78 2-Door Build Thread

[Notso Swift]

Wow, glad you are OK overall

I fractured my sternum when I wrote my Suzuki GTi off at PI in 2003 (Fathers day, no less) so I know what you are feeling.
Just wait until you have to sneeze or cough

[sports racer]

How long did it take before you could do normal things like take off your jumper in under 2 minutes or get off the sofa without needing someone's help?

I need to get healthy again, I'm going stir crazy doing nothing at home when I could be pulling down the MK2 and putting the parts into the MK1.

[Notso Swift]

Well bit of an elastic question felt improvement in 2 weeks, pretty good in 4, but if I sneezed I would still tear up at 6 weeks
Mind you his was more that 10 years ago, I broke my pelvis in 3 places since then - if you want real pain...

[sports racer]

Not much happening.

Took the MK1 to mums, she's got a big shed which will make it easier to work on the car.

Good mate Steph did all the hard work.



I really must get rid of some of my cars. There's another 3 cars parked out of picture, next to the side of the house.



At mums, with the Seat 16v donor car.



Tucked away.



It could be handy having 2 of them. One to take parts off and the other to cross check that it goes back into the MK1 the right way.

[sports racer]

Just a thought but would be possible to cut off the front of the Golf and fit the complete Seat front end - firewall, suspension, antilock brakes, pedals etc? Leave the bottom of the windscreen, door pillars and top of the front shell to keep the correct mounting for the guards.





I know it sounds like a lot of work but think about the benefits. I get a MK1 that drives like a 90's car but looks like an old Golf. It will have antilock brakes, subframe, 16v and gbox with standard engine mounts plus everything that makes the Seat a modern car to drive.

Just a thought.

[Browneye]

Just a thought but would be possible to cut off the front of the Golf and fit the complete Seat front end - firewall, suspension, antilock brakes, pedals etc? Leave the bottom of the windscreen, door pillars and top of the front shell to keep the correct mounting for the guards.





I know it sounds like a lot of work but think about the benefits. I get a MK1 that drives like a 90's car but looks like an old Golf. It will have antilock brakes, subframe, 16v and gbox with standard engine mounts plus everything that makes the Seat a modern car to drive.

Just a thought.

It's an idea that's for sure... Although the "never able to be registered" aspect is a very large negative, and probably why no one would do it. It is really just counter-productive since in an effort to improve the drivability of the car, you would essential render it undrivable (on the road at lease).

On a side note, please don't hack up a two door!

If you want a 90s handling car, just register one of the cupras for a daily driver.

[Notso Swift]

Idea, yes.
Unique, yes.
Possible, yes. (Refer project Binky - any thing is possible)

In any way practical, offering benefit, effective, desirable and likely to be finished... Fixing the problems with the mk1 shell will be much better in my opinion

[sports racer]

If I did do this I'd copy the process done by Project Binky which is best informative build on YouTube.

Project Binky - Episode 3 - Austin Mini GT-Four - Turbo Charged 4WD Mini - YouTube

Have to consult an engineer to see if it could be registered but there's no rush, got to get it back on the road first.

[sports racer]

I'm not a fan of stiff coilovers so when a mate said he would swap the adjustable Koni's off his Cabby + cash for my coilovers how could I refuse.



The Golf was so stiff on the coilovers I could hardly move it when pushing down on the front guard or rear bumper. That's not what I want for this car. With a bit of suspension tuning it will be soft enough to ride over the bumps on the local roads but still capable of cornering with the best of them.

Rear ones put in.



Ride height is way too high so I'll cut down the springs or fit the springs from the Konis off the Seat GTI I bought for spares.



Engine and gearbox were taken out yesterday to go into my mates MK1 Cabby.



While he was taking out the motor I swapped over the front shocks. I know Cabbys weigh more and there's no motor in my MK1 but this height is ridiculous. This is after I cut one ring off the front springs so looks like a few more need to be cut off.



For all those that think there's a lot of rust to be fixed it's not that bad, comes off with a wipe.

[sports racer]

An update so people don't think this is dead.

Rear drums on my MK1 are 200mm off a MK3. I'm not a fan of drum brakes, no matter how good they work so yesterday fitted the rear disks off the Seat Cupra. The stub axle bolts perfectly with the MK1 beam so the disks are now on. One of the bolts to hold the calipers fouls the end of the beam so there's a little bit of grinding needed but nothing too hard.

I really need to get this car back to my place so I can work on it more often.

Cheers

Paul