That's a very good price, considering all the parts probably were sandblasted prior to getting powder coated.
Throughout the last couple of weeks, I have been gathering parts to get this done. Finally, except for a few bolts that I just couldn't bring myself to put back on the car because of rust and bad threads, i have finally got everything I need to reassemble the front lower subframe: I have here Sandblasted and powder coated front lower subframe Sandblasted and powder coated front control arms with new powerflex bushings New Eurosport lower tie bar 25mm Neuspeed front sway bar, stripped and painted with new hardware and bushings NOS power steering rack with Powerflex bushing Cleaned axle carriers and installed new hubs and bearings New ball joints New VF MK3 Transmission mount (enroute) I also rebuilt and powder coated the Coraddo brake calipers with all new seals covers: I am still waiting to get my transmission to get to the major under the hood work. I need to find a good welder to help me get the bay smoothed so that i can get it painted before putting all this stuff in there. I found some vintage VW colors and decided to do the bay this color: and eventually the outside this color:
I did a much less ambitious project a while back. My wife had an 83 GTI and I had an 81 Pickup. The GTI got totaled in a bizare accident where it went up over a curb, bent the oil pan and one of the front control arms and I bought the salvage. I removed all of the GTI parts, (including the dash which was perfect - unheard of in a car this old, but my wife works nights so her car is in the garage during daylight hours - no sun damage) and installed everything into the pickup. I used the truck's transmission tho, as the final drive in those early GTI's was really low, using the truck transmission meant I wasn't always looking for that missing 6th gear! Once I got done mixing and matching, I had a nice little GTI pickup truck, with the Recarro seats, dash and center console (with gauges of course) and all the exterior appointments as well. It had a bit more HP than the truck came with, and the longer final drive gave good fuel mileage and lower RPM cruising on my 40 mile work commute. Years later i sold it to my son and he drove it for several years before a lady in a Caddy totaled it by T-boning him.
Sounds like a hot Cabby :cornut: I finally got the subframe assembled: The new VF trans mount arrived. I cleaned and painted the centers of the rotors and put them on the new hubs. I got the powder coated calipers assembled and ready to go. My non-ABS bracket arrived and I have a guy that is going to do the fabrication of the DBW pedal bracket on the Coraddo pedals. I need to get new brake and clutch master cylinders too. The O2J trans is going to be shipped out to me next week. I can't afford the clutch, flywheel, and LSD for it yet, but I am going to bolt it up to the engine so I can figure out where everything is going to go. I guess this means that I need to get serious about the bay. I really want to smooth it, but I don't weld, and really don't want to pay for the welding.
Learning to weld is no biggie......go to Harbor Freight and buy an inexpensive MIG welder, one that will use gas. Go to your local welding supply dealer and get a bottle of MIG gas, and go online for instructions on how to do it. Welding sheet metal with MIG is dead easy, and it's a skill you'll use the rest of your life. money and time well spent, I promise! Just be aware that you can't weld 1/2" thick steel with it, and you'll be OK.
