Why do we do this to ourselves?
After a year of threatening to start finishing my already finished MK1 1600GTi, I began its 1800 16v KR conversion. (I have the ceramic early type fuse box)
Fully lightened & balanced bottom end with new bearings
New water pump
Man in a shed head
Stock cams and exhaust manifold
Port matched
1) Simply remove engine from hole.
1i) How the f**k are you supposed to get an engine that is physically bigger than the hole out. (I no longer have a workshop at my disposal, just my drive and a borrowed engine crane)
1ii) Round of drive shaft bolt, only one of them though.
1iii) Nearly drag car off ramp things because drive shaft has got caught.
2) Spend ages swapping all the mounts, figuring out how to swap the gear linkage on to the MK2 box.
2i) Realise that 'posh' water pump won't fit with the 'valves alternator bracket, think about this too
2ii) Get grinder out and chop the bracket in half, spend an hour going back and forth to the car shop to get the right length alternator belt.
3) Decide as it was such a w4nk3R to get the engine out, to kick the box under the car, lower the engine in, bolt in the side mount, then offer the box up, jack it all up and bob's your mothers brother.
3i) Kicking the box under the car has filled up the bell housing with gravel, and the little bolt holes with sh1t. Also I lowered the engine on to the bell housing, which caused the tinwear to bend out of shape.
3ii) Remove box, clean out, fit to engine, summon the strength of ten tigers and get it all in the hole. Realise that the little rubber ring thing that goes on the engine mount is still sat on the rocker cover.
4) Have a coffee
Now the Wiring.
I wanted the new shape clocks, as 8K doesn’t appear on the stock MK1 clocks, mine are modded to, but the 8 is under the fuel gauge.
Change complete loom over, from a car with the fuse box on the O/S to a car with the fuse box on the N/S.
I brought a Sirocco dash loom, so that bit (although I haven’t fitted it yet) shouldn’t be too bad.
I have to shorten the loom for the N/S lights and lengthen it for the O/S lights, then fitted the side lights, thinking, why has it got four side lights? Cut the ‘spare’ side lights out of the loom, then realised that the side lights that I had installed were the indicator bulbs and the wiring loom on the floor was the side lights… Sob.
I’ve fitted that funny ceramic thing with the yellow wires, no idea what it does?
More later, I need to find a quite corner somewhere,
kraM
