Rocco's Modern Life by jcpahman77

48 minute(s) of a 96 minute read

Rocco's Modern Life

Compliments of jcpahman77 @ www.michiganvw.org

12/6/05

The farther into this car I get the more I find it needs. I'm not ready to give up on it yet so I'm making it a project car. A lot has been done to the car since I paid $50 for it, but there is much to go.

This spring, as every spring for a few years, I will be looking forward to a sizable tax return. Most of it is earmarked to pay back debts, but I always take a chunk to put into a vehicle for the repairs I would otherwise be unable to afford. This year the 'rocco's card came up.

For those that have been following along my short time with the group so far you already know that the car has gotten a rebuilt motor and transmission as well as (soon) corrado seats. Also new are the radiator and front brakes including the brake lines. For the most part I am happy with the way the car runs and feel it is fast enough for me at this time. What it needs now is more chassis and suspension related. As well as a few crack pot ideas that I'll let out of my head as time progresses.

Short term (like next week hopefully) it'll be getting new front wheel bearings as well as ball joints and an alignment. Ideally tonight I'll have the corrado seat nightmare straightened out (although I'm sure it's my own fault for starting so late at night).

What I need advice on as far as how to proceed is in fixing some holes I have found in the car. I have known that the running boards were going bad, but now I am finding holes in the floor pan. I have no problem with putting new metal into the floor of this car. I don't have a welder but I did some in school so I may be able to handle the work if some one has the machine. Where I'm most curious is at what point should I just say F'it and put in a full cage? Yes this car is my daily driver, however, I've already removed most of the interior rear of the front seats so stripping it further doesn't bother me. Also does anyone have experience with possible connecting the front and rear sub frames for further strength/rigidity? I don't intend on having this work farmed out (I don't think I'll have quite that much money this year) but as I am inexperience in this I would like to know how best to proceed.

Once the holes are fixed and I'm satisfied that the car is for the most part solid I have someone who will paint the car for me for just the cost of paint. Also I'd like to do something about the worn shocks/struts but the body work is the priority. After that new rubber both for the 13's I have for winter and the 15's I have for the summer is in order, but I'll worry about that later.

I'll entertain any other ideas for this car, but I'm not letting this one go into that good night just yet. There aren't that many Sciroccos on the road and I feel that I need to restore this one (call me crazy).

Oh almost forgot, I'm anticipating having $400 to use this spring (500 if I don't go to gingerman, but yeah right, I really wanna drive on a track). I know it's not a lot, but this way you know what I have to work with.

I was only thinking of the cage in terms of structural rigidity not for racing (although it would be a nice side effect). Naturally I didn't think about the possibility of smashing my head into it in the case of an accident. As for difficult to get in and out, we crossed that bridge 7 months ago when I bought the car, I'm 6'6" it's not, every day is an adventure getting in and out :p. As for sourcing the floor boards, these are S2's at u-wrench-it? And then what do I need to get the boards, a torch? Also would you know the approx. cost?

12/8/05

I keep forgetting to get pics of the seat swap and the hole so the rest of you can weigh in on how bad/hard it's going to be to fix. The car is parked for a little while as the wheel bearings have finally gone bad. The parts will be here Monday, hopefully I'll be able to get it all done in a day or so (the person I know with a press is in Muskegon). After that I begin shopping for struts and/or springs and main caps. Inexpensive is key I'm poorly funded but hopefully I can get all four corners done springs and struts. Then strut braces, then onto gingerman. After all this though the car won't be too bad, except for paint, and I have something lined up for that too.

1/3/06

Ok a small update from me. The wheel bearings are in and the front end feels much better -- surprise. Got it to run with a coil from Pete, also put in new plugs. It's alive again and pulling very strong. Now a new question arises: I had a friend following me to make sure it didn't die again, and he said when I use my turn signal all my taillights dim when it comes on. The alternator belt is tight and I think I remember having it's output tested, maybe not. On the same note my headlights have always been so dim I can barely see in front of me. I've just assumed they are old, as mentioned it was a $50 car. Now that I'm being told the taillights dim with the turn signal I'm wondering if there is a correlation. For discussion's sake lets say the alternator and voltage regulator are ok, I'll have them tested tomorrow to make sure.

