MK1 Deisel for the Sh#tbox Rally... a build thread.

[frog_a_lot]

Nice bash plate, we still need to sort ours out.

Not long now

[Jack_It]

aaaand now the injector pump leaks again... at the choke now... gunna be a pig to fix.

picked up the seals and pleaded to Chris @ TPR Engineering to help my dad put them in as I had work on the Saturday and then had to take the Mrs to Sydney...

They pulled out the injector pump, fixed it all up and put it back in... so glad he's keen to help out









Also tested the bash plate... I was working on a property out of town and they had a little creek crossing they used in their Polaris ATV... the rocks were bigger than I thought.






Current to Do:

• Finalise our $4000 donations - currently at $3260.
• Fix the fuel filler hose leak, leaking from the bottom of the hose to the tank, new diesel is eating the old rubbers.
• Some sort of airbox/snorkle hack, yet to muck around finalising that one I posted up wayback when...
• Dirt/truck tyres to suit, looks like the rally may be wet, hoping to get some 2nd hand rally tyres.
• Camping and rally theme day gear...

[sports racer]

The start date is coming up quick, make sure you post lots of pix and keep us up to date.

Cheers

Paul

[littlegldgti]

Snorkel! Xd

[Jack_It]

Tyres!



Ended up with Continental Contivan Contact 100... not cheap, even at cost thanks to my local Bob Jane. But very very good, they're as big as we could safely go, a 175/65/14. They're load rated to 1200kg each, good strong sidewalls and something something rock ejection system...?

Injectection pump needs to come out again, the main O'ring between the pump and the distributor head is leaking pretty bad, the local diesel place is helping me out with a one off, replacing the O'Ring only, which they wouldnt normall do;
1. Because it's a PITA if something goes wrong, but;
2. mainly by being a certified bosche repairer they should reco the pump (looking at $1200+) as duty of care / service standard. But for $1200 I might as well spend it on another ****box. Again, Preeny is coming to the rescue to help remove the pump and get it to them.

[Jack_It]

welp...

I need an injector pump pulley... don't ask.

[Jack_It]

Picture tells 1000 words they say...



I stuffed up this time last week, big time, but thanks to gldgti, and Preeny, we're running again.

We leave from Canberra on Saturday (9th) morning from Questacon Carpark (7.30am-9am), and will be at "The Green Shed" at Mitchell from about 4.30pm on Friday afternoon if anyone wants to come and say g'day.

I'm also HOPING to get to the Nats in Sydney on our return trip, it depends on how keen the old man is to get home... we might be able to make the Saturday at Eastern Creek.

[sports racer]

I keep telling you, 5kg hammer for engine, 10kg hammer for bodywork.

Stop mixing them up.

[gldgti]

My eyes hurt!

[Jack_It]

We made it home!

We made it to townsville in the golf!

I'll do a big write up soon, We got back to Orange yesterday afternoon.

[sports racer]

Can't wait to hear the stories. You going to bring it to the Nationals in Sydney this weekend?

[Jack_It]

OK!

All photo's uploaded to facebook... I'll fill everyone in though



Minus Day 1 - Breakdown between Boorowa and Canberra, we stopped for lunch in Boorowa about 20k's from Yass towards home, with no problems, about 5 mins back on the road the golf just died, then ran again after shutting everything off... Then a few hundred up the road, it died again, with no life - it seemed like no fuel, so we took the fuel filter off (which was a hell of a task as the new one had really jammed on) and discovered a blocked feeder, so we thought it was that... BUT this wasn't the problem.

I started to take off the injector lines to see if there were any more blockages, and I bumped the solenoid line for the pump and Dad had left the ignition on, it clicked and I discovered the line had come loose, so we put everything back on and away we went again!

Day 1 - CANBERRA TO HAY



Dressed up in our "Plus 4's" coz we're in a golf, with a massive golf ball on top, which we ditched in canberra due to worries about power and fuel economy...

Pic by Cam of Bad Panda.


We got to Hay trouble free, aside from the massive head winds and poor fuel economy, we lost our buddy group early on and took a while to re-group but thats part of learning the SBR.

DAY 2 - HAY TO SILVERTON
Bit of rain and an icy gale for the day which was themed up to be Pricilla Queen of the Desert dressups... hundreds of men in drag is quite a site to see...








We went via Ivanhoe and Menindee to Broken Hill, a pretty rough bit of road after the torrential rain from a fortnight before, but we didn't make it to Menindee before disaster struck for the little golf...



This bit of road was really dusty, heavy plumes of red dust streamed behind us, until it turned into blue-black-red mix... my mates in the Benz hauled up behind us because their radio wasn't working and told us to stop (Dad was driving, and totally oblivious to the mirrors...)

