Air cooled n00b

[Holden McNeil]

Quote, originally posted by RafCarre12 »

Saturday morning... Option A) Work on the car. Option B) Help lady with the house chores. Option C) Brooklyn Brewery for all day drunken debauchery. ...this isn't a tough one.

Get cuttin so i can get my tools back

[RafCarre12]

Small update: Ordered the exhaust and tires today. Picked up the ISP West over the top setup. The nice thing about this setup is that the muffler hangs above the coupler and not below thus leaving a lot more clearing when lowering the car. These are actually ISP's pictures but I'll have mine up by the weekend hopefully.

Also ended up getting Falken Azenis for the 7slots, I really hope they fit the way I want them to fit. I'm going to be running a 205/40's in front and 215/50's in back... the slots had 205/55's and 225/50's originally and they fit okay but I'm hoping I went short enough on the walls to avoid rubbing issues. I'm hoping the back will stretch a little so I can drop the car the way I want.... Inevitably, the fenders will be rolled.

A buddy of mine is going to give me a hand with stripping and polishing the wheels (thanks Ant) which is great because it frees me up to keep doing the metal work on the pan. Hopefully, with his (and other's) help, it'll be ready for ShowNGo on the April 13th.

Modified by RafCarre12 at 10:50 PM 3-24-2008

[mikebbugn]

Quote, originally posted by RafCarre12 »

Its a white roof. That won't happen this year but its free to do in photoshop.

nice choice for the exhaust nothing like new parts

[RafCarre12]

Today's Update: Since the new exhaust is on its way, I thought I'd remove the old one. The muffler itself was more hole then muffler so I just chopped it off instead of trying to deal with rusty bolts. All the bolts are gone but I think the PO had the heater pipes welded together so I'll deal with that on the weekend.

And I also cut off a little more of the rusted out pieces. Rough shaped the hole up some too. I think I am going to need to box in underneath where the new to me pieces and the existing part of the car is going to meet... that would make me feel better about the work.

Oh and if anyone can help me fill these holes, it would really be appreciated. I don't think this hatch is original to the car so I'm not exactly sure what part number I should be looking for.

[silverGTI182]

no, ur mom...I'm diggin' the pipes Raffy. What do you think those holes in the hatch were for?

[Holden McNeil]

maybe it was the VW 1600 emblem Raf...

[RafCarre12]

maybe, my bday is April 14 ahem.

[RafCarre12]

Here is what I got done today...

The "Shop"

Took the underbelly pieces off

Cleaned up the top end some too. Its getting a little closer to the shape I need to fit into the car.

Saving all the scraps for the support angles I'll need to make

And the trusty assistant ever so photogenic

I'm hoping to be doing the test fit this weekend.

[mikebbugn]

nice write up you've got going here Sir

[RafCarre12]

Thanks Mike!

I'm actually working on the rear floor pan right now but this came in the mail and just had to post a picture of it. THREE WHEELIN!!!!

[air skooled]

This is the BEST rust prevenative you can get. I've used the rest and they aren't that great. Wipe it with acetone and apply. None of that other prep crap to buy.

http://www.rustbullet.com/Prod...e.htm

And since you are running seven slots I thought I'd share what I did to mine. Polished the lip and painted vw nimbus grey with clearcoat.

[RafCarre12]

Looks like good stuff. I'm going to try my luck with the Rust Encapsulator from Eastwood. I already bought the pre-wash stuff so we'll see how it goes.

Your wheels came out awesome looking! I thought about doing the same thing with mine but in black maybe and even did a quick Photoshop of it but it was meh.

I was thinking about a similar look for my Jetta but I ended up selling the wheels. Here is what it looked like:

What car are those going on anyway?

I was going to go with a similar look on the mk4 but I ended up selling the wheels.

[RafCarre12]

Okay, this is what I accomplished today. I removed the plate that would regularly face the engine. It must have had a million and a half spot welds (what a pain in the ass!). I also trimmed some of the bits off of the "horns" and ground down the spot welds both on the lower part of the donor piece and the upper part of the car.