3/28/06

t's been a little while since I've made an update and things are coming along nicely. This car never fails to impress me, both in it's performance and it's ability to piss me off. This round of updates includes an exhaust AGAIN this time fully welded so nothing can go wrong *jynx*, as well as new tires. I'm also going to finally take pictures of the corrado seats since both are installed now. The exhaust sounds very nice and in gear acceleration has increased dramatically, no more downshifting to accelerate on the highway. The tires will be better appreciated Monday when I have the car aligned. The seats just f'ing rock. Let no one tell you corrado seats aren't worth every penny. Pics tonight, I'm off to Wal*Mart.

3/28/06

I'll start in summary, Wal Mart blows, don't ever go there. I was there an hour maybe an hour and a half and watched them make about every mistake you can before getting to my car. Car 1 was an alero and while duchebag #1 is taking my info and what I need done duchebag #2 is trying to mount a tire on a rim. He made four good tries at it but just couldn't get it. He never lubed the tire, never leaned on it, I thought he was a wuss. Turned out he's a moron, he was trying to mount a 15" tire on a 16" rim, generally that doesn't work. 30 minutes later he gets two properly sized tires mounted and balanced and backs the car out of the garage. 30 seconds later the car is back. Apparently it IS important to torque the wheel down. The center caps were then installed and the customer was on their way. Vehicle two went much better, they only had to pull it back in because he forgot the hub caps. Finally it's my turn. Douchebag #1 is behind the wheel, he's pulling the car in, he gets to the ramps and stalls the car. Two more tries are made before he hands it off to douchebag #2. All the while I'm screaming through the glass "you've got it in 3rd you blind moron". Douchebag #2 only took two tries and finally got the car on the ramps. This is where progress halts. Both douchebags are now walking around the car as if it's some UFO. One finally puts the rubber blocks under the pinch rails. Still the car is on the ground. A few more laps around the car and now there is just one douchebag. He removes the blocks and makes a final lap, hands in pockets. He asks to speak to the owner (me) and I am informed that my car has no suitable place to lift, it's too rusty. I've had this car into numerous shops one just last week and not one of them have complained. I called the store manager when I got home. He's going to have the Tire Manager call me tomorrow. That conversation is going to go something like this: "You have incompetent employees. I used to change tires at the Sam's next door I know this car is in acceptable shape. Now you are doing the work at no cost because I'm going to have to make a second trip to Alpine from downtown and gas isn't cheap.

3/29/06

I'm still friggin' pissed at Wal Mart. At 2:30 when I had gotten no phone call I decided to call the tire manager myself. I explained the situation and she told me to bring the car in. So I go up and she puts my car in line. I ask her if she got the note to call me that should have been left by the store manager. She says no, but I should ask the other manager, he came in first. No note for him either. While I'm talking to him one of the kids who refused my car last night approaches me and says, "you're not signing up for tire work are you?" I say yes I am. He responds by saying, well we aren't going to pickup your car. I say in a no-nonsense-don't-piss-me-off tone of voice, YES YOU ARE. Several managers were paged and while waiting for any of them to show up the regional manager walks by. She's flagged down and the situation is explained. More phone calls are made to more managers. Finally they agree to do the work. THREE HOURS LATER my car is done and I'm sent on my way. Not before of course over charging me. I argued that what was charged wasn't what was quoted on the phone, but the guy ringing me up just shrugged. $43 and change to have 4 tires balanced and 2 resealed. ****ing Bullshit. When I worked at Sam's I'd have been written up if it took me more than 40 minutes to mount and balance 4 new tires. Guess who's getting a phone call after I put my kids to bed and eat dinner.

6/1/06

It's been a while since I've had much to update with this project, but thanks to Tom (UBRHASE) and a deal being worked out with VolkswaG60n I'll be smiling retard stylz for a while. Those who have been around for the past few months may remember Tom parting out a few sciroccos. Saturday, barring any unforeseen obstacles, I'll be getting one of those sciroccos. It has everything my 'rocco is lacking. Also coming along will be a set of billistein hd's with neuspeed springs. This will give me time to fix the oil leak on the current motor before I transplant it into the "new" scirocco. Also tomorrow I should be getting a neuspeed cam to go along with the whole package.

6/11/06

Well it was a good news bad news day for the Scirocco today. I've been battling the fish like activity the car seems to have once up to highway speeds. My suspicions were on the steering gear. After looking it over yesterday at the garage and today at a friend's house it turned out to be nothing more than a wheel bearing. This is good news because I have new bearings on the silver car. I'll simply swap the whole hub over. The bad news is we discovered a fuel leak. I just can't seem to get away from leaks. It seems to be leaking from under the passenger's seat area and the pump itself is also wet.

