mini project: 80 "GLI" by 2mAn

10 minute(s) of a 152 minute read

so my scirocco needs a new tie rod on the driverside so im thinking about stealing the passenger side one from my coupe and buying two new complete tie rod assemblies and having new parts on the coupe. everything else in the engine bay is new, why not these too! 

is this the best price like the website claims?

http://www.bestpricecarparts.c...parts

also i figure i might as well update whats going on with the motor too.... ive decided im going to keep it old school and put the 1.6 back in and buy this BVH that i have been lusting over for a while. im gonna keep this sucker a 1.6 and see what it can do.

10/28/08

im close to splurging and buying a set of tie rod kits and new wheel bearings for both sides just so i dont have to worry about that crap later on. im also looking into getting the tie-rod flip kits.... then someday when i have more money ill get the ball joint extenders too....

this is all dependent on bonelli, if i go, these will be my christmas presents to myself, if not then ill spend that long weekend working on that fun stuff and maybe having a running coupe by christmas...

if i do go then who the hell knows when ill finish this car i am going to be out of debt so that will free up a ton more moola

11/3/08

action machine wants to rebuild the entire head, thats not what i want so im just gonna buy the BVH head from vwpat. i can never make up my mind, if you've read the thread at all you know this so this weeks goal is to get the new wheel bearings pressed in and the tie rod holes on the spindles drilled so i can flip the tie-rod ends...

other than my head issues, there isnt much else for me to do.

wait, yes there is 

11/7/08

just got the tie-rod flip kit from topline, good guys

now i just gotta get the knuckles/ spindles off and get the work done...

im also trying to decide between vmaxxxxxx coils or getting some new bilstein HDs and throwing on a set of 

chopped mk2 springs until i can get the ground control coilover sleeves 

the vmaxx will cost about the same as just the bilsteins alone 

11/19/08

BVH from vwpat is on its way, 3 day air for a cylinder head isnt cheap... 

hopefully i can get the new bearings pressed in before the weekend gets here, im really trying to get the car 

done so i can surprise my parents for turkey day

if all goes according to plan, the car will be running by monday

**fingers crossed**

11/20/08

picked up the BVH head today and dropped off ONE of the two knuckles to have the bearings pressed and the tie-rod hole drilled out... gotta get the other one to them tomorrow so i can have some fun this weekend

11/21/08

picked up the BVH yesterday and turns out its setup for carbs only! 

i was planning on getting rid of the CIS stuff eventually, but uhhh i guess i gotta do it now. i found a weber setup on CL i might pick up but im not sure. 

SO...

to convert from CIS to carbs, i need to ditch the CIS fuel pump and get a low pressure carter fuel pump and a fuel pressure regulator correct? is there anything else i will need?

this could be a pretty fun old skool car. 1.6 w/ a weber carb, BMS header, TT exhaust, etc... i just want to get it on the road ASAP

11/25/08

update:

everything under the hood is all hooked up, but its not starting. good compression, timing is all good, but no spark 

my buddy is gonna hang around for another day to try and figure it out so hopefully while im at work, he is actually working on it to finish it.

also picked up some vmaxx coilovers, they look really nice, really happy i got em. i also found a weber 8v setup with i dcoe 36 or 38s i believe, i should be getting the whole setup for less than 400, we'll see... my buddy thinks that the head can still be used for a injected setup so im not rushing to splurge on a set of carbs if i dont have to... time will tell... pics will come soon and hopefully they will be pics of it on the road!

the ICM might have gotten murdered by me because i had the two wires switched on the coil by accident when we tried to crank it one time... my buddy should be testing that as i type

just got off the phone, looks like it is the ICM. they are going to swap it out and see if that will fix it... i really hope thats it

well that solved one problem, but another random problem surfaced ... she keeps blowing the fuel pump fuses when they are trying to start er. 

