Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

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Rabbit Farmer
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

July 15, 2008

Progress and results.....

I was running out of options so I reached out to some locals and Motorgeek and was pointed towards Marc Swanson in NH (3.5 hour drive, but next to the track) (http://www.efiexpress.com).

Gauges mounted on "A+" pillar (dark gauge is the boost; I haven't wired the lights in it yet).

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Trying different rim color on the Golf. I have two sets of RA1's mounted on Flix wheels (they are a bit heavy, but in my price range at the time); one set is silver and other gun metal.

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We left the house prior to 5 AM on Sunday (track day was on Monday).
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Playing in Marc's garage....
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Pyscho cat (Vern) playing "Tunsis" in the Rabbit
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Car is all tuned and is running great at 23 PSI. I did manage to break off a stud that mounts the turbo to the exhaust manifold so I am looking for a new manifold (I hate the ATP so this is a good time to change it). I also need to look into better bracing for the turbo.

That is all for now. Time to jump into getting the Rabbit ready for the hillclimb (Okemo II) this weekend.

Wife's Cabriolet is running again (it was just the t-stat that was stuck).

Video and photos should be up later this week. Both Nick (STI) and I have in-car video so you can see both cars going back and forth. I couldn't pass Nick (close in the straights) because I couldn't hook up like he can with the AWD. Good times at NHMS (f.k.a. NHIS).

Steve
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It takes hundreds of nuts to hold a car together, but it takes only one of them to scatter it all over the highway. - Evan Esar
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

July 28, 2008

Kinda a non-update. I finally got the photos and will post video (in-car this Golf at a track and in-car the turbo Rabbit at a hillclimb). Both videos looked a heck of a lot better before uploading to Youtube. Hopefully the sound works properly also; I had a problem playing on Windows Media Player 9 without the AC3 (or whatever) codec.

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Steve #702
Go Fast VW & Audi parts at FastAddiction.com
It takes hundreds of nuts to hold a car together, but it takes only one of them to scatter it all over the highway. - Evan Esar
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

There was a little progress from when I purchased it.... :shock:

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Steve #702
Go Fast VW & Audi parts at FastAddiction.com
It takes hundreds of nuts to hold a car together, but it takes only one of them to scatter it all over the highway. - Evan Esar
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

July 29, 2008

Time to inspect the exhaust manifold to determine if I can remove the stud from the ATP manifold without removing it from the engine or replacing it with a SPA manifold if I had to remove the ATP setup. There was no way in heck I would reinstall the ATP manifold if I had to remove it.

I had to remove the coolant line to remove the turbo (it is hanging from the Shine Racing anti-roll bar that I removed at NHIS last week when it was raining to reduce oversteer). Clean break of the stud.

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I borrowed a 90-degree angle head from my father so that I could get into the tight space between the engine and firewall.
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Drilled a hole in the center of the stud. I used a flute bolt extractor.
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Hmmmm, this looks like good news.
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I was able to remove the broken stud from the exhaust manifold, therefore, thus and hence, I will not be changing from the ATP to SPA exhaust manifolds at this time.

When I was heading out the back door of the garage to make my way to my truck in the driveway (it still had a lot of my tools in it from the last event), I noticed that I accidentally left Daisy, my cat, outside instead of letting her inside before it got dark (this was around 11:30PM). Then I noticed that Daisy's tail looked a little too big and I then recalled that I did let both cats in when I got home from work. It seems the "cat" was actually very friendly and did not have the inclination to fire off a warning shot. This allowed from some photos, but I opted to use another door to reach my destination.
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I need to get some hi-temp loctite, new locking nuts and special heat washers (they help the nut stay tight) to get the car back together before the weekend. There are some other plans over the next few weeks (including changing the transmission fluid to Motul 300) that will help make this a fun car to drive.

Sleepy time.

Steve
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

July 30, 2008

I had a problem with the video... something to do with MPEG2 output from my video camera wherein my video editing software can't see the sound.

If you want to watch the video with no sound....

NHIS with this Golf HERE
Okemo hillclimb with the turbo Rabbit (first time driving it) HERE

Watch the number of shifts in the Rabbit before the first turn (sound would make all the difference). Got into 5th before corner three.

I am working on getting this corrected and uploaded, but getting the cars ready for the next two events is a higher priority for me.

Steve
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It takes hundreds of nuts to hold a car together, but it takes only one of them to scatter it all over the highway. - Evan Esar
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

I was going to bring both the turbo Rabbit and the Golf to the hillclimb this weekend (www.hillclimb.org), but it will take too much time to get both cars to the hill and it doesn't seem worth it as Sunday looks wet.

Anyway, to drive both cars in the Prepared 2 class, the car must meet P2 rules (event though it is technically belongs in a lower class called Street Prepared). P2 rules requires that the car has a kill switch. I headed over to Joey Kale's place (www.kalescustom.com) and he welded on a plate so that I could mount the battery kill switch.

Last night I installed everything using 4G wire. It seems that I should have used a thicker wire, so over the winter I will either add another 4G wire to the setup or use one larger wire for the whole setup.

My goal was to have the switch on the inside of the car so that it didn't rust should it rain. I came up with the idea of where it is mounted and it seems to work great. I can roll down the window just enough to have access to the switch while my race number is still full visible. Best of both worlds.

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Steve #702
Go Fast VW & Audi parts at FastAddiction.com
It takes hundreds of nuts to hold a car together, but it takes only one of them to scatter it all over the highway. - Evan Esar
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

Philo has come and gone. Time to start planning for winter improvements for the track. I already have an extensive list started..... :)

I managed to "break" and axle during a practice run on Saturday. The axle is a DriveShaftShop 425 HP axle so it wasn't power that did it in. I recently ordered a set of 475 HP axles from them and noticed a HUGE difference in the design... looks like a set of old Rabbit inner CVs, but a heck of a lot larger. Anyway, the 425 HP driver's side axle "broke" because a C clip that prevents the shaft from sliding towards the transmission, and therefore the tripod was allowed to slide inward to disengage itself from the cage... um, run on sentence... the C clip came off so the tripod wasn't contained. Easy fix... replace the clip and get a new inner boot.

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Finally, a great picture of me driving past one of the checkpoints (#5 on the hill) at Mt. Philo. Big thanks to Dave_G for taking and sharing the photo.

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Steve #702
Go Fast VW & Audi parts at FastAddiction.com
It takes hundreds of nuts to hold a car together, but it takes only one of them to scatter it all over the highway. - Evan Esar
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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

The airbag will be gutted (it isn't connected, but I have the understanding that centrifugal force may still set it off). Trying to make it LOOK street legal.... I drove it around town yesterday before putting it away. I think I scared a Civic with a fart can.

I just uploaded this video... It is one of the morning runs. I don't have any of my fast runs as I lent the camera to someone else so they could get some in-car with their Subaru.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqdo4xuZFu8
Steve #702
Go Fast VW & Audi parts at FastAddiction.com
It takes hundreds of nuts to hold a car together, but it takes only one of them to scatter it all over the highway. - Evan Esar
Paul Mello

Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Paul Mello »

I should have made it to the hill climb! We have just one more autox event here locally (at Quonset Point). I fear it's going to be a long winter. Miss you all...
Paul Mello

Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Post by Paul Mello »

Just watched the video. It sounded like you were giving your self advice about the launching conditions. Who was that...
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