bringing life back to my 85 Scirocco

[nickbukowy]

well, Thursday I got onto techtonics to order the new pistons, well my luck they discontinued them that day

so I looked all over the internet for another decent set that wont bankrupt me, and I couldn't find anything else except JE pistons

so today, I went to the local pick-n-pull, because every thing was 50% off today, so i poked and prodded around for a while, I spent a lot of time looking through a G60 Carrado, grabbed the valve cover off it, really sad to see that one in there, was real clean except the front fenders. But I finally found a Golf way in the back that had an ABA in, so I took the head off and the pistons and cylinder walls looked good, so pulled the motor out to check the insides, when i cracked open the oil pan i was happy, just found myself an OBD1 block with the oil squirters, couldnt be any happier, this was the kind of block I have had my eye on for this build, so I stripped all the accessories off, when i went to check out, i was shocked at how much i had to pay for the block, crank, and pistons with the rods, my total was only $113!!!

quick little pic of the inside of the block


and the g60 valve cover


most likely going to paint the new valve cover like the last, but i may through in a couple twists

[Giraldus117]

Dude I got the exact same model of your car, did you get yours with a working a/c system? and glad to see you found such a beautiful engine for only $113

[nickbukowy]

It does have the a/c set up, but it needs to be recharged and that's it, and I never really a/c in any vehicle

Been talking to a friend to see if she knows anyone who can hot tank the block for me, because I heard most places don't use hot tanks anymore due to the FDA, most shops don't want to go through the proper procedures to discard the waste

[nickbukowy]

well i gotta love friends with connections, my friend knows a place who will do it, i just need to give them a call tuesday, that will save me hours of cleaning

[Giraldus117]

Hey I have been doing some thinking... When they designed the MK2 they probably designed it to be aerodynamic to the point where they made the bumpers stick out that length to combat drag that would be created at the front of the car at highspeeds.

Idk prolly a longshot, but just a thought

[nickbukowy]

you know what that's a good head scratcher type question

I have a couple of ideas about it that lean both ways on this topic, one is that it may create a pocket right there in the front that helps the air roll right over the front easier, but it may cause some what of a drag due to some what flat surface, it does have a small slope but not very much, but most sport cars don't have a protruding bumper, they are usually sunk in and rounded off with the body, making less points of drag on the front, you don't see to many sports cars having a protruding front bumper, plus i dont think no one wants to buy a high end sports car with a park bench bolted to the front of it

i like the euro bumpers, cause they are tucked in a little more and better looking than the American park benches, but i want some thing a little bit more flush with the grille and lights, some thing new

[Giraldus117]

man those park benches saved my ass multiple times since i have had my car, mainly from dumb asses stopping short or not stopping at all. Those are some durable bumpers though

[nickbukowy]

that's why i usually have a picky driving pattern, i usually drive on back roads, or drive in certain areas in only certain times of the day just to avoid most dumb a$$ drivers, but usually the people that worry me the most and piss me off are those people who drive lifted trucks, they always ride my a$$ real badly

i was thinking of making a sticker with real big letters that says "WARNING: bumper may fall off" and stick it on the bumper and see how many people stay back

[TBerk]

Hey I have been doing some thinking... When they designed the MK2 they probably designed it to be aerodynamic to the point where they made the bumpers stick out that length to combat drag that would be created at the front of the car at highspeeds.

Idk prolly a longshot, but just a thought

You are not crazy, that I know.

They wouldn't have designed them to be aerodynamic per se but the aerodynamic properties of a US Bumper Safety reg would have been a trade off...

[TBerk]

PS to the Old School Park Bench vs New Style Flush to the Body Bumpers:

New regs seem to provide for hitting folks in the crosswalk and having them roll over the hood of the car.

This is apposed to older, lower bumpers which some folks 'in the know' thought of as Chock Blocking (Google it).

I, personally, hate the Bully-Front End of modern cars. [Picture Dodge Ram, Charger, etc...]

[nickbukowy]

any way you look at it, it doesnt really matter what kind of front end you have, new or old, getting hit by a car sucks

i would have to agree a little with you on these new front end on most cars, they seem bulky, but they do look good, but like the mid 60's muscle cars they had a well tucked bumper that flowed with the front end, it's like the body line that runs down the side of the car but on the front, it off sets it to give it more character

[nickbukowy]

I hope no one thinks this thread is dead
but its been a while since I've had any extra money or time to do some work on the car, but i finally have some money to do some thing

I started working on the front skin for the extremely shortened bumper, I was thinking of modifying the original skin some more (currently modified US bumper into a Euro), but that would be quite a bit of work, so I decided to go a different route, I decided to make a one time use mold for the front bumper skin, I made a simple box out of cardboard that the bumper would sit in, and I wrapped the bumper skin in shrink wrap to protect it from the foam and make it easier to pull the bumper out of the mold, and I'm just going to leave the shrink wrap in it for when I do the fiber glass, I know it wont be perfectly smooth but I still have to do some modifications to it, but nothing a thin layer of bondo wont fix , I just took some cans of spray foam and went to town, I made one already and that worked out really well. The skin is just going to be made from a couple layers of fiber glass, but the problem is I can't find any fiber glass resin in town right now, the only place that I know of that has it in stock all the time is closed on the week ends . But at least when I do find some I got the molds ready

