# Cabrio project for the wifey... build thread



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*16V Turbo Cabriolet project for the wifey... build thread*

Picked this up in Feb for $650 for a project car for the wife. Finally brought it home yesterday to gut the disgusting fn carpet and interior and get the clutch swapped out. 

I managed to get almost all of the interior out minus the door panels and dash (which will probably stay in anyway) and the trans yesterday after a really late start.

So far the car seems to be rust free minus the one big blister on the drivers rear quarter. I was pretty nervous about the rear floor and spare tire well as the top was less than water tight. However, I have yet to see any rust inside, phew.

Here are a few higlights. 































Apparently cleaning EVER wasnt one of hte previous owners strong points. 



















































After pulling the carpets and vacuuming up what wasnt stuck to the floor from all the fn pine sap. Im guessing there is still $1.53 in change stuck down there. 
































The exceptionally maintained motor and wheels (yes that is like 5 years of rusty brake dust on an aluminum wheel). 























Siqq brakes











And the super clean trans, complete with what looks like bubble gum sealing the fn speedo cable 





















And my sweatshirt pwnage











Im hoping to clean up the trans and get the clutch swapped tonight. 

More to come. 

Dan

Didnt get much done last week as my wife was away and I was on monster watch for three days. I did manage to get the trans degreased and "desanded". I swear someone smeared it in grease and rolled it in a sandbox. Its not perfect, but I can work on and touch it without getting filthy.


























Then tonight I got the flywheel, clutch and pressure plate off. The damn clutch like "poured" out. All that on the floor is JUST from the clutch. Anyway, the clutch is pretty toasty it seems. I need to see about resurfacing the flywheel and/or just getting a lightened one. 





































I also managed to get the new rear main seal in, and the new pressure plate mounted and torqued. I still need to do the throwout bearing etc in the trans but I ran out of time. 





































I need to order the parts to rebuild the shift linkage. I figure now is the time while I can actualy get to it all. And for $18 it cant hurt. 
I almost have the clutch back in. I was going to finish the other nite but my help didnt show so I pulled more of the interior apart instead. Then tonight I snapped some pics and cleaned the one center console piece quick. 
Yes, this car is fn nasty inside. Hopefuly sooon to be "was nasty".

Few pics
































































Clean and shiney.



















A bit more cleaning to go, but at least the dash (minus the fn glove box door) is in nice shape. Sounds like a buddy of mine may have a new glove box for me. I also pulled off the sunvisors and noticed the dome light is broken. Im sure Ill find alot more. 

No new pics at the moment. I soaked most of the vents and **** in hot soapy water a few times, and managed to scrape like 1/16" of nicotene out of the ashtray bits (fn gross). Doing so ruined the foam seals on all the vent doors so I orded up a sheet of something from McMaster to make up some new ones. 
I also ordered a "few" new parts for it:

Top and all the cables for it (old top was really faded and cracked in a few spots)
Jetta rear door handles (just so I can have no key holes, plus stockers hardly worked)
Front suspension and brake parts:
Bilstein HD strut inserts
Autotech lowering springs
strut mounts, bump stops, dust boots
ball joints
wheel bearings
control arm bushings
swaybar bushings
motor mounts (TT front mount and I may fill the others)
rotors
Mintex Red box pads
SS braided brake lines
Everything should be here by next monday, or sooner. 
So this gets the project up to today. From now on I will update this thread as I go. 
Comments, thoughts, etc welcome. 

Dan


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## GrammatonCleric (Nov 5, 2006)

*Re: Cabrio project for the wifey... build thread (juicedz4)*

Man, that thing was vicious inside. I thought my GTI was bad after sitting in a field for 9 years.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: Cabrio project for the wifey... build thread (GrammatonCleric)*

Yep. And to think some lady was driving around in it like that just a month or two before I picked it up. I think the inspection was still good when I got it. 
Dan


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## vanaman (Aug 26, 2003)

*Re: Cabrio project for the wifey... build thread (juicedz4)*

to think that if i hadnt saved my 98 thats what it would have looked like.
steve


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## giver (Mar 17, 2006)

surrrrrrrrrrrre. For the wife. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
*searches for the 'jerkoff' smiley*
"Honey, I'm doing this for you. Not because I need a project to **** around with"








looks good


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (giver)*

Seriously it is for her. I have enough of my own projects to keep me super busy for just about ever. 
I figure the gas mileage in this will be a teeny bit better than her suburban. Plus she misses her old jettas. 
Dan


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## JPX (Nov 6, 2005)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

Amazing photos of this project! Can't wait to see more.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (JPX)*

Lot of progress tonight. 
I got the clutch and trans in, installed the new clutch cable and the speedo cable. 
Then I pulled the entire front suspension and brakes off. EVERYTHING was original: ball joints still rivited on, rotors still had the retaining screws. Of course its all fn junk too. So I need to add tie rods to my ever growing list of **** to buy. Also the cv boots are really dry rotted so I may toss some new ones on now while its all apart. 
In all this I only broke one bolt, one of the swaybar mount studs at the control arm. 
Dan


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## Shawn B (Nov 27, 2003)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

Lookin' good! Glad to see someone making some progress on a DIY level. If you are looking to replace the glove box with one that doesn't have high heel scratches in it send me an IM as I think I still have a black glove box lid.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (Shawn B)*

Thanks, but a local buddy of mine has a good one set aside for me. 
I do need to start looking for some fender trim strips.... I know good luck. 
Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

More progress tonight. 
I pulled the springs, and the stock strut inserts out of the housings and got almost everythign apart. I just need to press out the wheel bearings and the one bushing in the control arms. I also figured while it was all apart that Id stich up the control arm seams quick (mainly since I havent played with the sand blaster or welder in a while). WIth any luck Ill get the rest of it apart tomorrow and get everything to powdercoat on friday. 
Also some of the new goodies showed up today. 
Old junk



















"clean" brake fluid














































Few new parts










Dan


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## goosler (Feb 11, 2002)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

Dan, Hey, GREAT work so far man......reminds me of a cabby I had about 10 years ago....It belonged to a flight attendant who I swear not only never cleaned the car, inside/outside/nevermind the enginebay or trunk, but I swear she did all her "personal grooming" & beauty rituals in the car.....I found enough makeup, lipsticks & goo (for lack of a better term) as well as about 4lbs of all kinds, shapes & colors of human hairs...littered throught the car, YUCK. Hopefully your wife will appreciate the cabby more than the old owner....... Pat


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

I picked up a few new (used) things from a local buddy of mine. 
small spline column with switches and a nice 4button wheel
one front fender trim strip (im still short the pass side fender one)
swaybar mount to replace the one I broke
a non scratched glove box lid
manual axles in pieces
Looks like all of the other parts I ordered, minus the springs are due on monday. Springs are due next thursday. 
With any luck im going to drop all the suspension parts off for powdercoat monday and should have them back late next week /crosses fingers. 
Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

Little more progress today. I got the wheel bearings and the control arm bushings pressed out. Everything is now torn down and ready to go to powder coat tomorrow am. 
I also got the calipers off and attempted to get the soft brakes lines off the car. They wouldnt budge so I thought id let them soak for a day or two. The calipers are pretty beat, so I figure ill just replace them with some rebuilt units. 
Dan


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## DaveLinger (Jul 6, 2005)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

GREAT thread, keep up the great work - I can tell this is going to be pristine! http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## DaddyOfPayton (Feb 24, 2004)

*Re: (DaveLinger)*

Subscribed.
It looks good so far


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## CISinjected (Jan 31, 2007)

looks pro, big ups to Billsteins. Best strut I've ever owned.
This is exactly the type of project I want to start.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Yesterday's progress:
I got the wheel bearings and the control arm bushings pressed out. Everything is now torn down and ready to go to powder coat tomorrow am. 

I also got the calipers off and attempted to get the soft brakes lines off the car. They wouldnt budge so I thought id let them soak for a day or two. The calipers are pretty beat, so I figure ill just replace them with some rebuilt units
I dropped all the parts off at the powder coater this am. Hopefully Ill have them back fri/sat.

Tonights progress:
I got the TT front mount installed along with the starter and all of the wiring that I unhooked to get the trans out. So basically the motor is back where it should be. I just need to press out and replace the trans mount and reinstall the lower and the motor and trans will be all set. 

Next, I thought Id try to get the soft lines off and clean up the wheel wells. I managed to strip the hard line nut on the pass side, even after soakng it and using the right sized flare nut wrenches. So now I need to find a new M10x1mm bubble flare nut (anyone have a p/n







). 

FInally, I scraped a ton of dirt and aftermarket, waxy like, undercoating off, cleaned it up with a ton of paint thinner and rags, and put some black spray on bed liner over the factory undercoating. I know its a little hack , but the factory coating seemed pretty intact and removing it isnt on my hot list. At least its clean and one color now.

I got another pile of parts in today as well. Now IM just missing the springs which wil be in on thrusday. 

Todays pics:

TT front mount, was a nice tight fit, comared to the sloppy ripped stock one.









New stuff









Orig wheel well









After scraping and scrubbing









All paitned up









Tomorrow or wed's plan is to get the new trans mount in, clean up the other wheel well and paint it, and try to fix the one brake line (if I can get the right nut). If so, I should be able to get the new ss brake lines on and be ready for the supension to go back in sunday or early next week. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

Didnt get too much done tonight. I finally finished disassembling and scrubbing and reassembling all the nasty vents. 

Original









All apart









Cleaned up and back together



















Next update should be a bit more exciting. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Progress has been slow as of late as I am still waiting on the poweder coat stuff to come back. Now they are saying thrusday, oh well. 

I did have a chance to get the new foam put on the doors of the vents and get them all back together as well as clean up a few more interior plastic parts. I think all I have left is the various dash switches and the column trim and a few parts around the top near the back seat.

Vent foam



















Cleaned up dash pieces





































The dirtiest window switches ever, even dirty inside. 



















and cleaned up 










I also painted the edges and hub section of the new rotors, the tops of the new strut mounts and the ball joints. Hopefully to keep things from rusting as long as possible. 

I just need to fix the one brake line and clean up the other fender well before thursday and I should be able to get alot of the new suspensin and brakes in by the weekend. 

Dan


_Modified by juicedz4 at 1:34 PM 1-22-2008_


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## automk2slowness (Apr 16, 2006)

wow, im loving your project for your wife.
she must really love you too for it lol


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## JPX (Nov 6, 2005)

*Re: (automk2slowness)*

What a crazy amount of dirt and grime. 
For the vents, you should try to take out as much of the ventilation tubing from under the dash and clean them out as well. No sense in blowing crap through your freshly cleaned vents.
This car looks like it is going places. Very exciting to watch the action!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (JPX)*

agreed, and its on the list. 
Actually I pulled out a couple of the flexible tubes and they are quite clean inside, surprisingly so. Still I will definitely get in there as good as possible. Lots of compressed air should help








Dan


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## 2low2go (Apr 18, 2003)

damn! soo much dirt makes me wanna kill people that let 5h!t grow on their cars like that. lookin good on the clean up tho!!


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## Colombian Gringo (Jun 7, 2003)

*Re: Cabrio project for the wifey... build thread (juicedz4)*

You're really leaving no stone unturned. The attention to detail is impressive. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif That's going to be one nice Cabby when you're done.


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## glull (Dec 31, 2007)

*Re: Cabrio project for the wifey... build thread (Colombian ******)*

I'm gonna have to swing by there sometime and see if it's all for real. You are about 2 months ahead of me! Garage is too freakin' cold right now. Nice work!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: Cabrio project for the wifey... build thread (glull)*

Thats what they make heaters for








Dan


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## moparVWfreak (Sep 5, 2005)

damn! looks like our 81 when i took it apart. 93?? i couldn't help but notice the heated seat switches. nice lookin car all in all though. i paid what you did for our 81 2 years ago. and its still not on the road.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (moparVWfreak)*

Yep, its an abused 93. heh
Dan


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## crazyreturns (Nov 22, 2007)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

I'm digging your attention to detail with cleaning the interior pieces. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## 89wolfsburg (Mar 14, 2001)

*Re: (crazyreturns)*

You are going to lose 50lbs of just dirt.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (89wolfsburg)*

Picked up a few goodies today. All but the front strut tubes which will be ready sat am. Im hoping to have it all back together sunday. 




























Dan


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## 66busman (Jan 11, 2008)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

These parts look great! Me likey metallic!


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## kamzcab86 (Feb 14, 2002)

*Re: (66busman)*








Holy cow was that poor thing filthy! Good to see she's getting all cleaned up... nice job! http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (kamzcab86)*

Finally some more progress. Sunday I got the new wheel bearings pressed in as well as the control arm bushings. I got some stuff on the car but didnt get any pics until today. 

Today I finally picked up the strut tubes from powder. They coulndt match the bilstein yellow exactly, but its close enough considering how far awaay the rears are. I also got both strut assemblies together, both control arms on, passs side complete brakes and new ss braided line on, both struts in, and the sway bar on. 

The damn swaybar had no grease left in the bushigns at all, if fact I almost had to use a pair of pliers to get the center ones moving again. A little prothane grease and all is well again.

I did run into a snag. One of the rubber boots in the new caliper is wrong. The damn guide pin wont fit thru worth a ****. So I need to order anoter caliper and pull the boot out of it and return it. Also I keep forgettig to order the new tie rods so thats on tomorrows list with the caliper. 





































I still need to put the axles in and do the final ball joint bolting. With any luck Ill have the car back on the ground and out of the garage on sunday. 

Dan


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## dasdachshund (Jan 3, 2006)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

Keep it up, juice.















-dasdachshund


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## brilliantyellowg60 (Aug 30, 2001)

*Re: (dasdachshund)*

Done yet?


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

no smarty pants, not yet.








Gonna head out for a bit tonight and try to be ready for the tie rods and such to show up tomorrow. With any luck it will be in the trailer on sunday. 
Dan


_Modified by juicedz4 at 12:10 AM 1-31-2008_


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## brilliantyellowg60 (Aug 30, 2001)

*Re: (juicedz4)*


_Quote, originally posted by *juicedz4* »_no smarty pants, not yet.








Gonna head out for a bit tonight and try to be ready for the tie rods and such to show up tomorrow. With any luck it will be in the trailer on sunday. 
Dan

_Modified by juicedz4 at 12:10 AM 1-31-2008_

trailer to where?


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

just to store it in, so its out of the garage. I need the room for some cavy projects for a month or so. 
Ill probalby start working on the interior panels while its outside. 
Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished putting everything together last night. I just need to tighten one axle nut, bleed front brakes and put some trans fluid in. Then just wheels and it should be able to come out of the garage finally. 
I snapped two new pics of the dirvers side. Not much diff that before, just all together.



















Dan


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## n3ph1m (Apr 6, 2007)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

looks beautiful bro keep up the super fast progress i wish i had this kind of time on my hands to work on my cabetta cant wait to see the finished product http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Not much time involved really. I usually work from about 9pm to 12pm maybee two to three nights a week, and a couple hours on sundays.


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## G60MM (Aug 11, 2005)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

update !!!!!!!!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

unfortunately nothing new to report. 
The car is back on the ground, but the starter is junk. Hopefully Ill get a new one in the next week or so, then maybee start on the interior. 
Ive been busy getting my cavy ready so the cabby has been sitting idle. 
Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

A little bit of news on this, no real progress tho. 
I picked up a 2.0 16v saturday to swap in. I was thinking about doing an aba swap, but this seemed like a better idea :shrugs: At $250 bux for everything I couldnt complain










Also I think I decided on a color scheme for the car. I had a buddy pchop a silver cabby (sorry to whoever's pic I stole







)










Thoughts anyone?

_Modified by juicedz4 at 3:01 PM 10-21-2008_

_Modified by juicedz4 at 3:02 PM 10-21-2008_


_Modified by juicedz4 at 3:03 PM 10-21-2008_


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## SpoolinJetta18T (Jul 30, 2004)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

WOW nice good job and im sure the wife will be happy and making you happy too........


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## joey1 (Oct 23, 2007)

where in NY did you get that 2.0 16v for $250? im looking for one myself


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## joey1 (Oct 23, 2007)

nice build by the way


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (joey1)*

From brilliantyellowg60. He was parting a 91 passat.








Dan


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## edubA2seattle (Sep 13, 2001)

enjoying this!


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## vwnut18t (Jun 5, 2004)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

Nice build man. I have been wanting to do the same for my wife. I even have some good candidates for the picking but it seems my Daily drivers end up getting the funds







Ahh well one day, until then I will watch yours http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## TightDub (Dec 24, 2003)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif Glad I cicked in


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

I decided to just pull the motor now, since Im doing the swap eventually anyway, and I dont need the car done for summer as my wifey can drive the Avant now. 

Plus I need the room in my garage to work on a buddys car etc.

Im so glad I pulled it now, what a fn disaster the engine bay is. 




























I think Im going to do a bit of shaving on the engine bay, keeping the wiper box etc, but at least patch up any unused holes etc. 

More to come, probabably in a couple weeks. 

Dan 


_Modified by juicedz4 at 3:05 PM 10-21-2008_


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## carreraboy911 (Apr 25, 2003)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

awesome !!! http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
I almost went thru the same thing ! 
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zer...47460
the satisfaction (when you done) is awesome !
godd luck !








PS what's the choice for rims ?


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## Colombian Gringo (Jun 7, 2003)

*Re: (juicedz4)*


_Quote, originally posted by *juicedz4* »_
Also I think I decided on a color scheme for the car. I had a buddy pchop a silver cabby (sorry to whoever's pic I stole







)











Anytime http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif Not feeling the two tone though.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (carreraboy911)*

I think the 16" Rover OE wheels (or whatever) that GAP has for 325/set.... 









Your cabby is super nice... whats that front lip you have on it? 
Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

Wow, its been a while since I posted anything, since well I havent done anything. 
Earlier this week I pressure washed the engine bay, sicne I happened to have the pwasher out etc. 
It cleaned up pretty decent for how caked on the grease and dirt was. 





































Ok, that is probably about all until the fall.









Dan


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## awalls (Dec 10, 2007)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

Its coming along great, cant wait to see the finished product, don't know about the two tone, let your wife pick the color, its her car right







jk keep us updated


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (awalls)*

Started cleaning up the 16V. I got most of the accessoires etc stripped off and spent about 2 hours tonight scraping and cleaning off the super thick layer of oil/dirt/whatever.

Coming along slow but sure. 





































After some cleaning. 




























Dan


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## 35i 2000 (Jan 27, 2005)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

loooks gooood!!

are you going to run motronic? digi 2? magasquirt? SDS Standalone














?


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (35i 2000)*

megasquirt and ITBs on the stock motor for now. Probably build a head once the car is rolling, then swap that on.








Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

Sine Im going to use ITBs and wanted to swap to a serp belt setup, and non a/c ABA brackets are nearly impossible to come by, I came up with my own setup. 

I got an ABA alternator from my buddies yard for $20. Eventually it will need to be pulled apart and blasted etc. 

I machined a block to mount the top of the alternator over the waterpump housing, utilizing the top two bolts. Then came up with an adjustable link, attached to the ps pump bracket, using some spacers that I turned on the lathe at the alternator end. 

The belt is a 33" Dayco (01 Infinity Q45 waterpump belt). The crank pulley is the ebay underdrive pulley that I machined the V belt drive off the front and 1/2" off the back. It lines up nicely with the VR6 waterpump pulley that I pulled off my old GTI motor. 

I dont have any competed shots of it out of the car yet (since I dropped the motor in quick on sunday to measure for the radiator and oil coolers). 

All of the pictures can be found here: http://clubhousecustoms.com/co...m.php

A few highlights:

My first mockup out of wood.... easier to cut than aluminum.









First pass with the aluminum (I forgot to add extra to the one dim, hence the washers). 









The adjustable link and spacers.









All put together using a junk 5rib belt from our Audi, cut and taped together 









Installed on the motor with the real belt and the extra parts of the ps bracket machined off, cleaned up, blasted etc. Also the Rev2 top bracket is in there now, notice no more washers.


















I will probably pull the motor back out tonight, then I can get some better shots of the entire setup. 

Next, once the custom 36-1 trigger wheel Im having waterjet cut arrives I will be mounting that to the back of the crank pulley and working on the mount for the VR sensor. 

Also I got the GSXR TBs in a couple weeks ago and have begun to mod them. Pics soon of that project. 

All for now. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

So I havent updated this in a LONG time. I was planning on running ITBs, which I spent a decent amount of time on, but recently decided to do a mild turbo setup instead. 
Anyway, Im going to try to get this post up to speed by posting in some updates I did on a local forum. It might read a little funny, but after this post I will start updating this regularly. 
---------------------------------------------------------
Picked up the waterjet cut 36-1 trigger wheel yesterday, turned out pretty sweet. Should be test fitting it on the back of the crank pulley tomorrow nite. 











Little more progress last night. I pulled the motor back out quick and test fit the trigger wheel. I had to just file a tiny bit on the inside hole to get it to slip over (Which was the plan since its easier to make the hole bigger than smaller). I actually did first put the trigger wheel in the toaster and it slipped right over the hub, which had been in the cold garage all week, but I needed it to come off again so I went with the file. 

Couple pics of how it will mount to the crank pulley. 



















Next I need to mount the VR sensor. I have a piece of square aluminum tubing on order to make the bracket. That will probably happen tuesday ish.
Aluminum came yesterday for the VR sensor mount. Was pretty simple really. I may clean up some of the edges a bit more, and I need to finish drilling the second sensor mounting hole yet, but otherwise its basically done. 





































I also got the waste spark coil that I plan on using (newer ford dealeo). Should be a nice fit where the stock distributor once lived. 










Cleaned up the edges of the bracket today at work and bead blasted it quick. Its done now. I double checked the VR sensor to wheel clearance and its 1.75mm as shown in the picture below. 



















I just need to time the trigger wheel to the crank pulley and bolt it down. 


Finally took a picture of the exhaust flange that I got about a month ago. $36 shipped from a guy in Canada I found on Honda-tech. Ill be making my own header since I refuse to spend $400 or whatever on a new one. I still need to get the rest of the parts for this. Probably sometime this month.




















Few new goodies came today: oil cooler, some -8an weld bungs for the motor block off plate I made and for the oil filter mount, and the connector pigtails for the VR sensor and coil pack. 




























May work on the distributor block off plate / coil mount tomorrow. 

This week I finally managed to machine the holes in the fuel rail blank from RMR and got it cut to length. I just used a 17/32" endmill for the counterbores which are 0.40" deep, and then a 0.25" thruhole. I cleaned out the burrs inside the rail with a 12" long 1/2" bit we had in the shop. Now I need to TIG on the FPR cup and the -6AN bungs and create some mounting tabs. 



















Stock injectors fit nicely.









I also cut the plate for the coil mount and distro hole plug. I had one of the guys in the shop cut the groove for the o-ring to seal around the distro hole, and made my own o-ring at home with some cord stock I had. I still need to drill the mounting holes... hopefully this weekend. 

Groove (1.92" centerline dia) and o-ring.









Close up of where I glued the cordstock together:









Perfect fit










Got the bare radiator late last week from Howe. I need to trim about 5" off the top of it and fab up some tanks, mounts etc. Prob start on this early Jan as I have another radiator to do for someone else. Its going to end up being a 10x24" dual pass, dual 1" row.
















And yes, Im making my own radiator.....
----------------------------------------------
and this is the most recent bit of work that I did on friday nite, which brings us back up to date. 
Some progress. 
I have been collecting parts for the turbo setup since the last update.
So far I have a 16G T3 turbine turbo, bosch green top inectors, OBD1 VR6 throttle body (found in my shed hah). Wed I got the weld els for the turbo manifold and the turbine inlet and outlet flanges are due this coming tuesay. 
Anyway, fri nite I was finishing up a radiator Im working on and decided to do some work on the manifold and fuel rail. 
This is what I have done so far:
I V'd the tubing out almost to a point. It took two passes to fill it in this far. I will be grinding these smooth later. 









__
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content









more in a min... my daughter is freaking out now. 
ok. 
I also got the FPR cup TIGd to the fuel rail. I still need to TIG on the -6 fittings and make some brackets for the rail. Also in this pic you can see the lower intake mani that I cut down to mainly a flange and injector cups as part of my custom short runner intake. 

















I will be updtating this more regularly now as the project moves forward. 
Dan

_Modified by juicedz4 at 1:00 PM 6-8-2009_


_Modified by juicedz4 at 8:25 AM 9-23-2009_


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

Progress, now with some pics. 
Intercooler hanging about where its going to go. I had to cut out the bracing for the upper core support and I also modified the latch to be about 1/2" shorter so I could mount the IC up as high as possible (all but one ambient air row will be above the lower metal). 








Progress on the intake manifold. 
Runners squished to match the factory lower intake that I milled down flat. The fit is near perfect inside, some simple porting should make it a perfect mate. 








Runners in place on the cut lower intake








The plenum is a 4" tube which I sectioned a 3" strip out of in order to fit a flat plate for the runners to intersect. I will be flaring the mani end of the runners and welding them on the inside then grinding smooth to make a nice transition. 








And approx location of the plenum on the runners, and a shot of the radiator that Im making. 









Finally Im almost done with the coil mount / distributor hole cover plate. I just need to find some M6 flat head screws for the mount to the motor, and round up the edges. 









Im hoping to cut the runners to lenght and flare the ends today. Also should have the TB plate and plenum end plates cut. Im also going to be playing with a way to mount the fuel rail to the intake.
Dan


----------



## gunnarpaul (Mar 3, 2008)

Wow! Just read this thread all the way through. You do some very nice work and I love the attention to detail!! Keep up the good work.


----------



## 91vert (Sep 23, 2009)

hey bro, saw your postings.... did u ever do the convertible top?? any links to instructions on how to do it?


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (91vert)*

I have not done the top yet. I was going to wait until the car got painted over winter. 
I know I saw a how to online somewhere, I cant point you to something specific tho... at least not yet. Sorry
Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

Made the oil cooler mount today. I still need to make a tiny scoop for the bottom of it, and some metal mesh to protect it from road debris. But the basic shape and placement is done. I will add real hardware to bolt it to the car once the lower core support work is done. (the little single phillips screw wont stay). 
I may also add a small strut at the bottom to keep it from swinging around. 
And it doesnt hang low, its acutally about 1/4" higher than the front lip spoiler. 
















Dan


----------



## my51chevy (Oct 20, 2008)

*Re: (91vert)*


_Quote, originally posted by *91vert* »_hey bro, saw your postings.... did u ever do the convertible top?? any links to instructions on how to do it? 

Take a look here: http://www.toplessrabbit.com/f...=1912

Thanks.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (my51chevy)*

Finished welding the AN bungs on the fuel rail. 








I machined the threaded part of the RMR cup off and bored it down so the bung would sit almost flush before welding as I needed the clearance to the head. 








I also finished welding up the exhaust mani. I still need to clean it up inside where the flange box meets the tubes. 
























I welded a Vband ring to the turbine housing outlet... F a flange. 








Also, made a mounting plate for the WG actuator. I needed to move it back some so it could clear the shock tower (also hides it nicely under the compressor). Its sort of held together with random bolts right now (and missing a couple) I just need a couple standoffs and the correct hardware. I then cut, rebent, and rewelded the acutator rod, which seems to work nicely with the hand vac. 
















Mani and turbo mounted (notice the nice wg clearance now). Also you can now see how the charge piping is going to route. 
















Next up is finishing the intake manifold. The 2.5" live center that I bought to use as a flaring die for the runners is due in today or tomorrow. Once I have them flared I can more or less weld the whole thing together. 
More to come. 
Dan 


_Modified by juicedz4 at 9:22 AM 10-7-2009_


----------



## 16volt (Oct 26, 2000)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

Top notch. Nicely done.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (16volt)*

Lots more progress tonight. the live center I ordered to use to flare the tubing showed up. I flared them all so they would be JUST big enough not to go through the hole in the flange. Here's how in pics:
















With that done I tacked the runners to what is left of the lower intake and then welded the runners to the flange on the inside. 
















welded the outside to hide the penetration from welding hte inside and to add more strength








and then ground them down wiht a carbide burr and sanded with 80 then 120 by hand. 
















And how its gonna look on the car
















The wife is going out tomorrow, so Ill be working on this after my daughter is asleep. Might get the plenum on tomorrow!
Dan


----------



## VR Vote (Sep 26, 2005)

that is pretty nice man. you sure got some skills. looks like your gonna have to adjust the bend of the IC piping thats comming up to the side of the manifold. t/b side. judging by your work thusfar though. thats a 5 second adjustment. lol.
good luck with it though.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (CamberKraut1.8t)*

I think itll be good.








Its almost done. I just need to add a bung for the IAT, weld on the fuel rail straps, and figure out how Im gonna handle vac lines. 
Welding to the old cast aluminum sucks. 
















































































Dan


----------



## VR Vote (Sep 26, 2005)

+ For short ass IC pipes.
loving it


----------



## Toadster (Nov 19, 2001)

*Re: (CamberKraut1.8t)*

OMG wow - nice build!!!


----------



## bingbongplop3 (Aug 5, 2008)

NICEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
** srry to go a little off topic.. but ABA turbo or 16vt?? which one would be better?


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (bingbongplop3)*

Thanks everyone. 
And there prob isnt a "better" choice, just depends what you want to do etc. 
Dan


----------



## bbrown (Apr 10, 2009)

*FV-QR*

Just read the whole thing and







WOW. You have some really good welding skills. I really hope to be able to TIG like that someday. I stick weld just fine, but there is something about GTAW that really fetches me up. Looking good and this will be a thread worth keeping an eye on. Good work.


----------



## dubsonparade (Jul 4, 2006)

*Re: FV-QR (bbrown)*

Great Tig skills http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
Also Sweet build I'll be watching this one


----------



## Bubble Block (Sep 19, 2009)

What /\ said







Great Build Great tigs cant wait to see the finish


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (Bubble Block)*

Finished the intake up today. Basically just welded on a few bungs for IAT, BOV (crap, forgot brake booster) and FPR. Also got the fuel rail straps cut down and welded on (hate the cast alum). 
















































I also made up these as part of a project to come.
















Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

A little more progress. 
Finished up the oil cooler lower mount and rock guard. 
































I also cut out the new support for the upper core support, and finished modifying the latch assembly. No pics of that just yet. 
Dan


----------



## YJSAABMAN (Jun 28, 2006)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

Bravo! Excellent fab work here! Can't wait to see the finished product!


----------



## DanylBritts (Aug 29, 2006)

big bumps man, this is turning out freakin great!


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (DanylBritts)*

More progress. 
Got the new core support bracket welded in with a provision for the hood latch release (hell with a cable). Was pretty simple to mod the hood release for a lever. Just welded a little piece of steel to where the cable normally attached.
























I shortened the hood catch thing so that the IC could be mounted as high as possible. It will be a litle trickier to open the hood, but oh well. 

















Then the angle was off so I had to mod it more. ugh
















I also have a good start on the IC mounts. I just need to finalize them once the radiator comes in tomorrow and I can test fit that as well. 
























Lower mount. Ill weld this to the IC once the placement is fixed.








And the wg actuator mount








Dan


----------



## bingbongplop3 (Aug 5, 2008)

you are a welding god! amazing build! gahh im jealous!


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (bingbongplop3)*

Radiator showed up yesterday. I said F with making one now that I dont really have to. I have that set in place and finished up the IC mounts (just need to tap the lower mouting hole in the steel strap). Also got the IC piping welded up, all two welds.
Tomorrow Im going to make up a shroud for the rad fan and some straps for the upper radiator mounts. The bottom mounts are just pins that sit in the lower core support, factory deal.
Cold side, needs BOV flange and the ends beaded.
















Still not super sweet, but they work
















Dan


----------



## Lagoyda50 (Apr 29, 2008)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

nice local build that i never know about


----------



## foxontherun (Dec 6, 2006)

*FV-QR*

i think i hate you. great work so far bud. keep it up...
you can finish mine if you want! haha


----------



## YJSAABMAN (Jun 28, 2006)

*Re: FV-QR (foxontherun)*

If i had the tools at my disposal...That's what I'm most jealous of!


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: FV-QR (YJSAABMAN)*

I was out in the garage tonight replacing change over bushings on the GTI and decided to finish up the radiator shroud quick. 
Next up, upper radiator mounts. Then finish up charge pipes and make some radiator lines early next week.
































Dan


----------



## Thehatta (Feb 9, 2009)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

Excellent build...the setups coming out outstanding....i need to learn how to welb


----------



## tyke_one (Dec 21, 2002)

*Re: (Thehatta)*

You must really love your wife.


----------



## Raketemensch (Aug 12, 2009)

*FV-QR*

Are you still telling yourself that this is for your wife?


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: FV-QR (Raketemensch)*

Its def for the wife. I already have my own money pit. 
























Dan


----------



## 87cabrio (Jun 16, 2009)

......holy gajeeeeeeebussss.....


----------



## Toadster (Nov 19, 2001)

*Re: FV-QR (juicedz4)*

why the enclosed fan shroud?
btw http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: FV-QR (Toadster)*

So the fan can draw air through the entire radiator, not just where the fan is mounted. 
I may add some flaps to the solid part if I think I need more cooling while moving (like the stock fan shroud). When stopped they close allowing the fan to draw air through the entire rad. 
Dan


----------



## Lagoyda50 (Apr 29, 2008)

*Re: FV-QR (juicedz4)*

where in rochester are you


----------



## d90dublady (Oct 27, 2009)

*Re: FV-QR (Lagoyda50)*








http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

We live out in Macedon.


----------



## bbrown (Apr 10, 2009)

*FV-QR*

Is that a 2nd Generation Chevy Cavalier?


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: FV-QR (bbrown)*

sure is.


----------



## bbrown (Apr 10, 2009)

*FV-QR*

What's going on in the engine bay as that looks nothing like the 3.1 that was in my '93 Z24. What gave the car away to me was the upper strut bar and surprisingly the door jam. Plus that teal color (don't know the paint code) had to have been applied to about 70% of the Z's. Now your username makes a lot of sense to me.


----------



## YJSAABMAN (Jun 28, 2006)

*Re: FV-QR (bbrown)*


_Quote, originally posted by *bbrown* »_What's going on in the engine bay as that looks nothing like the 3.1 that was in my '93 Z24. What gave the car away to me was the upper strut bar and surprisingly the door jam. Plus that teal color (don't know the paint code) had to have been applied to about 70% of the Z's. Now your username makes a lot of sense to me.









Thank you! It was bothering me that I couldn't think of what it was, but knew I knew! 
Yeah, definitely a turbo 4 banger, not a 3.1L V6. My roommate used to have a '98 Z24. Then he saw the light and ditched the J-Body for a VW.







Looks like a serious contender, though. Nice work!


