MK1 Jetta 2.1 8v - ongoing project

Not finished taking everything off the shell yet, but it will be scrapped soon.

No mad plan here..........

Sunday morning update.

Finished with the silver shell which is now outside in 3 pieces waiting to be weighed in together with my dad's old Passat.

Blue Jetta passed its MoT on friday (thanks Jordy ) and is now in the shelter with the head removed as had a few spare hours yesterday, so thought i'd make a start on fixing the engine.

Skoda is waiting for a service but is chugging along nicely. Tax to pay now too :rolleyes:

Bus is coming along slowly last i heard...i try not to think about the Bus too much as it makes my blood boil. If i get it back in time i'll be filling it with all my surplus parts (once i've sorted though them all) and taking it to Ultimate Dubs where i'm gonna have a stall on the autojumble to get rid of some stuff!

Right, off to finish stripping the head now - it looks like its been nicely ported and polished and i'm sure the exhaust valves arn't standard size, so gonna clean and measure them. Cam is worn badly on both end lobes so i'm thinking some sort of oil starvation problem - the crossflow heads don't match up perfectly with the older 8v bottom ends, and need to have the oilways modded so need to see if thats been done properly. I'll use the headgasket to check that - i'm sure its an all metal one too.

The spark plug for NO.1 cylinder wasn't screwed in fully (think the thread is damaged) and the electrode was part way up the thread hole instead of being in the combustion chamber which wouldn't have been helping running (my fault), and it looks like one of the inlet manifold gaskets was also blocking part of one of the airways which again wouldn't have helped running - need to make sure it all goes back together properly so i'll be doing the work myself as thats the only way you can be sure its done as you want! Even the exhaust manifold nuts were just past hand-tight :angry:

Monday evening update. Pics:

Skoda doing what its supposed to do - used every day for work and not giving me any hassle :

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Remains of the silver Jetta - have removed the scuttle panel and engine mount since this pic:

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Head removed:

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And cleaned:

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Combustion chamber:

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Inlet side:

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Exhaust side:

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Inlet valve:

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Exhaust valves need more de-coking. Rest of the parts quickly cleaned:

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Worn cam lobe on No.1 cylinder:

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Same on No.4:

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Tappets for the above look like they've been getting hot:

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The second tappet looked like it would have failed soon. Head is also cracked twice in the same area on two cylinders:

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Not sure how serious that is as the head has valve seats in it so the cracks don't flow between both cambers. Will need a new set of tappets and valve stem oil seals, which won't come out at the mo :angry:. Valves need to be lapped in again, especially the exhaust valves which are in a bit of a state. Had a few other problems, but we'll see how it goes and what needs replacing before i decide what to do next. Thought it best to clean and check everything to get an idea what condition the whole engine is in before i buy any more parts..................

Any thoughts or comments appreciated, as hope that there's nothing serious wrong with the head and it won't need too much cash splashing :rolleyes: . No idea how far the head has been modded as not got a standard one to compare to, but it's been ported a lot by the look of it.

Not bad for about a days work - amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it

Hi Dan, good to see your getting stuck in. When are you next on track?

Hope to see you at Ultimate Dubs.

Philip.

Well done, obviously putting alot of work into your motor at the moment. I don't know if this is true but was told to me by a friend who knows abit about engine building, he suggested when we were discussing the build of my big valve head that damage or a gap too small between the valves may weeken the grip of the valve seat and make the head more prone to dropping the valve. As I said don't know how much of this is ture because the chap who actually did the head work for me thought it would be fine and went ahead with what I wanted. But then again I was paying him. The gap between the valves now is almost non existant. Keep up the good work. Hope to see you at UD's too.

PAB wrote:Hi Dan, good to see your getting stuck in. When are you next on track?

Hope to see you at Ultimate Dubs.

Philip.

Hi Philip.

No idea when i'll be on track next - got a lot of things to sort, but hopefully it won't be too long

Probably catch you at UD's - will deffo be there with a stall selling lots of my surplus bits!

Dan.

t-jetta-stare wrote:Well done, obviously putting alot of work into your motor at the moment. I don't know if this is true but was told to me by a friend who knows abit about engine building, he suggested when we were discussing the build of my big valve head that damage or a gap too small between the valves may weeken the grip of the valve seat and make the head more prone to dropping the valve. As I said don't know how much of this is ture because the chap who actually did the head work for me thought it would be fine and went ahead with what I wanted. But then again I was paying him. The gap between the valves now is almost non existant. Keep up the good work. Hope to see you at UD's too.

Cheers bud - now i've (nearly) got rid of the silver one i can concentrate on the blue one without any distractions (although i'm having a mare with the bus, and can see i'm gonna be picking it up next weekend in pieces which will need to be sorted).

