4 branch looks ok, looks like its wrapped up in a sleeping bag!

4 branch looks ok, looks like its wrapped up in a sleeping bag!

lol looks like a corpse wrapped up !

Day one done! Not much left to do now.

ARB mount grinded down then sprayed over to prevent alternator chaffing.

All my tools on the street lol, pushing an engine across a main road! I wont have to roll like this for much longer after i move in a month. Got a huge extended on garage coming my way.

This was when I was dropping it in to see were I needed to grind on the ARB.

This is how I put gear boxes on , when the engine suspended above the bay, good old jiu-jitsu arm strength lol.

Exhaust manifold on.

And a final pic at the end of the day, the sun was out in full lol.

All i need to do is:

Attach alternator loom

Put arb blocks on

Gear linkage

Put piper on

Attach choke cable to the carbs

Put rocker cover on when I recieve the spark plug seal

Sort bottom rad hose as its to short

Fit my custom stainless rain drip tray

Add bonnet raisers

Sort joining the 4-2-1- to the center exhaust pipe

Add oil and coolant

Add dizzy and covers

Bet youre loving making a bit of progress now mate, when you hoping for the first start/drive?

Alternator pulley looks better now

Bet youre loving making a bit of progress now mate, when you hoping for the first start/drive?

Alternator pulley looks better now

Lol I know , erm hopefully next week. I need to sort this exhaust out , an get to bogg. Maybe get a flange sorted for mild centre pipe. I'm waiting on the rocker gasket too .

...I'm off to vw festival ,would be nice to drive the polo .

Edited 26 July, 201313 yr by harris.racing
Posts merged.

More progress:

Clutch cable done

Alternator loom done

Gear linkage done

Air intake filter done

Starter motor done

New oil sensor wires cloth taped

Rocker cover and covers fitted (new gaskets)

A quick pic of how the engine is looking

Finally the gasket has come, £45 dollars and 6 weeks later lol

What on earth is going on with the heatwrap?

The arb and blocks are really winding me up , lineing them up and trying to get the bolts to bite is such a ball ache.

I attached the stainless de-cat pipe , it lines up with the centre pipe , how ever the centre pipe does not slide in , I am going to have to sort it out some how . Last major thing that needs sorting.

Put the ARB through the TCAs and put nut on loosely, then jack both lower arms up, or put a stand under each to get the wheels somewhere near ride height, then it should basically fall into place.

Put the ARB through the TCAs and put nut on loosely, then jack both lower arms up, or put a stand under each to get the wheels somewhere near ride height, then it should basically fall into place.

Oh so loosen off the nut on each side of the arb through the tca , good idea, I have just messaged a seller on eBay about making me an exhaust pipe joiner / reducer. Needs to be able to slot over 50mm wide pipe for centre pipe , and slot into stainless de cat pipe as it is flared ,so iff 50 mm wide won't slot in. Then it needs to be say 48mm wide ?

Exhaust pipe ordered for short of a tenner, and AFH radiator hoses bought off EBay for £13 , be running soon .

I'm liking this mate alot of effort has gone into this. keep us updated

The green looks good!

Put the ARB through the TCAs and put nut on loosely, then jack both lower arms up, or put a stand under each to get the wheels somewhere near ride height, then it should basically fall into place.

This is the way i put mine on. Literally just slots into place . You have to remember your putting a bolt in what's upside down and under force, so have to push up when tightening

Looks great mate, Can't wait for you to come across in it!

Well these came today, a slight trim on two of the ends and they fit well with no harsh bends, I then topped up the coolant and water was pissing out the back, were the plastic pipe meets the thermostat housing, so I need a new one, any one have the part number ect?

And my new alloy wheels came! Bargain on Ebay, £46 then £35 courier as there are five. These Ronals i am going to refurb myself. I have looked at the mirror polish FAQ and am going to give it a go. Mirror polish the lips and spray the rest in RAL 3032 pearl ruby red.

Edited 1 August, 201312 yr by dart_strife

So I finally got the extension exhaust pipe, and have had it welded to the de-cat pipe of the 4-2-1 AFH manifold. I am now ready to hook it up on monday.

And I emailed Bigg Red about the bleed nipples I needed for the Vauxhall brakes, they pointed me out to these on Ebay for £2.50. So the brakes are now all good to go on after the engine fires up!

I ordered an O-ring off Ebay roughly the same as the AFH plastic water pipe one, when its here I will add lots of silicone and hope it seals.

Whos doing your exhaust?

Whos doing your exhaust?

Me , just putty an a clamp bro

What on earth is going on with the heatwrap?

I was thinking the same.

You're supposed to wrap it tightly around each tube of the exhaust with no gaps. Otherwise you're focusing the heat on the unwrapped bits, rather than evenly across the entire manifold. In practice you'll probably be alright as you've got a lot exposed metal, but heat wrap catches fire pretty easily if it's exposed to a lot of heat, which can happen if you've got gaps.

I'm not trying to pick holes, I'd just hate to see you have problems.

What on earth is going on with the heatwrap?

I was thinking the same.

You're supposed to wrap it tightly around each tube of the exhaust with no gaps. Otherwise you're focusing the heat on the unwrapped bits, rather than evenly across the entire manifold. In practice you'll probably be alright as you've got a lot exposed metal, but heat wrap catches fire pretty easily if it's exposed to a lot of heat, which can happen if you've got gaps.

I'm not trying to pick holes, I'd just hate to see you have problems.

I am grinding off the air intake pipe and wrapping the area, should have done it when it was off really, but didnt have a grinder to hand, I do now, its only two spot welds.

Here is the answer I was looking for when I was asking about on how to sort my exhaust. Iff you are using an AFH 4-2-1 manifold and the de-cat supplied, and my center pipe is a G40 one, it all lines up well. You just need a 100 mm long exhaust joiner / reducer to attach them. Iff you are welding the reducer to the de-cat pipe, like I did. It needs to be outer diameter 47 mm to slot in the de-cat pipe partly well and will be really tight. And the inner diameter, slotted end to go over the center pipe and be clamped should be 50 mm. You can buy them off Ebay, posted for a tenner.

So I couldn't find the replacement part for the plastic water pipe, so I purchased a pack of 5 for 37 mm ID x 4 mm C/S of Ebay for £2.14. It fits well snug , but still leaked water! So I have silicon-ed it up as well and will see tomorrow. Hopefully the car will start tomorrow too.

You can get them from VW, iv got one in the garage bagged up brand new, less than £1 I think

I got replacements from VW, but they only do the seal that goes into waterpump housing, like 4 quid each.

The other seal to thermostat housing isnt available from VW anymore