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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 6:30 am
by Rabbit Farmer
I will provide an update from the Burke hillclimb (and some video/pictures) soon....

In a nutshell... 3rd gear gave up the ghost at Burke. My belief is that Mt Washington, which is a long hill where I am using 3rd for most of the course, pretty much broke it, but it didn't actually fail until Burke (surprisingly, when I was in 4th gear).

I get the transmission back tonight (Tuesday) from http://www.SixStarMotorsVT.com (Charlie) and hope to get everything back together and ready to go for the Okemo hillclimb this weekend (Friday). Fingers crossed.

Well, I guess that was the entire Burke hillclimb update... just need some videos and pictures now.

The Wolfsgart 5.0 car show was this weekend. Since I sold the Cabriolet, the Golf was up on jackstands, and the Scirocco has been a pipe dream project, I had no car to show. Worked the event (pointed people where to park their show cars) and hung out. Had a good time.

Steve

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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2014 11:23 pm
by Rabbit Farmer
Really nothing exciting up to this point to report, so you'll get the short version.

August 2014

As mentioned, transmission went at Burke so we swapped the complete diff to another transmission that I had laying around (hmmmm, since a 2010 tree incident). Put the transmission back in the car and I noticed there was a clunking noise when rotating the wheels; decided that there were issues and not to try it out.

Purchased another 6-speed online and brought everything over to (new website address!: http://www.sixstarmotorsvt.com) Six Star Motors in Colchester, Vermont. Same building as Libra Racing (John Buffum)/home of Super Chicken.

Charlie identified that some of the teeth on the diff were damaged so he swapped the good diff ring gear from the "new" transmission to the diff and put it all back together.

In case you don't know what a transmission looks like. ;) This is the "new" transmission. Same gear ratios that I had before.

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September 2014

Jetta flex pipe went again. World famous vwJodi did a quick weld to get the car back on the road.

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Purchase some shifter bushings and shift mounts from [url]http://www.42DraftDesigns.com;[/url] both for the transmission end of things. Will install in January 2015. Plus, purchased "VAG Connector Removal Tool" for $15 from http://www.ECSTuning.com to make it easier to take VW plugs apart.... Rabbit Farmer approved!

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November 2014

Jetta needed new headlights. I polished them the year prior (or so); decided it was time to replace them. Did not want to spend the long dollar at http://www.ECSTuning.com (almost $300), so I got a set from an ebay vendor. This picture (with new light over the old) is the ebay special with clear directionals that require amber bulbs.

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Now... imagine that they are the absolute worst possible quality available... these are from DT Moto. They do not make the lights, just sell them.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/131185073888?it ... 60&vxp=mtr

Nothing was right about the lights.
* The bulbs type, per the instructions, did not work... unsure what bulbs would actually work
* The internal plastic hosing where the lights are mounted was not tight, therefore, it moved a lot (would cause a lot of flicking lights)
* Best yet, the retainers for the main lights would require so much pressure to lock in the light that the metal ring would pop off the plastic housing. Looking at the housing afterwards with the light bulb removed, the connector that holds in the light in would be 1.5" below the back of the bulb.

So, I contacted them and they gave me a full refund with zero issues within 24 hours... and was told to keep the lights. So, complete headlight assembles with new lights (all of them) for sale for the price of the brand new bulbs I purchased for them.

Ended up at ECSTuning and purchased GLI smoked lights (Hella brand) with amber directionals and fog lights (nice addition!)

Purchased nice wiring harness to run the fog lights.... easy to install.
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Installed...
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December 2014
Jumped into refreshing the Golf for the 2015 season.
* New harnesses
* Revisit the camber plates
* Get rid of the nylon fuel lines (especially sitting next to the glowing turbo)
* Figure out why bolts on turbo keep backing out
* Revisit heat shield on firewall
* Clunk in driver's side axle or transmission.... grrrrrr.
* Fix broken pipe for wastegate; guessing it has something to do with engine moving at Okemo when dogbone gave up the ghost.
* Go through engine; rehone cylinders, check seals, gaskets, etc.

Car is current down http://www.KalesCustom.com in Colchester, VT for the camber plates, fuel lines, firewall, turbo, and wastegate.

