The Red Thread

[Peter Jones]

My long suffering Red ex-GLD daily has appeared in many threads but has never really had one of it's own.

Here's a few reminders.

The King spring / Gabriel shock install. (http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newforum/upload/showthread.php?t=11535)

Brakes prep. (http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newforum/upload/showthread.php?t=11595)

Late model booster mod. (http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newforum/upload/showthread.php?t=11689)

Cordoba drum install (http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newforum/upload/showthread.php?t=11719)

Disc install (http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newforum/upload/showthread.php?t=11723)

Exhaust stay repair (http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newforum/upload/showthread.php?t=22486&page=9)

The Air Horn!

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2008/11/P1320468-1.jpg

The Ski Racks!

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2008/11/P1320467-1.jpg

The Red RamFlo

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2008/03/w7-1.jpg

An old pic.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/05/red-2.jpg

Currently sporting

1800 Cordoba Motor
5 Speed 020 box (FF)
Weber DGAV & Passat manifold
Cordoba rear drums
Cordoba booster and Master cylinder
GTI front and rear sway bars
MK2 radiator
MK2 14" steel wheels
Grover 22" air horn
Spax spings all 'round
DeCarbon front struts and Gabriel Rear shocks.Pete

[Peter Jones]

Over the weekend I replaced the very heavy King Springs with SPAX units.

The King Springs were destroying the mounts, it's odd but the same springs in my other (White) golf are fine. I think batch was way heavier for some unknown reason.

Both mounts are stuffed!

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/05/P1330557-2.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/05/P1330558-2.jpg

This is the King Spring part number to watch out for!

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/05/P1330560-2.jpg

Red's exhaust needs replacing soon, here's the extractors I'm cleaning up to go in. These came from Stu's old MK1.(RIP)

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/05/P1330563-2.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/05/P1330566-2.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/05/P1330568-2.jpg

Car is much nicer to drive now:)

Pete

[GoLfMan]

good to see Red finally getting some Love Pete :)

[greasykitchen]

That ain't just any horn, it's a trumpet!

Looking good Pete. You can come over and clean my Golf's engine bay when you're done :biggrin:

[16v_kid]

nice work pete!

[Peter Jones]

New dash for red today.

The Old dash came out pretty quick.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/06/P1040185-2.jpg

Here's what lay behind, no signs of rust but evidence of a smashed safety glass 'screen at some time in it's past.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/06/P1040187-2.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/06/P1040184-2.jpg

No Cracks! (Thanks Stu)

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/06/P1040189-2.jpg

It took a bit of time to tidy up the wiring and get all the dash globes working properly but it's good to know its all fully functional again.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/06/P1040192-2.jpg

I was tidying up the workshop, so I put this upper brace in as well. It's somebody else's home made design and not terribly stiff. I doubt it will do much for the handling but how could I resist that much chrome?:biggrin: (Thanks again Stu)

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/06/P1330580-2.jpg

and an LED conversion for the interior light just because.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/06/P1330583-2.jpg

Red also got a bit of a tune due to needing an new set of points earlier in the week.

Oh and wiper blades too:)

Pete

[Tim]

This is the King Spring part number to watch out for!

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/05/P1330560-1.jpg


Pete


I just had a look at the king springs application guide and this is what that part number brought up

69-73 CAPRI 4CYL A KFFL-12 KFFL-13

[Peter Jones]

I just had a look at the king springs application guide and this is what that part number brought up

69-73 CAPRI 4CYL A KFFL-12 KFFL-13

Well that explains a lot! They came as a set for a golf but I never cross referenced the numbers. Wierd that they just happened to fit!

I'll go and check the other set and the rears now and see what I discover.

Pete

[Peter Jones]

Can't see the numbers on the set in the white car.

The rears out of red are correct though.

:???:

Pete

[Jarred]

that's a mighty big air horn you got there Pete :wink: hahaha

Got the special delivery this afternoon too, thanks alot for that!

[Peter Jones]

that's a mighty big air horn you got there Pete :wink:

22 inches! You have no idea how long it took me to figure out how to fit that in the engine bay!

Pete

[16v_kid]

Pete, is that dash re-rimed by any chance? also if it is who did it and what kind of price they they charge you.

Thanks.

[Peter Jones]

Pete, is that dash re-rimed by any chance? also if it is who did it and what kind of price they they charge you.


