92 GTII

[DUB VADER]

Though i'd better post on here, I have owned this rocco since 2007 drove it for a short time, then parked up for the last four years. It has long been my intention to get the car back on the road, But the usual time/ work/ money constraints have hampered this!!!

But over the bank holiday period I decided it's time! Purchased a battery looked over fluids, cranked by hand, then turned the key, the engine turned over for what seemed like 5 minutes before evenutually firing! So off to the MOT station it failed on four tyres which I could see were badly crakced, Headlight adjustment (easy fix), Tell tail for high beam on dash(Dry joint), Now car is mot'd have given a wash over at which point I discovered new life, Moss all kinds of plant life! Replaced the infamous Rusty filler neck, got garage to clean out tank using a combination of suction and magnets. Now i'm about to tax and insure. But what to do with the car? Just keep the good old EX engine and change the pathetic Pierburg for a webber carb, Or do I carry out my original plan of KR. I will be deciding over the next couple of days. Any way have posed a couple of lame pics will update with better pics over next couple of days, Would be grateful for any tips or advice on what to do regards engine. Peace.

[pajsh]

Nice to see another one back on the road. I'm hoping mine won't take too long but it's a slow process (for me anyway).

I went for an ABF rather than a KR but it does seem a very big and heavy engine compared to the old EX. The 8v seemed a great little engine that took plenty of abuse and just loved to rev, so it will be interesting when I've got the ABF up and running. Probably not till 2014 or maybe 2015 though. I am a little concerned that the extra weight up front will spoil the balance of the car compared to the little EX but many have already done it so it can't be too wrong.

As, like me, you have the EX, if you go KR or ABF you will need to think about ignition systems or fuel injection. I put Magajolt on my Locost so I'm going with 45 Webers and no EFi as it keeps it relatively simple and I know what I'm doing. I may upgrade to Megasquirt and full EFi at some stage purely for the experience and learning process, but I think it's unlikely.

To some degree I regret not keeping the EX and having it as standard, not the least because refurbishing the ABF is costing a lot more than I thought. I'm probably going to be spending £500 on parts for the engine alone (having paid around £250 for it) so don't throw it away till you are certain where you are going.

What you do depends what you want out of it. For me the enjoyment is the journey not the destination so I'm taking my time and doing pretty much everything I can reasonable do without going crazy like some do. I don't have the time, tools or patience to strip it back bare metal and go all the way. My budget was £3k but I've spent most of that already and think there is another £2k yet to go so be prepared.

When I have finished I'll probably do a few track days and then move onto the next project. If you just want to enjoy driving it and going to the shows it does not have to perfect and you can spend less time and money in the garage. If you are not bothered about reconditioning the engine you will probably get plenty of miles from an old one just dropped in. Just depends what you want.

For me the first thing to do was check out the rear beam mounts and the structure of the car and if it's sound, keep the car and gradually upgrade it bit by bit.

[Tim_R]

Glad to seen another one resurrected!

If the peirburg is working properly then there is no real benefit to swapping it until it starts playing up from my experience. They actually give similar performance with better economy, I used to see 400 to 450 miles from a tank, when I had to replace mine with a weber I got 300 to 350 miles from a tank for the same performance.

If you are thinking about a KR it's worth considering the price of a refurb as they are all getting on a bit, you might be better off getting a 9a or abf and refurbing that to get some useful extra torque over the kr. The 9a is a short block so will easily fit, abf is 10mm taller and may have strut brace and bonnet clearance issues and exhaust fitting issues. The 9a needs a kr or abf inlet cam to get the best from it in terms of power though.

Hope this helps!