a number of general maintenance things that I need to do to my car plus some bigger stuff… like a new suspension and rims.

Rims should be minor, but a new set of tires are in the mix and it is impacting a few things.

So… the car is off the ground with the front and rear suspension completely removed.



In the front, I am trying a new set of tires. Yokohama Advan 230/640-17



They are "take offs" from Vermont SportsCar… I'm sure someone much faster had them before. But, the price was right; I grabbed two sets.



They are the same width when mounted on the same rim as my Toyo R888R tires, but the shoulder is more square and they are taller. Toyo height 24-1/2 and Yokohama 25-5/8.

This means they are severely rubbing against the current coilovers even with the 3mm spacer. The rims are 17x8 ET35. I plan to purchase a new set of rims after I get the new suspension in. Either I will have an offset that allows the Yokohama tires to work or I will get the same offset (35) and just use spacers.



I removed the rear beam to replace the 2001 stock bushings… yep, I never changed them. And they always squeaked.

The fronts and rear headed down to the Cheese Factory in Colchester, VT for some bearing and bushing pulling and pushing. Chris did a great job as usual!



While I had the rear beam off, we also did the original 2001 wheel bearings in the rear. Brake pads and rotors looked good.

I ordered some misc. parts to address some of the old bits and pieces… plastic retainers that hold the solid brake lines to the beam, wheel speed sensor (and new plugs for both sides as those where checking out soon), e-brake clips, new bolts and nuts for the bushing.

Enter the solid 034 Motorsport solution. Not all the parts are included in the picture.



New front wheel bearings. I have to bring one back as it needs a new hub (Chris couldn't source one locally). I also ordered a new set of brake pads for this season.



Next on the Golf is the oil pan (ordered aluminum) and power steering leak.

Interesting thing about the oil pan. I am changing from the hybrid pan (aluminum body with bolted on steel bottom). The bolts were all loose on the pan. I tried to address the leaking by removing, cleaning, and sealing everything, but she is leaking again.

The aluminum pan should be fine as I have a really good skid plate.

One thing I did recall when getting the hybrid oil pan is that ECS Tuning (where I purchased it) included the oil pickup tube as it was different from the aluminum pan.

So, going back to the aluminum pan, I needed to get the older pickup.

I was stuck on model year split for the new vs. the old pan, but it wasn't just the model year, it was actually the year they went from aluminum to the hybrid. I recall our 2004 Jetta IV 1.8t came with the hybrid pan.

VW part 06A115251 | 2003 and prior (because it has the aluminum pan)
VW part 06A115251G | 2004 forward (because it had the hybrid pan)

I'm going to try to remember to get some side by side pictures and measurements of the two to see the real different.

Well… I guess that oil pick tube story wasn't all that exciting… but, I will need this information in 5 years when I am trying to remember what I did to the car.

Blah blah blah…

Let's check out Joey's progress on the Scirocco.

Joey took a lot of great pictures that detailed the progress and the details; for now, I will just present some of the images I took this weekend. I will post up his pictures later.







Once the seats are in, we will determine which steering column to purchase. I am unsure of the size, brand, design, but it is something like this:



Also part of the work that Joey is doing is trying to address the camber plates. I want something similar to what I have on the Golf. Something that I can purchase off the shelf in the future (should I need to replace them) instead of a fabricated piece.

I am also currently researching tubular front control arms and purchase different knuckles… we will see.

 
#381 · (Edited)
Not a whole lot to report...

Both sides... new plastic clips for the hard brake lines on the beam plus the metal hangers for the e-brake cable.

Rear beam went in very easy on the left side of the car.



There weren't any instructions from 034 (other than "coming soon") so I had to figure it out myself. It isn't that difficult, I just would have liked to have the instructions to make sure I did everything correctly. A little "tool" of some sort was included with the kit... not idea how we were supposed to use it.

I greased all the parts before assembly, figured out that the longer of the two bearing spacers went on the outside.



The right side of the car seemed a bit problematic.

I removed the bracket from the car as it seemed a little bent. "A little" didn't do it justice. Enter hammer and anvil to make it look pretty again, installed the rear bear, torqued bracket bolts to 55 lb/# and the bearing bolts on both sides to 59 lb/#.

Installed both rear brake lines... and that is how everything suspension related will sit until the new coilovers arrive from England.



Time to check out the engine to see what shape it is in for this season. Naturally, I should have done this back in October, but life was busy back then.

I picked up a leak down test kit from Summit Racing a few years ago. It is a lot easier to use than I expected.

I understood the general concept...; pressurize a cylinder and see how much air gets by the valves, rings, etc.

I pressurized the tool, turned the yellow knob until the right gauge was in the middle of "Set", connected the hose to the #1 cylinder, and connected the other end to the tool.

And... HIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS with 100% leak down. I passed! I got 100%.

Nope... that would be very, very bad to have 100%

Oops, forgot about the whole top dead center thing.

I turned the crank to get TDC for #1 and #4 and tested those and rotated it 180-degrees for #2 and #3.

In addition, I did the standard compression test afterwards.

Here are the results (both test in each picture... pretty snazzy)









My helper (Julie) holding the engine in position so that the piston doesn't go down when pressurized.



Suspension-wise, the car is done.

Left to do:
1. Power steering hose on the rack is leaking (hopefully, just need to tighten it)
2. New oil pan
3. Figure out what offset works with the new taller tires and the new suspension (when it arrives) and order another set of lighter rims
4. Install the new suspension (hopefully, in two weeks!)
5. Install seat... currently it is sitting in the MK1 Scirocco as I will be running the seat in both cars (well, each car will have its own seat, but they will be the same brand/model)

 
#382 ·
A few Volvo and Volkswagen updates…

In this exciting episode of "Finding more time to work on my cars since I don't need to commute to work" Garage:

2015.5 Volvo S60 T6 R-Design
Rear Brakes
Misadventures of Trying to Replace the Power Steering Control Module (Snipe Hunt)
Clean and Ready for Summer

2001 Volkswagen MK4
Wheel Speed Sensor Replacement and Removal of Pad Wear Sensor
Coil Relocation
New Coilover Suspension is Here!

