Here we are then. The delay is annoying, I know. I've been trying to find time and money, but it's ticking over steadily.
There's 3 problems with this project. Firstly, I didn't manage to get a job over last summer so I have a cash problem. Secondly, I'm at Uni for nearly the whole year and don't get any spare time to come home. And thirdly, I've mega over-complicated this car for a first time project. If I could do it again, I would do a fair few things differently to just get a working car before searching for mega power.
Enough of my crying, the car itself:
I've recently had the subframe off recently. I've cut a tiny piece out of the N/S where the gearbox drain plug was just rubbing against it and welded in new metal. I've slathered the whole subframe in a good layer of underseal.
Downpipe and Manifold have been fitted. The manifold actually comes off with the turbo still attached and the engine in place - which is nice when you forget the gasket the first time around.
-----
I bought some ally pipes from a seller on ebay to make up some hard boost pipes. Quite a tricky 3D jigsaw to sort them out and chop them about. Heres the pipes I bought with the IC
Couple of modifications required to get the boost pipes in. Alot of the bumper has been chopped away from behind to accomodate the intercooler already. The fog light cables got in the way of the boost pipes, but that was an easy fix.
On the other side of the car, this bracket that holds the carbon canister was no longer usefull:
Spent some time getting the boost pipes to fit. The O/S was really tough. Trying to avoid the headlight/altenator/subframe/arch liner/aux belt was tough.
That picture is taken through the headlight hole. I may need something just to hold the pipe a little clear of the altenator.
John Deeley welded these up. This guy can really weld (ex-prodrive), and i've seen some extremely nice TIG ally welding he's done too. But he had trouble with my cheap ebay crap. I've had a few suggestions - cast ally, full of silicone - but it was just a b**ch to weld and you can see it in the results sadly.
Ends got swaged too
After subframe painting, I went to put the subframe back on the car only to find the williams anti-roll bar wants to destroy my nice new downpipe. The issue is that the OEM downpipe went under the subframe, but I've sent mine over the top. It gives it a better route and neatly avoids the CV gaitors. The williams ARB has a long kink in it to avoid the OEM downpipe which goes straight into my downpipe.
sideways danny mentioned the idea of using a MK2 anti roll bar - I've had a look and I think it'll work, perhaps with some slight persuasion of the tunnel to avoid the MK2 ARB kink :evil:. No pics of this atm, I was too f**ked-off to handle a camera, but I'll get some pics when I have a go with the 172 ARB.
-----
New CV joint turned up to replace the old one with the knackered thread.
I'd already fitted the O/S shaft, so this was just for the N/S. I've found that the shafts are too thin to support the OEM CV gaitors, but I managed to create a seal using a bit of coolant hose.
Finished shaft:
I'm relatively confident these should be a touch stronger than the VW OEM shafts, provided the guys who fabricated them have used some half decent steel. The inboard CV spline is improved with better contact and the minimum diamter of the shafts is increased very slightly.
With both shafts on the car, I could fit new wheel bearings in the front end. GSF got it wrong the first time round, but I eventually got them in. Big thanks to John Deeley (who made my manifold and DP) for the help removing the old bearings.
-----
Anyways, I've now got 1 month left of Uni till summer. Hopefully once I'm back, I can get the car running quite quickly, but I now can't touch it for the next month
How it stands:
