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84 Rabbit GTI track build

49K views 201 replies 35 participants last post by  PerkeyTurkey 
#1 · (Edited)
This is a continuation of a previous build moving in to a new car. My 83 had bent frame rails and was never a solid start. There should be some quick progression in this thread since I will just be swapping my nearly finished project from the 83 to the 84. The 84 is overall clean but needed some repairs to the lower half of the core support. The 84 is being repaired and will start to get a slew of parts transferring from the 83 upon completion of the core support repairs.

Specs are as follows:
Engine:
OBD2 ABA bored .050
Wossner forged 12.3:1 high compression pistons
SCCH knife edged crank shaft
SSCH lightened intermediate shaft
ARP headstuds
Techtonics Tuning HD valve springs
Techtonics Tuning chromoly retainers
Techtonics Tuning adjustable cam gear
Techtonics Tuning lightweight intermediate shaft gear
Port and polished OBD2 head converted to solid lifters and clearanced for oversized cam
+2mm Supertech stainless intake valves
+1mm Supertech stainless exhaust valves
Kent Cam Race 300* race cam
Racelang 4-2-1 stainless header
Techtonics Tuning 2.25 stainless catless exhaust with magnaflow muffler, using v-band clamps
Megasquirt v2 engine management
Nubwerks ABA intake flange with custom runners to fit Mikuni 43mm throttle bodies from GSXR750
1.8t 31# injectors
16v windage tray
Mocal 19 row oil cooler and sandwich plate with Goodyear -8 hose and Integrated Engineering -8 black fittings






Transmission:
CRU coded O2A from passat 16v
OE flywheel lightened to 14 lbs
Sachs VR6 clutch disk and pressure plate
O2A mounts to fit MK1
Pedal clutster and brake master cylinder brackets built to house hydraulic conversion





Suspension:
SCCH 2" spherical drop pin kit
Prothane polyurethane bushings
EuroSport camber plates





Brakes:
Corrado Girling 60 calipers and 11" front rotors
mk2 rear disk conversion
Stoptech braided steel brake lines
Mintex red brake pads

Wheels and Tires:
949 Racing 6UL 15x8 +36 offset 11.6 lbs per wheel
205/50/15 Toyo RA1

Safety:
4 point welded DOM .090 roll bar and rear strut brace
MOMO fiberglass bucket seat
Stroud 5 point seatbelt
MOMO wheel, NRG quick release hub
MK1 steering column lowered 1.5"

Electrical:
EZ Wiring 18 circuit mini kit
Painless Performance rocker switches
MK1 oil temp, oil pressure, volt meter gauges
Porsche 944 8k tachometer
Innovate motorsports LM1 AFR gauge

Some previous and current progression photos:

Day I brought the 84 home


Pulling the JH and trans out


Core support damage



New core support from the junk yard (yes I am staying square)


Old core support removed

To conclude this first post I am ready to fit the new core support to the 84. That should happen this weekend. I will be pulling everything from the 84 and putting it in the 83 to sell as a complete car. wiring interior engine trans etc... until next time... :peace:
 
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#30 · (Edited)
Not much of an update with the car but more of an update with life. Things haven't progressed much this winter. The loss of a very close friend early January was a crippling blow for our very close group of friends so we all spent a lot of time close together through the holiday season. A week off to visit family for christmas. And with the amount of snow we've got and the really cold temps. For reference last December I swapped an engine in my old mk2 in the driveway. Not the case this year. I did move into my own house at the end of January though. It came with a 2 car garage that is deeper than standard so I have a lot of extra room. I haven't brought the rabbit over yet because I've been moving stuff still but its almost ready.





 
#38 · (Edited)
So I wasn't able to get my car home this weekend. Definitely wont be next weekend as I am going to San Diego for 3 days. Maybe one of these week nights before I leave town I can go get my remaining tools, cart, spare parts, and car.

