molegti - '89 8v GTI

[molegti]

And through laziness I havent updated my project thread for over a year. The car stayed on the road until June when the MOT ran out. By this stage I'd started to be tempted by a larger engine conversion and decided to upgrade my brakes to 16v spec.

So I bought some SEAT Ibiza hubs, stripped them and binned the ABS gubbins. Rust was removed using electrolysis.


The hubs were then reassembled using new bearings.



I used electrolysis on a pair of caliper as well replaced the seals and also the pistons and placed back on the car. Unfortunately I became drawn to the state of the suspension.

[molegti]

So set about rebuilding the suspension. The chopped springs had been replaced with a second hand set for the last MOT and ideally I'd like to replace the whole lot with something decent but for now it would just have to be new dampers, bumpstops and topmounts.



I ordered for Eurocarparts which lists suspension components for the year of your car. Due to this and a bad description I ended up ordering inserts. I'd never do this again I'm not sure if they were any cheaper but the work involved in getting the old rusy shock bodies to this stage isnt worth any saving.



In addition I also noticed that the control arm bushes were in a terrible state. Oh well MOT might have to wait a bit longer.

[molegti]

Unfortunately in removing the wishbones I snapped the n/s/f bolt in the captive nut on the subframe. By now my plans had changed from a 2 litre bottom end to an ABF so I decided to remove the rear engine subframe so I had better access to get the bolt out.



I had the option of attempting to drill the bolt out (it was just below flush) or cutting the subframe. Whilst it seems extreme I went with the second option. I was too concerned the required 10.5mm drill would foul the outer bolt hole and it was going to be difficult to pilot drill as smaller drill bits simply wouldnt reach. I cut an access hole in the side of the subframe and proceeded to saw the old captive nut off, not the easiest of tasks. With a bit of grinding with the dremel I was able to weld a new nut in.



The flaps around the access hole were closed and then the whole lot was welded up painted and refitted.

[molegti]

Some of the pictures are slightly out of sequence to make more sense. During the wet / colder weather I started the ABF loom. My car is CE1 and my approach was to make the ABF loom match what was already there. Dash sensor wiring will therefore be the original and I used some plugs from a donor loom to match it under the rain tray.



The ABF ecu is considerably larger than the digifant 2 one so getting it to secure in the rain tray in an OEM manner is a challenge for another day. Apparently a SEAT toledo bracket is an option however i've wired the TCI into my loom so I really need a solution thats as like the original as possible.

[molegti]

Fairly productive week and bank holiday weekend. My engine arrived and I took the opportunity to weld up a rust hole in the bulkhead before it went in. This wasn't the easiest of tasks since my cheap mig welder kept blowing holes.

First step before fitting the engine was to fit a new clutch and the flywheel from the original engine as I'm using the 020 gearbox.



The front of the car was held on with the bare minimum of bolts after I pulled the old engine out so once I'd fitted the gearbox the front crossmember was dropped and the engine and gearbox pushed into the bay. You might be able to see I have fitted a 16v style engine mount, if your really eagle eyed you'll spot its the wrong way round



Then using a combination of blocks of wood, jacks and levers it was lifted into position.



Its by no means finished but the engine bay now looks like this but i,ve moved the engine mount the right way round and bolted it in and started to fit a few of the ancillaries.



The ISV is the original from the PB engine. It doesnt fit, the body of its too fat so it doesnt sit right against the manifold and you cant make the connection.

[molegti]

Then once again I got really lazy and stopped taking photos. I still have the car, and its still not on the road.
I moved house in September and work stalled until I got the car into a council garage in November and then slowly started work again. By this time the ABF was in and running in a manner of speaking.
I'll update the few photos I have as soon as I can and I'm aiming for an MOT in September.