Ziptar's Eco-Carat Project

[RabbitJockey]

wow great work and great final product haha even though ur not done.

[Ziptar]

Nah, not done but, big job is done, and at least I can drive it now.

[MontanaGTD]

I basically bought 3 intercooler kits off ebay to get the parts together to make up 1 complete kit for Ziptar.  I have a GTd with the intercooler setup myself and I know what bits make it up!

It took me almost 10 months to get all the parts together and get them shipped over to Ziptar!

[Ziptar]

Project update! and catching up in general..... been kinda busy...

First off in response to MontanaGTDs post, many kudos to him. It did take him many months to scrounge a complete setup, communicated all the way was a huge help and could have quit at any time because at times it was a PITA I am sure, he is a  great forum member... If he still has the left over ICs someone needs to buy them  .

Ok, Updates...
As you guys may or may not know, a month ago I took a new job and was moving to Boston. My plan was to drive the Carat up, ordered belts and hoses to redo everything before I left but, they got lost in shipment, I was out of time, so I had to go without hoses (I Gorilla taped the iffy ones) and crappy Dayco Belts and a re-used tensioner. What I didn't say in that thread, was I had the car loaded and was literally on my way when I blew the bottom radiator hose 3 blocks from the house  . so yeah not a good idea at all.

I got it back home and loaded everything into my 03 TDI and drove up.

I had the Carat towed to Fifteen52 in Sarasota so they could replace ALL of the coolant hoses. Once that was done and we were confident I didn't blow the head gasket, I had Brad check it over and make sure it was good for a run up the East Coast, he got back to me with a list. The brakes were iffy and the suspension, ball joints, etc were pretty much shot. Could have done without any of it or done the minimum.

After giving it some thought and weighing the fact that the place I found up here in Mass doesn't come with a garage I decided to have them redo suspension and brakes with a little upgrading to boot.

Hopefully everything arrives as scheduled and by this time next week it'll be fitted with:
Bilstein HD Shock Set.
H&R A2 8V OE Sport Springs.
VR6 Upper Strut Mount/Bearing Upgrade Kit.
New Control Arms w/  Bushings.
New Late Type Large Ball Joints.
Braided Stainless Steel Brake hoses.
A GLI 10.1" Front Brake setup I bought on eBay, w/ new Rotors and Mintex Pads
New Rear Discs and Mintex Pads.
New GLI 22MM Master Cylinder.
Assorted sundry filters, suspension hardware, etc.
New Valve Cover Gasket.
New Oil Pan Gasket.

As of today, I have a TD pump and TD Injectors (thanks again, addautomotive!) on the way to Giles for him to work his magic on.  I ordered the proper Continental belts, new tensioner, , glow plugs, etc so I can redo it all again when the pump and injectors get here and get rid of the evil that is Dayco.

Oh, and a new set of Hella door handles.

It's allot to spend on an Old Jetta and I have had some raised eyebrows from the wife but, I'll be selling my 03 TDI wagon soon. Now that I am up here and settled I don't really need a car, let alone two. besides for the original ~$500 investment in the EcoDiesel/Carat merge project, I have a bit of room I think.
Our new place is a 5 minute walk to the train station, my whole commute now is all of 30 minutes and the subway drops me 2 doors from office.  I decided I liked the MkII Jetta more, Throw some $$$$ into it and keep it until I die  :lol:. It'll be more fun to fix up now that I am not depending on it for daily transportation.

I am flying back down to Florida next week to meet the movers and I'll pickup the Carat and drive back up to Mass again.

Right now I am trying to track down a set of Le Castelette wheels I can get shipped to Florida in time to meet me there next week so I can get some decent tires on it before the drive. If not I guess I am coming up on the crappy steelies and the current tires., there are a couple of yards along the I-95 corridor on the way up that show some so maybe on the way.

Oh, about the pics missing from the thread, I switched hosts for ziptar.com, I need to upload them all to the new server. They'll be back shortly.

Thats it for now.

[burn_your_money]

wow you've been busy. Let me know how those HDs are, I might get a set.

[Ziptar]

Let me know how those HDs are, I might get a set.

I will, I have a ~1400 mile test drive planned  :wink:. To fully enjoy them I'll need new rubber which means new wheels.

I think I found a set of Le Castelettes at a yard in North Florida, that I can get shipped to meet me in Sarasota in time next week, get some new 195/60-14 tires on it and loose the horrible 185/60-14s. Get a better ride and a few less RPMs on the highway as well.