I will post some pictures later tonight or tomorrow

[nickbukowy]

well sorry about that, but I've been busy with work and other things, but today I came home and went straight to the garage to start on the new skin

I am using the first mold, it came out real good compared to the second one, the second one had two big air bubbles so I'm not going to deal with that, so i cut out my fiber glass sheets and laid it out in the mold, then I put the ressin in and rolled it every were with my handy dandy roller, now the fun part, waiting for it to dry

but at least tomorrow I will be fully rested and have some thing to work on

pics of the mold

[nickbukowy]

well I couldn't stay away from it for to long, I checked it and it seems like this brand has a faster dry time, so it was dry to the touch but hasn't cured completely, so sanding is going to start tomorrow, so I put a thin layer of resin jelly that has some glass in it to give it some more strength, and surprisingly the shrink wrap made it easy to pull the skin out of the foam, so after a little time pealing the wrap off I got a good look at it, it looks really rough in some people's eyes, but in mine, I see a very good starting point

[ziggirocco]

Look pretty good, some guys lay down a gel coat etc, but if you used enough resin and fiber you should be able to sand it smoothish, and you can use. Flexible bumper putty to finish it off, might. Be a bit of elbow grease involved but I can see it turning out pretty good!

Keep it up!

[nickbukowy]

thanks Ziggi

well I trimmed off some of the extra stuff and sanded a little to get the rest of the plastic off, now I'm starting the process of smoothing every thing out

the whole process is just to get a good starting point, it made a real good shape held most of lines real well, all I have to do is smooth it out and put some nice edges on the lines

I didn't want to spend a whole lot of money on materials and special stuff needed for doing molds to make a mold that I'm only going to use once

$20 of shrink wrap and foam to make a mold compared to spending a lot of money to make a really good mold, I think the $20 one is a good route

here are some more pictures

[nickbukowy]

ok some small progress on the new skin, but work has been kicking my a$$ and plus I've been busy running around helping others, but today I dropped the block off at the shop to get it hot tanked, picking it up most likely tomorrow, can't wait to get back to doing some motor work

[nickbukowy]

ok, the block was a day late, but i have it today, going to start cleaning it up a bit, then paint it, then start putting it back together finally, first a quick run through with the hone in the cylinders, just to clean it up quickly, then start on putting the guts back in: oil squirters, crank, intermediate shaft, the pistons I'm still debating on if I should get new ones or just use the original ones and use a thicker head gasket (p.s. I'll be running 14 psi). Then I get to start bolting everything else back on, except the alternator, still working out how I'm going to do the alternator bracket to bring it over some more cause I'm getting rid of the AC, I hope by the end of today I will have a nearly completed lower end.

been talking to some people that will do some slight port work to the head for me, plus I think I may have found some one who will weld me up a new short runner intake using the lower half of the original intake, still hunting down a couple more parts here and there, but at least I'm finally getting this motor back together

pics will be posted later today
maybe a whole lot

[SciroccoPowered]

wiseco pistons are a little less than JE, If they aren't worn out though i would keep them, if anything do a thermal coating on the tops (shouldn't cost too much at all, but really just make sure you tune it properly

[nickbukowy]

I was thinking about just getting new rings and pins and using the original pistons, wiseco doesnt have the right size though, but I'm still looking around in case I find some, and I'm going to need some help getting this thing timed (since there isn't really any marks on the block), but I got quite a bit done since yesterday even though people kept calling me to help them with some thing.

I cleaned the block, put the bearings back in, then painted it, then got it up on the stand and got to work on putting everything back together. Did a quick honing before I started installing everything, installed the oil squirters, then the crank (plastigauged it to check the clearance, and checked the play), put the front and rear plates back on, then the water pump, then the oil cooler, then the intermediate shaft with the sprocket, the main drive gear and pulley, and in between brakes I started cleaning the crap out of other things, took the rods apart and did a quick scrub to get most of the crap off but still got one cleaning process to do to them, started on the cleaning pistons today, they are real good shape after a good clean

time to dump a crap ton of pictures
================================================== ============

when I got the block back, needs a little cleaning


getting the bearings back in, one of the things I despise when it comes to motor work




then cleaned it up and taped it up


then paint



got it up on the stand and got to the fun stuff





I stopped every once in a while, and worked on the rods and pistons


these need a good ol' fashion spit shine


much better


still working on cleaning the pistons and rods today, got a gallon of this chemical bathe stuff that works awesome on cleaning smaller parts, just takes time to let them soak in it to clean them up

[Ghunt521]

I would paint it red makes it looks like a classic

[nickbukowy]

I was thinking of painting it mars red, but then I decided on a two tone white on top black on bottom with a red pinstripe, but now I'm debating on whether doing white and black or sliver and black

But yesterday I got the 4th piston cleaned up and one of the rods, going to try and get at least 2 done after work today, will post some pictures tonight

