My German look revamp - progress report and pictures....
 

Been a busy bunny the last 2 days.

wirebrushed under both wheel arches, treated a few little bits of rust and painted both under arches (will be re waxoyl'd when the wings are back on), painted various bits under the car, replaced spring plate covers (both were quite rotten), rewired lots of the engine bay (didnt like the layout of the wires or the braiding used), wirebrushed passenger footwell, kurust'd a few little patches and painted it all, relocated the MSD 6AL to under the rear seat on standoff's, wired it up, filled a few bits of exterior bodywork that I am sorting, sanded and refilled (few little air bubbles). Built the seat brackets and started measuring up where the new seats will need to go...

Previous to that I have taken the existing engine and gearbox out and sold them to make way for the new powerplant.. 2270 T4 from Jake ;)

http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...neBayEmpty.jpg

http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...20-%20seat.jpg

There has been talk of the need for rear disks, uprated front disks and I have been eyeballing some bigger wheels.... :D

Cya,
Sam C

looking pretty good.. i thought those were some wide wheels.. then i saw you wanted to go WIDER... :eek:

did you make a removable rear clip or is that just open?

Wheels will fit with no issue. Have done my maths and the offset is spot on...
http://www.tyresave.co.uk/alloypix/octanebk.jpg
They are looking quite likely.

Rear clip is fully removable, makes life much easier when playing engines ;) Taking the old engine and gearbox out was so easy because of the removable rear.

Cya,
Sam C

Hi Sam,
What gearbox will you be running and what bhp?

I'm trying to work out what box to use with 260bhp of WRX RA power :D

Rich

Looking good Sam. Feels good to freshen up, huh? Nice seats and wheels.

Just wondering how you routed the ignition box trigger wire from distributor to the uder the rear seat... After reading the instructions that came with mine, I routed the trigger wire seperate from the high voltage coil +/- wires. I ran the trigger wire through the firewall, under the luggage compartment, and through the rear bulkhead to under the rear seat. The coil wires go through the left rear quarter panel passage. Appearantly, the coil wires can cross-talk over to the trigger wire and cause miss-fires. I don't know if this is a reality, but thought I would mention it.

I see you have a 3-bar Kafer brace, but have you welded the frame horn seams and added a intermediate trans mount? RAT T4 torque can wreck the gearbox without support...

I have a Raby B transmission fitted, will be about 150-160bhp :)

Cheers Bill, feels really good to freshen up and finally do some of the things I have been planning for a while.
Currently the wires are all routed together from under the rear seat through the bulkhead thats under there too, up under the parcelshelf and through another grommet into the engine bay.. After you have said it may cause crosstalk I will be rerouting and using some braided stuff I have to surroud the wires, I will then earth the braid. This should remove most of the risk of crosstalk.

The 3 bar system stiffens the rear end up enormously, I can stand on the end of the frame horns and bounce up and down the gearbox WONT move seperatly to the car.... And I am not the smallest of people.. I have been looking at adding the two additional bars to turn the 3 bar into a 5 bar system, and I think I will be getting the intermediate mount for the gearbox too... Perhaps I could tie that into the brace bars too and have myself a 7 bar system!

Anyways, got to go... Got uprated antirollbars to fit today, along with a small mountain of urethane goodies! :D Will be taking more pictures, so if theres anything good in there I will stick them up here later :)


Cya,
Sam C

Todays work:

Bolted passenger seat in (work out where it needs to mount first, mark it, drill, bolt it down). Need to fit some reinforced box section, weld it in and bolt the seats through that, they are a little too low and the floor isnt very strong...
Removed about 8ft of unused wiring!
Fitted some carbon bits to the dashboard that I have had for a while.
Worked out which bits of the antiroll bars are for the front, and which are for the rear.
Removed a 52mm tacho and 52mm cylinder head temp gauge. Cyl head temp is now mounted in the dash.

http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...tiRollBars.jpg

http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...CarbonDash.jpg

http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...eatsFitted.jpg

Tomorrow I should be removing the fuel tank and adjusting the play out of the steering box... It was a NOS one and has done 250 miles or so since I fitted it, need to just tighten it up a touch.
Bit of wiring for cyl head temp gauge, might fit up one of the anti roll bars too :D

I also managed to get a bit of a sun tan, sitting out in the blazing sun all day working on the car. Successful day all round!

Cya,
Sam C

Awesome looking dash!!
Great job as usual! :agree:

Very nice Sam. A Raby 2270/trans will be a nice kick in the shorts. A nice upgrade on seats, suspension and wheels too. I bet you are pumped up,,,,,,, I would be. :agree:

looking good Sam....cant wait to see when its done :D

Ok, Done a small load of rewiring behind the dashboard today... Managed to remove several metres of unneeded/overcomplicated wiring! Took a while as I was checking where each wire went to/from as I was doing it. Lot less wiring and its all now nicely tie-wrapped together. Still more to do behind there, but I manged to wire up all the new dashboard bits (moved gauge, extra warning lights and the two switches).
No pictures as I forgot my camera! Doh!

