[trackday_prep] White Gti Mini-restoration

[EdCherry 34 1 Cars]

Look like 6941.81, come in packs of 5 and cost about 5.80. I just bought some as they are used for the subframe front legs which go into the chassis rail.

[Rob Turbo 3]

Very similar, but wrong thread, they are 10mm thread, the battery tray uses 8mm, I suppose I could drill the hole out and make it all heavy duty!

 

Just found them on service box 6941.27, found it on a 309, £1.21 each, will probably come in a pack of 5 as well though.

[EdCherry 34 1 Cars]

Ahh ok, just looks exactly the same! How did you get it out of the chassis rail through rust or did you cut it? LOL

[Rob Turbo 3]

You slide them forward then you can tilt them and pull them through a hole that's beside the round hole, if that makes any sence?

[EdCherry 34 1 Cars]

Yep you just said what ive been thinking for the passed week... now should I try and do it before cutting the chassis leg open lol.

[EdCherry 34 1 Cars]

You slide them forward then you can tilt them and pull them through a hole that's beside the round hole, if that makes any sence?

 

Just did this and it works a treat, thanks for confirming my thoughts and good luck with the 'Sieve'!

[Rob Turbo 3]

Been playing with the engine tonight, got it in the shed on the stand, it's still full of oil so havent got the sump off yet, but I've got everything else off! I think I have a problem though, there's a lip around the top of all the bores, it's not massive, I thought it was just carbon build up, but cleaned it off and you can still feel a lip, the thing is, the piston's don't really wobble in the bores or anything though, which I would have thought they would if the bores were worn? But I think this is going to make the block uneconomical to use, so might be scrapping it, in which case the 205 will be going on hold again for a long while, I've spent more than I can really afford already and have to sort my prioritys, unfortunately the 205 is nowhere near the top of the list!

[Rob Turbo 3]

Checked the big end bearings today, 1 and 3 look fairly good but 2 and 4 don't look too clever! I haven't checked the main bearings but so far the crank is looking spot on. I have a few leads for a replacement bottom end, hopefuly cheap, but I don't know what a block is worth! There is one cheap option for a complete 406 2.0 16v engine, but I don't know what the bores are like, it could be expensive scrap for all I know!

[Tom Fenton 1,526]

I've a complete turbo bottom end/head, I was given it and I've had the few bits I want off it, so if you come and get it, its yours £FREE.

[James_m 0]

All the XU10's ive ever seen have this lip at the top of the bore.

Another engine might not actually be any better....

[Rob Turbo 3]

My dad cast his eye over the engine tonight and confirmed the crank is spot on, also the pistons seem great, the main bearings are ok and the big end bearings are worn but not too bad. He also said he would use the block as it is, the bores are still round, no scoring, just that lip around the top, his suggestion is new big end/main bearings, new rings, then put it back together. I'd personally like to find a better block, and seeing as there's one on offer for free (well, about £20 diesel and a few hours driving) I'm going to at least have a go at it!

[Rob Turbo 3]

Been hacking at the front end today, got most of the front panel off, there's just the drivers side headlight surround to get off now but it's started raining so I've left it for now. Been to halfords to get some more cutting discs and while I was there I got a wire brush attatchment for the angle grinder and gave the chassis legs a quick blast with it, fairly impressed with the results, once the rain stops I'll be back out tackling it, I'll get some more photos while I'm at it and get them posted up.

 

I've abandoned the engine for now, it's completely stripped now but there's nowhere open to get any bits for it and I'm not sure which block I'm going to use. I still haven't caught my mate to see if I can borrow his van to pick the engine bits up from Tom, with him being at work today I'm guessing he will be at work when I need the van on Monday, so might have to re-schedule that, which will mean no more work on the engine for a while longer!

 

In the mean time I think I'm going to do a bit more flocking, I'm tempted to have a go at something a bit bigger, like the glove box, but I'm still not very good at getting the glue on without leaving thin patches from the brush, but I'm not too bothered about the finish, it'll probably end up with scuffs all over either from fitting it or catching my feet/head on it trying to climb over the roll cage into the bucket seat!

 

Oh, and after loosing heart a bit when I got the front panel half off, a neighbor came over and said "The things in life that are worth achieveing are not easily achieved." which makes a lot of sence I suppose!

Edited April 10, 2009 by Rob Turbo

[Rob Turbo 3]

And here's the photos as promised!

 

First off, today's work, mainly photos of my extensive rust collection,

 

 

 

 

The passenger side wing was removed with a bucket load of brute force and ignorance, so is rather, errm, bent

 

Next up, photos of the engine,

 

 

 

 

Couple of the big end bearings,

 

 

And the worst one,

 

 

Here's all the bits from the engine!

 

 

I know where it all goes, honest!

 

And finally, the last bit of flocking I did last week, not the best of photos I know!

 

 

It's still raining as well, knowing my luck it will carry on raining until I'm back at work

[GLPoomobile 958]

Bloody hell! Did somebody park that in a canal for a few years?

[DamirGTI 327]

Bloody rust i feel you pain !