[nickbukowy]

so I got one rod for sure done, the second one has a little more time in the chemicals, should be done any time now, but tomorrow I will get the 4th one done and work on pistons 2 and 3, still have some soot built up on them

but over all they came out real nice, loving this new chem-dip stuff, makes cleaning parts a whole lot easier.

but also with them being this clean, I am able to balance them out very easily too, even though there isn't to much of a difference it still is a tedious process though, but completely worth it

[nickbukowy]

well i got the 4th one done today, didn't get much else done, been to hot today to do much been to busy trying to stay cool, should be the same temperature tomorrow, another long hot day at work tomorrow

but I still need to get the rods balanced out, #1 rod) 621 grams #2 rod) 621 grams #3 rod) 622 grams #4 rod) 621 grams. It's quite amazing how shaving just a gram off can be so time consuming, but #4 was at 622 grams before the chem-dip and after it was 621, so probably the gunk that was built up on it was roughly 1 gram, the pistons I will wait on until they are completely cleaned of the soot and gunk, i want to get these things as accurate as possible, a good friend of mine had his motor balanced a while ago, 1 of the 8 pistons was off about 1 gram, and one rod off by a gram, after wards the motor sounded a lot better and ran a lot smoother, quite amazing how spending that little extra time can make a difference

[Mean 'n Green86]

great build so far. i really respect your work.

[nickbukowy]

great build so far. i really respect your work.

Thanks man, but its kinda of a slow build though, I've been doing temp work for a while now, and I've been getting parts here and there when I can, but now I'm just getting really excited I'm real close to finishing her up finally

[nickbukowy]

Well this week has been a little weird but I did get the rods are balanced, the pistons are clean (going to start balancing them soon), and now I'm pricing out some parts for the head, so I hope is will have he bottom end completed here soon, then I will start on the head by replacing any worn out parts and do a slight port and polish job and port matching, so more work to come when the bottom end is completed and I get some parts

but today was pretty interesting though, me and my brother went running around town, and we went into a gas station and saw a rabbit GTI on a flat bed, we drove by it slowly and the guy came up to us and said it was just a parts car, so I asked him if he would be willing to sell the grille to us, and he said yeah if you can take it off right now, so me and my brother with some tools in hand rushed into taking this grille off, and got it off and paid $10 for it, the guy through in the turn signals too, My brother was excited for this lucky find.

The reason this was a big deal, the beginning of last month we were coming back from Redding CA paint balling and hit a deer out side of Susanville in his lowered Rabbit, the front clip got smashed, the hood got smashed, but the fender was fine, so i did some quick bending of the clip and inspections for a while waiting for my pops to get there, but the strangest part was the radiator was leaking when we hit the deer but stopped when my pops came to tow us home so we drove it home with out any over heating problems what so ever, but we got a new hood already, new right turn signal, and we have been on the hunt for a new grille for it for a while, and thats the only thing he needs to have a complete car again, so it was just out of pure luck we ran into this guy today

[nickbukowy]

spent some today working on the head, took the head apart, checking what's going to be replaced and whats staying

ordered some parts, going to go local to get a few other parts, but going to have to wait till tomorrow to get them though

but here is the picture of the head's guts all laid out

[european_rocc]

WOW!

I decided to come back and check up on this project and I had no idea how big it was going to be!

I really like that black/red/white look you want to go for, and i've got no doubt you're going to make it happen


As for my project..... yeah i'm about to spray it... FINALLY haha!


Keep up the amazing work man!

[nickbukowy]

thanks man

so what color have you decided to go with?

[european_rocc]

It's somewhat of a long story, but i'm going with dupli color's Performance Red since it's cheap, easily accesible, and looks enough like Mars Red.

I've decided to spray the car myself since paying someone to spray silver (and it'd have to be an enamel silver) is something I can't afford

[nickbukowy]

Yeah, I was thinking of going with silver instead of white, until I saw the price for the paint I decided to stick with the original plan

Well plus i just got some more parts for the motor and a couple of goodies, got one of them yesterday and the other isbeing shipped today

[nickbukowy]

alright its been way to long since i posted any thing, work has been kicking my a$$ lately

not much work on the motor lately, took my car out to a show and shine, kinda weird seeing more air cooled guys interested in it than the water cooled guys , but they were checking out the newer stuff (mk3 and up), and I finally got my package yesterday


my rocco in the show and shine


and hmmm........... any one know what maybe in the big box

[nickbukowy]

sorry about that, but ive been neglecting to post pics of as in the big box


but here you go, just got myself a sexy zender front air dam, still need to work on some fitments and little things




now i need to get the front skin done asap to finish the front up, still debating on if I want to swap out of the original lights for some old school round ones, just been an idea running through my mind
what would your guys' opinions are on that idea

[nickbukowy]

well I've been very busy with work lately (more than usual), but today I went up to pick n pull and found myself some new seats from a corrado , I'm pretty dam happy with them, and comfortable as hell, but also I found some new round buckets for a quad round set up, but I still need to find a grille to use

but I will try to get some pictures up tomorrow