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: FV-QR (YJSAABMAN)*

Yep its 2.2L OHV turbo. 
Anyway, just came out to work on the cabby. Should have a decent update around 12 or 1am








Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: FV-QR (juicedz4)*

Apparently I didnt make an update monday nite. I have the BOV flange welded on and it mounted. Charge pipes are all cut to lenght, just need beading. Down pipe first bend cut and tacked in place. Filter sitting more or less where it will be. (ya, I hate the turbo outlet too)
A few shots of all that. 

























Then tonight I welded up some ss weld els for the radiator lines. I just didnt think Id find hoses to fit. The top one sorta blows, but its the only way I could get it around the intake. It wont be seen and it should flow just fine. 

















I also dimpled and mounted the upper radiator shroud piece. I think I might round the inside corners so its not so square.

















Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

A little more progress. 
I hated the way the upper rad hose turned out so I got the A2 upper rad hose, made a few adjustments, one splice and it fits much much nicer. 
























I also got the IC pipes beaded. For the 2" hot side I had to come up with a new inside die for the bead roller as the std roller was just a bit too large. Its pretty crude , but the results are quite nice.
























And there is all the piping
















Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Started on the wiring. 
All of the MS fuses, relays and the MS itself will bolt to this panel (after I mill out a couple holes today). 








The fuse/relay panel I bought is completely configurable. It can hold 10 mini fuses and up to 5 micro relays. It does have a buss that I will be using for the switched power fuses (the M6 stud). The mini fuse block is for any that require constant power.








I also cut to lenght all 24 wires for the engine harness and gauges. I drilled the firewall for the connector, and temporarily mounted the bulkhead to the firewall (eventually I will mount from the inside to allow the inside harness to be removed).
Where possible I bought bare connectors and terminals to minimize the number of solder joints in the harness, see the injector harnesses below. The VR sensor pickup and ignition trigger wires will be done with separate shielded cables, run through the same harness. 








And started making the injector subharness. 
















Thats it for now. 
Dan


----------



## 16volt (Oct 26, 2000)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

I have to tell that you will be immensely happy with not dealing with the stock manifold when it comes to getting at your injectors. Mine was a royal pain. 
Not sure if the Cabby layout has the room but you could put the intake all the way forward as well.


----------



## Toadster (Nov 19, 2001)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

LOVIN the pics - dang I have no clue what's going on in here, but it's auto-wood


----------



## cabbygirltorie (Nov 13, 2009)

*Re: Cabrio project for the wifey... build thread (juicedz4)*

i just bought an '89 as a project car, but im trying to fix the OUTSIDE instead of the INSIDE haha.
i dont like how boxy it looks, i like the rounder versions of the later models.
do you think it would work to put a 2000make's fenders and hood and bumper on it?
i dont want to get the parts without knowing if it will even work or not.
any help would be great.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Honestly, if you want the newer rounder look, buy a newer rounder car. Dont wast time or money trying to change an older one. 
Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Holes cut and drilled for the fuse blocks and MS mounting this afternoon. Then tonight I got all but two wires finished for the megasquirt and two of the power wires into the fuse block. Other than running out of time I left my updated schematic at work. I really like this fuse box. The terminals that you crimp onto the wires directly interface with the fuses and the relays vs. some other cheaper boxes.
















I also got all the AN pushloc hose in from Jegs today. It fn blows. Dont every buy the Jegs brand, spend the extra like 35% to get Aeroquip. So that has to go back tomorrow. Apparently its a Gates product p/n LOL PLUS 10LOLA+. A buddy of mine thought we should call it LOLLERHOSE...
Dan


----------



## YJSAABMAN (Jun 28, 2006)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

I usually sell the Earls (Holley) brand or XRP stuff at my work. Kind of like the Turbonetics T-bolt clamps vs. the Vibrant, the Turbonetics sizing and fit is just a step ot two above.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Spent most of hte night doing some maint on the GTI. I did manage to sleeve and shrink the injector wires.








Dan


----------



## DaveLinger (Jul 6, 2005)

*Re: (juicedz4)*


_Quote, originally posted by *juicedz4* »_Spent most of hte night doing some maint on the GTI. I did manage to sleeve and shrink the injector wires.








Dan

Clean! http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Got a bit more wiring done. Mainly just need to get the main inputs and outputs wired in (+12v, ignition, fan output, fuel pump output, etc)
















Dan


----------



## unlukky (May 10, 2007)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

im really impressed with this build, great craftsmanship, welding and wiring skills


----------



## diive4sho (Feb 7, 2004)

*Re: (unlukky)*

beautiful!


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (diive4sho)*

Update, no new pics yet. 
Decided I needed some big fast progress to get things started again, so I pulled out the rear suspension and brakes. I have the beam stripped down to all but the goofy outer sway bar mounts. They have these stupid ass little clips that are hammered on.
I need to get the disc brake stuff mounted up so I can figure out what length braided lines to buy, and then get some holes for mounting tabs drilled and tapped. Then all this stuff can go out to powder while I work on other things. 
Dan


----------



## Moljinar (Sep 20, 2001)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

What sleeving did you use? I've been trying to locate some of that.

_Quote, originally posted by *juicedz4* »_Spent most of hte night doing some maint on the GTI. I did manage to sleeve and shrink the injector wires.








Dan

For that matter what coil pack/distributor are you using? 










_Modified by Moljinar at 1:01 PM 1-12-2010_


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (Moljinar)*

The expandable mesh stuff I just got from McMaster. 
Im not running a distributor. That is a ford coil pack from a focus, or simply from their zetec motor. 
Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

So Ive been busy buying parts, but havent had much time to get any real work done, well not as much as Id like anyway. 
Stuff that has come in: 
Wheels and tires








Walbro fuel pump
New fuel filters
Rear shocks and mounts
Rear axle beam bushigns
Scriocco ebrake cables (already had the rest of the disc swap parts)
Smoked headlights
H4 Hi/Low HID kit
I have the rear suspension completely out, stripped down and in the back of the GTI. Im dropping it off for powder tonight. Rear calipers are all sandblasted and ready to be rebuilt and painted. 
I worked on the engine wiring harness a little more, but nothign to see. 
Few pics of the new stuff and progress: 
16"s from DTD with 205/40 Azenis .... $614 total after rebates








Yep, Ill be that guy to put HIDs in a non projector housing. Truth is she'll prob rarely drive at night anyway. 








Empty, except for that stock exhaust that I need to get off soon. 








Stripped beam with one caliper test fit.








Things I need to order soon: 
Rear braided brake lines and adaptors
Plug wires (will have to be custom - Magnecor?)
Gaskets and timing parts for motor 
Im hoping to get the walbro and the new fuel stuff in and also the rear undbody painted up before the suspension comes back from powder.
Then I need to pull the motor, pull the dash etc out and start on the engine bay work. 
Dan


----------



## YJSAABMAN (Jun 28, 2006)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

Do work, Dan! I'd been wondering how you were doing on this! http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## T0neyDanza (Apr 25, 2007)

*Re: (YJSAABMAN)*

Some nice work coming out Rochester... Even though that place is a ****hole


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (T0neyDanza)*

Saturday I picked up the axle beam, spring cups, etc from the powder coater.
Yesterday I pulled the gas tank, fuel pump, filter etc. Also got the stock exhaust off. 
Tonight I started cleaning the rear underside of the chassis. I got the drivers wheel well basically ready for paint. I just need to sandblast and prime a couple tiny spots of surface rust. I pulled the filler neck and scraped all the dirt and crap out of the passenger side and thought about how to mount the new walbro inline pump. 
I pulled the rear sections of the clipper kit off along with a couple pounds of sand and dirt and rocks. 
Oh, I also got the Reiger front lip from WRD. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
Empty








Only a couple little spots of surface rust. 








So not clean. 
























This weeks goal is to get the rear end cleaned up, painted, and maybee the new fuel pump and filters etc back in. 
Id love to start assembling the rear suspension too, but we'll see. 
Dan


----------



## bbrown (Apr 10, 2009)

*FV-QR*

Man I love this build. Keep it coming.


----------



## MissHood (May 9, 2004)

*Re: FV-QR (bbrown)*

Nice work Dan! I feel like I want to take a road trip to NY for some motivation!
http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: FV-QR (BeatBox_kid)*

Busy nite tonight. I got the rust cleaned up and primed well. Finished cleaning up the drivers wheel well and almost all of the rest of the underside. I just need to really wash behind the tire well super good, degrease and finish the paint. Ill probabaly finish that up once spring comes and I can roll the car outside. At least now I can get the gas tank, fuel system and suspension back in!
































With any luck I may start reassembling things friday nite, or monday
Dan


----------



## Zinclay_MK2 (Dec 2, 2008)

You are the man bro nice job http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (Zinclay_MK2)*

Managed to get the rear shock/springs assembled tonight. 








And the rear stub axles, bearings and discs all on and ready to go. 








I planned on installing the gas tank tonight as well, but when I got it out of the shed and took a close look at it, the seams arent looking too good. I may just bite the bullet and put a new tank in now while its already out etc. 
Probably make a decision in the am. 
Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

Ordered the gas tank today. Hopefully it will be here before the weekend. 
Finished bead blasting the calipers, rebuilt and painted them up along with the carriers. 
















Also cleaned up and paitned the hardware for the axle beam and assembled that.
Quiet night tonight. 
Dan


----------



## Raketemensch (Aug 12, 2009)

My God, what a clean build. Loving this thread.


----------



## SergioSet (Dec 28, 2004)

Nicest and cleanest ever. Congartulations my friend very prefessional.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

New gas tank showed up yesterday. I wont be able to get it painted until sat am. I did get the beam mounting brackets bolted up and figured out the brake lines and fittings I need for the rear. With any luck Ill have the tank and rear suspesnion back in this weekend. 








Dan


----------



## gunnarpaul (Mar 3, 2008)

This is really an awesome build thread. I'm very jealous of what you've been able to accomplish and strive to come close on any one of my vehicles. Just wish I had the skills or the tools to come close. Unfortunately I'd need to win the lottery to accomplish it as I'm lacking skills, tools and work area. So here I sit living vicariously through you. Keep it up........


----------



## EmergencyPete (Feb 26, 2005)

*Re: (gunnarpaul)*

wow Good job! hopefully I'll catch up soon.


----------



## V6R (Feb 9, 2002)

*Re: (juicedz4)*


_Quote, originally posted by *juicedz4* »_So Ive been busy buying parts, but havent had much time to get any real work done, well not as much as Id like anyway. 
Stuff that has come in: 
Wheels and tires








Walbro fuel pump
New fuel filters
Rear shocks and mounts
Rear axle beam bushigns
Scriocco ebrake cables (already had the rest of the disc swap parts)
Smoked headlights
H4 Hi/Low HID kit
I have the rear suspension completely out, stripped down and in the back of the GTI. Im dropping it off for powder tonight. Rear calipers are all sandblasted and ready to be rebuilt and painted. 
I worked on the engine wiring harness a little more, but nothign to see. 
Few pics of the new stuff and progress: 
16"s from DTD with 205/40 Azenis .... $614 total after rebates








Yep, Ill be that guy to put HIDs in a non projector housing. Truth is she'll prob rarely drive at night anyway. 








Empty, except for that stock exhaust that I need to get off soon. 








Stripped beam with one caliper test fit.








Things I need to order soon: 
Rear braided brake lines and adaptors
Plug wires (will have to be custom - Magnecor?)
Gaskets and timing parts for motor 
Im hoping to get the walbro and the new fuel stuff in and also the rear undbody painted up before the suspension comes back from powder.
Then I need to pull the motor, pull the dash etc out and start on the engine bay work. 
Dan


I have those light on my wifes cabby, and they work just fine with 6k hid's no blinding what so ever..
looking good.. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## crashdriver (Feb 20, 2010)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

AHHHHHHH PLEASE STOP! I don't have the money to keep up with you! hehe







keep up the good work!


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (crashdriver)*

Thanks all. 
I got the new gas tank primed and painted today. Im planning on installing it and the rear suspension tomorrow, well later today.
Dan


----------



## vwcabman (Jun 13, 2008)

*Re: (juicedz4)*








u are god


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (vwcabman)*

Acutaly had time to get the tank and rear suspension in today. Up next, rear brakes, lines and ebrake cables. Tomorrow nite. 
New gastank painted and in.








Rear suspension in
















Dan


----------



## g3mccotter (Mar 13, 2006)

my gosh, this is insane you are very skilled. i wonder where you learned all of this??? you should get your own show on speed or something... really this is nutty so entertaining even being on a website i have been reading for about an hour and couldn't stop.... i dont know how you keep it up but im sure you will and thats awesome


----------



## 89GTiMk2 (Dec 4, 2008)

*Re: (g3mccotter)*


_Quote, originally posted by *g3mccotter* »_you should get your own show on speed or something... 

agreed! I think there should be a Cabby show on speed, or at least a german autotuning show, its all mostly muscle cars or italian stuff. there is never anything on (at least that ive seen) about getting down and dirty with a volkswagen...maybe they think people arent interested


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (89GTiMk2)*

Thanks guys. 
I learned all this just by doing, pretty much. I dont have any formal car training. I am an electrical engineer by day... so maybee its just my engineering mind clicking away. 
Anyway, last night I got the rear brakes on, ebrake cable in and adjusted, the gas tank vent lines connected etc and started plumbing the new fuel pump and filter. 
I didnt get any pics as it was like 1am before I realized the time. Ill post some pics tonight. 
Dan


----------



## bbrown (Apr 10, 2009)

*FV-QR*

I have never seen an electrical engineer who could TIG weld like you. Back on topic, that suspension setup coupled with rear disks looks so sexy. I am starting to get spring fever and temptations of a new suspension are floating around in my mind.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: FV-QR (bbrown)*

Got the rear calipers, pads, and ebrake cables on last night. Also got the tank vent lines, etc all back on. I also started working on the fuel pump filter etc. 
















Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Spent most of the night cleaning and working on the other car, but I did get the front lip at least set in place and off the floor. 








Dan


----------



## T0neyDanza (Apr 25, 2007)

Need MOAR


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## saveFred (Sep 28, 2009)

very nice http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## cooldub (Mar 2, 2008)

*Re: (saveFred)*

Nice work! Could I see more pics of your cabby with the front lip....I am Considering this mod too! Thanks


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (cooldub)*

I dont have any other pics of the lip.... yet. 
No real progress as I have been working on my project car the last couple weeks.
I did, however, get the parts for the rear ss brake lines in. I have one side about half installed, and may try to get that project finished up tonight. 

A few parts to freshen up the motor came in yesterday:
Timing belt and pulley
Head gasket
Oil pan gasket
Water pump and housing

I measured up for the plug wires last night. Im going to order those today from Magnecor so they can ship them back with the wires for the cavy. 
Dan


----------



## vwcabman (Jun 13, 2008)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

wer u get all this cash XD can u post a price sheet after the build i wanna see the cost this is prbly the most bad ass cabriolet i have seen in a while i love how u are not skimping anywhere http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (vwcabman)*

I have been keeping pretty decent track of the cost of this project. Im estimating all said and done it will be about $8, including the cost of the car , wheels/tires, paint, everything. 
Ill post that up when its done








Dan


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## Raketemensch (Aug 12, 2009)

*Re: (juicedz4)*


_Quote, originally posted by *juicedz4* »_I have been keeping pretty decent track of the cost of this project. Im estimating all said and done it will be about $8, including the cost of the car , wheels/tires, paint, everything. 

Sweet, I'll give you $16 for it, which will be 100% profit.
Win-win.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (Raketemensch)*

hah, looks like I forgot the "k". lol 
Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

Got the drivers side rear brake line in , finally. The new, shorter, lines were just right. 
I couldnt get the pass side soft line off, the nut was fn frozen solid. I ended up cutting off the hard line. I will replace the nut and reflare the line tomorrow night so I can finally button up the brakes on this thing. 








The plug wires came in friday from Magnecor as well as a few new silicone couplings to replace some of the older Turbonetics ones I mocked things up with.
Dan


_Modified by juicedz4 at 8:33 PM 3-21-2010_


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## 89GTiMk2 (Dec 4, 2008)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

ok so i know this sounds kinda creepy, but i came up to macedon to visit my girlfriends parents for easter, and we were driving down walworth road and im about 100% positive i passed your house and saw your car sitting inside the garage. they live about a mile away from you. small freakin world! just goes to show how memorable this build thread was for me lol


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

*Re: (89GTiMk2)*

You def passed my house. If thre was a silver Avant and a red GTI in the driveway you DEF passed me. 
Dan


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## 89GTiMk2 (Dec 4, 2008)

*Re: (juicedz4)*

yep passed it several times throughout the weekend. my girlfriend and i went for a bike ride at the canal today and i was going to stop in and introduce myself on the way back through cause they live on the other side of the log cabin. but the garage was closed up and the avant was the only car outside so i figured nobody was home lol. the cars look good from the road though http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Its baaaack! I havent touched this in almost 18mo. Feels good to be getting back to it finally.

Good progress tonight. Only got a couple hours in, but made good use of it. 

Removed:
-Dash 
-Cruise control wiring
-a/c wiring
-speaker wiring
-heater box

I also figured outa bunch of wiring that I didnt have labelled. Still a bit more to go through, but Ill work on it little at a time. 










Dan


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## iMinkis (Mar 26, 2011)

Awesome i have just seen all the past posts and really want to see it continue


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## fc3srx729 (Mar 19, 2003)

Looks Good...!


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## Emilio Estevez (Feb 8, 2011)

outstanding work cant wait for the final product.....also would you happen to have a build thread for the chevy im really curious about it.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Emilio Estevez said:


> outstanding work cant wait for the final product.....also would you happen to have a build thread for the chevy im really curious about it.


Thanks. 

I do have one for the cavalier. Probably the most complete one, that you can access, would be here (this will get you back to Feb of 2008): http://www.v6z24.com/jbodyforum/juicedz4-build-thread-tuned-331hp-313ftlbs-observed-t99940.html

Dan


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## nixon_jetta2.5 (Jan 5, 2009)

great build out man i wish i had the skills / money/ time to do this!! funny thing is im only 20 and i if i dont have time for this its pretty sad i know... lol


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

nixon_jetta2.5 said:


> great build out man i wish i had the skills / money/ time to do this!! funny thing is im only 20 and i if i dont have time for this its pretty sad i know... lol


You must either work two jobs or sleep too much,


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Good progress again tonight. 

Removed the factory wiring, fuse box etc
Throttle, clutch and speedo cables
Master cylinder and booster
Hood
HVAC box from the rain tray area
Wiper motor, arms etc

Then I started grinding spot welds on what remains of the rain tray that I cut out long ago. I worked on that for about 45mins, and have most of it removed.





































Dan


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## 3VWRagTops (Aug 24, 2011)

*Great build*

I had to edit my post because I first wrote it after looking at the first page of your build. I had no idea there was this much more. Now I am even more impressed. Keep up the great work. 


original post...
WOW! This is impressive. Great documentation. This is the way to do it right. You wife is very lucky, you do some excellent work. I love the powdercoat gray. How much time do you have in? Do you know or want to know? Ha! Keep it going, we will keep watching and reading!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

LOTS of progress this week. Tues night I finished removing the last of the rain tray and started filling in some holes on the firewall. Last night I welded shut 28, yes 28, holes in the upper core support, and got a decent start on the one seam near the drivers shock tower, and the drivers side trans mount.























































Dan


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## mileycyrus (Jun 1, 2011)

holy crap.....you are a monster....GREAT WORK MAN!!.....love seeing these cars done right...


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Two more items checked off my list last night:

Finished trimming the bracket for the wiper motor mount, then welded a panel in to fill in the front of it (which also made it a bit stronger). Im considering putting a dimpled hole in, but I havent decided yet. 










And filled the hole that is normally on the drivers side of the it.










I also added a piece of metal near the headlight bracket where I had to trim it to fit the hot side IC piping. I probably could have left it but it was sorta flimsy without the the bend, so I added one back in. 



















Dan


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## oshwass1962 (Oct 23, 2011)

giver said:


> surrrrrrrrrrrre. For the wife. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
> *searches for the 'jerkoff' smiley*
> "Honey, I'm doing this for you. Not because I need a project to **** around with"
> 
> ...


 lol...i said the same thing except it was for my daughter...so i said.:laugh:..lol


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## oshwass1962 (Oct 23, 2011)

oshwass1962 said:


> lol...i said the same thing except it was for my daughter...so i said.:laugh:..lol


3 years later, NO ONE touches her (CABRIOLET) but me!...lol:laugh:


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## DaddyOfPayton (Feb 24, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> Its baaaack! I havent touched this in almost 18mo. Feels good to be getting back to it finally.


I was wondering why it showed up in my watched topics again...


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

It may not look like much, but I nearly have all the holes filled, all the brackets and studs removed and a couple seams welded up. 

Holes filled: 77
Brackets and studs removed:23
Hours spent: 19










Im hoping in by the end of next week to have all the welding and grinding done. We'll see how it goes. 

Dan


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## mileycyrus (Jun 1, 2011)

wow......looks great...


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Tonight I pulled off the bumper, drivers fender (what a Fn pain with the seam sealer), removed more seam sealer around the pass shock tower etc, and the last piece of hte rain tray that was under the drivers fender.




























Some work I did on the trans mount brackets and the seams









I gota fig out what Im doing here... I may just skin over the top rather than weld nearly all those holes shut.









I plan to get back to welding thrusday night. 

Dan


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## 3VWRagTops (Aug 24, 2011)

*curious*

When you first picked up this car for your wife, did you have plans to go this far with it? Or, did this project take on a life of it's own and drag you in deeper and deeper? It is an awesome job and I love the documentation. Can't wait to see more.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Got a little work done over the weekend. Filled another 8-10 holes and started welding the shock tower seams and the pass side motor mount.



















Tonight I got the plates for the motor mounts cut out and one tacked in place, and ground some of the pass mount welds down. 



















Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Brought this back home last night (was storing it at a friends since last fall). 

Maybe Ill get some time to work on it this winter. The last year has been hell.

Dan


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## 35i 2000 (Jan 27, 2005)

great progress, welds looks clean:thumbup:


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

After a 3 year break Im finally getting back to this project. 

I have been busy though. Ive spent a bulk of the last 2.5 years building a new place to work on my projects. 

Of course I dont have a single good pic of the outside finished. Anyway, its ~2000sq ft, with a 750sqft upstairs, heated floors, 100A electrical service, etc etc. Pretty much its another house in my back yard. 






























Last night I cleaned out some of the crap that was just thrown inside it, moved it to the welding area, pulled the hood, bumper and one fender off.

With any luck maybe I can get the engine bay finished up in the next month or so (trying to be realistic as I need to get the MK4 back together among other projects) 











Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Saturday I moved a few bins of parts from the garage to the shop and laid most of them out. Trying to remember what I have and dont have.










Then I spent a couple hours scraping that textured rubberized undercoating from the lower core support area, fun fun. 

And finally gave in and started to fill in that big ugly gap between the frame rail and fender. I wanted to keep the curves and shape of the frame rail so I did it a little differently than everyone else.










Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Most of the engine bay welding and grinding is now done, other than the lower core support. Ill come back to that in a week or two. 

For now Im starting to reassemble everything as I seem to have forgotten how most of it went together over the past 3 years. I got a few main pieces together late last night.
































































Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Got a couple hours today between my daughters Irish dancing and soccer game. 

Pulled the trunk, tail lights, rear bumper and top off so I now have a mini pickup... 










Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Found the exh manifold and turbo this weekend. Also realized that I apparently did not have the whole shifter in place when I started on the downpipe a few years ago. 




























Mounted the smoked headlights and grille. Also planned out wire routing and punched a couple holes here and there to get wires thru the fender area into the cabin.










Found this between the shifter and ebrake lever. Its no TVR dick bomb, but fun to find anyway. 










Then last night I pulled out the ebrake and shifter and spent a couple hours with some APC, rags, and a brush and cleaned the hell out of the back seat and trunk areas. Now maybe I wont get dirty just looking inside. 




























Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Behind a couple days of updates. Time to catch up. 

Decided I didnt like the open bracket for the brake booster. Welded a plate to the top of the bracket. In order to be able to still mount it I had to drill a couple large holes in the back of the bracket to access the booster nuts and move the top stud from the steering column to the booster bracket. Ill snap a pic of it in place soon, I keep forgetting. 

Clearance holes on open bracket









Welded and ground with new mounting stud









Mounted up (obv taken before the stud move)









Stud removed from column. Its fairly easy to access from the inside.









Next, I tacked the water pipe for the heater core return. Cleaned all of the threaded studs off of it and welded up two nipples that Im not going to use vs just capping them. I pressure tested it to ~30psi, no leaks. I also tweaked the position of it a little to better line up with the hoses on the firewall.




























Not perfect but powder coat should hide the rest.











Finally I redid the downpipe to actually clear the shifter, rack and alxe. (Note: pic taken only with ambient shop lighting )










Next update on wed am.

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Decided I didnt like the factory feed for the heater core so I whipped up my own. Plus I wanted a way to T water to the turbo without using a hose barb T and clamps (Im a sucker for AN fittings). My main motivation for running water to the turbo was to have an alternate water path for when the heater core feed is shut off. I figure if I was just going to put an alternate path in I may as well make some use of it. 

Cut the flange on my bandsaw and cleaned up the edges on the disc sander. The tube is a piece of 3/4" sanitary tubing I bought on ebay for $20.




























Still need to machine the bungs to fit around the tube, but thats the idea of where they are going and explains why the one tube is longer than the other. Im still debating if I need a mounting bracket along the length of the new tube.









Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Machined a couple of -6 bungs for the turbo water lines yesterday at lunch. 











And welded them on last night. I also put a few weld dots at the end of the stainless tube to help retain the hose since I cant bead it. 











Then I dug through my stash and luckily found a 2.5" 90* bend so I was able to finish up the downpipe. I still need to add an O2 sensor bung and a vband at the other end. Certainly not my best welding, but whatever, it had great penetration and will be coated and wrapped. 

I will definitely need to do some heat shielding for the rack and shifter. 





























I also received the correct shifter bracket for the manual rack and a few more fittings from my Jegs order, which is apparently coming in 5 separate shipments. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Had an hour last night so I started working on the short shifter. Yes, I realize this looks like the long shifter, but its not. So far so good, just need to drill a few holes and it should be set. 



















Compared to stock









Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished up the shifter bracket; holes drilled and I re-welded and smoothed out the shaft/bracket joint. Also a sneak peak of the new linkages Im starting.










Routed the fuel lines. The soft lines will connect to hard lines just above floor level near the firewall. I will probably nutsert the body for the hold downs vs just the screws I was using for the mockup.



















Welded -8 fittings to the oil cooler adapter and got the lines made.




















Dan


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## Derekxj (Jul 3, 2013)

Gorgeous Fabrication work here.......Im really impressed. 

:thumbup::thumbup:


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Derekxj said:


> Gorgeous Fabrication work here.......Im really impressed.
> 
> :thumbup::thumbup:


Thanks! 

I was starting to think no one else was ever going to post in here. haha

Dan


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## Derekxj (Jul 3, 2013)

With custom stuff all over the place like this how could one not?! lol. 

What do you do for a living? Machine work? Real clean man real clean!!! One lucky wifey you got there. Hopefully one day a future non-broke version of myself can re-do the EA to this type 
of quality level. In the meantime i'll have to live with ( and she will ), me sandblasting old parts and hitting them with beautiful new black rustoleum lol.


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## RogueRabbit83 (Jan 29, 2011)

Outstanding fab work here, this is gonna be good :thumbup:


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Derekxj said:


> With custom stuff all over the place like this how could one not?! lol.
> 
> What do you do for a living? Machine work? Real clean man real clean!!! One lucky wifey you got there. Hopefully one day a future non-broke version of myself can re-do the EA to this type
> of quality level. In the meantime i'll have to live with ( and she will ), me sandblasting old parts and hitting them with beautiful new black rustoleum lol.





RogueRabbit83 said:


> Outstanding fab work here, this is gonna be good :thumbup:


Thanks guys. Its fun to be back at it after a 3 year break putting up my shop etc. 


As for my job, I play electrical engineer by day. 

Dan


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## flying_oliver (Apr 29, 2013)

juicedz4 said:


> Thanks!
> 
> I was starting to think no one else was ever going to post in here. haha
> 
> Dan


I always left this thread with too much jealousy to post :laugh:

As other people have mentioned, your work is really impressive! Keep it up, I foresee an outstanding cabriolet soon!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

flying_oliver said:


> I always left this thread with too much jealousy to post :laugh:
> 
> As other people have mentioned, your work is really impressive! Keep it up, I foresee an outstanding cabriolet soon!


hah, thanks!


Finally got a start on the strut tower brace. I didnt like anything prefabed so why not make my own. 

I machined the vertical pieces at the ends out of 7/8" bar stock. The bottom side is tapped so I can bolt it in from the bottom vs using hollow tubing and bolts on top. Naturally I had to press the studs out of the strut bearings. 

The tubes are 3/4" mild steel that I put a slight bend in with a friends tubing roller and notched with my pos HF notcher. 

Im planning on making a dimple die'd sheet steel web to go between the two tubes. Likely get to that sunday night. 














































Also started on a shift weight and got all the parts in for the upgraded shift linkages. 


Dan


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## DaddyOfPayton (Feb 24, 2004)

I was expecting a smaller piece of the same tubing in the center of the strut bars; I think I like your choice better


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

DaddyOfPayton said:


> I was expecting a smaller piece of the same tubing in the center of the strut bars; I think I like your choice better


Yep. Here is the nearly finished product. 


Made a bit more progress on the strut bar. Got the sheet metal cut out, drilled, dimpled, and welded in. What a total pain that was. I had to move a pile of clamps 26 times, once for each weld. Took almost 2 hours. I just need to finish weld the mounting ends on tomorrow night then I can take it for coating.





























Also finished up the new shift linkage rods including a shift weight that I made on the lathe at work. Ive seen some people just use threaded rod, but I think it looks stupid, so I bought and threaded some 8mm rod instead. The ball ends are 13mm to mate with the OEM ball mounts. Obviously I need to add two for the shift weight rod as it just used bushings in holes originally.






































I think thats just about all the fab I need to do before I can start stripping the whole car down to finish any welding and start stripping undercoating etc. 

Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Last thrusday I decided I was close enough to pull the motor and trans back out. Also removed the doors. Probably get back to the engine bay work in a week.










I dropped the strut tower brace off for powder monday.

Accidentally ruined the radiator cover trying to shear 1/8" off the edge (forgot about the damn feet on the shear that holds the metal). Anyway thought Id try my hand at forming a radius bend at the corner of it vs having it square. Not bad for a first attempt. Rev 2 will feature this. 











Bronze bushings showed up monday. Had to turn the larger ones down a little on the lathe to fit in the selector bracket. Just need to come up with a couple spacers. So now the whole shifter mechanism is rubber bushing / grommet free. 





























Got tired of having a whole car spread out on various benches, the floor etc so I whipped up this rolling rack last night. I just happen to have 12 2x4s, 2 sheets of plywood and a spare set of casters off my one HF tool box laying around. SO much better. (Yes, I really need to organize my scrap metal )




















Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Got the strut tower brace back from powder. Its a textured, flat, red. 




























Dan


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## Tisser (Dec 25, 2014)

Fantastic work man. I can't wait to see the final product. However you make me feel less skilled than a cup of jello. :laugh: If I only had the skills you do.. Keep it up, and if you end up bored I have one you can play with  :thumbup:


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Got a good start on the lower core support last night. 

Before









After (just tacked so far) 
The random hole to the right of the front motor mount is for the rad fan wiring. 









Decided I didnt like my oil cooler mount, so I started on something new. I really want to stop at this, but I think the weight of the cooler full will be to much without more support. Still thinking it over. The idea here is to nutsert the core support, thread this in and jamb nut it. Then thread the other end to bolt to the cooler. 










Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


>


You do some Amazing work... that is the Fact.
With it mounted that low I would be worried about Curbage.... And or Rock damage. When I took the Skid Plate off of my Automatic, I couldn't believe the amount of Road Trash up there and Curb Scraping on the skid plate. But given it was up there for 15 years or so. I don't know what the Ram Air effect is going to be mounted out of the Direct air flow. Possibly Vibration from the Engine, and front end dips.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> You do some Amazing work... that is the Fact.
> With it mounted that low I would be worried about Curbage.... And or Rock damage. When I took the Skid Plate off of my Automatic, I couldn't believe the amount of Road Trash up there and Curb Scraping on the skid plate. But given it was up there for 15 years or so. I don't know what the Ram Air effect is going to be mounted out of the Direct air flow. Possibly Vibration from the Engine, and front end dips.


Ya, Im not too worried about the road debris so much, but im already rethinking the mounting brackets. I need something more substantial on top.

I do have a little spoiler that hangs down from the cooler, this should help direct air in. At some point I may make a small duct for it. Maybe something CF if I ever get all that going. 


Dan


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## flipty (Mar 5, 2012)

This thread is mind-boggling. Keep up the great work!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

flipty said:


> This thread is mind-boggling. Keep up the great work!


Thanks!!



Front and rear suspension removed. About all thats left on it now is the windshield, rear side windows and gas tank.

Also got a good start on the tiptisserie.




















Dan


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## flying_oliver (Apr 29, 2013)

Why the rotisserie? It looks like a really clean car, are you going to scrape off the undercoating and clean up any rust that may have formed?
Just curious!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

flying_oliver said:


> Why the rotisserie? It looks like a really clean car, are you going to scrape off the undercoating and clean up any rust that may have formed?
> Just curious!


Yep, stripping everything off the bottom of the chassis to inspect, repair and paint nicely. I dont think there is much, if any rust. So far I only discovered one small pin hole above the gas tank. 

Plus it should be a good way to do the exhaust, fuel lines etc. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished up the tiptisserie the last couple nights. I had to make some adapters for the OE bumper supports to bolt to the 2x6s which took some time. It also took some adjusting of the plywood 1/4 circles to be able to tip it up by myself. Its still pretty hard to get up to 45 degrees, but after that its easy. I think If I just shorten the legs a little that might be enough. Anyway, its up now. I did put a tie down to the wall just for extra safety, but its very stable. 



















Dan


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## Wwwwwig (Mar 28, 2015)

That's an awesome idea!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Wwwwwig said:


> That's an awesome idea!


Thanks, but I cant take credit. Lots of others have done this before me. It is woking out quite nicely though. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

My daughter (10) and I have been picking away at the undercoating. Shes love scraping it for some reason. I think she put in a hour maybe and I probably have 1.5ish in so far. So I feel like its going pretty quick.










Dan


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## Tisser (Dec 25, 2014)

Lookin good man! Are you repainting the body as well as re under coating it?

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Tisser said:


> Lookin good man! Are you repainting the body as well as re under coating it?
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk


Yes. Im still undecided as to how Im handling the underside. I leaning toward using Gravitex it so its textured, but hard, so I can paint it nicely. 