this will probably be it for the week as i am leaving for california tonight and i will be there for the whole weekend

i was originally going to spend time trying to get my rabbit back up and running while im down there but this car dried up the funds so the rabbit will have to wait, i might not even be able to buy it back

12/10/08

well ive been doing little things here and there this week to try and get closer to getting this car out of the garage and back out on the road...

so as of right now everything is hooked up andready to go but everytime i try to start the car the fuel pump fuse blows up i have traced the wiring from the pump to the fusebox and everything looks legit, im so confused and ifi cant figure this out by next weekend im just gonna bite the bullet and pay someone else to figure out what the hell is going on .... lame.....

any gas jetta owners in the north seattle/ lynnwood area want to come hang out so i can compare the wiring at the back of my fusebox with yours? anyone?? pleasee!!!

12/12/08

i had yesterday off from work so i spent a bunch of time working on the car...

i put 12v power directly to the pump and it spun right away so i knew the pump was good. i decided i would just bypass the fusebox, so i made my own manual switch with an inline fuse for the fuel pump. fuel pump kicks on when i flip the switch now, but it still aint starting. i have to go back and check the ignition stuff now since im not the one who dealt with it, my friends helped me with that. 

it never ends, one more week til i bring in an expert 

12/22/08

IT RUNS!!!!!! kinda...

i got a bunch of lil things done over the weekend even though it was snowing outside. chris from fine tuning made a rare housecall to help me out and it turns out the distributer timing was off just enough to prevent starting, so he fixed that for me. the lack of the cold start valve (courtesy of the g60 intake manifold) was making it harder to start also but we managed to get it running. now i just have to hook up the exhaust, fix one lil fuel leak and it will be semi-drivable. the cold start valve is still going to be an issue even though i can drive the car, it will just be a PITA when the motor is cold.

i also fixed the random problem i had with the rear suspension only to find that one of the 4 nuts i got from napa wasnt the right pitch so i have to go back there and get another one...

but its close, i might actually get to drive it in my neighborhood before i leave to cali for christmas and the new years. once i get back i gotta finish off the lil things, then i can go get it registered and make it street legal, just in time for me to move out of my house and into my own apartment, im excited. 09 will be good, i just gotta prep the car so she can make it to the coast to coast for h20 caravan. but thats not til later in the year

1/14/09

update !!!

i drove the bitch yesterday!!!! not very far unfortunately... 

went to a muffler shop to have them weld up the exhaust, damn flanges werent lining up properly so i just had them deal with it. after 3 trips to the local napa i finally got the right nuts for the rear suspension so thats done too.

so with all those lil things out of the way i decided to take it out for a test drive and luckily nothing major happened, but theres gotta be some air left in the radiator cuz its getting hot quick... more lil details to iron out, but i made my appointment with the state patrol next week and hopefully everything will be good to go by then

1/17/09

so i lowered it a little more last night so theres no gap between the tire and the fender flares. theres about 3" i can still go down, but i wont really worry aobut it until i get the 165/50s. i also topped off the coolant, just need to mess with it a lil more to get the air outta there, anyone got some tips? im gonna be doing a lil searching, ialready have a pretty good idea of what to do, just wanna hear from others experiences.

im also gonna be moving out of the house ive been at for the last year, so i wont really be able to spend much more time on it til later in the week, but i might have some time this weekend if the move goes good.

so long lynnwood, hello ballard

2/7/09

got an alignment done using the lifetime alignment that i had for my other mk1 jetta now this jetta will also have lifetime alignment 

also passed the state patrols inspection so now im gonna have a title (rebuilt) and already got current tabs and new plates!!! 

im so happy to be driving again

OH and ive also started piecing together parts for a megasquirt 16v, but ill reveal more about my plans later, im not in a rush to do another motor swap 

2/24/09

long overdue pics!

this one is almost the same angle as the very first pic on the thread from last year

this is at my new place, no more garage but its ok. i might find a way to rent out one of the garage spots next to my parking spot

the coolant leak has been addressed also