I am going down there tomorrow to install the engine at his shop so he can replace the waste gate piping... needs everything in place to fabricate.

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So, why the early jump on the Golf this year? Normally I start in late Jan to early Feb.... well, I have the drive to get the Scirocco together for next season.

I think I will use the 1.8T as everything is already fabricated for that engine. Complete engine rebuild, http://www.VEMS.us stand-alone engine management system, send out suspension for rebuild, complete body work and paint (vwJodi), cage update by KalesCustom, etc. etc. etc. etc. Big project, but looking at getting this on the road, track, and hills.

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Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 12:19 pm
by Rabbit Farmer
Lot's of catching up to do.

First, Joey at KalesCustom.com addressed the camber plates as we wanted a little more camber adjustment available to us in 2015.

What it looked like in 2014:

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And now in 2015:

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Did a better job with a heat shield on the firewall; when it all goes back together, I will also add some heat shielding on the upper firewall/rain tray to protect the electronics in the rain tray.

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A big part of wanting to improve the heat shield was to protect the fuel lines... a big improvement for 2015 is the removal of the plastic lines and the installation of hard lines.

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Straight through to the fuel rail without any rubber lines.

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Car heading home from Kales Custom in February 2015

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Things got a little busy at home in February, and it was "wicked" cold, so I didn't do anything on the Golf until very late March.... this means I haven't done a thing yet, but should do something starting today.

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Since I didn't want to work on the Golf, I addressed the headlights and fog lights on the 2009 WRX.

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Pre-polishing...

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And done! Second time that I have had to do the headlights on the car. Not difficult, but I liked the idea of using lens protectors for future cars.

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Broken fog lights. It was an option to have lens protectors on the fog lights when we first purchased the car, but we didn't do it since it was expensive as they stated they would have to remove the front bumper (which is actually pretty easy to do on these cars). So, we didn't do it.

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Purchased the new fog lights from http://www.SubaruPartsDepot.com and the lens protectors from http://www.subarugenuineparts.com.

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The covers are called "Fog Light Protector Acrylic Shields" and were quite easy to install. Even easier with the bumper removed as I had to install the new fog lights.

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And then we joined a small go-kart league at the new local go-kart track (http://www.essexspeedway.com). Electric karts. Fun, but there is no possible way to pass someone as full speed is easily achieved. We did determine that the typical "race line" was not the fastest way around the course. Fast in, turn in, let off to rotate the kart, back on it.

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Video of one of the races. The breaks in the video are where I removed the footage where we stopped because someone spun out from being hit from behind. They are able to stop all cars remotely so no one can continue driving.



Out with the old.... time to say good bye to the 2004 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T.

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Pictures from the March 2015 classified ad.... did a small collage so not to bore you with all the photos. A very clean and reliable car.

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And in with the new! First time Volvo owners....

2015.5 Volvo S60 AWD T6 R-Design

I was new to Volvo-speak also. It is an all wheel drive sedan with a 325 HP/354 TQ turbocharged 3.0-liter inline six cylinder. Very fast and handles beautifully. The "R-Design" package gives us the sporty seats and some other trim changes.... I was only excited about the seats.

This is Julie's new daily driver while I get the WRX hand me down. Time for a better suspension and new tires on the WRX. (insert evil laugh)

We purchased the car from Frank at Al Martin Volvo in Shelburne, VT (www.almartin.com); I highly recommend Frank and this dealership. The best car purchasing experience that we have ever had. He even took car of the auto insurance with our company. We just had to show up and drive away... Sweet!

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And that is all she wrote in terms of actual progress.

We have been researching options for the Scirocco. I am thinking that a supercharged 1.8-liter 20V engine would be a great option for hillclimbing. Unsure if I would go with the cable shift 02J 5-speed from at MK4 VW instead of the current shift rod 020 5-speed (with custom beefed-up gears) that came in 1980's MK1 cars.

Still researching. And the first hillclimb is not that far away.

Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2015 10:50 pm
by Rabbit Farmer
2009 Subaru WRX

Ordered Bilstein struts/shocks and lowering springs from Race Comp Engineering (http://www.racecompengineering.com). I went with the GTWORX/Bilstein Cup Sport Kit with their Black "Regular Guy" springs.

