Preen's Mk1 GLD

[Preen59]

This MkV owner does.

Looking good!

Venetians, wheels, lower, sorted.

Haha.. Yes but the ones that do are the ones that are alright.

Yeah that's pretty much it.. I don't intend to spend much money and I want any mods to be reversible..

[Preen59]

Ok..

Bit of an update.. (i'll get pics when I can).

Fitted some retrimmed velour 76er front seats to the '80 bases. MUCH more comfortable now. The padding was a bit sad in the old ones..

Took it to Forbes Thursday/Friday last week. Ran great. Sits on 100 quite easily and still gets up hills pretty good with 2 go kart engines, a tool box, a carbie box and some other stuff in the boot. Doesn't handle too bad for a standard Mk1, either. Pretty quiet, rides good..

I hit a MASSIVE pot hole on the way home on friday night.. Squashed a rim, but still made it home.. Lucky i have a few spares.. Haha.

So far so good. Runs a lot better on the Dino Diesel, even if it is more expensive.. However with work you could probably tune it to suit the cooking oil quite well.

More to come...

[hiho]

Grab a gearbox from seat cordoba, bigger exhaust (with special attention to the flexible join below the firewall), decent suspension with swaybars and you will be cruising comfortable at 120 all day long while cornering like a gti (just got home from such a drive!)

[Preen59]

Grab a gearbox from seat cordoba, bigger exhaust (with special attention to the flexible join below the firewall), decent suspension with swaybars and you will be cruising comfortable at 120 all day long while cornering like a gti (just got home from such a drive!)

So a larger exhaust improves the power and fuel economy eh? Interesting. I wasn't sure whether it would be worth it on the Diesel..

5 spd.. Maybe later. I have other things to worry about first. Long trips can be done in the Caddy until then.

Yes I have some things in the works for suspension and handling..

[hiho]

I have a very nice 4-2-1 set of extractors that I'd love to install. Diesels are all about breathing. Improve the intake and exhaust and you will get better economy and performance

[Preen59]

Every engine is all about breathing. It's always all about balance.


I should mention that my GL duckbills arrived. I have 5. I want to keep 1 or 2.. 1 is spoken for..

Anyone interested? $80.00 plus postage (or free if you pick up at the Nats..)

[Preen59]

Today was character building...

The GLD had developed a fuel leak from between the main pump body and the distribution block (quite a bad one).. So I pulled the spare pump i had apart (which as it turns out is in a bad way). I got the seal in question and went to the local diesel joint in search of a replacement o-ring. I won't mention their name but they were quite painful, as i had been told they would be. $11.00 and what felt like an hour later (was probably 5 mins) i was out the door with a new Viton o-ring.

I'll cut to the chase a bit here..

I thought I might have been able to pull the block off, replace the o-ring and re-fit the block while the pump was still on the car.. It didn't work and the internals of the pump ended up in a pile on the bottom.

So.. I put the engine at TDC, lined everything up, fitted the pump alignment tool (thanks, Dennis!) and marked everything with a white paint marker..

Then I had a lot of trouble trying to get the pump pulley to break the taper on the shaft.. I jerked the car a bit too much and the internals of the pump flew out the end and onto the ground..

Finally off with the pump, picked up the bits and took them in to the shop. Cleaned everything up and thought "Well christ, I don't know how this thing goes together!!". After a bit of nutting out I realised it is very similar to a run-of-the-mill hydraulic pump. So I had a look at the other pump, worked out how this thing does the deed and fitted it all back together. (Not as easy as it sounds)

Putting it back on was straight forward....


Now, priming the pump.. I cranked it over while the old man cracked a couple of fuel lines.. No go-nothing. I thought I may have buggered up.. However, I was intrigued by the return line fitting right on the very top of the pump.. I figured you might need to prime it like you do some other pumps.

Got some diesel, filled it to the brim. Cranked it over, Dad cracked a line or 2 and boom! she fired.. But only on a couple of cyls and I had to hold my foot flat for it to idle.. Hmm.. Maybe the pump timing is out? While I pondered that i took the return fitting off again. Sure enough, there was an air cavity in it again.. So i topped it up.

Refitted the return line, cranked it over. Fired, spluttered, coughed.. And revved free! Woo!

Engine idled smooth again. Degreased it and washed it down, checked for leaks (none) and took it for a run.. All sweet.


A **** start turned into a satisfying end.. I feel I accomplished something today (for once! haha).

[Water Boy]

I have heard plenty of people swaering at Mk1 GLD's doing injector pumps and timing etc.

[Preen59]

I have heard plenty of people swaering at Mk1 GLD's doing injector pumps and timing etc.

Hahaha. Yeah i can imagine.

Now that i've done it once, I'd do it again for sure.. But the first time's always a bitch..

[Jarred]

Good work, that was one job I was hoping I never had to do!

I did have to take the pump off to replace the DS engine mount, and boy that was fun just getting it back on and running again (having no real idea what I was doing! lol) Had it back together the morning of the first 'sedf'. good times.