My first build thread!!! VW Rabbit AutoX/Hillclimber

N Sperlo wrote: So are you working at that shop or ate they working on something for you?

I work there. :-) Lucky me. !!!

4cylndrfury wrote:

anjaloveshervw wrote: Jeez, I love this berkeleying car! What is wrong with me?

Whats wrong with you? You have a new-to-you shop, a project car that you love, and a working example of your swap-in-progress an arms length away...Id say everything is just about as right as it can be.

Your logic is infallible :-)

Wiring nightmare??

Oh yeah?

. . . . . . BRING IT ON. I DARE YOU. . . . . . . . . . .

Per shop rules, we can't be working after hours alone. We need to have someone with us at all times. The last 2 nights, since Gaia has been at the shop, I have been on my hands and knees begging my coworkers to hang out with me... just drink beers and sit on the couches even! I even offered to buy them beers!! How do people have lives other than their cars? Everyone's cars need work, and we have 5 lifts! Eventually I roped Casey into hanging out while I spent time with my baby He has a Syncro Vanagon with an ABA swap, and just blew up the motor, so he had work to do. The good thing is that ABA swaps are no mystery to him. Just having someone smart in the shop with me gave me the confidence to proceed with confidence! I could screw something up, and not worry about trying to figure out not only what I screwed up, but then undoing it and redoing it the right way.... even though this situation may not arise in an evening, there is still the hint of complete terror that I could end up even further - days, weeks, months, or even... I'm not going to say it... away from hearing her roaring to life. With such confidence, I ended up ripping out the entire harness and starting from scratch...

I had already placed it in the car and hooked up some of the things that I had labeled, but things were starting to get confusing, and there was a rat's nest under the hood. Casey printed out a wiring diagram for me from alldata, but there was an even simpler one from the VWVortex that described the wires going into the ECM by number. It went like this:

68/1 = Brouw & Red - Ground 68/2 = Injector out put 68/5 = Yellow & black - Check engine light 68/6 = yellow & blue -fuel pump relay (switch on) 68/7 = Brouwn & red - ground 68/8 = Black & Red - coil power side 68/9 = Black & brown - ECU relay sig (whitch on) 68/10 = Brown - Ground 68/14 = Blue - Coolant temp 68/15 = Lilac - EGR temp (cal only) 68/16 = Brown & red - MAF 68/17 = Red - MAF 68/20 = white - o2 signal/ground 68/21 = Yellow - OBD check port 68/22 = Green & black - Power 68/23 = Red & blue- Power in from ECU relay 68/24 = Injector out put 68/25 = injector out put 68/26 = injector out put 68/27 = White - IAC 68/28 = white - o2 control unit/relay 68/30 = Green & gray - EGR valve 68/31 = Green & yellow - evap valve 68/33 = Brown - Ground 68/36 = Blue & green - intake air temp 68/37 = Green - AC 68/38 = Black - coil signal side (tack side) 68/39 = Blue - AC 68/40 =Green & white -TPS 68/41 = Black & yellow - TPS 68/42 = Yellow - o2 signal/ground 68/43 = Grey & white = OBD check port 68/44 = White & red - from distributor 68/51 = Lilac & White - ??? 68/53 = Black & white - IAC 68/54 = Red & yellow - from distributor 68/55 = Brown & white - Ground 68/56 = Brown & white - Ground 68/58 = White - Ground 68/65 = Blue & white- vehical speed signal form dash 68/67 = Red - crank sensor 68/68 = Green - Crank sensor

I labeled every single wire in order, which solved some mysteries, fixed some of my improper labeling, and allowed me to simplify the harness even more. I don't really know how to call this, but I suppose it could be something to the effect of "rebuilding the wiring harness" - though it is a much different procedure than, say, rebuilding a carburetor or something.... :-)

I also measured the spaces where my fuel pump needs to go and drew a template for some brackets that I'll have to make, torqued down my axle nuts, tightened up my rear suspension, and vacuumed some of my carpets. !!! Overall, quite a successful night for only a few hours. I'm happy!

