Klaus, the 84 Jetta TD, gets a rebuild

[wolfsburged]

If you want to fill in the gap between the radiator and core support let me know I will mail you the correct seal for that ?

Did you go to the MKII 250 watt scirocco fan  ( two speed) ?

GB

Are you referring to the cardboard pieces that flank the top and sides of the radiator, or something else?

And yes, this is the MK2 style fan.

[wolfsburged]

Did some more work today. Has been pretty cold lately, was about 36* outside when we fired it up the first time this morning. Got a bit of white smoke which went away pretty fast, subsequent starts and driving - no smoke.

Last weekend was having some issues with radiator fan switch leaking. Replaced this and no more leak. Radiator fans now coming on, at an indicated ~100 *C.

Fixed a few lights on my other gauges so I can read them at night.

Was able to find another shift rod locally. Swapped it in and replaced the two shift relay rods and the ball piece. It is definitely shifting better but the alignment still needs adjusting. Have to basically go into reverse push-down in order to get to 1st and 2nd.

Replaced the boost gauge tubing as well as it was kinked and reading wrong. In driving around today, I could only get an indicated 7 PSI of boost. Not sure if this is an inaccuracy, something to do with the breakin, or something else... Before I definitely was making 9 PSI. Maybe leaking boost somewhere like the BOV?

Power seems very good; definitely building boost and making decent power. At low RPM (<2000) the engine seems to bog in higher gears. Did not seem to do this as noticably before. Example, 25 or so MPH shifting into 3rd and just cruising is not too happy, starts shudder almost. I can power through, but not good for cruising.

Put the timing cover back on for peace of mind.

Also finally got around to installing the coilovers. They are JOM, we won them in the BFI contest in August.



We set them to basically half travel for a first shot.

Old vs. New:


Of course Jess wanted to install them!


Before:


After:


Rears are a little lower, will probably raise them up about 1/2" to match fronts.


Teaser shot for now; better pictures later after we finish dialing them in, tuck rear bumpers, and wash the dang car!

[wolfsburged]

Got the shift linkage spot on today. Had to replace the bushings in the shift box and realign.

Raised the rear coils up about 3/4" to match the fronts, looks and feels a lot better.

Drove Klaus home today! Still a lot of tweaking/perfecting, but driving pretty good. Main issue is a bit of stuttering, higher gears, low speed, and low load. May tweak the timing.

[wolfsburged]

Definitely have a few oil leaks to track down and fix now.

Reset the timing to 0.95mm tonight and damn does that wake things up. Much better now!

[Baron VonZeppelin]

Just saw this car in person this Sunday.
Took them some spare parts in my Hippy Truck TD.

It's changed A LOT since i saw it last time, over a year ago.
Everything underhood looks new, or is new, except master cylinder.
(hello paintbrush -lol)

Jess is a heck of a wrencher. We need to clone this woman.
She and Bill are perfect team mates.
They swapped the hood, decklid, and back seats in perfect harmony.

Car rides tight. Corners flat. Accelerates real nice.
They're still breaking it in. Staying under 4k rpms and 8-9 psi boost.
Oughta be a beast when the exhaust gets bigger and the boost gets dialed up.

I really like this Car.

[theman53]

I voted for you in that contest. Now seeing coils on a jetta it doesn't look bad. I have never really liked the look of lowered and the functionality for me wouldn't work anyway. But now I don't think it looks bad at all. Great job, love the snowflakes.
First 100 miles or so I stayed under 10psi, after that I wanted the rings to see real boost so I took mine to peaks of 18, but most of the time 12-15. Not a WOT but a gradual pedal pull. I ran it to the upper rpms but I didn't run it hard to get there. 10,000 miles plus and no oil burning...still have leaks just like yours. I think the main thing on break in is not to let it sit and idle, I think no load revs are better until the oil pressure builds then you can take off and try to keep it loaded. YRMV good luck

[JessaBug]

We might end up raising it slightly...getting a bit of rubbing on tight turns. But the car really has a great stance. I've never been a fan of lowering cars, but it works on this car. We want to get it washed soon and get some good, updated pictures of it.

Also, didn't mention that my father-in-law was helping us with looking at the AC stuff the other day and realized our accelerator cable wasn't adjusted right. Adjusted it, and now the car really has some good pep...gained a bit more pedal travel. This is one heck of a fun car I have to say. Everytime I drive it, I can't help but grin ear to ear 

Plans for the future:
-Get it painted
-Intercooler
-Bigger exhaust

In the meantime we need to fix the leaks and get an alignment once we really get the coils tuned in how we want. Then we still need to finish the AC and get that working, and install our manual boost controller. Its coming along for sure. Hoping to take it to SoWo this year!

