The 'simple engine swap' out of control project (pic heavy)

collo16v said

I tried a few years back to try to get a monthly meet together on the back of Vagingit and Prept meets but there was no real interest so I gave up I still go to Vagingit meets and the next one is this sunday at the Grove Ferry Pub in Upstreet my Mk1 is making a rare appearence as its just out of Jim's Garage after all its make over.

Shame that the interest wasn't there. I'm sure I will make an appearance at vagingit meets once the car is built though, until then all free time I have is spent on it!

Just had a read through your whole thread, really good stuff    might be following your advice on the flipped tie rod ends when it gets to that stage, makes a lot of sense.

I particularly liked your use of 'oh well, it's only money'  8)

@ Golfcabrio
What an intriguing post, i'm sure there are build threads/persons far more deserving of such extravagant literature but thank you all the same  :wink:

Rich

dmcessential said

Also worth welding up the wishbones along the lengths of the seams as it'll help with the driving

This is how they come, similar on all three sides, do you suggest welding more?


20120815_140151 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Rich

Great work love the photo of you in the. Engine bay lol
Where did you get the wings from, are they both from the same place? I'm after some for my project soon and worried about poor fitting ones. Thanx lee

rosie81 said

Great work love the photo of you in the. Engine bay lol
Where did you get the wings from, are they both from the same place? I'm after some for my project soon and worried about poor fitting ones. Thanx lee

Sorry for such a delay in responding!

Unfortunately I don't know their origin, I bought them second hand-new from a guy on E38, wish I did know where they were from though!

Perhaps if you get some and find they fit well; you could let me know?!

www.carz2.co are cheap and the sills and other bits I got from them a couple of years ago for another mk1 were hadrian panels and fitted well

Rich

I may have accidentally balls'd up the gearbox last week, which resulted in it turning into this..


20120816_171404 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

damaged a couple of teeth when a wedged a screwdriver between gears to lock the shafts as I couldn't move the selector forks, hence why I had to strip the gearbox


20120816_171441 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Wasn't too excited about putting it all back together


20120816_171504 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

I ordered an oil seal set for it which turned up today so got on with rebuilding it and it has so far gone well except I need a new bolt for 5th gear, the big triple square socket headed one that goes into the end of the input shaft, where do I get one of those? VW? If so, does anyone have a part number for it?

Also got some wrinkle finish black since the last update, not a great pic but you get the idea


20120816_194826 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Have also painted the new suspension top mounts, wiper motor and front engine mount with it and i'm really happy with them!

Top-fill radiator turned up today as well.

I already had a new GTI rad from a previous project and I was going to use the GTI core with the top-fill end, as many people have, but now i'm not so sure.

I got 2 9'' universal fans to mount to it, as below, but i'm wondering if I could get away with the top-fill as-is with one 12'' fan in the center


20120821_162410 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


Opinions please!!)

In other news; I have stripped the rear panel to bare metal, filler all over the place. also stripped the N/S rear arch as it has been replaced at some point and had at least 5-6mm of filler over it, excessive. Then threw a bit of etch primer on.


20120821_174145 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

20120821_174155 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Also been prepping the interior for paint too.

Cheers

Rich

OK so, 7 weeks since my last update is a bit lazy isn't it!

I've thrown as much money and spare time at the project as I can up until this point, with a very forgiving girlfriend and parents!

I'm just waiting for all the photos since the last update to transfer to the computer, then i'll upload to the interweb and post all the progress up on here very soon

Rich

Photo upload is taking forever will try and get the pics up later tonight, if not, tomorrow

Sorry if some of this goes a bit out of sync!..

Made a very crappy but surprisingly effective sand blasting box and did a load of odds and sods, brackets etc


20120822_141447 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120822_141454 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Later upgraded it with a perspex lid and long rubber pond gloves

Because of damage and rot on the rear panel, I decided it was best to replace it, but wanted to change to small lights. I'm sure you all know how hard small light rear panels are to come by, and a new genuine one is 600 Euros, definately far and beyond my budget. So I took a trip to VW Heritage and picked up a small light repair panel…


20120825_172157 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120826_133924 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120826_133946 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120826_133959 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


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So a bit of work was needed fabricating the top half of the lights.

In the mean time, this was the horrible arch repair that had been done in the past..


20120826_134127 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

A repair was needed to a section on the boot shut


20120826_140256 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

TBC..

