mini project: 80 "GLI" by 2mAn

10 minute(s) of a 152 minute read

just picked up an evo intercooler. this weeks project is going to be getting it mounted. im not in too much of a hurry though as i just need to have a few things to finish before drag racing it at waterlands. if i finish it early enough ill try to get some drag racing done here in monroe. its 1/8 mile, but still

goals are:

-intercooler mounted and plumbed

-all aux gauges working

-install 7A trans (maybe)

not too much to do, but i might add more stuff to the list... til then...

8/6/10

so tomorrow im doing a whole bunch of stuff... selling some parts, but also buying more!

picking up h&r ultra low coilovers to replace the vminus coils. probably wont get any lower, though i will bust out the measuring tape because i feel like the rear is higher than the front

8/9/10

weekend update!

- bought and installed the h&r ultra lows and they are awe-some!

- got a black trunklid from a friend that will get painted and hopefully will look close to the OG paint, not expecting it to match perfectly, but it will look better than the trunklid does now thats for sure. also goign to shave the emblem holes in it too for a cleaner look.

the new coils really uncovered how bad i need the ball joint extenders so they are right up there on top of my list right after the intercooler. and the intercooler should be taken care of this next weekend along with (hopefully) installing the 7A

8/16/10

a few updates from the weekend:

-bought a FK trans to go with the 16v setup that used to be in here. those are going in the shark, which eventually is going to get megasquirt, a 16G turbo and evo intercooler. the guy threw in a k-bar also, but thats going into this car so thats good. 

-my pedal cluster (clutch cable holder to be specific) was pretty much already broken so i was planning on installing a "new" pedal cluster when i swapped the 7A in, but it fully broke yesterday so i spent some time making a skateboard wheel look like a mushroom. i did this on my other TD coupe and it works fine but is by no means a permanent solution, though i think the new owner of my coupe still has it in there. 

-also ordered an ebay 2" piping special with straight, 45*, 90* bends, hoses and clamps too, but it didnt have the 2.25" -> 2" 90* bending reducer hoses that i need from the evo intercooler. only thing i still need to get is a battery relocation kit and once everything arrives ill be good to go. i plan to dyno the car once i have the intercooler installed.

-next up i got a lower seat base so i could swap the driver seat. i got the seat along with the 16v from my buddy, apparantly it was from an old scirocco race car, but the seat bases it has arent for a mk1, looks like they bolted straight to the floor. this will be a lil side project, but should be fun when its done.

other than that im hoping i can finally get the ball joint extenders at the end of the month

8/19/10

intercooler is getting installed. im trying to get it around the battery so i dont have to relocate it, but thats not looking too hopeful...

surprise bonus from work means the ball joint extenders are getting ordered sooner! wooooooo! just need to install the k-bar soon too

8/21/10

finally got a chance to upload some pics and found one of the motor pretty much done...

heres some pics of the before the intercooler install and also some other random stuff...

the seat, original frame rail and the k-bar is in there somewhere

the 7A, still needs a cleaning

and the mock up of the intercooler. will post some final shots soon, maybe with some new low pics for you Johnny

8/22/10

heres a pic of the intercooler basically done. ignore the battery, i just ordered a reocation kit to move it to the trunk. i might straighten out the piping on the driverside once the battery is gone.

also turned the coils all the way down in the back, but it still doesnt seem lower

8/23/10

just ordered my ball joint extenders from PMWltd!!! ive been wanting this for so long and finally had extra money to buy them. ive had a brand new set of ball joints waiting to be installed so those will go on at the same time. probably install the k-bar at that time too if i have a chance. should be a lotta fun when im done! 

8/25/10

car died on me the other day on my way home. i managed to hotwire the injection pump and drive it home yesterday. the ignition switch looks to be the culprit so i installed a new one earlier. i havent had a chance to test it because i also got my battery relocation kit and im moving the battery to the trunk. because ill have more room in the engine bay, im also going to smooth out the airflow from the intercooler to the intake manifold . ill post more pics once its all done. ball joint extenders should be here tomorrow or friday the latest. im hoping to install them, the kbar and the 7A all on saturday. ill start with the transmission then move back to the other stuff cuz those should be easier and i wont need a lift (which im hoping to have access to on saturday)

8/29/10

in other news the car broke down on me again and after a few days of ignoring it and finally dealing with it i found that the wire going from the fusebox to the battery disconnected at a soldered and heat shrunk section, fixed that... 

also moved the battery to the trunk so i straightened out the piping since theres no battery in the way. battery is now in the trunk. heres a new engine bay pic

9/9/10

havent got much to update. i took a roadtrip to california in my new car. on the way i traded my front seats to funneebunnie84 (or something like that) and got a "brushed aluminum" trim for the early dash. its probably not going into this car, but it does mean i need to finish installing the bucket seat so thats what ive been working on. i also got the balljoint extenders and will be installing those soon. i got the weekend off so ill be working on the car again.

heres a pic of the new ride, its not a VW but its still german

10/27/10

figured its a good time to update the thead... car is at home in the driveway while i daily the m5 now. its my winter beater 

the car will be parked so i can finally install (at the very least) the ball joints and ball joint extenders along with some new front brakes im getting. ate slotted rotors and some hawk pads. might install the k-bar, but im probably going to wait and install that with the 7A (which might get installed with a rebuilt motor)..

we'll see what happens in the winter 

the garage is open again since this happened recently

a coupe will be in the garage again... but will it be ruby? ... stay tuned

11/18/10

car is finally back in the garage, had to do some work on the bmw so i left ruby outside til now. its damn cold outside and the car doesnt want to start (broken record right?) soooooooooo i picked up another diesel block today and almost exactly one year from when i started the 16v swap (seems like that was years ago) i will start yanking the motor out and, swapping everything over to the "new" block and hooking it up to the 7A and installing that all. ill finally get around to installing the new ball joints and ball joint extenders

the fun continues... 

for those keeping a tally, this will be the 5th different bottom end in the car

12/19/10

here we go again....

12/30/10

pdate time!

phase one is now official! the interior is getting gutted out. if you go back a few pages you might be able to figure out whats going in.

phase two is still up in the air, either it will get **** or getting a *** **** a *****

2/24/11

ok phase two is coming to a close....

car is gutted, only interior is a brown rocco steering wheel, the original seats, the gauges and the super hard to find jetta floormats...

nothing in the engine bay, coilovers just sold and the speedlines are going on the POS truck to make it look a little better when its all done...

im keeping the trunklid and i put a black one i had laying around. probably going to turn the lid into a bench or something.

there will be one final pic (this weekend hopefully) and then....

on to the next jetta coupe project. 

it will be a sad moment when the coupe is gone, but the good news is that its going to a good guy and it will be back on the road again soon.

2/28/11

unfortunately this will be the last page of the thread. it was the first time id seen ruby at stock ride height and i dont think she really liked being so high off the ground. she was fighting us when we tried to put stock suspension on her