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Cabrio project for the wifey... build thread

159K views 739 replies 128 participants last post by  juicedz4 
#1 · (Edited)
16V Turbo Cabriolet project for the wifey... build thread

Picked this up in Feb for $650 for a project car for the wife. Finally brought it home yesterday to gut the disgusting fn carpet and interior and get the clutch swapped out.

I managed to get almost all of the interior out minus the door panels and dash (which will probably stay in anyway) and the trans yesterday after a really late start.

So far the car seems to be rust free minus the one big blister on the drivers rear quarter. I was pretty nervous about the rear floor and spare tire well as the top was less than water tight. However, I have yet to see any rust inside, phew.

Here are a few higlights.







Apparently cleaning EVER wasnt one of hte previous owners strong points.











After pulling the carpets and vacuuming up what wasnt stuck to the floor from all the fn pine sap. Im guessing there is still $1.53 in change stuck down there.








The exceptionally maintained motor and wheels (yes that is like 5 years of rusty brake dust on an aluminum wheel).







Siqq brakes



And the super clean trans, complete with what looks like bubble gum sealing the fn speedo cable





And my sweatshirt pwnage



Im hoping to clean up the trans and get the clutch swapped tonight.

More to come.

Dan

Didnt get much done last week as my wife was away and I was on monster watch for three days. I did manage to get the trans degreased and "desanded". I swear someone smeared it in grease and rolled it in a sandbox. Its not perfect, but I can work on and touch it without getting filthy.





Then tonight I got the flywheel, clutch and pressure plate off. The damn clutch like "poured" out. All that on the floor is JUST from the clutch. Anyway, the clutch is pretty toasty it seems. I need to see about resurfacing the flywheel and/or just getting a lightened one.









I also managed to get the new rear main seal in, and the new pressure plate mounted and torqued. I still need to do the throwout bearing etc in the trans but I ran out of time.









I need to order the parts to rebuild the shift linkage. I figure now is the time while I can actualy get to it all. And for $18 it cant hurt.
I almost have the clutch back in. I was going to finish the other nite but my help didnt show so I pulled more of the interior apart instead. Then tonight I snapped some pics and cleaned the one center console piece quick.
Yes, this car is fn nasty inside. Hopefuly sooon to be "was nasty".

Few pics















Clean and shiney.





A bit more cleaning to go, but at least the dash (minus the fn glove box door) is in nice shape. Sounds like a buddy of mine may have a new glove box for me. I also pulled off the sunvisors and noticed the dome light is broken. Im sure Ill find alot more.

No new pics at the moment. I soaked most of the vents and **** in hot soapy water a few times, and managed to scrape like 1/16" of nicotene out of the ashtray bits (fn gross). Doing so ruined the foam seals on all the vent doors so I orded up a sheet of something from McMaster to make up some new ones.
I also ordered a "few" new parts for it:

Top and all the cables for it (old top was really faded and cracked in a few spots)
Jetta rear door handles (just so I can have no key holes, plus stockers hardly worked)
Front suspension and brake parts:
Bilstein HD strut inserts
Autotech lowering springs
strut mounts, bump stops, dust boots
ball joints
wheel bearings
control arm bushings
swaybar bushings
motor mounts (TT front mount and I may fill the others)
rotors
Mintex Red box pads
SS braided brake lines
Everything should be here by next monday, or sooner.
So this gets the project up to today. From now on I will update this thread as I go.
Comments, thoughts, etc welcome.

Dan
 
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#52 ·
Re: (juicedz4)

Nice build man. I have been wanting to do the same for my wife. I even have some good candidates for the picking but it seems my Daily drivers end up getting the funds
Ahh well one day, until then I will watch yours http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif
 
#54 · (Edited)
I decided to just pull the motor now, since Im doing the swap eventually anyway, and I dont need the car done for summer as my wifey can drive the Avant now.

Plus I need the room in my garage to work on a buddys car etc.

Im so glad I pulled it now, what a fn disaster the engine bay is.







I think Im going to do a bit of shaving on the engine bay, keeping the wiper box etc, but at least patch up any unused holes etc.

More to come, probabably in a couple weeks.

Dan


Modified by juicedz4 at 3:05 PM 10-21-2008
 
#58 · (Edited)
Re: (juicedz4)

Wow, its been a while since I posted anything, since well I havent done anything.
Earlier this week I pressure washed the engine bay, sicne I happened to have the pwasher out etc.
It cleaned up pretty decent for how caked on the grease and dirt was.









Ok, that is probably about all until the fall.


Dan
 
#63 · (Edited)
Re: (juicedz4)

Sine Im going to use ITBs and wanted to swap to a serp belt setup, and non a/c ABA brackets are nearly impossible to come by, I came up with my own setup.

