matthewmcl said:In reply to Rabbit Farmer :
I may still have a couple of the metal bits for mounting a G60 and an 02A in a Corrado, if they are any help.
Appreciate it, but this doesn't have any of the typical trans mounting mounts from a stock car.
The 020 transmission is actually mounted (hanging) from a bracket on the firewall as the MK2 subframe is in the way. I have been geeking out with this car for years looking at all the modifications. Pretty cool.
Pretty sure I was just talking to a guy you may know. Mark from EFI Tuning. He knows Seth Achillies so I figure you may know him too. My R is going in for some work that I don't have time/room to do.
Yep, I know both Marc and Seth.
Rabbit Farmer said:matthewmcl said:In reply to Rabbit Farmer :
I may still have a couple of the metal bits for mounting a G60 and an 02A in a Corrado, if they are any help.
Appreciate it, but this doesn't have any of the typical trans mounting mounts from a stock car.
The 020 transmission is actually mounted (hanging) from a bracket on the firewall as the MK2 subframe is in the way. I have been geeking out with this car for years looking at all the modifications. Pretty cool.
Totally understand the modified state. I was just thinking that since the Corrado used both an 02A and a Mk2 subframe, there may be some usable parts. It looks like all I have is the engine mount bracket on the firewall side of the block and the arm that goes from the top of the transmission to the firewall.
I might have to look at the Corrado to see what it looks like under the hood. I wonder where the brackets that Bill (original builder) used came from... stock VW or something else.
I got side tracked with a week long stay-cation where I wasn't able to do anything on my 'to-list'. But, I was committed to completing one project... replace the fold out ramp and hinge on the enclosed trailer ramp.
The hinge was damaged when my car was a bit too low and the skid plate was fighting back. The hinge worked, but would bind.
The ramp board split... too thin in my opinion and not pressure treated lumber.
Hinge was about $100, new hardware around $40, and the PT plywood was effectively free as it was leftover from another project.
I took the grinder to the top edge of the ramp (under where the ramp mounts) to address surface rust and did a few coats of Rust-Oleum paint.
The old ramp used screws (which were all loose) and 4 Tee Nuts; I installed 5 stainless steel long prong tee nuts (3/8-16, 7/16 x 1). I figure one more bolted connection would be better.
I finished the project around 9:30pm. I still need to add some aluminum trim pieces to the edges of the ramp to protect the wood.
Rabbit Farmer said:Yep, I know both Marc and Seth.
I knew you know Seth from Vermont Sports Car. I went to an autox or 2 with you guys with a black 2dr Subaru 2.5rs that I sold to Seth for cheap after it was totaled, then he rolled it down Aschunty or Burke or one of the other hillclimbs.
I've a rather fun '12 Golf R now, I have yet to do anything but drag race it.
He put it on his roof at Philo. I trailered it back to his house for him.
I tried to get a new R back in 2021, but could not find one... ended up with the STI instead.
Finally done with ramp. Instead of using thin L channel, I used thicker aluminum 3/4" C channel to wrap around the entire leading edge of the ramp along with the sides.
I tried... I really did... to make 45-degree cuts without a miter. Nope. I was lucky to get a straight cut.
So... I cut a corner by not cutting corners. Wocka Wocka (which is the correct spelling of Fozzie Bear's post-punchline)
1.25" screws in the edge and 3/4" along the top and bottom.
After I was done I decided that I would take the Subaru for a drive since it has been in storage for over 3 weeks since the Volkswagens are getting my attention in the garage.
I was closing the ramp door to keep varmint out while I went to change... noticed that all three of the ramp bumpers that hold the ramp off the ground were loose.
Spent time tightening the bolts (all had good purchase) and decided a shower and the couch was in order. No driving the Subaru for a little while now.
While geeking out on Isaac's MK1 1.8T project on VWvortex this morning, I got some good ideas for my MK1 Scirocco.
Here is the project thread: https://www.vwvortex.com/threads/the-original-20vt-mk1-re-build-thread.5411439/
Meanwhile, work continues with the MK4 Golf.
The Tial turbo housing was very loose, yet the bolts were tight and, after removal, did not stretch.
The lip that connects to the Tial housing corroded over time and pretty much went away.
This picture shows me holding the mounting surface for the Tial away from the turbo center section. That difference is the missing center section mounting flange. This is why the Tial housing was loose. Some horsepowers snuck out.
