Ben's Black Mk2 2.0 16v Project

[Judderi]

19 June 06

Well its Monday and that can only mean 1 thing. Update time! Well parcel force decided not to even turn up for the cams, so there still sat on my desk. I'm just gonna send them via royal mail parcel at lunch time as i cant find a reasonably priced courier and I'm not using parcel force ever again.

Secondly my battery tray is finished! Id be lying if i said it was easy but i got there in the end. After getting some gasless wire for the welder i set to work doing all the spot welds to hold the tray in place. First i did a weld at each corner in order to hold the tray securely in its final position. Then i set to work doing all the welds up the middle section. With gassless wire you get loads of splatter and it leaves a white coating behind, but i managed.




Then i did all the welds round the wing edge of the tray.




Id cut a little too much away at the point where the tray meets the existing chassis leg so was left with a gap. So i set to work filling this in too.




I then did a seam weld all the way round the top edge of the tray joining the tray to the inner wing. I don't think its necessary to do this but once ground flat it will look so much better.




I also did a few welds on the underside just to tidy things up and add strength. By the way this was a nightmare! The underseal turns to napalm and ends up on your head n hands etc. Ive got rocky burns all over me!




And voila all welding done.




Now for the real ball ache, grinding all the welds back. This took flippin ages and was a real pain in the butt due to the awkward angles. With a combination of a grinder and dremmel drill i eventually finished a few hours later. At this point i kinda regretted doing the seam weld. Oh i also killed my dremmel in the process so had to strip and fix that also. But the finished result was pleasing.





Oh i also welded back on my bracket or arm to hold the lpg mixer.






The final thing to do for the day was to paint it all. Before doing this i had to finish off stripping all the origional wax seal away and cleaning the whole thing. On the opposite side i basicly rubbed at it till it was no more. This took flippin ages and i couldent be bothered doing all that again. Then i had a bright idea. Use a heat gun! Its wax, it melts! So with a little bit of heat most of it drips away taking the crud with it. And any left over can simply be wiped away. If only i had realized this earlier! Oh well, now i was ready for paint. There are various methods you can adopt. I'm not after a perfect finish so for me i just opted for a big thick coating of black hammerite. Next week i will also under body seal the underside of the tray and chassis leg. At this point id un plugged the garage light so the pics ain't great but you get the idea. I will get a better shot next week.

[Judderi]

29 June 06

Right better late than never! Last weekend i got a few more jobs done. But 1st as promised some better quality pictures of the finished battery tray. Oh i also did the last bit of painting in the engine bay and did the bulk head. Looks alright doesent it? I haven't done the coil bracket yet but i will do!










While i was out with the paint i also decided to clean up my G60 calipers. So i stripped then using a wire wheel and painted them black too. They could do with another coat yet which i will do next weekend. Ive also got the carriers to do yet. And the rears.






I then had a go at adjusting my rear coil overs. It turns out that they are very very seized! I even tried using a breaker bar connected to the tool to adjust them but then the thread housing started to turn. So i welded the housing to the strut and tried again. This time they still didn't turn and the tool just started to bend. So i decided that id simply just have to leave the car at its current height for now. If once the stereo is in and its too low i will have another go. So i built the shockers back up with their new springs and installed them back on the car.






While i had the welder out again i decided now was a good time to weld on my new exhaust hangers and test fit the system. 1st i propped the box up on bricks to align it all up and see what i needed to do.






Because the box is SO big i had to cut off the original jack point so that there was no contact and knocking.




Now it was time to make up some new brackets. I re-used the original hanger but cut it down and re-located it to the side panel. Its hard to see in the pic but if you look at the burnt part you can see the hook. This will hold the box on one side.




Then using some steel rod i made a new bracket on the opposite side. I welded it to the underside of the spare wheel well like so. My welds here were not brilliant but none the less were strong and held no problem.




To add more strength and to stop the rod from bending i also welded in a bit of scrap steel i had to strengthen it all.






All that done the exhaust now hangs all by itself like so. Its a little too far to the right but once the whole system is fitted i can adjust this to suit properly.






As exhausts can be a real b!tch to fit i decided it would be a good idea to trial fit all the parts while off the car. By doing this you can bend and free up the joins making it allot easier when you come to put it on the car for real. I'm dead glad i did this as it was hard enough doing it off the car! But all is free and good now. It also looks cool. Also off the car it looks really long!