This is a better shot, you get a really good idea of the piece that is going to line up with the engine cover surround...

The pile of "scrap" is getting bigger and bigger...

If I can get my hands on the flange tool, I think I'll be able to have this ready for welding by next weekend.

Oh and the obligatory assistant shot as she sniffs the fattie...



Modified by RafCarre12 at 5:50 PM 3-31-2008

[Uncalm]

This thing isn't done yet?

[air skooled]

Quote, originally posted by RafCarre12 »

Your wheels came out awesome looking!

Thanks. I don't own them anymore. They were on the vorsche before I painted them. I tried for a long time to sell them but couldn't. As soon as I painted them they sold. As far as I know skidmark still has them.


Modified by air skooled at 9:21 PM 3-29-2008

[RafCarre12]

Quote, originally posted by Uncalm »

This thing isn't done yet?

I hate you Richardo.

_______________________________
On to today's update...

So it being Sunday, I didn't really feel like cutting any metal. Frankly, I'm getting kind of bored with grinding down the donor piece so no progress there. I did change the oil of the Jetta this morning and cleaned up around the house... this was until about noon or so. It was nice out and I wanted to do something so I decided to tackle the one piece glass.

So I get myself organized and start by removing the door panel. I fully expected to see a finely hacked inner door... I wasn't wrong...

After looking at that picture, I'm sure most of you that have opened a door panel in the past are asking yourselves... is that an F'in piece of wood! To answer your question...

Ingenious, it was used to stabilize the bottom of the single piece rails or whatever that would be called.

Not to be downplayed, notice the craftsmanship when attaching the door handle mechanism...

Does anyone want to buy a single piece kit? I'll include the wood block at no extra charge.

Now that the 1 piecer was out of the car, I went ahead and installed the outer and inner scrappers. Although frustrating at first, I figured out that it worked well if, while sitting in the car, I held onto the scrapper with my right hand above the door while using my left hand to push the clips in by running it inside and up to the window sill.

They aren't by ANY means mint but I can take care of that in the near future.... or not.

After that, I slipped on the wing glass, slipped in the new to me main glass piece and attached the regulator. Once that was done, I cleaned it up a bit and that was that.

Not too terrible for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours work for never having done it before. I left the door panel off the car so I can fix some of badness and to rustproof/reinforce the hacked up metal at the same time I treat the floors, which should be within the next couple of weeks.


Modified by RafCarre12 at 3:34 PM 3-30-2008

[Holden McNeil]

A piece of wood in the door... that's a first...

[Dr. Shakalu]

You have really cute baby feet.

[RafCarre12]

Small update today: The tires arrived!

Here is a pic of the fronts which are going to be going on the 16x7" wheels.

And the rear which are going to be mounted on the 16x8" wheels. The fenders may need to be rolled a bit so the roller is standing by. I may also need to shave down the upper bracket for the bump stop but that is okay too.

And last but not least, I purposely ordered these so there would be some difference in tire wall sizes between front and back. Hard to believe but that is only a 2" difference.

And a picture of the tread pattern

The wheels are being stripped and polished as we speak. I'm hoping they are done by next Thursday (the 10th).

[86westy]

Nice man! The weather's been crappy around here, and I work out of a driveway, so it's slow going.



Modified by 86westy at 6:58 PM 3-31-2008

[RafCarre12]

hey zach, someone stole your rear apron.

[86westy]

Quote, originally posted by RafCarre12 »

hey zach, someone stole your rear apron.

It's removable, which makes it wayyyyyyyy easier to pull the motor. Like it's not already a ten minute job haha. Now it's like 4 an a half.

[RafCarre12]

Damn thing finally arrived!!!!

And the exhaust is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow... things are coming together!

