'89 Corrado 16v - ABF KJET - Fun weekend car

Discussion in 'Members Gallery' started by xan_lee, Mar 24, 2020.

  1. oldnick

    oldnick Paid Member Paid Member

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    Cracking read, thanks for sharing :)
     
  2. copeidge

    copeidge Forum Member

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    Great read! :) very jealous how clean the underside of the fuel pump is because you dont use salt on your roads!
    Love the bits of engine work. look forward to whats to come.
     
  3. NateS2

    NateS2 Paid Member Paid Member

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    Really cool car and you seem to be really thorough! Are the EV1 connectors just the 2-pin injector style ones? Or are they also the correct style for the multi-pins like on the distributor?
     
  4. xan_lee New Member

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    Thanks, yes no problem with rust here in the south :thumbup:

    Thanks, I try to avoid nonsense work.
    Only bought a set of 2pin junior connectors. For example, the distributor connector I swapped a used newer one from my box of wirings.


    Tomorrow I'll try to follow with the stories.
     
  5. xan_lee New Member

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    What happened next, lasted around 1 month of checking , spannering and much much swearing. I hope it helps others too.

    The ABF swap started right up, no issue and run smooth. Great. It cruised awesome, no noises no hickups. Great.
    But as soon as you did go WOT it pinged like a mf! :thumbd:

    1.At first I thought maybe the stock 6BDTC was too much, so retarded it , but nothing. Car was much slower but still pinged.

    2. Maybe the engine did not like the 95ron fuel. Filled with premium 98 Ron, with no success. Ping.

    3. Changed Ignition ECU and AMP with other good working ones. No success.

    4. Wideband was reading on the upper 13 AFR, lower 14. So maybe it was a matter of running too much lean. Checked fuel pressures, all hoses for kinks, filters on both pumps, changed metering heads. Nothing, all was how it should be.

    5. I was using simple fixed timing light, so I got hold of an adjustable one to see really what was hapenning with the timing.
    Removed the vacuum hose from the ECU to try to lock the timing in the 101mbar column. Below you'll see the stock timing map for a KR.

    So with adjustable timing gun we run the engine to 4000rpm, and we saw it was getting 45deg advance at 4000rpm. No surprise it was pinging!
    If we look below table, you see the ECU uses 45deg advance for idle and low trottle. It seems that it only worked on the first column.

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    First thought, OK, maybe the MAP sensor is short and does not let the ecu real vacuum. Because I already tried differents ECUS and all pinged, I tried my ECU in another good working car.
    To my surprise no pinging in the other car, so my ECU was ok. [:-B]

    Then at last resource, we did go testing the wiring harness pin by pin , maybe something short inbetween, who knows. Wiring appeared all good and all signals clear. [8(]

    After finishing with the wiring, we began with the basics again. To my surprise, this time when we checked the timing it did go only to 24deg advance, how it should be!! :o
    Apparently this time I left THE IDLE SWITCH UNPLUGGED !!!

    As a resume , the IDLE SWITCH was faulty and stuck in closed position, so ECU always thought engine was at idle, using only the 29mbar column for timing advance. That made the engine ping like there was no tomorrow.

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    Lesson of the day, check your idle switches on your old cars! [:D]


    With timing solved, the car run great, more power than it ever had finally.The engine is very torquey.
    We advanced the base timing until we got 28deg at 4000rpm, runs great and no signs of pinging anywhere with 98ron fuel . Once this COVID thing is over, I'll go to do a dyno run to check the numbers.

    :thumbup:
     
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  6. Sirguydo

    Sirguydo Fastest milkman in the West Paid Member

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    Nice work I’m a KR fan as I like original stuff :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
     
  7. xan_lee New Member

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    Continued with some upgrades for the exhaust. I was running all stock KR exhaust system, manifold and 4 boxes. I don't like loud exhausts, but wanted a bit more sportier sound.

    Sourced proper ABF exhaust manifold and downpipe, together with ABF cat delete and staight mid pipe. It is still very quiet but has a deep tone when you floor it. At the same time it should free some HP.

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    Stock KR parts vs the replacement ones

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    All straight pipe uptil big center suitcase:

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    Suspension wise, it was all stock springs and dampers. Now with proper power and torque I was getting a lot of wandering and torquesteer, because the front was lifting under acceleration.
    First thing sourced some Corrado Eibach ProKit springs. These lower the car around 30mm, should help with the handling and also with the truck lifted look.
    For now I am using stock dampers , I suppose I will add sopme B6 or B8 Bilsteins later on. Having the car lower to the ground helped to eliminate wandering.

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    New F/R top mounts , bumpstops and dustguards.

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    Long time ago I picked up a new corrado rear logo. The car had all rear smoothened, luckily it is not welded. So I could open the stock holes again and clip the badge.
    Later on when I do a full respray I will also add the rear VW logo again.

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  8. xan_lee New Member

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    Some pics of the current state of the car. Needs a full proper respray, at some time it was painted over without care and has a lots of marks and droplets, apart from some big dents.
    But has come a long way since I bought it from the wreckers.

