[engine_work] Project Novice

[zebedy101 0]

nearly a year ago now i bought myself a nice looking little 1.6 gti with a 1.9 engine (that was very underperforming and sounded like a bag of nails when running) i bought the car mainly because it cost £430 but also because there was little to no rott on the whole thing. i managed to get a good 6 months of great fun out of the old engine until it finally gave way and went out in style with a big cloud of smoke and a long wait for the aa,

 

luckily i like to prepare for any occasions so i was equipped with a spare engine in the boot.......

 

 

 

 

despite my initial enthusiasm the aa were very much against the idea of a road side swap so i let them toe me to carls (gkz206) where the conversion is taking place.

 

day 1: removing the old 1.9 block............

 

unfortunatly i forgot to bring my camera so there arent any photos of it before we spent the day gutting it.

 

however i have got one of after the engine came out...

 

 

its a pretty scary site once the engine is out you realise there is no going back and it starts to dawn on you how much work is really ahead and how complicated this is really going to be. i went home that night asking myself if i had bitten off a little more than i could chew, luckily im not doing the conversion on my own carl who is mechanic by trade is showing me what to do and helping out when i get stuck (once every 5 minuits) if it had not been for carls help i dont think i would have even thought about trying the conversion, when you have someone who knows what there doing watching over you a new found confidence comes out.

 

day 2: i rememberd to bring my camera with me this time.

 

i dedicated the day to building up the front end putting the new shocks, calipers, hubs on and removing the old ecu and loom.

 

heres the new brakes, hubs and shocks. i went for a gti6 front end setup so i am using all the brakes, hubs and shocks im not sure how the car will sit but im hoping it should be ok as there are -40mm springs on the shocks, its more of a test than anything im hoping it will work well.

 

 

 

 

next up i removed the exhaust system and removed the heat shields so the bulk head can be cut back and welded to allow extra space for the manifold to sit

 

after

 

after this was all removed i set about taking all the old loom and ecu out then removing the ecu mounting bracket which proved to be a whole lot more of a challenge than i dont know how on earth they put them on but they dont want to come off without an almighty fight which i eventually have up and carl managed to win.

 

not the most compfy place to sit

 

in the middle near the top you can see a bracket that is bent round well that is what i was fighting with

 

[zebedy101 0]

after success with the bracket the old loom came out

 

then some more preperation for the bulk head modifications i removed the centre console and pulled the carpet back also took out the sound proofing to save a little bit of weight.

 

i was really suprised how much weight was in the sound proofing. also 21 years of dust that flew up from it which wasnt the most pleasent thing.

 

 

this is pretty much it so far, after the bulk head has been cut back then the gti6 lump can go in then the wonderfull job of plumbing it all in and getting it working can take place.

 

thanks for looking feel free to comment and voice opinions and feedback is much apreciated

[Galifrey 1]

Nice one.

 

Don't think you need to cutback the bulkhead for a GTI-6 install, was an old method of fitting the MI16 I think.

 

You will need to angle the brake servo upwards by spacing the bottom with washers so it misses the cam/cambelt covers on the engine.

 

Good luck, keep the pics coming!

[Atari Boy 11]

Good work, when are you working on it next?

[zebedy101 0]

Nice one.

 

Don't think you need to cutback the bulkhead for a GTI-6 install, was an old method of fitting the MI16 I think.

 

You will need to angle the brake servo upwards by spacing the bottom with washers so it misses the cam/cambelt covers on the engine.

 

Good luck, keep the pics coming!

 

i think its a pretty tight squeeze if the bulk heads not cut back a bit i could be wrong though?

 

ahh thanks for the tip about the washers i hadnt realised that was going to be an issue yet

 

 

Good work, when are you working on it next?

 

hmm im not 100% sure yet ideally we can get it finished before the start of december which is when the tax on the old 405 runs out.

 

my lovely work mate has now decided he doesnt like working anymore and has left toyota so getting any time off work is very tricky at the moment which complicates things a little.

[stef205 91 1 Cars]

i think its a pretty tight squeeze if the bulk heads not cut back a bit i could be wrong though?

 

ahh thanks for the tip about the washers i hadnt realised that was going to be an issue yet

 

 

 

 

hmm im not 100% sure yet ideally we can get it finished before the start of december which is when the tax on the old 405 runs out.

 

my lovely work mate has now decided he doesnt like working anymore and has left toyota so getting any time off work is very tricky at the moment which complicates things a little.

 

Well well i never thought id see it again, im glad its still going

[DrSarty 90 1 Cars]

ROFL

 

Reference that bastid ECU mounting plate.

 

 

Been there; feeling your pain; lost the same fight until I got nasty with it.

Edited October 19, 2009 by DrSarty

[zebedy101 0]

the ecu plate really did take a long while to get off in the end carl got mean with it and twisted it back and forth until it eventually gave up.

 

just had an update on the bulkhead its all done and the engine is ready to go in woohoo. now all i need to do is pick up the driveshafts and decide what to do seat wise.

[Brian M 0]

Great project, well done on having the guts to have a go yourself but it must be comforting knowing that Carl is only a shout away Good of him to help you out.

[zebedy101 0]

yeah if it hadnt of been for carl i would have definatly thrown in the towel soon as the old engine blew up, to be fair he has done alot of the work so far all the modifications to the bulkhead have been done by him and preparing the 6 lump. his 205 track car is extremely well done he has used a complete 306 loom even using the 306 clocks, exhaust system, brakes etc...