I'm still looking for input as to how the front suspension will respond to being run without a bearing cap. The car is driving this way right now so I guess it's ok. I just seems to be abit odd. My new suspension has showed up and I'm excited to see how the car will handle with a good wheel bearing on the driver's side. The fuel leak isn't so big a deal, I'll just run all new line from the pump to the filter, the car IS 22 years old, it's plenty due for new lines.

7/10/06

WOOT!!! Update Time!!!

Made hella progress tearing into the silver car this weekend and I'm on track to getting my GTI powered Sirocco back within 2-4 weeks. Of course in the tradition of this car I can't take steps forward without taking at least one backward and that's how my Saturday went after I left work.

I'm Westbound on the I-196 showing off a bit as I pass by a co-worker. As I approach the US-131NB I notice that I seem to be running on fewer than 4 cylinders. Except oddly enough it ran fine with more than half throttle. I limped to my friend's house where I planned on spending most of the weekend anyway and began to search for the problem. I had few symptoms to go on other than it wouldn't idle or restart with the starter if it stalled but so long as I was moving I could pop the clutch and it would "run". Don't misunderstand here, the starter was functioning fine, the motor just wouldn't catch.

Now with the hood popped I noticed that the accessory belts were very loose. I tightened them up thinking that maybe if the alternator wasn't spinning it could be a source of the problem. Belts tightened and still nothing more than maybe a single fire and then just cranking. Oh and I remembered hearing the most ominous metal on metal sound when it was running that concerned me too as there were no obvious signs of trouble. Ok so back to the drawing board. I grabbed my friend's trouble light and once I figured out how to use it properly confirmed that I did in fact have spark. I could hear the pump prime after each attempt to start the motor so I didn't think it was the pump or relay but I tested by shorting power past the relay just to check. Still no go. It seemed fairly obvious that I wasn't getting fuel. I pulled a spark plug to confirm. After cranking for so long it should have been soaked, but it was bone dry.

Ok finally I stop thinking about this motor like it's electronically controlled and began to think mechanically. I take the air intake tubes off to get a look at the air plate. It's shut. Shut like no air could get by. A test, we jammed a small screw driver in to hold the plate just up. Crank the motor and it fired on the first try but there was the horrid screeching/sucking sound. Shut it down and tackle one problem at a time. After working at it for a while we got the bump stop re calibrated and located so the plate couldn't shut the airflow and fuel valves. Put all the tubing back on and did another test fire, that sound is still there but now it seems to have a location. The screw on the TB that controls the idle speed is missing. Not just backed all the way out like the silver car used to, just GONE. Sucking sound located. After finding a new bolt and wrapping it in Teflon tape everything was back to running order.

Took it around the block and confirmed the car was running well. In fact in ran damn well, run first to the red line and shift to second and the tires break loose. Have I mentioned I LOVE 4K transmissions? Anyway after all that I was finally able to begin tearing into the silver car. By nights end I had managed to remove the old motor and a few other little odds and ends I needed. Got a start on things in the morning today and separated the AUG trans and removed the cylinder head to get ready for a new gasket. I need a few goodies to finish it that I don't have but I'm going to make a wtb post for that stuff. I'm getting really excited. This build is making good progress.

8/27/06

It's update time again, and while I don't have my GTI motor in yet I'm still making progress on some side projects. Today's update features a ghetto cone air intake. Now before all of you chime in and say that the filter is right behind the radiator I'm aware of this. This is more of a test to see how the motor and air box would respond to a different type of intake and filter. I must say that so far the results have been most pleasant. The motor revs easier throughout the rpm range and pulls slightly harder on the lower rpms. Even while driving 28th street yesterday during the Metro Cruise I never noticed any adverse effects from the proximity of the air filter to radiator. The final product will involve a proper battery relocation to the spare tire well or hatch area and the reversing of the radiator fan, so that it would be mounted out front. With those things done I'll be able to run a more proper tube out in front of the radiator right behind the deleted bright lamp on the driver's side.