---------

I thought there would be Subaru WRX updates also (other than putting on the summer tires!), but everything looked good including the brake pads and rotors. It is getting close to the time to sell the WRX and purchase something new for my daily.

Though… I do love having an older car like this (2009) to navigate the winter roads and bring it to car events from time to time (Autocross, track, etc.). Don't race a car payment!

Let's start with the Volvo.

This is my first time doing anything to this car other than the basics; swapping summer and winter tires, changing engine intake filter, and changing (what a pain!) cabin air filter.

Since the car isn't needed as a daily commuter right now with all this stay-at-home Zombie stuff, I was comfortable digging into this car to replace the Power Steering Computer Module (or so I thought) and the rear brake rotors/pads. I did not want to take the car apart when it was needed for the daily commute as I was worried I would need to order parts that I hadn't thought of when planning the projects, which would have put us down on car. In the summer… no big deal as I can drive my truck, but I try not to drive my all season tire truck in the winter (because of the salt).

Rear brakes…

Very easy as the design of the rear brakes is very similar to what I normally see on the fronts of cars. Remove caliper and remove bracket. Since the Golf has been on jackstands for a while, I had to buy another set of four jackstands to do other projects.

Basic hand tools (13mm and 15mm sockets) plus T30 (long) to remove the Electronic Parking Brake (EPB) motor, T40 to turn in (reset) the EPB, and T50 to remove the screw the holds the rotor to the hub.



Good thing I addressed the pads; very thin. Image shows the old pads installed with a new pad next to it. Wow!



All installed. The pads came with new 13mm caliper bolts and sliders and the rotors had new 15mm bracket bolts, but I do wish I replaced the T30 head EPB bolts. Normally, you reset the EPB via putting the car in service mode, but I don't have a scanner to do it electronically.



Next, diving into the front end to address an intermittent power steering issue.

Sometimes, when we start the car we can feel in the steering wheel (without even going anywhere) that the power steering is not working. Turn off the car and restart it… might take a few tries… and everything is back to normal.
This issue has never occurred while driving. If it does occur after we first start the car and we don't restart the car to correct the issue and just drive it, the issue does not go away.

It was suggested to me to replace the Power Steering Control Module (Volvo part number 31360217) as it is an inexpensive part ($150 +/-). Looks like a typical relay, but I could not find any information on where it goes on the car.



Going to some of the Volvo forums or Facebook, it was suggested that the PSCM is located on the pump that is located behind the front right bumper corner.

The power steering on this car is an electric hydraulic pump.

I did over complicate accessing the pump. It is as easy as removing the front right tire, removing the fender liner, removing the two pins that makes it very easy to remove the entire headlight housing (wish all cars were like this), unplug the headlight, disconnect the power steering reservoir to make it easier to move the pump, and then remove the four nuts from the front (accessible because the headlight was removed) and back (removed fender liner) of the pump. Bam!



The power steering pump. The pump itself looks easy to change, but my goal was to replace an inexpensive part to see if that fixed the issue.

Talking through a friend to his friend who is a Volvo tech, I am told that the PSCM is part of the pump… so, I have no idea what the relay looking thing belongs.

So… I put it all back together. If I need to replace the pump, at least I now know how to access and replace it. A waste of my time, but it was a learning experience.



Yuck!



Un-yucked!



All back together with the summer rims and tires and a car wash.



Switching gears to the 2001 Volkswagen Golf MK4 that I race.

I ordered a replacement wheel speed sensor wire for the front left wheel.

I ordered 1J0927903E (excludes the pad wear sensor) accidently instead of 1J0927903R (includes the pad wear sensor) from www.FCPEuro.com (great place… I highly recommend them!).

The front left corner is supposed to have the pad wear sensor, but I have had it disconnected for years and had it ziptied to the strut.

So, it seemed like a good time to just remove the pad wear sensor from my car.

This shows the new (no pad wear sensor with only one plug) vs. the old pad sensor version with two plugs.



Of course, it can't be that straight forward. The plugs are different.



The wire gauge is the same, but the terminals are different, so I will have to replace the terminals (able to reuse the Weather Pack seals); ordered terminals from www.ecstuning.com along with some other parts (coming in soon).

Reuse Weather Pack seals and boot; just need terminals and a proper crimper.



Next… trying to address this piece of crap that I made a few years ago to hold the coils.



This is what I removed… the stock battery tray and the bracket I made.

The issue with this design is that it is hard to unplug the coils (if trying to address an issue) and I have to remove this entire contraption to access the ground wires on the car. Bad design all around when trying to access things to try to address issues. This I discovered one year when I had an issue with the fuel pump… what a pain.



Enter the replacement. Something that I am planning to mount in the engine bay to the fender-side wall.

ICT Billet Remote Mount Ignition Coil Relocation Brackets (part number 551588) from www.SummitRacing.com.

There are two of them in the package for $60.



Coils mocked up.

I have a few choices here how to mount them.

Bracket-coil-coil-coil-coil-Bracket

If I mount them all between the two brackets, the coils need to alternate as the #4 coil cannot be oriented so that the plug on the bottom is on the outside as it will interfere with the bracket.



I would also need to grind down the relief for the heat sink to mount it this way.



The actually instructions show the final coil after the bracket end.

Bracket-coil-coil-coil-Bracket-coil

I will figure out what works best for me. Key part is that the coils and ground wires will be easier to access and service AND will look soooo much better.