Yes it is but I didn't have it done. It came out of Stu's old car, it might have been in it when he got it.

Pete

[16v_kid]

Yes it is but I didn't have it done. It came out of Stu's old car, it might have been in it when he got it.

Pete

oh ok. Thanks anyway.

I know a few company's that charge $400 for a re trim

[cab93]

Both mounts are stuffed!

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/05/P1330557-1.jpg

I take it the mounts are considered worn, when the gap between the rubber and metal top piece gets to large? I have replaced mine, yet there is already a gap of approximately 5mm. Would you know if this means some other part is faulty?

Love your plastic mount covers very rare! Should you come across one or two spares, I would be happy to purchase.

The dash looks brilliant, well worth the effort!:bowdown:

Michael

[Spyda]

Both mounts are stuffed!

I take it the mounts are considered worn, when the gap between the rubber and metal top piece gets to large? I have replaced mine, yet there is already a gap of approximately 5mm. Would you know if this means some other part is faulty?

Love your plastic mount covers very rare! Should you come across one or two spares, I would be happy to purchase.

The dash looks brilliant, well worth the effort!:bowdown:

Michael

I thought it was to do with cracks and the softness of the rubber?

[roccodingo]

5 mm is quite normal, its when they get to 10 ++ they start transmitting the full load thru to the towers.
These things are only good for around 15000 miles max from what the yanks tell me, Be aware there are several differing brands also, quality will vary.

Note paint cracking around the inner raised section of the body adjacent to the mount , good telltale as well !


I have looked into converting the Mk 2 mounts into a Mk 1 as well, work in progress :biggrin:


Both mounts are stuffed!

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/05/P1330557-1.jpg

I take it the mounts are considered worn, when the gap between the rubber and metal top piece gets to large? I have replaced mine, yet there is already a gap of approximately 5mm. Would you know if this means some other part is faulty?

Love your plastic mount covers very rare! Should you come across one or two spares, I would be happy to purchase.

The dash looks brilliant, well worth the effort!:bowdown:

Michael

[Peter Jones]

Red got new seats today.

These are from an Audi 90 I think. Bit of modification of the MK1 base required to swap the base upholstery over but the back just bolted into place. Even the hinge covers went back in properly. All worked out very neatly.

I swapped the tin base from the Audi seat into the MK 1 base as the cusion was a fair bit deeper than the MK1.

Here's the new hybrid base next to a normal MK1 base (right)

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/07/P1330611-1.jpg

One seat in

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/07/P1330612-1.jpg

The freshly welded and painted hybrid base.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/07/P1330613-1.jpg

Reattaching the base fabric and cushion.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/07/P1330614-1.jpg

Both seats in now :biggrin:

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/07/P1330615-1.jpg

A lot firmer and a little higher than the old seats. Very comfy.

Pete

[gldgti]

oh, now that looks nice. could almost be the inside of an audi... ;-)

[Mrk_Mickey]

Tis naice, those bolsters even look half decent!

[roccodingo]

So you swapped the base to gain height or the old ones were damaged ??

I have 4 Scirocco 1 seat bases here with the height udjustable mechanism that will slide straigt into a Mk 1 , just need to do what you did and swap the foam and upholstery over .

Still looks impressive result tho Pete.

[Peter Jones]

So you swapped the base to gain height or the old ones were damaged ??


The spacing between the back legs on the later model seats (MK3, cordoba, Audi etc) is different, they're much wider apart. The lever mechanism for the locking pin is on the wrong side of the centre rail too.

I used the MK1 frame because it fits into the rails correctly. I unpicked the tin from the Audi seat and put it into the MK1 base because the late model cushion foam is a different shape on the underneath and doesn't sit right in the MK1 tin. It sort of sits on top of the tin and the sides of the cushion don't get supported properly.

So I suppose in answer to your question, the end result was to actually lower the seat cushion compared to if I had used the MK1 tin.

It's a bit hard to explain unless you see it, hope that makes it clearer.

Those scirocco frames sound like a nice thing.

Pete

[Peter Jones]

Red's been playing up the last couple of days, fuel starvation issues.

Took a while to track down, never seen this one before.

I checked all the lines and the pump etc before I finally noticed what appears to have been the cause.