Dad knocked it out of gear and first problems first, the engine picked up revs... He turned it off, it didn't stop..
Before we'd stopped moving I pulled up the bonnet latch (on the passenger side) and jumped out of the car, my initial reaction was that the throttle had jammed open on the rough roads, and I flicked it open and shut a few times which didn't help, then slammed my hand over the intake to shut off the engine.

We had a Peugeot mechanic with us, he suggested it was a run-away engine off blow-by, so we popped off the intake...


It was... not only that, but trying to crank it over we discovered it had hydraulic compression lock... we were gutted, and pushed it on to a triage trailer for the haul to Silverton.



The golf made it to camp before we did, and was pushed up to beside the Bad Panda boys who had lost their windscreen before we even hit dirt that day! They had to kick the screen out and continue without any protection until they got to Broken Hill... balls of steel... Our buddy group had plenty of issues that day, with the Speedweak V8 Merc blowing an oil cooler line as well, thankfully that was fixed roadside and they got to camp safe.





~ To be continued, a 3yr old wants to play...

[Jack_It]

Day 2 CONTINUED...






We decided to relieve the engine of it's over-oiling, so devised a plan to remove the glow plugs, and crank the engine over to blow out the oil, a huge success in getting everyone covered in oil, we put it all back together (had to take out the injector lines) and with a plume of smoke we were running again! We also made a catch can for the breather to vent into to avoid the oiling again, and blocked off the intake on the top of the airbox.



Day 3: Silverton to Maree




We dropped into the sponsors of the Speedweak Merc in Broken Hill, picked up a new air filter (!!!) and some heavy grade oil just in case.

And made our way to Maree - a 730km day with 500ks of dirt.



The only thing that worried us was the headwind, no matter which way we turned, it turned to face us... which wasn't much fun in a golf we were babying plus all the added gear we had on board. (40L fuel, 20L of water, 2 spare tyres, + equipment)

Fuel up at Yunta


Yunta to Maree




Golf ran exceptionally all day, especially on the dirt as we could happily pump along at 90kph and skip over the rough stuff, open road was a bit different as we could only really get up to 100kph when drafting one of our team members.

We got into Maree fairly late - we were making great time until flat tyres and crazy wheel nuts (different size and pitch front to back) on the Merc set us back a bit, but we were glad for regular stops to be able to keep a close eye on the Golf now declared as Schultz, due to his German sense of humour, and ability to act like nothing happened.

Day 4 - Maree to Birdsville

Maree greeted us with a spectacular sunrise


and many people dressed in Octoberfest themed gear...

Photo by: Lachlan Gardiner

The track was rough, but scenic, with 'only' 500ks to do today, it really tested most cars.


We suffered a flat, but that was the only downside to the day, considering some of the support 4x4's had flats as well, we did fairly well. Other teams had to roll into Birdsville on flat tyres, or had used both spares, and needed replacements.




It's deceptive, but the rock you can clearly see towards the bottom middle-left of the above pic, is actually about the size of 2 fists, you can tell compared to the tyre tracks around it.


Bash plate works.

We got in fairly late to Birdsville, just on Dusk.


Day 5 - Birdsville to Boulia


Birdsville Hotel, where the Beers are $8 a can and the JD & Coke is $11...

Photo by: Lachlan Gardiner

Flawless run on our shortest day 300 odd k's mostly sealed, beautiful smooth tar.


Beauty of a sunset at Boulia


Did I mention it's still bloody windy?

[Jack_It]

Day 6 - Boulia to Hughenden

More tar! and a trouble free day with some awesome landscapes along the way.


and road trains





We were quite literally the last team out of Boulia that day, we made up good ground with a reliable run from everyone we were in the top 10 teams to arrive and set up camp... it was a nice change.... so it was off for a feed and then our last night in a swag.

Day 7 - Hughenden to Townsville


Where did these guys come from...? We were parked in after the evening roll ins'.


Townsville, a real shower, a real bed...



WE MADE IT


Faultless drive again...but alas a leak... probably from the intermediate shaft seal... dropping about 250ml a day.



The golf was bought by a guy in Support 12, who had his heart set on it before we even left for Canberra, we let him buy it off us pre- auction, rather than drive it home and risk some damage, he freighted it back.


you ACT guys might see it around!

We have every word that it will make an appearance on the 2016 rally which is great.

We picked up this 98 EL falcon for a couple of bucks and cruised home with A/C and power steering.


and legged the next 2500k's back home in it! A total of more than 6300ks in about 10 days!


A massive THANK YOU to all the VWW followers, and those who have supported us with parts and wisdom.

[Preen59]

Great write up, mate. Well done again. This is the sort of thing you don't forget.