Stock springs are 216# front / 209# rear while the "Regular Guys" springs are 275# front / 250# rear and provide a 25mm (slightly less than 1") drop. A little stiffer than stock, but still year around comfort.

Seems the springs are back ordered... hopefully the install is quick and easy as the alignment appointment is on May 7.

2001 VW Golf 1.8T

Been procrastinating with finishing the Golf. I started with the big stuff at the end of last season with a goal to have this 100% done in February +/-.

Short version... new brake pads, bled clutch, installed some parts on the shifter to stiffen things up a bit, ordered new harnesses (they have arrived), etc.

To be 100% ready for the season... alignment, install harnesses, install front bumper, clean it.

Pictorial version.....

Draft 42 Designs (http://www.42draftdesigns.com) shifter bushings for the cable ends. (See #10 and #17 in the image below)

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Draft 42 Designs shifter bushings (See #9 in the image below)

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Image from the Bentley manual for reference.

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Also, one part that I wanted to replace was #14. In the manual it is called a "Slide Shoe", but the internet searches state otherwise.... no good results. Shearer VW (f/k/a Lewis VW) was finally able to identify and order the part; they call it a "Friction Slide".

Per http://www.ECSTuning.com, it is called a "Shift Lever Slide"....
http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-Gol ... 8T/ES4915/

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I purchased a new set of brake pads last summer with the intent of installing them. Didn't happen.

Fronts are Hawk Blue 9012 and rears are Hawk HP Plus (cooler pad); thought is that the rear pads and front pads will come up to operating temperature around the same time as opposed to running hot pads front and rear where the rears will never see the high temps at a hillclimb... at a track they would.

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Front pads: Not a lot of wear on the fronts.

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Rear pads: Lots of wear! Unsure where there is such a huge difference in wear between the fronts and rears.

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A must have tool for the rear calipers and they require turning/pressure to push in the piston

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For those of you that like to see numbers (in inches)

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I put everything on the Golf together with the exception of the turbo, front bumper, and skid plate.... also need fluids.

Since I wasn't quite sure what we needed for gaskets for all the lines to/from the turbo, plus Joey needed to finish the heat shield on the upper fire wall, I brought the Golf to http://www.KalesCustom.com.

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Almost ready for the Ascutney hillclimb in May.

Full hillclimb schedule on the New England Hillclimb Association (NEHA) website at http://www.hillclimb.org/schedule.html

Steve

Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 12:35 pm
by Rabbit Farmer
Welcome to August... almost September... and I haven't had a lot of updates.

This tells me that the Scirocco I needs my attention as the Golf IV seems to be sorted out.

Ascutney #1 hillclimb was fun. I have video, but since the GoPro Hero 3 internal microphone delivers sub-par quality, I won't bother posting anything. I was there and had fun.... until the transmission let go on Sunday.

I picked up TWO replacement transmissions; one to rebuild the one currently in the car and one for a back up.

After some research, I ended up going with the WavTrac (http://www.wavetrac.net) LSD for the reasons outlined below.
Wavetrac: Designed from a clean sheet using state-of-the-art knowledge and engineering to be a better differential than any other. It uses a patented design to improve grip in low traction conditions.

Wavetrac: Gives you quicker acceleration and faster cornering by driving both drive wheels instead of just one. And, it offers improved no-load performance when compared to other helical gear differentials on the market.
Charlie at http://www.sixstarmotorsvt.com in Colchester, VT took on the task of building the replacement 02M 6-speed using the WavTrac LSD, new bearings, new shift forks, etc.

The "Steel 1st-2nd, 3rd-4th Gear Shift Fork Transmission Upgrade" are from USP Motorsports (http://www.uspmotorsports.com).

Link to the specific product: http://www.uspmotorsports.com/Drivetrai ... M-02Q.html

Something different I tried this time was to remove the entire front end as one piece (bumper, FMIC, radiator) instead of removing the FMIC separately. Unsure why I did it the long way before....

