Tuesday 19 November 2013

up on blocks

Bessie is up on blocks while I get the engine sorted, I can repair the cab steps, fit the drivers door and generally tidy up the body work.

I've already fitted a new sliding door as the bottom was totally blown on the original, also got a sliding window to go in it.

I've got a new tall nearside rear arch repair panel to go on and a short offside rear, and apart from the odd patch that's it for panel repairs.

New door seals are yet to be fitted including the sliding door seal, I might fit these after paint and I have a bit of sliding door adjustment to do.

I might also need to do the sliding door hinge mod to clear the rims on the rear but again i need to check this when its all fitted.



Diesel Out !

The time came to remove the KY 1.7 N/A Diesel which was a shame really as it was a reconditioned unit with only 47k on it but I couldn't live with this sort of power or lack of it.

The engine flew out, it was really easy to drop, no problems and lowered it onto my professional engine moving device (skateboard) I made a note of where a lot of parts went and made sure I didn't damage anything.

I tied all the electrics neatly out the way and completely stripped the engine bay so I could patch a few holes and respray it all.













I rubbed the bay down to bare metal and sprayed it all in primer for now but I'm going to spray it in the main body colour before I start re-fitting the engine and components.

It did have a diesel battery tray which I removed because I want to tuck the battery away behind the offside light cluster, I might put the AGG ECU in there as well away from most of the heat and moisture.








Stripped off exhaust and inlet manifolds, next I need to fit new water pump, cam belt and tensioner various gaskets seal including crankshaft seal.

I'm only doing a light rebuild on this motor as I'm happy with how it was running when I removed it from the golf, but I still need to replace every component I can without taking the head off.

The sump and oil pump pick-up will be swapped for the diesel and the diesel engine mounts will be fitted.

I'm still hunting for a non air con model alternator mounting bracket so it wont poke above the engine lid and I can use a serpentine belt.
I could actually use the old diesel alternator with a bracket from an early golf but tensioning it might be a problem.
I haven't got this far yet so I will see what I can come up with.

Sunday 17 November 2013

Donor car

After much research, and I mean MUCH research, a 2.0 VW AGG engine was needed, this had the best torque output at low revs which would best suit my gearbox. There were some other engines I could have sourced but there were a few good build threads on the brickyard and retroride proboards that I could follow with success.

A mk3 Golf GTI was found nearby and was way too cheap to pass up, a bit of MOT was left on it so I snapped it up drove it around a bit and was absolutely chuffed. The engine was sweet and really smooth, it had been quite well looked after and the owner was sad to see it go and when she asked " so are you going to fix it up" I must admit I was a bit ashamed to say " well actually I'm gonna rip the engine out, fill it full of scrap and weigh it in"

Getting the engine out was really easy especially with my trusty skateboard, I wasn't going to cheat and cut the drive shafts like the scrappers, I took my time.



The only problems I had was one stubborn gearbox bolt right at the back which was partially covered by the diff.
I also had to get the loom out intact with the ECU fuse box, transponder, key sensor ring, relays any cool bits, tool kit, badges, loads of rizla papers and about 64 pence.

The loom had to be passed out through the bulkhead under the dash which sounds easy enough, but the brake servo was in the way and there was no way I could get it passed without getting the servo off. I got brutal with a huge iron bar and just bent the thing out the way, not ideal or professional but way fun and by this point I knew this car was destined for the KIA factory.





I was in two minds whether to keep all the brake calipers and discs but the day was getting long and I had to tidy up the place before work next week. Maybe I should have kept them.