Project Wolfsburg

[Nimyad]

I know many of you will look at this and think "why did he start a thread on this." Some of you will think it's not a build thread at all. But I had a vehicle stolen a year back or so (never got it back) and luckily I had a build thread online. Having a record of how the vehicle was when I got it and everything I had done to it since really helped when I had to deal with the insurance company and I was able to come out almost even, money wise. So I'd rather be safe than sorry if that happens again.

I'm rather new in the vw world, i built a 1981 toyota pickup from stock to Rockcrawler (started when I was 15) got stolen when I was almost 17. Then I got a 94 Toyota pickup an built that up to Rockcrawler again, that's where I am now, I'm 18 with 2 major builds under my belt. But now I want a car to DD, so I got this last week. 1991 Wolfsburg Jetta, 193k miles, 1.8 8v and a 5 speed with a short shift kit, lowered about 3" with cut coils , tectonics 2 1/4" exhaust, and 14" snowflakes that the guy rattle canned.

So far I've only done a little bit of maintenance stuff, changed the oil, thermostat, coolant, brake fluid, power steering fluid. Later this week (hopefully tomorrow) I'm changing out the shift linkage bushings as they're worn pretty bad, cleaning the isv out along with some other miscellaneous things I can do for cheap/free. Getting a new k&n filter shipped in (2 3/4 flange which apparently is a really oddball size). Also ordering raceland ultimos tomorrow and putting those in as soon as they get here. This weekend I'll hopefully tackle the heater core and blend door foam so I can get my heater working good, as this is my new DD.

Future pland are tearing apart the tranny and replacing reverse (gear is chipped) along with my 2nd gear syncro
Few pics


Pic with my truck

[Nimyad]

Just drove home on the freeway at night in the rain and I'm pretty sure my headlights are awful. I'll adjust them some tomorrow and see if that helps but some HIDs might be in order. Any opinions on good brands?

[Nimyad]

Ordered up some coilovers today, cleaned out my ISV and replaced the grommet for the little mushroom thing on the valve cover. Idles way better now (only bounces between 950-975 now) but I think I'm going to replace the brake booster vacuum line because it looks suspect, and also run some injector cleaner with my next fill up.

Also fixed my loud lifter, put 1/3 quart of atf in my oil and quieted it right now so I'm happy about that.

Now looking for some wheels and tires for winter so I can start working on my snowflakes

[Nimyad]

Gave her a Bosch tuneup today, along with a new k&n air filter

My coilovers came to today too! raceland ultimos, going on tomorrow.

[izzo]

Just drove home on the freeway at night in the rain and I'm pretty sure my headlights are awful. I'll adjust them some tomorrow and see if that helps but some HIDs might be in order. Any opinions on good brands?

US spec headlights? If so,

[Nimyad]

US spec headlights? If so,

Yeah, I adjusted them and they're not as bad but piaa bulbs are 50. Or I bite the bullet and convert it to quad rounds.

[Rcmafia]

Bite the bullet and buy a set of h4 headlights and relay the harness. The light output is 100x better than hids or us spec lighting. Also paint your front bumper white. it'll really help the look out a lot. The car looks pretty clean otherwise. Keep up the progress.

Love the toyota btw I've always wanted one.

[gioLdk_gli]

Looks like the start of something beautiful, you should let me know how the coilover installation goes and how they ride as I will be ordering a set of ultimos in a weeks time!

[Nimyad]

Got my front coilovers on today didn't get to the back, ran out of time. Install went fine but I'm finding out my car got in a decent wreck, ended up having to put a 1/4" spacer on one side but not the other for it to clear the coilovers. The ride is a ton better though, the front is way less bouncy and virtually no body roll.

Putting on the rears tomorrow and I'll get a pic of how I set it for height as well

[Nimyad]

Got the rears installed today. They were a piece of cake after I took out the back seat lol I have about a 1/2" rack from the rear to the front an it's about an 11/2" higher than it was. The only thing I don't really like it to get them to sit his high to front helper springs and completely compressed and the rear and close to being completely compressed. They will go lower than I could ever run, my tire would hit the fender and there's still another inch of thread on the front coilovers.
Rides so much better than stupid cut springs, barely any body roll and a nice firm but not super stiff ride.
Got one pic right after I took it out of the shop, I'll get some road pics later.

And a pic from a get together last night

Better pic, it's not raked forward as much as I thought it was, it's pretty level.

[Nimyad]

Bite the bullet and buy a set of h4 headlights and relay the harness. The light output is 100x better than hids or us spec lighting. Also paint your front bumper white. it'll really help the look out a lot. The car looks pretty clean otherwise. Keep up the progress.

Love the toyota btw I've always wanted one.

I'll probably do just that, so I'll just leave these headlights till I get some money saved up. Definitely am going to paint the middle of the bumper white.

