Project Sabine

[Dole Boy]

nice job with the air filter mate, looks like she is coming along nicely!

[daveyg]

Got an early start today, plan was to attach the air filter permanently with washers etc and get the fuel lines in. Decided to run the fuel lines around the front of the car under the slam panel, this way they are not only out of sight but away from a hot exhaust too


Next tackled the breather pipe, because this was being crushed against the cambelt we removed it and cut off both ends, one end had a bend in it which we reversed at the top end to take it away from the cambelt



This will now come up the other side of the air filter and i will get some silicone tubing to run it back across to the breather



Also started replacing the old vacuum hoses with new hose.

[the edmundator]

With your fuel lines there, I presume you're planning on never having a front end crash.

[GT Matt]

With your fuel lines there, I presume you're planning on never having a front end crash.

I agree, not the best place to put them especially as they're just standard rubber ones.

If you've got to mount them there, what about behind the front strengthener (beneath the radiator) where the wiring loom with the yellow clip in your photo runs and also using metal pipes.

This would then allow for this panel to absorb the brunt of any accident and the metal pipes would bend/kink without shearing like the rubber one will.

Matt

[andyneedham2]

I wouldn't fancy running them there either, potentially hot radiator and old wiring. Mine are run down the drivers side of the car, away for the exhaust, up near the steering column and to the pump. Any reason you cant run them this way?

Andy

[daveyg]

Thanks for the comments guys, i was clearly having a blond moment there. Didnt even cross my mind but these will be changed this weekend. I am going to run them over the back now. I'm glad i have been posting progress on here because i didnt think twice about it and would have carried on

[Dom_500]

I told you to run them round the back ratchet girl

other than that looks like you have made some good progress, will have to pop over soon to have a good look. my tools better be clean though

[daveyg]

I know, i know schoolboy error started to put it right this evening though an re ran them under the air filter and round the back. As the stainless bracket for the filter is quite sharp on the edge i decided to take it off and drill a hole through there to attch the first set of p clips o and that way the lines avoid any rubbing on the edge
For some reason photobucket is playing up so its gonna be a no picture update. I also won some Porsche seats on ebay today. I now have a storm rear bench in blue leather and a pair of front porsche seats in green leather. I am going to strip them all and colour match them, question is what colour...Suggestions?

As for your tools Dom they are of course in their box in order apart from the 10mm socket.....Pop over this weekend if you like

[daveyg]

Seats arrived today and i was quite surprised, they are in better condition and a better colour than the pictures suggested. They are actually not a bad colour match to the car so i may leave these as is and match the rear. If not i will be going for black


These are going to be waiting a while to go in though as i want to get it running and MOT'd firstly then i will worry about these and electric windows etc. Looking forward to the weekend as hopefully get a full shift in both days on the car. Hoping to possibly get the engine completely plumbed in and get set on the wiring

[scirsteve]

Like the leather seats, nice one, not sure about the middle seat tho got too much wood on it for my taste! lol

[daveyg]

I think the middle seat would be very OEM, it has the tartan design and the bolsters are huge...Its just a bit wide for the runners and it doesnt tilt so i couldnt get people in the back

[DT1]

You carry rear seat passengers? How odd.

[daveyg]

It has been known, only very occasionally though! With the coilies going on though it may be a thing of the past completely!

[daveyg]

Its been a long time since i posted or did much on the car, things have been getting in the way so i was glad to get a full day in today. With the help of my dad we took a look at the wiring. We needed to create 3 relays and a small fuse holder to complete the wiring. We managed this without too much faffing about

We then linked this to the ECU and the immob box etc. We decided as we really wanted to test start it to bypass the fuel pump by creating a bridge on the fusebox. We then ran the fuel pump for around 15 seconds to allow fuel to get round the system. It was at this point we realised the feed and the return were on the incorrect line so we had to swap them over. There was obviously pressure in the lines now though. Unfortunately my neighbour happened to be passing and said he would also lend a hand so petrol didnt go everywhere....Typically it splurted straight in his face...Oops! Once we had cleaned that up we put the battery on charge and then tried starting, it turned over well enough but didnt quite catch as the battery ran out of steam very quickly. We tried again later and what do you know the car started for about two seconds but there was definitely life and spark etc which was great. Now the car has been sat with a half tank of petrol for over 3 months so the chances are its gone off a bit. We are going to try putting some quickstart in tomorrow and with a fully charged battery we hope it will start and run briefly.

[daveyg]

Been a while since i last updated the thread. After the starting issues the other week it turned out the reason it wasnt starting was because the key had been taped to the outside of the immobiliser barrel rather than the inside, with this ammended the engine started on the button, was very pleased with that as i now know i have a runner. SOunded blimmin loud in the garage with only a front manifold mind you!

Today i set about connecting the radiator up. As the Rocco hoses would not fit i bit the bullet and got some silicone hose in various angles to make it all match up. As the engine is very close to the radiator i thought running the pipes out to the side and back in would put them under less strain when the engine rocks. It did mean using a lot of pipe joiners, bends and straights to match it all up but i think it was worth it

Top pipes:

I could have done with some smaller jubilee clips but these do the job so im not too worried about there being a bit of a tail on them!

Bottom Pipes:


I got some brake lines delivered in the week so wanted to get these fitted as meant i could get the calipers/pads/discs all on the car too. These presented a bit of a problem as the old connectors were not keen to come off. With the help of my dad using a blowtorch they were heated up enough to break them free and then we could connect the new lines up.


Also had a problem with bottom ball joints. The ones that i had were grotty and second hand so i bought some new ones which arrived in the week, however they were missing a hole for the screws so i drilled a central hole for them and bored out the holes on the wishbones to the correct size for the larger ball joints, then got some larger stainless bolts and got these fitted on. Was a bit of an effort but felt much better having newer ball joints than run the risk of replacing them soon anyway.

The next main headache is the exhaust. Its touching on the steering knuckle. We are currently looking into options.
- Heating and denting in the correct area, this will cause less flow though.
- Getting a section cut out then rewelded on to allow clearance.
- Or the final and probably most expensive option we have come up with is to cut the pipes near the head and take out a few cm then rewelding back up.

None of these options are great though and i am a bit gutted that it wont clear but it will have to be overcome somehow. Any suggestions are welcome.

Not been up to much else except getting more parts together for the final few bits. Got a nice Votex steering wheel, powerflex bushes for the rear. Some 1.5" dishes for the rear wheels to space them out a bit got some GTI lights and with the help of Colin getting the final few parts together for these, thanks Colin! Also got a new grille and awaiting a few other bits and bobs. Hopefully the updates will come quick and fast now as would love to have this finished and on the road before xmas. Have been thinking about getting the bodywork done afterwards, not a full respray but a few areas do need attention as a slight patch of rust on the tailgate and the leading edge of the bonnet. Also needs a touch up of paint on the lower valance.

One thing i have been pondering on is how to fill in the holes when i remove the rear spoiler, will these need plates welded on to them? Has anyone done this before? If so how did you get round it?