Ben's Black Mk2 2.0 16v Project

[Judderi]

08/08/05

On saturday i put in a 13 hour shift on the car 10:30am till 11:30pm. I was totaly knackered when finished!  I needed to replace a ball joint for the MOT. I figured while i had it in bits i might as well replace both CV boots as the drivers side one was split and also fit the Polly bush kit i bought ages ago. So here goes...

Firstly i stripped the suspension down so that the major components were apart

P.S Here a pic of my new G60 disks. A bit oily but thats becase i was absolutely filthy! I Looked like a ying yang sign! 

I then replace the ball joint with this nice new one. The old one was totaly shot!

While i was there i though i may as well take a pic of my KONI coil overs. There so dirty! I hope if i ever need to adjust the height the rings will still turn. Im planning on going lower once i fold the front arces. Apart from the muck they still seem to be in good condition.

Heres the new CV boot installed. This should be an easy job if you know what your doing or have a haynes. I didnt! I spent ages trying to figure out how to remove the CV in order to fit the new boot. It turns out you just belt it with a hammer and it pops off. Wish i knew that before i spent an hour trying to do it gently. Oh well got there in the end.

Right next on the list was to install the anti roll bar polly bushes. In order to do this you need to drop the engine bed about 2 inches. This sounds drastic but its not really, i supported the engine bed with my trolley jack as you can just see in the pic above. Then there is one bolt either side that you need to remove. This is accessed through the centre of the wishbone with a long socket. Once there out then very carefully and slowly lower the trolley jack about 2 inches. Only go about 2 inches otherwise you will end up with your engine on the floor and your car in the air! Here is a pic of my wonky engine after i lowered the engine bed on the passenger side.

You should now be able to undo all nuts for the anti roll bar and replace the bushes. Sound easy but can be difficult as the new polly ones dont have much give and you gotta squah em in tight. A few swear words later and some gentle perswasion i.e Big Hammer and it should look something like this.

Next was the bushes in the wishbone. Again not an easy job unless you have a press, which again i didnt. First you gotta get the old ones out! I pretty much cut, drilled, burned, swore the rubber centres out. Then i had to cut a line across the shell thats pushed into the wishbone then hammer a screwdriver inbetween it and the wishbone then bend it out. Now your ready to push the new polly ones in. Sound easy doesent it. Well its not. I got the fatest man i could find (step father in law) to jump up and down on them till they were in. Took a few attempts but got there in the end. P.S the lube supplied works a treat if you remember to use it! Heres a before and after shot.

The smaller one is much easier to press in place as it comes in 2 halfes. I managed by hand.

Now i just needed to put it all back together. This is the point where i thought id lost 2 bolts and spent neary an hour looking for them only to realise i was being thick.

I thought i had lost the 2 that go through the smaller bush but realized i already had them because they were the same 2 that held the lower strut brake on. Dur! 

[Judderi]

Next was replacing the bushes on the bit that holds the anti roll bar to the wishbone. Was easy enought to get the old rubber bits out but getting the new polly centre in was a bit more tricky. A bit of perswasion with some adjustable grips and leverage with a screwdriver did the trick.

While rolling around under the car i noticed my drivers side drive shaft was loose. The 5 or 6 bolts that connect it to the gearbox were completely loose, not even finger tight!

And thats it all done! Took 13 hours due to the amount of work involved and seized bolts and various problems. But got there in the end and am very happy with the results. The ride is allot more reponsive and feels much more solid on the road. Sorting out the loose driveshaft has also made changing gear allot more smoother as there is now no play inbetween gear changes. As far as handling goes i havent tested it that much as im still bedding in my brakes but so far so good! 



While i was snapping away with the camera phone i thought i would show you all the LPG system. Its very basic really. Heres the 50 litre tank in the boot which im going to move to the centre up against the chairs to make way for my subs and amps.

The next main component controls the flow of gas and also heats it up using the engine coolant system in order to transform it from liquid to gas.

Then basicly it is injected direct into the intake hose. I bought a twin take off power rhor for this part and re located the idle control hose underneath.

Last but not least is the little controller that connects to the metering head. This basicly cuts the fuel supply when running on LPG

[Judderi]

09/08/05

Well before i go through all the trouble of sending the rear disks back because they dont fit i decided to double check to make sure i hadnt missed anything. So last night after i had my tea i went back out to the garage to strip the rear disk off again and compare.

Side by side they both look identical. On closer inspection after wiping away all the grease i could see that the old disk had some sort of shim inside on the back and front side.

Usually you would need some special tool or press to get these out but i managed with a hammer and screwdriver. Tapping one side then another from the inside i eventually managed to remove the front and rear shims in one piece and undamaged.

With the help of some lube a large socket and a scateboard wheel i was able to hammer the shims into the new disks, again much to my surprise un-damaged! So now i was able to reasemble the whole brake assembly with my new green stuff pads.