Now the good stuff.

The VW Golf Mk4 2WD Gaz Gold Coilover Suspension Kit arrived!

https://gazcoilovers.com/vw-golf-mk4-2w ... t-96-p.asp

I did get a spammy looking text message that stated:

DHL Express Shipment (tracking number): Your shipment is ready! To complete delivery please pay required US import duties/taxes here: https://del/dhs.com/US/(with-a-unique-link)

Riiiiiiiight….

I figured it was spam, but I did check the tracking number supplied in the text to the DHL website and was able to verify that it was my shipment and it was pending payment for duties/taxes. Followed the link in the text message and got my package (which was sitting in the US) moving forward.

My conversation with Gaz Coilovers was about how rough our roads are and I needed something to suck up the bumps. They suggested their gravel setup with 9" springs and 400lb front and 350lb rear.

Looking at what I actually received, it looks like I have 7" front and 8" rear. Springs are cheap and easy to swap out.





Old vs. New Fronts



Rears… One question about the rears is how do I make them operational; currently they are complete compress and do not come out on their own. I read online that if the shocks are sitting on their side or upside down, the gases end up at the wrong side of the piston. So, the two choices offered were to install them and they would start working over time (not going to do this) or pull them out and push them in until they start working. Also, recommended letting them site upright.

Still doesn't seem to be working… Hmmmmm.





Old vs. New Rears

The new setup does need the upper stock mount.



The old lower mounting point for the spring was pretty beat up. The old version did pivot while the new one does not; hopefully, this all works out when the rear beam is in its operating limits (right now it is dropped low as nothing is connected).



The new lower mounting point fits nicely into the perch and has a huge buttocks bolt holding it all together vs. the PITA snap ring setup.

 
#383 ·
It took a surprising amount of time today to get things accomplished on the Golf today.

Spent a lot of time cleaning parts and attending to the small details. The day went by waaaaay too quickly.

-------

I should have ordered one of these years ago to protect the pinch weld when jacking up the car.

Powerflex Black Series "Universal Jack Pad Adapter" that has 14mm wide x 15mm deep and 10mm wide x 15mm deep slots in it.

I don't need it for the Golf as the pinch weld is flattened, but will be very useful for the Subaru WRX and Volvo S60 and whatever future car we get.

Purchased at www.ECStuning.com (ES#4006979)



Today's goal was to install the front coilovers. The rears are on hold for some hardware that should arrive next week.

The Golf currently has the nut pictured on the left (Cusco kit); this is what goes though the 18mm ID spherical bearing on the pillow ball mounts.

On the right is what came with the Gaz kit; one piece goes on either side of the bearing.

I don't like the two piece design from an installation point of view… is one design better than the other in terms of properly supporting the suspension on the bearing? Don't know.



Both versions sitting on top of the strut. The old threaded nut version requires only one nut to handle both the attachment to the strut and working with the bearing. The Gaz version has the nut for the strut and the two pieces for either side of the bearing.



I did notice that it seemed the Gaz version doesn't allow as much of an angle change from horizontal as compared to the Cusco version.

Gaz version:



Cusco version:



Probably doesn't matter if both are within the operational range.



I noticed that the pads were wearing uneven in the front right. Inspection of the 2001 calipers showed that it was time to redothe seals, slides, etc.

Well, these remanufactured "Power Stop" calipers purchased from www.ECStuning.com (part number ES#3148871) were the right price, came with the bracket, and both were powder-coated red. I would have preferred black, but that is what they had. I really like that they were powder-coated so they don't turn into a rusty looking mess… after nearly 20 years.

Big brakes aren't needed for hillclimbing; the pads are still high temp (Hawk Blue 9012 Compound for the track) with good bite. For the rear pads, I use Hawk HP Plus as they heat up quicker; they did not need to be replaced yet.



Near caliper, new pads, new ball joint, new wheel bearing, new hub, and new suspension.



Sweet! Still need to torque everything. Of course, I will have to remove the pillow ball mounts next week as they go back to Joey's to fabricate the Scirocco to use the same mounts.



I couldn't work on the rear shocks (waiting for parts), but I did install new e-brake hangers (1J0609745G - left and 1J0609746F - right), brake line clips (191611715), and two pin connector for the ABS/wheel speed sensor (6N0927997A).



Long day without a lot accomplished. I hope to finish the front suspension 100% this weekend along with addressing the leaking power steering line on the rack and replace the oil pan.

When parts arrive, install the rear suspension during the week.

I do need to order new pillow ball mounts for the Scirocco so that I can reinstall the current mounts that are currently shared between the two cars. And the seat… the Scirocco still has the Golf seat. (I will have to order a new seat later this summer)

Also, once the suspension is together, I get to break out some measuring devices to figure out what rims to purchase to that I can mount the "new" Yokohama Advan tires.
 
#384 ·
Very slow progress as I don't seem to be in a rush as the race season keeps getting postponed due to all the issues with Zombies and such.

To race this car this season...

TQ all the bolts on the suspension
Address loose (I hope) power steering line on the rack
Replace the leaky two-piece hybrid oil pan with a stock one piece aluminum pan.
Reinstall race seat (currently with the Scirocco)

I do want to order another set of rims to work with the "new" tires. Can't show up at a $900 event with only one set of rims/tires (going to file this under "wheels") and spare parts.

The progress... and I learned a lot thanks to Kenji at Cusco USA. (http://www.cuscousainc.com)

The ECStuning.com parts arrived.

The "ECS Heavy Duty Rubber Rear Shock Mount Kit" was advertised as:

"The ECS Heavy Duty Rear Shock Mount Kit offers significant performance to your vehicle's handling and long term durability as compared to stock shock mounts. With the increased durometer over the OEM 50A foam-filled shock mounts, the ECS 80A durometer void-free rubber shock mounts will better resist deflection and premature wear that commonly plagues the OE mounts without sacrificing ride comfort. This is a must have if you are installing sport springs, coilovers or when replacing rear shocks."