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  9. xan_lee New Member

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    Hello again, finally I could go to work on the car after the lockdown.

    First, added some 20mm spacers. Stock wheels looked so lost inside the arches. I think it has a good OEM+ look now.


    REAR STOCK
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    REAR +20MM
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    FRONT STOCK
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    FRONT +20MM
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    Also wanted to upgrade the front lighting. As you know stock aged headlights of this era are very poor.
    First I upgraded the stock bulbs to some Osram Nightbreaker. They really make a big difference!!

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    Left is stock one, right is Osram .(still on stock oem wiring)
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    Second step will be to add relays. I measured the voltage at the bulbs and is getting only 9V ! After looking other setups I designed this loom that will connect to the stock connectors without splicing anything.

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  10. xan_lee New Member

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    Next issue was to control the crankcase oil fumes. Right now I have a direct hose from the front of the block to the airbox(No PCV). After some spirit drives, the intake gets a lot of oil:

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    In order to solve that I searched for a generic oil catch can. In the end I got this fake copy from a BMW application. I like it because it is alloy, has big diameter oulets and the mesh inside for trapping the oil.

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    After some testing/thinking I came up with this simple mounting solution. Used some random old coolant hoses.

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    Will update with feedback once I get some miles on it.:thumbup:
     
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  11. xan_lee New Member

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    Next and very needed brake upgrade. Stock 256mm are not up to the job for fast road in a corrado, got a lot of fade last time to the point of being dangerous. So the logical upgrade was to get 280mm girling 54.

    Stock 256mm brakes(great red spray can job)

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    Got some cheap calipers from a Seat Ibiza tdi and rebuilt myself the seals , dust covers and new copper grease.

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    New 280mm setup in! I decided for Ferodo Premier street compound. I have used them with great success before , also on track , so it was a no brainer for me.

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  12. Jon Olds Forum Junkie

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    nice work
    Jon
     
  13. rubjonny

    rubjonny Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    with the relay kits I recommend 2x fuses and relays for dipped beam so if you lpop a fuse/relay one you dont loose all your lights same as OEM
     
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  14. xan_lee New Member

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    Hi, yes it makes sense. After your recommendation ,what I will do is use both relays only for LOW (1 for L, 1 for R) , and leave the HIGH on stock relays because I rarely use them.

    :thumbup:


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    Last edited: Jun 8, 2020
  15. 12valver Forum Member

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    A fair amount of work going on, good job.
     
  16. rubjonny

    rubjonny Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    yeah you could do it like that, back when I made them I found a handy relay holder which had 3 fuses on the side which I used to use, 2 relays/fuses for dipped and another for main beam. but as you say it rarely gets used and is usually pretty bright anyway
     
  17. xan_lee New Member

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    Another little Job. The Odometer does not work since like 10years ago(inspections register always showed same mileage) . Looks like it is a vert common issue with the early mechanical tachos.
    The little green wheel drifts out and does not engage. So just pushing it in solves the problem for now. Also changed some broken bulbs. Tested and works all ok :thumbup:

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    Also upgraded front motor mount to a solid one. Stock new mounts let the engine move too much, even revving the engine in the garage.
    I've made this mod in other cars before and makes for a much more direct feeling gearchange .

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  18. xan_lee New Member

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    New update.

    First big drive after doing the upgrades. Brakes working perfect.
    Suspension not so much... Stock dampers not coping with the uprated Eibach springs, so B8 Bilsteins going in this weekend. Should be mint then.

    Engine runs great, pulls clean all gears. Installed a new AEM wideband X series gauge with the following results.
    Gets around 12.8-12.9 AFR as soon as you go WOT until 6000rpms , then leans to around 13,4 AFR until the redline at 7200rpms.
    And just for reference,
    Fueling setup is 5,6bar main fuel pressure with 3.0bar control pressure. Brand new bosch fuel pump with new relay and new MB injectors.
    Timing setup for 28 degrees at 4000rpm.
    In the following weeks I am planning a dyno run for baseline. Should be interesting.

    Oil catch can is working, but I still think too much oil is getting out the block venting. Any ideas?
    I am getting installed the diesel windage tray, hope it helps .


    Clean Airbox(was sweating before)
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    Some oil in the intake rubber
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    And this oil in the catch can after +-200km of spirited drive.

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  19. xan_lee New Member

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    Nice pic of the corrado with my friends. First time we could go together(one is always broken...)
    A clio mk1 with williams running gear and a golf mk2 16v with freshly rebuilt KR engine.

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  20. xan_lee New Member

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    Started the works with the seats. They were full of dirt and smelly from many years of neglect. Drivers outside bolsters were also shot, so they needed adressing.
    I bought another complete set of seats for getting spares, and used the best bits to make a good set.

    Tooling for making my life easier

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    I put all the covers in the washing machine at 40C. They came great, and smell awesome.
    The wife was very happy with the idea....Not.:lol:


    Good condition foamings from the spare passenger seat.
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    Bottom bolster inner structure needed a bit of hammering to put it back into position.
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    And the final product. Not perfect, but now the interior is a much better place to be.

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    Before links, after right

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