Current turbo is Garrett Gen 1 GTX2863R. We are ordering a Garrett Gen 2 GTX2860R today. Around $1275 before shipping and taxes. Ouch.
I wanted something that works with the current Tial housing so that I didn't have to make any changes to the exhaust.
The 2860 should spool up a little quicker, and surprising, it actually has a little more horsepower potential because of the improved technology. I don't need more HP at the top end, but good to know it is an option.
The new turbo should be here in a week. Then we have to schedule a retune at VEMS before the Ascutney hillclimb.
I think over the winter I will take apart the engine to go through it for next season.
Steve
New turbo temporarily installed to work out the clocking of the oil in/outlets.
The fittings to change how the lines that will be connected to the turbo should arrive tomorrow. One of the challenges we had at the Burke hillclimb this summer when trying to troubleshoot the turbo is that it was extremely difficult to get a wrench around the fitting to remove the coolant line. The plan is to add a 90-degree, male/female, -6AN fitting to the turbo that will stay on the turbo. It will make it easier to access and install/remove the lines.
Tuning is planned for 11am on Wednesday (Sep 06) at VEMS in Colchester, VT.
The Ascutney hilllclimb is Sep 9-10. Cutting it close, but we think we can do it.
Huge thank you to Joey Kale for traveling to my house to get the new turbo setup and make a new braided coolant hose (what failed at Burke).
Oh... and some pretty pictures of the turbo and the test fit install.
Steve
Picture of the final assembly of the turbo. Joey was having a hard time getting the broken bolt out of the hot side, but was successful.
Turbo 100% installed and car is running. New plugs with .025 gap. Joey fixed the leaking coolant line (from Burke hillclimb 2023) by cutting of the end of the old hose and installing a new fitting. The plan over the winter is to replace some of the old braided hoses, replace the silicone hoses on the boost controller with braided, rebuild the engine, and install the manual timing belt tensioner. You know, small stuff like that.
I purchased an oil filter cutting tool. Pretty easy to use. No offending metal bits in the oil or the filter.
The STI has been sitting in the trailer for over a month... I did take it out for two days that I had to drive to work. I didn't want to park it outside as the Golf was in the garage. Golf glass is fogged from sitting in the air conditioned garage and then going out into the incredibly hot and humid outdoors. Yuck. I went through three t-shirts today.
So... spirited drive is planned for tomorrow with the STI while the Golf is getting tuned at VEMS.
Mt. Ascutney hillclimb (last event of the season) is this weekend. Looking forward to it.
Not the best day to tune the car on 93 pump. The outside temp was around 87F and humid as heck.
One thing we learned... the FMIC is too small. Timing was pulled when intake temps exceeded 59C/138F. Looking at FMIC options over the winter along with other improvements that I have been planning. One suggestion was Treadstone 600 HP version. Same width, just taller. Will see what dimensions work. And perhaps use that sprayer setup I bought years ago.
Dropped the car off at VEMS this morning.
Two hours later the car is done and ready for the weekend.
Thick line: Generation 1 GTX2863R with pump fuel, residual leaded fuel in lines and on parts, mild temps
Thin line: Generation 2 GTX2860R (smaller/new turbo Sep 2023) with pump fuel, 87F and humid as heck.
The 2023 New England Hillclimb Association (NEHA) hillclimb season wrapped up with the Ascutney hillclimb.
Rained sooooo hard on Friday... lots of lightning, heavy rain, took down some canopies, minor river going through the campsite, and fuel to grow moss on the road.
Driving up the hill on Saturday for our first practice run showed a completely green road in the lower half of the mountain. My experience is that moss doesn't exactly make for good traction. Times were slow on Saturday.
The weather forecast for Sunday looked bad with the mossy Saturday as the fastest times of the day. But, we got lucky and didn't see any rain on Saturday or Sunday... the times were pretty good.
I was working through trying to determine by shift-points with the new GTX2860R (smaller than before) turbo. It didn't have the top end like the old GTX2863R, but I was benefiting from the power that was coming in lower. I will have to review the dyno chart vs. my gearing to figure out the shift points.
There is a track event in mid-October. That may be the last event for the Golf this year. The format of the track event is like a hillclimb where we have cars spaced out on the track and it is timed from point A to point B (pit exit to pit entrance). At the end of the day the format is HPDE with laps of the full track. It is a fun event. I just need to address a leaking tire issue that I discovered at Ascutney.