A small brass tube that sits across the auxiliary venturi had loosened up and rotated so that the discharge port that would normally face down was facing up.

The carb concerned is a DGV and that tube was in the primary side.

The tube appeared to be free to rotate making the fault intermittent.

With the slot upwards the car would start and idle fine on the idle circuits but the primary throttle was effectively dead. The secondary would of course come in with a bang.

With the tube sideways it would run on the primary but run lean and hot.

The tube I think is the discharge point of the primary main jet which would explain the behaviour.

I pulled it to bits and pressed the tube back into the auxillary venturi the way it should have been.

No pics sorry, this one just had to be sorted asap.

Pete

[GoLfMan]

glad to hear you got it sorted mate :)

[RedVR6]

Hey Pete,
I had that problem a few times on a 32/26 Weber DGV on my Audi Fox. There are two kinds of venturi, one that is fully cast, and the other with the brass tube. I ended up hunting around for cast ones that wouldn't let me down after having the probem reoccur.
If it happens again, then it may be worth your while finding them.

[Peter Jones]

Hey Pete,
I had that problem a few times on a 32/26 Weber DGV on my Audi Fox. There are two kinds of venturi, one that is fully cast, and the other with the brass tube. I ended up hunting around for cast ones that wouldn't let me down after having the probem reoccur.
If it happens again, then it may be worth your while finding them.


Thanks for that, good to know I'm not alone :)

I have one of the cast venturi type DGAVs on the Passat and another tube type spare.

You've got a Fox? Cool! Hopefully a friend will be bringing their Fox to DOVW this year.

Pete

[Peter Jones]

Carb crapped put again today. In a typical over reaction I just went and bought another another one. Geoff Hale was kind enough to drop off a refurbished 28/36 DCD.

It's on and works just need to figure out an air cleaner and a choke cable.

More tomorrow.

Pete

[Peter Jones]

DCD seems to be faster than the DGAV, still a little sorting out to be done but it's working well.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/12/P1330779-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2009/12/P1330781-1.jpg

Bit of faffing about to get the air cleaner on. I had to modify an old ramflo baseplate and fabricate an new piece to go into it.

The air cleaner looked nicer sideways and fitted into the line of the rain tray better.

Pete

[Peter Jones]

Sprayed up a batch of bumpers today.

Red got a respayed front bar complete with new chrome moulding.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2010/01/P1330841-2.jpg

Pete

[Peter Jones]

Last day of holidays so I gave red some long needed attention.

It's been running on a patched up exhaust system for ages and all the time I've had Stu's old extractor system in the shed waiting to go in.

I cut the old system to get it out. There was a bit of wrangling to get the new one in but it wasn't too difficult.

New.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2010/01/P1340022-2.jpg

New and Old side by side.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2010/01/P1340024-2.jpg

All done, I had to cut off the hanger bracket on the tailpipe and weld on one I cut off the old system.

The rear most hanger ended up at an odd angle but it's all good.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2010/01/P1340027-2.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2010/01/P1340028-2.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2010/01/P1340030-2.jpg

The new carb didn't like the vac advance dizzy so I popped in a mech advance unit I happened to have lying about. Gave it a tune and replaced the blue leads for proper ones. (yes, I remembered to block off the vacuum port in the carb)

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2010/01/P1340031-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2010/01/P1340032-1.jpg

Test drive was great. Tune and dizzy smoothed out the power delivery, it had been hesitating when the secondary opened up.

There's even more power now from the extractors and a deeper exhaust note with a nice little burble when you back it off.

Pete

[GRN_VAGN]

The little burble just puts the the Icing on the cake so to speak :D

Coming along nicely Pete good work

[Peter Jones]

The exhaust didn't last as well as we'd hoped.

Since I last wrote it's gone through all the new hangers and cracked a down pipe.

That rear box turned out to be way too loud, so yesterday I pulled the extractors out, welded them up and swapped the rear muffler for a Seat one I had lying about.

I put a couple out the MK3 style hangers at the rear and bolted them up to the boot floor. The Seat muffler is a bit tired, it's quiet when cruising with a nice rasp when accelerating hard.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2010/02/P1340058-2.jpg

Pete

[Peter Jones]

Red's been a bit ill fo late due to what I thought were carby problems.

Being too busy to tune it on the road we sent it off to our dyno dude who looks after tuning the Dellortos in white.