Dan


----------



## Tisser (Dec 25, 2014)

I couldn't tell ya anything about em haha I planned on just using cheap rubberized stuff so it won't chip as bad as if I used bedliner. 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Tisser said:


> I couldn't tell ya anything about em haha I planned on just using cheap rubberized stuff so it won't chip as bad as if I used bedliner.
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk


Ah. I really hate that stuff. You should look into the Gravitex, its not THAT expensive. You do need a compressor and the special gun ($20 ish) 

Dan


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## Tisser (Dec 25, 2014)

juicedz4 said:


> Ah. I really hate that stuff. You should look into the Gravitex, its not THAT expensive. You do need a compressor and the special gun ($20 ish)
> 
> Dan


Right on, I'll have to look into it. I'm on a very very petite budget so I'm trying my hardest to find the BEST parts for the CHEAPEST price I can. I'm not putting inferior quality on my VW since I don't want my VW to be inferior, but I'm only making so much money lol. Hopefully parting out the 85 will really help with getting some of the parts I need. 

Regardless man, I can't wait to see it finished (even though I'll be beyond jealous) and I appreciate the advice!


Now, how much to rent your fabbing services to make me some of those shifter parts you created?? :laugh:


----------



## Tisser (Dec 25, 2014)

juicedz4 said:


> Ah. I really hate that stuff. You should look into the Gravitex, its not THAT expensive. You do need a compressor and the special gun ($20 ish)
> 
> Dan


I just checked around the webs a bit, so far the reviews are much better for the 3M PROFESSIONAL undercoating than the Gravitex, but I'm going to continue looking (I compared 3M, Gravitex, and Permatex across 4 different sites and read 3 pages of reviews for each, starting with the worst and ending with the best) A few people even did a side-by-side of the 3m and Gravitex, so I'll probably stick with the cheaper stuff for now, and see how it holds up. (Famous last words) 

I'll post my results after it's all said and done with. I mean if it's cheaper to have my dads buddy at the dealership do it with the stuff they use, then hey, have at it! I just want to protect this the best I can from the PA winters, they started using this liquid calcium mixture that just EATS metal like it's styrofoam, and I'd rather not have ANOTHER car fall apart around a perfectly good drivetrain and rest of the car. (My poor Taurus)


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

After about another 4 hours Ive made it to here. I picked up a fine brass wire wheel that Ive been using to clean off any undercoating left by the scraper, its working great and doesnt harm the factory primer. Ive also realized that I dont need to scrap so much off as the wire wheel works so well. That seems to be saving a lot of time. Im sure Ill have a method perfected just as Im finishing. 



















Dan


----------



## flying_oliver (Apr 29, 2013)

Nice work removing the undercoating. What are you using to scrape it off?


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

flying_oliver said:


> Nice work removing the undercoating. What are you using to scrape it off?


Just a craftsman gasket scraper, that Im sure to sharpen before I start each night. 

like this 











-----------------------------


These updates are pretty boring, but anyway, put in another 2 hours last night, made pretty good progress. 



















Dan


----------



## Tisser (Dec 25, 2014)

Man now I wanna do this to mine while the motor's out haha I'm gonna have to deal with just re-coating the underside because I doubt I'll be able to spend that amount of time/effort to get the old stuff off! Lookin good man. Lookin good.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Thanks Tisser.


Not much progress, been very busy with other stuff lately. I did manage a little time last night to scrape / wheel some more. 










Dan


----------



## flying_oliver (Apr 29, 2013)

I like the use of scrapers. Makes it so much less messy than using a wire wheel.

Keep it up :thumbup:


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

So Ive been swamped with 873498 other projects but Ive managed to get in a couple nights scraping undercoating lately. The floor is just about done now along with one and a half wheel wells. 




























Dan


----------



## Tisser (Dec 25, 2014)

Looks fantastic dude! I saw a video somewhere that they used one of thoes vibrating blade tools with a 3" serrated bit on it and took that undercoating off real fast too. 

I found some rust on the floor pans of mine, so I guess I'm gonna end up doing this too at some point soon. But I'm gonna have to crawl around under mine, I won't have the awesome cabb-tissorie setup like you do :laugh: 

Keep it up man!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Got a bit more done last night. 

Removed all of the metal clips that held the fuel and brake lines to the chassis. Im glad I did as each had a bit of surface rust under it. 

Also finish up most of the area under the rear seat. I just need a new wire wheel to get the last bit in the corner. 

The rear wheel well is about 90% done. Just need to get around the edges. 




















Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished up the few areas I was previously unable to get to last night (under the seat, between the pinch weld and floor), and the rear wheel well, and the front and real "roll pans". So now the floor and the drivers wheel wells are done for the most part. I have a bit more to do around the spare tire well, which honestly, Im dreading trying to get in there, so Im going to ignore it for now. 



















Then I started mounting some critical features (front swaybar, gas tank, axle beam) so I can work on the subframe bracing which I ordered metal for yesterday. 










Hopefully the next few updates will be a little more interesting. 

Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

RE-assembling with out re-undercoating? Or was that additional undercoating that you removed, as VW usually painted over the factory undercoat with the body color?


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> RE-assembling with out re-undercoating? Or was that additional undercoating that you removed, as VW usually painted over the factory undercoat with the body color?


This is a temporary re-assembly so I can do the chassis X bracing. I will be removing everything and priming and painting after the bracing is installed. 

Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> This is a temporary re-assembly so I can do the chassis X bracing. I will be removing everything and priming and painting after the bracing is installed.
> 
> Dan


Ya had me there for a Minute......thanks for clearing that up. OBTW, Nice Job.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Thanks.


Flipped the car the other way and got the pass front wheel well and rocker stripped. I finally got out my vibrating multi-tool with a scraper blade to tackle the scraping, and oh how do I wish I had sooner. It was SO much easier and faster. I scraped a big portion of the front well in 15mins. Anyway heres the boring results after wire wheeling and wiping down. 



















The tubing for the subframe bracing also showed. Im hoping to be done with scraping this week so I can start on that next. 

Dan


----------



## Tisser (Dec 25, 2014)

Damn looks nice. So you'd say one of those vibrating multi tools with a good blade on it works really well on the undercoating? I was still thinking about trying to clean mine off at some point just to insure theres no unchecked rust or holes. Won't look near as good as yours though :facepalm:  Gonna be so nice when it's done man.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Tisser said:


> Damn looks nice. So you'd say one of those vibrating multi tools with a good blade on it works really well on the undercoating? I was still thinking about trying to clean mine off at some point just to insure theres no unchecked rust or holes. Won't look near as good as yours though :facepalm:  Gonna be so nice when it's done man.


It works well but its no miracle worker. Plus it tends to really scratch up the OE primer more than scraping by hand. I think the best way if you want to try and maintain the OE primer would be to use heat, a very sharp scraper trying not to get right to metal, then a fine brass wire wheel which will take the undercoating off but not touch the primer. 


===================

Almost done with the pass rear wheel well. Just need a smaller wheel to get in around the gas filler. And the part Im dreading, around the spare tire well. Its totally going to suck trying to get in there, so for now Im going to ignore it and start on the subframe bracing. 










Started trying to get a rough idea of tube placement before I start cutting. Looks like Im going to have to either notch the tubing to get over the little oem subframe braces up front, or notch the braces themselves (then plate over or something). Im basically making a box with an X through it, except there will be no front straight across tube (although, looking at it now I suppose there could be). I also have plans (in fact I already rolled the tubing to clear the trans) to make another X up front on the control arm mounting points.










Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

To quote Astro, "Rooking Rood Reorge."


As far as the Clearance of the Tubes to the Frame bend them or pad them with rubber to prevent squeels but they may add vibration......

With your expertise you could Notch the frame and weld it closed.. so it looks Pretty.
Or put humpty humpty bend in pipe to accommodate the frames... Less likely to vibrate that way.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> To quote Astro, "Rooking Rood Reorge."
> 
> 
> As far as the Clearance of the Tubes to the Frame bend them or pad them with rubber to prevent squeels but they may add vibration......
> ...



The tubes are going to be stitch welded to the floor or anywhere they make contact. Thats where the real rigidity comes in. I will need to add plates here/there as well. 

Looks like Im also going to have to notch the drain holes in the rocker to get the tubing to fit tight against the entire length.

Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> '
> 
> Looks like I'm also going to have to notch the drain holes in the rocker to get the tubing to fit tight against the entire length.
> 
> Dan


Don't plug them that's for sure don't need to create new issues in a few years....


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> Don't plug them that's for sure don't need to create new issues in a few years....


Right. They will remain open. Im simply cutting the part that bumps out off... thats stamped into the inner rocker. 

Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> Right. They will remain open. Im simply cutting the part that bumps out off... thats stamped into the inner rocker.
> 
> Dan


That part that bumps out is to allow the Drips to form and shoot off of the whole undercarriage as it is moving. 
Yeah, I kinda analyze things out the wazooo....


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> That part that bumps out is to allow the Drips to form and shoot off of the whole undercarriage as it is moving.
> Yeah, I kinda analyze things out the wazooo....



They wont anymore. 

Plus this car will likely never see rain anyway. 

Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finally, some real progress. 

I rolled these bars months ago when the car was still together to be sure they would clear everything so it was mostly a matter of notching and cutting them to length. 

The rear cross bar will be welded to the LCA / swaybar mounts. I was out of tubing so Ill need to grab another piece this week so I can finish.




























Trimmed the drain holes on the lower rocker so that the tubing could fit tight along the entire rocker. (no pic), and tacked the tube in place. 

Notched the OE subframe brace for the x brace tube. Im going to brace that area with a U shaped piece of 12ga to tie it all together so its not just welded to the edge of that OE brace. It looks like the x brace will be able to weld to the floor in quite a few areas, which was the plan. 











Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished tacking up the front brace last night. Still need to add some flat stock in a couple places to beef up the OE LCA/swaybar mount that I welded to, but I need to blast the rest of the powder off first. 










Then I tackled the large X brace. The basic structure is all tacked up. Im still debating if I want to add a front lateral tube or just leave it as is. Up next I need to add jacking plates and some plates here/there to tie it into the floor.











Dan


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## Tisser (Dec 25, 2014)

juicedz4 said:


> Finished tacking up the front brace last night. Still need to add some flat stock in a couple places to beef up the OE LCA/swaybar mount that I welded to, but I need to blast the rest of the powder off first.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I would like to sponsor your race car, sir. I have no money, but I'm real good at talkin. :laugh: This thing is gonna be tougher than a WWII Humvee when you're done with it, maybe you should design cars for VW


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Lets not get crazy. Im not expecting miracles from this, but it should help. Bonus it will be awesome to have nice jacking and lift points. 

Dan


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## Tisser (Dec 25, 2014)

juicedz4 said:


> Lets not get crazy. Im not expecting miracles from this, but it should help. Bonus it will be awesome to have nice jacking and lift points.
> 
> Dan


I'm sure it's gonna cut corners like a razor too. Looks good man! I'm jealous.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Switched gears and went back to working on the engine bay since I really want to get it in primer before the middle of winter so it will be easier to keep it hot for 24 hours. 

I only have one pic but I did all sorts of random stuff including: 

-removing more undercoating/chip guard
-grinding smooth OE spot welds
-welded up a couple holes in the trans mount
-grinding smooth the edges of panels that didnt align 100% correctly at the factory (for example inside the holes for the tie rods - the inner and outer panels were misaligned by 1/16 to 1/8" in places , not now ) or that were deformed near the edges from overzealous spot welding etc.
-hammered out a few of the square recesses in the firewall and other random dings etc
-stitch welded a few small seams
-and put a few dozen more tacks on the lower core support panel. Which is my only pic. 










Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished playing connect the dots on the lower core support piece and ground it smooth. 










Then tackled the top side. 




























Still need to do two small pieces on the vertical part of the core support under the frame rails, as there are a couple holes there I dont need or want seen, then I think it will be ready. 

Up next I need to pattern the wiper box / heater area so I can sheet over it in one smooth piece. 

Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Dan, 

Honestly, is this really a build thread for your wife, or you? 

Nice Work.

Briano


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> Dan,
> 
> Honestly, is this really a build thread for your wife, or you?
> 
> ...



Ultimately its for her, I have my own project car / money pit. 

However, I really enjoy creating things, so the real joy in it for me is this process.

Dan


----------



## Tisser (Dec 25, 2014)

juicedz4 said:


> Ultimately its for her, I have my own project car / money pit.
> 
> However, I really enjoy creating things, so the real joy in it for me is this process.
> 
> Dan


I enjoy seeing you create things wow  I wish you would do a youtube channel on how you make this stuff. Or I'm sure you could make a pretty penny selling metal shift linkages and the like that I've seen you build on here. You're awesome man! Keep up the good work! One day I hope to be able to do welds at all let alone even CLOSE to that cleanly. 


P.S. I can just imagine YOUR car :laugh: 

:thumbup:


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Tisser said:


> I enjoy seeing you create things wow  I wish you would do a youtube channel on how you make this stuff. Or I'm sure you could make a pretty penny selling metal shift linkages and the like that I've seen you build on here. You're awesome man! Keep up the good work! One day I hope to be able to do welds at all let alone even CLOSE to that cleanly.
> 
> 
> P.S. I can just imagine YOUR car :laugh:
> ...


here's a shot of it. 










Dan


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## Tisser (Dec 25, 2014)

juicedz4 said:


> here's a shot of it.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


:what::thumbup::thumbup:

DUDE. SICK.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Worked on the wiper box a bit last night. Trimmed the lip off of the heater box hole, and cut out the one bump above the pedal area. 

Created a paper template and transferred it to a piece of steel. Hopefully if we have enough dies Ill bend the edge today after work. 




























Finished welding the other end of the core support to the frame rail. Didnt get a chance to do the small pieces under the frame rails yet. 










Overall shot looking forward. 










Dan


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## Green_Lantern98 (Apr 4, 2007)

juicedz4 said:


> here's a shot of it.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


:thumbup:

Just yes!



juicedz4 said:


> Overall shot looking forward.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Your attention to detail and craftsmanship is just spot on man! Thank you!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Thanks all. 


Rain tray panel is tacked in! I had to trim a piece of the firewall out in front of the heater box hole and hammer it back about a 1/4" to allow the panel to sit back all the way and maintain a nice straight line at the bend. Added a few holes around the middle of the panel to attach it to the OE panel below and hopefully stop any rattles or vibrations. I may also add a few small welds from the inside to do the same. 



















Dan

35666


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


>


I think that those tacks are more than what holds the Front Valance in place


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Nearly finished up the rain tray last night. I just need to go back and blend the bottom side of the welds along the firewall and it should be good.

I need to mount up the wiper trans and figure out if Im going to put the factory support back in (that I already modified) or fab up a new one. 










This is the side I had to add a ~1" piece at the end as it wouldnt fit in as one long piece. Turned out good enough I think. 



























Up next I have a little work to do around the shock towers and I should be really close to sandblasting and priming.

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Lots of progress last night. 

First, I thought Id see how the OE master cylinder brace looked with some dimpled holes. I was going to make something new but I think this will look nice cleaned up and coated. 










Next I tackled the seams between the upper core support and fender. 

Orig









Much better









Drivers side









Filled this random "dent" 


















And this groove or whatever by the pass shock tower









The lower piece was fun









Much better









Next, there was this huge molded in dent (for who can remember what) at the base of the drivers shock tower. I failed miserably at trying to pull it out with the spot weld puller, pounding it out from a hole i drilled in the wheel well (its double steel here), so I finally cut out a piece of metal, hammered it into roughly the right convex shape and welded it in. 









Finally, to try and get an idea how its really coming along, as its very hard to see I put a light coat of rattle can primer on..









Dan 

36167


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Back to work after a week in FL and Thanksgiving etc. 


Started on my makeshift paint booth this weekend. For reference its 16x12x8.










And started on the fire wall smoothing. So glad I decided to do this, its going to look so much better. 









Still need to do a bit of welding along the wheel well but for the most part its good to go.









Dan

36668


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Still looking nice.


----------



## Tisser (Dec 25, 2014)

Still insane, friend! Gonna be a beauty when you're finished!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Got a good start on the passengers side last night until I ran out of wire. Lame. Should finish up thrusday night. 

Before









Cut out









Tacked









So much better









I did get the top, one side and part of the bottom welded before running out of wire. I managed to get a little smoothed out before quitting time. 









Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished up the firewall last night.














































I welded up two holes in the pass side motor mount (no pic)

Then I tackled the uneven lip on the inside edge of the core support. 

Before there were multiple widths which were quite wavy:



















After. Now there are just two widths, but nice and straight:





























I think about all thats left to tackle are the 4 holes in the frame rails near the firewall, and a couple on the lower and upper core supports and it will be ready for real primer. 


Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Small progress last night. Got the 4 large holes in the top of the frame rails near the firewall welded up. I think that just leaves one in the upper core support....




























Dan


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## Jeremy_Bentham (Jul 10, 2012)

Man... I wish I had the slightest amount of skill as you! Love the builds :heart::heart::heart:


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

tangerine_coupe said:


> Man... I wish I had the slightest amount of skill as you! Love the builds :heart::heart::heart:


Thanks. Hopefully Ill be getting back to this in a couple weeks. I have another quick project Im working on now, then I need to order primer and what not. 

Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

No much progress as Ive been working on a ton of other stuff lately. 

Finally welded up the last ball for the shifter assembly. 

Now everything (including a couple washers for my MK6 motor mount) are ready to go out for coating. Probably going to do black E coat since it plays well with threads and is super cheap. Though, nickel would be nice.....



















Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Spent some time cleaning up the shop yesterday and unearthed the unfinished lower x brace. Decided it was time to finally weld it up. I think my shifter parts are finally done at the coater, so ill probably pick those up and drop this off for powder today or tomorrow. 



















I also spent some time figuring out what lenght wheel studs I need. Turns out I already have one set of ARP's in stock, just need to order a shorter set for the rear. 

Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Picked up the shifter parts from being E-coated last night. Dropped off the lower subframe brace for some textured red powder. They are also going to redo the strut tower brace. There were some thing spots I wasnt 100% happy with. 










Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Assembled the shifter stuff on the bench just to be sure it all fit together nicely. I did have to remove the E-coat from the ball studs, but otherwise, everything fit and moves well. Just need a couple piece of ss hardware and a shim to finish it up. 










My daughter and I rebuilt the shift lever assembly, basically just cleaned up all the old grease and reassembled. Protip: when teaching a kid how to use snap ring pliers be sure to tell them how MUCH to squeeze before you start. She ended up squeezing them the whole way and basically destroyed the snap ring, haha. Luckily I had others. 



















I received reman'd Corrado front calipers and was bummed to find one of the inlet holes had been retapped on an angle. Thats probably not gona seal. So that has to go back for a new one, yay. 


















Also the 22mm master showed. I swapped the old square reservior on (yes I still need to clean up the inside some)









And the wilwood brake bias unit.









Finally I dug out the fuel sending unit as Im hoping to start plumbing the fuel system this week. Turns out its a disaster. Looks like new is NLA, and used go for a pretty penny, so I think Im going to attempt rebuilding this one. Started pulling it apart, I dont think it will be so bad. Ill just need to get the steel bits re-plated. 





























I also pulled the front strut/knuckle/ brake assemblies all apart in order to swap to the bigger 11" Corrado brakes and install wheel studs. Unfortunately it looks like Ill need to press the hubs out of the knuckle (hopefully without destroying the brand new bearings) in order to get the studs past the knuckle.

Dan


----------



## Dancehall-Ape (Mar 15, 2014)

juicedz4 said:


> Finally I dug out the fuel sending unit as Im hoping to start plumbing the fuel system this week. Turns out its a disaster. Looks like new is NLA, and used go for a pretty penny, so I think Im going to attempt rebuilding this one. Started pulling it apart, I dont think it will be so bad. Ill just need to get the steel bits re-plated.


I have have the same problem with my sending unit. I'm all eyes on how this turns out.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Dancehall-Ape said:


> I have have the same problem with my sending unit. I'm all eyes on how this turns out.


Stay tuned. It might take a while as Im not in a huge hurry. Probably a month or more. 

Dan


----------



## Mookdog (Jul 30, 2014)

Wow. I just went through all 12 pages. All I can say is, what can I do to get nearly as skilled as you? I'm signed up for a 2year auto tech course in the fall.


----------



## Dancehall-Ape (Mar 15, 2014)

juicedz4 said:


> Stay tuned. It might take a while as Im not in a huge hurry. Probably a month or more.
> 
> Dan


After a year and a half... I can wait.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished up the shifter rebuild. Sand blasted, primed, and painted the baseplate. 










The "bucket" or whatever you want to call it that sits under the car is a bit rusty and really greasy so Ill prob drop it off to be coated vs messing with it. 

MK4 rear aluminum calipers showed up










As did parts for the 044 fuel pump surge tank. The machined piece I purchased from Integrated Engineering. It allows a 044 pump to be submerged in a tank, while allowing the outlet and wiring to be external to the tank. I opted to build my own tank to save $100. The aluminum tube I sourced from McMaster. Should be pretty simple, just a few welds around both ends and some brackets. 



















This is their version, mine will be similar, but obviously have mounts to attach to the subframe bracing.











Ive also spent about 12 hours this week on the OE wiring harness. Took about 6 hours to finally really learn how to use the factory VW schematics and plan out every wire, relay, fuse etc that I would no longer need. Ive since stripped out everything that I identified. There is still a lot to go, but its a great start. 










Luckily I happened to have a pin extraction took that fit the smaller fuse box terminals perfect. The larger ones I used a tiny screwdriver. 










What was removed.










Then really late last night I got a wild hair to pull the column apart to get it cleaned up. I was worried about the column bearings, but luckily all was in great shape so they will not need replacement. 

I literally found a hair ball in the column switches. The switches were pretty hammered so I orderd up some new Meyle ones. 










Everything apart. Im going to drop the pedal arms off for textured red powder. The tube and pedal bracketry Im just going to clean up and spray bom matte black. 










Finally I cleaned up this guy. A little 320 on the end of the key cylinder.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Picked up the lower subframe brace from powder this am. It turned out awesome. They also put another coat on the upper strut brace as it was a little thin in spots, no pics.

I dropped off a few more things which should be ready next weekend. 




























I also received the new black delrin bushing for the shifter rod, and assembled it on the coated bracket with ss hardware. 











Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Had to press the hubs out of the bearings to install the wheel studs. Of course it broke both of them, so now I need to replace brand new bearings. At least they are only $25 ea. 










Got both hubs drilled and the studs pressed in. 










Next I tackled disassembling the brand new rear calipers so I can have them powder coated. I was a little nervous about pulling them apart because of the parking brake assembly, but it turned out to be pretty easy. It did require buying a set of master cylinder snap ring pliers to reach down inside the bore, but they worked perfectly. 










Finally I primed and painted the column tube as well as the pedal box. And the new wiper and turn signal levers showed. 










Im glad I decided to replace the levers, just look how worn the horn contact is.











Pedal arms should be done friday so I can get this assembly together. 

Dan


----------



## Dancehall-Ape (Mar 15, 2014)

I'm impressed!!

I thought I was the only one who looks for the devil in the details (close to kneeling before a God). 

Outstanding work man!


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Thanks!

Took a break from the cabby last night to do the Thunderbunny side skirt install on my MK6 GTI. 

Picked up a set of VW Thunderbunny side skirts (i got one of the last 4 sets in the US) last winter and had them painted painted last April. Now that the springs are on I figured it was time to install them. 


It ended up being a lot easier than I figured though, even by myself. I didnt even have any urethane squeeze out the top.


Glued them on with this










Had to do a bunch of taping and some creative spacing / strapping to get the top edge behind the rear door to sit tight against the body. Ill probably undo everything sat am so it has plenty of time to cure. 























Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Unwrapped it this am. Took some pics outside this afternoon too. I was hoping to wash it but there just wasnt time. Not that it looks that dirty.

Front lip should be here monday, then Im done for a while. 















































Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Pedal box and steering column reassembled with new ignition switch, turn signal, and wiper levers. The column bearings were in great shape so I just cleaned and re-greased them. I will be adding a collar to keep the lower bearing from sliding out before we start driving the car again. 





































Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

MMP caliper brackets showed yesterday for the Corrado brake swap. Tested one on the knuckle just for fun. 










Corrado calipers vs Cabby oem calipers










Re-positioned and re-bent the ebrake cable tubes to allow more room for exhaust, and so they arent dangling so low.




















Been tinkering on the fuel system. Had to pull one bar out of my x bracing to be able to get the surge tank in/out. Im working on some mods for the brace to accommodate it as soon as I can get over to use the bender at a friends shop. I also "tweaked" the edge of the gas tank and the floor to allow the fuel lines between the in-tank transfer pump and the surge tank to be routed easier and more direct. The surge tank is ~ 4x4x6", 1/4" wall aluminum. 










And approx where the surge tank will be located. 











Finally I decided to pull the rack apart to get it cleaned up and painted, and to refresh the grease. I would love to have the housing powder coated, but I dont have a puller to get the bearing out in the housing (tiny little bugger), unless I can find a blind puller for a fair price. So we'll see. 



















Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Ended up using grease and a shaft fashioned out of a bolt wrapped in some aluminum tape to drive the 10mm ID bearing out of the blind hole. It probably took 5 "re-greasings" to finally drive it all the way out, but its out.










Im dropping off a big pile of parts for coating today and picking up a few things I forgot last time. 

Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> Ended up using grease and a shaft fashioned out of a bolt wrapped in some aluminum tape to drive the 10mm ID bearing out of the blind hole. It probably took 5 "re-greasings" to finally drive it all the way out, but its out.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Just remember the ground wire from the frame mounting to one of the bolts of the Steering coupler cover else wise your Horn may not work.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Interesting. Was this not on the power rack? or maybe I just dont recall since its been 8 years..... 

also, I started updating the original posts as my links were broken. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Picked up some parts I forgot at the coater today. And dropped off a bunch more which should be ready next week. 










Im a bit skeptical of the e-coat holding up to fuel, even though he claimed it would be good. Im going to soak the small piece in a cup of fuel and see what happens over the next couple weeks.



















I also lined up some fuel safe epoxy that Im going to use to seal wires through the hole where the connector once was in the flange of the sending unit. 

Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> Interesting. Was this not on the power rack? or maybe I just dont recall since its been 8 years.....
> 
> also, I started updating the original posts as my links were broken.
> 
> Dan


On manual or Power racks there was a wire from the Frame to one of the screws on the rack cover to put ground on the steering shaft so your HORN would work.


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## Dancehall-Ape (Mar 15, 2014)

juicedz4 said:


> Im a bit skeptical of the e-coat holding up to fuel, even though he claimed it would be good. Im going to soak the small piece in a cup of fuel and see what happens over the next couple weeks.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The e-coat will hold-up on the outside, but I think within the fuel tank; it will breakdown over a period of time (months to a year) leaving paint chips within the system. I know the e-coat is a two part system that is durable against weather and chemicals, but long term exposure without top coating; it will breakdown.

I have notice all fuel system parts that are in constant contact with the fuel are never painted (inner tanks and sending units).
I'm slow to finding a person or company that do Anodize plating, but I think this is something that may have to be addressed before use.

I'm still interested on the rebuild of the sending unit, but I don't want to hear about a motor got ruined by paint chips (generally speaking).


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Dancehall-Ape said:


> The e-coat will hold-up on the outside, but I think within the fuel tank; it will breakdown over a period of time (months to a year) leaving paint chips within the system. I know the e-coat is a two part system that is durable against weather and chemicals, but long term exposure without top coating; it will breakdown.
> 
> I have notice all fuel system parts that are in constant contact with the fuel are never painted (inner tanks and sending units).
> I'm slow to finding a person or company that do Anodize plating, but I think this is something that may have to be addressed before use.
> ...


Ya. I was thinking the same. My other thought was to coat it with the Master Series Silver. 

Or simply send it out to be cad or nickel plated (I will likely be sending the latches out anyway, but for $10 it cost me to ecoat these I thought, why not give it a shot. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> On manual or Power racks there was a wire from the Frame to one of the screws on the rack cover to put ground on the steering shaft so your HORN would work.


I vaguely recall that wire from years ago. Ill have to come up with an alternate grounding solution. I dont want any wires showing down there, and ive long since welded up that hole. ha

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Just updated the beginning of this thread to fix all the broken image links so everyone can see just how fn awful this thing was when I started. 

Dan


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## Dancehall-Ape (Mar 15, 2014)

*Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!*



juicedz4 said:


> Just updated the beginning of this thread to fix all the broken image links so everyone can see just how fn awful this thing was when I started.
> 
> Dan


You are a true craftsman!
I have been doing bodywork for nearly 30 yrs, and to see one person do all what you have done (without giving-up on the project); is spectacular!!

I'm very glad that you have fixed the links. I can learn and get some ideas by viewing your posts.:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Thanks!! :beer:

I seem to be waiting for parts for several different projects so last night I decided to mess around with the motor mounts, and the lower radiator hard line I made years back but never finished grinding smooth. 

Rad hard line made from SS weld els. I put a few little tacks around the lip in place of a bead. I think it should work well enough



















Had to grind the inside a bit as I didnt have (and still dont) a back purge setup. Someday.











Ground all of the stamping marks off the edges of the front motor mount, and smoothed the factory welds a little. 











Welded up and smoothed the unneeded holes in the top of the trans mount.











I didnt like the two little V notches in the master cylinder brace so I welded them up and ground them smooth as well. 

Orig (ok the orig pic sucks, but its all I have. see the two tiiiny little V's i the middle of the bracket? ya, those)









Much better









Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Ive been busy doing other vehicle maintenance, and mowing, so not a lot of progress lately. Im still waiting on my last batch of parts from the coater as well. 

I did, however, finally get the U piece bent for the subframe. Will allow plenty of access for the surge tank. If youll notice I also previously removed the rear cross bar. It just didnt allow enough room to get the gas tank in or out. I may move it to the front, still undecided. 



















Dan


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## ForgottenCabrio (May 14, 2016)

*Awesome work!*

To put this build into perspective, your child has grown up, and gone from needing to be watched to working with power tools. That's a long build bro! LOL


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Nothing much to report unfortunately, Ive been swamped with other nonsense. 


I picked up a pile of parts from the coaters a week or three ago. 

Last night I managed to get the rack back together. 




























I also ordered a bunch of parts so I can finish up the surge tank fabrication. Most are due today. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Decided to say F it and go forward with one Girling and one Lucas front caliper for now. 

Spent about an hour last night sanding off the visible casting lines on all 4 calipers and hangers. I just need to pop the pistons out of the fronts and they will all be ready for powder. 




























Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

-Cleaned up a bunch more parts this weekend and put them on the "done" shelf, which is getting quite full. Mainly just dirty OEM parts that Im reusing.

-Welded up a dent in the charge piping, and buffed out all the mandrel tooling marks in prep for powder.

-Worked a little more on the floor mods to allow clearance for the surge tank and piping. Pics tomorrow. 


-Repaired a broken tail light. Also razor bladed scraped then wet sanded the words off of them. Im going to be attempting to get the amber to look red using some translucent candy grape paint, then a light tint and good clear to finish them off. 




















-Painted the IC black. Several coats on the tanks, just a few light coats on the core itself. 











Yesterday my daughter and I finally started working on the VW pedal car we picked up a couple years ago. She did most of the work documenting and disassembling it. The plan is to paint it to match the cabby at some point. Ill be dropping off the frame parts to powder tomorrow. The body is going to need quite a bit of work. And we may have to either source or custom make a windshield and turn signals, else attempt to fill the holes. 



















Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished modifying the floor for the fuel system. Removing the pinch weld here allowed more room for the surge tank and for the lines to route to the rocker area. 

I failed to get a before pic but it looked just like the drivers side shown here.











And after. Was difficult to get a good shot of, but oh well. 




























I have a solid plan for the fuel filter mount. I should have that and maybe the surge tank mounts done thursday. 

Dan


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## Dancehall-Ape (Mar 15, 2014)

Please don't forget the fuel sending unit re-build. 
I'm still watching the good progress you're making on this vehicle. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

After more time than I care to comment on I finally have the fuel filter in place and the surge tank welded up and the mounting brackets done. Now I can finally order the hose ends I need to get it all plumbed up. I did get some 3/8" NICOPP to make the new hard lines with a couple weeks ago. Probably start on that later next week after I make a tubing straightener. 


Fuel filter bracket. Trimmed a little of the lip off the pinch weld, cut a notch in the bracket, and slipped it over and welded in place. 





















Finished up the tubes for the subframe bracing and mounting tabs for the surge tank. I still need to bend up some plates for the front supports I sectioned as well as to tie into the floor pan in a few locations, but at least the tubes are set. 




















In order to route the fuel lines from the rocker area, instead of their normal routing I had to flatten a section of the one rib in the floor. Was really hard to get a decent pic of this.




















Surge tank. Im a little rusty welding aluminum but it turned out ok and should be plenty good enough. On the mounting bracket I also did a 3/4" plug weld in the middle to the tank, just ground it smooth after. The crazy angle of everything makes for clean hose routing and clearance for the chassis etc. It wasnt my first choice but I think it worked out in the end.




























Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Wanted to make a little more room for a battery in the trunk. 

Cut a hole. This took quite a while to get a nice fit. 











Found some 14ga steel in the scrap bin at work. Made it into this.





























It fits!











Need to do a little work on this edge to tie it in, but shouldnt be too bad.










Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Battery box is 3/4 welded in now. Im probably going to put the car down to do the other side so Im not welding it all upside down. 

Couldnt just leave the battery tray a big flat box, so I extended the ribs from the well into the box. It was a quite a bit of work that no one will ever really see, but it was worth it. Im going to seam seal the edges to round them up a little more, plus Im chip guarding the whole underside so I think it will look pretty seamless once done. 














































Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Stopped by the powder coaters friday. Not much was done, just the charge pipes in wrinkle black, and some of the pedal car parts in ecoat. 



















I also picked up some 2.5" 0.125 wall square tubing to use for the subframe braces. 

Sectioned in half, which was a pain. Had to do two passes on the band saw as half was a little tall still.









Perfect fit









Cut some notches









Turned this mess









Into this









And made some plates to tie the rear into the floor









Then it was time to weld everything together. First though, I desperately needed to change my welding helmet shields. Slight difference...









Welded up what I could while it was on the car.









Then removed the whole thing, which slid off easily. Total weight is 36lbs, which I didnt think was so bad.


















Then I spent a couple hours finishing the rest of the welding, including some dome caps for the rocker rails









Still fits!










Some time this week I hope to get it welded on once I get it and some parts of the car primed. 

Feels good to be close to having this "little" project nearly wrapped up. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Forgot that I also picked up the fan shroud from powder a couple weeks ago, found it in the truck the other night. 










Built a dolly to roll the body around for when I start priming and doing bodywork etc. 










Finally removed the rear windows, window trim, and roll bar padding / trim etc. About all thats left is the windshield and door strikers. 



