8/29/06

Intake progress has been back burnered. I got an R&R for my not-so-quiet exhaust last week. Finally got off my lazy butt last night after work and put some wrench time into it. I think it's good enough but I need to find a cop and have him verify. If not I have to pull the mani AGAIN and try to get out the broken studs. Of 8 only 4 are good, 1 on the top and 3 on the bottom. It's sealed, I'm not going to brag about it but I'm hoping to get by until I do the motor swap, the other head has great studs. Also I'm feeling a wobble-like feel to the front end. I've given it a good shake down and there doesn't seem to be any bad components, which is good since most of them are new, so I likely just need to re-align the toe. I still have some parts that I need to sell so if you need something 8v or A1 related let me know, I don't have much but I need to move the stuff.

9/17/06

Good progress today, very pumped. The motor is all ready to come out, I just ran out of daylight, didn't feel like working with lights, too tired. If all goes real well by this time tomorrow I'll be posting that the car is done and ready to rock. The intake manifold is the crown jewel of this project so far. I never could have guessed that is would turn out this well, utterly shocked.

Took the time to fully delete the a/c.

Now you see it:

Now you don't:

The fan shroud was nasty, I forgot to get a before pic but you can tell from even after I took the wire wheel to it:

A few (half dozen or so) coats of paint later it's acceptable:

The intake is just friggin' sexy. I'm seriously considering a coat or two of clear just to help keep it this way:

I almost forgot. I need the torque specs and order for the cylinder head. I'm gonna prod around on Google tonight and in the morning until I find it. Just figured if someone knew them off hand it's an 8v from a '91 GTI. Also has anyone ever pulled the motor out the top and leave the transmission mounted. I think I can do it, just need more light. Always value the opinion of someone who's been there before.

Motor Swap Day Three

The motor's still not all in yet. We thought we'd take a shortcut and just remove the motor, support the transmission and then drop the GTI short block in. 5 hours later the motor and trans hadn't been separated. GRR. So back to the tried and true method, we pulled the trans too. The GTI short block has been mated to the 4k trans and they are almost ready to be bolted back to the motor. Things are going really well now that I'm over the hump of getting the old motor out. Tomorrow :x: Tomorrow I will be driving this beast. No pictures to post today, mostly just grunt work. I have a lot of busted knuckles and bruises and bumps and scraps but I'm smiling 'cuz I know from here it's all down hill.

9/23/06

It's ALIVE!!! I have a few loose ends to tie up. It seems I need to adjust the clutch pedal and I know I still need to connect the throttle switches but it runs. That's the important part. I also may need to tighten up a the exhaust couplers they sound like they are leaking a little bit, but man what an improvement. I haven't driven it much or very hard yet, it's friggin' pouring after all. When I wash my greasy palm prints off of the car and wash up the motor a little bit I'll take some more pics. I like it, much better than the last time I did this swap.

9/24/06

Well I could swear I posted some before and after pics just this afternoon but perhaps I just thought I did. I haven't been feeling too well. In any case I have a before pic and now a few after ones for kind of a compare and contrast.

A few after:

10/1/06

Took her to Royal Oak and back yesterday. I have to double check the math but it looks like it got nearly 30 mpg WITHOUT an O2 sensor. Also it does about 85 just on the primary butterfly which mean there is no reason to downshift out of 5th to pass on the highway anymore.

Final math on the mileage is as follows:

356 Miles mostly highway NO O2 sensor

11.5 gallons of fuel

30.95 MPG

10/2/06

This weekend's excursions, Saturday out to Royal Oak and our little cruise Sunday really showed me that I need to get on my suspension. The driver's side coil doesn't bind anymore it more or less changes my toe at will. Right now it seems adamant on toeing that side in, a royal pain during right hand turns and switchbacks are almost impossible. From talking with Tom (UBRHASE), who was this car's P.O., all I need to do is bust the weld holding the adjustable camber plates to the top of the strut towers and I'm back to stock. Unfortunately this isn't something I feel comfortable doing alone, I'm not even sure I have the tools to do it. I have a little money but it'd work best for me if this could be a "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" kinda deal. I owe Tom the suspension that is on the car but have a set of billistien hd's and nuespeed coils to put on. I have access to a decent garage with good tools. If anyone thinks they could help, pm me. I'll make it up however I can.

12/21/06

Alright so Rocco has been pissing me off. I sign up for the Army and the car thanks me by leaking oil, even in spite of a new head gasket, then blows a vw only coolant hose, and the battery dies. Ok so I'm a little pissed off at the car right now and to get my revenge I'M NOT TOUCHING IT during this holiday break.