Turns out it was the dizzy that was the cause of most of our grief.

Nil advance until 1500rpm when it pulled in 41° all at once.

Also had a bent shaft and a knackered condenser.

Once the dizzy was sorted there was only a minor adjustment to the carb required.

The car didn't get a full dyno run, but did see about 54 kw at the wheels at around 3500 as it was getting tuned.

Much better to drive now.

Pete

[Peter Jones]

Red got a chin spoiler today.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2010/04/P1340194-2.jpg

[Peter Jones]

Jodie's been busy while I've been painting the Kamei Golf.


My little Red has been getting ignored for a while, so it was time to show him some loving. Can't redo his exterior paint quite yet, the paint booth is being hogged by some fat Mk1 right now. Looks like the interior's the place to go.

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/4868/42044612.jpg
Step one - remove tired old carpet

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/5633/65378005.jpg
Step two - remove scungy, thirty year old, sound deadening

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/5103/76656241.jpg
Step three - shove old sound deadening in the bin

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/6994/42339595.jpg
Step four - have Pete over engineer the world's strongest sound deadening roller, guaranteed to be able to knock a grown man out, and smoosh out any air bubbles

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/3990/80835662.jpg
Step five - start laying Dynamat

http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/7332/60516789.jpg
Step six - stick Dynamat to every surface imaginable until you run out. Spend days picking bits of tar out from under your fingernails.

http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/3788/64793890.jpg
Step seven - glue down new carpet set, Pick glue off of fingers.

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/561/48901799.jpg
Step eight - admire!

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/6186/74160509.jpg
Like the new boots? Courtesy of RedlineGoods. All Italian leather, with red stitching. 10bhp added right there!

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/2046/71642919.jpg
Thanks to VWHeritage Red now has a shifter that shows every gear he can do.

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/2710/17004142.jpg
Beautiful leather/suede steering wheel for extra grip on tight corners, and a new Wolfsburg crest horn button to finish it off.

Now drive it like you stole it. In style.

[ByronRichesMk1]

Looks very nice! :)
May I ask where you got the carpet kit from please?

[Peter Jones]

Looks very nice! :)
May I ask where you got the carpet kit from please?

I got it from another forum member a couple of years ago but only just got around to fitting it.

I think it may have come from Knox Auto Carpets originally.

[GoLfMan]

good to see this is still going strong :D

[ByronRichesMk1]

I got it from another forum member a couple of years ago but only just got around to fitting it.

I think it may have come from Knox Auto Carpets originally.

Cheers! :D

[Peter Jones]

Refurbished the front arms on the weekend, been meaning to do this for years.

New bushes, ball joints, 2 Outer and 1 inner tie rod ends, new rack boots.

There's some GTI brakes to go on here next month when the discs arrive.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/01/P1170131-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/01/P1170134-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/01/P1170143-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/01/P1170145-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/01/P1170150-1.jpg

[Jarred]

look at that lovely concrete floor! :D

[Peter Jones]

Red doesn't get out much so we thought we'd tart him up and bring him along to Dubstitute today.

Spayed up a couple of guards, added some stripes and some mudflaps bolted on the ski racks and headed into town.

The stripes are based on the ones I did for the Passat so the cars sort of match.

Ski racks are a genuine period accessory, only been used twice.

The observant people today spotted the wheel and tyre combo as being something a little special.

Restored ATS teledial style wheels 13" x 6" and shod with 185/60/13 TOYO R888 semi slicks.

http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/3412/r01k.jpg

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/452/r02o.jpg

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/5570/r03y.jpg

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/4673/r04z.jpg

[Mk3 AAA]

Awesome, really cool.

[Peter Jones]

Put some new headlights in this weekend. The old ones were all cloudy, stone chipped and mismatched.

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/8596/13149840.jpg

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/7649/32737774.jpg

[Peter Jones]

Upgraded the front brakes to GTI spec today. I've had the parts lying about for ages.

Old disc vs new, being a GLD this car only had the 10mm solid discs with the small ATE calipers.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/04/P1350676-1.jpg

Can't remember where these discs came from, somewhere in the UK I think. I ordered EBC Greenstuff pads to go with them.

