[Car_Restoration] Scruffy But Original 1.9 Gti - Restoration

[Plumbob 66 1 Cars]

Yorkshire!! Nah that's a nice offer but I'd be afraid to venture far away from Hampshire at the moment. Perhaps if it runs like it is today for a few weeks I'll grow a bit more adventurous! :-)

[Plumbob 66 1 Cars]

Went to Goodwood today with my best mate!

 

[Plumbob 66 1 Cars]

Managed to get a spare moment and got an OBD socket from a scrapyard.. Undid all my tidy wiring trunking and found the two signal wires chopped off not far from the ECU plug, spliced into the Rev counter line and ran the whole lot into the car. Took the earths from the earth point above the fuse box (got a plug from the scrappy too) and took the positives from the spare location on the fuse box. All in all it cost me £3!

 

Which gave me this....

 

 

Just need to get a bracket, didn't want to spend too much time getting one yesterday as it was freezing, raining and very very muddy.... I'll sort it later. For now it's fine just sat in the glovebox.

 

Took the car to Matt and he plugged his Solus into it and low and behold it works! Got live data for air/water temp, RPM, MAP, Lambda, speed (proved the VSS worked) etc. The only fault code the ECU is showing is the carbon canister circuit, which is no surprise as its long gone...

 

Quite happy it's done as it'll help next time it gives me grief!

 

 

Edited February 21, 2015 by Plumbob

[Mattr5uk 20 5 Cars]

I'll edit that for you - just need to get a bracket and a vts gearbox - lol

 

I've got to say I really like the vts rack with pas set up that's definitely what I'm looking for now.

 

Just need to sort the other car out and move that on first.

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

PB, could a rectangle hole be put in the dash (drill and file it square) pocket to fit it in? i.e. does the plug have wings or clips?

 

I'll need to get one.

 

Matt you should give him a race and he won't be long getting a VTS box lol

 

Mines coat £45! Bargain.

Cost 45!

[Mattr5uk 20 5 Cars]

The 306 obd plug is fitted into a metal bracket you can remove, I'm thinking of extending the wires on mine to accommodate it in the cubby hole to the right of the steering wheel.

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

That's where i was thinking Matt.

[Plumbob 66 1 Cars]

Hold on a sec.... My wheels alone make my car faster than his...

[Plumbob 66 1 Cars]

.... and my car isn't 15 turns lock to lock :-)

[Mattr5uk 20 5 Cars]

Hang on we're getting a bit personal here! It's 14 and a half actually oh my seat moves forwards and backwards better than yours lol

But that's all I've got

[Plumbob 66 1 Cars]

Fair play...

[credowan 15 1 Cars]

Looks great, and really good work with the OBD, roll on the summer have to have a south coast/local meet

[Plumbob 66 1 Cars]

So, I've done approx 600 hundred miles in the car and it's rather good!! Thankfully the engine mounts are softening up a bit like people said they would. The suspension is a tad hard (feels like a 3 series on 19" run flats) :-

 

I know what you all mean about the 1.9 'box. It's not awful perhaps because of the flywheel, and it does really fly but I can tell it kind of labours a bit in the first two gears. Although it depends how you drive, once you're up the Rev range in 1st it's bonkers from then on. On sweeping 3rd, 4th and 5th gear roads it's fab!

 

No reliabilty issues since the coil pack played up and it seems fairly economical! Still not posted any photos of the interior so I must get round to that....

 

All in all it's going well, I hope to go to Pugfest and maybe the Retro show too...

[Plumbob 66 1 Cars]

Quick update, the car ran great after changing the coilpack..... for about three weeks, then it started spluttering and backfiring again! :-(

 

I pulled the rest of the coil packs out and two were cracked so that was it!! I changed the lot. Unsurprisingly it runs sweet as a nut now!

 

I realised I've never taken any photos of the interior since I finished it so I've fixed that today! Excuse the state of the outside of the car it badly needs a wash, and also apologies for the gearknob, the original one was there but it split in two one day when I was out so it's been substituted for that ally one I knocked up...

 

The Clarion plays up a bit, most of the time the sound only comes out of the LH channel but never mind, I'll have a look at that some time.

 

I've misplaced my engine bay sticker set so I must find that and get them all back on too..

 

Intending to take it to Pugfest so that'll be its first proper long journey, fingers crossed it'll be alright!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 31, 2015 by Plumbob

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

Stunning PB.

[speno 239 2 Cars]

Sort that bumper trim out you tart

oh and nice pics

[Plumbob 66 1 Cars]

Cheers lads. Send me some bumper trim then YOU TART, you must have at least 10 sets in your shed!

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

hes got at least ten in every shed and at least 10 in every room in the house

 

that gear knob has GOT to go

Edited June 1, 2015 by Slo

[Plumbob 66 1 Cars]

It's just an ally ball, probably would suit a Lotus Elise better!

 

With a bit of luck Spencer will stop bitching and send me one of them too! ????

 

Just got my Pugfest ticket...

Edited June 1, 2015 by Plumbob

[johnboy1984 5 1 Cars]

Just read this start to finish, epic work. I must confess all that arsing about with those engine conversions would do my tits right in... I'll be keeping mine original... stunning car bud

[Plumbob 66 1 Cars]

Cheers pal. Nice to hear! All still running well.. Coming up with a plan for a few more mods.

[chrisj21 2]

Just spent the evening reading your progress Plumbob, fantastic work, really looks nice.

 

May I ask when you re attached the sunroof did you use any tape/sealant between the body and sunroof?

 

Thanks

 

Chris

[Plumbob 66 1 Cars]

Hi there, Thankyou for your comments!

 

With regards to the sunroof, I used some black sikaflex which I bought in a marine supply shop. I forget the exact variety although I may still have the remains of the tube somewhere.

I remember I didn't go mad with it as I didn't want it squishing out all over the roof! It doesn't appear to leak so I'm pretty sure I did it ok.

[chrisj21 2]

Thanks for the reply, much appreciated!

[DBG 16]

Looks great. Love the extra width of those wheels.