So big push over the break. I started into changing out the gearstick mount and discovered the orange slider bush was fairly worn. With the downpipe still not bolted up it was a no brainer to drop the gearstick box and change the bush. Nasty stuff Pin removal All stripped down There was a lot of lateral play in this bush. No doubt the original bush and 32 years old now. Forgot to attach the retaining plate, doh! And all back together ready to go back into the car.
Next up was to finish off the engine loom. Alot of de-pinning, sleeving, heat shrinking was needed. I swapped out all plugs to black colour where I could, and scrubbed each of them as well to clean it all up. I also swapped out any broken or cracked wires that I found. @Tristan thanks for a lend of some of his terminal crimpers, I would have been lost without them! This photo shows the new engine loom I have made up. Top left is the ECU plug obviously, wires at right hand side of photo are the signals from fusebox to ECU/Engine, and then the bottom wires are to the engine. It was slow going, but I think worth it in the end. And fitted Fusebox to engine loom plug all wired up. I have all grounds meeting at the bolt for the ignition coil clamp, and made up a new ground strap for the wiper mechanism. The wiper motor has it's own ground on its plug, so not sure what exactly this ground does, but sure someone smarter than us in VW thought it a good idea to put one here, so it stays. As for the starter cable, I didn't have a single pin plug to install here. I've one on order so just crimped it for now. A big push to finish the passenger side light loom, fit bumper etc etc so I forgot to take progress photos. But I am pleased to say bar a slight re-pin of the hal sender plug, it started first time! Unfortunately I ordered the wrong caliper rebuild kit from Autodoc, so I haven't been able to fit my front calipers just yet. Once the seals come in, I will be straight out to build them up and fit them. Can't wait to go for a spin now. A few items to tidy up: tidy up grounds under the battery as they are too long paint the fan cowl (raging I forgot to include in the parts I had powdercoated that time) fit radiator and airbox rubber feet that I have on order try and find my gearstick alignment tool that I had in my hand 2 weeks ago.... Tune the engine Give the aul engine bay a clean down and remove any sticky residue from tape etc. Send it!!!
Good man Dave. Could be a good time to add a battery isolation switch, when you've extra battery earth cable.
8th January: She rides again! I'll get more pics up once I give it a good clean and tidy a few cosmetic things.
So with the car running well, I could focus on the little details to start tidying it up some more. A friend of mine had been following me one day and said that my brake lights were randomly flashing. When fitting the new brake master cylinder and servo, I had wound the adjustable clevis all the way out to meet the brake pedal in its resting position. I did think it odd, that the brake pedal sat so high in comparison to the others... how was I going to heel/toe.... Alas, I made a rookie mistake. The clevis length should be set so the pedals are all at the same height. The brake light switch is then extended out to meet the pedal... Still can't heel toe though! Next up was to replace the internal window scrapers on both doors. Not sure what happened to the existing ones, the PO must've liked picking at them or something.... Both sides had chunks taken out of them. New ones fitted. It's the little details! Also happy to report that my DIY membrane is holding up great and there is no water damage to the door cards I've a few other parts to fit over the next few days. Picked up some cheap speakers from Amazon for the front and rear to replace the old original cardboard ones. I didn't want to go mad spending money on them as it would have been lost on the car, given the noise of the exhaust. I've also a spare rear demister switch and switch blank, that I hope to combine and make a hidden kill switch for the fuel pump.