The GTI Calipers are off a B2 Passat we wrecked. The same one the ATS wheels came off in fact.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/04/P1350678-1.jpg

Gave up with the rattle clips in the end. Not many new pads seem to be cut properly for them.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/04/P1350680-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/04/P1350682-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/04/P1350684-1.jpg

I had some braided lines I picked up ages ago, decided they'd work better if I installed them in a car rather than leaving them in a box.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/04/P1350685-1.jpg

I took it out to bed the brakes in. Stopping distances are improved significantly over the diesel brakes and seem nicely progressive.

[hiho]

Nice work Peter being able to attend the needs of so many Mistresses

[Jarred]

Good one Pete! I must do for any mk 1 I think.

[Peter Jones]

An update from the work Jodie did over the weekend.


Finally finished Red's Dynamatting today. First, strip down the doors
and give them a cleaning

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/05/Ve0vp-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/05/zho0r-1.jpg

Next, lay out the Dynamat in the sun to get them extra sticky and
flexible, then trace the plastic cover onto a sheet to get the door
shape. Work out the holes you need to cut and start a sticking.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/05/bR55Z-1.jpg

And voila!

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/05/jbW91-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/05/BPXXv-1.jpg

And yes, there is a discernable difference in sound now! :)

Now to get this black crap out from under my fingernails...

[Peter Jones]

An update from Jodie!


Red's been losing power and slipping his clutch for a few weeks now,
time to replace it before it gets worse.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/07/iJ2i3-1.jpg

First, hoist up the car and drop the box out.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/07/BE6k1-1.jpg

Yee olde clutcheth. Turns out this is the original clutch SEAT
installed into the Cordoba the motor came out of in the mid nineties.
A fabulous motor that came from Matt of Camden GTI some years ago, and
has turned my little Red into a speedy little car!

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/07/96PI0-1.jpg

One new clutch kit, courtesy of the wonderful Matt at Camden. Thanks
Matt, for the speedy service!

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/07/3HKrx-1.jpg

The old clutch is looking worn, but hey, not a bad run at 15+ years of service.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/07/0M5oI-1.jpg

Time for a jacuzzi.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/07/slqlv-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/07/TdAcI-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/07/X5CSZ-1.jpg

*checks torque measurements in the Bentley's "30nM and a quarter turn" Hmmmmm*

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/07/31D7U-1.jpg

The quarter turn requires the regime and skill of a gymnast. Plus
always remember to brace yourself!

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/07/cJwgm-1.jpg

Mmmmm newness of joy.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/07/v0Zek-1.jpg

New and old. Can you tell the difference? ;)

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/07/1OMIq-1.jpg

Loctite is your friend, use it!

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/07/hliAC-1.jpg

Look at that, all lovely and new!

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/07/4GkPx-1.jpg

Boom, there it is.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/07/OUNdy-1.jpg

And now Red's raring down the road again! Woo!

[Peter Jones]

Red went to the 2012 VWCV Christmas party.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/12/5ssjY-1.jpg

[Peter Jones]

Red got some attention today, I had to sort out a mystery suspension clunk and adjust the handbrake.

Adjusting the handbrake turned into swpping out the shoes and replacing the wheel bearings.

Here's Jodie's recollection of events.


Good old reliable Red. Just keeps going and going, without complaining. Although lately he's had a bit of a knock coming from the front, passenger side, suspension. I thought it was a wheel bearing at first.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/01/xM7qwtY-1.jpg

Jacked him up, tested the wheel, bearing's fine. Ok so what's going on? Is it the shock? It moves a lot, so took it all out. Then discovered the cap that locks the shock in place had actually undone itself. Tightened it back up, no more knock!

Ok, job done there, no need to change anything, pop those Konis away for another day. What's next? Well the hand brake's slowly giving up on Red, let's have a look.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/01/N2hnRRx-1.jpg

Bum in the air, wheels off. What do we find? One destroyed wheel bearing, and worn shoes.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/01/tQTfOuu-1.jpg

Take these out.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/01/FbCitsa-1.jpg

Give them a clean out.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/01/IkgC8VQ-1.jpg

Get a new set of bearings.....

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/01/hDVUsZI-1.jpg

and some new shoes....

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/01/D6J4C0m-1.jpg
Yeah, it's time to move on.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/01/cf0WFY5-1.jpg
Pop those in there.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/01/S9qfuBu-1.jpg
Do the same over here. (Wheel bearings were shot on this side too.)

