My name is Earl, and I have a Stainless Steel bolt fetish =)

[Earl]

Hopefully that is a good damn:)

I got the chain guide ordered and it may arrive wednesday. Thanks TJ:P

[Guest ethirtysix]

Yes it is a good damn. what is your plan for paint? and I apologize as I forgot what engine you are putting back into this? m44? I know thats what you had prior

 

With a good paint job, this deserves a stance feature, first Ti that I've seen done really right, stance wise

[wasnt m3]

Hopefully that is a good damn:)

I got the chain guide ordered and it may arrive wednesday. Thanks TJ:P

Anything for you Earl!

[Earl]

It is getting the m42 put back in. Refreshing it now. The only thing I didn't do is the bottom end. It will be resprayed black. I'm not looking for a feature. Just trying to make the car look how I picture in my head:) Thanks for the kind words.

TJ, you're the best:P

[Earl]

Got a smidge of work done yesterday.

I got a picture of how the thermostat housing turned out.

It is a tad wrinklier than the timing covers but it matches well=)

Blasted my bottom end out with brake kleen and air to remove any debris from scrubbing the pistons.

Pulled out my new pan gasket.

I coated smeared permatex silicone on both sides, stuck it on the block, and snugged all of the bolts down.

Hopefully it is leak free=)

I also cleaned and sprayed my oil filter housing.

I sat for a while while it cured to see how the wrinkle would turn out. It seems like it might not turn out as well as I would like so I may need to strip and redo it. We will see once I get there Saturday.

My timing chain guide will be installed Saturday and I have a lot more brackets and such to paint. I am hoping to get all the painting done Saturday and get my rear arches sorted out.

[Brian.]

Coming along nicely! When do you plan to have this 100% back on the road again?

[Earl]

Still to be determined

[Earl]

I didn't get a ton done but I did get a little progress.

 

I started by spinning the front struts down a bit. I didn't take a picture of the end results but it wasn't much different. It looks to me that my tire is sitting on the inner fender.

 

I decided that instead of polishing my header, it would make more sense to just paint it black to go with the rest of the engine theme. Turned out nice.

 

TJ was looking at the wiper spindles and asked if I was going to remove the wiper motor since I don't run wipers on this car anyways. I took his advice and removed the motor. It lead me to finding the perfect place to route my harness, and now I have way more than enough room to fit it all in there.

 

I just need to grab some plugs for the holes at the hardware store.

 

After that I painted up a few engine parts, installed one of the mount arms, and installed my oil filter housing with the new gasket and O-ring.

 

I also popped the trans on the MK3 being an idiot. I have to have a new daily by the end of this week so I may have to shell out a bit of money for something that will last. That will cripple this build a good amount unless I want to take out a personal loan for the paintjob. We will see what happens.

 

I'll be at the shop for a bit today to install the brackets I painted and to dig into the volkswagen and see how fun it would be to swap the trans out.

 

Updates tomorrow hopefully=)

[Earl]

Painted a few more items yesterday.

Removed the throttle body from my intake manifold

 

I then cleaned it up a bit and removed the throttle cable bracket to give it a nice coat of paint as well.

 

I didn't stay long enough to see how it turned out, but here is what it looked like before I left (1 hour into the curing process)

 

I also installed the passenger side motor mount and alternator bracket on my motor.

 

It is slowly looking like a motor again. I need to figure out how to paint the alternator and how to get my hydraulic tensioner (and bracket) clean enough to paint.

I also have the front sitting as good as I believe I can get it.

 

Something is holding it up. I spun the strut body more than enough to get it to fully drop, but I think my tire is sitting on the inner fender.

I still need to work on my rear arches, but here is where it is at from sitting on the tire for two days.

 

I should be able to get them sitting perfectly with no problems.

I will be doing a tiny bit on Wednesday since I still need to sort out my daily situation. Tah Tah for now=D

[Earl]

Didn't do much yesterday because I was supposed to pick my new daily up early in the afternoon, but it got delayed.

Pretty much just reassembled the throttle body.

I then picked up my new daily. Really clean 1990 Prelude Si. Tried to find a bmw this clean in the price range and couldn't do it. 5 speed with 132,000 miles=)

Should work well for good gas mileage and being reliable=)

Hopefully progress on the compact Saturday

[StewCrew]

Well you act like I'll be driving around aired out all the time. lol

You mean you wont?

[Earl]

You mean you wont?

Can't drive while being stopped on tire. Lol

[StewCrew]

Can't drive while being stopped on tire. Lol

Pffffffffffffffffffffffft tires.

[Earl]

No progress was done Saturday. I went out to Dubs in The Valley and had a great day/night=)

I worked at the shop for a while yesterday knocking things out.

I sprayed the lower intake manifold with wrinkle black

I also measured the sizes for plugs I will need to plug the holes for my wipers. The hole in the body is 1". The hole in the plastic shroud is 7/8". I should be able to pick them up cheap at the auto store or parts store.

I also started working on the drivers rear arch. It took two hours to unroll and remove the seam sealer. It was such a huge pain.

