my mk2 project thread

[gtiador]

alright, it's been a few weeks since i picked it up, so i figured i should start a thread sooner than later.. here's the vitals:

1992 GTI 2.0 16V with a spun rod bearing
insane suspension setup (the car was autocrossed occasionally)
also came with a really clean interior, a new fender to replace the dinged up existing one, neuspeed ties and sways out the ass, euro intake mani and intake cam, recently ported/polished head, and more..

so far, the motor has been pulled out and dropped off at snow's foreign auto in orange (family friend). this guy really knows his stuff, as he builds and races fiats.

the car should be running like new by the end of may, and by then will have at least a respray of alpine white, cleaned and refinished wheels, a pair of racing seats (if i can sell the near mint stock recaros), and hopefully a cage welded in and painted. future plans may include anything from itb's to a weird paint scheme. i have endless ideas.. now for pictures and feedback!

[DTolo]

For now just jealous.. but depending on when and the price... those Recarso might be due to come my direction.

I have to have the Golf happily running though.

[gtiador]

with the motor being out for 3 weeks at the very least, the seats are ready at any time. the rears are already out, but i'm waiting on my interior to be finished for my mk4 before pulling out the fronts. my parcel shelf and a box of trim is taking up space so there should be a fs thread for the seats up by next weekend. i'll let you know a price before i post them up though

[Get_the_van]

Damn, nice "project"!!! That thing is nicer than my only car, on the outside at least.

Post up pics of the tear down/rebuild as those are the most fun to look at!!!!!

[gtiador]

i'll def keep it updated. for now i can only get to it on weekends as i'm in riverside during the week for school. this weekend the engine bay should be nice and clean and will start getting prepped for paint. hopefully the rest of the exterior will see some sanding too. the engine bay will be black but the exterior will stay alpine white. the block, head, and valve cover will also stay the same color, but will have new powdercoating. it looks great with the euro intake mani

[jwill'sMK4]

yo! how much will it cost for ur (friends) shop to check out the rabbit or at least just the motor

[ohheycheckmeout]

cool little build up. gets pics when you get a chance. what did the car cost? Im actually looking to pickup either a mkII or an e30... haven't decided which yet

[gtiador]

well the rebuild on mine is costing a lot less (i think i told you about how much), so a diagnostic check probably wouldn't be much. i'm going over there on friday i think, so i'll ask and get back to you.

ps. i finished putting in all the interior this afternoon in the school parking lot. i trimmed the back of the headliner fabric a bit and that did the trick. it all looks sick man. thanks again. i forgot the sockets for the cd holder in the trunk and the seatbelt bolts, so that'll have to wait til i get home.

[gtiador]

cool little build up. gets pics when you get a chance. what did the car cost? Im actually looking to pickup either a mkII or an e30... haven't decided which yet

i got the car for 900 from a guy in huntington beach who really knows his stuff. he just didn't have the funds or time to rebuild it so it passed on to me

oh and hey, did you end up sending your gti yet?

[ohheycheckmeout]

gti is sold... deciding to pick up an auto x/track car for the fun car and than a daily as something else... not sure what though

[jwill'sMK4]

well the rebuild on mine is costing a lot less (i think i told you about how much), so a diagnostic check probably wouldn't be much. i'm going over there on friday i think, so i'll ask and get back to you.

ps. i finished putting in all the interior this afternoon in the school parking lot. i trimmed the back of the headliner fabric a bit and that did the trick. it all looks sick man. thanks again. i forgot the sockets for the cd holder in the trunk and the seatbelt bolts, so that'll have to wait til i get home.

glad to hear it

and like i said tho if any of those panels dont look right let me kno so i can re-do them for u

[gtiador]

there's only one tiny tiny spot on one of the b pillars, right next to the seatbelt thingy, but that'll probably get covered up once i put them back in after paint.

[gtiador]

gti is sold... deciding to pick up an auto x/track car for the fun car and than a daily as something else... not sure what though

sounds like a plan!

[gtiador]

update: our family friend who will be rebuilding the motor has some bad news.. the motor is in much worse shape than i originally thought. i'm going to go look at everything at his shop tomorrow morning, but so far he's told me that the motor will need a complete rebuild from the ground up and possibly and entirely new head. there was a pretty significant leak in the head gasket and some pretty good heat damage to the 4th cylinder. the po also had the head ported and polished, but the guy he had do it messed up the exhaust side pretty bad... i'll post some pics tomorrow.

the good news: due to the cylinder damage, the bottom end will be bored out and forged pistons of the next size bigger are likely to go in, as well as higher strength connecting rods and a newly machined crankshaft (which might also be given a knife-edge at the metal shop where i work). hopefully we can turn something bad into something really really good.

[gtiador]

me and my friend were bored as shit and beerless tonight, so we combined our mad pshop skills and cranked out this mockup of what i want(ed) my car to look like. i say wanted because i'm not really feeling the 300D yellow inners after seeing them against the red and white. enjoy

[gtiador]

--UPDATE--

alright all my parts are lined up and ordered. here's the list:
- kent 258 cams (the last new set at eurosport )
- je forged pistons, 83mm 11:1 cr (i decided na monster over a turbo setup)
- new springs and lifters
- spec stage 1 sport clutch (i already have a lightened flywheel in great cond.)

i already have the cams, but the rest of the stuff should be arriving from INA within 2 weeks. issam at INA was great to work with and very helpful when it came time to hammer out all the pricing details. i also have a bunch of new silicone hoses and some tails lights coming from a couple guys on vortex. if everything arrives when it's supposed to and the machining on the motor stays on schedule, the car should be up and running before school's over (i have 6 weeks left).

with the rest of the down time, i'm still planning on finishing degreasing EVERYTHING, painting the engine bay, painting the crossmember, control arms, etc, refinishing the wheels, and making sure everything else on the car is in good shape. then i get to see if it passes smog and registers ok...

[gtiador]

ok, so parts are beginning to show up. my pistons came last week and my clutch and mk1 jetta radiator showed up this afternoon. i'm still waiting on the springs and lifters, seatbelts, tail lights, and some interior trim from vortex people, and a couple cool $10 t-shirts i found

i haven't talked to the guy doing the rebuild on the motor since last weekend since i was in la all day this past saturday and didn't get a chance to go over there on sunday, so i haven't heard anything on the motor as of yet.

with school ending in 4 weeks and my recent decision to part out my dd in hopes of selling it this summer, everything's looking good for my goal of having a decently quick, strong running, hopefully painted mk2 by the end of summer. we shall see...

now it's time for a wtb thread for a mk1 rad fan w/ shroud

[boostedMKIV]

Very very nice.

[gtiador]

Very very nice.

thanks!

[gtiador]

UPDATE:

the block is done being bored, honed, decked, and cleaned, and i'm picking it up in a couple hours since it was painted this morning. my springs and lifters arrived a couple days ago, so all my parts are here.
i had to pick up the crank this morning to go to grind, so that will be finished by the end of next week if it stays on schedule. with everything coming together, the finish for the rebuild is growing closer and closer.
a vortex order also came in this week, so now i have tail lights and bananas, both in MINT condition. i couldn't believe i got them for the price i did. i love nice vortexers!
the car won't be ready by classic, but it will definitely see smaller meets around socal in the next couple months and will without a doubt be at the big sce gtg.

my goal is to have new paint, new wheels/tires, recovered interior, and a nice solid drop by the big meet in august. it's definitely looking more and more like a reality.