Just another 1303s

[SebastienPeek]

This morning I ventured off to pick up the engine from the shipping depot.

This evening, I got it out of a van I borrowed into the garage.


IMG_0270 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr


IMG_0271 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr

It isn't very Volkswagen looking. It's actually an EJ20.


IMG_0275 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr

A twin turbo EJ20 to be exact. With 133,000km's on the clock, with the wiring loom (including fuse box), and an ECU, I definitely got a very good deal on this engine.


IMG_0276 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr

Especially when the ECU is a MINE'S ECU.

Now to tear down the engine and rebuild it with the basics that are needed for the conversion into a bug. Let the fun begin.

[GJA003]

To hell with Subaru power in VW's

After careful thought Woody, I will be going Type 1 power plant you will be happy to know.

Congrats Seb. Can't wait to see once its more progressed. Decided what cluster your going to run yet ? I remember back to Zelda you were in between finishing that dash ?

[SebastienPeek]

Congrats Seb. Can't wait to see once its more progressed. Decided what cluster your going to run yet ? I remember back to Zelda you were in between finishing that dash ?

I found the EJ20 by accident, it was cheap and included enough to get me started!

I'll be running what I was originally doing in Zelda, very glad I kept a lot of the stuff I was going to use on Zelda.

[GJA003]

I found the EJ20 by accident, it was cheap and included enough to get me started!

I'll be running what I was originally doing in Zelda, very glad I kept a lot of the stuff I was going to use on Zelda.

Happy you went the EJ20 route to be totally honest. Can't wait to see the progression.



This wouldn't be Gretl next to Zelda would it ?

[SebastienPeek]

Holy shit. Need to find original photo without the number plate whited out. Would be crazy if it was.

[SebastienPeek]

Had a quick look for that photo, found it, not the Gretl.

I got a lift home from dinner after dropping the van off. Straight away I was out in the garage to tear down the engine. I only wanted to remove the entire wiring loom, but I got a bit carried away.


IMG_0279 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr


IMG_0280 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr

Alternator came off quite easily. Then I couldn't get the wiring loom out from underneath the intake manifold, so off came that. It was stuck between the intake manifold and the fuel hard lines.


IMG_0282 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr

Now, I have no idea what the fuck this is. It connects to both the turbos and almost looks like some sort of breather setup. More research is necessary into the twin turbo setup, but keep thinking about converting it to single turbo and a single turbo conversion into a bug is very common.


IMG_0287 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr

And it is definitely an EJ20.


IMG_0283 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr

Like I said, more research into this engine is necessary. I don't want to dismantle the twin turbo setup just yet, I have a few other things that are worth looking over first and foremost.

Such as the coil pack setup, the engine has a coil pack per spark plug, instead of one coil pack and leads coming off of it. Not sure if I should upgrade a few things while the engine is getting teared down or if I should keep the engine standard until I get it running properly.

[SebastienPeek]

Bit of progress yesterday.

Thanks to Neni I should be able to get the engine all up and running. He has the missing parts for the twin turbo setup, thankfully.

I also removed the a/c condenser last night, have to get rid of the unnecessary parts of the engine, every little bit counts.

Now I have to practice welding and get the pan halves organised.

[mgpdoc]

Subscribed.

[SebastienPeek]

Made a little more progress this weekend. Minute, but still, something is better than nothing.

Mate came around yesterday and had a go at TIG welding. Didn't end very well, so looking at doing some night courses in it so that when I get to the welding stage, I know what I'm doing properly.

Tonight, with the help of the girlfriend, we cleaned up the pan halves a bit more. I took a wire wheel to the factory sound deadening around the tunnel and flung goo everywhere. Not even mad.

Just waiting for pay day so I can organise some new pan halves. Have to drive to Melbourne this coming Friday night so I can pick up the rest of the engine bits necessary to get the engine all nice and refreshed. Thinking I might take the heads off and replace both covers.