We will see...

I also ordered some sockets that make it easier to user Allen wrenches to tighten the struts/shocks... worked fine in the rear (17mm), but the original Golf fronts were 21mm while the Gaz are 22mm. Opps.





Rear coilovers installed.



So much better than my non-adjustable Bilstien setup.



All the bolts that I need to torque on the front and rear suspension... took me a while to catalog all the torque specifications.



And finally, I ordered pillow ball mounts from Kenji at Cusco USA. (http://www.cuscousainc.com). He was a very helpful with getting me to understand all the parts of a pillowball mount. The image below was the biggest help as I did not quite understand the collar part. This is because it is actually missing from my Golf, which would explain why the nut had scrapping damage from moving within the bearing. Something that we will address later.

The new Cusco plates will go on the Scirocco (same plates as the Golf). Unsure what I will be running for suspension on the Scirocco. We will see.

 
#385 ·
Another hillclimb was cancelled this year because of zombies... this one is the biggest event of the season for me.

The Mt. Washington Hillclimb in New Hampshire is normally every three years... it was moved to 2021 (instead of having to wait 3 more years). Some good news in there.

I really need to finish the Golf so that I can do other projects in the garage since warmer weather is here.... was here... and back again (gotta love Vermont weather).
 
#386 ·
First update since May 2020.

Grab some coffee and internet bandwidth… this is 8 pages of text without the pictures.

2001 VW Golf, 2009 Subaru WRX, and 2015 Volvo 60 news… and a 1980 VW Scirocco.

Where this dramatic story left off, the German mistress gained a new suspension and is still, to this day, sitting on jackstands.

And includes a love story. (well, a very "strong like" at the very least.. save the love for family, friends, and small animals)

All the nuts and bolts on the suspension were torqued and pretty much ready to hit the ground to finally stand on its new suspension. I will have a lot of adjustments to make at that point… ride height, setting on the struts/shocks, and perhaps some corner weighting (maybe).

Star date 11237.5… I mean, Chapter 1: Next in line is the leaky hybrid oil pan. Stock for my year car is an all-aluminum pan that doesn't play nice with objects that might be introduced at speed. When I did some creative parking at the Mt. Washington hillclimb in 2017, I managed to get a hairline crack in the pan.

I replaced it with the hybrid oil pan that is an aluminum base with a steel bottom. This is the stock oil pan for 2004 forward on the 1.8t.

It leaked last summer, so I removed the steel bottom, cleaned it up, sealed, and reassembled. I guess I didn't do it good enough for leak free service in the long term.

Oh, well, off comes the hybrid pan and back on is a new aluminum pan (part # 038-103-601MA).



I ordered the oil pickup that goes with the aluminum pan to make sure I was using the correct one. There is a slight difference. "A"luminum vs "H"ybrid. The hybrid version goes deeper into the bottom of the pan.



Chapter 2: Next, time to focus on the driver's ABS wheel speed sensor wire that was damaged. I tried to order the non-brake pad wear sensor version (what I pictured in earlier posts), but it turns out that I ordered the wire for a Passat instead of my Golf. Opps. FCPeuro allowed me to make the exchange even with some time passing since I ordered the part. Nice people!

I tend to order all the parts for the various things that I will do to my car well in advance to when I actually need them.

The non-brake pad wear sensor version is just the passenger side wire, therefore, it is quite a bit longer. The outside coating is very hard to slice to expose the wires to attach the terminals.



I ordered the proper terminal crimping tool (does the terminal and weather seal).



Removed the two terminals from the plug, installed the two new wires, connected the brake pad wear sensor wires together (from the ABS module to the ECU to complete the circuit).



I ran the wire a little different than stock. From the wheel, I went to the back holder on the strut, then the front, and through the fender. I am hoping that doing it this way will keep the wire away from the rim (how the wire was damaged in the first place).



The order from FCPeuro included the ABS wire, front control arm bolts, rear brake disc retention screws (torx heads), two ball joints and outer tie rod ends (I always have an extra two in the trailer when racing), along with two bottles of power steering fluid… that will be part of the major pain in the buttocks story in Chapter 3.



Advantage of cooler weather later in the season… side door open instead of running the AC.

 
#387 ·
Chapter 3: Uggggggghhhhh! I hate working backwards. I had to address a leaky power steering rack. The rack came from the 20AE when I rebuilt the frontend of the Golf after an incident in 2010. I used the transmission, engine, PS rack, etc. etc. from the donor 20AE. Last time that I am going to use old parts… yeah, riiiiiggghttt.

I filled the power steering reservoir as it was completely empty, started the car, and turned the wheel back and forth.

I spent a lot of time crawling under the car and taking pictures as my camera could get in a better angle to see the rack. I thought for sure it was the new flex lines that I installed on the rack since that was the last thing that I did prior to it leaking.

The pain in the buttocks… remember in introduction when the suspension was all tight and ready for action?

Time to backtrack and drop the subframe to access the power steering rack. Fluid all over the top of it.



This is the source of the leak. It is actually the nipple from the rack that is leaking, not where the hose connects to it.



Close up. The "drip" is because I removed the line, but look at the metal on the rack. The source of the leak.



I ordered a remanufactured Bosch rack from FCPeuro… my favorite go to for our Volkswagen and Volvo parts… wish they also had Subaru parts. I figured that someone mentioned that she could see Russia from Alaska, so I figured Japan must also be pretty close to Europe. Nope.

…the "strong like" story…

Pictured on their site when I ordered Bosch 1J1422075P was a fully loaded steering assembly. The rack/pinion, inner tie rods, boots, etc.