Then i started with some more under body seal. I did the inner wing and bottom of the new battery tray 1st. This stuff is great! You just splash it on nice and thick filling any holes.








When i did the opposite side i didn't remove the inner arch so decided to re-do it properly. After removing the inner arch my phone alarm went off which means its home time, so i had to pack up and go. So it will be finished next week.

[Judderi]

03 July 06

Sadly i have no pictures for you all this week as my phone died and is away being repaired. To be honest i think it was all the metal dust from grinding that killed it. Hopefully its totally shagged and i can get a new one. Anyway i still managed to get plenty done and very dirty black in the process.

First i removed the rear calipers and carriers. Then i cleaned them up with a wire wheel. This takes ages! Then i gave the front calipers another coat and give all the carriers and rear calipers there 1st coat in black. Hopefully they will only need 1 more coat which i will complete next week.

I then re installed the rear subframe, power steering rack and wishbones. I nearly had a major disaster with the captive nut. As some of you may know the nut often breaks free of its captives and ends up floating around inside. To fix this you have to cut a hole in your chassis, weld the nut back down and weld up the hole you created. Anyway i attempted to push the bolt up into the hole only to find that it would not tighten up. Before stopping to cry i decided i would clean up the threads on the bolt and see if that helped. BINGO! It caught the nut and tightened up no problem, result!

I cant see the point of fully stripping and re-painting the frame as its out of sight and will only get cacked up as soon as its driven again. So i simply cleaned all the surface cack off it and coated it all in under body sealant. Looks good really and will last forever.

While i was getting dirty with the under body seal i decided to make a start on the underside of the car. First i finished off the half finished drivers wheel arch and did the underside of the newly installed subframe and wishbones. Then it was time for the main underbody. Most of this is easy enough but as you get to the rear of the car it gets right fiddly and messy as you have to get round loads of bends and things like the fuel pump, rear axle and fuel tank etc. Anyway many hours later and 3 tins of the stuff later I'm pretty much done. I was covered in the stuff as i was just laid on my back underneath. NON DRIP MY ARSE!

So next week I'm hoping to finish off the underbody sealing. Apply another coat to the brakes and make a start on stripping and painting the gearbox.

Oh and good news. There was an attempted delivery on Friday. Fingers crossed it was my replacement cam. Its being re delivered today, so i can take it to the engine builders tomorrow and maybe have the engine back by the end of the week.

[Judderi]

06 July 06

Just a quick mid week update. The replacement cam did arrive on Monday which was a relief. I was kinda expecting to have loads of problems getting it replaced but gladly the German company i used from ebay were no problem and sent me a replacement as soon as they received my broken one. So i went to drop it off at the engine builders on Tuesday after work but he had left work early for a change. Not too much of a problem though because it gave me an oppertunity to speak to the the tuning companie over the road about getting the car setup once done. Id already heard allot of good things about them and it turns out they have a lot of experience with K-jet also. Plus they are getting a brand spanking Rolling Road very soon. Plus the price was reasonable so i guess i know where to take it now. Anyway i was off work on Wednesday cos the stupid buffet i ate on my training course was dodgy and gave me food poisining. So once i was feeling better i trecked back to the engine builders to drop off my cam. I was there for ages and had a good chat with the guys. Hopefully the motor will be ready soon. Fingers crossed!

[Judderi]

10 July 06

OK guys and girls. Sorry but its a boring no pictures post again as i still haven't got my camera phone back from repair. Anyway i managed to get a few more jobs done and everything is starting to come together nicely. First on my list was to install the missing subframe bolt. Id got a brand new one from vw as it was origionally just welded together. I thought it would take all of 2 seconds to screw in and tighten up. Oh how wrong was i. It just would not catch! So i ended up taking the whole subframe off again in order to check that the rear captive nut was OK. Gladly with some fiddling later i got it to catch, so stated to re-fit the subframe. Again i had to be very carefull with the captive nuts but was OK and got it all fitted in the end. Hopefully it will never have to come off again!

That done i though id also re-try to disassemble my front suspension, as i failed miserably last time i tried. Again i was getting no where trying to free up that stupid special nut that holds the top mounts on as everything just turns. Drastic action was required! I got out my trusty angle grinder and got to work cutting the bottom plate off the old top mounts. Basically i cut the bottom metal plate off the mounts which either enables you to slide the mount clean off or at least grab the nut below it and remove it using that. Anyway i got them both off and stripped my coilovers down and gave them a good clean up and grease. I then re-assembled them with my brand new top mounts.

