mk2 scrapyard - 2.0 16v rebuild

[Devon Joe]

Took gearbox out again...underside of car was covered with oil after only a couple of days, even on the wishbones!

Realised the gearbox input shaft seal has gone, (which probably means the crankseal was ok..) and all the fresh gear oil i put in had just sprayed out into the bell housing/clutch/world. Fortunately had picked up a Sachs 16v clutch of Feebay which meant i could put my 16v box back in. The Sachs clutch looks and feels better quality then the old LUK one. Both 8v and 16v friction plates are the same diameter though which is a surprise.
Before i did all this work it was pretty hairy on corning- you could feel the front end was unsettled but now it has no clutch slip, new bushes, track rod end and awesome Toyo Proxes T1s it is

NEVER has a vehicle owed me so much hard driving...

[Devon Joe]

...Speaking of which, this morning i had to drive from Tiverton to Minehead on the brilliant A396  (mentioned in Evo mag as one of the best driving roads in the UK). Its an awesome mix of long straights,wobbly bits, tight corners, peaks, troughs, wooded bits- the works.

Jeez is the mk2 amazing now- i met 6 cars in 25 miles, none of which held me up for long. Some kiddie in an AX GT kept sitting right on my arse through the 30/40mph limits and then seemed to repeatedly reverse really really fast when we hit the nationals 

Did get some serious brake fade though despite Pagid Fast Road pads and those (apparently useless) 16v chin spoiler ducts.

If anyone can get to J27 M5, drop me a pm and i will give you a tour!

[Devon Joe]

 

[Devon Joe]

Have now decided i prefer the 16v box to the 8v, yeh not so good on fuel but much quicker response at motorway speeds, she fair thunders along now.
The GIT hasnt broken down for a while now, using it everyday too so all good...hoping to pick up some of them motorbicycle carbs when i get paid for another month of screwing around with my car 

[Devon Joe]

Had to do a front wheel bearing over the weekend- was fine 2 weeks ago and then started rumbling this week. Managed to get it out (defo needed that bearing press and the gas tho!) and a new one sorted the problem. Did the camber+ tracking at the same time so now shes a proper flighty thing, turn in is ace and feels great with new bushes. Its too soft really given its grunt but thats all part of the fun...

Off to Majorca for 2weeks on the 8th- if i come back with any spare cashola its definitely going on carbs.

[Devon Joe]

Fitted a brand new cam chain and naturally have had a right old mare with the timing..

Also one of the junctions on the oil cooler broke off during job- it looks like its been leaking slightly for ages but still thats thirty plus squid i would rather not have spent 

[Devon Joe]

Update....

After eventually timing the GIT up with the timing chain gears and the flywheel indent, but ignoring the bottom pulley and sprocket marks ( ) the old girl ran fine.
Wouldnt idle though.
At all.
Swapped ISV...no change
Checked/swapped all sensors...no change
Out came multimeter and all is well with wiring etc...

Figured it could only be the ISV controller behind the centre console.
Which is obsolete and therefore £300 plus from VAG...

After much phoning around i bought one off Feebay which has yet to arrive 

All flippin annoying, especially as my tax expires today 

[Devon Joe]

R1 carbs are a go!

Having finally got the GIT to run again (timing joy) its gonna cost me ninety quid to be road legal again 

Valver is now SORN as i now have a Passat as a daily driver which gives me an excuse to finally do the carb conversion. Also the Passat has a cable change box and handy bits like a matching pedal box which it may well sacrifice at some point in the future..

See my post in parts for sale!

I am going to knock up an inlet manifold for the bike carbs and also have a crack at a tubular exhaust manifold and naughty exhaust too. My mate has offered the use of his fabrication shop on the promise that when its finished he can rag it round some track days and midnight Devon rallies..

[Devon Joe]

I now have a lovely set of Mikuni 40mm downdraft R1 carbs 

And the GIT now has a nice clean engine bay, with none of that new-fangled fuel injection nonsense...check out feBay for 'VW Golf GTI 16v 50mm Inlet Manifold, Injectors & more!'

Unsurprisingly the carb spacing doesnt quite match that of my 2.0 6a head so i will to make a manifold to suit. The carbs are all separate with a common choke slider and coupled throttle shaft- either i extend these and space the carbs so the inlets are perpendicular or just make up some bent ones. Also the main coolant feed into the head needs rejigging to miss the carbs and the dipstick is going to either get shortened or ignored..

The carbs have a remote idle thumbwheel and a throttle position sensor (apparently a good thing for those clever enough to build an ECU  ) and are very compact and very nice!

Will sort out some overdue pics

[Devon Joe]