What arrived was a little different… though, a nice looking unit.

I sent them an email, had some good constructive conversations with Gus at FCPeuro, and it seems the image on their site needs to be updated and I did get what I ordered.



Okay, I asked if they had the fully assembled rack (less work for me!) and he put everything that I needed together in my cart so that I didn't have to fish around for what I needed. Big help.

I understand that the website images might not always be correct. No biggy.

Let's just say that FCPeuro did a solid and handled the whole situation very professionally and beyond my expectation. It might be because I was so nice during this exchange (that was not supposed to be sarcasm.. I was very nice) or it is just because of their business ethics. I have always said that people make mistakes; what they do after they are aware of the mistake is what defines them.

I "strong like" FCPeruo. Enough where I proudly included their sticker on my car. Not something that I take lightly.

I don't have stickers for brands of parts because I use them. Stickers are on my car because of people. People who helped make racing possible. FCPeuro is a good company with great people… I will continue recommending them.



The gang is (almost) all here.

I realized that I needed the clamps for the boots.

I ordered the clamps from ECStuning
N90834901 (large inner clamp)
N10197601 (small outer clamp)



I noticed that I had a credit sitting at FCPeuro (might have been from the Passat ABS wheel speed sensor that I returned) so I ordered the tool to use on the power steering rack clamps (same as CV joints, it seems… good tool to have) and the tool for those PITA clamps on MK4 coolant lines where I have struggled with channel lock pliers.



I noticed the distinction between "early and late" tie rods, but I do not know if it is driven by model year.

343.1mm is approx. 13.5" (early)
318.9mm is approx. 12.5" (late)



Gus at FCPeuro looked up the inner tie rods based on my VIN just to make sure I was getting the correct rods.

It is interesting that the "late" version includes 2001 (my actual Golf) and the 2003 (20AE donor rack). What the heck is "early" then (assuming it is by model year)… the MK4 came out in the US in 1999.

 
#388 ·
Chapter 4: I still haven't installed the rack yet because of a track day coming up that has me focusing on the Subaru WRX. More unexciting news on that.

But first, let's have a word from our sponsor and flashback to June 2020.

The hillclimbs in Vermont (and Mt Washington in New Hampshire) were naturally canceled this year. I had to make a trip to see a friend to pick up some "car parts" (inside joke, and no, it isn't drugs) so I stopped by Mt. Ascutney. To my surprise, the access road was open. It just so happened that I arrived on the very first day that the parks were open in 2020.

Ascutney being my favorite (minus the bigger bumps growing at the top of the hill) hillclimb, I paid the day fee and headed up the hill slowly.

Beautiful views. I got FTD as no one else showed up… same scenario is needed for me to get FTD during a real hillclimb.



Picking up those car parts at a secret location in New Hampshire.



And now back to our regularly scheduled program that is in progress.

I replaced the passenger side control arm with a BFI complete control arm with VW R32 bushings earlier this year. I noticed that the driver's side was also bad.

So, I decided that I didn't want to find another dead bushing while at an event and ordered the SCCH front control arm bearings.

I'm a little confused who makes them and what SCCH stands for…

The instructions with the bearings show "SCCH: Suspension Components & Cylinder Heads" and provides a link to www.SCCH-Heads.com, but the actual website states "SCCH: Southern California Cylinder Heads"… don't know.

The instructions also show "Innovative Motorsport Solution".

Regardless, I purchased the bearings from MRP (www.performancemrp.com) and Chris (Cheesefactory Auto in Colchester, VT) did the pressing. Thanks Chris!











I have the steering rack out of the car, I might as well replace the old stock bushings with Powerflex polyurethane. I looked at the solid metal bushings (brackets at this point?), but could not justify the price. I lived this long with rubber.


Might now seem like much of an update, but I needed a horn. I am missing the high tone (didn't replace it after the 2010 front end modification incident) which left me with the dull and muffled low tone.

At the hillclimbs, we are required to have a working horn to communicate with the checkpoint workers if something happens unexpectedly… could just be a mechanical issue and the car doesn't run (one honk) or we hit something and need help (two honks). (removed verbosity soaked attempt to explain the complete rules that you just don't need to know… you're welcome)

Anyway, the PIAA horns were inexpensive and louder. I plan to mount then inside the engine bay as I figure the stock location of the horns (front bumper) would make them useless in a frontal impact. Plus, it will make it easier for me to remove the bumper in the future as I won't have to play with the horn wires.



When I removed the rear wiper blade so that I didn't accidently turn it on and scratch the back window and damage the stickers, I just put black electrical tape over the hole.

It worked okay, but I wanted something a little better than tape.

Heck, I even graduated from zipties in some cases.

Ordered the rear wiper delete plug from ECStuning (part number ES#3170849).

The description: "The exterior cap is made from Type-6463 Billet Aluminum to achieve the ultra-high gloss bright dip anodized finish to match the rear hatch glass and to maintain protection against ultraviolet light"

And I'm just thinking, "plugs the hole and looks pretty"



Installed…

 
#389 ·
Chapter 11teen: Reported from Joey at Kales Custom, the cage on the Scirocco is done! I am heading over there on Friday so that we can determine the proper location to mount the fixed seat (no sliders this time). Gotta remember to bring my helmet.

That is it for Volkswagen news…

Time for the Subaru WRX.
Trying to adjust the hover mode…



Or, I just have it on jackstands to install the "track only" brake pads and the Toyo R888 tires for the first (and only?) car event for me this year.

I am currently running the Hawk HP Plus if I bring the car to a small track (and I love them for daily driving), but I noticed at a track event at Canaan (http://www.canaanmotorclub.com/the-track) last year led to hot and fading brakes.

