GT ABF with ITBs

[scirockirb]

The story started in June 2014. I went to see a mate and noticed a sad looking Mk2 GT underneath a tree disappearing in the grass. It turned out it was his brothers. He had put it through an MOT, taxed it and then abandoned it in the garden. I had a look round it. It was covered in sap and full of water but had only done 97k miles. The engine started first time but it was ticking over around 3k. There were the usual bumps and scrapes of an almost 30 year old car but the only rust I could find was some surface on the underside of the bonnet. A deal was struck and the car was mine.

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I dropped the car off to my Brother-in-law who loves cleaning cars. He gave it a good clean and inspection and agreed with me about the lack of rust. Every panel had bumps or scrapes and there had been a poor repair down the passenger side. There was also a dent in the roof which I seem to find in most cars I have bought.

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Car safely tucked in the garage, I found a Haynes manual on eBay and ordered some clear front indicators with appropriate bulbs. By the time my orders arrived, there was a trickle mark on the garage floor. The water pump sprayed me in the face when I started the engine which gave me a clue as to the problem.

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[scirockirb]

After shearing 7 out of the 8 bolts to separate the pump from the housing haha I did manage to sort it.

Some OZ Turbos came up for sale a couple of miles from home which I snapped up. They needed a refurb but I really think they suit a mk2. A job for the winter.

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I had noticed was the seat foam was completely shot... not really surprising considering the cabin floor was a couple of inches deep in water. I managed to source a blue leather Storm interior with door cards. It was for sale just down the road from Telford. The wife and I made our way to Cosford in 2014 with the sponges from patio furniture on the seats to make the seats bearable and picked the Storm interior up on the way home.

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Enthusiasm stoked by the National Meet, I researched all I could about the raised tickover. I followed all the steps to investigate it but couldn't work it out for months. Then I met a former VW mechanic on a night out. He said it would be the waxstat. I said I had tested it and it seemed to work. He was so confident he said he'd pay for it if it wasn't the right part! Sure enough he was right. I pulled the new waxstat back out to test it the same way I had tested the original part and there was double the movement so that explained it.

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After sorting the engine, I moved on to suspension. Not wanting to sink too much money into this project (hahahahahaha!) I decided on some JOM coilovers. When I put them on I wound them right down which looked ok but was unbearable to drive. I have owned numerous lowered cars but this was by far the worst ride I had experienced. I then spent quite some time adjusting and test driving until I was happier. In the end they were actually pretty good but the car wasn't quite as low as I wanted... something to sort out in the future.

[scirockirb]

Over winter, one of the wheel cylinders split. I decided to replace everything other than the backing plate as all the springs and both the drums were in a sorry state. This was not a job I wanted to do again, particularly in a freezing cold garage. Some of the springs were a nightmare but after using my full vocabulary of colourful language, they were on.

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Real life interrupted progress for a bit so I barely drove the car until the 2015 National Meet. I test drove it the night before and noticed the full beam bulb in the clocks had blown and the temperature gauge had stopped working.

The bleed on the clock screen had been bugging me too so I bought some clocks with no bleed and raided them for parts to fix the other bits.

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After spending a lot of time and money on the OZ Turbos, I finished them and decided straight away I didn't like them. The offset was too low and the wheels were just too wide for the front of the car. Not only did they look wrong, they made the driving experience worse. I sourced narrower dishes but they wouldn't fit over the barrels. Back in the garage they went while I decided what to do.

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[scirockirb]

I bought some Phase 1 Zender Turbos as a stop gap and I actually really like them. The retro look works for me.

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The project changed gear at this point. A combination of the fact that every time I drove the car I came back with a smile on my face and the value for money of cheap insurance etc. I made the decision I was going to keep it and sink some money into making it a car that I'd always wanted.

I was thinking 1.8t but I had a Leon Cupra R that wasn't the most reliable so I wasn't set on it. I had the opportunity to experience a mk1 golf with an ABF on throttle bodies which ticked all the right boxes for me. It was a stripped out berg cup car which was further than I wanted to go but the sound and fun factor were spot on.