Then... work through all the improvements I want over the winter while building that darn Scirocco.
Steve
depending on your gearing setup, it might be interesting to look into a tdi gearset to see if that might regain the top end with the smaller turbo.
I ran a tdi gear set in my boosted r32 and it was the single best complimentary mod to that car, really made the power usable
I have plenty of gearing to get me to the top speed, I just don't think I will have the HP. At one of the hillclimbs there is a very long straight that I almost hit 120 mph. I don't expect to be able to hit that.
That is in 5th gear.... I still have 6th that I don't use.
I switched to the 6 speed because it is so much stronger that the 5 speed. I used to break the 5 speed all the time.
Getting Golf ready for the track event.
Unfortunately, I don't have dedicated track brake pads. The pads are pretty good on the track for short sprints, but I won't be trusting them for repeated deep dives.
Front are Hawk Blue and rears are Hawk HP Plus.
I used to use the Hawk HP Plus on the street for my 2009 WRX and loved them. Squeaked, but they came on quick.
This week was spent checking all the bolts, etc. Found one loose bolt on the skid plate and the lower collar on the coil over loosened to about 2" below where it should be.
The beating at the Ascutney hillclimb requires post event bolt/nut checks.
Saturday included new brake fluid, pad inspection, cleaned and reoiled the air intake filter, blew out the water tank and lines to the radiator sprayer (won't be needed), new cabin air filter, torqued all tires, air pressure in all tires, and found better way to mount the Go-Pro camera.
Sunday was at it at 5:30am cleaning up the tools, etc. from the car project and started washing the car at 6:00am. Car, truck, and trailer done by 7:00. Had breakfast and headed to an American Cancer Society fundraising event/5km walk-run.
Long weekend. Car in trailer and ready for the event.
All that in one picture.
And... I switched over to PNG file types after learning about how JPG files lose their quality over time when copying to a new location. Don't need that.
Wrapping up the driving portion of the year... time to get going on Golf changes and building the Scirocco for the 2023/2024 winter.
Last event of the year was a time trial at the Club Motorsport track in NH. Fantastic track and facility that I am very pleased to be able to drive the track. Especially with the fall leaves as a backdrop. B-E-A-you-tee-full.
The remote wired mic did not work (it had a new battery). Unsure if the wire was damaged or the GoPro converter (allows for 3.5mm RCA plug) was damaged. I could hear some very distant and muffled sounds on the video, but decided it wasn't worth posting.
So... you get my first run of the day on a track that I have been to a number of times... but first time we were running it backwards.
I had no idea of the proper lines, braking, points, etc. for a good time. Watching the video, I was more in the middle of the track vs. actually driving the lines.
Oh well, it was my first run and the only run with working sound as I didn't use the remote mic.
Make sure to watch in HD to get the best picture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYBDg-e9VrE
Photos from hash tag, at-symbol, whatever... "noahmouth" on Instgram
And... the Mt. Washington "Climb to the Clouds" hillclimb has a date in 2025.
Julie, the lovely wife, and I look forward to helping organize this event and I hope to be driving again... perhaps with the Scirocco.
(nearly) Time to head to the garage to get those dreams going faster.
Steve
I was looking through some old hillclimb racing event photos and found this gem from 2002 at the Mt. Philo hillclimb.
One of the Rutan Sciroccos; I currently own the FWD Scirocco.
This lovely shade of green is AWD and propelled by a powerful V-6 engine. I heard "Busch type race engine" in the past, but I don't recall exactly what it was for the engine. It was a fast car and fast driver.
Any admin for Motorgeek on here? I need some help on MG. Thx. Steve
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Welcome to 2024... and off to a very slow start.
The Historic Mt. Philo hillclimb, hosted by the Sports Car Club of Vermont (https://www.SCCV.org) and sponsored by A-Plus Towing & Recovery in Orwell, VT (https://aplustowing802.com), is this coming weekend.
That means all the issues and improvements that I had all winter to work on come down to 6 days before the first event.
So, this past weekend was oil/filter change, inner tie rod, spark plugs, running issue at the last 2023 track event, new RBF600 brake fluid, tire inflation and wheel torque.
But... I didn't get to any of the "improvements" that I wanted to do over the winter. Lazy and busy with local club and hillclimb organization stuff didn't help.
The running issue turned out to be a very rusty #4 spark plug wire on the coil end. Replaced it, cleaned and applied dielectric grease to all four coil posts, replaced the spark plugs, and she is running perfectly again.