[memnuts]

Nice to see you finally makeing some progress. And i have to say your oh so small compressor is so cute, but I am sure you used to hearing that from most woman about your tools

Love,

Sugarbewbs

[RafCarre12]

Quote, originally posted by memnuts »

Nice to see you finally makeing some progress. And i have to say your oh so small compressor is so cute, but I am sure you used to hearing that from most woman about your tools Love, Sugarbewbs

Too bad its going to come to a screeching halt, the weekend's weather doesn't look good. In the meantime, courtesy of type3selecta:

[RafCarre12]

Got here! Its going in storage like all the other parts until that floors are done.

[RafCarre12]

So I'm working on the metal flooring today and I decide to take a break and go look at the car. I'm looking at the engine looking for the engine number and oddly enough, it starts with a Y... hmmm, I wipe a little grime off and find a nice big GEX logo on it. So of course, I come on here and find all of the "awesome" reviews of GEX products. I know that the engine has been in the car for at least 5 or 6 years. It's running great (as little as I've driven it because I parked it shortly after buying it to start the work) but I have a feeling it won't be in there to see it's 7th birthday. I'm looking to beef the engine up a notch or three for next season.

Updates on the metalwork to come a little later.

[RafCarre12]

So the rain stayed away and it turned out to be an awesome day.

I started out with this. I managed to remove the big support bracketing on the far side of the picture and the support piece in the middle.

With those gone, it was time to cut off the main bracket from behind the rear seat. I found this lovely rust...

After lots of trimming, although far from done, the donor piece will sleep in the car for the first time.

And the pile grows...

I'm actually really glad that I haven't thrown any metal out. I'll be using the panels on the upper left hand part of the picture to make a backing plate for the rear seat area. The rust was a little worse than expected and I needed to cut the hole about 3 inches bigger than the donor piece.

Onward!


Modified by RafCarre12 at 8:16 PM 4-5-2008

[Holden McNeil]

Sorry to hear about the GEX crap - guess you'll be getting the new motor sooner then you thought! The donor piece looks awesome sitting in there!!!! Can't wait to see it all welded up!!

[RafCarre12]

Its not terrible. I mean, the engine has been running well when I've driven it. Time will tell I guess. I should be doing most of the mock up/flaning today. I still need to fully flush out how I'm going to support the area behind the rear seat support frame. I might need you to make one of those t-shapes from your welding class.

[sgtpeppper11]

really thorough build thread, raffie!! :]
and haha at doc's comment about your shoes lol

cant wait to see this thing on the road!!

[RafCarre12]

Quote, originally posted by sgtpeppper11 »

really thorough build thread, raffie!! :] and haha at doc's comment about your shoes lol cant wait to see this thing on the road!!

Haha, me neither. I was shooting to have it completed for SnG but it doesn't look like it's going to be done in time. The carpet kit won't get here for another couple of weeks. I might bring it out as a project anyway since the rough part of the panel repair is over.
_________________
Today's update...

The donor piece is all mocked up. Fits like a glove! and not the OJ type either... After flanging and punching out the holes for the well welds, I went ahead and treated the underside with Rust Encapsulator. Here it is still a little wet. I'll wait til tomorrow to apply it to the top-side.

I cleaned and prepped the lower metal piece as well.

And the rear upper area in the background.. again, still wet.

And started to put a coat on the area behind the rear seat.

Unfortunately (or very fortunately) I needed to cut a little more of the pan than expected. You can see that there is going to be a gap in between the donor piece and the existing good metal. You also note the little bit of sag on the middle piece there. Thats sagging because its originally spot welded on a piece of metal that had to be removed. My idea is to weld in an L bracket upside down on the inside the main rails effectively giving that piece a lot more support than the two spot welds and give me a backing to fill in the gap.

I'm just glad its finally ready to be welded in. 8)


Modified by RafCarre12 at 3:36 PM 4-6-2008

[sgtpeppper11]

"fits like a glove and not the OJ type either"
good one.

looking good raffie!

[Cheney]

OOOOOoooOOoooOOOoo

haha page five is mine

[RafCarre12]

Quote, originally posted by Holden McNeil »

Get cuttin so i can get my tools back

I'll only need them for when we its lowered and the shinnies are put on. There is that one bracket that needs to be shaved down/trimmed.