It is really one of those things I want to learn. My son is going to take welding at the community college in February and i may just do it with him. Got my O2J transmission Tuesday and even though I don't have a clutch or flywheel, I went ahead and got it bolted onto the engine. Here is a shot of the front and driver's side mounts installed: I am going to go ahead and drop it into the bay to see if everything fits. I am also going to start running the wires and figure out where all of the accessory brackets need to be installed. I am going to pick up the front cross member this weekend since it is having the Powerflex bushings pressed into it. I also got the VF front motor mount for it. Here's the front subframe on: So far I have the non-ABS bracket and brake booster painted and together, I have a Corrado 22mm brake master cylinder on the way, the pedals will be ready next week, and I am getting a clutch master cylinder, slave cylinder, and line from a Corrado to get the hydro clutch worked out. Once I work out where everthing goes, I'll pull it all out again except for the lower subframe so it can be towed, and I'll get the bay smoothed and painted. I was referred to a local guy here that lives down the street because I was looking for a someone that could do some welding. He came out to the house yesterday to check out the project and rolled up in a 51 Cadillac with a chopped top riding on bags. Turns out he has a shop called Leet Auto Design and has been building custom cars for almost 20 years. He said he didn't know what to expect when I told him I was working on a GTI, but after coming over and checking it out, he was pretty impressed and said I was doing things the right way. He is going to work with me to smooth and paint the bay, graft the steering columns together, get the dash fitted so it is done right using the metal dash support from the donor car, and get the shifter mounted. He said it would be cool to work on his first VW. Yesterday I picked up my clutch master and slave cylinder and the line to connect them so I have all I need to connect the clutch to the pedals. I picked up the front crossmember after it had the new bushings pressed in and then installed the VF mount into it. I got home after dark, but I went ahead and dropped the engine in. This morning I was able to get everything lined up and get some pics: Front Mount: Everything lined up pretty well. I had to coax the trans mount to line up with a cheater bar, but it was nothing major. I was going to use the MKIV mount on the passenger side to eliminate the rear mount, but it looks like there is not enough room between the engine and frame rail so I'll see if it can be modified later. Unfortunately the SAI pump just barely hits the front crossmember so I am going to have to find a way to make it fit as well. Although I have a lot of work still to do, it is really encouraging to see this .
When you take your welding class, the Mig welding should be easy to pick up. The Tig welding is more of an art to master, but when you get it right, the welds purrrrrty. Good luck! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'm looking forward to it. When I can afford it :lol:, but there is no hurry because there is still a lot to do before I need it.
I got some axles last night from a 16V Scirocco and they are OE German, not Chinese made, so they should be strong enough, but will also make a good platform to upgrade on if needed. To install the axles, I need to install 100mm flanges from a MKIV TDI on the transmission instead of the 108mm that are on it. I have the correct flanges on the way so I should be able to get this on the ground soon. I also found a new ECS Stage 1 Clutch upgrade kit in the VWVortex classifieds for $200, so I have the clutch solved, and an OE Audi TT shifter for the trans. I am still on the hunt for an affordable LSD though.
I have been neglecting this thread. I got an ECS Stage 1 Clutch kit for only $200. Got that installed and bolted the transmission on. The shell came back from the painter and looks great: I already bolted the front subframe and brake booster on. The green tape is because the two hook was painted the same as the engine bay and I stripped it and am painting with some Eastwood chassis black. It is primed now, and tomorrow I'll get it finished. I should be able to drop the engine in and start getting everything installed. I also got my pedals back: What had to be done here is the GTI pedals had a cable clutch and accelerator so I had to get a clutch master cylinder, clutch slave cylinder, and the pedals from a Corrado since they work with a hydraulic clutch and bolt right in, but the accelerator had to be cut off since it uses a cable and the drive by wire bracket from the MKIV had to be welded on. It looks like the angle and height is right, but I need to get them in with a seat and see how they feel. I should get the shifter soon too. I am also using a front cross member, radiator, and fan from a Corrado as well so there is a lot of Corrado in this car.
I didn't get much time to work yesterday and I have to work this whole weekend, but yesterday I was able to go through the sub frame and front cross member with my Bentley and a torque wrench and get everything torqued to spec. I also found a cool polishing shop so I had some more things polished: I also dropped of the trans mount bracket and the clutch slave cylinder. This stuff gets addictive though because now I want to have the whole transmission done.
Thanks, I got back from AMVIV and was able to dedicate some time to this project. The gas pedal was too high so it had to be moved down. I didn't account for the fact that the pedals would be lower after they were connected to the brake and clutch master cylinders. It is in and good now. I am going to get a newly rebuilt trans with a TDI 5th gear and Peloquin LSD in it in a couple of weeks so the engine is still not in. I have just been trying to get all of the wiring run. I also got the MKIV HVAC installed. I need to update this with some pics soon.