Project 16v Lysholm

[8716vrocco]

Welcome to the build thread for my 1986 Scirocco 16v

I purchased this car 11/07/2009 from the 2nd owner in Scranton, PA. They had owned the car for around 14 years and it had been sitting on and off for 11 when I bought it. Best part about it is that it's 99% rust free and the car is pretty much bone stock

I bought this car on an impulse, not gonna lie. I had not owned a Scirocco for a while and had been just browsing the classifieds when I found this one. My first Scirocco was almost identical, but being much younger when I owned it I lacked the funds to buy the stuff I wanted. With this one I have pretty much set out to make it the 16v I always wanted.

The day I picked it up.


All cleaned up for the first time, turned out really nice. (sorry about the pics, taken with a blackberry)






*Update 2/12: Changed the original thread to include earlier pictures of the car and to make it more of an introduction to the thread. It's amazing to see how different the car looks now compared to such a short time ago.

*Big thanks to Paul for changing the thread name

Enjoy the build, I've had a blast along the way so far and there is always more to do.

[8716vrocco]

So last night I had some time so I brought it in to check out the situation with my sunroof. The PO converted it to a power sunroof using an Audi motor. I have already had the sunroof apart to replace the seal in the spring, but until now I have waited to figure out what was done with the wiring. Wires have already been run from the fuse box up the A pillar to where the dome light is, I just need to make sense of it all.

Just to show what I'm dealing with, here are the wires coming out of the dome light area.

Now down by the fuse box, the red wires in the top middle are what have been run.


Should be fun! I did find another random wire running behind the radio and decided to check it out since I was already in a wiring type of mood. Removed the center console to find yet again another superb wiring job by the PO. I will say this though, at least the stock connectors for the radio are still in tact!

Here is what I started with.

After about 10 minutes I had it cleaned up to this.


As soon as I can I will be repairing the radio wiring. The actual harness is cut about 8 inches from the connectors and stripped about 1 inch from them. With a little time, heat shrink and solder it should be good as new. Then I can dive into the sunroof. I am hoping to get the wiring done before the weekend. Saturday I will be going to work (on my day off) to install the front wheel bearings, coilovers and perform an alignment. Till then

[8716vrocco]

No real progress to give yet. I swear this week has been moving so slow, Saturday still seems like a week away even though it's tomorrow. Until I do some real work to it I thought I would show off what came in the mail the other day.

Euro Valences, unpainted They have been used but are pretty much scratch free, no broken mounting tabs either.


I also wanted to post some better pics of my Euro lights, the other ones I have were taken on my old blackberry that had a pretty bad camera.


Crack free turns


Now if I could only find some nice bumpers I would have no more stuff to buy for the exterior.

More progress after this weekend

[superloaf]

nice work & nice car to start with!

have you driven on the ST's yet? would love to hear how they are as that's the best deal in coilovers out there.

[8716vrocco]

nice work & nice car to start with!

have you driven on the ST's yet? would love to hear how they are as that's the best deal in coilovers out there.

I just got them on today actually. Drove around for a few hours and in my opinion the ride quality is very nice. Yes they have a firm ride but its not over the top like other coilovers I have had experience with. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a very nice set of coilovers at a somewhat affordable price

Another update to come shortly

[8716vrocco]

Over the weekend on Saturday I went into work on my day off to get some heavier work done. It's nice to not have to work fast for a change, I almost forgot what it's like to work on cars for fun.

I started up front and replaced both front wheel bearings, no pictures since it's not very exciting. While I was doing them I also threw in the front coilovers with the new strut tops. The coilovers are from Suspension Techniques, same valving as a KW Variant 1 but with a galvanized body instead of stainless.






I also cut the front rotors really quick, they were rusty and off anyway so why not? All put together up front.


Installed the rears together with Prothane Poly mounts, don't mind the rusty calipers.


Now for the part I was not looking forward to, setting ride height. I was very surprised to find that it's not that bad of a job. I had to turn down the fronts about 3/4 of and inch and only 2 turns out back. Here she is on the ground. The ATS Cups I took off my Mk2 Golf before I sold it, they are by far my favorite rims and look perfect on a Scirocco


On the Alignment rack a little later after some minor height adjustments.


Looks pretty good if you ask me, not too low yet still slammed Here are some more pics I took so you know what it looks like out of the shop for a change You can see my other toy in the background in the first one below.