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/01/0e3japC-1.jpg
Lovely!

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/01/3gxTlaX-1.jpg
Whack the old bearings out and then whack some new ones in.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/01/RnJobsd-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/01/bSqIvhW-1.jpg
Don't forget to get lots of grease in them!

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/01/s4MI9FX-1.jpg
Just like that.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/01/GtoB8Vx-1.jpg
Pop the lid back on.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/01/GZAzXkZ-1.jpg
And back on his feet, ready to play again!

[Peter Jones]

Words and pics by Jodie.

I kept the hubs and strut housing together so as to not lose the wheel alignment.


Red's recent suspension shenanigans made the strut mount finally give up the ghost. Seeing as we had Konis on the shelf here for ages, it seemed a good time to get them sorted out and ready for installation. Had those rebuilt this week by the wonderful people at Top Performance in Nunawading (if you need your Konis seen to, go see them, they are the experts and do a great job).

Front shocks on a Mk1 need the whole assembly out. Disassemble and have a press handy to do this.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/02/CKeNei2-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/02/yKkE5OX-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/02/uo6JEdG-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/02/swMZ6ST-1.jpg

Look at these, feast your eyes. Fantastic shocks.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/02/usEfYff-1.jpg

Bearing pullers are damned handy tool for this job.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/02/AdPwwcj-1.jpg

Giving the parts a good wash, they had gunk, grease, dirt and brake dust all over them. Gave them a lick of black paint afterwards, after all the red paint fell off in the wash.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/02/5REYcyI-1.jpg

This is where a press comes in handy, to remove the old bearings and to get the new ones in.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/02/EdXxzEh-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/02/ja4yRhf-1.jpg

Assembled, ready for returning to the car.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/02/KLLQx5a-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/02/zK7tJIt-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/02/QMgjmbG-1.jpg

Back shocks are far easier, no need to remove wheels.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/02/QCGB3jG-1.jpg

The old rears, these were a tad knackered and into the scrappy bin they go.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/02/GMgxyUZ-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/02/QxaNbA3-1.jpg

Now just bolt these back in and you're done.

And the difference? MASSIVE. Incredibly precise handling now, and no back end 'skittering' or body roll to the side, when going around a corner. Why on earth did we not do this years ago. Don't bother with Ebay cheap shocks, just put some Konis in, they're brilliant.

[golfmeup]

Top stuff! I'm sure it must handle a tonne of a lot better too :)

[Peter Jones]

Red's Toyos have finally worn down enough to not be street legal any more, so it was time to change them for a new set. Not bad use though, he's been wearing them since January 2012!

Time to visit our favourite tyre man, Craig at Trackside in Kilsyth.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/03/BhJQgb3-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/03/O8cWUVb-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/03/r2P8vpN-1.jpg

Alignment was still all good even after the Konis were installed.

[Peter Jones]

Red's engine is getting steadily smokier and leakier, time to do something about it.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/bv134co-1.jpg

Disgusting.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/cDOuTHY-1.jpg

Start pulling stuff out of him.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/KeLoJje-1.jpg

Mmmm tooter.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/wW3Yq9z-1.jpg

Yoink out this greasy mess.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/qT4RHu0-1.jpg

Eugh.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/mM1Q5ni-1.jpg

Double eugh.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/ZQ6urkz-1.jpg

Grimace at sight of gunge buildup everywhere.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/MGZpLeQ-1.jpg

That is just revolting.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/SwCrKJD-1.jpg

That will not do.

Roll car to end of driveway (can't have that grime dripping out all over the concrete) and get to degreasing and hosing down.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/AEfxlA2-1.jpg

Oooooo! It does get in!

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/BVqGLxz-1.jpg

Much better!

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/pZOsDsp-1.jpg

Now that's an improvement!

But how to get car back up driveway?

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/kICnjUR-1.jpg

Winching time!

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/9o6w0cH-1.jpg

I once caught a rabbit thiiiiis biiiiiig.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/6XoXoa9-1.jpg

Is winch, is good.

More tomorrow.