I've just looked through the pics i took, and it looks like its cracked in the same place in three cylinders - if that means the head is gonna either be scrap or require some serious fixing, i'm gonna fit my other engine and swap all the ancillaries over to get me back on the road.

I just hope the other engine will be ok being run without a turbo, as it was built to be turbo'd with the right compression ratio etc. but i've not got all the parts together to complete the turbo setup yet, and won't have for a while due to the cost of all the bits i still need!

I've only really got every second weekend to work on it, so i'll be doing bits when i can to get it back on the road.

Picked up my new G60 oil pump and cambelt this morning from GSF. Last day the Accrington branch was open as its being closed - been going there for the past 16 years, so bit of an end of an era. Nearest branch is now Swinton

Managed to do a little on the Jetta head, despite my arm being in plaster Exhaust valves are in a bit of a state:

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Quite a bit of grinding in later:

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Need more work to get them smooth and get rid of the ridges... Cleaned the chambers up a little:

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Still more work on the valves to do:

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Getting there though:

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I know its not perfect, but its gotta be better then it was before

nice work dude,those valves looked like they served in the gulf

Good work Dan, sad news about your local GSF.

See you at Curby, your welcome for some passenger laps seen as your not drivin...

See ya soon.
PAB

Cheers PAB, looking forward to spectating

Made a start on the front end:

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And replaced the original BIG washer bottle which also fed the headlight washers, with a smaller one:

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Things we do to save weight [LOL]

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Got the head back. Ordered a new set of (double) springs, manifold studs, collets and a cam end bolt which i need before it can be built back up again. Had to get new springs as they had worn a little where some had been rocking - could probably have got away with re-using the helper springs which i would have done had i known how much they cost before i ordered them!

The Piper vernier i've got that was fitted to the TSR203 (282 deg) cam that was in it seems a little slack when fitted to the new Kent cam, although its nice and tight on the keyway. It just rocks slightly side to side (a very little bit), and i was gonna go and buy a new Kent vernier, but have been told its nothing to worry about and will be fine once they're bolted together....hope thats right. Saves me spending another £100!

Ground down the new insert so its nice and flush with the rest of the chamber too.

Fitted a quick release fastener to the front spoiler - got the other 5 on order now i know i'm gonna use them. Will make loading the car onto the trailer and messing underneath it a bit easier and quicker.

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Front has been finished/painted although it needs a little touch-up in places.

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Trial-fitted the intake - need to finalise that once the engine is back in as got a bulky Digifant air flow meter to refit.

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Also made a start on a lightweight bonnet and fitted the aero catches.

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Dropped the sump and removed the oil pump and windage tray - all looks OK and no big pieces of metal in the sump, so fingers crossed! Once i've blown the block/oilways through i'll refit the tray and the new oil pump and gasket and its ready for the head.

Also brought the Wellers back up to the Lakes for a quick refresh - gives me somat to do in the evening.

Wow, first sign of spring and you are well into the rolling project, always great to read - good effort Dan!

Cheers bud.

I started the engine a few weeks ago, but fractured my wrist shortly afterwards so progress has been a bit slow. Also been busy sorting out the bus (engine has now been built and just needs collecting and then i need to fit it) and was at UD's with a mate selling surplus bits to pay for the parts i need for the Jetta. Also got the Octavia serviced....been a hectic few weeks!!!

I've got a busy weekend ahead this weekend so won't get much done and its Curborough the following saturday, but will get some done asap as miss driving the thing I'm away during the week so only have alternate weekends and the odd day off to work on the car, but this week brought the Wellers up with me so i can give them a tidy up and will keep bringing bits back up with me to keep me busy during the week.

I can't wait to get it up and running again, properly tuned and setup, as the engine was a little worse for wear, so will be nice to have it working properly finally, to its full potential.

Might even go a bit faster...

Had a spare couple of hours last night before setting off back up to the Lakes, so fitted the rest of the clips:

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And also fitted the studs to the front hubs - will do the rears when the front is back on the ground:

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They're a bit long so that i can use spacers as three sets of wheels i've got rub on the coilovers so can't be used at the mo.

Couple of dodgy pics of the bottom end:

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And a before and after pic:

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Got all my bits now to put the engine back together - all new springs, collets, cam bolt and exhaust manifold studs and nuts. Will crack on with it this weekend.

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All back together now and ready to go......if it'd fire

Spent pretty much friday till sunday night working on the car, except for saturday when i went to Blackpool airport to collect Rich who bought my Vento, which is now in sunny Ireland!

Big thanks to Rich for his help fitting the head and manifold which i was struggling with.