And FINALLY I got the calipers powder coated. Since they required a little masking and care to be taken during blasting (bores) I did them myself using our small setup at work. To mask the bores during blasting and powder I bought some big tapered silicone plugs, they simply pressed in and worked great. My powder guy was nice enough to give me a few pounds of powder to do this and whatever else I might need. For my first time coating something they came out really nice, but its so simple really. 





































Dan


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## dougkehl (Nov 30, 2011)

This thread always blows me away. Very, very well done in every aspect :thumbup::beer:


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## flipty (Mar 5, 2012)

I'm really curious as to what you are going to do with the window and roof trim, especially if you fabricate your own. Also the side windows. If you don't mind, please go into extra detail about those particular areas!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Flipty - will do. Im a ways from that yet. 


Lots of progress this weekend. My girls were busy with dance and work and what not so I had more or less the whole weekend in the shop.


Assembled the calipers.

Fronts are super simple.










Rears take a little more work to get the internal ebrake assemble back in. Its not hard really, just a little annoying. 





























Then I decided it was time to test fit the MMP big brake adapter brackets. Turns out they typically require a little rework of the knuckle, mine were no exception. 



















After some careful grinding and filing.




















Then, because I cant leave well enough alone I spent 30 mins smoothing the mold lines on the knuckles. Now I can drop these off to be powder coated (again) this week. 




















Next it was time to try out the Master Series Silver primer that I got for the subframe and other parts of the chassis. 

First I spent an eternity scuffing the entire thing with 80 grit. Then brushed on two coats. I didnt need it to be perfect as Im going to be chip guarding the entire bottom of the car including the brace. Im super impressed by this stuff. After just a couple hours I tried to scrape a little off with my knife. I really had to work at it just to scratch down to metal. :tup:




















Finally, as its about time to start on the hard fuel lines I whipped up a tubing straightener. 

I got some cheap acetal pulleys from mcmaster, then turned them on the lathe to fit the 3/8" tubing, drilled a few holes in two pieces of aluminum angle, and bolted the whole assembly to my bench vise. It likely wasnt necessary for the NICOPP tubing, but Im sure it will come in handy in the future as well. 




















And it looks like Im going to need a better bender for this NICOPP. Probably going to order a Ridgid instrument bender today. 










Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Last week I stripped the first section of the floor and applied two coats of the master series silver prime. Im still very impressed by this stuff. I actually hit the subframe with a metal faced hammer getting it in for a test fit and it didnt chip. 










Last night and today I finally tackled the fuel hard lines. About all thats left is to do a couple small bends at the rear end and flare them. Im not running them all the way to the back as there isnt a great spot to connect them to the soft lines going to the surge tank because of some additional bracing im planning for the subframe, and with everything so tight back there I wanted a nice easy spot to access them. The soft lines should be more than well protected in the rocker area and above the subframe. 

If I hadnt mentioned it before this is 3/8" NICOPP and im using stainless rock guard over it. 



















I really wanted to use two straight fittings here, but there just wasnt room. Also I obviously still need to work on some clamp mounting for the soft lines.











Dan


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## Dr.AK (Jul 17, 2007)

Your work is utterly amazing. I just read the whole thread and I'm blown away. I wish I had half your skills.:beer:


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Thanks Dr!


Finished up the fuel hard lines over the last couple days. I ended up putting a small bend in the "upper" line so they would be staggered along the rocker. It was easier that trying to put an S bend after the mount. To mount the lines I welded a small piece of steel at an angle between the rocker and floor. All thats really left is adding nutserts to the floor and bracket for the mounts (vs just screwed into the sheet metal).





























A while back I posted a pic of the shaft collar I machined to retain the lower steering column bearing. I finally thought to take a pic of it installed last night. 











Finally I started considering the brake line routing. To keep things super clean Ive decided to run the front lines through an existing hole behind the strut and run them through the frame rail and then into the cabin. The two lines from the master cylinder will be braided stainless and run to a flat spot on the drivers side of the brake booster through bulkhead fittings. Sorta like this on the routing. Ill use the stainless rock guard on the lines as well as grommets where they pass through the holes to keep things safe. I think it should work well. 




















Dan


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## Schumo (May 30, 2010)

Dr.AK said:


> Your work is utterly amazing. I just read the whole thread and I'm blown away. I wish I had half your skills.:beer:


x2! Subscribed.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Thanks!!

Super boring update. Had a little project ADD.

Got the car back "wheels down".

Spent about 90 mins scrapping the sound deadener 










and then a bunch of time with thinner cleaning up some of the glue on the floor and firewall areas, as well as cleaning up the welds and remants of welding fires. The firewall is almost ready for some master series silver and seam sealer. 



















Dan


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## Mr Euro (Feb 19, 2001)

Well. This is a little more in-depth than my own project. Kudos!


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## Dancehall-Ape (Mar 15, 2014)

juicedz4 said:


> Dan


If you need to remove all of the glue; use high temp reducer in a squirt bottle (it stays wetter longer) and let it set for five minutes then use a scotch-brite pad to brake it loose. It may soften the old seam sealer for easier removal too. :thumbup:

Now I'm starting to miss restoration work a little.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Dancehall-Ape said:


> If you need to remove all of the glue; use high temp reducer in a squirt bottle (it stays wetter longer) and let it set for five minutes then use a scotch-brite pad to brake it loose. It may soften the old seam sealer for easier removal too. :thumbup:
> 
> Now I'm starting to miss restoration work a little.


Excellent idea. Thanks! Ill have to pick some up. I happened to pick up more lacquer thinner since which is working much better for some reason. 



Stainless -3 bulkhead fittings for the brakes showed up monday. They look very nice. 










Got them mounted to the firewall and held some random lines I had lying around in place. Ill need to get a set of custom ones made at some point. If possible Ill stop by the place this week and see if they have metric bubble flare ends, or if I need adapters for the master. 




















No pics, but I spent a couple hours getting the inside of the firewall cleaned up and ready for primer and heat barrier coating. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Got two coats of master series silver on the area of the firewall where I did all the welding and cutting. Also cleaned up a bit more of the glue off of the floor, its almost good enough.



















Between coats I worked on a couple other little projects.

Picked up a 6" carbide burr a couple months ago to clean up the weld on the lower radiator "hose" since I still dont have a back purge setup. Now its in my pile to take to the coater.




















Had one more groove near the shock tower I wanted to fill, so I welded it up and ground it smooth.



















I think that about finishes up the welding in the engine bay. Ok, other than I still need to revisit the oil cooler mounts and I cant decide if I want to mess around with the top of the rack mounts or not (thoughts on closing them in?). I sprayed a little rattle can primer on quick to get an idea how its going to look...






































Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Been a while since Ive done any work on this project or updated anything. Ive been busy on a house garage remodel, getting the lift installed in the shop, etc. 


Back at the end of sept I tested out the dolly I made to roll the chassis around on. It works well enough for the handful of times Ill probably use it.











I also finally scored a matching Lucas front caliper, got it cleaned up and powder coated, and reassembled with new seals. I still need to source some new bleeder screws. 











Picked up the ARP hardware for the diff ring gear











Got the smoothed out knuckles and hubs back from the coater and assembled them with ARP studs, new bearings, ball joints and hardware, and the MMP big brake adapters. 




















Also finally made the rear stub axle spacers. I picked up a pair of aluminum "coins" from McMaster for $14 and drilled a few holes, using a transfer punch to, well, transfer the holes. A few places sell them but for this thickness with hardware it was approaching $70. For $20 with hardware (still need to order) these should get it done. Ill probably clean up the saw marks before I have them coated. 





























It felt good to work on a fun car project for a change. It also clears a ton of half finished parts off of my bench. Now that the garage remodel is pretty well wrapped up Im hoping to get more time on this in the next several months. 

Dan


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## Mookdog (Jul 30, 2014)

Welcome back! Glad to see some progress on the cabby.


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## CabbyMagoo (Sep 5, 2016)

Love this thread! Thanks. I wish I could take my car to half the level you are able to.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finally getting back to this after a busy fall: remodeling my attached garage, work trip to Italy, and a week in Phily at Thanksgiving for my daughters dance competition, typical holiday bs, and finally picking up what seemed like months of random project nonsense in the shop.


Picked up the powder coated surge tank weeks ago










Got the car flipped up the other way and finished welding in the battery tray.











Ive been avoiding trying to clean up the area around the back of the spare tire well and what Im calling the rear roll pan for basically ever. I finally decided that the roll pan added no value and it would be easier just to remove it. I got a good start on it, about half done right now. Likely Ill finish the final trimming of the lower half once its on the lift later this week. 

The mess I started with 



























And after. So much better. I may weld in a small piece near the bottom of the wheel wells, still undecided until I can get the bumpers on.


















Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished up removing the rear roll pan.




















The subframe is now completely welded to the chassis, which was a pain with all the dripping paraffin and fires. But its on there!

This pic was taken before i rolled the car the other way to finish the other floor tie in plate and rocker welding.










I think I mentioned it before but Im taking time to grind any misaligned uni-body panel edges. Im sure no one will ever notice, but I just cant help it. Here is one example from the rear frame rail / wheel well area.




















Also manged to get the last of the undercoating stripped, aside from a few small spots still stuck in tight corners. And finally, started striping the rest of the OE primer in order to do the Master Series Silver coating and then regular primer. Im hoping to have the bottom all stripped and primed in the next week or so.










Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

I was just going to "see how much it would suck" in a few spots. A couple hours later I stopped and had done pretty much the whole floor pan. Now I feel like I should do a few spots inside....we'll see. It wasnt too bad, but it def took a certain technique to fight the fires and smoke from any seam sealer or wax left between panels, especially the ones where gravity wasnt helping. 



















Dan


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## rmrdaddy (May 1, 2003)

you are a fabricating wizard man, super impressed with this ENTIRE build!


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## Dancehall-Ape (Mar 15, 2014)

Glad to see you back on this thing again...:thumbup:

Make 2017 awesome!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

More progress!

Thrusday I finsihed up any stitch welding and did more primer removal, weld cleanup etc. 

Inside welded up. Its fun to see all the welding from the outside. 










Good penetration (maybe too good?)










All cleaned up and ready for primer.











Sat brushed on two coats of Master Series Silver











Sunday the wife and I got the "booth" set back up and wrapped in plastic. 

Ready!










Primed with two coats of 2k primer.




















Super stoked to finally have this at least in primer. Now I can get it on the rolling dolly and get back to the engine bay. Im hoping to start doing filler later this week. 

Dan


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## oopseyesharted (Mar 2, 2005)

Absolutely incredible work. I am going to need to watch this one.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Did a little more work on the "booth". Scored a 24" dog tunnel on amazon and cut it down to use as a fan duct. It works pretty slick and is easy to pop out of the window and move out of the way when Im not using it. 










A guy that I work with has a small CNC at home that hes looking to get some practice on so I had him make me this. Its a simple block to keep the brake line fittings keyed on the firewall. I have a few other things lined up that hes going to be cutting for me as well. Ill prob have this nickle plated along with a few other things (door and hood latches etc).










Ive been working hard the last couple weeks trying to finish up the last of the fab on the engine bay, getting it stripped down to bare steel, and primed. 

Welding and grinding done, stripped down bare.









Coated with Master Series Silver 


















And today put a good coat of 2k primer over the MSS. 



























Tomorrow Im starting on the filler, should be a ball of fun. 

Dan


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## Dancehall-Ape (Mar 15, 2014)

Crafty set-up! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
A step closer to putting color on this puppy. 
Are you going to back with the OE color or a different route?


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Engine bay and the bottom of the car are going to be Audi silver and the outside is going to be Porsche slate grey. 

Dan


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## madone (Sep 15, 2004)

wow you my friend set a new bar for mod'ing cab, will be keeping an eye on this.


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## M333ch02 (Oct 14, 2015)

Just read this thread from start to finish, my oh my, what a thread! Your craft is superb, keep it up as I will continue to follow as well.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Thanks!!

Filler has begun. As of reallly late last night Im almost done with the firewall. I just need to work on the lower transition to the OE firewall and a little around the corners. Hoping to finish that up, get some primer on it, and move on to the next section this weekend. 










Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Almost done with the firewall, still need to do the final glaze coat. 

I started on the shock towers/ inner fenders. 

Passenger side is pretty close, got the first coat of duraglass on the drivers side. 



















Where Im at as of last night.










If all goes well this weekend I may prime the firewall and pass side. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Reached a pretty big milestone last night. Finished up filler and primed the engine bay. There are a few spots Im going to need to address. The biggest being on the upper part of the drivers inner fender (the wavy line there), and the areas around some of the oe "grooves" on the frame rails. But overall Im very happy with how its shaping up. 

























































And just a reminder as to what I started with










Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Didnt feel like hand sanding anymore so I thought Id take a break and get the wheel wells primed. So I spent hours with a pile of roloc discs and then primed with Master Series Silver. Tonight Ill spray some 2k primer so itll be ready for chip guard in a month or so. 






































Up next I need to finish up the motor mounts, and then drop the motor / trans etc in for a final mock up. I still need to finish up the oil cooler mount and double check where wires etc will be run. Then I need to turn some attention to the motor (cleaning up casting lines etc) before it goes out for a rebuild in a couple weeks. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Last fri night I 2k primed the wheel wells. So at least now the whole bottom of the car is in primer. phew. Sat I pulled it out of the booth, got everything cleaned up (which took forever. so much dust) and removed the last few parts from the shell (windshield comes out tonight)



















Sunday I worked on the motor mounts. I hated the way the transmission mount looked "unfinished". I simply extended the boxed in part so it was even. It still looks a little goofy but at least it looks finished. I also tried my hand at TIG brazing using silicon bronze. I added it over the oe welds to create a nice rounded fillet. Im now hooked on the stuff. Its so easy to lay down and grind and sands so easy. 

Before:



























Welded up:









Brazed and smoothed:




























Next up was the front motor mount. Again, I didnt like the way the tube was just left open near the bracket. (for those that dont know a rubber "doorknob" goes on the end of this and plugs into the next piece that attaches to the lower core support)

Before:









After:



















Then it was on to the above mentioned cup. This one wasnt so bad, the factory weld was just not even nor made a nice fillet. I tried using some Dykem as a sort of guide coat. It worked great to quickly identify the low spots as I was block sanding the top edge. 




























Then it was on to the pass side motor mount. Since Im not using the factory alternator mount, which slips under the motor mount, I brazed in a spacer. I suppose I could have tried to flatten it or cut it off and weld in a flat piece, but this was fairly simple and its sort of behind the timing belt anyway. Plus the brazing is fun. I still want to braze over the factory welds to smooth them out. Ill get to that tonight.




















I then bead blasted them all.










And the new mounts arrived. I ended up getting the TT Tuning 65A HD replacements. 










Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished up the brazing on the top of the last motor mount. Now all the mounts are ready for a coat of MSS. 




























And bead blasted. The MSS should help fill the pits.











Bead blasted the OE master cylinder brace that I dimple die'd a few months back. I didnt like the uneven flange on the top edge so I trimmed that up and reshaped the lower flange a little.

Before









After



















Last tues a friend and I pulled the windshield and I was surprised to find what lie beneath.




























I scraped, wheeled, and ground out all of the urethane, paint, and most of the crusty rust. Also removed 14mils of paint from the window frame and wiper cowl. Whoever repainted this thing before was NOT shy with the product. Ended up with a few small holes which shouldnt be a big deal to patch up

Better



























Pic of said paint thickness.











Finally sand blasted.










Tonight Im going to sand blast it again, brush on a coat of MSS and then hopefully spray a second coat over the channel and the entire window frame and cowl. Ill also spray a coat on the motor mounts. 

Dan

56,419


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## domdil (May 19, 2008)

amazing! looking forward to seeing the finished product


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Had a day and a half off of work b/c of the storm, naturally I spent a bunch of time in the shop. 

Patched up the two holes in the window channel and did another once over with the sand blaster. 










Brushed on a coat of MSS










Then sprayed on two coats of MSS on the widow frame, and the motor mounts. My first time spraying it, it goes down very nice. I used the purple $15 HF spray gun.



















This pic of the motor mounts freaks me out a little. I swear they look like 3D models. 










Then I put a couple coats of 2k primer on everything.











Next, since everything was already a mess and I had the sandblaster out I decided to tackle the quarter panel easter egg. I knew it was going to be a mess, but it was a little worse than I thought after grinding out 1/8" of filler...





































It might be a while before I get back to this, so to seal it up I brushed and sprayed a couple coats of MSS on it.











Dan

56,627


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Cleaned up the black beach in the booth yesterday afternoon and got the shell back on the lift. 

Rolled the motor out and started bolting stuff on. I had to look back at image dates, but I made this intake and exhaust mani back in mid to late 2009, ugh. 

Anyway, I sorted a ton of parts, and tried to make sense of exactly what my plan was on some things back then. I think I have a good idea, at least in my head, what needs to be cleaned up, modified, finished etc. It seems like nearly all of the custom parts on this damn motor are 85% done. sigh. 














































Dan

56,732


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Spent some time on plumbing this weekend. 

Finished up the fuel lines (save for the supply and return to the OE tank, since I need to source the hose still. 



















The hard lines are a sob to get in with the subframe installed. Apparently I always removed it when I was working on them, whoops. Cant do that now. A little enlarging of the hole thru the chassis made it work, plus it allowed the gravel guard to fit through the hole, which I wanted anyway. 





























With that done I decided to work on the brake lines. I was originally going to mount the bias on the inside of the firewall or the floor, but I didnt like any of those locations so I decided to put it right on the side of the pedal box. I think it worked out well. I obv still need to flare the lines but a friend is borrowing my tool right now. I should have it back tomorrow and can finish up later this week. Im using 3/16 nicopp which is a dream to work with since you can easily bend it by hand. I still need to add some more mounts, a few of which I may make special to hold all 3 lines with one fastener. The front lines run through the frame rails and come out about 3" from the oe frame tab mounts, I think I showed this before. Those I will need to bend and flare once the lines are installed for good. 















































Dan


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## Emilio Estevez (Feb 8, 2011)

I love checking this thread out every couple weeks. Such amazing work. Keep it going!:thumbup::thumbup:


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## drkreign (Sep 2, 2005)

Love the work and attention to detail but I have to ask, why run the brake lines inside the car and not underneath it? I would think after passengers or the first time the top leaks and moisture gets trapped near the lines you could have a rather large mess. Not knocking at all, just curious on your choice 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

drkreign said:


> Love the work and attention to detail but I have to ask, why run the brake lines inside the car and not underneath it? I would think after passengers or the first time the top leaks and moisture gets trapped near the lines you could have a rather large mess. Not knocking at all, just curious on your choice
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



I dont forsee any issues with corrosion, Ive used all ss fittings and the nicopp line is VERY corrosion resistant. 

Ive done this purely for aesthetics. 

The top can only leak if you take it out in the rain. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished trimming and flaring the 3 output lines last night. I also played around with some zip ties, which hold them together surprisingly well. I still need to come up with at least one mount for the firewall. 



















Then it was time to tackle the input lines. Im not really happy with how these turned out. 1. the bulkheads are just so damn tall and 2. id like a little more clearance to the steering shaft (yes, I could bend them away more). So I ordered some electroless nickel plated 90 deg bulkheads this am. Ill need to have the engine bay side flange redone to accommodate the nuts and then hope like hell one out of the 6 choices allows the 90 to be keyed correctly inside (I can also shim them some if necessary).

Note: yes, one of the bulkhead fittings i had to substitute with a bolt as I left one at work.





































Dan


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## oopseyesharted (Mar 2, 2005)

Those lines look great. Does that line running behind the accelerator pedal come in contact with the pedal?


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

oopseyesharted said:


> Those lines look great. Does that line running behind the accelerator pedal come in contact with the pedal?


Nah. It cant hit even without the plastic stop in the carpet. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Wasnt digging the dumb bends on the input lines at the firewall so I picked up some nickel plated bulkhead 90s. It turned out SO much better. 




























With that done, I whipped up the rear crossover line and bracket. Im still deciding on what to use for clamps, hence its just floating right now. 
There will be no hard line on the drivers side, the braided line from the caliper will just extend right to the tee.




























And hose routing on the pass side around the surge tank and thru the axle beam



















Finally, I was able to work out routing of the ebrake cables without getting crazy and completely re-routing them. I just need the next size longer, 1800mm vs 1730mm. They are on order. I had to do a small notch in the fuel filter bracket (still needs a tiny bit more clearance) and massaged the corner of the gas tank a bit to add a small channel. 





































Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Test fit a wheel last night to both verify my axle spacer measurements were right and also to see how much wheel clearance I had for the axle beam brace "towers".

Perfect fit, and no rubbing. I know very un-vw.



















With that I welded up these little towers. I happened to have the rod ends and bar "in stock", leftovers from cavy projects I guess.










Trying to decide where to mount them. I really like them over the shock mount, but then they could get filled up with water and whatever. Im thinking a drain hole might be good enough to keep water from washes drained. Also unsure if the swaybar mount "lollipop" bolt is long enough to go through the extra metal.

I dont know how I took this to be powder coated years ago with the condition of the pass side shock mount area. Its pretty hammerd (literally). At least I can address that now as well since its going to need to be re-coated. 




























Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Was never a huge fan of the rear bumper cover or the huge tow hooks. The bumper flap in had a big crack right in the middle, so I decided to do a little trimming. At some point I may come up with a simple diffuser but for now just having that middle flap cut out and the tow hooks gone is a huge improvement. 





































So long ugly ass tow hooks










I think it will be pretty business looking once the bracing is in.




















Next was time to fix the pass side shock mount area on the beam. How I ever took this to powder 6 years ago Ill never know. It was very bent up and beat to hell. Must be someone couldnt get the shock out at one time. A little beating with a BFH, welding, grinding, and redrilling and its pretty close to normal.






































Also got the second brace tower welded up. Decided not to mount them over the shock hole. To keep them from filling up with water I welded up the oe hole in the beam, then tacked the towers on



















Autotech swaybar and longer tie rods will be here by thursday so I can finish up this beam and get everything back to powder sat am. 

Dan


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## cabbyryan (Apr 4, 2017)

nice build man, cant wait to see more progress :beer:


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## Mr.Pink1942 (Mar 15, 2009)

Awesome work.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Fabbed up the inner axle beam bracing mounts last night. Still need to be welded but Im currently out of sheild gas for the TIG. Also dont mind the random wheel studs, it was the only 5/8" bolts I had that were long enough. The fin at the bottom double serves as a jack point should I not be near the lift. 





































Dan


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## matty kirk (Jul 2, 2007)

Extreme!!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished up the beam bracing last night. Welds arent my best, but itll work





































Also had to modify the inner swaybar mounts. The OE mounts are supposed to fit the Autotech big swaybar, well mine didnt. They were about 1/4" too short. Its really weird, all of the MK1 VW cars have the same OE part number for this bracket, just different revisions dep on year. Given these are NLA and if I found a used set who knows if theyd fit, I decided just to mod them

First welded a shim to the mounting hole side.









Then cut off the bent end.









Bent / cut up a new peice









Positioned, tacked, and bent around the orig bracket









Ugly welded in place









Ground and sanded to sort of match the OE look









Perfect fit


















And the whole smash on the car









Up next I need to get the motor back in then start on the exhaust.

Dan


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## Shaw520 (May 6, 2017)

Dang ! ..sick build,....lucky wife !:thumbup:


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Had an hour or two free after work yesterday, decided to get the motor in so i can start on the exhaust. Goes in so much easier from the bottom side. Im planning to make some sort of dolley that holds it in just the right position so itll go in effortlessly when everything is painted and finished. Basically just lower the car onto it, no hoist required. 




























Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Fit a few things last night so hopefully I catch anything stupid that Ive long since forgotten in the last 8 years or whatever. 

Im currently struggling with my original oil cooler mount, not sure whats going to happen there yet. I hate the mustang throttle body. And the top radiator mounts suck. 

Reuger front lip























































Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> And the top radiator mounts suck.


As bad as they are and have a Negative Air Displacement Ratio (vacuous), they are still better than the old bolt at the bottom and a single clip at the top that allowed so much movement that Radiator Tanks split up the sides...


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> As bad as they are and have a Negative Air Displacement Ratio (vacuous), they are still better than the old bolt at the bottom and a single clip at the top that allowed so much movement that Radiator Tanks split up the sides...


I dont have any OE mounts. I made up some little tabs but Im not keen on them. I need to come up with something new.


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## EX-DOHCTOR (Aug 10, 2007)

Amazing build mate! Wow!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Was able to use my top radiator mounts. Just took a little mod of the radiator to get them to fit. 










With that done it was time to redo the top radiator shroud that I screwed up a few years ago. I had a couple hours friday night so I knocked it out. It was my first time forming something like this. I think it turned out pretty good. 














































Also started on Rev 2 of the oil cooler mount. Must happier with this one so far. I just need to redo the lower support / rock guard. Though I may add some sides to create a duct for it. we'll see. 










Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Years ago I started on an oil cooler mount, but since then decided I hated it. I mulled over lots of other ideas, but decided to just make a better version of the original. Im not going to bother showing the original, mostly b/c im too lazy to look it up. Here is the latest. 


Bent up a new upper bracket out of 0.090 alum. 












Made a rock guard frame / lower mount out of 3/16 ss rod and some 1/4-20 cap screws.












Welded some ss mesh to the frame for the rock guard. Here it is in place. 












Then I thought it should have a scoop and some ducting. So I bent up a few more pieces and welded them up. Of course I cut one angle wrong, so I did an ugly weld on the edge and reshaped it to the right angle. Saved!
































Here is the completed duct / scoop assy. The scoop and sides are 0.090 and the long flat curved piece is 0.040. Was fun welding them together.






















And on the car, without the rock guard.










































And with the rock guard






















Just need to trim some of the threaded studs, come up with the final hardware, and get it coated. 


I got the front soft fuel lines made and routed up to the fuel rail. Came up with a little bracket to hold them between the timing and serp belts since I wont be running a timing cover (just needs a screw) 






















In this week's installment of unnecessary projects that probably no one will ever notice:


I was unhappy with the bung welds for the turbo water lines. And there was a dent in the one OE water tube that Im reusing. So I broke out the silicon bronze and took care of both. These are now ready for coating, likely black wrinkle powder. 






















Next up is the starter. I saw someone on IG flip the starter to move the ugly solenoid to the bottom and just knew I had to do the same. I did a quick test a few weeks ago with an old broken oem starter, and it didnt look like it would be too bad. A little cut here and a few welds there and itd fit. New starter came yesterday so I quickly got to work.


Pulled apart












I skip a couple steps here, but basically I cut off the tab on the left right through the middle of the oe mounting hole. The hole to the far left is for some other bracket, but Ill be dammed if I can recall what. Cut out a chunk of 5/8" thick aluminum and welded it to the side. Also had to weld up half of the OE hole and an area I cut into when getting it into shape (the little area I bridged in the third pic here.


Welded
































Then spent some time grinding and sanding into shape and drilled out the new mounting hole.










































Perfect fit.
































Going to check flatness of the new flange area on the mill quick, and then bead blast it so itll be ready for paint when the time comes. 


Dan


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## blind (Nov 26, 1999)

Nice. I'd read the starter could be flipped but didn't realize it was that much work. 

Where'd you get the hose clamp/separators? They look much better than the aluminum aftermarket clamps.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

blind said:


> Nice. I'd read the starter could be flipped but didn't realize it was that much work.
> 
> Where'd you get the hose clamp/separators? They look much better than the aluminum aftermarket clamps.


Ya, the mounting holes aren't symmetrical, so its some work. 

The black hose separators I get from McMaster. Look up p/n 7429K45 I believe these are for the -6 hose. 

Dan


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## blind (Nov 26, 1999)

Thanks. They're cheaper and look much better than the china aluminum ones.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

blind said:


> Nice. I'd read the starter could be flipped but didn't realize it was that much work.
> 
> Where'd you get the hose clamp/separators? They look much better than the aluminum aftermarket clamps.


Here is the difference in the starter flange. The paper is the original flange position. 













Master cylinder lines showed friday. Also got rev 2 or 3 of the firewall bulkhead cnc cut by a guy I work with, turned out pretty nice this time. 

Still need to make the plugs for the unused master cyl ports. I have the pieces, just needs a little welding. But other than the soft lines to the calipers, the brake system is done. 





































Dan


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## Schumo (May 30, 2010)

I can't say it often enough, but your fab work is amazing!


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

As I stated earlier, are you "Really" building this for the wife....LOLOLOLOL or how you imagine she wants it.

My wire requires but a few things, a cup holder for her coke, and when she turns the Key the engine starts, and that it can stop (brake), other than that she could care less about it other than the a/c work and the Top is always up.


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## Mrpapageorgio (Mar 16, 2014)

briano1234 said:


> As I stated earlier, are you "Really" building this for the wife....LOLOLOLOL or how you imagine she wants it.
> 
> My wire requires but a few things, a cup holder for her coke, and when she turns the Key the engine starts, and that it can stop (brake), other than that she could care less about it other than the a/c work and the Top is always up.


Same here... Doesn't give a damm... In fact she prefers My 2000 Beetle


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Its her fun car for nice days so she'll just get whatever I give her. haha


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Couldnt find metric bubble flare plugs for the unused master ports so I made my own. I see lots of people use the right thread but with copper washers, well I didnt want to. 

Took some adapters, cut them down, drilled and tapped the hole for 8-32, threaded in a section of a screw and welded it in place. Should be good. 





























Up next was the intake manifold and fuel rail. I originally made this 6 years ago and for some reason it was very close to the radiator, closer than today me liked. I also hated the fuel rail mounting tabs. So I went to the town.

Flange cut off. 










Decided it was a good time to remove all the OE casting lines. Before...










With that done (no pics) I cut the runners down about 3/8", reshaped them to mate to the OE flange and ground the ends to a nice V.










Next, made up some new fuel rail brackets and welded them on. These were a total bitch to weld, way more than the runners to the flange which were cake. 










Spent a few mins smoothing out the welds (I plan on doing the runner to flange ones too, but Im waiting on my new Dynafile) I had just enough belt left to do these.










And here it is all reassembled. I also smoothed out the welds on the rail for the FPR cup and the input fitting.





































And an inside shot.










Next and hopefully last item is to redo the TB flange. I was originally going to use a stock mustang TB but have since decided its just too damn ugly and Id rather use GM IAC. I picked up an Aurora TB that should do the trick. More to come on that.

And finally, exhaust parts started rolling in. I also ordered a midpipe from Techtonics which is due tues. It was only like $25 more than buying the bends to make my own. It just better be 304ss like they told me on the phone, else Im not going to be happy.










Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Needed a flange for the new TB since I decided against using the mustang one. 

I probably could have had the guy at work cut one on his cnc but I always wanted to try using the router table and a wood bit to cut aluminum. So I scored a piece of 3/8" aluminum, scored out a pattern, roughed it in with the band saw and then free hand cut it on the router table. 

Here is is roughed in without any edge sanding. Not bad for free handing it without a template. I was surprised just how easy it cut even with a cheapo craftsman wood bit. 



















And with the hole cut (again free hand trimmed on the router table - after boring a hole with a hole saw), and the edges sanded a little. They still need work, but not bad for a few mins work.



















Holes drilled and some bolts in place for a test fit. The final plan is to add some threaded inserts to the flange and bolt it in from the front side. Ill be edge welding this flange to the current flange (and welding the current holes shut) so that you cant see the backside of the mounitng hardware.



















I think its going to be a good fit and looks pretty nice to boot.










In other news I picked up this guy. Its obviously WAY nicer than my $80 china special. It was a hard pill to swallow but it should be a huge time saver going forward. Plus I was out of 18" belts , haha.











Up next got a small start on the exhaust. I bought a premade 304ss midpipe from Techtonics for $300 to the door. With the price of bends it was a no brainer. Luckily it fits perfect. I did have to make one cut at the end of the straight section to get it over the subframe (see the hose clamp in the pic below). Ultimately there wil be a vband there and at the inlet of the resonator.



















I was worried the muffler wouldnt just fit and would hit the axle bracing but it JUUUST clears even at full suspsion compression (which will never happen)




























Dan


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## EX-DOHCTOR (Aug 10, 2007)

Man, what an amazing build. Epic skills mate! Wow!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Thanks sir!


Went back to the intake mani last night. 

First I drilled and tapped the holes in the TB flange for ss threaded inserts. 

Welded up the two mounting holes in the original flange. Then welded the new flange to the original around the entire edge and inside the TB hole. Finally filed and sanded the edge to a nice flat finish. I still need to port the inside to the TB, but I ran out of steam at 2am.










Typically I dont like to grind welds, but I felt like the ones at the runner to oem flange were out of place. So I went to town with the new Dynafile and smoothed them out. That thing was worth all the pennies, its so good. I managed to smooth them all out in just under an hour. The "floating belt" contact arm does such a great job of smoothing things out without leaving flat spots like an arm with a flat platen would.





































Dan


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## dougkehl (Nov 30, 2011)

That manifold looks so nice. You made the right call on grinding down those welds. It makes down by the flange look as if it came that way with those runners. :thumbup:

I'm building an ITB manifold for a destroked 20v 5 cylinder turbo that's going in my Quantum Syncro Wagon and seeing the work that your Dynafile file did there just convinced me to buy one with the hope that it will come out as nice as your manifold.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

dougkehl said:


> That manifold looks so nice. You made the right call on grinding down those welds. It makes down by the flange look as if it came that way with those runners. :thumbup:
> 
> I'm building an ITB manifold for a destroked 20v 5 cylinder turbo that's going in my Quantum Syncro Wagon and seeing the work that your Dynafile file did there just convinced me to buy one with the hope that it will come out as nice as your manifold.



You will not regret the Dynafile purchase, even tho it is $$. I got mine from Zoro with a 20% coupon, so it was like $400 ish. To do the nice blending you also need the contact arm that doesnt have the platen. 

So the Dynabrade is part number 14000 and the floating contact arm is pn 11219.

https://www.zoro.com/dynabrade-air-belt-sander-industrial-05-hp-18-14000/i/G3606827/

and

https://www.zoro.com/dynabrade-contact-arm-assembly-for-11x731-11x732-11219/i/G3701957/

I also picked up this contact arm as it has a small wheel at the end you can use to do a nice fillet in corners.

http://www.lehighvalleyabrasives.co...h-1-2-13-mm-w-platen-dynabrade-11213-dyn11213

Dan


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## dougkehl (Nov 30, 2011)

juicedz4 said:


> You will not regret the Dynafile purchase, even tho it is $$. I got mine from Zoro with a 20% coupon, so it was like $400 ish. To do the nice blending you also need the contact arm that doesnt have the platen.
> 
> So the Dynabrade is part number 14000 and the floating contact arm is pn 11219.
> 
> ...


