crusty rusty rocket

[james butler]

now its back to HQ to finish the build and that pesky wiring


first job was to get all the windows back into the doors so its secure.
not a good idea letting the public have access

[james butler]

job for today was to get it on stands, remove the wheels and fit the new tyres i had in stock as the old ones were on the limit and ancient.
also changed the engine oil as thats not been done yet.
new plugs were already in and the air filter needs an adapter to get it to fit.

[james butler]

next job is to bodge together a down pipe i can weld a lambda probe boss into and work out where I'm going to wire the idle control valve wires into

[mark1gls]

Brave man working outside on a car at this time of year... brrrrrr....
Hat, overalls, warm gloves and plenty of tea helps and if you get really cold a little whiskey

Keep the updates coming...

[james butler]

knocking stuff off the list to do.
one was to get a bucket seat installed for the driver as the spares in the boot and passenger footwell are hampering getting the wiring finished as it all in the way!!!!
i need another shed for all the spares.
so first thing to do was to chop up an old seat base


theres quite a lot there that you don't need.
if your careful you can recycle part of it to make the rest of the seat. i practically cut and shut just parts from the seat to make what i needed (a flatish base to mount the bucket onto)


once the bits cut off were welded back on where i needed it i could then trim the excess that was holding it together leaving me with the flat base i was after.
then i gave it a lick of Aldis metal paint (great stuff but really strong fumes!)



i had to stop after painting as the family were moaning about the fumes

[mark1gls]

I know what you mean about family moaning about the fumes from spray cans, happened to me a few times....

Try curing high heat paint on car parts in the oven... my wife went mental....

[james butler]

almost as bad as my mum finding a cylinder head in the dishwasher lol

[james butler]

so ive been making a downpipe that will fit the abf manifold and join up the origenal mk2 middle box.
origenally i cut out th espare wheel well so i could fit a centre exit exhaust but that will have to wait a while as i want to get the car on the road first.
so i ordered some 45mm exhaust pipe and set about cutting and shutting a temporary downpipe untill i can make something more permenant later on
annoying the ABF manifold is further over towards the gearbox and sits further back toward the bulkhead so never lined up with the origenal pipes.


another anootance is the gear selector is so close it hits the manifold, so i chopped a small peice away to clear it (will need some more modding later on maybe shorten to make short shift)

[james butler]

so first i extended the down pipes to get close to where the origenal down pipe sits

then i tacked a piece 45 degrees between where it need to join so i could take it off the car and back inside to finish it off

[james butler]

it does seem to go through more of a bend then i would like but it will do for now.
later on i can allways take it down and redo it.


next i needed to add the lambda sensor which was still in the catalytic converter from the doner car.
could i get it out?? no!!! well not in one peice any way.

so i had to buy a new one and a boss to weld into the exhaust

lambda probe £42 from euros
weld in boss off ebay for £3



and with the lambda probe inserted (excuse the muck it is a second hand down pipe.)

[james butler]

so once the lambda probe is plugged in and down pipe fitted theres only the fuel pump to connect and the couple of wires i mentioned earlier i need to feed a live to the ECU relay and a trigger wire from the ignition then or

[mark1gls]

Do you have a heat shield over your inner CV boot? On my Mk1 Golf I have a curved bit of metal which bolts to the back of the engine block and covers the rubber boot as it runs close to the exhaust but saying that not sure if your engine will have the bolt holes?

[james butler]

not yet but soon will do

the original heat shield is kicking about amongst the spares somewhere and need to dig it out.
ive got to try and find the original key for the engine too as it has the chip for the immobilizer.
wont get far without that

[james butler]

not much to update but I've been making some brackets to able to cable tie the lambda sensor wires to out of the way of the hot exhaust.
not a complicated job but time consuming.

i also got a snap of the external fuel pump plug i need to get, any idea where i might be able to find one?

[james butler]

so the work continues the downpipes is in and lambda plugged in.
had to rivet something for the cable to clip to as theres nothing on a rocco then pass the cabling up around the rear engine mount and clip to the brake pipes that pass close by where the lambda wiring needs to be.


plenty of room above the lambda sensor so hopefully it doesn't smack the floor!