By this time it had gone dark and i still had the other side to do. I hate working in the dark so decided to pack up and do the other side at 1st light in the morning. 1st light happened to be 5am so here i am working away on my car at 5 in the morning like some kind of looney. As always the second time you do something its much easier and i was all done and packed away for 7am ready to jump in the shower and get ready for work. This didnt seem that strange to me but everyone thinks im mad for doing so. Maybe i do have a un-healthy addiction to my car. If i had the choice i would work on it 24/7!

Here is a pic of the rear coil overs which i hope will adjust when i come to lowering the car some more.

[Judderi]

15/08/05

Didnt do much this weekend. I washed the car for the 1st time in ages. Also put the undertrays back on the dash. I also decided to loosly install my new 3000 watt mono amp and 1 12" sub as im sick of music with no bass. Oh and i had to brake into the car! I was busy working in the boot when our kitten did a run for freedom out the front door and across the busy road. So i dropped my keys and shut the boot and ran after her. However my alarm locks the doors for you automaticly if you forgot and yes my keys were in the boot! And ive lost my spare and only have 1 alarm fob! So i spent ages with a coat hanger down the door trying to lift the lock. This didnt work so i turned my attention to the rear window. Turns out you can slowly peel bend the seal back with kitchen knives then remove the glass. Took a while but got there in the end with no damage to the car at all. BLOODY CAT!

[Judderi]

06/09/05

At the weekend i flushed my coolant system as it has never been done while i have owned the car and the water was a murky brown colour. I came across something strange which im hoping somebody can shed some light on for me.

1st i took off the top and bottom radiator hoses, after the water stopped pouring out i put the hosepipe in the top then bottom to push out all dirt.

I then took off the following hozes. This one at the front of the engine that connects to the solid metal pipe.

This hoze on the side of the block under the dizzy.

And also the 2 hozes connecting to the header tank. I then put the hozepipe down every disconnected hoze and in every hole that hozes connected too. After a short while the water coming out runs clear and you know you have got all the gunk out. While the header tank was disconnected i took it inside and gave it a good scrub, came up quite clean in the end.

All that is left to do now is to re connect all hozes and fill up the system. To fill up i used a ready mixed coolant/distilled water mix that i bought from Tesco, i wouldnt usually buy coolant from tesco but it was the only place open on a sunday afternoon. To fill i poured the water in the header tank till full and left for a couple of mins for the level to drop. I repeated this till the level stopped dropping. I then started the engine and with the header tank cap still off kept an eye on the coolant level and topped up each time it dropped. Eventually the fan will kick in and if the coolant level is fine when the fan stops then you can put the cap on and your done. Just keep some water with you and check your level for the next day or so in case it drops.

[Judderi]

Now for the bit i cant understand, the rubber hoze in the pic below had a round bolt shoved up it with a jubile clip round it thus blocking the hose. I cant understand why? This hoze seems to be some kind of bypass that runs from the right hand side of the engine block to the front metal pipe that feeds the oil cooler and pump. Does anybody have any theories on why this hoze was blocked, PM if you do please. Anyway ive removed the bolt to see what happens. So far my temp is fine and the only difference is that my oil pressure buzzer keeps coming on, but im pretty sure this is just because i caught the yellow wire and broke it away from the spade connector. Ive had a quick go at re connecting it but with no joy, im gonna get the soldering iron out tonight and solder it on good and propper. Hopefully the anoying buz will go away and i can drive to work in peace.

[Judderi]

12/09/05

Another weekend of activity and a few more jobs done. Firstly i replaced my oil pressure sensor with one i aquired from my local breakers, and voila the buzz has gone! Thank goodness, it was driving me mad! I think the old one was working intermittently.

I also decided to investigate one of the reasons why my back end slides out in the wet. The Rear brake pressure regulator or byas valve. This works by increasing the power of the rear brakes when there is more weight in the rear of the car. However in a car that has been lowered it thinks that there are people in the back when they are not and applies too much braking power to the rear disks, this can result in rear wheel lock up at the most inapropriate times and you will be facing the wrong way before you know it! NOT GOOD!

To locate the regulator look underneath the car on the passanger side in front of the rear wheel and you should see this.

The regulator works as follows. When there is more weight in the car and the body is closer to the ground the arm shown in the bottom left of the picture below moves towards the ground. This pulls on the spring which is hidden behind the chassis arm which in turn pulls the regulator valve together. Closing this valve allows more pressure to be applied to the rear brakes resulting in greater braking power.

Now in order for the regulator to work correctly the 2 ends of the valve shown below must be fully open or apart from each other as much as possible when the car is sat flat on the ground (i.e do not check this when the car is jacked up!)

In order to adjust you will need to release the spring that runs from the regulator to the adjustor bracket. To do this simply undo or loosen the bolt that holds it to the arm.

However! If your anything like me and your car is very low you will find that there isnt enough adjustment left in order for the valve to be fully open when the car is sat flat on the ground (i.e not jacked up). But there is a solution! And a free one at that!

