Back in a Mk1 + (slight) Build

[the_mad_rabbit]

No one would remember me here as I haven't had a MK1 (non cabriolet) since 2003, but let's just move along with that now. After owning about 8 different vw's pre 1991 over the past 8 years, I finally found me a MK1 worth buying and, by chance, was a great deal at the same time, so I just couldn't resist another headache.

Picked up a 12/81 Diesel 4dr Jetta LS, complete with blown brake vacuum pump, busted vent controls with the heater stuck in the on position, funky (but unmolested) wiring, broken vent wings, and a paint job that had seen better days. On the plus side... rust free? Minor catch is the car was rear ended so there's a bit of a kink on the passenger side that I still need to address, however the sub-frame is straight so the car got lucky.

My goals for this build is fairly simple: OE/OEM/OEM+ . I've done my fair share of modding, adapting, fitting, building, and changing, but for once I think I'll just NOT do that and just fix it the way that it used to be.

When I first got the car from San Diego:








... and FINALLY home:





Then lowering:


Then new rims:


Then even more lowering:






Since I've owned the car I've:
Rebuild the pump (3 times now, grr)
Installed welded LCA's with poly everything
GC Coilovers + Koni Yellows + 2.5" raised MK1 struts mounts + MK4 retainers + Fox bushings + Rear poly's
Detailed as much of the crusted plastic as possible
Timing Belt + tensioner + Injection pump modded + Injection timing

I still need to:
Do a whole lot of isht, lol.

Currently in the process of fixing the A/C, amongst visual "tuning", general fixing of pieces parts, and hunting down period correct pieces parts .

Much more to come.

-AJ

[keeton]

2.5" raised strut mounts that fit under the hood? Explanation please. Might be a dumb question, but I'd love to know how. Make your own? Buy em? Have to trim the hood bracing?



Cool car. Wish mine was a diesel.

[.:Carlik:.]

nice find!

[the_mad_rabbit]

Spent the evening in the great company of beer, Iron Maiden, and the Jetta. Worked on various things, such as rebuilding the vac. pump for a 3rd time, and having it break on me (today) sadly, yet again, so I'm just throwing in the flag and going for the later vane style pump that's not a piece of garbage and actually works worth a damn... now to just find one.

Changed out the headlights finally since the outside ones had parking lights and the idiot PO didn't properly plug them up, so water got into the assemblies and ruined the reflective surface. Out with the old, and in with some better replacements


Got both front/rear bumpers swapped out to chromo cabriolet ones which by far has been the first, and probably last, thing that i've changed out to reduce weight. I swear, front/rear bumpers must be 40+ lbs each worth of awkward weight (I lift engines, those are heavy. a bumper shouldn't be THAT heavy, ). Needless to say, super pleased. Just need to sit down and re-polish the aluminum and work on restoring the plastic trim (much like what I've done with the fender flares).


Messy interior shot- forgive the cup holders, but what the **** ever. They work, hold my coffee in place as a hazily waft around traffic at the asscrack of dawn, and it's better than having hot coffee fry my crotch
Steering wheel is a Formuling wheel that a customer at my shop bought back in 1983 and I'm the proud 2nd owner . Along with this, factory option shift extender for sciroccos with a plane-jane aluminum weighed shift knob. I switched back to the stock 5spd one though as the aluminum wasn't visually pleasing Also... the fan? Make shift Conditioning of air to be cooler until I get my REAL A/C fixed


Quick messy undershot (will all be cleaned when I do my 020 ASF transmission swap)- k-brace, swaybar, seam welded control arms with the poly bushings to say the least. Handles quite decently for what its worth... the sb bushings all need replacing though... on my list of things to do as I have the parts sitting in a box


Bought the car with 1769xx miles on it, now at 179+. Just to note... the clock works GREAT and holds time perfectly


@ keeton:
And yes... you have to trim the hood bracing for these to clear. DIY with a bit of innovation and the correct diameter metal. The guy who made mine didn't do this, so I had to grind 1/8th of an inch on the upper coils for everything to fit/work properly. It's twanging again because the springs settled down... need to clearance more

Here's a great example of stupid small things that I wanted to find as part of this build... a customer of mine had an extra one- I hooked him up with a discount on some parts for his MK2, and he hooked it up with a buck FREE


Spent the evening also detailing the interior again with a nice layer of meguires back2black. All I can say is the stuff works GREAT and my interior plastic is pretty damn wasted

Only 5 hours in the garage in 1 night.... a record since I stopped working on cars

-AJ

[the_mad_rabbit]

Just made some 2" drop plates at work, re-built my vac pump one last time after finding out that the retaining plates were missing in the pump itself, and will be cleaning up the engine bay some more toight. Have a nice vac. canister sitting at home to add to the "OEM" looks

Just needs a LOT of cleaning... more pictures to come tonight.