Decision made, I went on the hunt for a mk3 gti with most of the necessary bits for the conversion. All the available cars at the time were nowhere near what I was looking for condition wise, either being too ropey with high mileage or too pricey for my budget. I then came across a Seat Ibiza Gti 16v Cupra Sport which was in budget. The Kiwi paint was heavily faded but other than that it seemed pretty well looked after and ran/drove perfectly. All the history checked out so it was mine. The only problem was it was 100miles from my house and I didn't really want to spend out putting it on the road just to get it home. The chap I bought it from was a parts dealer and regularly bought from an auction house round the corner from my house so offered to deliver it for nothing... result!

I would have loved to have done the conversion myself but running a business and having a young family means I only get to tinker now and again so I sent the Ibiza and the Scirocco off March 2016 fully expecting to have it back for the National. That didn't happen haha!

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[scirockirb]

After many, many chasing phone calls and texts I picked the car up in July 2017. It was running but still on the standard ABF map so was a little lumpy.

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I used the 02A from the Ibiza and the shift tower on a custom mount. A floor mounted pedal box took care of the clutch and brakes as I used the fronts and rears from the Ibiza.

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The standard fuel lines and an injection pump weren't cutting it so a race tank, pump and braided lines were used throughout.

I decided while all this was being done, I might as well try some different coilovers. I liked the look of the BC Racing set and the spec suited my requirements.

I saw some Volk Racing Group C wheels on Facebook. They looked a bit sorry for themselves but were a reasonable price to take a risk. I took them for a pro refurb and they look great... The retro 80's wheel I had been looking for.

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I have just booked in to have the management and throttle bodies set up in a couple of weeks so looking forward to that.

That's where I am now, I have loads of plans for the future which I'll update as I go.

[dingorocco]

Great to see this old girl getting some mojo instead of languishing in a backyard !!

Interested in the Throttle body kit you aquired ( places and prices if I may ask thanks )

I cracked up where I read that the only prob with the Ibiza was it was a 100 miles away, thats like just next door here !!!
Keep up the impressive work ;)

[BlackGTX]

Decent build, be interesting to see what power it puts out when setup

[scirockirb]

It's a Dbilas kit that I bought direct from Germany... have a look on their website. I went for it because it was plug and play... all the ABF sensors are catered for so no fault codes or alterations were needed. I bought it a couple of years ago now... not sure I would now with the current exchange rate!!

I've just looked and they've put their prices up quite a bit too... it would cost more than double what I paid now.

I can't really review them yet for you as they aren't getting set up for a couple of weeks apart from to say they sound amazing! I did have a couple of issues with installation and got no reply/support from dbilas whatsoever so that is definitely a down side.

Love the 100 mile comment! I was very lucky with that delivery.


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[scirockirb]

Decent build, be interesting to see what power it puts out when setup

If the mk1 golf I first went in is anything to go by it was somewhere between 170 and 180 with just the ITBs with everything else standard.

[BlackGTX]

Nice, im doing an abf conversion on mine but using scirocco 16v induction and then bigger cams air and fuel

[scirockirb]

Nice, im doing an abf conversion on mine but using scirocco 16v induction and then bigger cams air and fuel

Nice! Sounds like a good combination


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[scirockirb]

Inadvertently entering a show and shine tomorrow... just thought I was going to a show until I received the acceptance email. Fingers crossed for a bit of rain at judging time to hide my terrible paintwork!


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[scirockirb]

I had the car live mapped on Friday. After 4 hours on the rolling road, the fuelling was sorted and it made 172 bhp but I was warned the dizzy cap was spitting arcs. I was really happy with the result until the drive home. I lost all spark and sat on the hard shoulder.

Thinking it was the dizzy cap, I asked a mate to run me round the local parts places with no luck. 1 purchased AA membership later, we made it home.

It turns out, after buying a new cap and rotor, the dizzy itself is warped and not spinning. I thought this would be easy to replace, it seems not but I have found one tonight. Fingers crossed it works!


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[mr.brown]

I
It turns out, after buying a new cap and rotor, the dizzy itself is warped and not spinning. I thought this would be easy to replace, it seems not but I have found one tonight.

I'm pretty sure I have an ABF dizzy - albeit of unknown quality - if that one doesn't work out.

[scirockirb]

I'm pretty sure I have an ABF dizzy - albeit of unknown quality - if that one doesn't work out.

Thanks, I'll let you know within a couple of days. Much appreciated!



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