[wolfsburged]

Time for some more updates.

Got the old mangled passenger side fender replaced (thanks to Pinky for helping).



Old:


New (still need to swap the other trim bits):


Had an issue with the alternator pulley munching its keyways. Had one of the washers in the wrong place which let it walk off the key a bit, and thrash about. New pulley in place and installed correctly and that is dealt with.

Fixed the horn - ground wire to the steering rack had let loose.

Tweaked the contact on the washer fluid contact on the stalk.

Raised the front coils a quarter inch, now we are no longer rubbing on tight turns! Going to get an alignment this week and then get inspected.

Still need to tuck the rear bumper. Also not getting any vacuum at the fresh air flap actuator; need to investigate the vacuum distributor. I may have swapped the lines back on it wrong.

Got these in the mail:


All new barrier hoses, ferrules, and a high/low pressure switch & combination R12->R134 conversion port. I've cut the old hoses off of my lines to reuse the metal ends. Just need to finish cleaning them up and make new hoses.

Thinking about the EGT mounting; I have an idea to remove the plastic panel where my ash tray and cigarette lighter are and to make a custom gauge pod to fit the boost and EGT gauge there. That would free up a spot in the triple gauge cluster for the volt meter and also put those two important gauges in a more visible spot. I have two "cup" style holders that I could fiberglass into a panel.

Also filled up for the 2nd time and calculated mileage for the first time. 90% city driving to work, 10% beltline cruising netted approximately 41 MPG! Which is better than the previous lifetime best of 40.9 MPG @ 60 MPH, 95% highway prior to rebuild. So very happy there! Need to turn down the fuel screw a little bit as I am rolling coal at full throttle, and that should net a bit more mileage as well!

Now for a few issues I need to take care of:

Timing belt is tracking to the outer edge. I can't run with the upper cover on or it rubs. The belt is not walking off any more than this, but I do want to have it track straight so I can put the cover on.



I found this informative post of things to check into:
http://www.vwdiesel.net/forum/index.php?topic=28388.0

Also can report no oil leaking from the oil pan, which is good. BUT, I have a decent leak coming from somewhere in the lower timing cover. Ugh. My mind is leaning towards intermediate shaft seal. Not looking forward to this, but if I have to end up really messing with the IP bracket mounting to get the timing belt to track right, I can deal with this at the same time.

Lastly, have a squeak from something belt driven. I think it may be the alternator. May end up picking up a spare to have anyway, and try swapping.

[wolfsburged]

Also picked up this factory side mount intercooler from a TDI New Beetle at the junkyard. Hoping I can fab it up somehow nicely down in the drivers front of the transmission area with a little scoop. Worst case, it was cheap. Need to clean and pressure test it still. And of course need to figure out some charge piping and couplers.

[8v-of-fury]

This Shiz looks good

You have done some crazy work here my friend. Congrats!

[Baron VonZeppelin]

WOW  !!
How the world did you find a replacement A1 Jet fender that NICE and the RIGHT COLOR ?? 

Goo Be Gone is best for removing that stripe residue.
Or a REAL Mild solvent. That paint can be delicate.

So now you need rocker moldings too ?
Looks like it got bent , leaving it in place when doing the fender.
Hackers ! Molding molesters !

I've got a mint pair btw, from that same car.

Have had best luck on belt tracking by leaving rear bolt good and loose and snugging up the front ones first.

Hope the intercooler works out simple.

Did you ever get a quote on the mandrel bent exhaust ?

[nathan_b]

your timing belt is probably too tight.

[Baron VonZeppelin]

your timing belt is probably too tight.

truth

If i didn't have the special timing belt tension tool - probably all my Diesel timing belts would be way too tight. 12-13 units is slack compared to a gasser.

One of my most valued tools.
$40 or 50 to the door.

Lemme know if you want to borrow mine by mail, Wolf.

[wolfsburged]

your timing belt is probably too tight.

truth

If i didn't have the special timing belt tension tool - probably all my Diesel timing belts would be way too tight. 12-13 units is slack compared to a gasser.

One of my most valued tools.
$40 or 50 to the door.

Lemme know if you want to borrow mine by mail, Wolf.

I suppose I might want to borrow that then. If its just a tension issue that makes this all a lot easier...

[8v-of-fury]

most likely not a tension issue. in the my thread you linked, andrew says that an over tensioned belt and worn bushing will cause the belt to track towards the pump.

I mean you can give it a quick check, but I think its the brackets that's your problem.