-AJ

[the_mad_rabbit]

Happy 4th of July everyone. Today's agenda? Swap that damn FN tranny out for an ASF and replace the busted Axles that are currently on the car.

Started off with finding out that my drivers side axle had 3 balls drop out of the inner joint. This resulted in about 1 hour worth of cursing, swearing, throwing things around the shop, then calming down, having a few 's, and re-assessing the situation, then completing the task. Good OEM used axles from my last mk1:



The ASF transmission before....:


...and after some cleaning:


3.67 with a .75 5th (that will be swapped out for a .71 in the future) = good times on the freeway.

Just staring at my engine bay made me hate my decision for the day. 1st, I hate doing transmission swaps. 2nd, I hate doing transmission swaps. 3rd, i hate axles... and doing transmission swaps.



Thankfully, an hour later, after installing some new shift bushings, and cleaning up some of the grime and grunk that was underneath the car, the ASF is in:



Time for more beer and getting my arse back into the garage

-AJ

[the_mad_rabbit]

Chugging along here slowly. Transmission is in, freeway driving is SO much better. Fabbed up some 2" drop plates with a slight offset just for ****'s n giggles. Just needing to finally go out and get the hardware needed to bolt everything back together again

Aside from that, just enjoying the car, driving it all over the place, and being happy that I've found a station selling diesel for $3.99/gallon

Though, with that said, my current battle of figuring out why the hell my stereo wiring isn't getting any power is my next point of attack (specifically today during my lunch hour at work).

What I got to wake up to as I sip my fine coffee at work :


And a new project to add to the diesel:




-AJ

[mk1daily]

Looks good, great find! Good luck with the rest of the build.

[the_mad_rabbit]

Thanks! Managed to figure out what it was with no lights- traced all the wires, and found nearly all the bulbs blown- all replaced. Found that 58 pin out gray/green from the light switch was actually putting power out to the rest of the car, no ground breaks, no pinched wires. Track #1 from T14 to the back of the cluster was receiving power too, traced it to bulb #1 and found no power. Hmmmm.... track break on one corner. Folded the track back and soldered, all patched up:


I can't wait to drive the car at night now with functioning lights for once!

Along with that, found a nice jem- power wire out from Emergency Flasher switch to stereo (factory) was bare, chilling right next to #31 ground . May explain why that fuse was blown when I first got the car... Fixed that.

So far things are progressing well and I'm still VERY happy that the wiring is unmolested. Once I get the stereo in, I'll be a VERY happy camper

-AJ

[keeton]

Freakin' awesome progress. I love watching "builds" that include fixing all the little things like you're doing. Cool.


Sent using Tapatalk.

[the_mad_rabbit]

Thanks man! Trying my hardest to address the smallest things, and to keep the build as period correct as possible (aside from the exhaust and some other small components).

UPS came by the shop today to drop off an Autotech order... most of which were for a customer/re-stocking pieces parts that we've been out of since forever. Part of that order included some fun things for me too :



Now to wait for my borla muffler to come in along with my headers... then I can start piecing together the rest of the exhaust. Whole setup will be a 4-1 header, 57mm front to back with a 610mm cherry bomb as my resonator, and blah blah blah. Should be a fun build- need to brush up on my welding skills as it's been a while

-AJ

P.s: Also finding period correct options is becoming more and more interesting, haha. Now looking for a center console as I'm undecided weather I will run triple gauges or something else.

[Aloysius]

Stoked for you! I have that car!
I'll be following your build!
Cheers!

[PSU]

In for progress.

[jjvblack]

Looking good, put the snowflakes back on dude!, looks insane; for the sake of OEM, the wheels currently look dope too.