Now more to the point of an update, I should be getting a healthy chunk of money here in 10ish weeks. Enough that I'm STRONGLY considering twin screws. The GTI motor I'm running on isn't suited for boost, it's a good motor but with a static compression of 10:1 and oil leakage issues, I'm not going there. I'm thinking about trying to get my hands on a good condition G60 motor. It should be a suitable starting point from what I understand. Also it'll be physically a direct bolt in for my scirocco, or at least, could be after some motor mounts are switched.

I need all the info though, I'm lacking some stuff. The full motor would be a G60 bottom end with one of Peter Tong's twin screw lysholm kits (fingers crossed on him still having some) and keeping the stock fuel and spark management. First, is a G60 bottom end even a good idea for a starting place? Second, I've heard bad things about the G60 head, this is why I was just thinking about using its bottom end, so is that true and if so would the head from the 91 gti 8v motor I have now be a better choice? Actually in the same direction, are they any other parts from the 91 gti motor that are upgraded in comparison to the G60 motor, i.e. the 91 gti motor has a windage tray in the oil pan? I think Peter's kits are designed to work with CIS but can the stock spark controller handle/understand boost? Right now it is setup for a knock sensor and electronic advance, would that be enough?

Basically if/when I do this I don't want to get half way in and go, oh shit it won't work because of "blank". Certainly I have other things in mind too like an LSD for the transmission but the motor is where I want to focus first. Any and all input is welcome as always, I hate to be unprepared when I go into a project so any who have been through this before, please chime in, I need to know.

5/12/07

Ha Ha, she made it to El Paso. Not without an issue or two of course but it's here. I snapped some pictures of the car today, I gave it a bath yesterday and I wanted a photo of the new ride height. Also snapped a pic of the newly modified strut towers. These are links to the full sized images, my new camera takes 7 megapixel images and they get a bit big to just put in a post.

6/11/07

I met a guy who's turned me on to a VW performance shop down here. I'm hoping to find a vw junk yard that will be able to supply the wire harnesses I need to finish the motor swap. After that I just need to re-time the motor. She's running like a top and sipping on the fuel. Stay tuned, I have some things planned in the next few weeks.

6/13/07

Seafoamed Rocco last night. Very pleased with the results. I also was able to get some more of the mini-spade connectors I've needed for the throttle switches so hopefully this afternoon I can hook those up and re-time the motor accordingly. It's nice, this car has finally become every-day-reliable, now I can focus on upgrades.

6/15/07

Alright, knock box 101, there are two switches on the throttle body on cars with knock sensors. One is an off idle switch the other is a full throttle switch. Each bump the advance 2 degrees. Now when I initially timed this motor I thought that the off idle switch worked by applying 12v to terminal 6 when the butterfly valve first opened. I didn't have the switches connected but I figured the safest thing to do would be just set the timing to 6* btdc. It turns out it's the other way around, it applies the 12 when the throttle is closed, so the way I timed the motor in I've been 2* behind all along. Also I'm learning from additional research that if you set the timing without the off idle switch connected that you're supposed to disconnect the vacuum line to the controller box. I didn't do this either. I wanted to fix it tonight but I don't have my own timing light, so I did as my friend so affectionately puts it and I "Pahmanized it" I figured if I ran a switched 12v line to the full throttle terminal on the controller box I'd get my 2* back even if it wouldn't be perfect because of the vacuum line thingy. It worked. The car idles quieter (is that a word, I'll ask George Bush) and pulls harder through the rpm range. The best part is I know now it's going to be even better soon. Once I get this finished it'll mean I get what I have now, plus another 2* of advance once I reach full throttle. I'm excited to see how she'll run all wired correctly. Let this be a lesson DO YOUR HOMEWORK.

I took some pictures of all the parts of the car's electrical system I had to tap into in some form. Here they are in no particular order.

This is the box in all it's wonderful glory.

The wonderful wiring to make it work without a wiring harness.

It needs to know when the car is being cranked, not sure why but I got the power from the small wire on the starter as recommended.

I think the instructions say to hook to the ignition coil just to get switched 12v power. Wish I had known that the first time, I accidentally hooked to the ground wire and smoked my coil.

All three wires connecting to the distributor have to be re-routed.

The signal that originally went from the ignition controller to the distributor has to be hijacked.

All of these wires needs to be in just the right place or no spark at all. I lost much hair the first time I tried this little endeavor.

