My '78 LS, ABF time...

So, after much deliberation I've decided to add another Mk1 to my collection, a 1978 4-door LS to be exact. Bodywise and interior it's stock standard, comes with a 2.0+ 8V engine, 5-speed gearbox and basically all the running gear upgraded to Citi spec with booster delete. Old school mags with 175/50x15's round off the (sleeper) package. Absolute hoot to drive, need to sort out the gear selection and a rattle in the exhaust to get her perfect…

Need front bumper ends…




Neat old school interior…



Genuine km reading…


 

Very nice, very nice indeed!    

Wow nice find Torker. Where did you find one in that condition around here. And what was the damage to your pocket?    

Lovely MK1 Torker. Love the mags  

Thanks guys, sorted out the gear shift today, turns out there was a plastic spacer ring missing on the gear lever, fitted the spacer and all the gears now engage correctly, actually better than new with the custom linkages.

Beeno - a mate of mine who specialises in VW got the rolling shell in part exchange for work that he did, he built and fitted the engine and gearbox and did the other upgrades, I bought it from him for R50k, motor and gearbox done lees that 20km when I got it so worth it for me…

Lovely  

Definitely worth it Tonker.   its in excellent condition.

Did some work on the LS - fitted a new alternator on a custom low-level ABF bracket with the correct connectors, running a wide belt setup. Took the wheels off to remove the generic mud flaps, decided to fit my Lenso BSX's to see how it will look, liked the look so they stayed on the car. Did a shallow c-notch on the driver side chassis leg to clear the side shaft, the shaft now clears but the 195/50x15 tyre rubs on the wheel arch so I have to lift the front a bit. I'll start by replacing the shock top mounts and adding shims between the top of the shock and the mount - 4 or 5mm should be enough to get the front level (no coilovers ftl…). I'll replace the ball joints at the same time and then get the wheel alignment done.




 

Yup, still looking good    

Nice....love the interior

looks tidy that matey  

Nice addition Torker, very nice looking car

Very nice 

simply lovely, good find  

matt

nice find

Thanks guys, I've been keeping myself busy during the festive holidays, freshening up the 16V motor that is going into the LS to replace the 2.0 8V. Still need to replace the sump and windage tray but that will have to wait until I can get an engine stand from one of my mates. The gearbox that I want to use is currently at a gearbox specialist to have the 5th gear looked at, it picked up a nasty whine when I neglected an oil leak and the oil level dropped too low. Reason I want to use that gearbox and not the one that is currently in the car, it's a custom built gearbox with shorter 2/3/4th ratios, ARP bolt kit fitted to the diff and over-select protection installed so it is pretty robust.

The motor is the one out of my race car, I will be detuning it a bit - shorter ram tubes (60mm vs 160mm) so that I can fit air filters, more restrictive (read quieter) exhaust and a more conservative state of tune to allow me to use 95 octane pump fuel. Even so I will be picking up more than 30wkw and 40Nm over the workled 8V that is coming out (and going into my Citi Golf project). I'm really looking forward to driving this car, performance should be extremely lively on the road. I will also be fitting coil overs and upgrading the brakes at the same time, 280mm disks up front and rear disk conversion to go with the booster delete already done previously.

Nice looking engine  

Matt

Had to stop yesterday and take a quick pic, the LS took 37 years to get to 70k…

Nice one!    

So I've been quite busy the last couple of months…

Took the LS for a last drive, parked and began stripping it. Yanked out the 2.0 8V, gearbox, suspension, brakes and steering. Fitted a new master cylinder, OEM steering rack, coil overs, big brake (280mm) upgrade in the front and discs in the rear, poly mounts all around, front bottom strut brace and rear anti roll bar. Fitted the motor comprehensively modded 2.1 ABF with throttles and rod shift gearbox with custom ratios. High c/r running on a 50% Ethanol mix should see about 70 whp more than the 8V, car was no slouch with the old motor but should be a demon with the new one, can't wait to take it for a spin…