I wasn't sure which shocks to get, lots of different opinions out there. I was after Stock ride and stance plus a little something extra, nothing too spendy either :wink: . Came down to KYB GR-2 and the Bilstien HDs. KYBs could be had cheap but, what sank it for the HDs was the life time warranty.

BTW: Best Deal I could find on Shocks and Springs was at Parts4vws.com, their service is awesome as well. I accidentally ordered the wrong ball joints, I called, Mike there was super helpful, got it straightened out, also made sure it all shipped quick and would get there on time when I told my plans.

[madmedix]

Hope your trip is safe and uneventful    
Please let us know how your Wally-World sound insulation trick worked for the trip. Methinks hours on end in our beloved "buzz-boxes" would help you decide if it's worth it or not. I've got an 87 sitting outside that sounds like 2 skeletons on a tin roof and I need to quieten her down.

Cheers,
Andy

[Ziptar]

Thanks, hopefully it is uneventful, after weeks at the shop and lots of money it better be, or the Mrs. won't be pleased.  :lol:

I'll keep you posted on the noise, I hadn't thought about that .

I am hoping with all of the suspension work it's smooth and quiet. I found a set of Le Castelettes at a wrecking yard in Florida so I ordered a set of 195/60HR-14 Michelin Pilot Exalto all season tires from Tire Rack. The crappy tires on it now make horrible noise. I logged about 10K miles in it before I moved up here, the blue foam stuff seemed to work real well.

Now if the last of the parts arrive at the shop in time to have ready by Friday at the latest, I'll be good to go.

[Ziptar]

Made It!

Left Orlando Saturday at 12:30PM made it to Boston at 9:00 Sunday Morning. :lol:

My trip didn't go as smoothly as planned, I had wanted all the parts there and the car done Thursday. Well a couple of mis-orders and delivery mishaps later and the car was not done until 6:45pm Friday night so after the movers finished I picked it up from 1552 and left straight from there. When I say done, I mean able to drive. The Le Castellettes I ordered never left the yard, the trucking company never came to pick them up.

So Friday Night I drove to Orlando stayed with my friend that gave me the Carat and we dug the original wheels that came on it out of the garage. I have read in 89 he should have Castelletes but, he got Montreals, the bottle cap GTI Wheels on his new. That style was used on 88 Carats, the one I have is a really early production year car so, maybe left overs.

Saturday I had the tires mounted and the alignment done.

Anyway. The trip went great, but I burned more fuel than I expected. I haven't sat down with the receipts yet but it looks like I only averaged 35MPG on the trip up. I either have the timing off or I messed something up resealing the pump.Something is also up with my temp gauge, it never moves off the first bar. I think it is a bad sensor because the needle moves around on that first far bar but never above it.

The new suspension, wheels and tires?? OH MY!!  WOW!!!
What a difference. It rides better than a new car and every bit as good if not better than my MKIV. It is completely tight, smooth and quiet. Handles and rides like a dream. It looked a bit weird when I picked it up because it had to settle but thanks to the most awful roads ever on the New Jersey Turnpike and I-95 in Manhattan, it was hammered down pretty good. It's funny but, I haven't seen anything on the news about mortar attacks in New York and New Jersey, yet there are shell craters all over the highway.

That being said the Bilsteins are absolute joy, even the worst roads were handled well and my Kidney's are stilll where they belong. The H&R Springs make for really nice crisp handling but don't transfer every bump and vibration up my spine like the Eibach Pro Streets did. I also like that the car is now back to stock height again, The 195 Michelins fill the fenders out much more that the 185s I had on it before so more room was needed anyway.

I absolutely love that little MKII Now. With the old suspension setup 65 was manageable, 70 chattered my teeth a bit, 75 was getting a bit adventurous, 80??? I had to Check both that the Life Insurance hadn't lapsed and my shorts. I did the whole trip at 75-80 and it was an absolute joy and I think it is allot quieter too, while I can here some engine buzz at 70-80 I mostly hear wind and tranny noise, a transmission rebuild is the next big ticket item on the list.

I did a video on the interstate again, if anyone would like to compare to the old other one

Now that I have the bigger tires strapped to the ASF I definitely need  some extra HP and boost enrichment now. Inclines at speed are more of a challenge and passing takes allot more planning now with the stock Eco Setup. I need more accelerator pedal .