Next i wanted to split my driveshafts from the gearbox. Id already bought the special spline tool from GSF so for the most part things went OK. 2 ended up stripping and id already lost 3 or 4 previously and replaced them with standard bolts. So I'm going to buy all new driveshaft bolts and replace the old. When it comes to re-fitting I'm gonna use some thread lock as id previously suffered from them working loose and falling out. I don't want this happening when running the extra power!
In the process one of the driveshaft bearing joints had pulled apart so i also had to take this appart and re assemble with fresh grease. Was a little tricky but i got there in the end.

Now the gearbox was all on its own i set to work cleaning it ready for a coat of paint. I got most of it done but my wire wheel needed replacing and i didn't have a spare so that got left and i moved onto the next job.

Id avoided doing any painting all day as I'm getting a Little sick of it but thought i best get all the underbody seal done and dusted, at least i wont have to do any next week. Yey! So thats how i finished the day off, on my back again getting covered in the dirty stuff. Anyway its all done now and hopefully i wont ever have to do it again.

And thats it. A bit boring i know but hopefully i will have my camera back next week and will get loads of pictures for yall.

[Judderi]

12 July 06

Just another quick mid week update. Got a call from the engine builders last night and the motor will be ready to pickup today. I wont be able to pick it up though as im in the mx5 but its not a problem as i cant do anything till the weekend anyway. So i will probably pick it up tomorow night. Hopefully i will get my phone back soon also so that i can take some pics!

[Judderi]

17 July 06

Right right right. Got my phone back so pictures will follow. I also got my engine! Just don't ask me what the final bill came to. Lets just say it was triple what i thought it would be! Ouch.  So the credit card got a bashing, so much for clearing all my debts!






Here are a few quick pics showing work from the previous week. Subframe in. Under body seal complete. Gearbox half cleaned. Front coil-overs stripped and cleaned with new top mounts.










I'm now itching to get the engine back in but 1st Ive got to do a few jobs. Firstly i needed to re-install all the front suspension and hub etc.




I then cleaned up the ally heat shield and clipped it back on.




I also needed to install my new gear linkage bush. I bought the part a while back. Its real easy to fit. Simply drill out the rivets holding in the old bush. You can then replace new for old and bolt it all back together. Job done and re-installed back on the car.






Next i wanted to get the whole exhaust system back on the car including the manifold as its near impossible to get the manifold on once the engine is in. So first i needed to clean up the exhaust tip and finish off wrapping the manifold. Again i ran out of manifold wrap but if i do get some more i can finish it off under the car without too much problem.






So on the car it went. I was really glad id freed up the joins before attempting this! And i was very happy with the finished result. With the middle section installed the exhaust tip was pulled over nicely and is as solid as a rock! Result.












I finished off the day by cleaning the gearbox some more. It needs some more cleaning before painting which i will do next weekend hopefully.

[Judderi]

24 July 06

Not allot to say this week really. Spent most of the time cleaning and painting parts ready to refit them next week. Hopefully the engine will be going in next week. So first up for a liberal coating of black hamerite was the front subframe. The subframe is made up of 2 parts which 1st needed to be separated. As always it wasn't that straight forward as one of the bolts had stripped its threads and was completely stuck. I also removed my front vibra technics mount which i later cleaned up with the wire wheel. It came up as good as new!






So i ended up just yanking the 2 parts apart pulling the bolt through. I then had to grind the old bolt off. I will need to order a replacement this week and i will probably have to weld the new nut back on.






With the 2 bits apart i set to work cleaning them with the wire wheel and painted them.








I then started with painting the gearbox and giving all the brake parts their final coat.






At this point the weather decided to go from very hot and sunny to absolutely chucking it down with rain soaking all my newly painted parts.




So once the rain stopped and the sun came back out and dried all the parts i gave everything another coat to hide the water marks. I got everything but one side of the subframe complete. So next weekend the motor should be going in! While it was raining i made a start at tidying up all the engine bay wires. Unfortunately i left my phone outside in the rain and it got soaked! It went a bit do-lally so i switched it off and let it dry out so don't have any more pics this week. But the phone is OK now so will have more next week.