It drives really nice now, alot better then the blown stock suspension I was rocking before. I'm going out of town at the end of this week so there wont be any progress till I get back, I need to order more parts too. Till then

[mr lee]

lower it


j/k.. looks good! put some spacers on the rears and you may need to roll your fenders. otherwise, looks good.

[8716vrocco]

Thanks for the comment The more I look at it the more I agree I need rear spacers, that will have to wait till another day though.

Time for an update.....sorta. I have been going back and forth with my plans for the engine like you wouldn't believe. My choices were 1.8T or 16vT. I chose the 16v for a variety of reasons, one of which is because I already own this.





It's a Zornig manifold and I have had this for quite some time now. This was a gift from a bunch of friends of mine 6 years ago for graduating UTI. I was going to use it on my first 16v but the timing just wasn't right. This is the perfect opportunity. I'm glad the car now has a direction, up until now I have been aiming at a moving target. More progress once I have any to share. Here are a couple more shots of the manifold.

[8716vrocco]

You can completely ignore the above post. Plans changed about a week after I made it. On Thursday I will be making another trip to the east coast for another major piece of the puzzle, a complete G60 engine....with a Lysholm charger This was very much an impulse buy but it actually was an original plan for my first 16v, I just couldn't afford it at the time. I may be asking Paul to rename the thread once I get back from the trip.

Here is the schedule for the weekend:

Leave work around 10pm CST Thursday
Get into Virginia around 6-9pm EST on Friday
Load it up
Drive back to Chicago
Unload the engine Saturday night/Sunday morning
Sleep
Drink/Watch Football

I plan on being back here Sunday morning, who knows what will actually happen though I have to clean a space in my buddies garage too so I have somewhere to keep the block until I take what I need and sell the rest. That will happen sometime this week. I will probably the thread from the road to show some pics and stuff. More very very soon.

[prom king]

I love the wheels man.

[zoomshoes]

Oh dang, you're in Chicago?
I kinda wanna see this car!

[freddiejones03253]

The wheels are sweet, I have always wanted a set for my black 16v.

[8716vrocco]

Thanks guys ATS Cups are by far my favorite out there, they fit a 16v very well too. I should be out and about next year, I only really drove it twice so far this year.

[superloaf]

hey, looks great.

just curious about the ST's and the ride quality, especially once you lowered them. did the ride height affect the ride quality a lot? i have some DIY coilovers i've made and the ride quality with 400# springs isn't so bad as long as i don't lower it too much. and then every quarter of an inch makes a big difference in the ride quality, especially the bounciness, so just wondering how it compares to the ST's.

and do you know what rate the springs are?

thanks as i'm still learning what it takes to make these cars handle AND ride decently. BTW mine handles incredibly but still think my shocks need tuning. (bilstein sports but getting old & tired.)

[8716vrocco]

hey, looks great.

just curious about the ST's and the ride quality, especially once you lowered them. did the ride height affect the ride quality a lot? i have some DIY coilovers i've made and the ride quality with 400# springs isn't so bad as long as i don't lower it too much. and then every quarter of an inch makes a big difference in the ride quality, especially the bounciness, so just wondering how it compares to the ST's.

and do you know what rate the springs are?

thanks as i'm still learning what it takes to make these cars handle AND ride decently. BTW mine handles incredibly but still think my shocks need tuning. (bilstein sports but getting old & tired.)

I don't know the spring rates off hand, I'm sure that they are floating around on the net somewhere though. The ride quality is pretty nice for being a coilover. Same valving as the KW Variant 1s if you didn't know much about ST. They are firm and not bouncy and I have them as low as I can without rubbing too bad. I think they ride better then the FKs I had in my A2. HTH

[8716vrocco]

Left my work at 10pm CST on 9/23/10(Chicago, IL)
Arrived in Hampton, VA around 3pm EST 9/24/10
Loaded engine into back of SUV
Go to BW3 for some food and a
Started heading back to Chicago around 5:30pm EST
Rolled into town on 9/25/10 around 6:30am CST
Unloaded engine then went home and passed out at 8:30am CST

Had to remove the downpipe and rear mount bracket off the G60 for it to fit but we got her loaded up in about 2 minutes once the pipe was off.


