Wazzzer - 1.8T

[Wazzzer]

Right a proper update...

This arrived last week to quieten down the rabble from the exhaust. Absolutely lovely bit of kit for the money, £50 delivered.







Got a bit carried away yesterday evening and this happened

ECU pulled out of its hiding place and exchanged for another



Silicone TIP trimmed and VR6 MAF fitted



And Calibra yellows in their new home



All went really well until it came to coding in the ECU, the battery on my laptop was dead so in had to go back home and get the charger. Then the keys needed recoding as well but it all worked out in the end. Just need to get a few logs to see if I need to run any more boost then I'm ready for a willy waving contest at JKM next Saturday

Spent this morning with Si (higher1) sorting the knocking/blowing on the joint above the rear beam

I think we've got it pretty much bang on (by that I mean there is about 1mm between the beam and the U clamp when it's on its wheels)

It was decided to do it properly so the rear box had to come off and be cleaned up



All fixed in position now and it's not moving at all

Some of the heat shielding needed "adjusting" though

And a pic of the silencer fitted, fits perfectly in the gap

[xtetx]

need my exhaust looking at rattles a bit too! haha so annoying!

[Wazzzer]

Exhaust still knocks a tiny bit on the rear beam but the rubber I've got will sort that, just need to get under the car to do it.

Right the usual post dyno blues have gone and I'm now thinking with a clear head...

A trip to R-Tech is obviously needed now so I'll be doing this after my birthday in April. One good thing is at least I've got all necessary hardware fitted that I need which will free up some more time on the dyno rather than trying to fit it all once I get up there.

A pic of my dyno results, still a real nice power/torque curve with no massive spikes, just overfuelling massively lol





waiting to go on



and she breathes fire...



Plans now are to sort all the little niggly interior bits that I've been putting off (rear door handle, modify handbrake lever for US console) and get my 256mm rear brakes on. I'll be getting some Audi TT hubs from Prawny soon so those will also need fitting. By then it should be April ish and time to book in with Nikki

[Wazzzer]

bought myself a Cupra R steering rack and a set of Superpro caster bushes...

While the rack is off I thought it would be rude not to renew the rack bush for the sake of £13 so bought a Powerflex version



and I also found these ECS poly rear spring bushes on PSI's site so thought I'd give them a bash, this is probably the only bush I haven't replaced on the Golf since owning it



Had a good look at my rear calipers and I think they're knackered from sitting in my shed for so long so I've priced up replacements, £60 each exchange at a local motor factors so might just do that, at least I'll know they're all good.

I've just got this through the post, couldn't resist it, I've been looking for a spare manifold to send off anyways so this was perfect. One Badger 5 ported manifold







If you want to know the benefits of the porting, this explains a lot more with pics of stock vs ported and the material removed

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=274034

These arrived, just over a tons worth of poly bushes



Also decided to get shot of the 3" exhaust, it's just too loud for the family. A replacement has been sourced, just waiting for delivery. This also means a 4mo rear valance will be making a return instead of the diesel Anni.



Decided to crack on with splitting the spare hubs at work today, got this one completely stripped down ready for the TT bits to arrive





Drilled and tapped the brake disc retaining screw out too as my current hubs have the remnants of screws in them

[Wazzzer]

Looks like the Golf has finally bitten me in the arse after a lot of relatively trouble free motoring.

I decided to change the exhaust and cat over myself a few days before we were due to drive down to Weymouth for a holiday after my mate ramps were busy for the foreseeable future due to stripping his dad's Cortina down. This is where my nightmare began.

The exhaust came off fairly easy so I turned my attention to the decat and the nuts holding it to the turbo. Within 10 mins this was the progress or lack of     



So I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I decided to pull the turbo out and take it to work to get the studs out. After a bit of oxyacetalene treatment all the studs were out



I ordered new gaskets and studs and booked the day off work to get it done. It was all complete the day before we were due to go so all was well. It was also a chance to fit my modified manifold.   

On the way I could hear a horrible "chattering" noise when the turbo was working so I had to do the whole trip off boost. Not very entertaining but great for fuel economy.