Here's some pictures from a few days ago, showing the work I am doing on the front wing... was involved in a crash a few years ago and the front wing still had crazing in the gelcoat from that... So I followed EVERY crack with a screwdriver to open it up enough to get filler in there... Its now almost flat and ready for paint. Theres other bodywork going on with the outside, as any imperfections are being removed and made good.
http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...03-27-wing.jpg

Also you can see where I shifted the MSD to, under the rear seat. Black paint was still wet at this point!
http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...-03-27-msd.jpg

More to do tomorrow, and I will remember my camera! Then its back to work on tues :( Good job we are now on BST so get an extra hour of light each evening (clocks go forward 1hr).. Gives me light to do work on the car when I finish work!

Going to use this thread as a sort of project log :)

Cya,
Sam C

Busy day today, got plenty done!

First off pics of yesterdays work...

All this wire:
http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...dDashboard.jpg

Was behind here:
http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...LessWiring.jpg
Check out the original colour. This was previously a rats nest of wiring, with some strage and unneccessary wiring thrown in for good measure... found one switch where all the terminals were connected to different earths... no wonder it never did anything!

Heres the carbon glovebox stereo liner I made:
http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...onGlovebox.jpg

Today I finished up some wiring, started pulling the electric windows wiring apart so I can reposition the brain and rerun the wiring in a far tidier way.
Then we started hunting down the play in the steering, tried the adjuster on the box and it didnt make any difference, took the wheel apart to check the big nut and that was fine, then took the fueltank out and checked the universal joints... One of them was not locking in properly, so replaced it with a spare I had lying around, works perfectly again!

Under the fuel tank, all nicely wax-oyl'd. It was the Universale joint in this picture that was the cause of all my problems, so replaced with a spare one I had.
http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...nderBonnet.jpg

New fuel filler hose, old one was of unknown age and didnt feel like it was in great condition so I replaced it:
http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...ewFuelPipe.jpg

Also moved the fuel pump to a new home, to allow easier access to the steering box adjuster.

Old location, You can see the cap over the steering box right below it:
http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...uelPumpOld.jpg

New location allows far better access, and is a far nicer shape for the fuel hose.
http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...umpNewHome.jpg


Got to go back to work tomorrow, wont be working on the car in the evening... May have some news on the engine delivery though.. Fingers crossed.

Cya,
Sam C

nice work, I must say that your car was my inspriation to go GL. I have one question though. with your stereo in the glovebox, how do you unlock the trunk?

T handle behind the gauges in the dash!

Simply unscrew the gauges and pull the handle :)
It will be on a solenoid too shortly, so I can do it by flicking a switch then pushing a button.

CYa,
Sam C

No progress to report today, other than the last bits for my engine will be delivered on Friday :D Expect pictures!

Pics of the gearbox with its mounts on and the carbs...

http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...29-gearbox.jpg
Thats Murphy in the background, our Old English Sheepdog. He is acutally related to the Dulux dog.

Pair of brand new Weber 44's. Nice velocity stacks too.
http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...03-29-carb.jpg
http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...-CarbsDone.jpg

The airfilters have now been treated with the K&N oil so have the lovely red colour. Wrapped in plastic bags and put into storage until needed.

Cya,
Sam C

looks like you are having some fun Sam. not a great testiment, but i am running a RAT 2316 with the 3-bar cup and not running an intermediate or welding the seams and no issues as of yet. i went drag racing and did about half dozen really hard runs with no issues. it is early though. if you have everything out and can do it, might as well while you are there. that is pretty cheap insurance.

Well, have unpackaged all my engine bits, taken photos of everything! Lots of really nice bits.

A few photos to wet everyones appetite!

http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...2-Ceramics.JPG
Ceramics

http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...02-ConRods.JPG
Conrods

http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...-JEPistons.JPG
JE Pistons

http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...rtBuilding.JPG
Half case on engine stand


Going to go and start sizing things up today! Need to finish watching the rebuild dvd (got 2 hours into it, only another 1 to go!!!) then watch the DTM dvd, then start building it!

Cya,
Sam C

More pictures:

Cleaner bench:
http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...eanerBench.JPG

Clearencing in the case (as the engine is stroked):
http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...learencing.JPG

Cya,
Sam C

http://www.tyresave.co.uk/alloypix/octanebk.jpg

Ordered and paid for, should be delivered saturday... just need tyres :D

Expect pictures :D

Cya,
SAm C

looking good mate.looking forward to seeing this in the flesh,going to any shows this year? we should try and have a "gl" section at some of the shows :)
hae a 2056 with about 165bhp and a 3 piont brace and intermedate mount,have mad wheel hop.going with steel mounts all round soon.
cheers rob

I think thats a good idea, I would be up for that! maybe on of the action shows?

looking good sam, like the choice of wheels! nice deviation from the "norm"

Over here, we have a slalom competition at the bug out. those are always the highlight of the show for me.