The hot stuff, Lysholm charger






Pretty good trip overall. Between getting the car and now the G60 I have now driven around 3500 miles for my Scirocco, with more to come I'm sure. Will update once I remove some stuff off the block. Till next time.

[8716vrocco]

Just wanted to share a few more photos with you. I am going to add some pics of the wiring harness after I take some shots of it laid out at work. I took all the boost tubes off and the engine harness last night, forgot my allen sockets so I was unable to remove the charger and brackets.

Couple shots of the engine




Here is my head gasket spacer, I believe it is a C2 unit but I really cannot remember, I bought it probably 5 years ago.

[8716vrocco]

Unfortunately I found out last week that BBM only has 2 16vG60 Integration kits left until next year. After buying the engine I cannot afford to get the kit so unless I find one for sale elsewhere I doubt I will be doing the conversion over the winter like I had planned. Not a big deal though, it gives me time to sort everything out and get everything I need including exhaust and a front cross member brace.

I have been looking through countless threads about this swap and it doesn't look too bad to do. Mechanically I have absolutely no worries about this, it's just bolting stuff on. The electrical is another thing since it's not exactly my strong suit, but I do love working with it. I have an ECU and harness from an automatic and finding info for it is a little tough. I may have to ask elsewhere (probably the digi 1 16v faq) but is there alot of stuff i can take out of this harness? Compared to others I have seen mine looks like I have so much more wiring. Mainly in the area shown here.


Here is the whole thing.


I also pulled apart the ECU to check the chip and found this.


Score there, I'm wondering if the engine has a cam too. More to come soon once all the parts are pulled off the G60.

[rabbitarmy]

Pull the charger off & cover/plug/protect the inlet, outlet & all oil feed/return lines immediately. those units are notorious for machining themselves into a grenade if the slightest bit of debris gets in them or any torsional stress is put on the casing when warm.

[meanvw]

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...r-project-V2.0

Here's mine... Not lysholm, but 16vg60..
Probably quite a few things that will save you some time if you check that thread.

[8716vrocco]

Pull the charger off & cover/plug/protect the inlet, outlet & all oil feed/return lines immediately. those units are notorious for machining themselves into a grenade if the slightest bit of debris gets in them or any torsional stress is put on the casing when warm.

Got that taken care of right after I pulled the charger off the block. Had the inlet/outlet blocked off anyway just took the covers off for pics. Thanks for the info though, good to know

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...r-project-V2.0 Here's mine... Not lysholm, but 16vg60..
Probably quite a few things that will save you some time if you check that thread.

I did check out your thread a while back, lots of good info and I'm sure I will be going back to look at stuff you did once mine gets underway. I got to see your setup at Treffen this year too, looks great in person


Not tons of progress but enough to make a post worthwhile, and who doesn't like more pictures? Pulled the charger, brackets, intake manifold and alternator to clean everything up.

The bracket, this thing was nasty!


Injectors and harness. I am looking into getting them cleaned and tested before they go into the car.


The Lysholm.


The BBM site says a 63mm pulley is good for 12 psi.


Throttle body.


I haven't been doing much with this lately, I can't do much until over the winter anyway when my buddies civic goes into storage so I can use his garage. Short on cash too which is definitely needed for a swap like this

Till next time

[d-bot]

subscribed!

[8716vrocco]

Well yesterday at work I stayed late to tackle my Digi harness to get it ready for the install. Using info in the 16v Digi 1 FAQ I was able to get it all sorted out in a relatively short period of time.

Here is what I started with, what a mess.


This is what is actually needed, may still look crazy but it's a massive difference.




Only 5 wires need to be hooked up to the car harness, and no splicing is even needed which is awesome. When the install happens it should take me just a couple of minutes to hook up. Another update coming shortly, till then.

[8716vrocco]

I cannot believe it has been over a month since an update!

I bought a few things recently and wanted to share. I sourced a manual rack intermediate shaft and some shifter parts I have needed from a part out. I still need a stock shift knob though, anyone got one they want to sell me? GAP had free shipping on black friday so I got my manual rack, tie rod kits and rack boots. The plastic package on the right is a USRT shift kit.






I had seen these for sale in the classifieds for some time and decided to make the purchase, they are too cool to pass up. Big thanks to Orchid Euro for the seats. Great company with timely responses, fair prices and quick shipping Best part about these is that they are from a British car so my drivers seat still feels new I am going to need to somehow source the correct front door cards, that should be fun.