My only explanation for this noise is the oil feed to the turbo being restricted somehow. Unfortunately due to being on holiday I can't check anything so I'll have to wait until I get home at the weekend. I'm hoping the turbo isn't badly damaged but we'll see.

While the exhaust was off I thought it would be good to fit my B&M copy short shift kit. Relatively easy, and gives some good results. Just need to replace the heavy stainless knob with something a bit more pleasing to the eye and a bit warmer lol





I've got my eye on a Richbrook leather/aluminium replacement with shift pattern. Bit restricted on styles as reverse is now lift up rather than push down but it should look OEM enough

In lighter news new ABS sensors and wheel bearings are on their way so I can build my TT hubs up ready.

a quick pic of the new tips poking out of a colour coded 4mo valance



Had a little play with the bearing carrier tonight and got rid of the surface rust on them and tapped out all the threads

before



after



Just waiting for the gaskets to arrive now so thought I'd sort out the gearknob as it arrived yesterday







Quite subtle and in keeping with the OEM feel of the interior

Decided it was about time I got the sump off to change oil pick up pipe. Not ever had a problem with the oil but it's another thing off my mind. So bought this little lot ready to be done at the same time as my service



I've also bought some TT splash guards and new bolts for the hubs. Didn't realise the splash guards were so expensive new (£30 EACH!!) otherwise I'd have found some second hand. Anyway lesson learnt



Lastly won these on ebay for £20 delivered



Got a spare rub strip to fit them to so will make a template up as soon as they arrive

A few pics of what I'm up against with the rubstrip and the progress of rubbing it down





Looks like it's been shot lol

These arrived yesterday so it's a go for the US marker fitting



Also my wheel bearing kit arrived so I can finally build the hubs up



and she's off the road again while I source a new turbo bolt, I don't think I can use this one again





I'm pretty sure this was the source of the noise I was getting while driving. The gasket had evidence of a leak on the hole this bolt came from so I'm assuming it didn't tighten down fully before it jammed... We shall see tomorrow once I put it all back together

I've sorted something this week that has been broken for nearly three years... my rear door handle.

The retaining ring for the blank pinged off when I had just finished putting the door back together after fitting my new door module and I'd not got round to fitting a new one. While I was there I also fitted some new rear window triangles as mine were rusty (ask any 5 door owner, they are a complete eye sore)

[Wazzzer]

Spent an hour or so on it today, renewed the oil sealing washers, took the water banjo off completely and renewed the washers on it and the spacer (which I didn't do last time so I think that was the source of the leak)

Tapped out all of the threads for the turbo bolts and got a bit of swarf out of the offending hole, looks like I was right and something was in there; probably something from work while I was getting the studs out. I also ran a die down all the threads on the bolts so everything screws in easily now. Manifold and nuts are also back on but not tight, will sort that next time I go up there.

Will be rocking in the missus Seicento for a bit longer lol

Ordered some amber LED bulbs and bulb holders for the side markers and taking the rubstrip into work tomorrow to mark out and cut the side markers into it. Will also take my hubs in to press the wheel bearings in too

[Wazzzer]

Got my hubs done at work today but didn't have time to do the rubstrip, that can be done tomorrow





I was surprised at how easy it was...

[Wazzzer]

LED bulbs and holders have arrived, they all fit perfectly



Also picked up some of these off ebay as I was a bit heavy handed while taking the door cards off last week

[Wazzzer]

It's all back to together and runs lovely. Not sure if it's cured the original problem as I've only driven about 400 yards back from my mates house but I'll do some test runs tomorrow as I'm getting moaned at for being away from the missus and kids

[Wazzzer]

Picked this up so will be fitting soon, a sports cat isn't for me...



Just puzzled about this 2.25" end and how I'll get it to fit to my 2.5" system, maybe get a sleeve made up?



Also fitted my Powerflex bush to the S3 steering rack and binned the track rod ends that were seized on there





Not much will be happening over the next few months due to me and the wife saving up to pay a nice chunk off our mortgage when it comes up for renewal. It's in need of a service which I have all the bits for so that's a priority over fitting all the bits I've accumulated

Oh side markers have been cut in so I can get cracking on that, won't cost me any money to sort and fit them lol