Thanks! It's looking like that will be an early Christmas present to myself! Although it is expensive, but I know I will use it enough where it will pay for itself in little time between how much I'll actually use it and the results it will produce. If I've learned anything about having the proper tools, it's that the time saved by having the proper tools to do a specific job is worth more than the money spent on the tools themselves.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

dougkehl said:


> Thanks! It's looking like that will be an early Christmas present to myself! Although it is expensive, but I know I will use it enough where it will pay for itself in little time between how much I'll actually use it and the results it will produce. If I've learned anything about having the proper tools, it's that the time saved by having the proper tools to do a specific job is worth more than the money spent on the tools themselves.


I forgot about the belts. Check out Perfect Sanding Supply on ebay. They have the best price a couple of us could find on belts. They are german made.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-2-x-24-Sa...var=561139102869&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Dan


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## dougkehl (Nov 30, 2011)

Awesome! That's great. Thanks for all the links. Which belts do you prefer? I noticed they had aluminum oxide or zirconia.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Just been buying the alum ox.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Faced the TB flange on the intake. It was pretty damn flat even after welding. I used my high tech sandpaperstucktothebench method, which worked great. This is only 180 grit so Ill prob go up a grit or two. 



















I hated how loose the V band rings are on the tubing so I ordered a Lisle exhaust tubing expander setup to fix the issue.

Before. Huge gap, tube slips all the way in the ring / doesnt contact the nice step in the rings at all:



















After. Much better 




























I spent a little time yesterday swedging all of the ends that needed it so I should be ready to start tacking the exhaust together tomorrow night. Im waiting on a new gas lens and torch etc before I can get started on that. 


Picked up the two valve covers Im going to be modding from being baked and blasted.










And the crank trigger mount showed from USRT










Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Machined the valve cover to accept 2.0T coils. The holes needed to be expanded a little for them fit. I picked up a cheap 1-1/16" annular cutter off ebay to bore the holes down 3/4". Then used a 1/8" endmill to cut some notches for the indexing tabs on the coils. I did need to remove the rubber seals on the coils and trim the small ribs off of the plastic but they more or less snap right in. I still need to double check the final height with it installed but I think its close to them fully seating on the plugs. 




























Like a glove


















Tonight its back to the exhaust

Dan


----------



## dougkehl (Nov 30, 2011)

juicedz4 said:


> Like a glove
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Mmmmm that is nice :thumbup:


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

dougkehl said:


> Mmmmm that is nice :thumbup:


Thanks!



Got some new tig goodies yesterday. Most notably the new torch and Monster 14 gas lens setup. The CK red super flexible lead is super light and well flexible. 3/4" minimum tungsten stick out on the Monster 14 lens seems so crazy. Ive never used even a traditional gas lens before so this should be interesting. 



















Got everything setup and managed to get the catback all tacked together. 

Drilled a few holes in a hose clamp to tack the resonator to the midpipe.



















And yes it looks just like before but its completely tacked up. 










I started working on some hangers for the front side of the muffler (no pics as it was 2am). What I cant decide is how to make the hanger for the back of the muffler. Its going to be pretty visible so Id like it to look nice. Just struggling with what that might be. Grabbed a couple pics this am for reference. Open to ideas. 



















Dan


----------



## dougkehl (Nov 30, 2011)

juicedz4 said:


>


THAT looks wonderful to use!!! What machine are you running? 

Also, excellent work on the exhaust as well, like with everything on this car haha


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

dougkehl said:


> THAT looks wonderful to use!!! What machine are you running?
> 
> Also, excellent work on the exhaust as well, like with everything on this car haha


I have an old Miller 180SD. 

Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Got the back third of the exhaust welded up last night, minus an actual tail pipe. Was my first time welding SS. Its def not the best work ever, but Im happy enough. I had some moments of glory on the hanger.
































































Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> Dan


Your crappy welds look a hell of a lot better than my good ones. 

Those are the only clamps I use now....


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> Your crappy welds look a hell of a lot better than my good ones.
> 
> Those are the only clamps I use now....


Ha thanks. Yea Vband is so good. I gave up on bolted flanges long ago. 

Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Didnt get really any time to work on this on my week off but I did test fit the exhaust. The one hanger turned out perfect. 










And I tried out a maroon surface conditioning belt on the tubing. It looks pretty good, but not quite brushed enough. Im gona give a brown belt a try and see if thats better. Still unsure how Im going to de-polish the muffler and resonator. 










Built a new table for my horizontal bandsaw as well as a sled for cutting tubing as Im going to need to do a new downpipe soon. 




























And spent some much needed time cleaning up the shop. I took down the booth for now as its annoying and easy enough to set back up. 










Dan


----------



## FLY-GTI1 (Dec 28, 1999)

Impressive to say the least!:thumbup:


----------



## EX-DOHCTOR (Aug 10, 2007)

Most amazing build Mate! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Worked on the exhaust some more over the weekend. 

Finished welding up the midpipe. I feel like Im getting better on the welds, more consistent etc. 

Inlet Vband










I swedged the pipe after the resonator to match which made for a pretty easy weld.










Outlet vband










And there is it



















Of course I didnt like the inconsistent finish or the color from the welds (weird I know). So I sanded out all of the tooling marks and then did a brushed finish on it with a maroon belt on the Dynabrade. Much better :tup:






































Then I needed to make the last mount for the muffler. 

Welded a little tab onto the rear muffler flange, bent up a piece of 3/8" ss rod and boom. The rod is welded to a plate inside the trunk that I tacked in a few spots (no pics). 




















Friday I picked up the rear axle beam and associated parts from the powder coater. Im pretty stoked how it turned out. I will need to pull the bracing back off to install everything on the car but I just needed to see it together. 





























Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Put the brushed finish on the rear exhaust section last night. All thats left now is a tail pipe which Im still undecided on. 




























Dan


----------



## Hoffa (Jun 7, 2001)

Dan this is next level work really enjoying each post. I especially like the brushed touch on the SS pipes which remind me of the duals on my old 86 fox body 5.0 under bumper pipes.:thumbup:


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Not much progress in the last month, just too busy doing adulting.

Did manage to create the front exhaust mount and get it tacked on. Also have the end of the down pipe done (flex section and transition from 3" to 2.5")



















And some parts showed up. 

First $185 order of ARP hardware.










3" stainless for the new down pipe










EFR 6258 turbo finally showed yesterday. The T25 inlet and 3" outlet makes for an odd looking setup. But its going to be a MUCH better choice than the T3 turbine'd super 16G that I had originally. Excited to start getting it installed next week. 





























Dan


----------



## CabbyMagoo (Sep 5, 2016)

Love this thread. Thanks.


----------



## hankventure (Aug 8, 2017)

Damn.... This is nice work.


----------



## Tahroo (Jun 2, 2016)

My god.. it's all so.. so clean.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Originally I thought for sure that the new EFR turbo would fit very similar to the old 16G given the basic size. Fortunately it would not which led me down a huge rabbit hole (as usual). 

This was the original setup:











Turns out the best way to fit it was to flip it around. This meant having a different intercooler. I couldnt really find anything that I liked that would fit well with in/out on the same end. So I thought why not go water to air. And well, here we are. 

First I came up with a wood jig to hold the turbo in place.










Then found an IC I thought would work and made a poster board mockup of it. Scabbed together a bunch of random couplers and hoses and decided I could make it work.



















Fast forward to a bunch of parts showing up. 

Needed to modify both the inlet and outlet of the IC which required both flanges to be removed. To avoid getting any metal inside I connected the shop vac to blow through while cutting. It worked perfect.










One side cut










Cast inlet elbow cut










For the outlet I wanted to match the 3" dia of the TB, so I cut and formed a piece of 3" tubing to the outlet of the IC



















Was "talked into" using the Vibrant HD wiggins type clamps instead of couplers and tbolt clamps. So got those welded onto the IC and TB late last night.



















Placed in approximate location. Im still short another cast elbow that I need to weld to the turbo, but I cant go much further until I make a manifold. 




























Im super stoked how its turning out. Its soooo much cleaner than what I had originally.

As for the manifold I had a friend model it for me using some basic location dimensions. I ordered the weld els for it today, they should be in later next week along with the head flange.



















Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

One word reply.....DAMN


----------



## Butcher (Jan 31, 2001)

I would swap #3 and #4 pipes to the turbo flange.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Butcher said:


> I would swap #3 and #4 pipes to the turbo flange.


Whys that?


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Whipped up a new fan shroud for dual 10" Spal fans last night. Just need to add the mounting tabs which I should have today.

Bent up the 0.090" sheet on the brake at work. 

Then welded and shaped the corners. I backed up each corner with a small bent piece of aluminum welded to the backside.

Cut the holes out with my handy Bosch jig saw and cleaned them up with the floating belt on the Dynabrade (best tool ever). Finished with 180 on the D/A and then a red scuffy. Im gona feel bad having it powder coated, maybe. 























































Dan


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## DUTCHswift (Feb 22, 2012)

:beer: Currently the best build on Vortex ATM IMO


----------



## EX-DOHCTOR (Aug 10, 2007)

Amazing thread bud, loving every update


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Butcher (Jan 31, 2001)

juicedz4 said:


> Whys that?


Never mind, I was looking at the exhaust flange and had the count wrong. The way you have it is good.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

EX-DOHCTOR said:


> Amazing thread bud, loving every update
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk





DUTCHswift said:


> :beer: Currently the best build on Vortex ATM IMO


Thanks !



Butcher said:


> Never mind, I was looking at the exhaust flange and had the count wrong. The way you have it is good.


Ahhh gotcha. :thumbup:

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished up the fan shroud. 

A friend cut the mounting tabs on his CNC which saved a ton of time trying to get 4 exactly the same. 

I hand filed the shroud to accept them, and welded them on the backside for a clean look. This will ultimately be powder coated wrinkle black. 














































Installed with the top cover I formed a few weeks back










With that done it was time to start on the collector for the manifold. I managed to get two of the tubes cut and fit pretty nicely. The other two got borked up somehow (the first two I did) so I need to redo those tomorrow.










Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished up the collector last night. Fit turned out pretty nice for my first time I think. Also got the bends and straight pieces cut so its ready to assemble. Should be starting on it tomorrow night if the head flange shows.














































Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Head flange came in yesterday but its wrong, so I decided to work on the valve cover project last night. 

Recall that I had two covers baked and blasted a while back. And did some milling to fit the COPs. 











Ill spare you the details of cutting and fitting the piece from the donor cover and start where I had it clamped in place for welding. I welded both sides, then ground and sanded it smooth. Just a few pin holes were unearthed after grinding, which I'll likely just use some filler on vs trying to weld since Im pretty positive this is going to be painted. 

Im pretty stoked how it turned out. I still need to remove the extra tabs and likely decrease the radius of the top pulley guard as Im not going to be running a timing cover. 




























Dan


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## Dancehall-Ape (Mar 15, 2014)

*Just one word...*

Outstanding!!!


----------



## Swordie100 (Jun 29, 2016)

One question, why the water to air setup? What is it's advantage in your set-up? (Or in general)
Looks amazing.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Swordie100 said:


> One question, why the water to air setup? What is it's advantage in your set-up? (Or in general)
> Looks amazing.



Just for packaging and aesthetics. The size and shape of the EFR turbo made it messy to run the charge piping the way I intended with the 16G. And finding or making an air-air intercooler that would fit like I wanted had its own challenges. This seemed to be the best solution. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished up the cam cover. Was able to weld up all of the larger pin holes. There are a handful of smaller ones but they should fill easy with primer. 

Trimmed the timing gear guard about 3/8". I dont plan on running a timing cover and it just stuck up too far for my liking. And also trimmed off all the extra tabs around theedge and smoothed out any mold lines.





































Then I created a jig for the manifold. A piece of 1x5 aluminum serves as the base (with port holes for back purging), and then some scrap 1" tube was used to position the turbine flange in the correct spot.



















Unfortunately I still dont have the head flange, so in order to move forward with getting the runners at least tacked together, I machined this little disc. It will bolt thru the purge holes (which are centered on each runner) and keep the first weld el in the right x,y and z positions. Ill simply move it from runner to runner as I fit them.










Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Got the first two runners tacked up on saturday. The disc worked perfectly to position them. Should have the other two tacked up tomorrow night. Then its wait time until the flange arrives 



















Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Lots of progress last night.

Finished tacking the last two runners together. The spacer worked great. 




















__
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content










Then I made up a temporary steel flange so I can move forward with the downpipe and charge pipes since the head flange is 3 weeks out.










And bolted it up along with the turbo. Fits just like I had planned. It looks close to the firewall but there is probably 1.5"



















With that done I was able to finish up the downpipe. 











__
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content










Plenty of brace clearance. 



















Dan


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## dougkehl (Nov 30, 2011)

Really realllyyyyyyyyyyy nice work as always!

Where did you get your flange from again? I remember when I built my big valve honda b18/vw 16v mash-up head and I needed a flange to port match my exhaust I ordered a small as hell 1/4" thick flange from Columbia River Mandrel Bending just to tack 1-3/4" runners and accurately match everything up and it took them like a month to get it to me! Ridiculous!


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

dougkehl said:


> Really realllyyyyyyyyyyy nice work as always!
> 
> Where did you get your flange from again? I remember when I built my big valve honda b18/vw 16v mash-up head and I needed a flange to port match my exhaust I ordered a small as hell 1/4" thick flange from Columbia River Mandrel Bending just to tack 1-3/4" runners and accurately match everything up and it took them like a month to get it to me! Ridiculous!


The first one I bought (that Im not using b/c the port holes were gigantic) was from columbia river. Which, like you said, took forever. I ended up drawing up my own and im having it made locally for myself and a couple others. 


Got some bonus garage time yesterday. Managed to get the charge pipe tacked up. I havent welded the elbow to the compressor yet, Im going to wait to do that once everything is together for realz. 






































Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Late last week I finally addressed the issues with the shifter relay bracket that mounts to the rack. Just like other people my Meyle rack wasnt made exactly right so the bracket was clocked wrong. Since the rack is already refinished I decided to modify the bracket. Adding a couple small pieces of 3/16" steel to the two mounting locations took care of the issue. 



















With that now fixed, it shifted the relay lever upwards and into the header. I figured this might be an issue, but I didnt want the header design to be constrained by the shifter figuring I could fix it easy enough. 

Before










Sectioned










Bent the two pieces to match, welded a plate of 1/8" over the joint and smoothed it all out.



















After :thumbup:











Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Had some free time sat am so I finished up the intercooler. I needed a filler but I hate inline fillers, plus I wanted it at the highest point so I added a neck right to the one end tank. A little section of aluminum tube, a 32mm neck, and Vibrant radiator cap did the trick. Also welded a -12 fitting for the inlet. Certainly not my best welding but the cast IC end tanks are certainly not the cleanest. It should look fine in wrinkle black powder. 





































With that done last night I made the mount for the IC pump. I started off with a $10 clamp which I cut up and welded to some 1/4" aluminum angle. Then welded a little box to the frame rail to mount it to.

Mount cut up (basically removed the mounting tabs) welded to some 1/4" angle and smoothed out.










Frame rail box made from 2" square tube with the end capped.










The assembly










Mount welded to frame rail and primed.










The whole smash mounted up.



















Dan


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## madone (Sep 15, 2004)

amazing work, this is going to be one lovely cab.


----------



## CabbyMagoo (Sep 5, 2016)

madone said:


> amazing work, this is going to be one lovely cab.


If he ever finishes it


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

CabbyMagoo said:


> If he ever finishes it


Truer words were never spoken.


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## madone (Sep 15, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> Truer words were never spoken.


But the quality going into this build it will be so worth it. Trust me I'm starting my cab project and I've been waiting 20 years... hopefully it won't take me that long to complete it :laugh:

Will this be a weekend, show car or use whenever?


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

madone said:


> But the quality going into this build it will be so worth it. Trust me I'm starting my cab project and I've been waiting 20 years... hopefully it won't take me that long to complete it :laugh:
> 
> Will this be a weekend, show car or use whenever?


Nice days, weekends etc. Just not in the snow or when its too hot.


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## madone (Sep 15, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> Nice days, weekends etc. Just not in the snow or when its too hot.


I play that game already with my 62 MGA, its never had rain, snow on it and if its too hot you melt while driving it :laugh::laugh:


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Back to work on this after an unplanned timing and water pump job on the Allroad. 

Last night tackled the heater core return line. Its made from a stainless tube assy I bought off ebay, cut up, and welded back together. The one 45 I made as a two joint pie cut and then welded and smoothed to look like a 45. The only thing missing is a -6 fitting for the turbo water return but im currently out of stock. 

Tacked up



















Welded and smoothed. Again, just loving the Dynabrade. It makes short work of smoothing the welded joints



















The smoothed out pie cut joint 










Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

I love the updates.....


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> I love the updates.....


:thumbup:

Hopefully they keep coming. I really wanted to be working on the body again by now, but seems like things just keep coming up (some self inflicted, ha). Like Im swapping to 02A after doing all that work on the shifter and mounts, sigh. But oh well.

Stay tuned for that.


----------



## callawaygticab (Aug 29, 2006)

Amazing job Dan!!! I have two Cabs in the fold, one is a Callaway turbo and the other will be a 2.0 16V. Your process is an inspiration for me to get started in on the restoration(s). Can't wait to see yours up and running. Thanks for sharing the epic journey!!!


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Wow almost a month and no updates. I have been working on things just apparently forgot to upload pics and document. 

I decided after doing all that work to get the 020 linkages and crap working I should swap to 02A transmission. :lol:

Picked up the 02A trans, 02J shifter, cables (which are wrong in this pic) from a friend. Also found a good 02J shift tower (no pics). And bought a set of S&P MK1 02A mounts.










Quickly realized that the shift box was going to be harder to fit with my exhaust setup. Not wanting to change the exhaust I spent so much time I it was obvious the shifter would need to change. 










Pulled the shifter apart and started cutting










Made an aluminum cover. Its three pieces welded together and smoothed. 



















Perfect fit



















With that done I switched focus to the alternator. Years ago I had planned to use a MK3 alternator, but the size of it and the position of the one plug just wansnt going to work with my new dual fan setup. I spent countless hours looking at images and sizes of alternators and finally found that a 2001 Jeep Wrangler Denso type alternator would fit the bill. 

Machined a new top mount block on the mill at work. Then rounded off the edges on my router table. 



















And then cleaned it up with a maroon belt on the Dynafile. 



















Next was the lower mount / tensioner.

Clevis for the tensioner, using the rod end and adjuster I bought years ago. The clevis was made from some rectangular box tube I had laying around.



















And after hours of screwing around I came up with this crazy bracket for the lower tensioner mount. I still plan to add some reinforcement to the sides, but its more or less done



















It ties into the two mounts on the bottom of the block, and the water pump bolts.










Adjuster in place.










And mounted. 



















If anyone was wondering, I dont have a brake at the house for thicker plate so I whipped this up that I use in my vise. It works surprisingly well and way better than a hammer.










Next, it was time to figure out how to add a master cylinder to the factory pedal box. I looked at some ideas that others had done including fastbunnymetalworks and came up with something similar.










Made a bracket, again using my sweet brake shown above. its obviously not quite done, but very close. Hopefully Ill have it done this week. 




















That about catches up the progress on the project. Im sure I wont have a ton of time between now and new years, but Ill try to keep things updated should I move forward. 

Dan


----------



## Schumo (May 30, 2010)

Dan, I can't say it often enough, but you're the king of fab work! :heart:


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Schumo said:


> Dan, I can't say it often enough, but you're the king of fab work! :heart:


Do yourself big favor...... Machine yourself a new t-stat cover out of metal,,,, one last plastic part that won't leak on you.

Find a easy way to do it and you can sell a crap-ton of them.... as they are NLA in metal....


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> Do yourself big favor...... Machine yourself a new t-stat cover out of metal,,,, one last plastic part that won't leak on you.
> 
> Find a easy way to do it and you can sell a crap-ton of them.... as they are NLA in metal....


Funny, Ive never had a plastic coolant housing/flange/whatever on any of my VWs leak. Even on my VR6s with 200k plus miles. 


It would probably be easier to cast one. Which is something I have in the back of my mind for a few years now to get setup for. Just only so much time.... 


Dan


----------



## CabbyMagoo (Sep 5, 2016)

I'll be your wife if you finish this and give it to me


----------



## F4UH8TRS (Dec 3, 2009)

Wow found you on Instagram never knew the tex. But don't venture to far from mk1 forum.

Sick killer build. I love the way your thinking a lot out. You have great patience hope to be there some day.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

F4UH8TRS said:


> Wow found you on Instagram never knew the tex. But don't venture to far from mk1 forum.
> 
> Sick killer build. I love the way your thinking a lot out. You have great patience hope to be there some day.


Thanks!



Spent some time on the new upper trans mount saturday. They were built nice, but I didnt like how the top was open, or the state of the welds. Added a piece of steel over the open are and used some silicon bronze over the welds and did a nice fillet with the dynafile.



















Im likely going to weld up the S&P logo and the small triangles at the top. 




























Finally, soaked the trans in some old degreaser I had and hosed it off with hot water. At least now I can look at it without getting covered. 










Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> Thanks!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


With your mad skills you should slice the mount at the top, then weld a angle bracket to both sides of the weld and use grade 10 bolts and locknuts, and you never have to press in another tranny mount.....


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished up the clutch master tues night. 

Added a small wedge on the right side of the bracket to tie it into the pedal box better. Also had to shift the hole in the pedal arm up half a hole to get the alignment perfect. Took the opportunity to fatten it up in that area so I dont need spacers in the clevis. 

Ive since sandblasted and primed it. Ill blow some black paint on it tonight and itll be done. Of course I need to drop the pedal arms back off to be re-powder coated. 

Welded nuts to the backside for easier in-car swapping. 









Nutserts in the cowl area for the top mount.









Finished assy. 


















Dan


----------



## Dancehall-Ape (Mar 15, 2014)

Your welding and fab skills are on the mark! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Just to let you know; I have enrolled into a welding class at a local community college. This post is an inspiration to better my welding skills into another capacity at work.

Keep posting and Happy New Year to you.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Dancehall-Ape said:


> Your welding and fab skills are on the mark! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
> 
> Just to let you know; I have enrolled into a welding class at a local community college. This post is an inspiration to better my welding skills into another capacity at work.
> 
> Keep posting and Happy New Year to you.


Cool man! :thumbump:

With the column done it was time to get back to the trans mounts and shifter bits. 

When I first test fit the 02A S&P mounts I noticed that while they fit fine, they seemed to locate the motor in a different spot than the OE mounts for the 020. This was not acceptable as I had already done the exhaust among other things with it in the original position. I struggled with a way to locate it the same but eventually came up with this. 

Installed the original 020 trans and mounts, and used my hydraulic table and wooden cradle to hold it in place with the upper trans mount removed. Then made a jig that located the trans mount to the body. 










With that set I pulled the motor back out then made another jig to act like the trans mounts on the body. I made a wooden disc to take place of the rubber trans mount insert as I didnt want to press it in and have it damaged from welding etc. 










And there we have the difference between the mount I bought and where I need it. The sharpie markings were my best guess based on some measurements I was trying do do with the transmissions on the bench, not bad. 










Cut the mount up. and started welding in new sides. I did them in two pieces, welded top and bottom as I didnt have the correct box tubing. A couple of 0.025" ss spacers were used between one of the legs and the trans to allow space for paint/ powder.




























The we skip a bunch of steps where I weld in extra steel to even out the top, then some silicon bronze for the radii and fillets. 










Clearance for the reverse switch










Close up of the finish. 










I do need to take about 0.1" off the bowtie piece of the Diesel Geek shifter plate so it doesnt interfere with the mount. Most people window the side of the mount but it doesnt look as good and since Im not using the stock shift linkage its just not necessary. 

Up next the shift cables. 

First test fit them with the oe trans bracket and they fit perfectly. 










However, when I went to double check the fit of the charge pipe there was an issue since when I did the turbo setup there were no cables...










I decided to lower the cable bracket vs smashing in the charge pipe. But first I needed to remove this:










Cut up the oe bracket and welded it to a new base plate.










Added some sil-brz and created a nice fillet and finished.











I also had to tweak the lower trans mount by redrilling the holes in a slightly new spot to get it to fit, but no pics. 

Up next: Intercooler mount.

Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Got a pic of the previously mentioned lower trans mount bracket. Basically I just had to weld up the original holes and drill two new holes for the mount. Sharpie marks are about where the original holes were located. So that finishes up all the mount mods needed.



















Next I needed to add a little clearance between the DieselGeek shifter plate and the trans mount. I simply ground about 0.1" off the plate. I also didnt like that there were two stacked plates so I welded the edges together and ground smooth. Much better. 










Then I came up with mounts for the intercooler. Its likely overkill, but I think it looks cool and is functional without having a huge plate or something else supporting it. 



















This was fun. I ended up doing the bottom few dabs with silicon bronze so as to not ruin my blend job. 










Mount blended.










Reverse switch and connector still fit!










A few shots of the almost complete assembly.














































Yesterday I just did a bunch of little nonsense. 

Swapped the bypass valve cover from the plastic one to a billet one.



















Ground all of the 020 shifter lever tabs off of the steering rack.










Added the bulkhead for the hydro clutch










Reassembled the steering column so I can do the clutch hard line since the banjo fitting for the master arrived.










Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished up the shifter. 

Cleaned up all the factory parts, replaced the main "bearing" for the shifter arm, and the little rubber insulator for the side/side spring, bead blasted and matte cleared the housing, installed the ss mounting studs (two of which I had to trim to lenght b/c nfw I could leave them diff lenghts), and added some gold foil to the bottom cover. 





































Made the hard line for the clutch master.










Then decided I best put EVERYTHING back in to be sure im not missing anything big and that there are no issues. So far so good. 










Still need to get the HX mounted an make up the last two lines for it to the pump and IC. Hoping to have that done this weekend, but we'll see.

Dan


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## DUTCHswift (Feb 22, 2012)

SO much inspiration in this build. I feel like you're taking everything to the lengths and details that we all wish we had the time/skill to. Well done! :beer:


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Sat I made the mounts for the heat exchanger. Naturally the storm messed up my Summit shipment so I wasnt able to weld the AN bugs on but at least its mounted now.

My super high tech fixture for the lower brackets.



















Cut out a section of box tubing to make the top brackets and welded them on.





































Bingo










Next, I refused to use the giant self tapping screws or whatever to mount the fan shroud so I added some 10-24 brass inserts. 




























Then switched gears to work on some other parts for the body while I wait for parts. 

Hood hinges smoothed, dimples filled with silbrz and the "hooks" removed.










Then I decided to tackle the trunk lid. Since Ill be shaving the lock I needed to add an acuator. 

Original mech










Trimmed and bent the rod to attach to a door lock actuator. 










10-24 nutserts fit perfecly in the OE holes for the cardboard panel that went over this area.










Added an aluminum plate. Works mint.










Finally I started shaving the holes from the emblems. Oh the days before two sided tape....










Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Good progress last night. Finished shaving the badge holes. Which went pretty smooth and turned out good. They probably wont even need any filler.



















Then it was time to tackle the lock hole. I needed to remove the step, but wanted it round and centered if possible. Puzzled it for a bit until I remembered I had this hole saw arbor that lets you expand existing holes. Luckily I had the perfect size saw for the existing hole (just had to go around it like 20x with a deburring tool for a slip fit).



















Then carefully cut a circle of steel to fill the hole. 










Skipping a bunch of steps, but basically i did a bunch of tacks a few times around to get it fully welded. Then ground, sanded, hammered, sanded, hammered, until we get to here. Its def not perfect and will certainly need some filler, but Im pretty pleased.





































Up next is the third brake light. Im either going to shave it completely or shave it but add a thin flush mount LED. I cant find a good pic of what Id like to do, but basically youd just see the lens which would be a piece of lexan sanded flush to the contour of the lid.

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Decided to go ahead and shave the third brake light. Still unsure what Im going to do to replace it but for now its gone. Im considering two to replace it; one inside at the top of the rear window for when the top is up, and one on the roll bar for when its down. (obv would have a way to disable either depending on the top position). It would be cleaner and more visible, which is good given the size of this car and the distraction level of drivers these days. 

Anyway, I didnt get any pics of it welded up but here we have the filler done and the first coat of primer blocked down. I have a couple low spots and some pin holes to deal with. In general though I think its damn close. A quick coat of glaze here and there and another coat of primer and it should be set. I was surprised that there seemed to be some filler under the OE paint. Perhaps Karman did something with them?





































Between filler drying I started working on a fender. Everything is so filthy still.



















Shaving the marker lights in progress. The screw holes are already weld up here.










Unrelated to body work, the clutch hydro line and banjo fitting showed. Fit nicely.



















Welded the -12 bungs to the HX and got two of the hoses done. Still waiting on some support spring for the lower, suction, hose. 




























Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Blocked the deck lid, added some glaze to address the pin holes and other spots, blocked, and re-primed. It should be good to go know with just a quick blocking.



















Back to the fender. Welded and brazed the antenna hole up. Shoudnt need any filler. 










Got the first coat of filler over the marker light area. Probably just a light coat of glaze will finish it off.










And then I started cleaning up the other fender when I noticed some filler squeezed thru a hole at the front corner, surrounded by a little rust. So I went to town and found this. 

Yup, thats like 0.1" of filler and a hole from a dent puller stud, sigh. Not sure what Im gona do about this one yet. 



















Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Trunk lid blocked out with 400 dry. Pretty happy with how it turned out. 




























Stripped the drivers fender of its many layers of paint. Its super straight and zero rust. Ready to prime tomorrow. 











Dan


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## DUTCHswift (Feb 22, 2012)

Is it weird that I can't wait to see this whole thing in primer grey? lol


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

DUTCHswift said:


> Is it weird that I can't wait to see this whole thing in primer grey? lol


No, because I cant wait either!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Epoxy and 2k primed the fender last saturday. Turned out nice. I havent blocked it out yet, but it should be close, maybe just a little glaze around the area where I shaved the marker lights. 



















Then it was back to the trunk. The inside has just as much bad paint as the outside, along with a few dents. Spent forever stripping the inside and repairing the dents in prep for primers. 





































Sanded it out. Ready for the last coat of primer.










Just had to toss it on quick to see how it looks. Diggin it. 











I was tired of sanding so last night I decided to focus on the hood latch. My oe one was a rusty mess so I sourced a German aftermarket one from Poland. 

Years back I modded the oe one to release through the grille like the early rabbits. The job I did on it sucked so I fixed that up last night and mated it to the new latch. 










Its basically just a tab welded to the release where normally the cable would hook to. I cut off anything associated with the cable and drilled a new hole for the spring.
Also added nutserts for mounting the base to the core support. 










Naturally the safety catch hook hit the heat exchanger, which I knew would be close. Luckily it was just low enough a small clearance through the top plate gave it enough room. I also trimmed the catch a tiny bit for added clearance (not shown in the second pic)



















Then I pulled it all apart so it will be ready for nickel plating. 










Dan


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## Fender13 (Nov 18, 2015)

Fantastic thread and job ! Keep up the good work.


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## cbrfxr67 (Jan 8, 2018)

Loving this! Great stuff!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Primed the inside of the trunk. Its now ready for seam sealer. 










Pass fender stripped. Didnt find any other surprises so I decided to fix the previously hacked repair on the front corner. 










With the rest of the 1/8" of mud ground off it was a huge mess. The backside was quite rusty as well. Stupid dent pullers. You can see some leftovers of the one stud, top left of the damaged area. The top of the fender behind the damage was also pushed up quite a bit so I hammered that flat using a poster board template of the drivers fender. 










Cut out the old repair










Hammered a replacement piece to shape. 










Welded it in place and sanded it out.



















Last night I shaved the marker light holes and got it glassed in. Its not a great shot of it, but you can see just how little filler the front repair I made needed. A little better than the original repair.










Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Took a break from sanding and started on the catch can. 

Naturally I couldnt just make a square box. I wanted the one corner to be rounded. 

Bent up some 0.090" to a 1.5" radius on our little Baleigh brake at work. 










Then cut and fit all the other pieces and got most of it tacked up. Im still waiting on the top panel that a guy I work with is cutting on his cnc for me. Should have that tomorrow. 

Ill try to explain how this is going to work. The large oem vent in the block is going to attach to a tube in the chamber with the rounded corner. The air will travel up over the first wall, under the second, over the third, and then there will be an opening in the bottom of the front most chamber. The whole thing will be filled with ss wool to capture the vapors. The bottom is angled to funnel the captured oil where there will be a drain. Its hard to see but the first interior wall is flat at the bottom allowing oil to go under it but most of the air to be directed over it. The third interior wall follows the contour of the bottom panel so I can seal it to hold the oil within the first three chambers. Phew. It should make more sense as it comes together. 















































Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Realized wed am that I welded the damn mounting flange of the tank on upside down. UGH. Last night I cut all the tacks off, cleaned up the panels and flipped it over the right way. Took about an hour, so not SO bad.










Then added a bung for the drain and the inlet tube and welded it all up. 



















Welded a piece of rectangle tube to the side of the HX to attach the tank to. The tab out the side should make sense now. 










Up next was the drain. The drain will double as a secondary mount for the tank, I still need to weld on a mounting tab that will bolt to the frame rail. That groove in the frame rail was meant to be there I guess. It took me a while to get the bends right for the drain. I also had to trim the tube sleeves so Id have enough room for the flare tool dies but I think it worked out pretty slick. 



















The inlet tube is 1.25" to match the oe breather on the block, and is angled to go under the upper radiator hose. Ill connect the two with a 1.25" silicone 90. 










Drain will get a male plug.



















I now have the top plate back from my CNC buddy so I should be able to get that welded on this afternoon.

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Catch can lid welded on (note groove for sealing o-ring), output slot cut in the bottom, and a mounting tab for the drain line welded on. 

I also tweaked the drain line spacing to the frame rail for all you that were super concerned. 























































Will drill the frame once the motor is out next time. 










Next I need to decide if/how Im going to fit a breather line or two to the valve cover.

Dan


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## DUTCHswift (Feb 22, 2012)

juicedz4 said:


> I also tweaked the drain line spacing to the frame rail *for all you that were super concerned*.


:laugh: I was going to ask about that...

Do you think maybe using a rubber sink washer or something like that to isolate the tab from the frame horn might be a good idea? I'd be worried about any freedom of movement the tank might have fatigueing that tab.

Then again I can't do 50% of the stuff your doing... :facepalm: just a thought. :beer:


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

DUTCHswift said:


> :laugh: I was going to ask about that...
> 
> Do you think maybe using a rubber sink washer or something like that to isolate the tab from the frame horn might be a good idea? I'd be worried about any freedom of movement the tank might have fatigueing that tab.
> 
> Then again I can't do 50% of the stuff your doing... :facepalm: just a thought. :beer:


Remember its mounted to the chassis so this is more of a secondary mount. Sure its going to vibrate some, so it may fatigue over time. Ill keep an eye on it. Worst case Ill come up with another tube if it becomes an issue. 

Hell, maybe ill weld some gussets to the tube bends, that might help quite a bit.

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Silicone 90 for the crank case vent trimmed and in place. Itll sit straighter once clamped (not that youll ever see it again).