I went with Hawk DTC-60 pads front and rear for the 2020 track event.



Back on the ground with new pads and rubber (the Toyos were already mounted on my "race" rims… easy swapping)



Headed off to Club Motorsports in Tamworth, NH (USA) for a time trial event with some open track on Oct 12. Great track… lots of fun and still so much to learn.

Here is a video of part of the open track session. Because the car doesn't have a cage or harness, and I didn't know the track, I did spend a great deal of time coasting into the brake zone and not trying to go as fast as I could. Normally, I would drive in deep and put the brake pads to work. Don't get me wrong, I was trying to be quick in the corners, etc., but I was cautious with my top speed and how deep I went into corners before hard braking.



The folks that I race with in the New England Hillclimb Association (NEHA) series organized this great event. Very little sitting with a lot of driving. 40ish drivers with a car leaving the start line about every 30 seconds. Kudos!

Some photos from the event… diverse group of drivers and cars.



























This is a cool car to have back in our ranks. Charlie Rutan (brother to Bill Rutan who built the Scirocco that I have now) built this fast 1964 VW Beetle and raced it (at the very least) in the NEHA hillclimbs for many years. He retired from racing in 2000.

Somewhere along the lines, his son autocrossed the car and then ended up trying to sell it in 2016. Sometime between 2016 and the Oct 12, 2020 event, the Beetle was sold, rebuilt, and was ready for a track event. Very nice seeing this car back in action again.







 
#390 ·
2009 Subaru WRX... ordering performance exhaust (still planning what I want) to replace the original 150,000 miles stock system. It is my daily driver that sometimes finds itself on a track.

Before it hits the track again, I want to do through all the suspension bushings to freshen the original aging parts.

2001 VW Golf... on my list this weekend is to finish the power steering rack, install control arms (with new fancy parts), and get all the suspension 100% assembled.

That will leave the horns, coil pack mounting (will need some fabrication assistance to do this correctly), and electric brake booster install

1980 VW Scirocco... well, I think it is a 1980. Perhaps I should check.

Progress on cage. I went over to Joey's last week so that we could determine proper mounting location for the seat. It is a little strange sitting more in the center of the car than normal.

Talked about how to mount camber plates to give me camber and caster (via slotted mounting holes where the camber plates mount to the car).

Some jack pins to avoid dorking up the rocker panels. Plus, will be more secure when working on the car in the field. Some tripod adjustable jackstands in the future.





 
#391 ·
Artsy-fartsy image from wife of me working on the car.



Big plans turned into little time tonight.

After dinner (at 6:30) I headed out to garage to assemble the new rack (inner tie rods and new boots), remove old, and install new rack.

At 6:31, upon opening my tool chest drawer to retrieve a tool, I realized that this is going to take me a while to get READY to work.

All my tools were still in the enclosed trailer; I didn't unpack them after the track event at Club Motorsports. Oops.

7:00. Rack mounted on workbench, installed inner tie rod ends, and got ready to install boots.

Glad I assembled everything before attempting to tighten the clamps as the clamps need to be around the inner (large) boot before installation. Hey... this is new to me.

Excited to graduate from zip-ties and hose clamps on the boots.

Got everything together and ready to use my new fancy CV clamp tool. Perhaps CV clamps have different size starting position on the clamp because the tool was too small to get over the clamp.



I got creative and took the tool apart to extend its reach for the initial clamping and then put it back together to complete the clamp. The part that I removed pushes down on the head of the clamp.

I'm sure all you engineering and mechanic types out there are cringing at what I am naming all the parts of... stuff. But, you get the point.



All assembled and called it a night at 8:00. Long day... I needed a break.

 
#392 ·
Rack is back in and mounted to the subframe. Next step is to install the four bolts... one of the 14mm x 1.5 bolts did not seem correct so I want to chase the holes first.

Got me thinking... they are TTY bolts on subframe and steering rack. Decided not to cut any corners and ordered all new bolts.

So... PAUSE for a few days while I source a tap and wait for the bolts to arrive.

Progress is progress.

I recall having to turn the steering wheel to about six o'clock to access the bolt to disconnect the steering column from the rack.

Putting it back together I tried to do a little too much deep thinking. What do I need to turn the steering wheel to while connected to the rack to be able to get the bolt in an easy to access location while not losing "center" on the rack.

Well... that math wasn't needed.

Just put the column on the rack spline and correct the orientation of the steering wheel. Lots of splines there to be able to center the steering wheel.

I'm now thinking my rack wasn't exactly centered before.

Proper install here with easy to access bolt.



Steering wheel is confused. Will adjust when car is rolling around to ensure it is centered properly.



I ordered a new FIA (2025 expiration) OMP Sedan 2/3x3 FIA Harness, 2/3" Shoulder, 3" Lap, Pull Up, 6 point harness. Just one for now... passengers be damned!

The 2/3" for the shoulder harness has 2" at the top to work with my HANS, but widens to 3" below that point to the cam lock. (same as what I have now vs. the other option of all 2")

I made sure to get pull up lap belts to work better with my seats. (same)

Also new is the camlock is attached to the sub-belts instead of the lap belt. We will see how I like that setup. Present harness has it on the lap belt.

If I like the harness, I might order one for the passenger side, though, the rare passenger makes it hard to justify the approx $300 price tag. Could start charging $4.28 per fun run... trust me, some deep thinking math went into that number and it actually could work out. I even carried the two.



After I get subframe situated, install the control arms (new fancy solid bushings!) and the rest of the suspension. I would be able to drive the car at that point, but I still have a few things to work on.

Installing vacuum pump for the brakes (plug brake booster vacuum hole) and trying to determine if my racing budget will allow for removal of old 034EFI engine management in favor of modern VEMS setup.

We will see.

Steve
 
#393 ·
Progress on the 1980 Scirocco.