 

The dangerous bit is rusty chassis rails I would fix that like this :

First , take as much of the front end measurements as possible , record them on a piece of paper as you'll need them afterwards , grinder out and cut the whole front end (both , the inner wings with front panel and the chassis rails) off just a few mm's before the strut tops line and do a tour to the scrapyard in order to find a 205 (base model will do just fine ) with good un front frame (wings , front panel , cassis rails) cut off the front end a little bit longer than you'll need so that you can chop it of as needed to suit your car and weld the donor front end all around the chassis rails/inner wings (of course tack weld first and measure/check everything at lest 10 times over and over before you fully weld them on !) spray some paint or wax product inside the chassis rails afterwards to protect the weld area from inside and , if done properly , should be good as new .. definitely better/stronger repair than scrapping the rusty crap off these chassis rails which will in the end just weaken them even more ..

 

Best of luck to you , don't give up !

Damir

[Rob Turbo 3]

I'm not going to them lengths to fix it, the thin bits are getting cut out and new stuff welded in, the holes are being welded over and where needed I'm fitting new panels, i.e. the front panel, wings etc.

 

Now for today's progress, got the drivers side headlamp panel off,

 

 

Got the subframe off and went round the rusty bits with a wire wheel and angle grinder,

 

 

 

 

Then gave the bay a clean and re-attacked the rusty bits, the rot still needs cutting out properly and I'm not sure if I have any steel to make the patches out of but I'll be making a proper start of it tomorrow providing it stays sunny!

 

 

 

 

I also trial fitted the front panel and just like M_R_205's it's going to need the bottom part cutting out to get it to fit properly

[Rob Turbo 3]

Got all the welding done today

 

It's mostly seam sealed, just one or two more bits that need sealing but I've ran out of seam sealer, need to find somewhere that's open tomorrow that will sell seam sealer and primer, if the worst comes to the worst and I can't get either, I have some tiger seal type stuff that I can use and some zinc primer, but I'm not sure how well the zinc primer will go through a gun so might end up brushing it on. Then I've got a few tins of schutz to cover it all in. No photo's just yet, I'll get some tomorrow, but it's looking 110% better already!

 

I took my dials apart to modify them to work with a rev counter signal from an ecu and I've decided to set the milage to all zeros, I've taken note of the milage to keep with the history that I have for the car, even though the only history it will really need is the work I'm doing now, it's more or less being built from the ground up!

[Rob Turbo 3]

Couldn't find anywhere open to get some primer so I just brushed on some zinc primer over the bare metal, then undersealed more or less everything apart from the bulkhead, fired loads of the stuff into the chassis legs. Should have worn a mask really, I'm not feeling too great now with all the fumes!

 

 

Next step is to paint the full bay, but seeing as there's nowhere open to get paint that'll have to wait till next weekend now!

[willmounsey 1]

Fair play mate looks a tidy job alright hope the rest goes well for you.

[Rob Turbo 3]

I took the windscreen out earlier to sort the rust along the top edge and broke it! I knew it would happen, it already had a chip and the pressure turned it into a huge crack! I sorted the rust and primed all around the windscreen with the zinc primer then put the glass back in, but will be needing a new one before it's finished, I'll just keep this one in for the time being though, it will have to come out again when I come to paint it and I don't want to end up breaking another one!

 

I think I'm going to change the colour as well, I was thinking matt black, but I'm not too sure I'd like it for too long, so I'm going for either plain black or metallic black, still haven't decided yet!

[SurGie 54]

Good work mate, go for the sophisticated graphite grey

[Rob Turbo 3]

Been back on with the engine today after work, didn't do much, just took the valves out, all seems ok with the head, need to order some valve stem oil seals for it. My valve lapping drill attatchment should be here soon, no way was I grinding 16 valves in by hand!

 

I think I'm going to take my crank to an engine machining place on saturday to see about getting some bearings for it, and maybe take my pistons with me to see if they will seperate them from the rods then refit them when I'm finished playing with them!

[Rob Turbo 3]

Got my valve lapper today, started cleaning the valves up and found one of the inlet valves is cracked, 2 cracks on the edge of the face, about 3-4mm long, any ideas how that could have happened? Apparently the engine that the head came from had sucked water in, can't find any other damage though. I've sent an email to QEP for a quote on a new valve and a few other bits, so hopefuly will be getting the rest of the bits I need to get the engine together soon(ish). The pipe for my manifold should be here tomorrow, I can possibly start making the manifold, up to the collector, then I'll have to wait until the engine is in the car to finish it off.

 

What size exhaust should I be using? I'll be making it all myself like I did on the 306. I was thinking 3" downpipe, but then what? Do I make the full system 3" or do I go for 2.5" or 2.75"? I'll only be having a back box, no middle box.

[Rob Turbo 3]

Attempted some more flocking today, and it's crap basically! The puffer bottle keeps getting blocked up, when it does, by the time you get it un blocked the glue is drying, so the flock ends up patchy, so, if you want a good looking dash, don't do it yourself! I'm not overly bothered about the finish, but I'm REALLY not impressed with the glove box, and I've got a feeling the dials surround is going to be just as dissapointing after a few blockages

[Rom 0]

Wow, thats a lot of rust

 

Your moving along nicely though, be interested to see soem of the flocking, even if its not perfect.