MK1 Ragtop

[sports racer]

First rabbit you hit will wipe out that carbon fibre lip.

The one I want to fit will be 10mm thick alloy with a skid plate going back to the footwell and enough reinforcement to hit a roo and not come off 2nd best.

Have you tested the thermostat in boiling water to see that it opens as the water heats up?

[MarcusAurelius]

First rabbit you hit will wipe out that carbon fibre lip.

The one I want to fit will be 10mm thick alloy with a skid plate going back to the footwell and enough reinforcement to hit a roo and not come off 2nd best.

Have you tested the thermostat in boiling water to see that it opens as the water heats up?

I definitely don't expect a long life expectancy out of it haha

Unfortunately the thermostat is 100% functioning, so whether it's a mk3 thermo advertised as a mk1, I have no clue. The housing itself might be different internally. Either way, the old one was working fine, the original west Germany product [emoji14]

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[MarcusAurelius]

So.. a bit of Dulux gloss white enamel happened...

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[sports racer]

Love it. Lot of negative camber on those wheels though. What's your tyre wear like?

[MarcusAurelius]

Love it. Lot of negative camber on those wheels though. What's your tyre wear like?

The wear is nothing I can complain about. Given I've tracked and dragged the car, however, tyre wear isn't top priority on my list

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[GeorgeMK1]

Looking good man! Love the little CF splitter

[MarcusAurelius]

Looking good man! Love the little CF splitter

Thanks man when I have time, I'll be attempting the rear arch spats and a rear diffuser

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[MarcusAurelius]

So did a little, check of the motor today that included a compression test and a timing light.

Cylinder 1: 140 cold / 135 hot
Cylinder 2: 136 cold / 125 hot
Cylinder 3: 143 cold / 135 hot
Cylinder 4: 145 cold / 132 hot

The plug colours seemed reasonable but plug 3 was much more black. In all honesty, I have no clue how to correctly ready a plug haha

Also had 10° of advance at 800rpm. I am not running vacuum advance due to the fact the canister on the dizzy is shot and it really runs fine without if. I'll be rectifying it in another way shortly anyway. How much more advance can we get out of the 1.8 8v's??

All in all, I'm happy the way she runs👌👌

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[sports racer]

Number 3 is getting too much fuel or not enough spark to burn the fuel. It's running rich while the others look ok.

For the timing, at idle advance the dizzy (turn anti-clockwise) until the engine starts to slow down a bit, then turn it back (clockwise) a few mm until it picks up revs again. Take it for a run. If it pings (rattling sound under load) it's advanced too far so turn the dizzy clockwise a few mm.

Trial and error until you've found that sweet spot.

Car is still looking awesome.

Cheers

Paul

[MarcusAurelius]

Update on the ragtop

Catch can, new thermo switch (old one got stuck on..) and... Drumroll...

5 speed!!!
Massive thanks to Jordan for pretty much rebuilding it under my supervision and Bryce for letting me use his press for the diff bolts.

Specs? (Correct me if I'm wrong Jordan) it's a mk2 GTI box with new synchros, mk3 3rd/4th synch hub, diff bolts, new linkage bushes and a TT short shift lever. Modded the 4sp mount and linkages to work with the 5speed. Fair bit of fiddling around but hell yess!!!

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[browndizzle]

So much awesome here! Very tidy!

[GeorgeMK1]

Very sweet work indeed man Mark and Jordan! You guys need to come to the west and give me motivation haha. What was the point of rebuilding the whole gearbox? Better ratios or? Surely you could have found another 5 speed g'box and mount? I have a 5 speed sitting in the backyard haha

[MarcusAurelius]

Just for piece of mind. My 4sp was like a chocolates milkshake, only crunchy.. so just wanted to avoid that. I always intended on doing the diff bolt swap so might as well freshen up the box while I'm at it. I could've bought a mount, but where's the fun in that [emoji14]

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[MarcusAurelius]

I did a thing..
Visited Scorcher in nunawading and got my dizzy converted to full mechanical advance, vac canister delete, recurved, rebuilt and ready to go!! Not sure what to expect by hell yeah

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[sports racer]

Before they touched the dizzy did they take measurements with the car running?