I am now trying to get it to roll flat, but the Eastwood roller seems to be too long=( Trying to figure out what to do now. Hopefully the other side goes easier since I know what I'm doing now.

I really need to install my new wheel bearings out back too. The ones on the car are in absolute horrible shape. I wouldn't even be comfortable having it roll down the road on a dolly like this. We will see if I feel like tackling that Saturday. The fenders definitely need to be worked on Saturday.

Stay Tuned

[Earl]

Knocked out a few small tasks on Saturday..

 

I started by installing the plugs for my wiper delete.

 

Turned out pretty well for some cheap 89 cent plugs=)

 

I'm also debating on if I want to take the time and properly shave my rear wiper before the car goes to paint, or if this plug will suffice for now.

 

We will see how hard going about shaving it will be.

 

I then installed my ECS oil pan plug.

 

The rest of my time at the shop was spent unrolling my passenger fender and removing the seam sealer. I ran into some rust so I didn't re-roll it yet. The rust doesn't affect the outer fender so I might just neutralize it. If I can find a patch panel I would like to go about it that way.

 

We will see what Wednesday brings.

[B C]

FYI: Your Jetta is missing a door handle. This is unsafe.

Also: You are deleting your wipers. This is also unsafe. 

What happens when you are stancing about and a burly cloud comes along and takes a tinkle?  
 

One more thing: That oil pan bolt is nicer than my whole car  (*_*)

[Earl]

FYI: Your Jetta is missing a door handle. This is unsafe.

Also: You are deleting your wipers. This is also unsafe. 

What happens when you are stancing about and a burly cloud comes along and takes a tinkle?  

 

One more thing: That oil pan bolt is nicer than my whole car  (*_*)

 

The Jetta belongs to the cool guy in the shop that went to jail for driving drunk for 15 miles on the wrong side of the highway. He must love being unsafe.

 

Wiper are being deleted for several reasons.

 

1) I ran wiperless all of last year and never had an issue. (RainX ftw)

2) The splines are stripped and I don't feel the need to get another used assembly.

3) I now have more than enough room to put my engine harness and a way to route it into the interior.

 

The oil pan bolts are known to snap off in the oil pan, but people who had the issue also said they don't believe in using a torque wrench to properly torque the bolt. 24 foot pounds isn't much at all. When I torqued it on I noticed how little of force was needed and how much I have tended to overtorque drain plugs.

[B C]

The Jetta belongs to the cool guy in the shop that went to jail for driving drunk for 15 miles on the wrong side of the highway. He must love being unsafe.

 

No need to speak in 3rd person.  

Using a new aluminum, plastic, or copper washer has always worked out well for me. Regular straight fine pitch threads do not seal very well on their own unless there is some sort of deformation taking place.  

Everybody knows that, im just blabbering. 

 

 

 

carry on. 

[Earl]

No need to speak in 3rd person.  

Using a new aluminum, plastic, or copper washer has always worked out well for me. Regular straight fine pitch threads do not seal very well on their own unless there is some sort of deformation taking place.  

Everybody knows that, im just blabbering. 

 

 

 

carry on. 

 

I always get a new crush washer too=) I only got a new plug because it is magnetic. I just had a standard one before.

[B C]

You got a new drain plug, so that means your car should be up and running by ....  2-3pm today? 

[Earl]

You got a new drain plug, so that means your car should be up and running by ....  2-3pm today? 

 

That's a good one=P

[Earl]

[jc43089]

Roll dem fender like a pro!

 

[Earl]

Saturday turned out being more of a planning day than a working day.

 

On Wednesday I dropped my valve cover and intake manifold for my buddy to machine the lines off. He finished that up on Thursday. I was going to pick them up Saturday but ended up going home before he got to his shop.

 

I attempted to tackle the rear fenders. The only thing I happened to accomplish was that I destroyed one of my lug nuts=/ I'm having a local guy do my rear arches now. He is said to be a wizard so lets see how they turn out=) He is coming out this Sunday to do them.

 

Since I was fed up on trying to do the rear arches, I figured I would put my head on the motor......figured wrong here. I forgot to order the gasket that goes between the head and the timing case. Now I have to order that and wait for it to arrive.

 

I was all sorts of flustered at this point but couldn't leave the shop because the buyer for my Volkswagen beater was coming to pick it up. I ended up cleaning my part of the shop up, as well as the spot next to me while I waited. The guy who rents the spot next to me took his car home to work on right before I got to the shop. It gave me the perfect opportunity to clean his side up and get all the leaves out from fall=P

 

Once the Volkswagen was gone I was happy to have $600 to put back into the compact=) I'll spend some of it ordering that gasket and lug nut today.

 

The only other thing that I accomplished was setting up this Saturday to get my bay welded. If everything goes according to plan, this weekend will be full of progress. We will see. Things don't seem to happen as they're planned lately.

 

I'll leave you with some pictures I took after cleaning the shop=)

(It's aired up in the back since the fenders are unrolled)

(carpet needs a good vacuum)

[B C]

 

 

Cool Corrado, bro.