Joey Kale (Kale's Custom) is finalizing the cage, seat mounts, and camber plates, etc.

Here are some images that Joey posted on his Facebook page to show the recent progress.

I think the quality is top notch.

We are using the exact same camber plates as what we used on the MK4 Golf. Joey is building a structure on the strut top so that the camber plate is mounted underneath this structure vs. the camber plate being mounted to the topside of the strut tower. Should be much stronger.

Added in slotted mounting points to allow some caster adjustment as we are trying to dial in the alignment.



Some photos of the cage work...









Good progress.

Yep... I need to get the Golf done as the Scirocco needs to park in the garage where the Golf is sitting. Golf to the trailer for winter storage.

More progress!

Steve
 
#394 ·
First update for 2021.

So much was accomplished since November, but would have been completed back in November if I didn't have one #$%^! hole that was dorked up.

Back in November, the new steering rack was attached to the subframe and the subframe was in place and ready for the four M14 bolts to attach to the car.

One hole wasn't quite right… I could not easily tighten the bolt by hand and wanted to chase the threads.

I tried a chase, but it would not work as the threads were too messed up.

I ordered new TTY M14 x 1.50 pitch bolts for the subframe and new TTY bolts for the power steering rack along with a M14 x 1.50 tap and die.

With the subframe still in place, I used the tap on the threads (everything felt good).

But… when trying to torque the bolt, I got that terrible feeling when you know the threads checked out and headed to Florida for vacation.



Off came the subframe (power steering rack on jackstands). One step backwards.

This is the front right mounting point for the subframe. Per the Bentley manual, the front mounts, which is a captured nut, is not serviceable with a helicoil unlike the rear mounts. Bentley states to replace the entire assembly, though, I would think cutting a hole and replacing the nut would also be a good option.



I had a conversation with my hillclimb racing cohorts about Heli-Coils; are they a good option for a captured nut, are they strong enough, etc. The responses were very positive.



Then someone mentioned Time-Serts as another option. Hmmmm, internet research of Heli-Coils vs Time-Sert showed both were good options, but I really liked the design of the Time-Sert (a threaded barrel with a lip on top as a stop) for fixing the subframe threads.

Ordered M14 x 1.50 kit from Amazon.



The kit includes a 57/64" S&D drill bit, counterbore, tap for the Time-Sert barrel (unsure of the actual tap size), driver, and four inserts.



Thankfully, I purchased a 1/2" drill back in 2001, used it once to drill three holes in my open trailer, and haven't used it since.

Drilled the hole for the insert slowly with lots of oil.



Normally, the next step is to use the counterbore to allow for a flush install of the insert as the top has a lip, but it wasn't needed in my case as the hole in the unibody was adequate.



Tap for the insert.



Installing the insert using 30W oil (per the instructions)



The new threads.



Installed the subframe (new threads worked!), control arms, axles, etc.



This picture captures everything that I did to the car over the summer… obviously, in no rush as there were no events.

* New power steering rack with harder poli mount (there is only one as the second is all metal)
* Control arms with metal bushings
* New ball joints and outer tie rod ends
* New oil pan
* New brake calipers and pads
* New wheel bearings and hubs (right side didn't need a new hub)
* New suspension
* Changed left front wheel sensor to a non-brake pad wear sensor version (had to depin at the ABS module)



Close up of the rear control arm bushing.



I noticed that I had to full seat the new struts. Was not able to do when installing; had to wait until I was able to put the full weight of the car on it.



Loosened the strut bolt. I also used a strut spreader on each side; unsure if it was necessary.

Good thing I purchased two of the Metal Nerd (MN3424) strut spreaders. I ordered two as I was worried about misplacing the small tool.



Properly seated and everything is tight again.

Torqued inner and outer axle bolts.



I noticed that the right wheel had a heck of a lot of negative camber.

Prior to the new suspension, I had set the right camber plate all the way negative to match the left side that was more in the middle. Something was off with right vs. left. Whatever it was, the changes I made this summer corrected it.

Top view of left and right wheel and camber plate to show the difference.





Car on the ground. I still need to determine ride height (pretty close to stock height), adjust the strut/shock damping, and align the front end.



I forgot that I had this little gem. Custom made "Rabbit Farmer" badge for the back of the Scirocco.



Then there is the 2009 Subaru WRX. It didn't pass state inspection back in October due to a leaky exhaust system. It is the original… can't expect it to last forever, especially with the salty winters in Vermont.

I have been trying to find the Invidia Q300 cat back exhaust (model number INVHS08SW4GT3) since October, but it was back ordered on every vendor's website. I finally ordered it from RallySportDirect for $726 (with taxes) on Black Friday to get 10% off knowing that it was still on back order. The estimate at that time was early December, which changed to late December, then mid-January.

It arrived on January 18.

Based on reviews, the Q300 is not loud and doesn't drone. I was looking for something a little better than stock and cheaper than an OEM Subaru exhaust. Oh… and stainless steel.

I would install the exhaust myself, except I know that I have to address a leaking shifter shaft seal on the back/top of the transmission. I plan to bring it to a shop for the transmission leak and exhaust install.

Then to Subaru for alignment and inspection.



For my information for the next time I am taking everything apart at a race should I need the torque specs and forgot the Bentley at home:

Powersteering rack to subframe: 15 ft/lb + 1/4 turn
Subframe (all four bolts) to body: 74 ft/lb + 1/4 turn
Ball joint bolts to control arm (3 bolts): 15 ft/lb + 1/4 turn
Outer tie rod to hub: 33 ft/lb
Control arm (front bolt): 52 ft/lb + 1/4 turn
Control arm (back bolt): 52 ft/lb + 1/4 turn
Dogbone to bottom of transmission (2 bolts): 37 ft/lb
Inner axle bolts: Control arm (front bolt): 59 ft/lb
Axle bolt to hub: 184 ft/lb + 1/4 turn, back off 1/2 turn, roll car to rotate wheel 180-degrees, 184 ft/lb + 1/4 turn
 
#395 ·
This is a great thread. I'm not sure if you care, but you might be interested to know that VW uses time-serts themselves. I purchased a VW factory remanufactured engine from VW once, and they had used time-serts to fix some damaged threads on the head. I have also used them on other things and they seem to perform very well.
 