Its turning over but won't fire, but there's no nasty noises so fingers crossed with a bit of tweaking it'll run soon. Got some brackets to paint and an oil catch tank to fit, together with the oil cooler which hopefully will be ready to collect in a couple of days.

Better get that bonnet finished then...

Looks nice and tidy

Got my oil cooler from RSM last week:

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Which has been fitted here:

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After lots of messing around its finally running

I ended up removing the cam, pullys and belts and setting all the timing up from scratch again. Was causing a real pain with it being two different engines with different setting-up methods. After a bit of an internet search i came across a website in the US with shed loads of info on the ABA engine and loads of pics showing how to carry out various upgrades etc to the engine.

I managed to suss out where the TDC mark is in relation to the woodruff key on a standard cam pully, then transferred this to the Piper vernier i've got which doesn't have a TDC mark on it, and then reset everything.

It started first time after a few seconds, but then there was no oil pressure so it wasn't run for long! After a bit of advice (thanks - you know who you are) last night i removed the oil pump again and packed the bottom with vaseline (the woman in Tesco's looked bemused when i said the vaseline was for my car ) and then primed it fully with oil, refitted it and it was fine straight away.

Then had problems with the fan not kicking in and the engine starting to get too hot, whilst i was trying to run the engine in at 2k rpm for 20 mins, so had to fix that and then complete the running in.

Phew. Managed to finish by 10pm last night. It needs to be setup now as the idle is still crap, but it sounds soo much 'less knackered' than it used to

Hope to get some pipes made up for the oil cooler this week, and will finish plumbing that in over the easter weekend.

Should be back on the road again soon - happy days.

Nice one, glad its running now, and with oil pressure too LOL thats always a bonus!!

Got mine booked onto the dyno next Tuesday to sort the mixtures and find out if its all been worth it in the power stakes.

Philip

Congrats mate, can't wait to see it in action!

Andrew wrote:Congrats mate, can't wait to see it in action!

Yeah, hopefully be out and about in it soonish. Still lots to do, but gradually getting there.

Picked up the pipes for the oil cooler today which i had made to fit - hopefully i got the measurements right! Also got some heavy duty clamps for the induction pipes and P clips for the oil pipes, so all ready to fit when i get chance.

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Knackered this morning - finished at about 12.30pm last night after messing with it all day.

It drives - been round the block a few times. Timing is out as its a bit sluggish at low revs but pulls nicely at higher revs and i can still make it 'bark' which is always fun [LOL]

I spent a while making a few brackets for the oil cooler lines, and then removed the O/S driveshaft to renew the inner CV gaitor. Had a good look at all the suspension and it looked a bit of a mess TBH, so removed everything to strip, clean and paint it all. To be fair, the GAZ coilovers have lasted quite well considering what they looked like this time last year! Will be stripping them down and giving them a thorough coating of clear waxoyl again.

Got a pair of new wishbones which were for the other car which i'm gonna put on, although might break the welder out before i give them a lick of paint with the rest of the parts.

Better get out there and get some help from my dad to remove the wishbone bolts which i couldn't manage last night - this arm in plaster is such a pain as its soo restrictive, i have to get help to do some bits as my left arm just isn't strong enough!

Just a few pics for the time being, as the internet connection is playing up and i've failed twice to upload about 20 pics to Photobucket, so given up on that for tonight before i lose my temper!

Brakes and suspension refitted:

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Oil cooler installation:

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And as its looking at the mo:

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Off to bed now to catch up on some sleep.

I'll post up more detailed pics and writeup another day.

Few pics from over the weekend. Lots of rusty bits:

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Cleaned up prior to rust proofing:

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And painted with some special paint - hope they last:

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Bonnet stripped:

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And then rust-proofed prior to painting with satin black:

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Bonnet catches fitted:

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Rusty wishbones:

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Replaced with new ones which i seam welded and fitted with new Bonrath bushes and ball joints:

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Caliper spacers fitted together with the 285mm discs:

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Need to get some miles under its belt before it goes for a proper tune-up.

There's light at the end of the tunnel!

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Its on the rollers at Pro-Tec as i type.....

After 4 runs on the rollers and some tweaking, it made 130bhp at the wheels at 6000rpm

It pulls nicely throughout the rev range now and sounds good too.

I've got rolling road printouts from a few years ago (2001), and it has put out 137 at the wheels at 6700rpm which equated to 165bhp at the flywheel, but the rev limiter currently cuts in at 6k rpm so its probably back to where it used to be when it was first built.

Next job is to sort the rear suspension and the steering out - got some plans and one of the steering arms is bent too

Onwards and upwards!