As for the Toyota, thanks! I've got a lot of hours and money into it, but it's definitely fun and worth it. Nothing quite like offroading

[Nimyad]

Went to Seattle over the weekend and drove my jetta. Didn't have to many issues, nothing big at all. Had an exhaust mount break on me so I stopped by meineke and got it fixed for $3 since my last oil change (1500 miles) I lost about 1/2 quart of oil, it's not burning it and isn't marking its spot so it must be leaking and burning off somewhere. Also my top tensioner on the timing belt is starting to go out. Few pics I got, nothing in Seattle sadly, I was to busy trying to get up the stupid hills.
It's home for the weekend

Snowqualmie pass off the road

With the gf

[Nimyad]

photoshoped picture of my car to give me inspiration to actually strip my wheels

[daniresch]

and change the diameter to a 16?

[Nimyad]

and change the diameter to a 16?

Yup I have a enlarging ray I'm going to use on them I didn't photoshop the pic so the wheel size was changed.

[gioLdk_gli]

Hey man I have a question for you. When you installed your coilovers did you have an issue with your tire clearing the coilovers? Did you run a spacer? Or is everything good? If everything came out fine then what offset are your wheels?

[Nimyad]

I wouldn't have needed a spacer but my suspension is shifted to one side so I needed a 5mm spacer on one side. Wheels are just factory snowflakes.

[PDXGTI8V 2.0]

since my last oil change (1500 miles) I lost about 1/2 quart of oil, it's not burning it and isn't marking its spot so it must be leaking and burning off somewhere.

I'm losing about the same amount of oil....Mine is leaking from the front crankseal behind the timing belt pulley on on the passenger side of the car...i need to fix it.....you might want to check your seal there....they weep, meaning you lose oil, but it never seems to drip on the ground....

[gioLdk_gli]

My wheels are factory bottle caps and they have an et38 which is apparently too high so I need to run at least a 5mm spacer all around plus I'm going to need a smaller profile tire also. Sorry for the life story just I was trying to figure out if I was the only person who wasn't aware that I would need the spacers to clear my stock wheels.

[Nimyad]

Worked on my car a little bit today, fixed my incredibly sloppy shifter. I replaced the little rod and ball thing and it made all the difference in the world. The car is so much more fun to drive now. Also did a few little things like replaced my hood stand latch and got a clutch pedal cover.
This was the old one, that ball isn't supposed to come off lol. Also replaced the top bushings because it was completely toast.

Also went to a group get together today

Next is rebuilding my steering rack and replacing some steering components cause they're on their way out.

[Nimyad]

Small update, been doing little one night projects with my car. Yesterday I put my rack back on with my ski rack, the front fairlead wouldn't work with my ski racks though so that sucks. It's really weird since they're all Yakima though. Also fixed my headlight yesterday, someone cut them and butt connected the wires back together so I wrapped and heat shrunk them. Then today, since a PO disconnected my ac, I took out the ac radiator thingy and tucked my radiator because I think it's weird that they sit crooked.
Finished product, except I need to do a driver mount other than wire

[Nimyad]

So I've got a few questions and didn't want to start a new thread. My valve seals need to be replaced desperately. So I'm doing that this week, along with my timing belt tensioner, but is there anything else I should replace or inspect while I'm replacing the seals? I'm not pulling the head, just doing it in the car.

[Dr.Steels]

So I've got a few questions and didn't want to start a new thread. My valve seals need to be replaced desperately. So I'm doing that this week, along with my timing belt tensioner, but is there anything else I should replace or inspect while I'm replacing the seals? I'm not pulling the head, just doing it in the car.

If i was in your boat, I would pull the head. You are really running the risk of dropping a valve and seriously ****ing things up if you don't.

I would check:

*Valve & guide wear
* Int Shaft seal
*Crank shaft seal

I would also use this time to upgrade the Head bolts to ARP studs, Heep in mind that stock head bolts are to be used one time and one time only

[Nimyad]

Well, ended up getting the head rebuilt. The bottom end looked fine so I left it alone. Only snapped a couple pictures and none of it together, but it runs stronger than ever now and doesn't burn oil so I'm happy!

[EuroLuvMk2]

Looking really good!

[Nimyad]

Ok, so I'm pretty pissed. The motor is still burning oil out of the pistons after its sat overnight. When it was apart I looked at the bottom end and it looked fine. No scorching on the cylinder walls, just a ton of carbon on top of the pistons.
The oil in it is way to thin right now, 10w30, if I put in a thicker oil will it help stop oil from going into the pistons when sitting? Are the rings bad? I haven't done a compressions test yet, but it drives just fine. Has plenty of power and no problems other than miss at idle that I haven't tried to fix yet, and the smelling like a damn 2 stroke on start up.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[Nimyad]

Come on guys, no suggestions?

[PDXGTI8V 2.0]

throw the thicker oil in there like you said, then do a compression test...then youll know for sure if its rings and bearings time....if it is, and youre on a budget, you can always find a lower mileage used bottom end or complete 8V motor super cheap to throw in while you recondition your current motor...

[Nimyad]

Put the thicker oil in yesterday, just went out and started it and it blew tons of blue smoke. Ugh. I'd love to just find a different motor to drop in, but there's none in my area.