Hi everyone.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, forgot the camera.

Have fully rewired the Passengers door this weekend, need to do the drivers door next (shouldnt take as long now I have worked out what to do)... Thats the central locking hooked up (5 wires), Electric window control box (5 wires), Electric window motor (2 big wires) and the Alarm led next to door pin (2 wires)
14 wires in total... And I have succedded in doing it such that the wires are totally hidden from view when shut, and very discrete when open! Pictures soon... Will take some when doing the drivers door!
The wheels are far nicer than in the pictures... Sorting tyres this week, so might have them on the car next weekend...
Anyone want to buy 4x 15x5.5 wolfrace enigma LE, Set no 44 of 400 (have official certificate) complete with goodyear eagle F1's... 4x100 et 38

Have also done some more filling and sanding, reinstalled both the electric window brain and the central locking... Electric window brain was under the dash, but was far to complex and didnt fit nicely, so disconnected all its wires, relocated and rewired with nicely soldered and heatshrinked connections.

Cheers,
Sam C

Great stuff Sam, c'mon where are those pics of the wheels??!!

I bet you will certainly enjoy the RAT engine once assembled - it will be loads of fun I am sure. :agree:

Right,
I have decided NO wheel pictures until there on the car :p ;)

Sorry to disappoint!

Sam C

You are a tease - you know that don't you?? :laugh: :laugh:

:p

Tyres should be here tomorrow, so should have them fitted by the weekend.
http://www.tyre-pictures.com/Goodyear/GSD2.jpg
Goodyear Eagle F1's...

Cya,
Sam C

Very nice :agree:

Wheels and tyres are on:

http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...0NewWheel2.JPG

http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...0NewWheel1.JPG

:D

VERY happy with the overall effect! The car is now about 1 inch higher off the ground which will help LOTS with speedbumps, the wheels fit perfectly, clearing the bumpstops on the rear by 5-10mm, it all tucks nicely under the arches too (STOCK size wings!)

17x7, 215/45-17, et 38... I have slimline struts on the front (wouldnt of fitted otherwise) but NO OTHER MODS for them to fit! (Other than drums/disks drilled to 4x100)

Cya,
Sam C

The wheels look great!

those rims are really nice, it matches the cars aggressive appearance, I also have a 17x7 rims with 215/40R17(f) and 215/45R17(r) it fits nice w/o modifying the fender which is really nice. :)

Excellent stuff - glad to see those wheels on the car. They look a treat!

Love the whole project. What bolt pattern are those wheels? just curious.


Ephry

4x100, same as mk1/mk2 golfs (rabbits), early BMW's and a few others.... Because its the same as mk1/mk2 golfs means the offset the wheels come with is usually about right for a bug... These are et38.

Cya,
Sam C

Right, have got the case halves together nicely, all sealed up as per Jakes instructions

http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...seTogether.jpg

The dizzy clamp couldnt be secured as the stud on the case was too short, simple solution was to fit a different stud (luckily Dad's an engineer so has all the right tools :) ) - Original stud on the bottom, new one on top.

http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...-DizzyStud.JPG

Gives us plenty of thread to work with. With the old stud there was about 1 full thread visible BEFORE the nut went on.

http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...24-DizzyIn.JPG

Decided to let it all 'set' for a few hours so got on with some more of the rewiring mission... Drivers door

http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...doorWiring.JPG

Electric windows motor, Electric windows driverside controls, central locking and an alarm LED = 15 wires in total :shock: Nicely soldered, insulated and heatshrinked, just got to finish up the craft routing I have worked out... Nothing visible when door shut, and barely visible when the doors open ;) Just like a modern car!

Then decided to check the rings on the pistons, making sure the tolerences were correct and that everything looked ok. Also worked out which piston goes where and which way up they go etc.

http://members.lycos.co.uk/vdubhub/a...-JEPistons.JPG

Just need to work out heights etc for compression next! Get the cylinder shims and start 'chucking' it all together.

I also managed to get a little sunburnt! A day well spent I think!
Cya,
Sam C

Sweet!. So you just had the rotors and drums drilled for it.

Cool


Ephry

Yup, although they were BLANKS so no 4x130 holes exist, only the 4 holes I use.
Only other mod needed was the narrower front spring setup (but I already had that)

SAM C

Sam,
I know this might not be the place to ask... but hey it keeps the thread alive ;)

What type of EBERSPACHER have you got fitted ? I've just bought a B3L although the bloke I bought it from explained how to wire it, he wasn't exactly the brainiest bloke around.
I really don't want to wire it all up and something go 'pop'

Cheers Rob

By the way the Bug is going to be one cool beast :D