[Peter Jones]

Work on Red continues, even in 38 degree heat! Today it's time to replace the gearshift linkages with new components.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/gQV1lY3-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/gVHIUuc-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/EQ55Anu-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/xWeeamI-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/G7M5PXO-1.jpg

Wheel was filthy thanks to torn CV boot

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/a5p0QSm-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/sRJhviZ-1.jpg

Got a good scrub:

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/e2EhlTh-1.jpg

CV got a new packing of grease before replacing the torn boot.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/smeCcFd-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/GCCR9g8-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/Ugq3SEn-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/MSF0ZAK-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/zrZUrgv-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/rx6v2rL-1.jpg

Red also got a new heater core. The old one was showing its age.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/DfMrpjw-1.jpg

Tooter got a clean and polish.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/snmE6KI-1.jpg

[morgs]

I gave up working on my car at 11am prob 30 degress by then...too damn hot for me..

Love the work Pete! Great pics and info as usual...

I am sure Craig said he was closing up shop in Jan.

[Peter Jones]

I am sure Craig said he was closing up shop in Jan.

He probably did, those tyres went on in March! :)

[dubstar]

Hi Pete, can you take a close up pic of the carb linkage if you get a chance?

[Peter Jones]

Dusted off a spare motor I had lying about and popped it in.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/15VAWag-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/ees6cRD-1.jpg

[gldgti]

Only you could be so deadpan and awesome at the same time pete

[Peter Jones]

Haha.:rolleyes:

Took me about 5-6 days all up. There's a few more challenges than I'd realised and there was a lot of stuff on Red I'd always meant to get around to that this conversion made unavoidable.

I did have an Ashley extractor set I was planning to use but it didn't fit because the ABF is so tall. I ended up using the stock exhaust manifold and fabricating my own down pipe.

40mm Dellortos are off white.

I customised a new set of 16v leads to go into a rebuilt Saab dizzy.

The Saab dizzy is hall effect so I also had to set up and wire in the same Bosch ignitor and coil as the late MK1s.

Bit of faffing about to move the brake fluid reservoir sideways a bit to clear the dizzy and I had to relocate one of the brake lines into a T piece to make it all fit.

Also fitted an air/oil cooler and deleted the water/oil cooler system.

Here's the exhaust work

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/aCfKYtr-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/5slOrV4-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/QwugKvh-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/EVxvu9m-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/JWtzjgr-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/gwUDJ4b-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/o9wqxqc-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/z176wII-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/jahAFE0-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/9OHsOPl-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/1CbMXlg-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/4n8xSuu-1.jpg

[Peter Jones]

The gearshift hit the downpipe so I had to straighten one out a bit in the press.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/vSsiJkL-1.jpg

I had to make this tiny throttle cable clamp on the lathe. I made it from a brass tap handle that I'd removed when I renovated my bathroom.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/HaAUNBa-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/Eo2TXoW-1.jpg

Relocated the brake fluid reservoir with plumbing fittings. I copied the barbs that go into the master cylinder in brass and sweated the copper bends together.

It'll do until I figure out a more elegant way of doing it.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/4wKjG9y-1.jpg

Ebay oil cooler and lines.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/2kiimqh-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/zfDiDHa-1.jpg

Just a reducing fitting I had to make to join some of the heater hoses. Bit of chatter on the lathe but it'll just add a bit of texture for the hose to grip.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/POBNNGK-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/YsTLPUN-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/01/D5iKla7-1.jpg

[abreut]

Good work, another ABF mk1 is born. Are you allowed to go up to 2l in a mk1 without engineering in Vic? We can only go up to 1.9l in NSW.

[Peter Jones]

Things have changed recently. If you increase power by more that 20% you need VASS sign off. It's no longer purely capacity based.

The most powerful motor fitted stock to a mk1 was an 1800 at 91Kw, the ABF stock has 110Kw which is about a 20% increase so it might scrape through on a technicality otherwise it'll need VASS sign off.

[Petska84]

Love your work Pete..... Is it still going to be a daily?

[Peter Jones]

Yep, being a stock ABF it's quite nice to drive, very tractable.

I've got some smaller venturis for the Dellortos which I might put in there later on.

Plenty of low down torque which suits the tall gearbox that's in there.

I think I'll have to sort out a better air cleaner arrangement too.

It's all pretty tight in there.