I should note that all the driving I have done since adjusting the wiring has been sense the sun has gone down. The temp drops considerably here and CIS has no Air Charge Temp sensor or provision for one from what I understand so cool air makes a big difference. That said I'm still fairly certain I felt a change. Also I know that when I get this all done it's going to be cool to have a little more engine braking since when I let off the throttle the timing will be retarded 2*. Stay tuned, I'm hoping to finish the wiring this weekend.

The timing is DONE!!! I can feel a difference, not real huge yet but I'm thinking of pulling the battery to make the computer re-learn it's air/fuel/spark maps with the all the wiring finished. I did an oil change to get the seafoam out of the motor and replaced the 10w40 that came out with 20w50 since the average daytime air temps here have been over 90*. Now the only problem I'm having is my oil temps have gone up, not down. Unfortunately I didn't follow the scientific method here. I cannot confirm that the oil is the problem because the advance curves have changed and could be causing the motor to run hotter, also I was beating the living piss out of it tonight, had to take my son to the ER (more on that later -- he's ok). The oil temp was easily over 110 Celsius all night sence the changes I made. Hopefully it's just a fluke thing 'cuz it's only going to get hotter here.

6/25/07

I'm back from Ft. Hood! What a waste, it's bad when even your commander says the training was a waste of time. Anyway, I got back to my car and it rewarded my leaving it for a week with a dead battery. I love this car! So much personality (yeah that's it, personality). I know I know, I need to figure out the sub wiring, it started dying right after I added the sub so I'm sure I just got 1 wire wrong. I forgot just how much fun this little car is to drive though. I spent the last 120 or so miles coming home driving a HET carrying another HET. So figure total weight of 150,000 lbs give or take a few thousand. It gets tiring, especially with a top speed of 45 mph.

Anyway, the trip back plus the way my mind works is giving rise to more "you shouldn't do that" kinda ideas. We've beaten to death the idea of using the a/c for cooling the intake but with air temps rarely below 80* it's got my mind reeling. I'm not going to let the cat out of the bag yet suffice it to say I'm not ready to put this one to bed until I waste a little money on the effort. Stay tuned, I'll take lots of pics of the carnage that's bound to ensue.

Picked up the new reverse/upshift sending unit last night. My reverse lights don't work and I guess that's important, I'm just hoping it's the sender and not the linkage, sometimes it falls out of reverse and I can tell from the feel it's a bad bushing. Anyway, while at Autozone I picked up a 40a relay. I'd been asking about making my headlights well, not suck, and about 50% said bad ground and the other 50% said relay the headlights. I tried running a new ground already and didn't notice a difference so today I'm going to install a relay and see if there is an improvement. Depending on how much time I have more air cooling madness may take place, I hate Texas lol.

7/1/07

The self-serve shop closed at 5pm today and I spent the better part of the day there working on my wife's car so today I only had time to work on the reverse lights. I ordered a new sending unit because I know they used to work and suddenly quit. The fuses and bulbs are good so the next step was the sending unit. One look told me I was wrong. I looks like some of the wiring got caught on the driver's side half shaft, what resulted is a rats nest of ripped, stripped wire. Lucky for me I know what it's supposed to look like, too bad every wire I touch there falls apart.

That pissed me off and I was not in the mood so I got it to where I can come back to it tomorrow and moved onto the full throttle switch for fuel enrichment. The MKII throttle body I used so that I'd have the throttle switches for the knock controller didn't allow for the mounting of the original full throttle switch. With limited tools I did mounted the switch in a style that can only be called my own. I went to Lowe's and bought some 2 part epoxy and glued the damn thing to the top of the MKII throttle body's full throttle switch. TADA!! It works. Now the car revs like it doesn't know what the redline is. I also started research on my cooler intake air project. Waiting on funding at this point.

7/4/07

Washed the car again. This time had a friend over who has one of those Coleman power buffer things. We washed the car with Armor All car wash and then used a Meguire's polish. WOW is about the only thing that can be said. I got some progress pics to show how well the buffer works.