I also removed the engine with the turbo and downpipe attached. In the past, I did not think that I would be able to accomplish this because the v-band clamp is on the other side of the sub-frame. It was actually quite easy removal and install... and I did not need to mess around with disconnecting and reconnecting the external wastegate (which is a pain as you need three hands to do it).

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Removing the ring gear from the donor stock differential

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WavTrac LSD with ring rear installed, new bolts, and new bearings... pretty.

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New shift forks.... I have never had a problem with them, but figured I would replace them this time since it was apart.

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Maiden voyage was at the Okemo #2 hillclimb (I drove the Daewoo... yawn... at Burke and was in Italy for Okemo #1).

Saturday I was impressed with the WavTrac LSD especially on the first long sweeper. Could be a combination of the brand new heat-cycled R888 tires and the WavTrac LSD. Or.... it could be that the turbo halves were loose again so I wasn't creating any boost. I would have to go with the latter. Working on ideas prior to the next event to help keep the turbo together.

Sunday, using most of my boost (I couldn't tighten all the bolts on the turbo because they were underneath), the WavTrac LSD still seemed to be good on the long sweeper at checkpoint 1 (first long sweeper), but I am unsure of its effectiveness at checkpoint 3 where the right front tire gets very light. I had wheel spin (of course, when aren't they spinning!?!?), but it didn't seem to push me as much to the outside of the corner. Jury is still out. My time was a little slower than past Okemos, but that might be because of the turbo.

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And... because of the crappy sound quality at Ascutney #1, I purchased an external microphone. For most of the weekend, it was mounted on the rear bumper next to the exhaust. For one run (you will see/hear this at the end of the video) I had the microphone next to the air intake.

Enjoy.

Steve


Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 3:06 pm
by Rabbit Farmer
Video from the August 2015 Sports Car Club of Vermont (www.SCCV.org) autocross at the Airborne Speedway in New York.

Great course and perfect weather.

2009 Subaru WRX 2.5 / 5-speed
Modifications: Bilstein struts/shocks, Racecomp Engineering Regular Guy Lowering Springs, and Hawk HP Plus Brake Pads.

Nice relaxing day at an autocross.


Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 11:51 pm
by Rabbit Farmer
Nelson Shepard Memorial Hillclimb at Mt Ascutney

...did I mention this car is for sale? :)


Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2015 10:27 pm
by Rabbit Farmer
Great event at the Sports Car Club of Vermont's Mt. Philo Hillclimb that was sponsored by Joey Kale of Kale's Custom (www.kalescustom.com).

Joey did all the fabrication work (minus the cage) on my Golf.

Not a personal best, but I think it was pretty good with the limited traction (very cold... it was snowing in the morning!).


Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2015 8:54 am
by Rabbit Farmer
So... the plans for winter 2015-2016.

Golf
I have really big plans for the Golf over the winter. I have determined that I should be able to complete all the upgrades, modifications, and other necessities early in the winter to ensure I am ready for (a) Ensuring the car is sold or (b) Ready for next season.
1. Clean the inside
2. Wash the outside
3. Install OEM bracket that holds plastic oil dipstick tube in place
4. Put car in the trailer
5. Have some soup

Truck
1. 50 gallon fuel tank... 27 gallon tank just doesn't make any sense, Mr. Ford
2. Additional driving lights (unsure if doing behind an aftermarket grill or mounted on simple light bar on front)
Behind grill: http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/44118 ... rille.html
Simple light bar (just an example): http://www.autoanything.com/lights/kc-h ... -light-bar
3. LED reverse lights
4. Airbags and/or stabilization and/or weight distribution system (I still need to research options)

Trailer
1. Battery charged from truck to provide constant power for interior lights. Right now the lights only work if the truck ignition is "on"
2. LED lights inside trailer
3. LED back up lights

.....and.....

Scirocco
1. Jump in and start working on it... plan the engine, send out the suspension to be rebuilt, VEMS, etc. etc. etc.
2. Get excited about #1 and then sit down and figure out a plan

Re: Project: 2001 1.8T Golf IV

Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2015 5:35 pm
by lawdogg
Steve your vids are killer build is killer love it and dang you work fast. Also nice Volvo, I picked up an '04 V70R 6spd to DD out here and love it. I've heard great reviews of those new ones.