#397 ·
Invidia Q300 cat back exhaust (model number INVHS08SW4GT3) from www.rallysportdirect.com/ for the 2009 Subaru WRX.

Unpacking to check out the construction. Only one small dent in shipping; there was some metal to metal contact in the package... there was more packing between the exhaust and the outside of the box than between the exhaust pieces.

Seems to be a nicely constructed exhaust system. Looking forward to getting it on the car. Included bolts and gaskets for the three-bolt flanges. I need to determine what I am going to do with exhaust hangers (stock or aftermarket). The car is pretty stock.















 
#398 ·
More progress.

More pictures than words.

1980 VW Scirocco MK1 with 1.8T

Getting closer with cage, camber plates, jack points, etc. at Kales Custom (Joey Kale)



Body plate to support the camber plates almost done. Very strong and functional. Will have to get a little creative with the hood to work around these.











2001 VW Golf MK4 with 1.8T

Smaller hotside to the turbo.

Turbo is GTX2863R with 42mm external WG / 6852 housing ; previously it was the 3652 housing. Just purchased the 2552 housing to spool quicker. I believe this is the smallest I can get for my turbo that is a direct replacement.

I had to get schooled how to read these numbers on the housing as they didn't make sense to me. Hopefully I was paying attention.

Essentially, just reverse the first two numbers for the A/R.

Previous 3652 (.63 A/R)
Current 6852 (.68 A/R) which is larger... I actually wanted to go smaller from the .63
New 2552 (.52 A/R)

Smaller A/R should make things spool up a little quicker. Fingers crossed.

I am still looking to replace the 034EFI engine management and go with VEMS.

With the new .52 A/R hotside, desire to go with pump fuel, and VEMS, we will have a very different driving car this summer. I assume we will have lower power numbers (less speed in the straights), but hopefully have better acceleration out of the corners.

I thought of trying 15" wheels this summer (better gearing.... I hope), but with the excess supply of 17" take-offs from Vermont SportsCar, I will have to stay with 17" for now.



2009 Subaru WRX Impreza 2.5

I would have installed the new cat back exhaust myself, but I also need the seal on the shifter rod (unsure exactly what it is on this car) is known to leak. Since I wasn't sure what was needed for that project (or how to do it), I brought the car to Cheese Factory Automotive (Colchester, Vermont) for the exhaust install and address the transmission leak.

Done quick and correctly. Very happy with the result. Now to get that inspection sticker that expired in October.

 
#399 ·
Volkswagen MK1 Scirocco

In the words of Ozzy… "Mama I'm Coming Home!"

Joey laying out some boards to make the transition to the ramp easier (the car was too low). Jumping on the internet bandwagon with Bernie doing the assist.

Joey took lots of pictures during the build. I will share after I get them.











Volkswagen MK4 Golf

I ordered the replacement FIA 6-point harness (driver's side only). I think I must have missed the part in the description that stated these were for harnesses that mount to the bar in the back of the car.

No problem… I will just roll up the excess and put a ziptip around it.





The difference with this harness is the release is attached to the two anti-sub straps.

My concern with this is having the bar that connects the two points being uncomfortable on top of my legs. I will have to pay attention when adjusting (the installation process) to ensure it is in the correct location.

I have the old race seat in the Golf at the moment as the new seat is in the Scirocco for the cage building. What I did notice is that the release does not fit through the hole on the bottom of the old seat… means that I have to partially uninstall the race seat to bring the anti-sub straps through the top of the seat vs. installing the straps and feeding the release through the hole in the mounted seat.

The good news is that the new seat (which belongs in the Golf) has a huge hole in the bottom to make the installation much easier. Whew!



Next… I have to adjust the height of the suspension in the Golf.

I realize that I was cranking the coilover collar up (raise car) a lot trying to get to stock ride height. I want to start with the stock ride height to get the suspension geometry correct.

Stock is 15.5" front and 15.25" rear measuring from the center of the wheel to the lip on the fender. (I have also seen 395mm front and 390mm rear which makes the rear a little greater than 15.25")

It seems that I was wasting a lot of spring travel (compressing the single spring trying to get the height correct). So… I decided to add a second spring to the mix.

I changed the setup from a "main and helper" to a "main and tender".

New spring is ERS-175-250-200 (number printed on spring)

(3.05" free height) - (2.5" diameter) - (200 #/in spring rate)

I had a hard time trying to determine how the first number worked on the Eibach springs.

Eibach part number: 0175.250.0200
(175) Load at block height: 350 pounds, travel is 1.750 in.
(250) Coilover spring inside diameter (in): 2.50" (63.50mm)
(200) Spring rate: 200 lb/in
Spring is 3.05" (77.47mm)

Things I need to further research:
* Block height (I think this means fully compressed spring)
* Preload (excessive preload of the coil spring increases the force to start shock movement)



 
#401 ·
90quattrocoupe said:
If you are still looking to change over from 034 to VEMS, Mark Swanson made an adapter cable for my CQ when he changed mine. Used the same sensors and wiring, already installed.
Just a thought.

Greg W.
Good to know. I like options. I'm thinking of just replacing everything as it is quite of. Thinking about potential damaged wires, corrosion, etc over time.

We will see. Thx for the idea.

Steve
 
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