On a separate note, who knew that there were 2 different pulleys for your alternator? Well, I didn't, but I found out... here I swapped mine. I had noticed that the belt rode a little funny over the alternator and the tensioner sat further back against the motor.

More to come!

anjaloveshervw wrote: on other notes, who knew that there were 2 different pulleys for your alternator? Well, I found out... here I swapped mine.

The smaller pulley is for more boost!

EvanB wrote: The smaller pulley is for more boost!

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sweet! High performance alternator!

anjaloveshervw wrote:

EvanB wrote: The smaller pulley is for more boost!

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sweet! High performance alternator!

Also REALLY fun when your internal voltage regulator fails!

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:

anjaloveshervw wrote:

EvanB wrote: The smaller pulley is for more boost!

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sweet! High performance alternator!

Also REALLY fun when your internal voltage regulator fails!

The pulley is the same OD, just not as long, making it line up with the other pulleys and the tensioner. :) Forgive the E36 M3ty phonecam pic :-/

Gah, I hate wiring. I can put a motor together in no time, take it apart and then put it back together again the same day (I've actually done this). Hand me wiring and I'm friggin lost. You have my respect for tearing into that mess.

Also, what kind of person turns down free beer?

I <3 wiring. And beer.

Curmudgeon wrote: I <3 wiring. And beer.

We could have some fun long evenings together.... dur. uhh. No homo...

Been eyeballing a diesel Rabbit. What do you think?

N Sperlo wrote: Been eyeballing a diesel Rabbit. What do you think?

Well you've had all day. Is it home yet?

mmm wiring fun... Take your time with it and hook everything up as factory as possible.. this is going to make your life a lot easier if you end up with bugs in the system...

my 323 took almost 2 weeks to rewire when I did the V6 swap in it... all though I rewired the entire car from tail lights to head lights..

I had a G60 Corrado once and ran into the same problem with the alternator pulley. The previous owner had the wrong pulley (and wrong size belt) causing the belt to only ride on 4 of 6 ribs. I love seeing you find small quirks on this project Anja, not because you have extra work...but because you take the time to fix them, and know its correct. Keep doin what your doin ;-) I'd def hang with ya if I weren't 1500 miles away!

N Sperlo wrote: Been eyeballing a diesel Rabbit. What do you think?

1.5l or 1.6l?

And yes, it makes a difference. :-)

crazycanadian wrote: mmm wiring fun... Take your time with it and hook everything up as factory as possible.. this is going to make your life a lot easier if you end up with bugs in the system... my 323 took almost 2 weeks to rewire when I did the V6 swap in it... all though I rewired the entire car from tail lights to head lights..

Oh, I am taking my sweet time, yes. And ... umm... stock as possible?? Hard to be stock with a 1980 chassis, 1997 motor, and 1993 wiring harness and ECU... butttttttttttt.... doin my best!! :-)

dansxr2 wrote: I had a G60 Corrado once and ran into the same problem with the alternator pulley. The previous owner had the wrong pulley (and wrong size belt) causing the belt to only ride on 4 of 6 ribs. I love seeing you find small quirks on this project Anja, not because you have extra work...but because you take the time to fix them, and know its correct. Keep doin what your doin ;-) I'd def hang with ya if I weren't 1500 miles away!

Awww thank you!!! I appreciate the fact that you know what I am going through, and that you respect my diligence, and my desire to make her... well... perfect! As perfect as possible. :-)

WHAT A FUN NIGHT IN THE SHOP I just had!! Seriously, after today, everything seems so... whole and complete. Like, I am a real person, and my car project is real, and it is moving forward, and I can do this.

Most of the exhaust is IN. Like, manifold bolted up, downpipe in place, and now I just have to get my flex pipe from my storage garage, weld it to the other half of the exhaust, and then bolt the two pieces together.... cakewalk!! I would do that tomorrow, but I was asked to work on my day off. If I didn't love my job so much, I might have said no.... but I love my job. Plus, that earned me Saturday off, which basically gives me a 4 day weekend.

There was a bunch of activity after hours today. One of the service writers had bought an old 4WD Toyota wagon off of a customer for $450 because it had a blown head gasket. He had just received the head back from the machine shop and was putting it back together in bay 1, Casey was putting his ABA back together for his syncro vanagon in bay 2, Simon was fixing suspension and an axle in his buddy's subaru in bay 3, and I was in bay 4 with Gaia. Music was playing, drinks were being (safely) had, and we were having an awesome time.

