MK1 Zender Monologue...

Discussion in 'Mk1' started by Zender Z20, Nov 28, 2021.

  1. Zender Z20

    Zender Z20 Paid Member Paid Member

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    ... and for the genuine Zender pedant, official paper clips!

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  2. Zender Z20

    Zender Z20 Paid Member Paid Member

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    Looooooong time ago, before I'd the notion to create a Z20 I'd picked up an original VW Motorsport grille for the MK1.

    Had it's original 'Marchal' lamps, but was unfortunately missing the accompanying VWMS badge.

    So, got a batch of stickers made up and created my own based on inter-web images.

    The stickers were UV resistant / exterior quality and cost quite a bit because of it plus it being such a small run... back then there weren't many places doing that sort of thing either and they had to be brought in from Spain.

    All in all it was an expensive badge so later on got a bit of practice in by making some more to be sold on and help cover the cost.

    Found the remaining, surplus stickers today and even had some of the original aluminium sheet planked away.

    Botched the first attempt, but got my mojo back with this second one... thought it turned out OK even I do say so myself, don't you know!!!

    Sold my own VWMS grille on years ago, hoarder in me still kinda regrets that but as things have since moved on there was little point in keeping it I suppose.

    Last image is of someone elses real deal (nicked courtesy of Google)...



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  3. Zender Z20

    Zender Z20 Paid Member Paid Member

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    Should've said just in case, that's the MK1's original grille which the latest badge is on, there just for the sake of somewhere to put it and not a VWMS one.
     
  4. Cressa Paid Member Paid Member

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    Looks good. I never knew that existed
     
  5. Zender Z20

    Zender Z20 Paid Member Paid Member

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    Not sure what I did to please the VW gods but because of the incredible generosity of another forum member, Quiksilver, there's now a GTi-Engineering RE1900 sitting in the garage.

    Still pinching myself... said somewhere at the beginning of the thread that Zender and GTiE are inextricably linked, but never thought for a moment that I'd be able to combine the two in my own car.

    Early days, but fingers crossed the plan is to bring it back to it's former glory whatever it takes, just too special a thing not to try and do well by it.

    Yet again... thank you Craig!

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  6. Cressa Paid Member Paid Member

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    Congratulations on being able to have this opportunity. I'm sure quicksilver knows you will bring it back to life with the attention to detail that it deserves. Very few people could do that, so keep us posted.
    Maybe a separate thread on the rebuild? I'm looking forward to this already
     
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  7. Zender Z20

    Zender Z20 Paid Member Paid Member

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    Not sure about a another thread... there's already not enough hours in the day for me at the moment, likely going to struggle keeping this one regular as it is. We'll see!

    Engine must've been on carbs in it's most recent past, found these in the injector ports.

    Two are 2004 and two are four years later, so points towards it having been a running engine in at least 2008.



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  8. Zender Z20

    Zender Z20 Paid Member Paid Member

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    Stripping the paint from the block and below the current dark blue upper coat is another white one beneath... maybe an undercoat?

    Neithers original but below them again, mainly on the reverse side is what appears to be the authentic GTiE applied one.

    Thinking about it I'm not sure what I expected, but it was a surprise to see how pale a shade it is.

    Also think I was mainly being influenced by images you see on-line of similarly painted blocks that come across as a darker blue, be that either because in reality they are or it's just a trick of photograpy.

    I'm guessing the images I'll post too won't come out exactly as my eye sees them for the same reason.

    Idea is to look into getting a custom match made for repainting.

    As taking an engine block shopping isn't all that handy I got my daughter who's doing a Fine Art masters to replicate the colour as a swatch and you'll have to believe me that she's nailed it.

    Got me thinking even more... can't imagine GTiE had a special colour made up just to paint their blocks, not beyond the realms of possibility they used a stock (VW?) colour instead.

    Does remind me of the Gulf blue from earlier Beetles... maybe if I find a local outfit that scans / makes up paint they can say if it closely matches an original shade from a database?

    Suppose it's also possible GTiE intentionally changed the colour later or simply used whatever was available at the time over the years meaning there's a variety of shades on different blocks?


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  9. Quiksilver

    Quiksilver Paid Member Paid Member

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    I didn't know there was 4p in the engine.... '[:D]

    I don't miss falling over that thing, whenever i wanted something out the shed.
     