[Peter Jones]

Red decided a couple of weeks back that he preferred his engine oil all over the driveway. So we took off the head and sent it away for refurbishing. Looks like this engine's never been apart before.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/09/Hzpbxgt-1.jpg

All shiny and sorted! No major issues with it, just needed refreshing.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/09/ruCqa1B-1.jpg

Bottom end needed refreshing too.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/09/p3KkhLV-1.jpg

Took these out.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/09/8r7vFbN-1.jpg
http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/09/VUdyqxo-1.jpg

Got one of these.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/09/V4FDYKJ-1.jpg

Gave the barrels a honing.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/09/JREZRuE-1.jpg

All clean and smooth again.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/09/48oraRP-2.jpg

New rings from Japan!

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/09/u2sFaUO-2.jpg

New bearings from Brazil!

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/09/9csj6gb-2.jpg

One of these.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/09/gAro4wI-2.jpg

And back they go.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/09/qp5zk0d-2.jpg

That's it so far, dinner time was calling.

[gldgti]

Glad I'm not the only person that's been rebuilding engines lately.
Why did it drop its oil?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Peter Jones]

It was pressurising the crankcase big time.

I can only put it down to blowby or perhaps the very worn exhaust guides.

Once above idle speeds it was pumping oil out the filler cap continuously. Very odd behavior.

Crankcase breather wasn't blocked and all the drains from the head to the sump were OK too.

Engine was in great shape when I pulled it down.

Compression readings were all over the place though. Head work and rings will see it sorted though.

I'm going to add another breather to it too just in case by using a new beetle oil filler breather setup.

[gldgti]

Sounds like a bad compression leak... If the crankcase was pressurised enough, the oil will have trouble getting back down the drains from the head.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Peter Jones]

Start with this

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/09/KZ2gwko-1.jpg

Add some stuff

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/09/8ZIlf82-2.jpg

Replace thermostat

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/09/4Miz1Ke-2.jpg

Needs moar shiny

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/09/YFg0XPI-2.jpg

Realise timing belt is wrong one. Swear. Order new one. Clean up and wait for delivery.

[Peter Jones]

Timing belt received, everything screwed back together

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/09/4MwOoqV-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/09/zZLKkKH-2.jpg

Just to prevent any more oil leaks from the cap.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/09/eEOjHXS-2.jpg

Catch can's not moving anytime soon.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/09/r6JwoX5-2.jpg

After sitting around for a few weeks, Red was covered in dust and overdue a bath.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/09/dnK2DtJ-2.jpg

Clean Bunny.

[sports racer]

How user-friendly is it to drive in traffic?

The stories I've been hearing is the ABF needs lots of revs and doesn't have much torque down low which has pushed me towards fitting a 9a into mine (with ABF head). I've got an ABF as well so it would be good to get your opinion.

Cheers

Paul

[Peter Jones]

That's just silly. The ABF has heaps of torque. This one used to push a much heavier Toledo around just fine.

There's been no issues in the MK1, This is a 2.0L motor after all.

Even with the twin Dellortos it'll take off from the lights at idle speed.

[abreut]

How user-friendly is it to drive in traffic?

The stories I've been hearing is the ABF needs lots of revs and doesn't have much torque down low which has pushed me towards fitting a 9a into mine (with ABF head). I've got an ABF as well so it would be good to get your opinion.

Cheers

Paul

I really think you have been misadvised about the ABF. I recall you mentioning this before.

I too drove my ABF in the Toledo it came from and it was a really solid motor with plenty of torque in that heavy car. I was quite impressed. Actually the owner of that totally stock Toledo on street tyres did a high 1:18 around wakefield! I really doubt that a 9a can outperform the ABF stock vs stock in virtually any way. Why would VW go backwards? Besides, the tall block config is superior – better rod ratio, and less chance of piston slap.

Saying that I have been in a few cupras where the ABF was definitely not running right, and seemed to be all sound no go. Maybe that is where these stories come from.

[sports racer]

Thanks guys for that info. One of the guys here in Canberra had one in his MK1 and swears he'd never do it again because it was a pig in traffic.

I'll take a 2nd look at the ABF block I've got and see if I can get away with honing or if it needs a rebore.

[Peter Jones]

Made a heat shield to go over the exhaust manifold today.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2015/10/VSi4Hm2-2.jpg

I had tried to use the cast ABF one but couldn't stop it from rattling. It kept setting up a weird harmonic and would buzz away at certain RPM.

We'll see how this one goes.