MK1 Jetta 2.1 8v - ongoing project

Quick update. Pics tell the story:

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Picked the bushes for the front up this morning, much better than before:

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Van went to the garage to be checked tomorrow, GSF swapped some cash for some handbrake cables and some spare plug leads were also acquired. Made up and fitted some new rear brake lines:

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Thats the rear sorted now. Suspension raised a bit, and with the help of Dale brakes bled and new early MK2 GTi handbrake cables fitted and adjusted after the tubes that go through the floorpan had been trimmed back to give more adjustment/length.

NS rear arch was bonded back on again and both sides were sealed properly underneath, before the whole lot was painted with underseal:

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Definately water tight now. Even got a flush of motivation to reseal the drivers door and refit the door card:

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I'll find the bits of trim eventually.....

Tomorrow dads gonna have another go at the engine, and if i get home early enough I might bleed the front brakes and if its working take it to the local meet.

What an awesome project, I am just in awe of your engineering expertise!!!!

Dan i bow to thee shes really looking like shes comin on now weldin is somethin you can or cant do and i cant so for that your a top mech in my book

Thanks for the comments guys

I've not really done anything special to it, mainly just a mechanical overhaul. Wait till I start on the proper track car - thats gonna be all my own work, done from scratch and built by me, not bodged together by someone else

Doesn't look like it'll be making Cadwell as still won't start and running out of time. Couple more things to try today (dads messing this morning before he goes to work and i'll have a play when i get home from work) and then its white towel time.

At least i'll be able to take my time and get everything done, get suspension aligned and car rolling roaded before the next track day without the pressure. Van's also foobarred as it looks like its burned a valve so needs engine doing - its in the garage at the mo but doubt it'll be ready for friday.

Oh well, i tried!

Anyone wanna buy a ticket for a track day at Cadwell........

Well, spoke to Jordy of extremely fast MK1 Scirocco fame and he hopes to have the van ready for tomorrow afternoon. He was busy relapping the valves and had all the parts to rebuild it, so looks like the van will be ready.

Will the Jetta be though.........

And the answer to that last question is no!

After a new coil and ECU booster jobbie, it still won't run. Took a load of stuff off again to try and suss out if the timing belt had slipped, but i think its ok. Spent ages staring at it trying to work out where the pistons were in relation to the valves and the dizzy, which one was sparking and which one was next etc and it seems to be ok.....done this loads of times with my dad but could i remember it all....job for two people i think!

Borrowed another dizzy to try which might get it working, but i also discovered that the exhaust lobe on the cam for cylinder 1 is VERY worn (rest are perfect) so it looks like it'll need a new cam at some point too...oh joy. Once its working and i've got the parts i'll take the cylinder head off for a check, fit a new cam and tappets, bolt it all back up and set the timing and then get it properly set-up and rolling roaded.

Van has been done and i'll collect that tomorrow as already booked the day off for sorting the car out for Cadwell. Bill is around the £600 mark though, so its been an expensive few weeks. Time to give the wallet a rest i think.

I'll update as more things happen, but for now i'm gonna take a break and reflect.....

As i've had the day off and am waiting for Sam to arrive, might as well do something usefull, so apart from collecting, loading and cleaning the van and car i also recovered the rear shelf in the Jetta to get rid of the annoying reflection in the rear window, and also around the digifant fusebox in the glovebox:

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Bit of food now, and then a nice drive over to Lincoln.......

Leads have eventually arrived:

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So long as ur not in a rush and you don't mind if its wrong first, second and third time, get some Formula Power leads.......

A couple of pics from saturday before it all went wrong:

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Shortly after i'd rung the RAC to come and collect me from a layby a few miles from the circuit. Time was 3.45pm:

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A few hours later, still waiting for the low loader:

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And about 9pm:

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It was about 1am by the time i got home. I won't be renewing my RAC membership.

Hope to be looking at the electrics on the Jetta soon.

BIG thanks to Rob for getting the Jetta running - looks like the timing belt had slipped so it was all out as i'd suspected.

Think i'll run it for a while, then replace the timing belt and tensioner, and remove the head and give it a once over while i'm at it before a new cam goes in.

Great to be able to drive it again

Pics soon.....

