1983 Mars Red Gti

Had a piece of 18 gauge zintec rolled, joggled the edge and gonna attempt to weld in today so we will see what happens.

These also arrived today so engine can go to the machine shop.

Looking forward to the welding in result.

Gaz343 said

Throttle body arrived today, can anybody confirm that i have the correct one, I assume that i can remove the switches.

There is a lot more gubbins on that than the one I had, but yes, you should be able to remove it all. You will likely need to swap over the linkages from the current one so that it will hook up properly. You'll also want to blank off that large vacuum pipe, and open up the inlet manifold to match the throttle body.

Before:



After:



 

Ive just noticed that mine doesnt have an idle screw, should be where the extra vacuum connection is.

Only photo I can find of that side. original and Audi one side by side. You can see the idle screw on both.



My Audi one is missing the small vac take off, but I'm just going to put a T piece in somewhere to cater for that.

So i dont know what the throttle body is from, bolt pattern and size is correct but no idle screw, had to modify it.



Drilled and tapped the port where the vacuum fits and made a sleeve to screw in the same dimensions ans the original



Finished job with the idle screw fitted.

Tacked the replacement sunroof panel in, looks OK but have to see what its like when fully welded.

Got the engine block back today, bored to 83.5mm



fitted the crankshaft which didnt need grinding, just a polish.



Will build the pistons and con rods tomorrow and install.

Three wheels on my wagon !!!

In my haste to make progress i managed to break a piston ring, no excuses just out of practice, about 25 years since i last built an engine.



 

Cool project!
Keep the pics coming
Will be nice to see the sunroof gone!

So did you joddle the edge of the filler panel as on car sos sunroof infill

Yes i put a 10mm lip around the edge and spot welded it in place, gonna use some heat dissipating paste weld its fully welded.

Not a huge amount of progress this week, got the car on the rotisserie so i can get a good look underneath, i don't think its too bad.



Also got the head back on Friday.



Hopefully start some welding next week.

Painter been to see the car today, happy with everything and given us direction on what should be done, welding to start tomorrow.

In the meantime been getting some parts ready to refit to the engine.




My scirocco 16v caliper carriers also arrived today

A bit annoyed today, the top of the sills had rust holes in them and having seen how the rust can spread in other builds i decided to replace the outer sills, having cut the outer sill out i was faced with this.



No rust whatsoever on the inner sill, there was no need to cut the panel out, i could have just repaired the holes, passenger side will be staying put.

New sill tacked in place.



Progress on the sunroof replacement panel, made some additional roof braces to assist with shape and stiffness.



Replacement panel now fitted, some panel beating work still to do.




 

Good work so far, agree that looking at the original pics the sill looked as good as new apart from a small bit of rust at front end/wheel arch meeting point

Learning all the time, this is the first car restoration i've done,  bikes are my usual projects.

When i first got the car i was shocked with the rust, but the the roof was really the only issue, everything else seems quite easily reapairable.

Finally got the fourth piston fitted, only to find that i've been supplied the wrong gasket kit.



Also got the sill welded, just to clean up with the grinder now.



Also cut into the rear wings to see how much needs to be replaced, I have inner and outer repair panels that came with the car, only going to replace the minimum amount of steel but whats the best area to make the join ?


 

If I was doing it, and so long as the inner is still accessible, the best place would be , say, 10mm inside the curve , if that makes sense? It would minimise distortion and be easy-er blendable….

New roof braces look good - i've been looking (without success) for an original bar to fit on mine but looks like i may have to get one made up - dont have the skills/tools to do them as you have! 

Thanks for the advice, I don't necessarily have all the skills myself required for this project but I do have access to a lot of resources, I have two spare roof braces, you can have one if it helps.