[the_mad_rabbit]

Haha, sold the snowflakes a while back already. May be buying another set though, but for my other car (had an epiphany this morning).

Haven't been driving the Jetta all this week, instead enjoying my TD corrado and its ability to cruise at 80mph while driving to work, making me less late than usual, lol

Still waiting on my exhaust parts to come in, so for today I'll FINALLY get around to doing an oil change and HOPEFULLY transmission fluid change to Redline Lightweight Blue Shockproof oil.
Contemplating installing my oil cooler setup, but I'm not sure if i'm up to it since I have some other work to do to the corrado (wiring ).

Still need to get my hardware for the drop plates I built

-AJ

[Tougemachine]

Thanks man! Trying my hardest to address the smallest things, and to keep the build as period correct as possible (aside from the exhaust and some other small components).

UPS came by the shop today to drop off an Autotech order... most of which were for a customer/re-stocking pieces parts that we've been out of since forever. Part of that order included some fun things for me too :



Now to wait for my borla muffler to come in along with my headers... then I can start piecing together the rest of the exhaust. Whole setup will be a 4-1 header, 57mm front to back with a 610mm cherry bomb as my resonator, and blah blah blah. Should be a fun build- need to brush up on my welding skills as it's been a while

-AJ

P.s: Also finding period correct options is becoming more and more interesting, haha. Now looking for a center console as I'm undecided weather I will run triple gauges or something else.

I have a triple gauge console if your looking for one. Wouldn't mind another drive down.

[the_mad_rabbit]

What style is it? I have an extra one from my cabby, and a messed up blue one that I just tore out of the car since it never came with it (fitment was crap).

Oil change = done
Redline Lightweight Shockproof Tranny Fluid change = done
Annihilate a whole lotta beer Saturday evening with friends = done

Gawd, that ASF transmission shifts like butter now

Something much less interesting, but made me smile when I installed them:

Before


After


Now waiting for the rears to come in for a nice complete set. It's too bad that no one makes a trunk lock door plate...

Getting super antsy on the exhaust parts. My borla came in, but I'm still waiting on the headers. Need to plan making a trip to kragens for a glasspack that i'll be using as a resonator, and get some tubing for fabricating up the bends. I'm using crush bends, and for those who hate, who cares. It's only over the rear axle and honestly, 2.25" mandrel bends won't make a difference with a 1.6l NA diesel at that point

Oh, and here's the next fun item on the list of things to install:




-AJ

[rod_knock]

throw td in jetta.

kill corrado.

[the_mad_rabbit]

throw td in jetta.

kill corrado.

No . I do have a few turbos kicking around in the backyard that I may play with, but for the time being... the header I ordered came in, and I'm sourcing parts for that whole setup and see how much I like it, and go from there.

Plus, with the list of chit I still need to take care of (drop plates, notching frame, finish A/C, etc) I'm far from playing with any stuff like that.

-AJ

[Tougemachine]

I wish i had the patients to fix wiring fiascos. My truck is a prime example. Most of the electronics dont work, hazard lights just stay off. But light on dash is lit. And youve seen my rad fan setup.

[Tougemachine]

Oops

[the_mad_rabbit]

I wish i had the patients to fix wiring fiascos. My truck is a prime example. Most of the electronics dont work, hazard lights just stay off. But light on dash is lit. And youve seen my rad fan setup.

Wiring is easy though, esp. if you have schematics - Hazards rely on the hazard switch/turn signal relay. Either konks out = nothing. Your radiator is another story

-AJ

[geneworld]

You've done some great work so far...I'll be watching

[TyLair]

Keep it up

[the_mad_rabbit]

Wellp, blew up my engine driving to school this morning going down 680 to San Jose .

Thankfully my shop is off of that said freeway so I stopped there to take a look. My oil pan got smashed in (lights didn't turn on in the dash for some reason, even though sensors are all new and supposedly functioning) and mashed the pump head. Will know if the engine is savable at around 4:45pm today (when I get out of class and drive my co-workers car back to work) as I'm in the middle of class, but a sad day for a low mileage diesel engine to die that is the FIRST diesel engine that didn't burn oil on me.



-AJ

[rod_knock]

Wellp, blew up my engine driving to school this morning going down 680 to San Jose .