I have one more big purchase that should be on it's way to me shortly, I'm not going to spoil it though so stay tuned to find out what it is. Till then.

[crazyBUG]

to the seats, i got the same set from them, great people

[8716vrocco]

Still nothing to report, but I did drive it today This week I will be ordering a few needed parts, then the phone call to BBM to check the status of my Integration Kit. I ordered that quite a while ago, some of the pieces still had to be made since I bought the last kit they had. I cannot wait to finally get that package in the mail

I was not too happy about driving it with salt all over the roads but today was too nice to pass up. I took it to my buddies house, he's letting me use the space over winter to get my project under way.


It may be only a one car but he has built 2 civics in there already, most recently a K20 EG. Now that the car is inside there should be major progress very soon.

Till then

[8716vrocco]

Got started on the swap (officially) this weekend. Got all of the CIS stuff out of the car, it's amazing how much better the bay looks without that stuff.


Here's me hard at work, kinda (taken by my buddy)


Besides the CIS I got the alternator, fan, A/C lines and P/S pump out of the car. Just a few more things and the engine will be out the next time I work on the car. Here's another shot of what's left in the bay.


Good stuff on the way, stay tuned.

[neofreak]

Hell yeah dude! Looking forward to having more of the parts here and seein this thing underway

[VolksAddict]

Gonna keep an eye on this thread.

[deathhare.]

[8716vrocco]

Been a while since an update but I actually did accomplish a decent amount in the past couple weeks.

First of all my Bahn Brenner 16VG60 Integration Kit came in the mail about a week ago. Here is the kit minus a few things that came the other day.


The finish on the brackets is pretty nice.


Took the ECU to work to install the chip




Last weekend I worked on the motor removal, went from this...


To this in a couple hours.


Next step is to get the motor on the stand to begin replacing all the seals, drill the block for the S/C oil return line and start installing G60 stuff. I am also swapping the rack out and cleaning the bay as best as I can. This is when the actual fun part begins so I'm pretty excited.

Here is how the car/engine currently sit.


More to come shortly.

[8716vrocco]

Turned out to be a super nice weekend in the windy city. Today I checked out the bike show, bought some gear and a bike cover and checked out some of the newer models. Saturday though I had some fun and worked on the car.

Removed the trans, got my work cut out for me when I clean the case.




Here is a motor mount that has seen better days, pretty obvious in this picture that this thing sat for quite some time.


Took off tons of things that will never be used again, well by me at least. The block breather and upper radiator hose fitting will be discarded also. If you aren't aware, the Lysholm gets in the way of the coolant flange. There is a modified flange available from BBM for this problem, but you need to run a block off plate since it interferes with the stock breather. The hole leftover from the stock breather can be filled with a freeze plug.


When I opened her up I was very pleased. Pretty clean inside, no obvious wear to speak of.


Looked good once I removed the head too, cylinder walls are clean and piston tops look great with little to no carbon buildup.


One more of the head. I haven't taken apart a VW motor like this before so it was nice to see the head can come off with the cams left in. I work for Toyota and the head bolts are under the cams on their motors. Pretty neat to see the small differences between German and Japanese engineering.


I'm bringing the motor and trans up to work tomorrow to clean everything up and have access to everything a shop has to offer. I will do my best to document anything I run into with this project. I've had a hard time finding any solid info for doing this in an A1 chassis so hopefully this will help add to what's out there.

Lots to come so stay tuned.

[8716vrocco]

This week I started cleaning and refreshing the engine and trans. The trans was pretty nasty, I could probably spend another 2-3 hours cleaning the case but it's pretty close to where I want it without bead blasting. That can be done at a later time anyway.

Valve stem seals gave me a really hard time. Our valve spring compressor at work was bending at first, and I couldn't figure out why. After some experimenting and advice from other techs I used a different tool for taking them apart, then used the compressor to install. I figured out there was a decent amount of varnish between the keepers and spring retainers, so it took old fashioned brute force to get them free. I snapped a couple pics really quick before I called it a day. 8 down and 8 more to go, work kept stopping my progress


It's nice to have equipment like this available so I don't have to spend my own money on specialty tools.


Not tons to report but it's worth showing everyone. I would really like to have the engine close to being done this weekend, hopefully I can make that happen.

[Amsterdam087]

keep it up,

[1983rabbitgti]

im watching...creepin...and liking