Turbo Diesel Cabriolet Project (with head porting pics)

[EwenHayton]

very tidy job, And sounds mint. Also i like your seats in the they look awesome with i had new upholstery. Looking good anyway nice to see another cabby on here

[gldgti]

Thanks mate. The seats are retrimmed GTI seats.... main reason I wanted them was because they sit 20mm lower than the stock cabriolet seats.... Ok, im half an inch under 6 ft, so not the tallest man around, but it just felt all wrong!

Took these pics today when swapping in yet another gearbox.... happy now with the ratio's (this is a '6W' code gearbox, from an Austin Maestro!!!) which appears to be the same ratio's as the 4+E gearbox of mk1 turbodiesel era.

I have fitted up one of my new 5 speed conversion mounts -





And I might say they fit wonderfully and look the part, I reckon.

[gldgti]

Its official - I am old.

I'm still a couple of months from my 27th birthday, but yesterday evening I put standard springs with Bilstein touring shocks in the cabby.

My goodness, it is awesome.

The ride - unbelievably smooth.

The grip - just as good through the corners when not accelerating, with less traction when cornering hard but I don't care.

The height - well its a cabby so the standard springs seem to be slightly lower than a normal hard top mk1, but the heavier engine has made it a tiny bit lower I would say... looks fine

Anyway, I guess this means I am officially OLD.

[Transporter]

Now, you made me realize that.... I was born old already.

[Jarred]

hahah, bugger!

[gldgti]

hehe, sorry Transporter

I should probably mention that the wife and I have been doing about 4-700km a week in the cabby of late... we've been commuting in it instead of the Skoda because my wife is still on her L's and learning to drive (and she's older than me!) and she prefers driving the cab to the Skoda. Anyway, with all these km, and taking the car up to coast periodically to visit olds and inlaws in an area with extremely poor roads... .well, that was enough.

I'd like to think I havent gone completely soft.... even if I have

[gldgti]

Well my wife finally got her p's last week (on her first try, but after 10 years holding a learners permit) so the car really is hers now

Happy days

[DynamicDubs]

Hi Pal,

I enjoyed the read. Nice car, how's it going now?

Cheers

[gldgti]

Car is going well! We're averaging about 5.5l/100km with daily F3 runs, and a rough 0-100km/h of 8.5s. The clutch is still the biggest issue, theres just too much torque for a reasonable clutch with an 020 box.

In light of this the plans are for me to finally get the 1.6TD engine I've had apart for about 5 years back together, and swap the long block over - so I'll be keeping the turbo setup and all the accessories from the 1.9, and just changing the head and block to the 1.6. Hopefully this will mean less of a torque punch down low which is murdering the clutch, and a bit more of a revvy engine characteristic which suits the chassis and gear ratios better.

It should also help with the steering weight which is pretty heavy for my wife at the moment.

I'm also working on a set of ATS type 5's in 15x7 for the car. Should be a couple of weeks away.

[abreut]

That's awesome economy you're getting there, and still gti-like acceleration. With the clutch, I used a 5 puck ceramic clutch in my 16vt setup up until very recently when I changed to the 02A box. But that 210mm ceramic clutch never slipped. It was a bit grabby though and takes some getting used to, but it was still a sprung clutch so it wasn't ridiculous. Something to consider.