On the side I have been working on a little project. I am building a replicate of the dash (with minor adjustments) out of MDF, I still have to finish it with filler, lots of sanding and smoothing and finally primer to finish it. I am only in the molding stage but a friend of a friend has pretty much everything needed to mold, cnc mill, cut, vacuum seal and finish carbon fiber. After speaking with my new friend for a couple hours he got me pointed in the direction necessary to accomplish this task. Once I have the replicate built he is going to help me finish it in carbon. Here is what I have been working on so far. If I had better wood working tools, I could have done less filler work after but oh well. Live and learn. I had one other friend help me route the edges so they were rounded. I didnt snap any pics that day.

This is what I assembled


Some filler


First round of sanding. Needs 1 more pass with filler.

 
#43 ·
Yeah it does a little. I extended the top to bring it closer to me and raised the bottom so it will sit closer to the column and be below my line of sight (my seat sits really low and I'm only 5'10") I also like the angle I put on the right side so the gauges will be facing me. Makes the rocker switches more reachable as well when belted in.
 
#44 · (Edited)
So I have finally started to get settled in to the garage and have all my tools and parts in one place. Today I wanted to get some things done on the car. I started with installing the brake master cylinder and lines to the front calipers and proportion valve. After that I got the clutch master and slave cylinder mounted and the line ran. I also removed the old bango fuel line, installed the filter and routed the ABA lines. I need to pull the rear drums to see their current condition. Probably just do a rebuild on that for now. I still haven't sorted the issue I have with the G60 calipers on the front that are hitting the rotor. Not much for photos but more to come.


 
#45 · (Edited)
Did some more today after work. Spent the afternoon scraping the sound deadener from the floor behind the back seat, removed the rear wiper, all the seat belts, and did a little cleanup in the garage. I need to purchase an extension cord and pick up my heat gun that I loaned out so I can get the small pieces left over around the edges.


 
#46 · (Edited)
Got my extension cord and heat gun so I was able to finish scraping the sound deadener off the rear shock towers and edges of the floor I missed. Also went to town on removing the spare tire well.



Once that was done, I finally did something that I've been needing to do since I bought the car. The Zender hatch spoiler is falling apart and I could see a bit of rust formed around the drip rails. pulled the wing off and discovered a bit of cancer.










 
#50 · (Edited)
The progress I have made as of late would be...

Dropping the beam... not without a casualty though. One of the studs in the body broke free so I am gonna have to have that one welded in place to reinstall.



Dropping the gas tank... but not after draining about 7 gallons of varnish out of it. (1 or so on the floor. my garage stinks.) I didn't take a photo of that. What I did do was take it to a local shop to have it flushed.

After the beam and tank was out I started working on the snot in the floor pans. got the passenger side about 80% complete with a scraper and wire wheel. Primed it after to prevent surface rust.



I have been busy buzzing through threads and looking for ideas etc. to maybe build things on a budget. I found a list of parts to build a toe stabilizer kit for the rear beam so I ordered all those pieces. I will have a guy I work with do the welding. I will have it powder coated when finished. My threaded hex bar arrived today. The Heim joints arrive tomorrow. I just need to pay a visit to the local metal supermarket to get the steel I will need.



Not to steal credit where credit is due, I found the list of parts in the hybrid forum on a berg cup build. I ordered all these pieces from the same eBay seller. Couldn't believe it. Prices still low too.

Ok Here it is,
Ok my complete part list for the rear beam toe kit.

From Summitracing.com
2x Allstar Performance Suspension Tube, Aluminum, Black Anodized, 5/8-18 in. Left/Right Hand Thread, .875 in. Diameter, 22 in. Length. $14.79 each

From seller QSC8 on Ebay
2 x ECON 1/2 x 5/8-18 MALE RH ROD ENDS HEIM JOINTS HEIMS $13.30 total
2x ECON 1/2 x 5/8-18 MALE LH ROD ENDS HEIM JOINTS HEIMS $13.30 Total
4x 1/2" CONE SPACER HEIMS HEIM JOINT ROD END ENDS JOINTS $5.00 Total
1x 6 PACK 5/8-18 LH STEEL JAM NUTS NUT $4.75
1x 6 PACK 5/8-18 RH STEEL JAM NUTS NUT $1.65

After that all you need is a 7” long piece of 3” square tubing for and some plate steel for the mounts. The steel is like $6 for everything.

