Wreck to Race.

[Peter Jones]

Ooo, RAM flo. If it was a honda or similar you could expect atleast a 25hp gain.. But it is red, so possibly more...

Looking good Pete, its nice to see someone doing things right without going over the top.

I got the ram-flo off ebay for a song, it was new old stock. When I got it the element was decaying due to age, it had gone all sticky and mushy. I ordered a couple of red elements directly from Lynx. http://www.lynxcorp.com.au/main.php?idx=home

I've always liked the old school look of the ram-flos. Red ones look even better

Pete

[GoLfMan]

doing some great work here Pete

[Peter Jones]

Things seemed to be going a bit slow today until all of a sudden it was back out doors!



Today.
Painted shock towers.
refitted struts.
New axle nuts.
New coolant reservoir.
Generally just bolted everything back in.

The timing has me stumped at the moment. It's up and running fine but I can't understand why the distributor seems to be 90 degrees out. More thought required on this one.



I need to tune it properly but there's still no brake fluid in it so it can't be driven.

Tomorrow I'm going to drop the rear suspension. All the lines have to be disconnected anyway and my bushes have finally arrived so out it comes.

My PC died today so I'll have to spend the evenings rebuilding it which is a bit of a time waster which might slow me down.

I've booked in for a wheel alignment on Tuesday so I'd better get it mobile before then.

Pete

[Golf Loon]

On the timing issue, is the pulley right on the intermediate shaft at the timing belt end?

[Peter Jones]

Yep. Things seemed screwy so I took it back to basics.

#1 is at TDC (Screwdriver down plug hole method)
Flywheel mark is nowhere to be seen. (Yes I went right round a couple of times)
Both Cam Lobes on #1 are pointing up.
Cam pulley mark level with rocker cover.
Int pulley mark inline with mark on crank pulley.
Point rotor at mark on dizzy.
Plug lead #1 above mark on dizzy.

It starts and runs like this but not well. So I started advancing the distributor.

It came good at about 90 degrees which has got me scratching my head a bit. I shouldn't start if it's that far out.

I guess the same idiot that bolted the flywheel on out of phase probably did the same for the dizzy.

I've got to pull it out anyway to replace the electronics (because I can.) so I'll put it back in the right way then.

Pete

[Water Boy]

Weight reduction - Tow bar

[Peter Jones]

Weight reduction - Tow bar

I need that there for the moment. But point taken.

There's a quite a few things that could come out yet.

Just got to strike a happy balance between track and street.

Pete

[Oneofthegreats]

New Ball joints



I managed to get the new tie rods in before dark today too. The inner ends on the old ones are pretty loose and had a small amount of play in them.

Just out of interest Pete & if you don't mind me asking,

How much were the Ball Joint's & Tie Rod assemblies & where did you get them from?

[Peter Jones]

Just out of interest Pete & if you don't mind me asking,

How much were the Ball Joint's & Tie Rod assemblies & where did you get them from?

Right here actually!

Matt (Golf Loon) sourced two sets of balljoints and tie rod ends for me and sent them down. Not sure what the individual prices were on the bits, ask Matt for a quote.

When I went to fit the tie rod ends I discovered that one side is a fixed length and has a tie rod end crimped on so i couldn't actually change the tie rod end on that side.

By coincidence Andrew (gtimk5) had listed some brand new assemblies for sale in this post for $75 ea. http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newf...ad.php?t=13209


It turns out that you can fit the adjustable rods to both sides, they're the same.

The assemblies I got from Andrew came as pictured, he was kind enough to include the new rack boots too.

I'm going to use the old adjustable rod to go into my other golf and just change the rod ends on that car.

Pete

[Jarred]

Your engine is truely a mistery Pete!

Nice progress, you've got a fair bit dont recently as it turns out! Don't forget to enjoy easter!

[Preen59]

Weight reduction - Tow bar

Funnily enough when i put a tow bar on my car it made it handle better. It stiffened up the back and relieved the slight mid-corner understeer it had, making it very neutral. I could chuck it into a corner and make it do whatever i wanted instead of getting that bit of push that tended to make you stay off the throttle for longer than i'd like.

Could almost be an advantage for a track car.

I'm going to make brace and put it in the boot between the bumper mounts and utilise the bumper screws to help stiffen the back up in my car.

[Water Boy]

Why not just run a rear stabilizer bar

[Preen59]

Why not just run a rear stabilizer bar

Yeah but i'm talking stiffened the chassis up, it wasn't a weight transfer issue.

I'll be running front and rear stablizers too,

[Peter Jones]

Today's work.

Out of the garage and up on the stands.



Off with the brakes!



The parts are piling up.



It's out!


Now there's some weight reduction!



These things are a PITA to get out but an even bigger PITA to get back in!



Re-assembly.


I was going to paint this black but I was told in no uncertain terms not to deviate from the red paint scheme. At least the track marshalls will know which way up my car is!

[Jarred]

Good work pete. I've always wanted to paint a rear bar red for some reason. I don't know why?!

So what's the red spray can count up to now? that's alot of painting you've been doing!

How difficult is it to get the rear bar off? 4 bolts and she's done is it?