Ive been hating the fuel press regulator cup on the end of the fuel rail for a while now. The original plan was it would be simple, "cheap", and require less fittings. But now it just annoys me and I feel that Id prefer to have some control over fuel pressure if needed. 

So last night I hacked the cup off and welded a -6 fitting on. Its so much cleaner. Im going to mount the small Fuel Lab FPR under the fram rail. Sure it wont be the easiest to access but it should be a set it and forget it deal. 

Before









After



















Dan


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## Hoffa (Jun 7, 2001)

I just love popping over to this forum to admire your work. :thumbup: So well conceived, executed, and changed/fixed when you have a change of heart. It will almost be a shame to cover up your metal work with paint when it's done but the result will be unbelievable too!:beer:


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Thanks!!!

Big update:

Finished up the catch can. I decided to add one breather to the valve cover. Not so much for the vent but that I needed a place to fill oil since I shaved the oe fill cap. haha

Fitting welded and smoothed.










To keep the hose as long as possible to compensate for engine movement I welded a piece of tube to the catch can the hose slips over, vs a bung and fitting. Also did a little bump in the hose. I did use silicone hose I had lying around which is not lined correctly so Ill need to either source some lined hose or just use standard pushloc hose when it comes to the final install.










Finished up the hood latch mods. Originally the pivot for the safety catch was staked in. I needed to remove it in order to be able to nickel plate everything so a new pivot was required. I sourced a internally threaded shoulder "bolt", drilled it out from 8-32 to 1/4-20 and turned the knurling / labeling off. Not shown: drilled out the hole in the safety catch to fit the shoulder bolt and welded extra material to the edge to compensate for the larger hole. 

Original pivot ground off










Shoulder bolt before










Everything modded and assembled complete with ss ARP 12 point bolt.



















Next was to finish up the revamped fuel system. The Fuel Lab FPR fit nicely under the frame rail. I just needed to make a little adapter plate to mount it to and redo the lines quick. Ill rivet this in after the chassis is painted hence the temporary clecos



















And last but not least FINALLY got the header and down pipe fully welded. 

First time welding a header like this. It was a total pain trying to do it all in one piece, but I thought I could without separating the runners and I wanted to try and minimize warping by keeping it on the jig.

Thankfully the Monster 14 cup didnt disappoint and I was able to have huge tungsten stickout while maintaining a clean weld.


__
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content










All welded up. It probably took me a good 5 hours of welding 3/4" , re-position manifold, weld antoher 3/4", repeat infinity times. Its not the best job ever but itll certainly pass.











__
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content




























It did pull a tiny bit on the jig but nothing to worry about. The head flange was also pretty flat. Nothing I cant sand out quick on my big belt sander.










Then it was the down pipe's turn. Had to make a jig to weld the turbo v-band flange. Both to hold it flat and to be able to purge it properly. I was quite pleased with this weld.



















For the saddle O2 bung the fit wasnt quite right so I welded the sides and then used a hammer and punch to adjust the edges for a tight fit.



















All done.




























Still fits!












And with that i THINK im done with the motor / turbo fabrication. Tonight Im going to do a once over everything an then it should be time to remove the motor and get cranking on the body!

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Took a good look over everything last night and decided it was close enough to pull the motor. There is still a few things to do but they will be easier with the motor out than in.










And after a short 60 mins it was bare again










I stared at the turbo water ports for a bit and got frustrated trying to fig out exactly how to run them so I decided to tackle the charge pipe and compressor elbow instead. I was a little nervous about welding to the compressor housing but it went fairly well. 



















Next is the turbo oil drain and water lines. 

Dan
75,791


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Stainless turbo water hardlines are done. Took a few hours but I managed to do them without a rev 2. Which is good because I literally had just enough tubing left. 

Im not super in love with the 180 for the return but a banjo would sit too high I feel like. 





































Its hard to get in pics how they really look so I took a quick vid. 






Dan


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## blind (Nov 26, 1999)

Did you use a bender to get the 180 or bend it around a pipe?
If a bender, what type?


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

blind said:


> Did you use a bender to get the 180 or bend it around a pipe?
> If a bender, what type?


I use this bender. https://www.zoro.com/ridgid-tube-bender-lever-38-in-od-1516-bend-38043/i/G4059587/

Not cheap at $150 but it makes excellent bends, even on nicopp. Usually you can find a 20% off coup for zoro bringing it down quite a bit.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Since I swapped transmission I no longer needed the clutch cable hole in the firewall, so it had to go. 

I also wanted to flatten the RHD column feature so Id have more room for a heat shield.

Both meant having to cut into the already primed firewall, but it had to be done. 










Grind it out and make a template. 










Bend up a piece and weld it in.










Same for the RHD column



















Nice and flat compared to the LHD column bump you can see in the distance










Filled and sanded.










Finally primed. 










And with that the engine bay is more or less ready for a final sand and paint. Im sure there are a few spots that might need a little going over but its prob 97% there. 


I spent most of the rest of the weekend stripping the body back to just the shell, sorting and organizing parts, trying to fig out what needs what coating, and finding places to put everything.

Also started setting the "booth" back up so I can get cracking on the door jambs and quarter panels. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Small update. 

I hated the white spring retainer on the hood latch so I turned a black one from ABS. Much better.



















Sat am I dropped off a pile of parts to the powder coater. All these will be wrinkle black.










I was a little leery about them masking and blasting the fuel rail correctly so I decided to VHT wrinkle paint it instead. Was my first time working with it and it turned out great and should hold up. 



















Then I expoxy and 2k primed a few parts. Charge pipe, radiator trim panel and the pass fender.










Starting to look a little like a car.



















Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> Small update.
> 
> 
> Starting to look a little like a car.
> ...


Sure your building it for the wifey..  love the updates.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Decided I didnt like the oil drain for a number of reasons, so I decided to make a new one. I wanted to try and do it all stainless without any rubber tube. 

Started scouring the internet and discovered a flexible stainless oil drain tube for cummins diesels. Picked one up for $40 figuring I could mod it to my needs. 

I didnt get a pic of it, but it started off life like sorta like this











First the turbo flange was too large, so I welded up a new one out of two pieces of 3/16 ss plate. I only used two pieces as I had it and didnt want to attempt to bore ss for the tube connection.



















After cutting the flange off of the flex tube I brazed it on with silver solder. This was a challenge as I had to preheat the flange since it was so much thicker than the tube (tube was like 0.010" wall), then set the tube in place and then continue to heat and add the silver. In the end it turned out great. Obv I smoothed out the edges of the flange at this point also. 










Flux cleaned off and wire brushed. I was very pleased at how well this turned out.



















Flange sanded flat










Then, since the hose was too short (on purpose) I needed to add a straight section to it. For this I used a section of 5/8" 0.030" wall stainless that I swedged the end of to fit in the end of the flex section. This was then also brazed together. This was much easier with the materials a more similar size.










Cleaned up.










Skipping a few steps here, but I welded up a few 1/2" schedule 10 bends to attach to the pan and extend up over the axle and added a mounting tab for the block. 

Machined wrench flats to the male bung










Close up ish of the tube assy, the end will weld to the pan.










The straight section attaches to the pan section with a tube nut / sleeve -10 connection. 










Finally, the whole assy in place.





































About all thats left is to weld the S bend to the oil pan once i pull it off and get it cleaned up.











Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Started smoothing mold lines on the trans. Some of them were just stupid bad....like they could cut you so bad youd wish they didnt cut you so bad. 

Still a bit left to do, but its a huge improvement for just two hours of work so far.










































































Dan


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## DUTCHswift (Feb 22, 2012)

juicedz4 said:


> Decided I didnt like the oil drain for a number of reasons, so I decided to make a new one...


 Still elegantly solving problems we didn't realize were problems.



juicedz4 said:


> ....like they could cut you so bad youd wish they didnt cut you so bad.


:laugh:


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Super boring update. Spent another hour or two sanding. Think its pretty close now. Ill prob do a final bead blast when I separate it for the diff install.



















Then onto the bottom side. 










Just so you can see what Im dealing with. Its like someone splattered it with aluminum when it came out of the mold. Thanks 1990s. 







































Dan


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## Tisser (Dec 25, 2014)

Still killin it with the skills of a god I see! Looking great man, I'm hoping to work on mine this summer after a two year haitus, and I'll be looking at this thread for inspiration for sure. Keep it up!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Thanks Tisser.


FINALLY got my wrinkle black parts back from powder. Red pieces should be done this week. 














































Bumper beams in satin black which came out really nice for something youll never see again. 










Dan


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## EX-DOHCTOR (Aug 10, 2007)

Amazing work! Glad to see I’m not the only one grinding and sanding the rougher edges of the gearbox casing. 

Mine looks just awful with all the jagged edges. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

EX-DOHCTOR said:


> Amazing work! Glad to see I’m not the only one grinding and sanding the rougher edges of the gearbox casing.
> 
> Mine looks just awful with all the jagged edges.
> 
> ...


Thanks!

Its amazing just how bad these castings are. I dont recall any of my other VW cases being as bad as this.


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## EX-DOHCTOR (Aug 10, 2007)

Yeah, my gearbox is an older DGG casing. I've been cleaning it with wire wheels for ages and the mould lines have been bugging me so I started with a file and then some flap disks, gonna finish off with some grinding wheels on my dremel. 
Mine wont look anywhere as good as yours but my OCD won't allow my to clean the casing and leave those awful rough edges.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Disassembled the shift tower, bead blasted it, and started smoothing mold lines. Shouldnt take much longer to finish it up.




















And I have a big snafu with the gas tank. I dropped it off along with everything else to be powder coated. When they did the pre bake to burn off the old paint all the hose connections fell out b/c they were just soldered in with regular solder, not brazed in. 

I can likely braze them back in except for the one vent line. Id have no way to braze it back in the middle (where I drew the circle on top).

The only thing I can think to do is drill a hole in the top and wire it up with some steel wire and then try to braze the hole shut, but meh. 

Pretty bummed as this was a brand new tank I got back in 2006. 










There is where it was originally soldered inside. 










Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished removing mold lines on the shift tower, and then removed them from the oil filter mount as well. Then bead blasted both and "decked" the filter and block flanges on the filter housing (I use sandpaper stuck to a slab of granite)

Before





































Dan


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## EX-DOHCTOR (Aug 10, 2007)

juicedz4 said:


> Finished removing mold lines on the shift tower, and then removed them from the oil filter mount as well. Then bead blasted both and "decked" the filter and block flanges on the filter housing (I use sandpaper stuck to a slab of granite)
> 
> Before
> 
> ...


The bead blasting makes a world of difference. You’re giving me ideas for my project big time! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

EX-DOHCTOR said:


> The bead blasting makes a world of difference. You’re giving me ideas for my project big time!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Yea. It really helps to give it a more even finish. I should get some primer on these, Ive just had not time for this project lately unfortunately. 

Dan


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## AbsoluteYeti (Jul 30, 2014)

subscribed so i can actually read all of this. Excellent build so far!


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## Schumo (May 30, 2010)

Any updates in here? :wave:


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Schumo said:


> Any updates in here? :wave:


Unfortunately no. Ive been trying to get a different project running and have been swamped with family stuff this summer. I hope to get back to it soon!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Super tiny update. 

I got the pedal arms back from powder a couple months ago and reassembled the column. So thats all ready to go in. 




























And mounted the fans to the shroud with some completely unnecessary 12pt SS ARP bolts. 










Im hoping to get back into it late sept or early oct.

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finally got back to this about a month ago. Been pretty slow progress, but its a tough time of year. 

Picked up a used 4G63 cam trigger in good shape for the USRT adapter I got last year. Pretty slick package that apparently works very well and wont require trying to hack in some sort of crank trigger. Just needs to be cleaned up and probably painted.




























And finally tackled the mangled quarter panel repair. It was pushed back pretty good, full of holes from spot weld pullers etc, and prob had a good 3/16 of filler in the previous repair. Hell, they must have used 1/2" of RTV to seal the tail light and one of the mounts was so far off it didnt even touch.

What I started with










Somewhat pounded into place, at least the tail light fits all the holes now










Welded and sil-brz'd up the holes and smoothed the area out a bit. 










Of course then I realized just how far back it was still pushed when I fit the tail light... not sure how i didnt notice this, but **** happens.










So I welded in a strip of 1/8" 










Then smoothed it out with some sil-brz. Much better



















With that in good enough shape it was time to shave the rear marker light holes. First I stripped the area with this guy. Worked pretty damn good, but with all the paint on the car (you'll see soon) the drum clogged up pretty quick. But I could see using this to put a nice finish on stainless etc. 



















Welded up. Shouldnt require too much filler.










And then the drivers side marker shaved.










Mostly stripped










And back to just how much paint is on this thing. Looks like its been painted at least twice after the factory.




























Needless to say its taken quite a bit of time to strip this thing. But Im very close, just need to do the drivers door jamb, and then finish up some corners in the jambs.



















This area was especially fun.











I should have the rest stripped tonight. Im hoping to get the shell in primer by the new year, but it may spill into early next year depending. 

Dan


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## DUTCHswift (Feb 22, 2012)

Excited to see this continue progress. I'm sure it's gonna feel good to have this body all squared and stripped back down.

Me when I see this pop back up on the top of my sub box:


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## MK1_74 (Nov 30, 2018)

Amazing....


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Made a ton of progress over break. 

Removed the bracket for the trunk light switch and smoothed out the awful weld splatter here (forgot before pic).










Finished stripping paint from all the corners and spot blasted a few areas so it was finally ready for primer. 










Got the old booth set back up, complete with end zipper wall and now a few furnace filters for make up air.



















Loaded in and ready for primer. I used the heat lamp to help preheat the panels. Also put a kero heater in the booth since I only keep the shop air temp around 57 (typically 60 deg floor). It took a couple hours but I had it up to almost 80 in the booth. (obviously I move it out when spraying, then back in once it clears out)










Laid down two coats of epoxy, which I thought went down well. 



















And then topped with a coat of 2k so I dont have to scuff epoxy later. I did screw up... I should have left the dash, rollbar, and windshield frame just in epoxy. More on that later.






































A few days later I thought it was time to tackle the inside. 10 hours later I have the inside cleaned, sanded, scuffed, and spot acid etch primed. I do not wish this job on anyone.































Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Next it was time to mask the inside in prep for the thermal barrier paint that I mixed up.



















Supplies for the thermal paint. Basically its similar to the Lizard Skin product. I just used exterior latex paint and micro balloons (~1gal of paint and almost 1 pound of micro balloons) 










Took forever to get it mixed up. I ended up making it too thick for even the schutz gun to spray and had to thin it out a bit with the paint. Ended up with that mixing bucket full to the top. If you've never played with micro balloons before they are super weird... look like talk but pour like a liquid. Reminded me of trying to mix Nestle's Quick into cold milk.



















Of course I didnt have a can for the schutz gun (and one i picked up locally wouldnt thread on) so I improvised. It worked perfectly and was easy to fill by "shoveling" the paint into it with a paint stick.










I did two good coats for somewhere around 30-50 mil coverage. I was sure to get it heavier on the firewall and tunnel.



















And then unmasked.














































Next weekend Im going to epoxy prime the entire interior and then I can get back to something that might be seen again someday.

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Had some time yesterday afternoon so I decided to knock out the interior epoxy priming, which was a real hoot. Im SO glad I got the Dekups setup for my gun, I wouldnt have been able to do this without it as I think I sprayed upside down and sideways more that right side up. 

"I love masking" -no one



















































































Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

" *Cabrio project for the wifey... build thread*" my ARSE..... Looking great, never really realized that there where so many holes in the floor and such....Looks Fanntastic.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> " *Cabrio project for the wifey... build thread*" my ARSE..... Looking great, never really realized that there where so many holes in the floor and such....Looks Fanntastic.


Yea, the holes were a bit of a surprise to me as well. Always covered up with all the sound deadening. 

Body work starts tomorrow. Im going to push to have the chassis ready for paint this month and have the bottom side and engine bay done.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

A couple more pics of the inside because Im so happy with how it turned out. 



















Last night I decided I was tired of looking at the old-new gas tank that got destroyed in the baking incident of 2018. That meant duplicating the mods I did to it on the new-new tank I picked up months ago. 

- clearance for fuel lines to surge tank
- clearance in two spots for ebrake cable
- clearance for K bracing
- sanded all the edges since the top and bottom halves never line up perfectly

old-new and new-new tanks 









No pics of most of the mods as they arent very exciting, but I did get a couple making room for the K brace. First I hammered the bump in a bit. Next mounted everything up to the car, heated the spot up and then used a small block of wood to push the tank in. Worked pretty good. With that its ready to prime and raptor line.

Pre hammered










Block used for pushing










Perfect fit with suspension at full compression to body.










Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Gas tank prepped for primer. Went over most of it with the D/A then with a red pad in the recesses.



















I put a few coats of primer in the area created for the K brace as my hammering was a bit overzealous in spots. A quick sand and its plenty smooth enough. 
Also when I pushed it up on the car it wrinkled a little on the left side of the recess. I couldn't have it offset so I hammered in a matching one on the right, lol.










Clearance for fuel line routing to surge tank










And a close up of the sanded and rounded edge / corner.










I MIGHT epoxy and Raptor liner it tonight, we'll see. 

Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> Gas tank prepped for primer. Went over most of it with the D/A then with a red pad in the recesses.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Before you mount it you may want to get some roofers seal Tape Similar to dynamat and Place 3 Strips evenly spaced on the top, and the bottom where the straps are as it will lessen the Drumming sound of the fuel filling


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> Before you mount it you may want to get some roofers seal Tape Similar to dynamat and Place 3 Strips evenly spaced on the top, and the bottom where the straps are as it will lessen the Drumming sound of the fuel filling


My tank uses clips not straps. But I will def put something on top. 


Epoxy primed and Raptor lined the gas tank as well as the inside of the front fenders. 

Im super happy with how it turned out. SO glad I got the Raptor vari-nozzle gun, the texture is so much better than from a schutz gun. Also F taping and masking.
































































Now, maybe Ill start the body work on the quarter panels. Also want to get the doors setup on stands so I can start stripping them while filler is drying. 


Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> My tank uses clips not straps. But I will def put something on top.
> 
> Dan



Looking good, I don't think you will be looking at any rusting in the Future...  I like how your tank denting turned out...Looks like it belonged there.

Sort like the Time I drove my Diesel Rabbit over a freshly Oiled road at 55 mph when I first hit it... Then slowed a bit..... When I parked the car about an hour later, it was sorta dripping the excess, but I never had any rust on that car over the next 18 years of ownership.... Better than Rutsy Jones or Ziebart, it did take me 2 days to clean it off the Paint ...
It did make for some interesting times in Replacing some things later on like Rubber Brake Lines as the connections had to be cleaned to allow the wrenches to fit..

I think that the majority of folks will agree with your masking statement, At least I do.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> Looking good, I don't think you will be looking at any rusting in the Future...  I like how your tank denting turned out...Looks like it belonged there.
> 
> Sort like the Time I drove my Diesel Rabbit over a freshly Oiled road at 55 mph when I first hit it... Then slowed a bit..... When I parked the car about an hour later, it was sorta dripping the excess, but I never had any rust on that car over the next 18 years of ownership.... Better than Rutsy Jones or Ziebart, it did take me 2 days to clean it off the Paint ...
> It did make for some interesting times in Replacing some things later on like Rubber Brake Lines as the connections had to be cleaned to allow the wrenches to fit..
> ...


Hah, sounds like a real mess. At least it was protected!

I have a question you may know the answer to. I have been thinking about painting the top inside of my doors like the early cars. It seems that the doors are very similar with the exception of the area near the door lock knob. Mine has a seam in the sheet metal and a access hole for the window track bolt. Im assuming the early cars just bolted in lower, under the door panel? 

Im talking about this:










I can easily weld up that access hole and the seam. Then just cut and weld a new tab to hold the track lower. Im just curious how they did this on the early cars. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Started stripping down the motor sat am. Luckily the cylinders are in great shape. It may not matter though as everyone's pistons seem to be oversized by at least 0.5mm




























Last night I decided to start on the doors. 

Fully disassembled. 










Like every other part of this car the door was filled with pine needles....










Then it was time to strip the 3 layers of paint. I decided to try my Rupes21 as the air grinder and d/a just take forever, and holy **** did it work awesome. I ripped through the whole top seciton in under 10 mins with 80 grit. That would have taken me at least 3x that using my previous method.










Outside fully stripped 










And onto the inside. I forget just how dirty this car was, the door jambs quickly reminded me.










Thats a good start











Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> Hah, sounds like a real mess. At least it was protected!
> 
> I have a question you may know the answer to. I have been thinking about painting the top inside of my doors like the early cars. It seems that the doors are very similar with the exception of the area near the door lock knob. Mine has a seam in the sheet metal and a access hole for the window track bolt. Im assuming the early cars just bolted in lower, under the door panel?
> 
> ...


Nevermind. I see now that the early cars had a whole different mechanism. Ill just mod my track and weld up the door.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Decided that I wanted to paint the top inside of the doors (like the early MK1s) vs having the stupid plastic trim at the top.

My original panel and broken plastic.










And this is how the early doors looked inside. 










The big issue in doing this is the window tracks changed at some point (84 maybe) which left a hole (to access the window track nut) and seam in that area of the door










First task was to create a lower mounting point for the track. I simply welded a U shaped piece to the track just below the top nut, so the bolt can be hidden behind the door panel. 
It took a bit to get it just the right height, but honestly wasnt too bad.










In place inside the door










Then some magic happened and I welded up the holes and seams. SO much better.










And finished stripping the rest of the paint on the inside of the door, well most of it.





























Just need to finish cleaning up around the hinges and some of the tight spots and this door should be ready for primer. 

Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

I don't think I ever noticed that on my cars 89-93, that part of the door, I know I have had that cap off, as well having replaced the drivers door, I just never remember seeing that, and going back through my photos of the door, I don't have any that show that difference. Although that would explain the coverup pieces on the door. As in the Plastic on the edge, and the cap extending over the edge..... 



My 89 door that I replaced for a 93...... bad pic, but I don't see that seam or recessed hole, so I am wondering if your door wasn't replaced at some point prior to your getting it.


The reason that the earlier tin-types had a different channel is that they had the door frame as a follow up and not that the edge of the glass in a cabriolet didn't and used the "B" pillar and seal as the channel.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Lots of progress this weekend. 

With the drivers door stripped and ready it was time for the pass door. Id love to have a talk with whoever kicked the damn door 100x getting out and with whoever painted this thing.










Door track modified and holes / seam welded up.










Metal finished










Found two big dings in the middle of this door.










Stud puller to the rescue. While I wasnt able to get them out totally, I got it much closer.



















Stripped (pic taken before I pulled the dings)










Hung and baking in the booth. Had it near 80 metal temps in there in about an hour



















Epoxy 



















And topped with 2k.



















Also did the same to the valve cover. 










Up next body work on the shell begins. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Started body work on the chassis. 

Pass side marker light area is 98% done. Unsure what, if anything, I need to do with the couple slightly low spots on the top part of the quarter panel that showed themselves in front of the gas filler hole. 










And one coat on the drivers side marker area. Unearthed a small ding I need to address as well as a few low spots like the pass side. 










Finally started sanding out the valve cover while mud dried, which is a real treat, but I think will look good when its done. 










Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished sanding out the valve cover. It should be good enough. 










Tackled the low area behind the pass door. Finally got to use my Ingersoll board sander - which works so good. 










Just had to do a little hand blocking after to get it nice nice in just one coat.










And with that I think the pass side is good enough that any left over low spots can be handled after the Slicksand.










Finally I finished up the repair on the drivers quarter / marker light area. I think it turned out really well and I used WAY less filler compared to the previous repair. 










Probably one more night should finish up the last of the drivers side mud and then I can mask (again) and spray the Slicksand. 

Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> Probably one more night should finish up the last of the drivers side mud and then I can mask (again) and spray the Slicksand.
> 
> Dan


Reminds me of the last words of a Southern *******, "Hey y'all watch me do this?" maybe not that fatally, but endless rinse, repeat as necessary...


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

haha yup!


Stripped down the block and head this weekend. 

Was pleased to see the condition of the crank, someone took care of this.



















Pulling 16 valves and seals was a "hoot"










Will be dropping everything off at the machine shop next week. 


Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Why do I enjoy a man who really loves his car and does such great work, and this thread is my Deer Staring in my headlights.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

A week of filler and sanding later, finally finished that up. 



















Then it was time to do some 2k seam sealer. Always a hoot to mask, tool, and sand. 




























And what spray job wouldnt be complete without more masking.










With all that done, locked everything in with two coats of epoxy.



















Laid out pretty nice! And for having sanded in the booth and just doing a quick blow out, there was almost no trash. Hopefully that carries over to when I paint and clear this thing.










The next morning I did a quick scuff and then two coats of poly primer (Slicksand)




























Just a reminder of what I started with on this panel.




















Finally with the cam cover sanded out I put a coat of epoxy on it. Its not perfect in spots, but I think its good enough.










For those not familiar there was once the filler cap here











Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Small update. 

Got the car rolled up in prep for the raptor. 










Welded the oil drain I fabbed a few months ago to the new oil pan. The top 1/4" was a hoot to get to under the flange. 



















Also deburred a bit of the casting lines and crap on the head and got everything packed up so I can hopefully drop it off at the machine shop tomorrow. 


Dan


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## Hoffa (Jun 7, 2001)

juicedz4 said:


> Small update.
> 
> Got the car rolled up in prep for the raptor.
> 
> ...


Looking amazing Dan. I come here from time to time just to see what's happening with your Wifey build and was surprised and happy I nailed the day you posted an update! It's like when Project Binky posts up a new video! :thumbup:


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Hoffa said:


> Looking amazing Dan. I come here from time to time just to see what's happening with your Wifey build and was surprised and happy I nailed the day you posted an update! It's like when Project Binky posts up a new video! :thumbup:


haha thanks. I was hoping for big progress this week, but Im realizing there is a ton of little prep work to do first. So next week may be bigger. 

Dan


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## MK1_74 (Nov 30, 2018)

love the attention to detail you go on this build, makes me want to do more work on my cab, but I'm lacking the lovely inside space you have.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Thanks MK1_74!!

Huge progress this weekend. 

Saturday I masked off a few areas that I didnt want the Raptor texture on (mainly suspension / steering mount points) and sprayed them with some single stage Audi Silver (LY7M).










The tunnel so I can apply some thermal film




























Also sprayed the brake booster bracket that I modified a while back since it was ready and I had lots of paint mixed. I was pretty happy how it turned out considering this was my first time spraying something other than primer. 



















Sunday I did the biggest pain in the ass masking job maybe ever. Took me over 3 hours.










All so I could Raptor the subframe bracing red to try and match the other powder coated pieces. I was very happy that the color came out damn near perfect - considering I picked it out of a book of like a billion red chips. 



















Yup, was worth it.



















Color match











Im gona try like hell to get the bottom in the silver raptor this week, but there may not be time. 

Dan


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## FLY-GTI1 (Dec 28, 1999)

Wow!! Can't wait to see this masterpiece on the road!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

me either!! 


Prepped for Raptor.




























Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> me either!!
> 
> 
> Prepped for Raptor.
> ...


5 hours later? I would of thunk with all your Masking experience you would of shaved some of the time off .


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> 5 hours later? I would of thunk with all your Masking experience you would of shaved some of the time off .


Yup. Took forever to carefully mask off all the areas that I pre painted silver. "Had" to trim all the corners at a nice radius etc. 

Anyway, spraying tonight. Then I can mask all this again, so I can do the wheel wells black. haha


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Sprayed the silver Raptor last night. A little darker than I was hoping, but maybe itll dry lighter....

Either way Im stoked. Taking a few days off while that cures before I put it back on the dolley. Prob next wed/thurs. 























































Dan


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## MK1_74 (Nov 30, 2018)




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## DUTCHswift (Feb 22, 2012)

That's some really nice masking over the weld where the brace passes through the frame. :thumbup:

Also, are you going to use that brace for a jacking point? Looks like the pinch welds won't be accessible.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

DUTCHswift said:


> That's some really nice masking over the weld where the brace passes through the frame. :thumbup:
> 
> Also, are you going to use that brace for a jacking point? Looks like the pinch welds won't be accessible.


Yes, the bracing is designed to also serve as the jacking points, though it will probably only be in the air on the lift. 




Epic progress over the last week. The engine bay is now DONE. 

Did a quick final sand and spot filler here / there. 

Spraying prepsol is a great way to see how it will look finished. 










Then masked and did a final primer to have an even base for the Audi silver Raptor application. 










And finally, with the silver Raptor. I went back and forth about top painting this the silver, but its staying matte... its just too good.





































Closeup. Its a pretty fine texture as Im using the adjustable Raptor gun on basically the finest texture and not the generic schutz gun.










Strut bar in place



















Next Ill probably do the black raptor in the wheel wells and then its back to body work on the doors and get the hood started. 

Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

love the updates much oohing and awing, ok some drooling.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

After yet more damn masking the black raptor is done on the wings and rear wheel wells. Now I can get back to the parts you'll actually see.














































Dan


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## jsmyle1%... (Jun 6, 2006)

Your attention to detail is RHEEDICKEROUS!!!:thumbup:

I can’t wait to see your post that reads: “She’s alive!!!”

Carry on....opcorn:


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

haha thanks! I cant wait for that glorious day either. 

Painted the wiper and brake parts with some single stage matte Audi silver to match the raptor engine bay. I did run the paint on the booster so Ill need to sand it down and respray it.

I smoothed out the OE brake reservior of all the lettering and straightened out where the two halves were fused together. I might make a replacement aluminum one someday but this will work for now. 










Funny it looks rough but its actually smooth. Matting agent is a weird thing.





































Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Did a test fit of the painted brake and wiper parts. The color / gloss is damn close to the raptor which helps them disappear as planned.














































Dan


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## EX-DOHCTOR (Aug 10, 2007)

This build makes mine look... beyond lame... 

I love everything about this build though, the attention to detail, the quality of the work. 

It's an inspiration to us first timers.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

EX-DOHCTOR said:


> This build makes mine look... beyond lame...
> 
> I love everything about this build though, the attention to detail, the quality of the work.
> 
> It's an inspiration to us first timers.


Thanks!! Appreciate it. 


Lots more progress this weekend (its nice actually being home).

Doors blocked and body filler complete.



















Epoxy










And a couple coats of Slicksand










I think they are going to end up pretty damn straight. 










Blocked out the fenders where I shaved the markers as well. I thought I had done this, but apparently not. Anyway they are ready for Slicksand now.










Lastly, cut the tow hooks off the front bumper mounts which can go out for powder.




















This week Im planning to get Slicksand on the fenders and do the tiny bit of body work to the inside of the doors where I shaved the window track holes previously and start on the hood. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished blocking the fenders last night, did a little spot primer, and then sprayed the Slicksand. It laid down pretty well, I cant wait to sand it out in a couple weeks. 














































Going to start stripping the hood tomorrow night. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Stripped the outside of the hood. I swear there was 20-30 thou of paint / primer / clear on it. 

I stripped it, then blocked a lot of it by hand and finally went over it with 80 grit on the D/A. 

This will be the first metal panel that doesnt need any filler.










Blocked










All stripped










D/A sanded











Decided not to slicksand the hood since it was so good. Just did two coats of epoxy and two coats of 2k last night. 










The epoxy sprayed out really nice 



















And then I thought I should hang a door to see how it looks. Luckily the gaps, while huge, are at least very straight. 



















Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Parts have been rolling in and Ive been pulling some out of long term storage.

Random motor parts










Wavetrac LSD, Autotech Ti retainers and HD springs




























16v stock lifters vs 1.8T OE lifters










And the stock vs Ti retainers










Just these two are good for about 1.2lbs off the valvetrain weight (not bad).

Dan


----------



## Mrpapageorgio (Mar 16, 2014)

Are the lifters/retainers a direct swap??


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Mrpapageorgio said:


> Are the lifters/retainers a direct swap??


Yes. 


Set the hood in place. 










The SPi clear showed up yesterday and I scored a couple ounces of the Slate Grey in two different paint lines to test. Which I did last night. 
Both are BASF - One Limco which is urethane based and one Diamont which is polyester based. Right now Im leaning towards the Diamont. I need sun to make my final decision, so maybe monday? (also, its impossible to take a good pic of)

Im very impressed with the clear, esp for how cheap it is. This is my first time ever spraying any clear and I feel like its a pretty good finish with a normal activator right off the gun. 














































Dan


----------



## foxhound1972 (Jun 16, 2012)

That grey is beautiful .


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Apparently it was "prep everything" weekend. I spent at least 10 hours sat and sunday on the following:

Friday I dropped the pulleys and bumper brackets off for powder coat. Of course I couldnt powder the crank pulley so I cleaned it up and primed / painted it.



















And VHT texture painted the pass motor mount to match the other PC mounts.










Spent countless hours stripping the inside of the hood.










Smoothed out the mold / text on the water pump, and did a quick 2 min port job of the crap casting



















Cleaned up the inside welds on the TB, re-decked the flange and got the last few things smoothed. Just needs bead blasting














































Slave cylider was up next. First thing was to fix the very crooked flange. Typically these use a flare fitting so it doesnt matter but I wanted to use a banjo. I managed to get it filed and sanded near perfect. Nothing a good Dowty washer wont seal.



















The smoothed out the casting quick, and primed it.(not shown)



















Then it was the intake manifolds turn. Again had to clean up the inside weld for the TB (dynafile made quick work of this - it took under 15 mins even doing a final hand sanding, finish sanding out the runners, deck the flanges, etc. Again, ready for prime / paint.























































And then in intercooler. 

First I had to sand out the cast finish in the inlet elbow - yes this would have been way easier to do it first...



















Also had to port the inlet of the IC. I used the shop vac set to blow to keep all the chips out of the core. It worked great.




























The last thing it needed was the large flat surface blocked out. Im painting this and the finish was just awful. I managed to hand block it all out but the one small ding




























A quick casting line removal on the starter.



















And a quick sand of the IC tanks / brackets / top plate



















And with that I think that everything is metal finished in prep for prime / paint.


Also got some more googies in friday, and have everything laid out garage sale style, and all the APR hardware sorted into baggies per location needed.






































And finally, I got a good shot of the paint in the sun. Its very hard to photograph, but I decided to go with the lower one (polyester based) which has way more flop and depth to it. The top one just sorta always looks dark.











Picking up the motor tomorrow.

Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> Apparently it was "prep everything" weekend. I spent at least 10 hours sat and sunday on the following:
> 
> Friday I dropped the pulleys and bumper brackets off for powder coat. Of course I couldnt powder the crank pulley so I cleaned it up and primed / painted it.
> 
> ...



Sure it's a "Wifey" build that she will never get to drive. 

Nice looking Dan, ya's getting there.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Yea. Im already dreaming up my next project.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Epoxy primed and slate grey raptor'd the underside of the hood last night.