I got an ABA alternator from my buddies yard for $20. Eventually it will need to be pulled apart and blasted etc.

I machined a block to mount the top of the alternator over the waterpump housing, utilizing the top two bolts. Then came up with an adjustable link, attached to the ps pump bracket, using some spacers that I turned on the lathe at the alternator end.

The belt is a 33" Dayco (01 Infinity Q45 waterpump belt). The crank pulley is the ebay underdrive pulley that I machined the V belt drive off the front and 1/2" off the back. It lines up nicely with the VR6 waterpump pulley that I pulled off my old GTI motor.

I dont have any competed shots of it out of the car yet (since I dropped the motor in quick on sunday to measure for the radiator and oil coolers).

All of the pictures can be found here: http://clubhousecustoms.com/co...m.php

A few highlights:

My first mockup out of wood.... easier to cut than aluminum.


First pass with the aluminum (I forgot to add extra to the one dim, hence the washers).


The adjustable link and spacers.


All put together using a junk 5rib belt from our Audi, cut and taped together


Installed on the motor with the real belt and the extra parts of the ps bracket machined off, cleaned up, blasted etc. Also the Rev2 top bracket is in there now, notice no more washers.




I will probably pull the motor back out tonight, then I can get some better shots of the entire setup.

Next, once the custom 36-1 trigger wheel Im having waterjet cut arrives I will be mounting that to the back of the crank pulley and working on the mount for the VR sensor.

Also I got the GSXR TBs in a couple weeks ago and have begun to mod them. Pics soon of that project.

All for now.

Dan
 
#64 · (Edited)
Re: (juicedz4)

So I havent updated this in a LONG time. I was planning on running ITBs, which I spent a decent amount of time on, but recently decided to do a mild turbo setup instead.
Anyway, Im going to try to get this post up to speed by posting in some updates I did on a local forum. It might read a little funny, but after this post I will start updating this regularly.
---------------------------------------------------------
Picked up the waterjet cut 36-1 trigger wheel yesterday, turned out pretty sweet. Should be test fitting it on the back of the crank pulley tomorrow nite.




Little more progress last night. I pulled the motor back out quick and test fit the trigger wheel. I had to just file a tiny bit on the inside hole to get it to slip over (Which was the plan since its easier to make the hole bigger than smaller). I actually did first put the trigger wheel in the toaster and it slipped right over the hub, which had been in the cold garage all week, but I needed it to come off again so I went with the file.

Couple pics of how it will mount to the crank pulley.





Next I need to mount the VR sensor. I have a piece of square aluminum tubing on order to make the bracket. That will probably happen tuesday ish.
Aluminum came yesterday for the VR sensor mount. Was pretty simple really. I may clean up some of the edges a bit more, and I need to finish drilling the second sensor mounting hole yet, but otherwise its basically done.









I also got the waste spark coil that I plan on using (newer ford dealeo). Should be a nice fit where the stock distributor once lived.



Cleaned up the edges of the bracket today at work and bead blasted it quick. Its done now. I double checked the VR sensor to wheel clearance and its 1.75mm as shown in the picture below.





I just need to time the trigger wheel to the crank pulley and bolt it down.


Finally took a picture of the exhaust flange that I got about a month ago. $36 shipped from a guy in Canada I found on Honda-tech. Ill be making my own header since I refuse to spend $400 or whatever on a new one. I still need to get the rest of the parts for this. Probably sometime this month.






Few new goodies came today: oil cooler, some -8an weld bungs for the motor block off plate I made and for the oil filter mount, and the connector pigtails for the VR sensor and coil pack.







May work on the distributor block off plate / coil mount tomorrow.

This week I finally managed to machine the holes in the fuel rail blank from RMR and got it cut to length. I just used a 17/32" endmill for the counterbores which are 0.40" deep, and then a 0.25" thruhole. I cleaned out the burrs inside the rail with a 12" long 1/2" bit we had in the shop. Now I need to TIG on the FPR cup and the -6AN bungs and create some mounting tabs.





Stock injectors fit nicely.


I also cut the plate for the coil mount and distro hole plug. I had one of the guys in the shop cut the groove for the o-ring to seal around the distro hole, and made my own o-ring at home with some cord stock I had. I still need to drill the mounting holes... hopefully this weekend.

Groove (1.92" centerline dia) and o-ring.


Close up of where I glued the cordstock together:


Perfect fit



Got the bare radiator late last week from Howe. I need to trim about 5" off the top of it and fab up some tanks, mounts etc. Prob start on this early Jan as I have another radiator to do for someone else. Its going to end up being a 10x24" dual pass, dual 1" row.