Edited October 19, 2009 by zebedy101

[zebedy101 0]

quick update really im going to work on it next saturday and hopefully going to get the engine in

 

also a picture of some of the parts iv got ready to go on that are currently taking up most of my room due to my car already being full of parts, i also have a bonnet in my room at the bottom of the bed but it cant quite be seen in the picture

 

as you can see i decided to go for the half leather seats. many thanks to nat for them and also the strut brace and drive shafts.

 

 

im getting pretty excited now about getting the engine in also a little nervous that it could all go horribly wrong and the engine could turn out to be a wreck but i its all part of the fun and fingers crossed the engine will be the stunning runner i remember it to be and that it was advertised as.

[zebedy101 0]

update time:

 

since i last went over carls has been hard at work cutting and welding the bulkhead back and also dropping the 6 lump in so its looking a little more like a car now.

 

 

yesterdays jobs were to wire up the dash lights and starter motor, fit the drive shafts to get it back onto its wheels and just for good measures put the strut brace on.

 

 

it now just needs the ecu wiring up, throttle cable fitting and then it should with any luck burst into life, its then just down to tidying it all up and ironing out any teething problems.

 

i have hit a bit of a problem now though the decision i made to put gti6 front shocks and lowering springs onto it turned out to be the wrong one as it looks like its on stilts so im now going to find a pair of 30mm 205 lowering springs so that it sits right. but as my beam on the last attempt was not willing to be lowered it looks like a rebuild may be in order

[dcc 855]

yummy mi16!

[Galifrey 1]

yummy mi16!

 

Nope, delicious GTI-6

[welshpug 1,622]

next to it Dan meant

[Ludi 2 2 Cars]

Well that engine looks very nice.Its going to be a real power in that 205.

[Galifrey 1]

next to it Dan meant

 

lol gotcha

 

[zebedy101 0]

the mi16 is pretty cool, its being restored to former glory i think.

 

BIIIG UPDATE

 

she runs and i have test driven her my god what a car it was totally awesome. i am chuffed to bits all the time money and effort has been 100% worth it

 

test drive was a scary though wishbone bushes on the nearside were totally shot the tyres were bald and it was soaking wet but it made me beam like a chesire cat for the rest of the day and realise why i did it.

 

all thats left to do now is fit the 309 beam and the half leathers then job done. i am over the moon with the car now though i just hope i dont brake it.

 

 

just a quick question whats needed to fit the 309 beam i know i need to mod the brake pipes but apart from that what parts do i need?

 

many thank seb

[Galifrey 1]

Awesome, I get my first drive of mine Sunday all being well

 

 

[zebedy101 0]

update time:

 

well its been officially finished engine wise for a couple of months now but i have been lazy project wise and not put any up for a while, so here goes what do you all think?

 

one in the snow i am really happy with my nice small front number plate i think it looks much better in the bumper grooves:

 

 

 

and one from a distance:

 

 

I dont have any pics under the bonnet yet but i shall get some and also at some point i will put it up on the ramp and take some photos of the bulkhead thats been cutback and welded.

 

next job on the list get my Toyo T1R's fitted tommorow and then get my 309 rear beam fitted as soon as i sort a new calpiper or free the bleed nipple.

[zebedy101 0]

Also forgot to say that im looking into my options for de-sunroofing so that may well be a future project, the wheels will be changing colour aswell as im not happy with them ATM i am thinking maby just spraying them the original silver for that extra sleeper look.

Edited January 6, 2010 by zebedy101

[Kroged 0]

How are you going to do the de-sunroof operation? Changing the whole roof or just ripping the sunroof off and putting a plate in its place?

[zebedy101 0]

I'm not too sure yet i am looking at my options but both seem pretty long winded. the idea of cutting a precise section and welding it in place of the sunroof is one that I am lookin into but that's very easy to get wrong. I'm not so fond of a new roof skin as it's one hell of a lot of work and in theory there is more risk involved if it was to go wrong and not line up properly then it could right off the car.

 

Does anyone know how much the sunroof weighs?

 

Before making any serious plans I need to work out if it is really going to save me that much weight and weather it would ever be as good of a finish as an original non sunroof shell, most importantly I need to work out how much it's going to cost really.

[Carl Chambers 7 2 Cars]

I'm not too sure yet i am looking at my options but both seem pretty long winded. the idea of cutting a precise section and welding it in place of the sunroof is one that I am lookin into but that's very easy to get wrong. I'm not so fond of a new roof skin as it's one hell of a lot of work and in theory there is more risk involved if it was to go wrong and not line up properly then it could right off the car.

 

Does anyone know how much the sunroof weighs?

 

Before making any serious plans I need to work out if it is really going to save me that much weight and weather it would ever be as good of a finish as an original non sunroof shell, most importantly I need to work out how much it's going to cost really.

 

 

The sunroof weighs a ton, the glass is as heavy as hell!

 

I cut a centre piece of roof skin from a basic 205 (a flat metal sheet would do) and welded it between the ribs in the roof rather than taking to whole skin off!

 

its still a pain and you have to be careful not to weld too much and a time as you can easily warp the roof.

 

does look better once do as I hate it when people just rivet a plate over the sunroof hole, it looks cheap.

[zebedy101 0]

They do look a lot better without the sunroof and yours looks like it was never there in the first place. i should imagine its worth it though if it takes that extra bit of weight off, also making the car less top heavy...

 

hmm time to start thinking serious cut and shut