The underside was pretty rough and I didnt feel like doing body work on it, so the raptor was a good compromise. Plus it matches the rest of the under hood theme. 





































Dan


----------



## DUTCHswift (Feb 22, 2012)

How do you handle the over spray through the vents on the hood? I assume some of the walls that should be paint will get some raptor lining on them.

Just let it happen and then sand off the lining on the surfaces you want the exterior paint to be?


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

DUTCHswift said:


> How do you handle the over spray through the vents on the hood? I assume some of the walls that should be paint will get some raptor lining on them.
> 
> Just let it happen and then sand off the lining on the surfaces you want the exterior paint to be?


A little did blow in there, but not much since I did back tape and the raptor has a hard time getting into the small areas. 


I have a long term surprise coming (hopefully) for the vent area, so it wont matter that some got through. 

Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> A little did blow in there, but not much since I did back tape and the raptor has a hard time getting into the small areas.
> 
> 
> I have a long term surprise coming (hopefully) for the vent area, so it won't matter that some got through.
> ...


I love that color, as if you are waxing the thing, you usually don't see the dried wax as much on a lighter color or silver, not like my blue one that it is a real eye-sore for me....


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Maybe you're just using the wrong wax. Id look into a nice liquid sealant, Blackfire is a nice one. 



Picked up the motor bits from the machine shop yesterday. Very pleased at how it turned out. 




























Finally sourced an M14x1.5 temp sensor from a mid 90s BMW and the shop plugged the stripped oe temp sensor location.










Then I got the block all masked for paint which was a lot easier than I thought. I used a fine file to trim the tape on any edges, and then cut the tape by hand around a few parts that I had to trace (breather box, oil filter mount, front main seal etc)




























I may expose a bit more block on the trans end here, need to figure that out still.










Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

I would blame my stroke for the Drooling when I see your posts.....but I can't.

Looking fine Dan.


----------



## kamzcab86 (Feb 14, 2002)

Just got caught up on 20 pages and 10 years... holy crap!  It might be taking a long time, but, man, incredible work!! :thumbup::thumbup:


(And I feel like a parrot: "For the wife"... yeah, right, suuuuuuuuuure it is. :laugh: )


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Haha thanks. Its been a slow process, since I really only got into the real work in 2015.


Got the head masked yesterday afternoon since I was tired of washing wheels and whatever.














































Also decided I wanted to try and expose more of the block under the trans, to hopefully keep rust to a minimum. Made a paper tracing of the bellhousing and used it as a guide. Also had to trace out the rear main seal flange. 










Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> Got the head masked yesterday afternoon since I was tired of washing wheels and whatever.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I bet you are really good a Pumpkin Carving .


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> I bet you are really good a Pumpkin Carving .


Honestly its not too bad esp where there are edges. I just cut the tape using a small fine file, it works great. 

Only a few spots did I need to free hand, or follow lines with an olfa blade. 

Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finally got paint last night, and put it to use. 

Got the block, head, intake mani, intercooler, charge pipe, and valve cover painted. 

Im super happy with how the SPI clear laid out using my relatively cheap Finishline FLG4 gun. 

Safety first !










mmm










color down



















And everything cleared and unmasked.














































































































Thats prob going to be it for a week or two.

Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> Thats prob going to be it for a week or two.
> 
> Dan


Car Teaser, Car Teaser, CAR TEASER.......


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> Car Teaser, Car Teaser, CAR TEASER.......


I know right? Its going to kill me too. 

But we are gone next week and then i need to get the daily drivers cleaned up from winter, and install the H&R springs on the Atlas. Sigh, I hate to say this but I need more winter, lol.

Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Grabbed some pics of the paint outside yesterday. very happy with how it turned out. 



















































Dan


----------



## madone (Sep 15, 2004)

amazing work.

Interesting to learn what suspension setup are you going with or is that still not decided? I've been looking at KW, BC RACING, AP, Ksport and Raceland Utlimo. KW and BCs are top picks right now.


----------



## Hoffa (Jun 7, 2001)

You could go for a swim in those parts and it looks like you could eat off any surface of this entire car!:laugh: Your attention to detail is stunning and I'm confident this will be the best cabby on the planet when you are done.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

madone said:


> amazing work.
> 
> Interesting to learn what suspension setup are you going with or is that still not decided? I've been looking at KW, BC RACING, AP, Ksport and Raceland Utlimo. KW and BCs are top picks right now.


To start Im just going to use the Bilsteins and Autotech springs that I bought way back. We'll see how that goes for now but Ill probably upgrade to a BC or KW coilover at some point. There is just only so much money to go around right now, and lots of things I NEED. 



Hoffa said:


> You could go for a swim in those parts and it looks like you could eat off any surface of this entire car!:laugh: Your attention to detail is stunning and I'm confident this will be the best cabby on the planet when you are done.


Haha, thanks.


----------



## Thane.of.my.existence (Nov 1, 2016)

juicedz4 said:


> To start Im just going to use the Bilsteins and Autotech springs that I bought way back. We'll see how that goes for now but Ill probably upgrade to a BC or KW coilover at some point. There is just only so much money to go around right now, and lots of things I NEED.
> 
> 
> 
> Haha, thanks.


I have a set of ST coil overs which are the budget KW variant 1 and a galvanized instead of stainless I believe. The ride is really nice, not too stiff and it handles pretty well so I can only assume that the KW would be just as good and probably better especially as you go through the variants. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Thane.of.my.existence said:


> I have a set of ST coil overs which are the budget KW variant 1 and a galvanized instead of stainless I believe. The ride is really nice, not too stiff and it handles pretty well so I can only assume that the KW would be just as good and probably better especially as you go through the variants.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Excellent feedback, thanks. New coilovers are at least a year out. Its probably going to take me most of next winter to finish the interior etc.


----------



## madone (Sep 15, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> Excellent feedback, thanks. New coilovers are at least a year out. Its probably going to take me most of next winter to finish the interior etc.


agreed - AP are good for budget suspension. KW or BC reviews and chatting with other people seem to go down well. I plan to try out BC primary due to like 20+ damping options. Be good if someone with KWs can give insight. Not really found a good suspension thread on what people have and pros and cons they have experienced... might be time to start one seeing as its always a big cost for these mk1s.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Mocked up a few parts for fun last night. 




























Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Not a ton of progress lately, Ive been busy with other stuff now that its finally spring (mowing, etc). 

I found a good deal on pads/rotors



















And got the head assembled










Got creative with the spring compressor to free up both hands. It worked well. 

Autotech HD springs and Ti retainers installed



















And then the 1.8T lifters and stock cams with a new Iwis chain










Swapped a couple of the inner cam cap studs with the two external ones that were slightly rusty. And scored some 12pt 7mm ARP nuts for them. Also installed the cup for the USRT trigger setup. 



















Finally masked off a bunch of smalls for the engine that need painting. 










Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Machined a couple of simple slugs to pound the intermediate shaft bearings in with, and got the shaft in with ARP bolts and a new seal. Used a lenght of 3/8 rod to get to the inner one.




























Oil squirters back in. 

Glyco bearings with separate thrust plates.










Checked all the main clearances the old fashioned way with plastigage










Crank in awaiting a final check of the thrust clearance. 











The Wiseco wrist pins were a bit tight for the Eagle rods, so I ran them out to McQuillens on lunch, they should be ready monday. 

I also somehow forgot to order rod bearings. They are due wed latest. 

Slow but sure its coming together

Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Love your updates... I was starting to have withdrawal issues waiting for them..... 

Love the work.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> Love your updates... I was starting to have withdrawal issues waiting for them.....
> 
> Love the work.


You should like this update then... 


Finally painted all the small bits for the motor this weekend. 

Ill skip the part where I spray the epoxy etc and just get to the eye candy. Im still amazed at how nicely this SPI clear lays down. All these are right off the gun. I did get a couple small runs but I blame it trying to get coverage on all the little features. They shouldnt be too bad to do a quick sand a buff on.










This and the CPS cover turned out just SO good.




























Yes I painted the billet CNC cam sensor adapter ..









































































Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> You should like this update then...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wait, Wait, isn't that a Mitsubishi Emblem? LOL......... You should Highlight that in RED. 

Not overdosing yet.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> Wait, Wait, isn't that a Mitsubishi Emblem?


It is. Im using the USRT DSM cam trigger setup. It seemed the cleanest and simplest option. 

Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Had to test fit the wp and alternator brackets 










Reassembled the cam angle sensor - had to make a new seal for the connector and a new o-ring for the cover.





































All together










And installed. Loving the look of this setup. Also installed a couple of water jacket plugs, the CLT sensor and the heater core water feed tube



















Back to motor assembly. 

Turned a slug to drive in the oil pump shaft bushing.



















And assembled the pistons / rods. McQuillens honed the wrist pin ends for $8/ea

C clips are a hoot. 










Checked the oil pump clearances and installed the new oil baffle for the factory windage tray and a new oring for the pickup. So thats ready for install.










Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Also pulled the alternator apart and smoothed out the mold lines, rough edges, and filed the flash off every single hole in prep for paint.




























Dan


----------



## echassin (Dec 28, 2005)

Wow.

That is all. Carry on.


----------



## Hoffa (Jun 7, 2001)

echassin said:


> Wow.
> 
> That is all. Carry on.


That!


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Hah, thanks fam. 

Epic progress last night. 

Checked crank thrust - right in spec. 










Picked up the tools to do the ring fitting / install myself - pliers, ring filer, ring squaring tool (this thing worked amazing and was way easier than flipping a piston over on every hole a bunch of times), and the bore specific wiseco ring compressor (also worked amazing vs the adjustable strap type).

Squaring tool in action










All of the oil rings and 2nd compression rings were already at spec, so I didnt need to mess with them at all which was nice. 

The top rings were a bit under, I had to file each about 0.002"










And installed 










This thing made the install effortless. 



















Then I figured why not crack on. Got the ARP head studs in and the MK3 MLS gasket in place. For my VW friends the gasket is p/n 037103383N which is for the MK3 2.0. The one alignment pin either has to be removed or the hole in the gasket drilled. I opted to drill it. I simply taped the layers down so nothing could get between them - unitbit made quick work of it without any burrs. 



















Then bolted the head down, installed the timing belt etc. 



















Finally got the oil pump, pickup baffle and OE windage tray .











Im going to assemble the whole thing on the stand just to be sure I didnt forget something stupid and then its time to crack the trans open. 

Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

I salivate with anticipation.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Anticipate no longer


Picked up the rest of the coils and got them all modified. I did have to sacrifice one in order to get the process right but whatever. 

Remove the rubber boot










Sand the end rib off and trim the tabs down a little for a perfect fit in the modified valve cover. 










Trim the boot to length and reinstall 










siqq



















Then I thought Id mock up everything so I could make sure everything fits, adjust any bolt lengths etc. Also why not look at it again assembled.




























Decided that it needed a little something, why not try filling the ARP on all the bolts in red. Wasnt too hard and adds a little something that likely no one will notice. 










Much better



















Then it was time to get the TB back together. I HATED the oe plastic pulley, plus it wasnt exactly in the correct orientation. 

Cut this crap off



















Turn down the end of the shaft to be just shorter than a custom billet pulley and drill / tap a #8 hole. 










A guy I work with has a smallish CNC at home. We designed a pulley and he cut it out for me one night last week. This may only be Rev 1 as Im not 100% on the cable routing yet, but at least I have something to test fit. He can knock me out a final version once im ready easy peasy. 










Then got the TB reassembled with one new shaft bearing, a new IAC, and new ss hardware. Yes, I need a different screw for the TB pulley.



















SS inserts installed in the intake (the TB is counter bored in back to accommodate them - they came with a loctite on them that I didnt want to disturb trying to shorten them)










TB in place - complete with painted ARP hardware.



















Then it was time to prep this guy for paint. 














































So just a few more things to do and the motor should be about ready and I can get to back to the transmission. 

Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Got a couple of the coolant hoses and the water pump / alt mounts installed. Im using the gates power grip heat shrink hose clamps. 










Now the motor is more or less together, I wrapped it up and tucked it into the corner and moved on to the trans. 

Got it torn down in prep for the Wavetrac differential install. 










Dan


----------



## agentphish (Mar 3, 2016)

Every time I come in here I am overjoyed with how beautifully the time and effort is paying off for you (and us with great eye candy).

This will have be the nicest one ever built.


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Gotta love all the attention to detail... but....even tho it is a mock up, a SS or Chrome allen would look better than a counter skunked screw... .... 










LOL

Gotta love it....

Nicely done, and my typical, yeah it's for my wife..........


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> Gotta love all the attention to detail... but....even tho it is a mock up, a SS or Chrome allen would look better than a counter skunked screw... ....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


haha yea. I need to come up with a real bolt for that at some point.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Been picking away at the trans here / there. 

First I had to free the ring gear from the oem differential. It was pretty simple. Two steps of drilling, then tap off the rivet heads, and finally drive them out with the air hammer. 



















Ready for assy.










Pressed in two studs to get the party started. Then heated the ring gear to 200C so it would basically drop on the diff. (i did end up using a propane torch some as well)



















All assembled with ARP hardware, a new VSS ring, and new bearings. 




























Finally, installed the new bearing races in the case without shims so I could measure for the new shim. Turned out I needed a 0.92mm shim vs the 0.80mm installed orig.











Then it was time to tackle the cases. I had a friend of a friend wash them at his shop. He has a big heated parts washer thing he uses for transmissions. Well, it wasnt the result Id hoped for to say the least. 



















So I brought them into work and spent a couple of lunch hours bead blasting them inside and out. 




























And done. I chased all the threaded holes and washed / blew everything out really well. Installed the acquired diff shim / bearings etc.





































Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Painted some parts this weekend. All shots are of the clear right off the gun. Im still tickled at how well this SPI clear lays down. 




































































































And then I just had to mock up a few parts on the trans. A video was necessary. 






Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Ohhhhhhhh's and Ahhhhhhhhhh's or wow just doesn't describe it.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> Ohhhhhhhh's and Ahhhhhhhhhh's or wow just doesn't describe it.


hah, thanks. Hopefully I can get back to the actual parts you'll see the most soon. 

I still want to try and have everything painted before winter


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Since I was too cheap to upgrade to the aluminum bearing housing on the EFR (dumb plan) I decided to Cerakote it to keep surface rust at bay. 

It was super simple and looks good. I had to pick up a touch up gun to spray it as they call for a 0.8mm tip and my smallest was 1.3. For $18 it worked great.















































Hoping to start trans assembly tonight. 

Dan


----------



## Northernwabbit (Jun 23, 2014)

Is that powder coat on your tranny or paint? I know you mention SPI laying down nice so I'm thinking paint. Looks beautiful either way.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Northernwabbit said:


> Is that powder coat on your tranny or paint? I know you mention SPI laying down nice so I'm thinking paint. Looks beautiful either way.


Its paint. SPI is the southern polyurethanes clear that Im using. Its amazing, heh


----------



## Northernwabbit (Jun 23, 2014)

Do you have any idea how durable it is vs powder coating? Ho about price difference?


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Northernwabbit said:


> Do you have any idea how durable it is vs powder coating? Ho about price difference?


Not nearly as durable, but I put the color match over durability in this case. 

Price difference, who knows, it depends on your situation. 

Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

A little behind on updates, so here it goes. 

Turbo is reassembled. 




























Alternator reassembled.





































Transmission reassembled.

Cleaned up , in progress










Swapped the 02A 0.795 5th gear for a 02J 0.744 for some lower highway RPMs










Bolts inside the bell housing were cleaned up and painted with Steel It paint. Its amazing stuff so far. 










Also used it on the pivot pins.











The rest of the bolts were all replaced with 12pt SS APR, including those on the Diesel Geek shifter. Also installed a new VSS, and new inspection hole plug.























































Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Oh so pretty.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Weather was perfect this holiday weekend to roll the chassis outside and start blocking out the slicksand. 

First time seeing the bay in the sun. 





























Quarters blocked out with 320 and sprayed with prosol to see how it will look painted. Not bad... 





































Trunk jamb and drivers door jamb also sanded with 320. 



















Sanded the window frame and cowl. They arent great. I think they are going to need a coat of slicksand and a good blocking. They just arent flat enough for me. 











All in all great progress. Maybe Ill be painting the shell in a couple weeks. 

Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Decided I needed to paint the area inside below the rear window and the B pillar so they will match the front doors. 

Welded up the coat hook holes, and did a quick bit of filler on the spot welds. 










Primed










With that done it was time to get them painted along with the radiator support / front end. So of course, masking....



















I did the front clip with Upol Guard 10










Sealed and base




























And cleared



















And with a little added light - this color really pops in the light





































Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

With that done it was time to mask, again, and get the last bit of primer on the cowl, windshield frame, door jambs and the quarter that I had to do a little more filler work on.














































Some people have been asking about the paint and color, here it is.










Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Been wondering when you were gonna update the thread, and the wait was worth it. Great work, good look Sire Cab-a-lot.  nice, and sure it's for the "WIFEY", but that is your story and you are sticking to it .


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Epic milestone reached this weekend. The chassis is painted.

Finished blocking out the primer with 320 and 400 dry.



















Spent like 8 hours masking the car and the booth. 



















Sealer. Had a little issue here. My stupid tack rag left a few drag marks. Luckily I was able to wet sand them out quickly with 1000 grit after freaking out for a few mins.










Three coats of base which turned out perfect. There was just one tiny spot of trash near the wiper cowl, i was shocked.



















Three coats of clear. This is where it went a little wrong. While Ive had great luck on the small parts doing these large panels was a bit more of a challenge. I ended up with a variety of results. Some huge runs (not shown), a lot of orange peel, and a few spots that were near perfect. Im going to pick up a different gun before I clear the next parts as technically im using the wrong size tip. 

Overall though, for a first time paint job in my garage, Im pretty happy. I definitely have a lot of wetsanding and buffing in my future, but I think its gona look amazing. 









































































Dan


----------



## Schumo (May 30, 2010)

Looking good, but what is going on with the dings on the rear arch?


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Schumo said:


> Looking good, but what is going on with the dings on the rear arch?


Those are factory. They get covered by the fender flares.


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Salivation, I can only imagine your wanting to "Finish" the finish and start the re-assembly.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> Salivation, I can only imagine your wanting to "Finish" the finish and start the re-assembly.


I actually started assembly last night.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)




----------



## jamesjuhasz (Jul 1, 2008)

*Looking great - I have a trim question*

The project looks amazing, looks like you'll have a perfect cabby - as though it just rolled off the assembly line - probably better! 

I too have a 1989 cabby which we've owned now since new for 30 years. Never winter driven and barely seen any rain. Back 6 years ago we had the car stripped and re-painted back to to original, just to bring it back up to perfect (I had a door dent or two and a couple of chips in the hood) so thought lets do it right. However, since, I've been looking for side trim molding that runs the length of the car, as what I have (albeit pretty good) they don't look as new as the rest of the bodywork. 

What plans do you have to obtain new side body molding? The original factory parts are no longer available from VW in North America or elsewhere (I've tried Europe, South Africa and the UK without success). And from what I've seen there are no third party sources available either. 

Interested in hearing how you'll handle parts like that. Keep up the amazing post - and once complete, please advise if you'll be taking the car to any VW car shows. I'd love to see it in person and have a good chat with you.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Started assembly while Im waiting for clear to cure. 

So far:

- insulated exhaust tunnel
- installed shifter (the gold box) which still needs cables
- rear brake line
- fuel hard lines
- parking brake cables
- gas tank
- rear exhaust section
- painted and set the rack in place, Im missing the 12pt nuts I need to install it fully right now




























Used this stuff on the tunnel. 










Fuel line clips




























Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

jamesjuhasz said:


> The project looks amazing, looks like you'll have a perfect cabby - as though it just rolled off the assembly line - probably better!
> 
> I too have a 1989 cabby which we've owned now since new for 30 years. Never winter driven and barely seen any rain. Back 6 years ago we had the car stripped and re-painted back to to original, just to bring it back up to perfect (I had a door dent or two and a couple of chips in the hood) so thought lets do it right. However, since, I've been looking for side trim molding that runs the length of the car, as what I have (albeit pretty good) they don't look as new as the rest of the bodywork.
> 
> ...


I have all the body side molding pieces. Most were intact when I bought the car, and the rest I obtained used. Of course this was almost 10 years ago so perhaps more were available back then. 

You should be able to refinish them. A little SEM Trim Black paint can go a long way. 

Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Started wet sanding and buffing this weekend. 

The clear was pretty thin on the rear part of the pass quarter (just shy of sanding through) and there is a decent tiger stripe in the color, so at least this top section will need to be resprayed. 

Overall though Im very happy how its turning out. So far Im doing a quick sand with 1000, then finishing the leveling with 1500, and finally going over it with 2000. Then Im using Megs 105 on a orange foam pad and 205 on a black foam pad using a Rupes 21 d/a buffer. 





































This is the spot I was talking about. Its very hard to get a pic of. 










This area is where I had a huge run (of many). You def cant see it now.










The drivers side turned out much better. I think I figured out to do less sanding with the 1000 grit, and more with 1500.





























I picked up the mini Flex rotary and some 1 and 2" pads to do the small flat areas, jambs etc. So far I just used it on the top lip of the quarter, seemed to work well. 



















Dan


----------



## madone (Sep 15, 2004)

as always outstanding work, this is going to be one amazing vw cab once done.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Did some more sanding and polishing. The drivers side is about 98% there. I have the pass side fully wet sanded to 3000. I think I may end up respraying the whole pass side so Ive decided not to buff it for now. 

So a few more boring pics of that progress





































Giant run previously mentioned. oops










And mostly sanded out. I dont have any pics of the pass side all sanded out, but whatever










Took a break from sanding to get the motor and trans mated. 

First, since I A. couldnt find a decent dust sheild, and B. I hated its mult-ipiece design I made my own from 0.030" stainless. 

Made a template using poster board. I find the edges by rubbing a piece of aluminum bar stock around the trans with the posterbaord taped in place in a few spots. Its quite accurate. 










And used the billet rear main seal carrier to mark the location of the cutout once I found the center of the bell housing.










Fast forward thru the cutting and sanding and here it is in place along with a new rear main seal. 










And then the freshly resurfaced flywheel and new bolts. 










Stock VR6 clutch 










And mated up. The dust shield fit perfectly.




























And here is the whole package ready for install. 






































Dan


----------



## flying_oliver (Apr 29, 2013)

Man, I haven't been on the vortex in a while and am so happy to see how far this has come.

Keep up the amazing work!!


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Dan, I like the tranny cover plate, never been a fan of the old ones..... Can we get a collective WOW.


----------



## DUTCHswift (Feb 22, 2012)

briano1234 said:


> Can we get a collective WOW.


----------



## madone (Sep 15, 2004)

the big question is now this has been so many years in the making, will this still be the wifey car or more of family weekend/show car?


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

madone said:


> the big question is now this has been so many years in the making, will this still be the wifey car or more of family weekend/show car?


Its going to be her nice day car and of course a weekend / show car as well. IF and when we have time. 

Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Decided to extend the drivers rear brake hard line vs using a longer flex line. 



















Added some shaft collars to the exhaust hangers. I had cut off the stops b/c they were rusty underneath. This was the cleanest solution to keep things in place
Of course I had to swap the bolts out for stainless




























For fun I set a control arm / knuckle / brake in place. 










And then decided I wanted to re-route the front hard brake lines around the firewall vs through the frame rail as originally planned. because reasons.
Utilized the hole in the firewall that I didnt shave for the one to pass through. Added another hole for the pass side and a nutsert to mount a little ss plate I cut out.





































Had to space out the one fuel line mount 3/8" for clearance. Worked well.










With that done it was back to painting. Decided to tackle the hood and trunk.

Final blocking.



















Seam sealed










Picked up a new spray gun. 










Hood in sealer










Inside of trunk painted. clear right off the gun.














































I wasnt happy with the hood. It had more tiger stripes than I found acceptable so I didnt clear it. Its now color sanded and ready for another coat. My paint buddy is going to stop down soon to give me a lesson on how to not F it up again. haha. 










Finally sanded out the huge runs in the brake booster and gave it a fresh coat of matte silver single stage. 



















Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Been Panting for an update but only 2 pictures? 

Ok it took about 5 minutes to download the photos.....Nice......Panting arrested.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> Been Panting for an update but only 2 pictures?
> 
> Ok it took about 5 minutes to download the photos.....Nice......Panting arrested.


Odd. Oh well, at least they are still working. I was having an issue with my host for a bit, they kept updating the version of PHP to something newer than my site can handle. 

Hoping to have some more updates before thanksgiving, but we'll see. 


Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Ive been chipping away the last month just have been lacking motivation to make an update. 

Got the outside of the trunk lid painted, and sanded / buffed. It still needs a little work but its hard to buff it on a stand. Once its mounted Ill do the final passes. 

Off the gun



















Sanded / buffed




























Also painted and assembled the catch can. Used a little anaerobic to hold the oring in place during assembly. It worked ok enough.




























Then switched gears and started prepping some random parts for nickel plating.

Rear trunk striker










Blasted and deburred










Trunk hinges smoothed, rounded, and deburred























































The backing plates for the trunk hinges were crap so I made some new ss ones up. and of course ARP 12pt hardware




























Then it was back to the steering and brakes

Cleaned up and painted the steering shaft. The locking nuts cleaned up nicely, just swapped out the bolts for 12pt ARP I happened to have.











And after some bs with the column shaft being collapsed some, got it installed. 




















Next redid the two front brake lines to mate up with the relocated firewall bulkhead. Made a SS block off plate for the area of the floor I had to open for access.










And got the front hard lines mounted to the chassis. Instead of the big U clips I used some 0.010" ss spacers and ss E clips to secure them.



















Added a couple of P clips to the hard lines - which more or less wraps up the brakes, other than flex lines.










Installed the repainted booster, master cylinder and flex lines to the firewall, 





























Then back to paint. Sanded and buffed the wiper cowl area. The mini Flex rotary was the MVP of this job.















































Finally decided to see if I could clean up some of the factory rubber body plugs and clips in my old brass tumbler. 

They turned out amazing. I didnt snap a before pic of the plugs, but as you could imagine they were covered in dirt, sand, undercoating etc. 










I use some small ss pins in the tumbler with hot water and a drop of dish soap, letting them go an hour or two.




















It didnt quite get all the primer overspray off the plastic, but whatever, youll never see them. 




























Its hard to believe these arent brand new.




















And now we're back up to date. 

Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> ive been chipping away the last month just have been lacking motivation to make an update.
> 
> 
> And now we're back up to date.
> ...


ohhh and awe just don't seem sufficient at the progress.....


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> ohhh and awe just don't seem sufficient at the progress.....


Thanks as usual. 

Im working on trying to figure out what Im going to do about a windshield. 

Im not going to be using the airbag, so I could do rope in, but I dont have the clips.... 

My buddy just did the rope in without clips, so I may just do that idk.

Im not keen on the awful aftermarket glue in seals, else Id prob just do a glue in anyway.... 

Sigh


Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> Thanks as usual.
> 
> Im working on trying to figure out what Im going to do about a windshield.
> 
> ...


Dan on the rope in, you don't need the gator clips and folks I know usually just knock them out or off even on the older beetles that I have had to replace.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> Dan on the rope in, you don't need the gator clips and folks I know usually just knock them out or off even on the older beetles that I have had to replace.


Cool. Now I just need to find a place that has the window in stock and will sell it to me over the counter. 

I struck out with the first place, waiting for a call back from #2.

Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

check out http://cabby-info.com/Files/WindowGlass.pdf

Kammy lays it out pretty well

When I was debating on removing my glass in the 92, I decided to go with the non-mold gasket, as it was a tad wider and I thought would seal better to my frame than the replacement one they used when I suspect the glass was changed.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> check out http://cabby-info.com/Files/WindowGlass.pdf
> 
> Kammy lays it out pretty well
> 
> When I was debating on removing my glass in the 92, I decided to go with the non-mold gasket, as it was a tad wider and I thought would seal better to my frame than the replacement one they used when I suspect the glass was changed.


Im looking for the FW399 glass. Youd think itd be easy, but so far two places arent seeing it.... or the FW332 for that matter.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Found a 332. Turns out a friend of a friend works for a glass company and was able to get me one. $100

Should have it tomorrow. Just need the seal to come in from Bus Depot (might be here sat)

Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

juicedz4 said:


> Found a 332. Turns out a friend of a friend works for a glass company and was able to get me one. $100
> 
> Should have it tomorrow. Just need the seal to come in from Bus Depot (might be here sat)
> 
> Dan


I have had better luck with using Clear Silicone RTV to glue the button to the wind screen... Seems to last longer than the Button 2 part avail at a Parts store.
Just have to tape it in place for 24 hours prior to installing the mirror.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> I have had better luck with using Clear Silicone RTV to glue the button to the wind screen... Seems to last longer than the Button 2 part avail at a Parts store.
> Just have to tape it in place for 24 hours prior to installing the mirror.


I think im going to see if i can adapt an old porsche / bug mirror that mounts to the upper frame. Vs putting the button back on the window.

Else Ill make something.


----------



## flying_oliver (Apr 29, 2013)

juicedz4 said:


> Found a 332. Turns out a friend of a friend works for a glass company and was able to get me one. $100
> 
> Should have it tomorrow. Just need the seal to come in from Bus Depot (might be here sat)
> 
> Dan


Does the glass shop by chance have other offices? I am in the need of a windshield and have had 0 luck finding one...


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

flying_oliver said:


> Does the glass shop by chance have other offices? I am in the need of a windshield and have had 0 luck finding one...


He actually works for Safelite. Might be worth just calling them and see if they will sell you one cash and carry. 

They had one in stock locally but it had a scuff, so hes bringing another one in from the next city over. So they must be out there. 

Dan


----------



## flying_oliver (Apr 29, 2013)

juicedz4 said:


> He actually works for Safelite. Might be worth just calling them and see if they will sell you one cash and carry.
> 
> They had one in stock locally but it had a scuff, so hes bringing another one in from the next city over. So they must be out there.
> 
> Dan


Cool, thanks for letting me know. Will give them a call here shortly!

Edit for an update. 
They have a windshield for the car for $275. Install would bring the price to $340. Might just pay to have them install it because if they break it..not my problem.


----------



## 35i 2000 (Jan 27, 2005)

juicedz4 said:


> Wow almost a month and no updates. I have been working on things just apparently forgot to upload pics and document.
> 
> I decided after doing all that work to get the 020 linkages and crap working I should swap to 02A transmission. :lol:
> 
> ...


amazing work dan! 

love the 02j swap and the level of detail! like we chatted earlier i'm definitely going to try and replicate this and really clean it up!


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

So sweet, but if you want durability, get rid of that waterpump plastic flange and go with metal... If I had known, I would of stripped the one off my blue cab prior to it going to the big yard in the sky, and sent it to you.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> So sweet, but if you want durability, get rid of that waterpump plastic flange and go with metal... If I had known, I would of stripped the one off my blue cab prior to it going to the big yard in the sky, and sent it to you.


Its ok. I dont think Ive ever had a plastic housing fail, and this isnt going to get daily type miles anyway. 


I have like infinity updates, but I just havent had time lately to upload photos and make posts. Maybe next week Ill try to spend a day and get caught up. 

for anyone on IG I use the same name there and have been posting updates regularly. 


Dan


----------



## Butcher (Jan 31, 2001)

+20yo parts fail. It does not matter if they are plastic or not. I've had pretty good luck with plastic too. As long as it did not come from Meyle or URO.

I do understand this is not a daily driver but do you have a plan on checking the clutch fluid? How difficult would it be to have a remote reservoir?


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Im super behind on updates. I guess I got tired of uploading pics and making posts. 

Ill try to catch up over the next week or so - for posterity's sake.



Installed the wiper motor assy.










Sanded and buffed the inner B pillars and rear window sill area




























And the core support, mainly just a quick buff.



















And then the windshield fram in prep for windshield install.



















Sourced a new press in windshield FW00332 locally and a good german seal



















The green tint was just awful, so I did a nice 8% strip on top. Its cut curved to matcht the windshield.



















Upon attempting to install it I figured out that the lip was too wide for a press in. I suspect they changed the width of this 

late 91 or 92 to have more glue area because of airbags.










So I set off to trim 1/4" almsot out of the lip - always a fun surprise after paint. It took about an hour with an airsaw.




























And then the windshield fit perfect.






































Next I spent some time sanding and buffing the door jambs and the area under the rear tail lights. 

































































Then it was time to deal with the paint on the rear quarters and the hood. The tiger striping was just not cutting it on both 

sides, and the pass side had a small clear sand through. 

So back in the booth it went. 










Blocked with 800










Masked 



















Color 



















And cleared



















This color looks so different depending on the light



















With that the chassis is finally painted and ready for assembly! 










Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Had a coupld batches of parts electroless nickel plated. Most were bead blasted first where possible for a matte finish. 

I absolutely love the finish and it was very affordable. Was around $100 for everything.























































Plastic bits of the door latches reinstalled










Hood latch assembled. I did black out the release lever so it would blend in to the black grille.



















Installed



















Hood catch assembled and installed. I turned a new spring retainer out of black abs figuring the white one would be dirty the first time the hood closed. Also replaced the riveted pivot point with a female shoulder bolt and mating 12pt ARP.




























Trunk latch and actuator installed.




















The rest of the plated parts will be sprinkled throughout the rest of the chassis assembly.

Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Installed the motor and trans.

It was quite simple using the jig I made previously. Just lower the car over it and bolt it in place. 










































































And thats it for this week. More to come. 

Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Bee-EEE-UTIFUL


----------



## Hoffa (Jun 7, 2001)

Ho-LEE-crap! Amazing. Wow!


----------



## Lawner (Feb 24, 2020)

*wow*

this is so freakingly cool


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Thanks all !

Assembled the surge tank that I made using the Integrated Engineering DIY mounting plate.










Im trying to eliminate leaks so I "decked" the fuel pump outlet banjo. 



















And I will be using SECO seals on most of the joints, especially those that are hard to access once assembled.










Hoses connected. The two smaller to to the factory tank. 










And installed along with the fuel filter




























Then it was time for the rear suspension and brakes.

Again, SECO seals.










For the rear flex brake lines I was unable to source DOT ones that fit correctly so I opted for pre-assembled lines which I 

installed abrasion resistant heat shrink over, and then sealed the ends with adhesive lined shrink.These feed through the beam so 

I wanted to be sure they would be protected. 




























Beam mounted with ARP hardware, and brake lines fed through beam. And ebrake cables routed.

Swaybar is Autotech 10-525-1028GK




























Stub axle spacers. These were made from an aluminum disc sourced from McMaster p/n 1610T28










Next in order to use the ARP wheel studs the rotors needed to be modified.






































Powder coated hangers with electroless nickel plated slide pins.










Torque adapater made torquing some of the bolts possible. Ive found these pretty handy in general when using 12pt hardware. Be 

sure to use them at 90 degrees so you dont have to adjust the torque value.