I thought the engine bay was finished long ago, but there was some sort of reaction in a few areas, mainly where the chassis legs had been smoothed into the turrets. So I had to sand and fill again and attend to all the areas affected, also wasnt satisfied with the lower half of the bay so I stripped that back too and started again.


20120827_133557 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120827_133606 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Thought it would be best to fully strip the front end this time


20120827_133712 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Flipped the captive nut on the gearbox mount from back to front then plated both main engine /gearbox mounts and smoothed, really pleased with the end result


20120828_152717 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120828_155930 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120828_155939 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


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20120828_175038 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

TBC..

Picked up these one weekend for £120


20120903_171626 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120903_171633 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120903_171646 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Separated the seat backs to make moving them around easier for fabricating the mounts


20120904_151502 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120904_163348 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120905_132249 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Will pick that up again later.

I got new rear arches for both sides and rear corners, which later proved to be of little use as the arches had plenty of material on them. Some hidden history showed the inner arch had been replaced in '96


20120905_143910 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120905_143927 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120905_143956 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Back to the seats, mounts in on one side


20120905_152215 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120905_165306 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


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20120905_165704 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

And so we flip-flop back to the arches!..


20120907_153536 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


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20120907_173355 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120907_175006 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120907_175814 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

TBC..

Got the front end painted..again!


20120908_180950 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120908_180958 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120908_181007 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120908_181017 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


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20120909_124104 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Painted and temp fitted the lower brace


20120911_191217 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Moved onto making the top half of the lights for the rear panel. came up with this after hours of work with a vice, pliers and a hammer, and wasn't happy with it at all…


20120912_165508 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Found that the panel didn't actually need the recess for the lights to seal up to as I first thought, so went with far simpler flat panels instead


20120912_165533 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120912_165538 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

All trimmed up and welded to the rear panel section, which was then tacked in place


20120914_185256 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Replaced the rear arch on the other side too


20120914_185309 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120914_185326 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Undersealed inner arches at the front


20120914_185338 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120914_185401 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Compounded the engine bay and front end, really pleased with the finish


20120915_165137 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120915_165247 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

TBC…

Fully welded rear panel and started filler work


20120915_191243 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120915_191317 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Seam sealer inside


20120915_191559 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Painted inside


20120917_164300 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120917_164308 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


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20120917_164621 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Undersealed the floor sections


20120919_124634 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120919_124643 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Primed the roof


20120919_174220 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120919_174244 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120919_174257 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120919_174311 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Painted the bonnet


20120919_174159 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

TBC..

More filling, sanding and priming etc


20120922_175638 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120922_175644 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Didnt want to smooth the panel join on the rear corners but didnt have much choice because of the replacement rear panel not having the full rolled edge at either side, still, it's gone quite well anyway


20120922_175652 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120922_175703 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120922_175713 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Bonnet on..


20120922_175724 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Grille and new lights fitted


20120926_164244 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120926_164252 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120926_164359 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120927_165853 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Painted the gearbox and steering rack


20120928_164517 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120928_164524 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

TBC..

Primed the rest of the shell


20120929_174421 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120929_174431 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20120929_174520 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

And finally, the dry weather this last weekend gave me a window to get it all painted at long last!


20121007_164248 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20121007_164259 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

So pleased with the rear panel


20121007_164312 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20121007_164400 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


20121007_164410 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Wrinkle finish filler cap on


20121007_173501 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Took delivery of these


IMG-20121004-WA0001 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


IMG-20121004-WA0000 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


IMG-20121007-WA0004 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Couple of extras I forgot to put on


IMG-20120920-WA0000 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr




IMG-20120915-WA0000 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


IMG-20120928-WA0004 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Hope you all enjoy the massive progress leap! its been a labour of love and so far taken about 3 and a half months, can't wait to get it finished and on the road!!

Thanks for looking,

Rich

Fantastic work!

Really good effort on the bodywork, especially in your garden!!

Scott

One word stunning

Haha, its not even the luxury of a garden, just my driveway on a main road!

Just goes to show that anything is possible when you want it enough

Thanks for the comments guys!

Rich

really impressed with your work. Im lucky enough to know what the colour "altas white" looks like as the swallowtail is this colour. your doing a fab job mate, keep it up.

That's cool

Yea I think it's a really nice classic cream, all these photos were taken with my phone, so dont do it justice atall! But i'm really pleased, i didn't want to attempt a metallic as my first go of spraying a whole car, and I know I could have gone with something more bold or wild, but this way I think keeps it timeless.

As always, thanks for the kind words

Rich