[Judderi]

02 August 06

Ive been needing to make a trip to the local scrap yards to get a few odds and ends but i usually only have Saturdays to do this and they are always closed. But as i was working on the car on a Tuesday this week it was an ideal opportunity. I managed to get some of the stuff i wanted.

New rear seatbelt to replace the one i busted a while back. £3




A working throttle position sensor as mine stopped clicking a long time ago. Usually these are about £60 but i managed to convince the scrap yard guy to let me buy this for £20 as at 1st he wasn't willing to let me take parts from the complete engine.




A level sensor plug for the new header tank. £1




I also got a replacement bolt for the stripped one i took off the front subframe. Here's a pic of it all painted, its not yet back together but there's no rush as it will be one of the last things to go back on.




At this point of the build i never know what to start with when i get to the garage. So i started simple and put the coil bracket back on. Ive had to slide the coil as far as possible to the right as the red wire is a little tight since i tidied up all the loom.




I then started re-assembling all the brakes. All i can say is i hate brake lines! They are never easy and i ended up having to replace one line on the front. I also discovered another possible issue. The new back box is pretty huge and sticks out into the rear wheel arch quite a bit. This may clash with my wide Porsche wheels. But i wont know that till the wheels are on and the car is back on the ground. If they do then i will stick the G60 steels on for now and get the exhaust changed by powerflow.




The dent in the backbox shows where the last owner did a DIY mod job to fit his wheels.








Front Before and after Shots






The new line i had to make up.






Next up i dropped the gearbox back in and connected up the drive shafts. When i removed the engine side drive shaft it all kinda fell apart so i had to re assemble it. It turns out i re assembled it back to front which meant that it didn't bend and twist like it should. So i had to pull it apart and do it again properly. Once done i was good to bolt the driveshafts back on. In the past i have suffered from the drive shaft bolts working loose and falling out. So i bought all new bolts and used thread lock on them when re assembling. Job done now.




Engine side.






Passenger side. A little restricted for access but not too bad with a long reach socket.






And that was it for this week. I didn't really get much done cos i could only work till 5 and my morning was taken by the scrap yard trips. I was going to fill and bleed the brakes but realized that Ive bought 2 lots of gearbox oil instead of some brake fluid. Never mind i will get some for next weekend. So if you need any gearbox oil give me a shout.

[Judderi]

07 Aug 06

Well Ive got plenty to update on this week! 1st i made a trip to Halfords on Friday night. I bought a 17mm Alen key tool to drain the gearbox. Some brake fluid. And a Meguirs Quick clay bar kit thingy.

So first job i did on Saturday was to fill my brakes and bleed the system. This took all of 10 Min's and no problems were encountered.

Next i drained my gearbox which again was straight forward and no problems were encountered. I was amazed at how much oil came out, i thought most of it had spilled out while i was painting it. No wonder it was heavy! As yet i haven't re-filled it because a. i didn't have a funnel and b. i wanted it sat properly with the engine in place before doing so, so that i can get the level correct.

I then put the front subframe back together. When i took it apart i had a threaded bolt which needed replacing. I got a replacement while i was at the scrappy last week. I thought i might have to use a new nut too but I was able to straighten up the damaged one and re-tap it.




I then set to work putting stuff back on the engine. Cam cover and Timing belt cover.






Rear engine mount and drive shaft heat shield.




Oil cooler




Oil breather housing




Then my mate arrived just in time to help me lift the engine into the bay. 2 trolley jacks a trusty skateboard and nearly a broken foot later it was in. At this point i wished i had a crane but we got there with allot of grunting and sweating. Ta Da! I also dropped the battery in place and popped the LPG mixer onto its bracket.








I also bolted the WUR back on.




I bolted the gearbox on and put the starter motor and front engine mount on.






At this point you may be wondering why i haven't taken the time to clean and paint things like the starter motor. Well to cut a long story short my mate would like his garage back and my wife is getting seriously pissed off with all the time i spend working on the car. So i simply don't have the time anymore. Its a bit of a shame but at the end of the day i wasn't wanting a show looking engine, just a fast one!

You may also wonder why I'm still supporting the engine with a trolley jack and haven't installed the front subframe. This is because i need 1 exhaust manifold stud which i will order up this week along with a whole list of other missing or broken bolts needed. Because of this i will need to drop the engine forward a bit next week to get the new stud in.




Next to go on was the water pump.




While messing with the water pump i decided it was a good time to install the new thermostat. To do this you have to take the plastic elbow on the underside of the pump off.