I took a quick shot of it  in the Hotel parking lot yesterday morning. It needs a wash, we did even have time to clean the wheels before the tires went on. I'll give her a good spit and polish after we get moved into our place. I also think the front still needs to settle maybe another 1/2 inch or so, then again there is a bunch of tools and parts in the back.

[BejamminR]

Ziptar, I'm definitely going to be doing much of the same to the '92 Wolfsburg Jetta that I'm converting. Your work with the sound deadening materials was of particular interest.

I didn't see if the whip antenna came already on the car or if you said you purchased it somewhere else - I'm interested in getting one for mine.

[Ziptar]

The Fuba Antenna came on the car from the factory as part of the Carat option package. They are cheap enough and easy to add to a Jetta, you just need to drill a hole in the roof.

The blue foam stuff works really well particularly for the cost. After I get the pump , injectors, and intercooler in I'll start scrounging for bits to redo the interior, like carpet, Some Black Leather MkIII Jetta seats (hopefully heated) to swap onto the MkII bases, carpet, etc.

As I redo the interior I plan on stripping the old paint and giving it a coat of POR15. At that point I may lay out the cash for some RAAMmat BXT and some Ensolite MXT. It's allot more money than the blue stuff but, once I refresh the interior and put it back together, I don't plan to ever have it apart again.

OH I forgot something in my earlier post too....

When I found out the wheels hadn't shipped and it looked like maybe the new springs wouldn't show up on time I stopped by a pick-n-pull to see if I could get lucky on the wheels and also see if there was a car I could grab the springs from as a "Plan B".

Low and behold there was 91 Eco there. Someone had already grabbed the IP, exhaust manifold, and K14 They left a treasure trove in the trunk, including a recently remand head complete with cam. It's in good shape I think, I couldn't see any cracks between the valves.

I grabbed the head, intake manifold, injectors, injector lines, air cleaner, ducts, vacuum line for the booster (mine was broken), heat shield, glow plug relay, Cam and IP Pulleys, plus a bunch of trim bits from it and a 91 Carat that was also there. Would have grabbed the down pipe too but it had been torched . I had a pretty full wheel barrel by the time I rolled up to the cashier window, yard guy looked out the window and said  "$100". I just smiled  and paid.

It killed me to leave the 1.6TD bottom end there when the yard guy told me I could have it for $50 but, I had no tools or time to get it. It had collected some water though and the cylinders were a bit rusty.

If anyone is down that way it's Al's Scrap and Pick-n-Pull on Preymore in Osprey Florida next door to Glueck's  Used Auto Parts. It's black and 3 or 4 rows into the foreign on the right. There was also a Dasher Wagon with a 1.5 NA that look like it had just been put out and was untouched. It's on the 2nd to last row on the left.

[madmedix]

Thanks for the update on the sound treatment...I've got 2 mk. II's to do (maybe a third   ) and cost is a factor. Doing it with aftermarket stuff is not an option on them all. They both need a rebuild.
You're mileage sounds about right for the speeds you were doing, especially if you had a full trunk;changed the gearing with different tranny and tires which may have caused you to be into the boost much more often. I found in 19 years of commuting my mk.2's were really sensitive to any extra weight in the car. Used to check my rear-view mirror for an anchor    because I couldn't make it to my usual refuel points if I was hauling a trunkload of stuff. I figure a load in the trunk would raise the nose of the car and that's not good for aerodynamics (such as they are on the barn-door mk.2's).
Bottom line? who cares !! you're ride looks great and you're happy with it. All that matters, right?

Glad the trip was safe.

Cheers,
Andy

[burn_your_money]

Right on, glad to hear that the trip was good.

So what is going to happen with the rims you ordered? Canceling them?

[BioDieselVW]

Is the Giles Super Pump Installed yet? How is it?

[Ziptar]

You're mileage sounds about right for the speeds you were doing, especially if you had a full trunk;changed the gearing with different tranny and tires

Forgot about the "Junk in the Trunk" I had parts, extra wheel and tire, extra oil, coolant, etc, and luggage..  also did have my foot in it quite a bit.

Right on, glad to hear that the trip was good.

So what is going to happen with the rims you ordered? Canceling them?

Already did, Figured once I paid to get new tires mounted and balanced, I wouldn't want to mess with it again. I canceled the order with the yard.  Just waiting for the credit back to my card.

Is the Giles Super Pump Installed yet? How is it?

Nope not yet, not finished yet. Giles is on vacation until the 21st, and I am in the middle of moving although, in the new place in mass finally as of two days ago.