And yes, Im making my own radiator.....
----------------------------------------------
and this is the most recent bit of work that I did on friday nite, which brings us back up to date.
Some progress.
I have been collecting parts for the turbo setup since the last update.
So far I have a 16G T3 turbine turbo, bosch green top inectors, OBD1 VR6 throttle body (found in my shed hah). Wed I got the weld els for the turbo manifold and the turbine inlet and outlet flanges are due this coming tuesay.
Anyway, fri nite I was finishing up a radiator Im working on and decided to do some work on the manifold and fuel rail.
This is what I have done so far:
I V'd the tubing out almost to a point. It took two passes to fill it in this far. I will be grinding these smooth later.

Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
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more in a min... my daughter is freaking out now.
ok.
I also got the FPR cup TIGd to the fuel rail. I still need to TIG on the -6 fittings and make some brackets for the rail. Also in this pic you can see the lower intake mani that I cut down to mainly a flange and injector cups as part of my custom short runner intake.



I will be updtating this more regularly now as the project moves forward.
Dan

Modified by juicedz4 at 1:00 PM 6-8-2009


Modified by juicedz4 at 8:25 AM 9-23-2009
 
#65 ·
Re: (juicedz4)

Progress, now with some pics.
Intercooler hanging about where its going to go. I had to cut out the bracing for the upper core support and I also modified the latch to be about 1/2" shorter so I could mount the IC up as high as possible (all but one ambient air row will be above the lower metal).

Progress on the intake manifold.
Runners squished to match the factory lower intake that I milled down flat. The fit is near perfect inside, some simple porting should make it a perfect mate.

Runners in place on the cut lower intake

The plenum is a 4" tube which I sectioned a 3" strip out of in order to fit a flat plate for the runners to intersect. I will be flaring the mani end of the runners and welding them on the inside then grinding smooth to make a nice transition.

And approx location of the plenum on the runners, and a shot of the radiator that Im making.


Finally Im almost done with the coil mount / distributor hole cover plate. I just need to find some M6 flat head screws for the mount to the motor, and round up the edges.


Im hoping to cut the runners to lenght and flare the ends today. Also should have the TB plate and plenum end plates cut. Im also going to be playing with a way to mount the fuel rail to the intake.
Dan
 
#69 ·
Re: (juicedz4)

Made the oil cooler mount today. I still need to make a tiny scoop for the bottom of it, and some metal mesh to protect it from road debris. But the basic shape and placement is done. I will add real hardware to bolt it to the car once the lower core support work is done. (the little single phillips screw wont stay).
I may also add a small strut at the bottom to keep it from swinging around.
And it doesnt hang low, its acutally about 1/4" higher than the front lip spoiler.


Dan
 
#71 ·
Re: (my51chevy)

Finished welding the AN bungs on the fuel rail.

I machined the threaded part of the RMR cup off and bored it down so the bung would sit almost flush before welding as I needed the clearance to the head.

I also finished welding up the exhaust mani. I still need to clean it up inside where the flange box meets the tubes.



I welded a Vband ring to the turbine housing outlet... F a flange.

Also, made a mounting plate for the WG actuator. I needed to move it back some so it could clear the shock tower (also hides it nicely under the compressor). Its sort of held together with random bolts right now (and missing a couple) I just need a couple standoffs and the correct hardware. I then cut, rebent, and rewelded the acutator rod, which seems to work nicely with the hand vac.


Mani and turbo mounted (notice the nice wg clearance now). Also you can now see how the charge piping is going to route.


Next up is finishing the intake manifold. The 2.5" live center that I bought to use as a flaring die for the runners is due in today or tomorrow. Once I have them flared I can more or less weld the whole thing together.
More to come.
Dan


Modified by juicedz4 at 9:22 AM 10-7-2009
 
#73 ·
Re: (16volt)

Lots more progress tonight. the live center I ordered to use to flare the tubing showed up. I flared them all so they would be JUST big enough not to go through the hole in the flange. Here's how in pics:


With that done I tacked the runners to what is left of the lower intake and then welded the runners to the flange on the inside.


welded the outside to hide the penetration from welding hte inside and to add more strength

and then ground them down wiht a carbide burr and sanded with 80 then 120 by hand.


And how its gonna look on the car


The wife is going out tomorrow, so Ill be working on this after my daughter is asleep. Might get the plenum on tomorrow!
Dan
 
#74 ·
that is pretty nice man. you sure got some skills. looks like your gonna have to adjust the bend of the IC piping thats comming up to the side of the manifold. t/b side. judging by your work thusfar though. thats a 5 second adjustment. lol.
good luck with it though.
 
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