No pictures again, but will get some tomorrow night once I have completely cleaned up the tunnel on the pan. Then comes cutting out the pan halves and sussing out what I'm going to do with the front suspension setup.

Narrowing the front suspension is going to be interesting and getting the amount of front camber I want will also be interesting. I'm going to need to get new LCA's, shorten the sway bar and modify the strut mounting position so that it doesn't hit the LCA's when cambered.

Narrowing the rear suspension is also going to be interesting, but will do that once I have the gearbox and engine mounted up so that I know how much I can narrow the rear.

Sorry for the wall of text!

[SebastienPeek]

So, I went to clean up the tunnel a bit more, and well, the grinder slipped.


IMG_0342 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr

So off came a whole pan half. I cut about 1/4" away from the lip where the original one is spot welded on, and around the base at the rear. Mainly so I can go around with a flat head and pry the spot welded sheet metal off the lip.


IMG_0343 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr

Those with a keen eye will see what I'm talking about in the photo above. At the rear I didn't cut up the groove but kept low to the bottom so as to make it easier to cut the rest out when the new halves come. Have to battle with the spot welds next.


IMG_0345 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr

Everyone loves some suspension pictures. The front suspension setup is pretty simple. A macpherson strut front end makes life a lot easier to accomplish a custom setup.


IMG_0347 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr

And as for the rear, it is an interesting setup indeed. Still utilising torsion bars, the rear suspension height is set by splines. This will be removed, narrowed and a Mendeola true track rear setup will be installed.


IMG_0348 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr

Have already started drawing up the front suspension setup. Need to organise my welding course.

[SebastienPeek]

Grabbed some engine parts while in Melbourne on the weekend.

Trying to figure out which route to go with the engine. Either get it working with the twin turbo setup or convert to single. Converting to single seems like the right thing to do though.

I require a standalone ECU and wiring harness as well. That's another thing to add to the money spent.

Need to order pan halves on the ASAP. Spent some time tonight cleaning up the leftover metal on the tunnel where the pan half was originally spot welded too.

[SebastienPeek]

Everyone loves progress pictures.

I removed the pedal assembly. Still need to remove the brake master and pan half.


IMG_0504 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr

Then I got to cleaning up the tunnel and removing all the spot welds. Then covered all the bare metal in galv.


IMG_0503 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr


IMG_0501 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr


IMG_0502 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr


IMG_0505 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr

My replacement C pillar bits also came, so that is exciting to say the least. Now to get learning how to TIG I guess. Might spend some time tomorrow working it all out. Or, just go and buy a MIG like I should have in the beginning.


IMG_0508 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr


IMG_0510 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr

I also realised that the engine is going to be a massive task to get it running as a twin turbo as it should. So going to strip it all down and sell it as parts so I can fund the purchase of a WRX half cut or something.


IMG_0506 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr

If I get the right year half cut, I won't have as strict emission control tests either.

[SebastienPeek]

Ordered pan halves. Now I just need to learn how to weld TIG properly.

Might attempt that tomorrow as well as stripping the engine down.

[SebastienPeek]

So, today it is Australia Day. It's the day where a lot of dickheads think Australia is the best country and rave on about it.

I decided to spend my time differently. Out in the garage working with some German metal. So now, both pan halves have been split and I started cleaning up the tunnel area once again ready for the new pan halves to arrive.


IMG_0512 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr

Bit of pitting which sucks. Couldn't get this bit back to bare metal with the 100mm flapper disc.


IMG_0513 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr

Got the brake master all out and the brake lines removed along the pan. Need to figure out how I'm going to mount up the new pedal assembly once I have made the decision on what assembly I'm going with.


IMG_0514 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr

The rear suspension is looking a bit tired and weary. Need to get a wire brush and clean up all the setup, front and rear.


IMG_0519 by sebastienpeek, on Flickr

Tomorrow I'll finally whip out the TIG welder and run some practice welds in anticipation of the replacement pan halves. If I fail hard, I might just go and buy a MIG and use that.

[heef]

Seb's work <3