The right side has been washed and the left side is with the buffer:

Same thing but the roof this time:

This is the driver's side after being washed:

The rest are some overall shots of the car after it's all done:

7/13/07

So my battery has been dying on me and it's been pissing me off. First I noticed a wire from the alternator not fully connected to the battery, figured that might be it. Still no go. So I'm thinking maybe the alternator is on it's way out, 'cuz the car runs all day long once it's running but maybe it's just not enough to charge the battery. It's sunny from 6 am until about 9 pm down here 300+ days a year so I grabbed a little $20 solar charger and hooked it to the cigarette lighter. Things were alot better for about a week, then out of no where it was dead again. So, I've heard that lead acid batteries tend to naturally loose a charge over time if they've been fully drained, and this one had a few times.

It was time for an upgrade. :naughty: 

I went to Autozone and picked up an Optima red top battery, a length of 2 awg wire with battery terminal ends and got to installing the battery in the trunk. I got most of the install done yesterday and the car even ran, but I noticed that at idle my fog lights flickered and I was concerned it may have been a grounding issue. Today I installed 3 more grounds, one 2 awg at the battery and a 4 awg wire on each side of the motor and it runs very nice. 1000 cranking amps is also really nice to have. With the battery moved I can finally close my hood properly and I can get to work on replacing the hood prop cable because even if I need a jump start now the battery is in the hatch area.

7/15/07

Two photos to go with the above update, I'll snap more as I un-ghetto the install but for now the car starts and runs just fine.

The battery, nestled nicely just behind where the back seat used to be:

The primary ground for the battery, a 2 gauge wire. I used the old seat belt bolt and location:

7/16/07

The lumber is to simulate a back seat. The cargo cover won't stay in place without something there and I happened to have some wood lying around.

My goal for the car is for it to be as comfortable being a daily driver as it is on the track. I know that requires some compromises on both fronts but a happy medium is what I'm looking for. The mirror is cheaper than I imagined, $19.99, and if I recall I can mount it without destroying the car. Just kinda wondered if I was the only one who used one.

8/21/07

It never fails. Every time I get set to leave this car for an extended amount of time the M'F'er breaks. I was running a quick errand yesterday and it happened. I was going from 2nd to 3rd after coming around a turn, I put the clutch down and just as my foot touched the pedal BOOM, the cable snapped. OUTSTANDING!!! So I drove it to where I was going by rev matching my shifts, both up and down, and rolling through stop signs ever so slowly in 1st. The tricky part was stopping at the gate for the ID check, had to start the car in gear and just drive once it got running. Backing it into a parking spot also meant pulling up at an angle and pushing it back by hand. I got it home and parked it in front of my house where it is now destined to sit for 15 months. I'll deal with it after I finish my tour. I plan to buy a little festiva when I get back and take this thing apart from bumper to bumper anyway, put it together the right way this time.

Damn car...

10/3/07

Being in the Army is starting to effect the way I plan this car. In the Army we call it being squared away, in the civilian world it's known as OCD. In any event I've come up with a plan for making sure I stay on track and get the best build for my intentions. I'm going to post a mods list, only instead of it being what I have done to the car it's going to be for what I want to do to the car. This way as I get farther into it input from fellow MIVER's can help direct me away from things that are bad ideas and I hopefully won't end up doing something twice because I forgot to do it the first time.

So, here's how I see the car when it's "done".

1.8ltr 8v counterflow motor (likely a JH code)

Boost in the form of a Peter Tong S/C kit

Air -- water I/C by PWR (4x6" barrel type)

the kit included a pump, radiator, and 9" fan

Location of water reservoir to be on the other side of the firewall from the motor (I'm giving thought to a custom mount that would involve mounting it behind where the glove box sits without changing the outward appearance)

Samco coolant hoses (to include the ones for the I/C)

An LSD for the transmission (I hear good things about both Peliquin and Quaife so I'm not decided on which one)

A refresh of the transmission to make sure it's up to par (020 4k)

A new clutch (16v pressure plate upgrade is likely)

A new clutch cable, 'cuz the current one snapped

Either a lower "K" bar or some sort of 4 point X for the A arms

Front and Rear upper strut bars

Possibly a header (currently running a 4-2-1 with a 2" collector)

TT cat back exhaust with a Borla muffler

Fuel/Air management to be handled by a CIS system (I understand the Volvo or Saab systems are sufficient)

Stewart Warner Gauges (I'm in love lol)

A performance cam and gear to match the S/C

Windage tray for the oil pan

Short and weighted shifter

Possible custom instrument cluster

Various pieces of car stereo equipment that say JL Audio on them

That's all I can think of at the moment, but then that's why I'm making the list. It always seems there is something I'm forgetting so getting it on "paper" will help the build go more smoothly when I get the time/money to dive into it.