Today was all about backtracking, but this was alright since I was in such good spirits. In order to move forward, I had to undo several steps. To get the new exhaust on, I had to remove the front sway bar. In order to install the new drive belt, I had to take off the water pump pulley and crank pully and remove the lower timing cover to fix a bolt that I had installed improperly (causing the timing cover to sit crooked, which interfered with the path that the belt wanted to take). In order to plug up the unneeded sensor hole on my exhaust manifold, I had to remove it, weld it, and then reinstall it.....

Back and forth, and back and forth. Ebb and flow. Like life, like VW. It was sunny almost all day, and then a flash of hail and rain right around lunch time cleaned all of the leaves and plant matter off of Gaia's roof. Look at her, isn't she the cutest thing that you have ever seen?!?!

How can you resist the cuteness?!?!?! You can't, its not possible, You know it. This little car affects me every day, I literally was restless all night last night thinking about how to finish her. The gears in my head were spinning feverishly, though I couldn't keep my eyes actually open long enough to do any research to support my speculations so I just drove myself crazy, against my better judgment. The last time that I saw the clock it was almost 4:30 am, and I woke up at 6 for work.... I am so glad that I didn't screw up anyone's car today, (though honestly I did come close to forgetting some minor things a few times, like almost forgetting to reinastall an engine cover, and once, after I had already pulled the customer's car onto the street, I had to go back and get it, bring it back into the shop, put it BACK onto the lift, just to put back that stupid plastic cover that goes UNDER the engine. She probably never would have known, but I would have known, and that wouldn't have been okay) just stumbling through the day, constantly with a coffee in hand.

Here's another fun progress picture! The thing about these rabbits that makes them gratifying to modify is that every small addition/alteration really helps. This home made (out of galvanized steel pipe?!!?!?) stiffining bar will actually help her handle better, though one of my coworkers, after seeing me install this (and laugh at me, of course!) offered me the use of his machine shop to make my own, more solid version that is a little more legit. I kind of have an attachment to this one, but I'll take him up on that offer, for sure, if not just to play with machines! But for now, it will stay, I just want her to run and drive again! I mainly installed this to keep myself from losing it, as I had several times already, and kept finding it in random places.... :-/ as if it had a mind of its own!

And last but not least, here is a picture of some manifolds. The one above is the 16v, and the one below is my (sadly, cracked) mk4 2 liter one.)

That's all for now. It's 1 am here, and I have to wake up for work in 5 hours and fix other people's cars.... and, if I am lucky, I can bribe Casey to stay late again instead of going to Seattle tomorrow night and I can have even more of an update. Wouldn't that be the coolest thing :-)

Seriously, it is like pulling teeth to get anyone to stay in the shop after hours. What is wrong with these people!?!?! They all have projects, too, and some are even almost as cool as mine :)

Anyhow, two of them stayed last night, so you bet your ass I was up until midnight getting my wiring sorted.

Believe it or not, I actually had something that actually made sense at the end of the night, which is more that I can say for any other day that I have made wiring attempts.

Oh, and I probable spent an hour trying to mount the ECU. No joke. I am so indecisive. sigh

Ah yes, the 'spaghetti system'. Love that part of a project!

N Sperlo wrote:

Curmudgeon wrote: I <3 wiring. And beer.

We could have some fun long evenings together.... dur. uhh. No homo...

That's good to know.

Anything new going on with this beast?

anjaloveshervw wrote:

N Sperlo wrote: Been eyeballing a diesel Rabbit. What do you think?

1.5l or 1.6l? And yes, it makes a difference. :-)

I got a Ranger. Always have been a Ford guy.

Curmudgeon wrote:

N Sperlo wrote:

Curmudgeon wrote: I <3 wiring. And beer.

We could have some fun long evenings together.... dur. uhh. No homo...

That's good to know.

Hey, Anja, if you're out there... Happy 2013! I've been following this saga with interest. Hope everything's OK.