This is an awesome build thread, great work dude!

Fantastic build thread

Love the enthusiasm that you have! Nice mk2!

So, so so so, swings and roundabouts over the last wee while.

I got the wing back all perfectly sprayed in about two weeks, then sent her off the the exhaust builder. On the phone they gave me a reasonable quote and promised to have it done in a couple of days . . . .

I had some serious momentum going on the build at that stage and really wanted to be driving before Christmas however this wasn't to be.

Now don't get me wrong I've now got a great looking exhaust, stainless throughout, tucked away very neatly and I'm very pleased with it, but it took about 4 weeks to get back to me. Whilst she was in their workshop I made them do a few jobs on her that I didn't fancy paying for! I had them move all the weights to the insides of my new wheels, get the brakes bled properly and also tweek the tracking.

All that and delivered back to me was eventually a very good deal but I had by then been suckered into the DIY at home so not much happened until after New Years.

Since then I've got her so close to being done it's not funny any more

I bought a gorgeous NOS Front bumper and finally sourced a NOS drivers side banana.

I was in the process of stripping the carbs so I jetted them with 145s and put them back on. Last time she ran I I noticed a high pitched squeeking/grinding noise, I found that the slot I had cut out of the ARB mounting bracket wasn't quite in the right place, The alternator belt was just rubbing so I had to extend The slot down slightly. This done I figured the noise would be cured, however getting her going again with the cleaned carbs the noise was worse that ever. I couldn't work it out for ages, a pal pointed out that the note changed slightly with the clutch pushed in.

So I gently trundled her up and down the yard to see what would happen, it didn't get better or worse, various diagnosis were banded around, from thrust bearings to crank seals, misaligned clutches to knackered gearboxes.

Following a lot of head scratching I decided to check the state of the gearbox fluid, which was lucky as there wasn't any! Like none, three drops came out.

So I filled her up and crossed all fingers and toes. The noise gently got quieter and less offensive until after a minute of unbearable tension I was left with only a very minor squeak which vanished with the clutch pushed in.

So good news is that the box and engine are good, bad news is that my thrust bearing is shot, it's about the only part of the car I didn't replace and I can't believe I didn't. I wasn't even trying to avoid buying one, It just failed to cross my mind to replace it the day I mated the box to the block.

So at least it's cheap to sort, only painful bit is I have to get the whole engine out again to do it! Doh!

Plan is to do it all this weekend, suck it up, cash in the man points one last time and get it dealt with.

There's so little to finish other than that, I'm currently arguing with a company in Germany to supply me with a NOS rear bumper to match my front. With that she's finally gona stop costing me all my time and money! Ha ha

I'm now insured on her again and the 25 yards I drove the other day (with no gearbox fluid!!!) has made me desperate to get out there on the road.

I'll keep you posted and bung up a few pics in the next week or so.

Laters!

HI, what engine code is the engine you've fitted?

Also is it generally speaking a direct fit to your dub?

Just wondering as I'm in need of an engine for mine and I like the aesthetics of your engine bay haha :P and obviously in need of a little advise.

Sweet VW,

Cheers

Cheers very much,

It's a 1.4 AFH, from a 96-99 polo,

I've followed the engine swap threads on clubpolo, all the guidance and answers you need are here.

Have a look in the engine forums and be inspired like I was 3 years ago!

i noticed you have done the front valance, i need to replace my slam panel and valance, is there any advice on how to go about it ?

Hi all,

Sorry for the long absence, the car has been finished for over a year now and is great fun; a few snags along the way but I'll try and do a full post to catch you all up in the ups and downs.

As for replacing the front valance; fortunately I didn't need to do my slam panel too, but all I can say is measure measure measure! Make sure you get the car up on something solid on all 4 corners so the body cannot warp when you cut off the front. I wasn't as careful as I could have been and despite all my measuring I recon mine now has a slight slant at the front.

I hope this finds you all well,

As a great man once said: I'll be back