Un hook the spring at both ends and remove from the car. The adjuster arm end is easy done as its just one bolt but the regulator end is a bit more tricky as its held on with the following clip. But with a bit of gentle perswasion it should eventually pop off.

While everything is apart its a good idea to check that the regulator valve opens and closes freely, if not then grease up good and propper till it does.

In order to get more adjustment the spring needs to be stretched longer. As standard it will look like this

The spring was far too hard to stretch by hand so i used the standard scissor jack. Hook one end through the hole in the top of the jack and secure the other end in the ridge on the foot of the jack.

Then get winding! But be carefull! You really dont want the spring to come flying off into your eye! That might hurt a little! To minimize the risk i did all winding inside a wheely bin. Sounds daft but not as daft as loosing an eye! By the way i wasnt inside a wheely bin, just my hands were. 

Dont go overboard with the winding, you dont want a spring stretched a mile long! Wind out then back in a few times checking the result, your looking for a finished article like this.

In the process one end of the spring was bent out of shape but this was easy fixed by bashing it against the floor with a hammer! Technical eh! 

Now its time to put it all back together. In the style of Haynes - Refitting is a reversal of the removal! The tricky part though is re securing the spring to the adjuster arm while the car is flat on the ground. Remember the bias valve must be fully open when the car is sat flat on the ground! So hold the valve open and secure the spring to the arm.

That should be about it, all done! Hopefully you wont have any more brown pants moments when taking corners or braking hard.

[Judderi]

07/11/05

Right its been a long time since i posted on here due to a house move and illness etc. I havent really done anything with the car for months but came accross these pics last night on my bro in laws phone so thought id post them. They were taken the day i got the car back from the body shop.

[Judderi]

21/11/05

I did something daft!  I was adjusting the pressure for the LPG and over did it a little resulting in part of my intake hose blowing off. Since then the car will not idle correctly and it is very lumpy when coming back down the revs. So i fugured its got to be something on the idle or intake side of things. 1st i checked all hozes which were fine. Then i cleaned out the ISV with carb cleaner. P.S ive never used carb cleaner before, i was well impressed, top stuff! Ive bought 3 tins now.  All in all these checks and stuff didnt fix the problem and now my battery is dead and i dont have a charger. So i went and bought one from the local motor shop at a bargain price of £15 for a heavy duty unit. So when i was poking around some more i noticed my far right injector was very wobbly compared to the others. It pulled out real easy, and the small O ring was snapped in 2. A ha!

While i had it all in bits and the car in the garage i decided now was as good a time as any to fit my polished rocker cover and 52mm intake manifolds that ive had for nearly a year. So i started stripping it all down. Once it was all apart i also found that the injector seat had disintegrated, which was another reason why the injector was not a snug fit. Not to worry though cos the new manifold had new injector seats already on it. While the rocker cover was off i tested the cam chain which seemed nice and tight and also the cams did not show any sign of wear on the lobes which is very good for an engine which may have done 180k.

While ive got the chance i have also decided to take all my injectors to the local bosch centre to have them cleaned and tested. As they are mechanical injectors it only costs £6 +vat each to have done and that includes new seals! If any are faulty i will replace them all with new merc ones. Apparently they cant be fixed as the pindle is just a basic spring operated setup.

So far i have put the new cam cover on complete with a full new rubber gasket set. The old cam cover was completely loose! All the bolts were not even finger tight! Im not surprised it leaked a little. Ive also cleaned all intakes and throttel body with carb cleaner to clear any grease and grime.

Now ive just gotta take the injectors tomorow and pick up a few new seals and stuff from vw.

Sorry for the lack of pics, i did take loads and loads but like a mong i deleted them all off my phone by mistake. Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa  But i will take more tonight of the progress so far.

[Judderi]

22/11/05

As promised here are some pics.

1st some shots of things done before anything was put back together.

The pic below shows the old lower intake manifold with the broken injector seat.

Here is a quick shot of my 4 branch stainless manifold. I Checked all the bolts holding it to the head while i had good access and found that nearly all were loose. I think from now on im gonna do all work myself no matter how big a job it is so that i know its done right! Bloody mechanic!

This shot shows a couple of the intakes on the head. Can you see how there is a scored part in the centre. Is this bad? If anyone knows then please let me know. What would cause this?

Here is the new lower intake complete with new gaskets, even though only 1 new gasket is shown i did use a new one for the bottom too.

You can see the bottom gasket in this shot

Here is my now clean throttle complete with 2 new gaskets.

Now for some pics after i started putting it all back together

1st the rocker cover was installed with all new rubber seals and half moon blocks

And another shot showing the manifold and also my quick shifter. Notice how the weighted rod is installed upside down. This allows for a smoother movement as it connect with less of an angle to the gearbox.

Then the new lower intake manifold was installed. In this shot you can also see the new half moon seals installed.

Then i fitted the cam cover and found 2 bolts to hold it that were previously missing.

I also removed all the injectors to take them to the bosch centre tonight. Also VW have just rang me to let me know that the other parts i ordered have arrived. More updates later. I hope after all this work it fixes my problem!