One of the improvements for the 2024 season was to install the much larger Mann W940/25 oil filter.
Given more time to see if I could relocate the wires on the bottom of the fan shroud, perhaps I could have made it fit.
This is how close the stock size oil filter is to the wires. This is because I have a much thicker aftermarket radiator.
Replaced the inner tied rod. The ball was a little loose in the socket. Surprised as it is relatively new. Since it was a concern of the hillclimb tech inspector at the end of the 2023 season, I replaced it.
Changing of the guard. The MK1 Scirocco returns to the garage and the Golf is heading out for the Mt. Philo hillclimb.
In other news... last summer I had a tire blowout on the trailer on the way to a track event. Replacing a tire in the breakdown lane of I-89 isn't all that fun. Thankfully, I was able to jack up the trailer without removing the car.
On my way back from the track event, I checked all the tires again and noticed that one (same side as the blowout) was low on air pressure.
(don't worry, I'm getting to the point)
My cigarette plug in air compressor wouldn't reach from the truck to the back of the 24' enclosed trailer nor did I want to remove the tire. So, I had to use my air tank to ferry air from the air compressor plugged into the truck dash to the tire on the trailer.
What a pain.
Enter the new Milwaukee M18 battery air compressor. Very simple and very functional.
It threads onto the tire. Bonus.
You can hold the manual inflate button to add air.
The real bonus is the memory. Connect the hose to the tire, press the 1 of 3 memory options, press Start, and it will inflate (and draw back down if it overshot) to that setting. Great for setting the pressure for all tires on a vehicle. Hit the truck tires next.
Not much to report so far in 2024.
I raced at the Mt. Philo, Mt. Ascutney (Oxford comma) and Mt. Okemo hillclimbs. So far, it has been a little wet this season.
Mt. Okemo was this weekend... we got home early as we called the event due to rain. I didn't want to race in the rain (my car doesn't like it), but was willing to work the event if the driver vote was in favor of having the event on Sunday. My wife in her 2015 Volvo S60 R-Design also raced this weekend... same boat, didn't want to drive in the rain, but would have worked a checkpoint.
Even on Saturday, with the on-off rain, I parked the car after 3 of the 5 runs.
During the Ascutney hillclimb, I noticed that I was spinning the wheels in 4th gear in the straights... knew it was time to get new tires. Another set of Toyo R888R just because I haven't tried other tires. Run what I know.
The 2001 Golf is 23 years old, I have been racing it for 18 years, and she still looks pretty good.
Action shot from the Mt. Okemo hillclimb
The Ascutney #2 hillclimb was a blast. Was going great in the overall results.
Going for my fast run of the weekend on Sunday.... everything was going perfectly. Very very fast and was heading for a quick time.
Approaching last corner (#29) at over 95 mph, flying in fourth gear over a very very bump road.
And then.... I did not crash.
Fourth gear left the chat.
I thought it was an axle and I pushed in the clutch to try to roll uphill to the finish line... I was going fast enough to cover that distance coasting.
Didn't quite make it. Realized I didn't hear the thump-thump from a broken axle.
I tried first gear and the car moved forward. Crap... means it wasn't an axle (that I could easily fix).
Anyway... left the car at the top of the hill, drove the crew cab with 24' enclosed trailer up the 3 mile race course, and drove the car into the trailer for its trip home the next day.
Good news is I drove it on the trailer. Bad news is that I have to swap out the trans.
Just so happens I have an 02M on the shelf with LSD already installed.
Two more events this year...
Steve
Bummer about 4th gear. That scirocco picture gets me way too excited. Can't wait to see more of yours!
Slowly working on the car... making a list and checking it twice before ordering stuff on black Friday.
Gave me a little time to clean up the clutter on my bench.
Those pesky license plates needed a home.
I mounted some strips of wood on the wall and (at a slight angle) drilled holes to install 5mm x 24mm nickel plated shelf pins. This makes it easy to move the plates around as needed. Better than screwing the plates to the wall.
I was going to use small wood dowels, but the metal pins ($1.24 for a package of 4) made for an easier to build solution that looks nice.
The plates from the 1960s are from my mother's Bug; her first new car.
I have a number of old parts to install, transmission to replace, and some new goodies thanks to some holiday sales. Plus some other projects that I want to do to the car.
The new goodies...
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