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  10. rubjonny

    rubjonny Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    reminds me of the shade of blue old british things are painted in, might just be some old skool off the shelf 'engine paint'
     
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  11. Quiksilver

    Quiksilver Paid Member Paid Member

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    Now you've said it, sure I've seen a Mini in this colour or a.n.other British Leyland nugget.
     
  12. Zender Z20

    Zender Z20 Paid Member Paid Member

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    Finished stripping the block of all the later paint, though some of the original stuff seems to be on there for life.

    It and the head went away this morning to the two outfits that previously did the MK2 and 'other' MK1 engine, so both are in good hands.

    Had toyed with the idea of doing some of the work myself but just don't have the knowledge / skills or tools to do it justice.

    Instructions are / hope is they keep as much of the original internals as is possible, conditional on it still being servicible of course... things like the Schrick cam and Mahle 82.5mm pistons, so fingers crossed once again.

    Brought the RE 1900 stamp up a little better, but the engine number's partly gone... going to have to look into the potential for issues that might bring with the DVLA.

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  13. Cressa Paid Member Paid Member

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    You are definitely getting on with it. I remember them always being a horrible olour, just like a Vege refurbished engine at the time. But now it is important that it is kept. Good luck with the engine builder
    It's a money pit but will be fantastic
     
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  14. Zender Z20

    Zender Z20 Paid Member Paid Member

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    Local paint rectification place inturn put me onto a trade outfit that provides them with custom colours.

    Turns out it's about 2 miles from where I live, never knew it existed!

    Very helpful and can do a minimum order of 1 litre to the public... trouble is they don't make up heat resistant paint, just regular stuff.

    Question is, am I wasting my time and money using it on an engine?
     
  15. Zender Z20

    Zender Z20 Paid Member Paid Member

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    There's a similar 'date wheel' system cast into the head, it's easy to interpret and gives the day / month / year of manufacture.

    Below are the wheels cast into the block - I'm (maybe wrongly?) guessing the principle's the same and the numbers are rotated so as to in some way tally with the date as it rolls on, but the format differs, there's lots of numbers missing and it's not immediately obvious to me how you'd decipher it in the same way as the wheels on the head.

    First thoughts were that the right hand wheel is the first digit of the day (as you only need to go up to the 31st) and if that's the case the one pictured would be read as the 29th.... but how are the 1st to the 9th of the month shown if there's no zero available to put in front of them, so thinking that's not it?

    The yellow highlights are just straight lines and not the letter 'i' or a number '1' to my eye.

    Any one know, have any thoughts?

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  16. Zender Z20

    Zender Z20 Paid Member Paid Member

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    Well, it being Fathers Day meant I didn't have to make the dinner for once, which had the odd effect of leaving me at a bit of a loose end in the late afternoon.

    Was pottering about the garage and decided to find a solution to the partly corroded engine number problem on the RE1900 EV block.

    It's very hard to see, even when out of the car where you can get up close, I'd imagine when it's fitted it'll be completely impossible.

    Don't want to just grind things down and re-do it, it's all going to be part of the cars history now so hit on the idea of making a plate to go in front of it that can be newly stamped but at the same time easily removable to access the original details.

    Scrap rectangle of 5mm steel plate later and came up with this... no attachment hole yet, going to wait till the blocks back and re-measure the hole before I commit.

    Took the template from the original DX block and cross referenced it to the MK2's PB, both were identical so assuming (famous last words) the EV's will also match up.

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  17. Cressa Paid Member Paid Member

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    Great bit of ingenuity there, looks superb
     
  18. Zender Z20

    Zender Z20 Paid Member Paid Member

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    Oh dear... just realised it looks like a C**k & B***s!
     
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  19. Cressa Paid Member Paid Member

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    brilliant
     
  20. Zender Z20

    Zender Z20 Paid Member Paid Member

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    Should really delete that image of me tenderly cupping it in my fingers.

    ... on a different note - Got a litre of paint made up to match the original shade found on the block, the swatch was done with artists acrylic so has a matt finish while the tinned paint is gloss, it catching the light differently probably accounts for the slight variation you're probably seeing in the image.

    In reality it's a perfect match, it's just that it's impossible to get a good representation through a photograph, well pleased with it.

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