Thankfully my shop is off of that said freeway so I stopped there to take a look. My oil pan got smashed in (lights didn't turn on in the dash for some reason, even though sensors are all new and supposedly functioning) and mashed the pump head. Will know if the engine is savable at around 4:45pm today (when I get out of class and drive my co-workers car back to work) as I'm in the middle of class, but a sad day for a low mileage diesel engine to die that is the FIRST diesel engine that didn't burn oil on me.



-AJ

Sucks.

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td time!

[the_mad_rabbit]

It does suck

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need the td corrado to drive to school for the time being

If i can't save it, will slap in my old 8v pg w/o the charger on it for 32mpg goodness for the time being. Just meh... wanted to swap engines NEXT year and not smack-dab in the beginning of my final semester in college while taking 16 units


-AJ

[gen2fanatic]

Enjoying this build. Not enjoying the engine damage

[the_mad_rabbit]

Still haven't pulled the pan b/c i'm getting ****ed at work, so this is the best I can do for now:



Just looking at it breaks my heart

-AJ

[rod_knock]

Still haven't pulled the pan b/c i'm getting ****ed at work,

-AJ

ruh roh

[the_mad_rabbit]

ruh roh

Yep

In any case, after much contemplating I decided that the best route for me is to do yet ANOTHER g60 -> mk1 swap

I haven't fully decided if I will be running the stgiv+ charger yet or if I will enjoy my 32mpg n/a power for the time being...

The engine has the usual works done to it 3.5bar fpr, #30 injectors, 268/260 cam, power steering/non a/c waterpump pulley, deleted crank counter weight, low milage, blah blah blah. Adding to the spice: 272 cam, lightweight cam gear/im gear (possibly both), full headers -no cat - 2 1/4 to back with borla muffler, and whatever else I think of as I come along with this turd.

Currently in the works of designing the wiring harness, relay setup for ECU/Fuel pump + fuel rail, and all the necessary small stuff that goes along with swapping an engine, like new motor mounts, installing the fuel pump plus wiring, using the diesel fuel filter as a gasser fuel filter, what hardware do I need, etc etc.

This def. turned into a century build as I'm in my final semester of college to get my German Degree, then I'm off to Japan for the spring of 2012 to finish my Japanese degree









Oh, and to keep in spirit of the "period correct build" which is starting to sadly have to fade off for the time being (until i find someone giving away a JH engine so that I can carb the bitch), I present to you what my sunday will be consisting of polishing:



Cheers

-AJ

[Tougemachine]

Dam dude, i dont remember the car being lower than my truck, wich leads me to my next question. Where did you hit this bump so i can not hit it my self...

Also dam dude, lemme know if you need help with the swap.

[the_mad_rabbit]

The piece of **** road was finished the next day, so everyone else got spared.

It was low, but not that low. I've hit some pretty nasty bumps, and have never scraped like that, ever, specifically because my axles won't allow it, lol. Filing with caltrans as we speak.

I have it at my work at the moment, just waiting to sortie things out. I don't think I'll be driving the car any time soon, at least not within the next few months (unless a miracle happens). This is mostly due to me only being able to work on it once a week.... for one hour. I have my work to take care of as far as the harness/wiring/etc is concerned. Swapping the engine over is the easy deal. I'm going to replace the engine/trans mount also beforehand, and whip up a few other things at the same time.

Amazing what happens to time when you prioritize your education over cars And I'm LONG overdue for graduation

-AJ

[the_mad_rabbit]

Got my quotes in.... $3300 to fix it at my shop

This is going to get quite interesting....

-AJ

[the_mad_rabbit]

So, finally got to pulling the oil pan. The carnage is pretty.... not too bad for what its worth, but still disheartening. Trying to justify tons of work to fix the engine over swapping a gasser over still. Some say yay, some say nay.... will hopefully decide as I have everything needed to change it over, but don't really have the money/don't want to spend the money to fix what's currently in there at the moment.

El crank:


El bearings (or what's left of them)


#1 Crank Bearing:


Oil pump


Rod bearings survived quite well, cam has some scarring, but nothing that we're really concerned about. The work to fix it will require the same amount of work to swap the engine out + money.

I hate making decisions like this

May work on the harness today just for ****s and giggles, but at least something is getting done, and things SHOULD be progressing quickly at this point.

-AJ