Another thanks to Rob for fiddling with the timing again - runs pretty good now with hardly any hesitation between gear changes. Front has come down another 25mm after it was too high with the new coilovers, but will probably come down a little more as i like a nose-down stance. Tracking isn't too bad but will need to be done professionally at some point.

Given it a good clean and spent a few hours last night cleaning the interior - looking much better now and theres more to do.

Trying to get all the little fiddy jobs done, which will just leave the head to sort out.

Some pics from last week or so. Got to get this lot to fit in the engine bay which should be fun:

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Oil catch tank to be fitted:

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Built-up fronts prior to fitting:

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Top mounts with the spacers that I had machined fitted:

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Rubbish pic of them fitted to the car:

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I've also fitted the leads and cut/welded/modified the alternator bracket again:

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And the MK4 shifter destined for the silver one:

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I'll post more pics when i've finished cleaning and detailing.

Pretty insignificant update, but i'm bored so rollocks to it [LOL]

Had the leaking manifold welded which has promptly started to leak again [] so once i've saved for a cam and associated parts to sort the head i'll pull the manifold off and try and fix it properly while its all apart. Untill then i'll have to put up with the extra noise [:s] Only managed to stop a water leak and clean the boot up a bit and get some more pipework to fit the filter - still need some more bits and an intake before that goes on.

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Still gotta get the tracking done properly and it needs a tune but it'll have to wait till i've sorted the head. Untill then i'll have to put up with the popping and farting and flame-spitting [LOL] Got some more bits in the post today too - can you guess what they are........

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Thats a full set of spare NOS doors i've got now []

Should be going to the show up near Carnforth this sunday - first one it'll have managed to get to!

jettadan wrote:Got some more bits in the post today too - can you guess what they are........

Talk about weight reduction. Cardboard doors ftw

lookin ace mate.

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Booked into Pipewerx for the exhaust to be fixed, then it can come down a bit more before the suspension is aligned properly. After that its sort the head and get it tuned. Getting there slowly

Hey mate. Have you got the coillies fitted all round now?

If so, have you found that the rear is lowered more than the front? When I fitted mine, the rear went down by a LONG way (so that on it's highest setting it is only just high enough and I AM going to need arch work). If not, how did you fit them just in case I've done mine wrong? Got any pics of the final setup? Cheers!

Nice pics of the show btw. Looks real good!

turnerhutch wrote:Hey mate. Have you got the coillies fitted all round now?

If so, have you found that the rear is lowered more than the front? When I fitted mine, the rear went down by a LONG way (so that on it's highest setting it is only just high enough and I AM going to need arch work). If not, how did you fit them just in case I've done mine wrong? Got any pics of the final setup? Cheers!

Nice pics of the show btw. Looks real good!

What coilovers have you got? The ones on mine were built for track use so might not go as low as some do.

There's more adjustment left on both front and rear - i just set it so that it was reasonably level and didn't catch the arches. All the arches have been cut back and i'm running 7x15's with a low offset and they don't catch at all at the mo. There's not much play in them though, as its running 450lbs's on the rear and 325lbs's on the front.

I want to lower it a little bit more mainly for cosmetic reasons, as the gap between tyre and arch looks a bit too big at the mo, especially at the front, and also as i prefer a slight nose-down stance and the handling characteristics that come with it.

Looks utterly mint. you gotta turn up to GTI fest, i want a closer look.

Cheers

I'd like to go to the Retro Car show at Santa Pod this weekend and run up the strip but doubt i'll go, then its All Types in a fornight where its in the Retro display; theres a track day at Croft the weekend after but again depends on funds and dunno if i'll go to Stonor Park the following weekend either.

Then its definately Inters in June, BVF which clashes with the GTi Festival at Santa Pod on the sunday at the start of July but might try and make both, MIVW the weekend later but doubt i'll drive my car to that and instead catch a lift.

Ultimate Street Car at Santa Pod at the start of August which i'd like to go to, VW North West the following weekend, Leeds VW Festival the weekend after that and then E38 a fortnight after which clashes with VW Action.

There's a Club GTi track day at Curborough at the end of September and there will be some track days spread throughout the summer, but no dates yet.