All my nuts & bolts are ½ inch grade 8 and available almost any hardware store. The Front 2 are 1.75” long and the rea are 1”.

Add it up. With the nuts and bits its less than $100 for the stuff + your time.

That’s it. If you have any questions or I left a detail out, let me know.:wave:
Jason
The biggest update that is about a month or 2 away from arrival. Full berg kit on order from Pesch Mortorsport. Now is the time to order. The Euro is in the toilet so the kits are actually affordable. We have 2 kits on order and were able to get them for $335 each shipped. Normally going for $500-$600
 
#53 ·
Long lost update, things have been happening. I just haven't been updating. The weekend after I picked up the square tubing I was able to get it welded up.







I've also been able to get started on laying the fiberglass shell over the MDF mold for the carbon dash. Also ordered new fuel lines and a Walbro 255lph for future upgrades.
 
#54 · (Edited)
Okay folks who are still following! Did I mention I had a gas tank issue after I paid a lot of money to have mine flushed? Holy balls. So the pickup tube from the baffle to the pump outlet of the tank was just floating around the tank.. as usual for these cars. I read the thread where the guy fixed his but it was unsuccessful cause the hose he put back in place to hold the tube didn't last. So I had to come up with a more permanent solution. Eventually these tanks aren't gonna be available for purchase so there's gotta be a better solution right?. I believe I may have solved my own issue. Maybe this will work for some one else.

The biggest struggle I saw for trying to place a hose in the tank with long needle nose pliers was the limited access. So I thought to my self why not cut the tank open and weld the tube in place? Luckily, there was a solution for that. The barbed pipes are silver soldered in to the tank. So we used a hole saw to cut the silver around the barbed pipe.



With that barb out I could have the tube to the baffle and the barb joined together by welding them. Nothin pretty, but functional.




Using a flashlight, I looked through the hole in the top of the tank to line up and place the tube in to the baffle.

After that the tube and barb were back in place and just needed to be soldered back in.



I made a call to the place that flushed my fuel tank to ask if they could solder it back in place which they did. Took my tank in, and within 5 minutes I had my tank in my hands ready to go.



NOW, keep in mind I did not address the 1/4" steel tube inside my tank. That tube comes out above the seam, next to the breather barb. That hose goes to the charcoal canister in the front of the car, which my car is no longer equipped with. I am just gonna replace the hose and route it up above the filler neck. This may not be good enough for someone with a stock car. I don't know for sure. Once the car is up and running I will be able to update if this solution works. As I see it, no reason to cut the tank. You could use a small map torch to heat up that solder and remove the barb to weld or even reconnect the tube via submersible fuel hose. Any fuel tank repair place or HVAC guy could re-solder that barb fitting back in to place. Save a lot of time trying to squeeze long needle nose pliers through the sending unit hole. Im gonna update that thread so that maybe other people searching can test my solution for themselves.
 
#56 · (Edited)
Well, things went from good to awesome this week. I've got my gas tank back in after I put some fresh paint on it. I got the towers welded up for the toe stabilizer kit, the towers should be welded to the rear beam by the weekend and I should have the beam blasted and powder coated soon. Im in the process of sorting out what fittings I need to run the walbro fuel pump... and last but certainly not least /drumrolll please. The Berg cup kits arrive for 01 and myself. So pumped right now.








 
#60 ·
Found what I need for the fuel pump. I needed an adapter from metric to a barb but they didn't have the correct barb size so I had to go metric to AN to a barb. Found what I needed from summit racing. So I ordered a 10mm to -8AN adapter



From there I needed -8AN to 1/2" hose barb



Now I should be able to finish the fuel system and the tank end. I placed an order with NubWorks for a billet fuel rail. That should be in my hands next week. I need to start working out the ITB manifold soon. The fuel rail will help with that project.
 
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