A few specs on the rear brakes:
Scirocco stub axles
MK4 aluminum calipers
Stoptech rotors p/n 127.33022R/L
Stoptech street pads p/n 308.03400
Rear caliper springs p/ns 7H0615295A 7H0615296
Ebrake cable clipcs p/n 1H0609747
Ebrake cables - 1800mm - p/n 191609721A

Before moutning the calipers I needed to remove some powder coating for the banjo washers. I came up with this little tool made out of random parts. It worked really well.




























The banjo had to be slightly modified to fit in the recess of the caliper. So I had them nickel plated after. The banjo bolts are stainless as well as the bleed screws.











**And before everyones loses their ****. I realize the bleeders are on the bottom and will need to flip the caliper to bleed them. Yes, it is possible to flip them so relax everyone.**






































And that pretty much wraps up the rear suspension and brakes. On to the front !

Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Up next was rebuilding the axles. The outer joints were in good shape, so I decided to simply reuse them and just replace the 

boots. The inners however were in bad shape so I sourced some new GKN joints and boots.

Also sanded, bead blasted, primed and painted the shafts and joints. Also sourced stainless clamps and new C clips 

Im skipping a bunch of steps here because I think everyone knows what a super old diry axle looks like.

Everything prepped and ready for assembly.










I came up with a way to help pack the joints with grease. It worked pretty well.




























Another thing I did was measure the OD of the inner joint C clip before installing the joint to ensure it was fully seated.










After pressing it on I was able to verify the same measurement, ensuring full engagement.










Assembled. 



















Installed with new OEM hardware that was nicked plated. 











Next, it was the shifter's turn.

The cables I sourced were in good working order, just dirty. So I cleaned up the boots with a little APC and a brush. And painted 

the metal collars. 




























The modified 02J shifter box in place. 










Cables routed to the Diesel Geek shifter.














































And the clutch slave cylinder line with stainless banjo and bleeder fittings installed.



















Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

ohhhh nice i have had my fix today.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> ohhhh nice i have had my fix today.


Here, have some more.


Front suspension and brakes time.

Stock front swaybar
Stitch welded control arms
MMP Corrado G60 11" big brake brackets - nickel plated
Powder coated calipers (Lucas 54) and hangers
Stainless banjo hardware and bleeders - still need hoses
Stoptech rotors and pads
Bilstein strut inserts F4-P30-0137-H1
Autotech lowering springs
I made the lower brace - its documented way back here somewhere
All mounting hardware is stainless ARP with stainless nordlock washers with the exception of the strut cam bolts which were nickel plated.

Arms and swaybar etc in place










The strut tubes were somehow in bad shape so I decided to have them re-powder coated. Figured why not remove the hose tabs while Im at it. I have something else planned for them










The color is a decent match to the Bilstein yellow, just too glossy, but whatever.










Had to remove the powder from the knuckle for a better fit. Just put some black paint over it.










Of course ARP wheel studs pn 100-7713. I went longer thinking i would run a spacer, but now IM not sure, we shall see.
MMP brackets and hardware nickel plated.










ARP everything.










Caliper brackets with new nickel plated hardware.










Again the calipers needed powder removed for the banjo fittings. This time I drilled out a M12 nut to fit over a piece of threded rod and simply applied the paper to it and spun with the drill. This was not possible on the rear due to the recess in the caliper.










Worked well










And all assembled with pads etc. Just need to measure for the front hoses and get them on order. 



















Stainless banjo adapter and bleeer.



















Last bit was the tie rods and boots.

Picked up one of these tie rod tools finally. 




























New boots and ss clamps of course.










Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

And now for motor / engine bay assembly.

First I wanted to make a heat shield for the fuel lines as they downpipe runs right next to them.

Used some clear plastic to trace out the basic shape.










Transferred to steel










Cut out and then tipped the edges on my HF bead roller. 



















Then spend a bunch of time shrinking and stretchin the edges, plus a ton of hand hammering to get the shape just right. And 

finally d/a sanded smooth.



















Perfect shape










It was then electroless nickel plated. It installs at the same points as the fuel line clips and is spaced out. I may wrap it in 

gold foil still. 





























Up next was the mounting of the oil cooler.

Assembled.

The lower mount / rock guard is made from stainless rod and stainless mesh (was "fun" welding each leg of the screen to the fram)





































Installed






































Then I finally did the red in fill on the turbo lettering. I just couldnt leave it after doing all the motor "ARP"'s.

Stole a glue syringe from the wife. It ended up being way easier than expected.






































Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Up next, HX pump, HX, and intercooler.



Using the typical Bosch 0392022002 pump. 

I modified a cheapo aluminum bracket to mount it, and welded a flange to the frame rail to bolt it to. (Im sure I documented that 

here somehere).

The hoses are vibrant silicone. I used a drysump hose support spring inside the pump inlet hose to keep it from kinking due to 

the small radius. Gates Powergrip shrink clamps pn 32929 were used to keep a stealthy look and hopefully ensure no leaks.




















This is how the hose behaves without the spring










And with the spring










Mouted



















The bracket probably isnt going anywhere










And thus the need for the spring




























HX installed




















IC installed. Note the integrated fill location which I welded to the one tank of the IC.

Its suspended by two tube brackets with rod ends. One on the underside which has been welded into the trans mount, and the other 

triangulated between the front motor mount and the trans mount.

Sorry for so many pics, it was hard to capture just how it all mounts etc in just one or two.










































































And then installed the starter, with new nickled plated OE bolts. 

Cleaned the paint off around the bolts to ensure a good ground (clearly the trans side was masked during paint).




















Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Alternator time.

Im using a completely custom setup that I dreamed up. 

The alternator is a Denso style from a 01 Wrangler - 117A

The upper bracket is a simple machined piece of 3/4" aluminum that bolts through the two upper water pump housing holes.

The lower bracket captures a few locations on the water pump housing and block. 

A simple adjuster was make from a rod end and a piece of square tubing to make the U mount for the alternator.

Im using a MK3 VR6 water pump pulley, 1.8T crank pulley modified by iABED with his spacer - it fits amazing and was a great price.

The iABED pulley with spacer painted up - he supplied it clean and sandblasted










My original plan for the upper mount was to use a long bolt threaded into the nut of the alternator, cleary I dindt think that out well. 










I decided to drill out the nut in the alternator and use a threaded rod with nuts on either end instead. 

In order to get enough clearance I had to counterbore the one external moutning bolt 2mm.



















Again, the powder was removed to ensure a proper ground.



















Lower bracket



















Belt in place. Ended up using a Dayco 340K6 (which is for an 01-05 civic)




























Tensioner




















To ensure proper tension I used this Gates 91132 Krikit II tension gauge. 

Dayco recommends 187lbs tension for new 6 rib micro v rib belts. This made it a snap to verify.











Next I mounted the strut brace. Originally this was meant to install from the bottom, but it proved too hard to access the bolts, so I drilled through the mounting points and used longer ARP bolts. Also added some oe strut caps (for now).







































Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Mighty-fine work Dan.....


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> Mighty-fine work Dan.....


Thank you sir!


And with that its finally on the ground and Im up to date on progress.

Its currently sitting very high since its not much more than a roller still, but its a pretty big milestone.

Pretty stoked. 
















































Now its time to get back to body work and painting.

Dan


----------



## foxhound1972 (Jun 16, 2012)

This car is a work of art and you sir, are an artist.


----------



## MK1_74 (Nov 30, 2018)

Perfect cab upgrades...


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Spent last thrusday cleaning the shop but had a little time to work on the hood lift shocks. 

The ones I got as a "kit" were a bit too long. They would have caused the hinges to press hard into the wiper cowl which is unacceptable. I figured the easy solution was to trim and rethread them (to 13.25" center to center).



















Bingo










Over the weekend I worked on the trunk.

The factory plastic impregnated copper bushings for the rear hinges were shot, so I came up with my own using some brass sheet stock and some plastic washers. 

Wrap stock around hinge pin and trim to lenght.










It was a bit thicker than I needed so I sanded it down with the dynabrade by letting it slowly spin on a drill bit. it took a bit checking as I went but it went fairly quickly.




























And assembled with new SS E clips. These are done in electroless nickel.



















Mounted over some tape until I have the final adjustments complete.



















With that mounted I did the final buff on the trunk lid, which was much easier mounted.



















Then it was time to tackle the awful amber turn signals










I read years back that some testors candy grape over the amber is a perfect match to the red.

Did not disappoint.










Once I did a few coats on the amber, i unmasked the red and did one coat over to ensure a consistent color and finish.










And no more red. I will prob give them a quick wetsand and then clear them next time I have some in the gun.










SO. MUCH. Better.



















Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Sitting High? I would wait till you get all the fru-fru-bling-bling installed as in the interior, top/frame installed prior to resetting the height. But all-in-all looking mighty fine sire.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> Sitting High? I would wait till you get all the fru-fru-bling-bling installed as in the interior, top/frame installed prior to resetting the height. But all-in-all looking mighty fine sire.


I dont plan on any changes until its complete.

And thanks!


----------



## agentphish (Mar 3, 2016)

This thread always makes me smile. Thanks for all the progress reports and incredible work. Seems like you're in the home stretch now after all these years.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

agentphish said:


> This thread always makes me smile. Thanks for all the progress reports and incredible work. Seems like you're in the home stretch now after all these years.


Thanks! There is still SOOOO much more to do. Its gona be a long road yet unfortunately.


Finsihed wetsanding and buffing the top of the drivers quarter last night. 

I switched to a microfiber pad for the inital cut, and man was it so much faster and nicer than trying to do it with orange foam.

I did the polish with white foam instead of black. I think it was much improved as well. 

I have some other new foam pads coming this week, so Ill do a little experimenting on the hood maybe as Id like to try and finish up the pass side tomorrow night. 


Wetsanded with 2k grit.










And done 














































And because a video is way better.







Dan


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Finished sanding and buffing the passenger side quarter. No sand through or horrible tiger stripe this time. 

I ran the hell out of the clear on this side. I THOUGHT I had it blocked down pretty good, but once I put a quick polish to it 

you could clearly see not to much. 










I used the glaze technique to get it pretty flat. This is mid process.










And after. 

It could be better but it looks good outside and I need to finish this project some year










With that sorted I finished sanding and buffing the lower parts. 










And then tackled the giant run on the top edge here. This time I just carefully blocked it with a hard block and buffed using my 

Flex roatary and 1" pads. 















































Then NY gave us a sunny day for a change so I took the opportunity to roll it out and see everything in the sun.

Amazing how much differece the sun makes.




































































































Took the opportunity with it outside to sweep and mop the shop. And then back to its usual position










Next set the intake in place so I could adjust the rod ends on the IC mounts to get everything aligned. Vibrant HD clamps in 

place. 










And then I had a little time so I started wetsanding the hood.











And again, because a video is way better. Yes the quality is crap, oh well.







Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Looks good, no wait Great to me......
Dammmmmmmmed nice.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> Looks good, no wait Great to me......
> Dammmmmmmmed nice.


Thanks again!


Picked up the header and downpipe from Cerakote. 

Wrapped the downpipe with DEI Titanium wrap.




















Forgot I had to slightly port the header, so I did that quick.



















And installed with stainless studs and copper lock nuts. 



















And then installed the turbo. Im still unsure what, if anything, Im going to do about filtering, so for now I just have the 

velocity stack as a placeholder. 





























Water hard lines and stainless braided oil feed. These were fun to make.































































Dan


----------



## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Please, Please make sure that your oil lines are tight, as well as your coolant,,, I would hate to see it spew all over that super clean bay and engine.... 

what a thread.
what skills.

This is the way a build thread should be.


----------



## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Been cranking away on the car, as usual havent had time to do an update. So here we go. 

Next was the oil drain. I made this a few months ago. The turbo flange is made from two separate pieces of stainless plate welded together in 

the middle and smoothed out. The flexible drain flange was removed and silver brazed to the stainless flange. The bottom end was also brazed 

to a length of straight tube. 














































I had to remove the turbo to get the midpipe in (which I forgot to take a pic of). Decided I didnt like the copper coated lock nuts, so I 

swapped to ARP with ss nordlocks, much nicer. 










This nut is a hoot to install.










Next up was getting the fans wired as I got some of the harness supplies in. 










Using Deutsh DT connector with a Raychem right angle shrink boot. 










Need to mount the bulkhead next time the car is in the air, i keep forgetting











Then I realized there was a bunch of ARP hardware that I didnt paint. So I went back and did them.





























Installed the brake resivoir.











Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Nice, work, I agree the swap from copper to SS was more aesthetically pleasing.


----------



## Butcher (Jan 31, 2001)

Is it just me or are there others that see only a few pictures. Most of the pictures posted do not seem to load. Just square boxes.


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Butcher said:


> Is it just me or are there others that see only a few pictures. Most of the pictures posted do not seem to load. Just square boxes.


It you.


You have to remember that 355 million americans are taxing the heck out of the interweb, and local ISP's that weren't designed for the tremendous load. Think on it, before there were all the Corporate Wienies surfing from work on the bigger back bone.

So now you have to compete with not only netflix, but KimKardashian's big ...... and Amazon Prime, Disney, Apple.... 
Give it time.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

still catching up


I decided that the engine bay needed a different finish to break things up. Welcome carbon fiber. 

Picked up some supplies from Composite Envisions to try my hands at CF wrapping, as long term I wanted to do the front splitter anyway. 


Grabbed a few yards, of this, plus the necessary resin and black pigment to tint the base layer. 




















First layer of tinted resin on, fabric cut to size. 

This was definitely the worst part. The resin is very thin and didnt stay on the sides well, so the fabric didnt stick as well as I liked and I ended up attempting to tape it to the backside while things set up. one spot was also too thick and bled through. For future projects Ill need to figure out how to deal with this. Id think a little thicker resin would help.










Laid / taped in place. 










Bleed through. 










First coat of clear top resin.










A few more coats later.










After that I blocked it flat and ended up with a few voids, likely from the first layer not sticking well to the sides. 

I didnt want to scrap the piece so I decided to patch them as they were on the side anyway.










Mixed up a little filler and tinted it with the resin tint black.



















And then a final coat of resin.










And then wetsanded and buffed it out.



















The edges still had some spots you could see the base under, from sanding through etc, so I back taped the top and dusted some trim black paint on the edges. It did the trick even though its still not perfect, Im pretty happy for a first attempt. 










Installed





































Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Beautiful attention to detail Dan, so now that you know how to do a rebuild, hows about me sending my ride up there for you to do, so you can really really Master your skills...... of course I will pay you in booze.....  . as that is about the most ready Cache I have at the moment, or toilet paper.


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> Beautiful attention to detail Dan, so now that you know how to do a rebuild, hows about me sending my ride up there for you to do, so you can really really Master your skills...... of course I will pay you in booze.....  . as that is about the most ready Cache I have at the moment, or toilet paper.


I now understand your thread title,,, Cabrio Project for the Wifey..... That is because it keeps you out of the house and stop pestering her....


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Up next tackled sanding and buffing the hood. 














































And mounted. It may still need some final alignment once the wings are on but its close. Hood shocks work great and have no interference. 





































And tossed the headlighs in quick for fun.










Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> I now understand your thread title,,, Cabrio Project for the Wifey..... That is because it keeps you out of the house and stop pestering her....


haha barely


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Then switched back to the trunk area


The rear seat release knob was not going to be sufficient.










I sourced a stainless knob from McMaster 62265K512 with the correct M5 thread. Much better, but then the jamb nut would also not do.










The nut is M10x1 but an ARP M10 nut is huge. I had spare M8 nuts so I drilled ont out, tapped it for M10x1 and trimmed the drive area down by 

more than half.










MUCH better




























I sanded the brush finsh from the face of the knob and will give the whole thing a nice bead blast finish next time Im able to access the 

blaster. 












Also installed new plate light housings I had to source from Germany.












Repainted the trunk strut body and replaced the body end bushing (not shown)

And sourced new stainless E clips McMaster 98317A220 some black nylon spacers McMaster 98317A220.




















Finally sourced a new striker wedge bumper thing from a Type 2 Bus pn 211829177

It doesnt exactly line up with the cabby striker plate holes but it works perfectly. Im simply going to weld up the one hole and drill a new 

one to make it work. Of course Ill need to have the plate nickle plated again, but its like $2.



















And thats all the updates. 

I have a ton of spring cleaning and maintenance to do on the GTI and Atlas, so the cabby will sit in quarantine for a while. (sound familiar?).










Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

But you didn't paint the ARP on the trunk nut?????? LOL


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## blind (Nov 26, 1999)

Butcher said:


> Is it just me or are there others that see only a few pictures. Most of the pictures posted do not seem to load. Just square boxes.


I've had this issue with this thread for years. I've tried multiple computers and phones without luck. I have to keep reloading until the pics show up. 

This is not a complaint. Please continue the amazing work and documentation.


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## Butcher (Jan 31, 2001)

blind said:


> I've had this issue with this thread for years.


Yes, that is what I've seen. It's certainly not a recent think like Briano has eluded to. 

At least I know I'm not the only one.


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Butcher said:


> Yes, that is what I've seen. It's certainly not a recent think like Briano has eluded to.
> 
> At least I know I'm not the only one.


No I too have commented on the delayed photos if you look at some of my comments.... I just wait a while and presto they appear like magic. I have noticed that P-bucket as more issues with loading a pic than IMGUR..... I have waited about 10 min for pictures of mine to load, that is if Pbuck displays the album at all... Usually getting out and getting back in works better.


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## Butcher (Jan 31, 2001)

It's only this thread that has issues. 

I was just asking if anyone else was having this issue, not asking opinions on why. Most of the time the opinions are just that and not really facts.


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## echassin (Dec 28, 2005)

Butcher said:


> It's only this thread that has issues.


For me also.

It's only intermittent, Refresh works fine, this thread is totally worth it :thumbup:, and it's not worth arguing over


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## Butcher (Jan 31, 2001)

No arguing here. Just practicing social distancing with a mask on.


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## w0ody (Oct 27, 2016)

opcorn:


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Been picking away, although super slowly, on this again lately. 

Reworked the striker plate to accept the old bus bumper. 

Orig , cross eyed.










welded up










bingo.




















Then I turned my attention to the doors. Ive had them in poly for months now but they needed to be blocked out. So I did that inside and out.

The inside required a little filler from people kicking the damn bottoms of the doors getting in / out. sigh. 

But now they are ready for the last coat of primer and the final 400grit soft block. Hoping like hell to prime this week.





































And the top where I had welded up the seams and holes for the window tracks. They will be painted on top like the early doors. 



















And blocked the poly on the outside.










Dan


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## w0ody (Oct 27, 2016)

juicedz4 said:


> Then switched back to the trunk area
> 
> 
> The rear seat release knob was not going to be sufficient.
> ...


Knuly!


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## Tisser (Dec 25, 2014)

Just... wow. I'm checking back in after a few years and I still can't believe how clean this is coming together and the sheer amount of hours you've already put into this masterpiece. I've said it before and I'll say it again I wish I had even half the skills you have! I'm just in awe at how beautiful this car is becoming. You're making a TOP tier trim level VW never offered, and never will. Cannot wait to see the final product dude.


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## Hoffa (Jun 7, 2001)

Hope you are OK as I've not seen an update to this one in a little while!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Hoffa said:


> Hope you are OK as I've not seen an update to this one in a little while!


Still here, still chipping away.

I had an issue months ago with my web host I use for the pics so its more of a pain to upload now. And Ive been swamped at work and just havent felt like taking the time to make updates. Ill try to do a dump of progress this month sometime to catch up. 

Thanks for checking in!


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## Four rings five pistons (Dec 7, 2020)

Wow,other night spent about 3 hrs reading. Could only imagine the build up to it from the 1st post following the build. Getting ready to start my vrt build in my 88 cab and I don't know if its encouraging or depressing, lol. Keep up the awesome work and keep us posted.


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## Butcher (Jan 31, 2001)

There is a difference of swapping an engine and making a show car. 

I'm always impressed that someone can dedicate so much time in a project. There is so much love and patience with every small part, parts that no one will ever notice/see but that does not stop you. 99% of the time, the project stalls and eventually sold for parts.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Ok. So ive managed to setup a new gallery using piwigo which seems pretty good. 

I have it hosted, I just need to upload MONTHS of images and try to make a reasonable update or 10. Stay tuned


Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Waiting with baited breath, as I am in the middle of a lower intake manifold gasket change on a Sihlouette.... Biggest pain inn the posterior I know...


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Got the inner doors all blocked out, primed,blocked again, and painted. 




















































































Then I had a bunch of parts nickel plated

Door switches pulled apart prior




























Luckily the nylon window slider bits are ok in the nickel tanks





































Then I painted the doors and fenders and bad things happened. We think that somehow the paint went bad, still not positive but the color was 

WAY off. a month later I tried everything I could to get back to the original color (pressure, flow , wet / dry) and nothing worked. So I had 

to buy some new paint and it matches perfect. More on that to come. 










And the resulting disaster. Notice the color of the quarter which was painted months before










So had to wet sand them down.



















That gets us caught up through august and early september. 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Next up I spent about 50 hours stripping and repairing the plastics. 

Everything had multiple layers of paint, it totally sucked to strip bare. 






































Eventually after about 40 sheets of DA paper and lots of careful work with a blue belt on the dynabrade I had them all stripped. 























































I ended up just scuffing this area


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Next it was time to fill what was left of the cutouts from the tow hook. If you're playing along at home I removed the cetner "flap" of the 

rear bumper to allow a better look at the underside of the car, and I want to make a small diffuser someday.

Started with this










The edge of the area was chamfered and a piece of the flap I removed was cut as a filler piece.

Another piece was used as a backup and to ensure the edge of the bumper was a consistent thickness.



















Hot wire staples were used to mechanically secure the filler pieces



















And on the other end



















And then everything was panel bonded in place



















Not bad for a first pass blocked out and obvious the edges trimmed up to match the curve of bumpers edge and tapered into the vertical section










This end was a bit wavy so I did a larger layer over the whole area to block out



















The backside pieces were bonded in and smoothed out as well 










Finally a thin coat of glaze was added to tidy up some scratches and the areas filled in.










Fully stripped and ready for primer



















I also had a small tear in one of the flares (no before pic)


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

And with all that sorted I applied a coat of adhesion promoter and 2k primer. 



















What cutouts



















And then sanded





































Which brings us to late october.



Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Up next was modifying the Reiger lip I bought forever ago and skinning it with carbon fiber. 

First step was to cap the ends because its how it should have been. I had to trim the excess at the ends to match the inner arc of the wheel 

opening on the bumper (not shown). 

Then I cut out some 3/8" thick ABS panels to cap the ends. 











And bonded them in place




























Once dry I sanded them with a nice bevel all around. 





































With that sorted and trimmed up nicer than Reiger could bother it was time for the carbon skinning. 

First I needed to make a warm box for it to cure in as I only keep the shop 56 in the winter, and the resin needs 80 degrees to cure 

correctly. 

I grabbed a few sheets of 1/2" foil foam and a small 1500W $25 electric heater from lowes. 

To keep the temperature in check I built this little PID control box with a 40A SSR. 




















Here is the taped up box wit the heater and PID box. Also made a little 2x4 rack to hold the lip during the skinning process. 




















Now for the acutal skinning. 

First a layer of resin is applied and at just the right tackyness the CF fabric is stuck in place. 




















Then several coats of resin are applied on top.





































Here we are a few coats later, and the back edges trimmed up.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

And then sanded the first 3 coats of resin flat. 

Here we are mid process



















And sanded out










During this process i noted there was a pocket where the CF didnt stick to the abs.In order to fill this I ground out the back side and poured in some black tinted resin. 






































It worked perfectly.










With that sorted I applied a final coat of resin.






































Then this was sanded flat to 800 grit, and then the clear coated the same as the car

Right off the gun



















And then this was again sanded flat to 2000 grit and buffed. For this I used my 3" Rupes with a microfiber pad with Meguiars 105 and polished with a white foam pad and Megs 205


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Final result.























And that ends November.



Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

And now back to painting. I had to buy a new quart of paint, luckily it matched and all can move ahead. 

First I painted the wheel arches and side skirts. 















































And then painted the front and rear bumpers. 

Sealer



















Color










It looks so good flat even. 










And done, again this is all right off the gun. Will still need to sand and buff everything.























































And with the lip in place. Im super stoked at how this looks together. 















































And that literally catches up all the work that I have done to date.




Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

oh my my...


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> oh my my...


Its a bit to digest. But I feel like I should have gotten more done. It was just a busy late summer fall at work and with other home projects. 

Plus that paint mismatch issue in early september really bummed me out.


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## foxhound1972 (Jun 16, 2012)

The level of detail is mind boggling. I love the carbon fiber. As much as I love this build, I can't help but notice my wife's cabby looks like a turd in comparison.


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## Butcher (Jan 31, 2001)

I like the mods to the Reiger lip. I do agree the ends look bad and I was contemplating doing the same thing on the ends. I always wondered what a carbon fiber wrap would look like. Not any more.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Butcher said:


> I like the mods to the Reiger lip. I do agree the ends look bad and I was contemplating doing the same thing on the ends. I always wondered what a carbon fiber wrap would look like. Not any more.


Thanks. It was a huge pain, but I def learned a lot seeing it was only the second piece I ever CF skinned. The first one being totally flat,hah.

I may do a few more bits, but I dont want to get carried away either. So we'll see.

Dan


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## Butcher (Jan 31, 2001)

I agree, too much chrome, carbon fiber, etc is not me. There is an acceptable amount that adds enough bling but does not take over the entire piece.

The Reiger lower lip does just that. When it's installed it changes the look a little bit, but you need to look at it a bit before you figure it out.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Also any chrome is too much chrome, haha


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## MK1_74 (Nov 30, 2018)

lovely work as usual. Carbon against that color is perfect.


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## Four rings five pistons (Dec 7, 2020)

Carbon work is beautiful. Now your nerves will roll keeping an eye out for all critters as your driving. I don't really drive my RS much but deers have been running at night and when I drive I'm a ball of nerves. Couldn't imagine your car being that custom, for the most part I can still order parts. Keep up the beautiful work. Looks like you should be ready when weather gets better👍


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Four rings five pistons said:


> I don't really drive my RS much but deers have been running at night and when I drive I'm a ball of nerves.


Deer Whistles. I have them on all my cars, and I haven't been hit by a suicide by car Deer or dog. The worst part is driving behind a car with a dog in it, as it drives the dog bat shat crazy..... The first time I didn't know why the dog was going hysterical. After the 12 mile of following trying to pass a women that was going 45 on a 55 two lane, she pulled over as the dog was tearing up the rear carpet and howling....she started to get out and whoop on the canine... As I got about 10 minutes away...It was the deer whistles. I worked for a company that lost 3 trucks in 3 weeks on the same stretch of road in Missouri. The sent deer whistles to all the Techies driving the trucks.... No more deer strikes.

On my cabby I placed them in the Cutouts on the Bottom of the Bumper, you can't see them but they work, I drove my cabby down I16 over to Statesboro, and the amount of deers on that section of interstate at night well, you could stock up a hundred big freezers...As I drove down the road you could see them pick up their head...


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## Butcher (Jan 31, 2001)

I like tests. It's a pretty interesting read. How do you know they heard the car or the so called whistle? It's not me telling you they do not work, it's a fellow citizen from Georgia.

Given their research experience, the Georgia-based researchers concluded the following: “Considering the challenges of producing sound at appropriate intensities and distances from a moving vehicle, deer hearing capabilities, human safety concerns, and our observed lack of behavioral responses of deer to sound treatments, auditory deterrents do not appear to be appropriate for prevention of deer-vehicle collisions.”








How Effective Are Deer Whistles to Avoid Vehicle Collisions?


They're hyped as a great way to help drivers on roads, but how effective are deer whistles to avoid vehicle collisions and do they really work?




www.deeranddeerhunting.com


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## echassin (Dec 28, 2005)

There's a LOT of ways marketers achieve the perception of need: sales fallacies - Search results - Wikipedia. The problem is, if you take a public position against the deer thingies and then your obit says you hit a deer, people will laugh coffee through their noses instead of mourning you, without realizing that's also a fallacy. IMO you shouldn't tempt the Evil Eye. Darn it! _Another_ fallacy; shoot, I guess we all do it all the time. Maybe it's better to just stay mum and let folks spend their money as they wish .

Fantastic updates on the car; the bumper assembly really looks great and it was a monumental amount of work and skill.

I admire the perseverance on perfect color matching. Painting a car piecemeal as being done here makes a lot of sense but does cause color challenges, especially for silver/gray/gold/metallics: you can have a perfect color match in some lighting but not in others, or you can have a perfect color match but the metallic lays out differently on adjacent panels. That can still be a problem if you spray the panels at the same time but they are improperly oriented, i.e: you lay the door flat on a saw horse next to the vertical quarter panel. Base/clear reduces that risk because you can lay the color a bit on the dry side so the metallic doesn't flow as much or at all.


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## Hoffa (Jun 7, 2001)

Unbelievable work here 👏. I can't imagine the stress of driving this thing when completed with all the crazy/distracted drivers out there. I guess knowing you can fix anything yourself helps but still!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Next up was repainting the doors and fenders.











































































With that done I started wet sanding the plastics. 










Had a good run in the rear bumper



















Sorted










I finally picked up some 3M trazact wet pads as Ive heard they work amazing, and its true. 

to get here i hard blocked with 1500 to flatten and then 3000 trizact. It took around 1.5 hours to flatten it and 45 mins to get it to 3000.






































I recently picked up some 5000 grit trazact. again im so amazed at how easy it polished out the 3000 scratches. Note the area with the tape is 5k, and either side is 3k. Should make polishing a breeze










and one side panel sanded to 3k.





























Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Up next I switched to the grille for a change of pace. 

I scored a near perfect single round grille. There was plenty of dings in the trim, but none of the plastic was broken. 


First step was to remove the trim and give everything a good scrubbing.


















































































Up next was tackling the dents and dings in the trim and giving them a good hard blocking.





































This side had a pretty large bend along the outer edge.





































I must have tapped this thing a thousand times to straighten out all the flaws. it worked very well.



















Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

With the trim sorted I did a test paint and decided that I hated the fact that you can see the top clip, especially on red.

This is what I hate. 










For a test I taped up the edge. Much better










And then for the trimming. 

First score. 










Cut and filed









































































With that they were fit to be primed, sanded with 400 and then painted.

Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Sadly dings and dents usually acquired from shopping carts and such...Nice work, enjoying the updates.


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## MK1_74 (Nov 30, 2018)

Always enjoy this project updates. Lovely work on bumpers and grill. Yeah I too hate those clips showing I see them on mine too. nice mods to clean that up.


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> Sadly dings and dents usually acquired from shopping carts and such...Nice work, enjoying the updates.


yea, most of these were from rocks. But i expect if for a 1986 grille on anything to have a few.



MK1_74 said:


> Always enjoy this project updates. Lovely work on bumpers and grill. Yeah I too hate those clips showing I see them on mine too. nice mods to clean that up.


Glad it wasnt just me. I catch those on pics of cars all the time and it drive me crazy. The two clips and tiny dot of adhesive should keep them in place no issue. 

I have a little more to update later

Dan


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## Hoffa (Jun 7, 2001)

👋


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Hoffa said:


> 👋


Still cracking away, I just havent had time to put some updates together. can find me on IG with the same screen name. But ill try to update here in a week or three. lol 

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

So im WAY WAY behind on updates. Im going to attempt to get up to date on the last 6mo progress in a few posts. 

With the grille trim straight I got it painted. No its not the correct color, but a color that matches my powder coated pieces I had mixed special. 

Crazy how differnt lighting effects the color so much. 
































































With that done i turned my attention to the grille itself. Mostly I wanted to try and sand out any big stone chips then remove all the mold lines, which always drive me insane. 

Did this area as it sticks above the front of the upper radiator panel



















And then sanded out the mold lines between each slat (I still have yet to paint this, but its nearly ready)










Up next was more wet sanding and buffing of the plastics. 










Pretty happy with how the fill in of the tow hook cutouts turned out. 










Front mid process




























That gets us to the end of Jan.

Dan


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

Next I had to do some mods to the hood latch as originally I had planned on using a badgeless grille and thus my original modified cable latch wouldnt work. 

Needed to move the right to where the silver mark is.




























Magic happens and its moved over enough and welded / sanded smooth. 





































Added a little clearance notch










And then I spent a bunch of time wet sanding and polishing the rest of the plastics, the doors, fenders etc. I wont bore you with those details , just see above posts for the process. Turned out something like this:










Next it was time to finally install some body panels.

For whatever reason the pass door took a bunch of shimming to get just right. In the end it lines up good enough for an 80s econobox. Gaps are quite even for not having done any special welding or filler work on them 





































Nickel plated latches, inside handle brackets, pull rods, and hardware. 





































Nickel plated switch with ss screw and restored boot. 










And of course ARP


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

And then the fender. This lined up quite good.









































































Need to go back and paint the ARP red still on some of these, but I can swap them out later.




















And thats all i managed to get done in Feb. 

Dan


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## briano1234 (Feb 20, 2004)

Justy a wicked thought that you should buy some of the peal and stick felt pads and insulate the door tins from the rods. other wise. AWESome


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

briano1234 said:


> Justy a wicked thought that you should buy some of the peal and stick felt pads and insulate the door tins from the rods. other wise. AWESome


Thanks. Yea I'll do something when I get to the interior. There can be no rattles. Ive used thin tygon tubing on other cars before with good success


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## MK1_74 (Nov 30, 2018)

Amazing work as usual.

I can only imagine how long you spent on getting those panel gaps just right!!!


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

MK1_74 said:


> I can only imagine how long you spent on getting those panel gaps just right!!!


Honestly it wasnt SO bad. The drivers side more or less just went together. I def spent most of my time on that pass door. 

The hood and front of the fenders could still use a little tweak but I want to get the grille in place first before the final final alignment. 

Dan


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## Jordi91 (Jun 22, 2021)

Damn.. what a project this was an afternoon worth the read


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## Hoffa (Jun 7, 2001)

Excellent update thank you for sharing with us!


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## tinygiant (Mar 17, 2012)

Your attention to detail and skill level is astounding.

Even more astounding is that still have a wifey to build the car for after spending all that time in the garage.

I recently rattle canned my cabby and am fairly happy with it. After reading through this I wish I had your budget but even more so your patience!


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## Hoffa (Jun 7, 2001)

Don't leave us hanging compared to your posts on IG! My phone does not do your work justice and I really enjoy seeing it here.


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## blind (Nov 26, 1999)

Any updates?


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## juicedz4 (Apr 2, 2004)

blind said:


> Any updates?


Lots. Unfortunately I just dont have time to upload images and make posts here anymore. Ive resorted to just posting on instagram. If you're on there I use the same screen name.


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## echassin (Dec 28, 2005)

Boooooo! 

Sorry to see you go


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