Hopefully you'll get chance to see it in the flesh at some point!

Update time.

So much for having an easy week off before starting the new job....spent pretty much the whole week messing with cars and car related issues.

Vento back at home now waiting for its re-test on tuesday after having a new lamba probe fitted - it should pass this time as the garage gave me a new printout showing the emissions to be fine, and to be fair to them they only charged me for the part with no labour or emissions test fees, but in total that was over £200 spent, plus two MoT's on top.....as for the fan, i've worked out (well, Danish told me ) that the control unit for the fan is now knackered after my dad kindly jet washed the engine before it went to the garage - water has got in and its foobarred, so need to source a replacement. Light at the end of the tunnel there though. Just the stiff gear shift to sort now.

As for the Jetta, well, here it is at a cruise in Blackpool the other week:

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Took it to Pipewerx yesterday:

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A NEW ( :rolleyes: ) 4-branch manifold, flexi, wrapping, clips, labour and just short of £400 later and the exhaust is finally sorted with noise only coming out of the tailpipe for a change. I think i spent about double what i was expecting...........and said goodbye to my savings in the process!

Whilst it was on the ramps had a good poke around underneath and adjusted the rear shocks another 5 notches to hard, it drives much better and a lot less bouncy, but still harsh Of more concern was the state of the suspension - after a few months use, over £900 quids worth of stainless steel race suspension looks like this:

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The fronts are the same too - not impressed and will be forwarding pics to the manufacturer and dealer i got them off as surely they shouldn't look like that after such little use.

On the plus side, the new manifold clears the driveshaft by miles, so it'll be closer to the ground before Alltypes next weekend

This week also re-painted (not quite finished) the trailer:

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That took a while, stripping, undercoating and painting, together with some new marker lights and reflective stripes. Ready for plenty of use this year. Few small jobs left to do, but nothing major. And to round off the week, spent ALL day moving cars and parts around. Two pain in the a$$es together again:

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Hmm, what used to live here:

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Ohh, its moved :

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The Bus has been evicted - not finished but run out of time:

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Still got to polish the drivers side and tailgate and roof, add more vinyl to cover the remaining dents and scrapes, then it needs to go to the garage to have the engine checked, as it now won't idle. Other bits and bobs to do when i get time.

Once the silver one had been moved and a few other jobs done, the rest of the afternoon was spent emptying the council garage which is going to be knocked down:

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And by 9pm tonight my 'temporary' shelter looks like this:

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Neighbours must love me:

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That lot will reduce significantly when i've sorted through it all. All my panels are in safe storage elsewhere, nice and dry

Didn't quite get everything done this week that i'd wanted, but it'll do for now. I'll post pics after next weekends show at Alltypes which i'm really looking forward to as hope to camp, so fingers crossed the weather is fine. You'll find the Jetta in the Retro display B)

TTFN.

alot of respect for you mate you got the love and time to build a awsome mk1 and you got the time to race the thing aswell! lol

samthejettaman wrote:alot of respect for you mate you got the love and time to build a awsome mk1 and you got the time to race the thing aswell! lol

Cheers - no racing at the mo though till i've sorted the head and got some spare cash

Had a bit of spare time today so made a new front bumper:

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It looks better in the flesh. If i decide to keep it i'll make another one out of a better bumper thats actually black!!! Or i'll make another one but keep the top part of the middle section.

Front suspension wound down as far as it'll go now:

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And awaiting a response about the suspension:

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Gaz said they'd strip and re-coat it - i've asked them to either replace it or give me a refund so i can go and get some stainless KW Varient 3's - i'll see what they say.

Apparently its in this months Golf+ too!!!

Will be at International this weekend so come and say hi if you see me - will either be on the strip or tyre testing circuit or resting around the Club GTi stand

nice jettadan, look forward in seeing you. i bet you they will give you another set. they're reputation on the line here. you should have asked them to gold plate them

They're being removed after Inters and sent back as they want to take this up with the plating company. Will also get my postage costs refunded and i'm expecting them to be replaced which i'm pretty sure will happen when they see the state of them.

Can't really ask for more than that.

Is there a JOC stand at Inters?

ye, there sure is a club stand, should be quite a few on it,
seen your car at all typea the other week.