As always input is appreciated and welcomed, keep it constructive though please.

11/23/08

For those that offered advice in my other threads about getting the car started, thank you. It is now to the point where I'll be working on getting it back on the road and cleaning up some loose ends I left before I deployed.

Today's foray will include two new front tires, I choose Firestone Firehawk GT's; after that the whole car will move to the shop on post where the transmission will be dropped to replace the thrust plate. I have a few sets of hands helping so hopefully the process will go fairly smoothly, although I know this car, it'll piss me off at least once before the process is over, it did last night when I was trying to get the tires off, one was rusted to the hub. FYI liquid wrench is the shit.

I'm going to post pictures along the way of the repair and restoration of 15 months of sitting, it's not pretty. It looks like there is a good chance the car is going to get a new paint job. I left comprehensive (I think that's the right term) on it while I was gone. My insurance company has a policy that covers the vehicle against any damage and is set up so that it can't be driven, kind of a storage policy. Anyway, someone keyed the whole driver's side from fender to fender and the paint on the front driver's side fender looks really bad like something was allowed to soak into the paint. I can't figure what it is, but I am going to file a claim and since I have a fair amount of pictures from the 4th of July before I left of when I buffed it showing the paint was perfect I have proof it happened while I was deployed.

Stay tuned for updates, if all goes well after this afternoon 'Rocco will be back on the road and pissing people off like it used to.

Didn't get nearly as much done today as I wanted but I forgot the shop on post closes at 5pm on Sundays so we're going to attack it Wednesday when we have considerably more time. I did get some pictures of the new tires and the damage to the paint that I was talking about so I'm going to post those. I'm actually impressed at how well it's running considering how long it sat. There is a small oil leak at the oil cooler, looks very much like the upper O ring and I noticed that the vacuum line I used for the knock box actually doesn't have vacuum on it so I'll be rerouting that. For now, on with pictures.

11/27/08

Took the car to the shop today. Drove it again without a functional clutch, I'm getting pretty good at synchronizing the shifts up and down, I can even get it into 1st. She really wanted to pull so I'm excited about putting it on some open roads when I get it driveable again.

Once in the shop I immediately began tearing into it to get ready to drop the transmission out. After a couple hours my friend finally showed up and about an hour later we had the transmission out. I discovered I am missing a starter bolt, no idea how one of those could have fallen out but it's missing. There are a few odds and ends along the way that need touching up but all in all things went well.

Once we got the transmission out, after nearly breaking my friend's fingers, I began to inspect the thrust plate. To my surprise it was perfectly fine. The fingers on the clutch behind it also seemed to be fine. The pressure plate looked worn but otherwise OK. Now it began to be a mystery.

One of the guys from the shop came over and asked why I thought it wasn't the clutch cable. I explained that I had already checked it, but to make him happy I had my friend hop in and move the clutch pedal. The cable didn't move. After some kind words about making sure he was pushing the right pedal I went and looked for myself. Then I tried to move the cable by hand (now that it was disconnected from the transmission) and it wouldn't move. I still figured it couldn't be broken if it wouldn't move, how could that be? So I gave it a yank and it came clean out from the firewall forward, a clean break.

All that work, all the headaches, and all I needed was a D@MN clutch cable. I could have had this on the road DAYS AGO!!! Now since I have it all apart I'll put a new clutch disc in since one side of the one that is in there is almost down to the rivets.

I snapped some cell phone pics, not many, but I'm not sure how to get them off of my phone yet. I'm kinda new to this whole "camera in the phone" thing.

Saturday we're going to finish it up, then I just have to fax the paperwork in to renew my tabs since I still have MI plates and am a little far away from a SOS branch. After that I'll be back to burning Kraut with the rest of you.

11/28/08

My kingdom for a clutch cable. I can get the clutch disc no problem, NOBODY has the clutch cable in stock. Everyone says they can get it from a location in Colorado, I swear I'm moving. Looks like my friend and I are going to end up making one.

5/2/10

Necro-bump. Turns out the new owner and one of the potential new owners are both members of SEA (Strictly European Autosport), the local VW club I've found for the El Paso and SW Texas area. Updates may actually continue on this car. The new owner bought it for his nephew and they are both avid VW enthusiasts. Seeing it on the road again is going to be great, but I don't know how I'll react to seeing what used to be my baby being driven by someone else.