More work on the little black GTI...

As many will know, by Black GTI was my first Mk1 (2 more followed it) and has had extensive work done already, including a mini renovation of the rear lower area, engine conversion to 2.0 16V, 'race' prep and its been down the strip at a number of meets too.

Renovation

2.0 16V engine conversion

Fuelling setup

So far its best time is 14.15 secs at 94mph. (Explanatory note: as well as wearing its usual registration nuymber of TJF611X, it occasionally wears a 'special' plate Z-49-83).

Anyway, today's work is to replace its 1800 gearbox with a 1600 version. So, starting from this:



After a couple of hours work, I have ended up with this:



The gearbox is now out! Here's the old and new:





(The new one is the cleaner of the two on bricks, the old one is on the tyre).

Why you changing it Paul, are the ratios better for 1/4 mile? if they are, can you tell me the ratios of a standard box's gears against a 1600 box, ta.  :mrgreen:

Looks like the n/s drive flange was leaking

Paul, I ran a 1800 8v with a 1600 box for a while, totally different driving style is required as it makes for a lot of cog shifting. No top end but plenty of acceleration!! That was until the small 'hats' on the dif came adrift and punched a big hole through the casing  :roll:

GAMMYGOLFGTI said

Why you changing it Paul, are the ratios better for 1/4 mile? if they are, can you tell me the ratios of a standard box's gears against a 1600 box, ta.  :mrgreen:

Looks like the n/s drive flange was leaking

Well, I'm crossing the finish line at approx 6300rpm (in 4th), so that means I'm not getting the most out of 4th gear. And also looking at plots from the datalogger, I can see that clearly the lower the gears, the better the acceleration achieved. So with the 1600 box (3.89 final drive) instead of an 1800 box (3.67 final drive), I can reach (almost) the rev limit of 7000rpm in 4th just as I cross the line, so my gearing is lower all the way.

The two boxes have the same ratios, its just the final drive that differs.

I see  

Shame it's a bit of a wait till the next Pod meet  :cry: , cant wait to see if it all pays off.

GAMMYGOLFGTI said

I see  

Shame it's a bit of a wait till the next Pod meet  :cry: , cant wait to see if it all pays off.

Well hopefully it should all be screwed together again for GTI Inters, but the track there is far from optimal. The real tester will be Retro Car Show/GTI Festival, and I'll be aiming for 13s….

Some pics, through the years:

And some videos (thanks to bens_cab):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Brf68zTE7Lc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZaGhkzHklM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK-qTJACZrs

i knew i should have got a black one instead of a red one…

i love that black paintworky deepy shiny thingy 8)

love the little make shift garage for it.

whos that hanson guy dribbling over the cabby  :mrgreen:

love the shot with the ice, now thats hardcore working in that paul! 8O

Chris

After a super-quick turnaround, the guy at the local machine shop has done this for me, here's the lightened flywheel:

Tonight's work has been to refit the clutch and gearbox. First, I had to deal with this little issue:



It was the broken cover for the oil level, in the end I had to chisel it off gradually from alternate sides. Once it was off I transferred the good one from the other gearbox (much easier to remove!)



Then I refitted the friction disc and lightened flywheel. Note the aligning tool:



These bolts get torqued up……



to…

Nice little torque wrench Paul! What's the setting range on it?

Hairyarse said

Nice little torque wrench Paul! What's the setting range on it?

Its a 3/8" and goes down to something daft like 6 Nm (I can almost undo those by hand!!!), can't remember the upper end but it overlaps with my 1/2" torque wrench, ie its not big enough to do stuff like cylinder head bolts. It recently won the torque wrench group test in Car Mechanics, believe it or not its from Halfords, though its their professional line and still cost a bit.

To be honest, I've used Halfords Professional kit before - its generally good stuff and gets good reviews. Is it accurate? I know problem at lower NM range can be some still overtighten and you end up snapping studs!

but you know if you had the cash it would be one of these sat in the tool box:



 :wink:

Yay! The car is once again all screwed together, everything (I hope) is tightened up and the only left over parts were 1 M10 washer and 1 M6 nut, so I reckon the car will be okay. Nearly forgot to do the engine-transmission bolts up though!