Project Bunnicula - ITBs Inside by ojeeztutone

28 minute(s) of a 59 minute read

Project Bunnicula - ITBs Inside - 1982 Mk1 Cabrio

Compliments of ojeeztutone

My overall goal is a fast road car that is fun to drive. I want it to handle like a GTI instead of a convertible and still keep up with the pack... Not huge ambitions but dont want mine to look like everyone else's either. Also i am looking for a detailed breakdown of parts im going to need for my ABA bottom swap into a mk1 if someone knows of someone who has the parts listed let me know. I have the block and am going to hone, re-ring the pistons, replace all bearings and seals and install the 86 rocco 8v head after i get it ported

2/7/2010

I now only need oversized bearings and the clutch/flywheel and i can send it all out to the machine shop to get it all bored, aligned, port/polished and balance the rotating assembly.

2/13/2010

forgot these till earlier..

got my lights installed tonight, the car is dusty as crap, took a recent engine bay pic

one more step in the long haul, i also found i have a short to my fuel pump and it sounds like a rock tumbler, so i get to replace that before i drive it out in the spring for the swap 

3/8/2010

Going for the clean shaven look. Needs polishing but about where i want it besides that.

Heres a thousand words. Bumper hole delete. Turn signal un-delete.

3/9/2010

I didn't have enough things to do before so here's one more yey!

4/1/2010

All Shiny and ready for parts!!

A little shaving does wonders imo

4/3/2010

Got the plate to register to my car. 30 bucks for life ftw!

Got the Head and Bottom end fully assembled now just gotta put all the accessories on!! Also, should i go cosmic on the valve cover, paint it black or leave it be??????

4/11/2010

More goodness!

4/11/2010

well got it home in a record 2 hours from greenville. Something seems to be up with the brand new Bosch fuel pump i put in 2 days ago. Or i have a fuel distributor issue. Either way i only was able to drive about 1000 feet at a time before it would shut down. The whole time i couldn't put any load on it over 1500 rpm at all and it bucked the entire time. Pretty cool huh... But it's home and now i can at least mess with it every night after work. Oh, while the car was cold it ran fine and had no issues, just slight lag above 4500 rpm. 

5/1/2010

A little pre-op pic.

peeling back the first layer

Gettin Kinky!!

The much anticipated Gaping Maw!

The carnage.

The eerily sexy new heart

I need that passenger motor ASAP now! Just a few trinket parts to transfer over for accessories.

Notice the spacer to make the plenum fit, bought by dinner, planed from a whole plenum  And yes it's just barely touching still... 

5/9/2010

Sitting pretty!!

And..... BAM!

Little bit 'o notching for the plenum to fit.

And thanks again Stevo you BA Mofo!

Needs lotsa work but definitely a big leap tonite

5/11/2010

some extra wire deleting done tonight, and thanks to scirocco 75 for the annoyance device  Thats what make this community great. Everyone helps everyone.

I like the look, don't knock it or I cut you@!

5/10/2010

ran into a snag. my header after gettin it all wrapped and pretty runs into my rack, i eed to unwrap it all and bend it about 10 degrees. Very lame.

(kinda forgot about the 20mm height increase on the block) Did get the GTI spoiler mounted and the lower subframe and sway bar brackets installed though. Moving along slowly but at least i'm still chugging along. 

5/14/2010

well thanks a bunch to henry for coming and helping! Got the motor shimmed forward. The collector is just barely touching the rack mount but at this point could give a shit less. I have the axles installed the usrt smart shift installed, all under vehicle components installed. Now all i need to do is the easy stuff, re-run fuel lines to the passenger side instead of drivers. I am thinking of running nylon lines with quick disconnect for a easy swap fuel filter and ease of installation. Then follow the frame up to the intake area and change to a short rubber section for attaching to the rail. And wire up the megasquirt and figure out a couple coolant lines and sensors and she should be rockin! 

5/17/2010

got some more piddly stuff done. The wiring harness was a hacked up mess, so i pulled it out and deleted the un-needed stuff for my purposes. As it is a summer only vehicle i removed the defrost system, a/c harnesses, old 02 regulation wires, hazards and all the fuel management from the CIS. Now i just need to wire in a few fuses for the Wideband and ECU and hopefully get a upper dash back in for motorstadt. Who knows, maybe i will even have time to fix my turn signals and figure out what needs to be fixed to get the wipers working...

Anyways. Got the hose predicament figured out, just need to order one to finish that up. Fuel line is being re-routed and run to the rail toomorrow.

pretty nekked!

The needed.

The not needed

5/19/2010

forget 15's how bout 17's?

(yes i know they are dirty as shit)

5/22/2010

another brick in the wall. Still pluggin away.

5/23/2010

Fuel lines. Done. working on routing the rats nest of wires still and have to make one more coolant hose 5/8 to 3/4 ish 180* loop

Hopefully running this week.

^^ thats the plan. Just need to build a bracket under the filter to keep it in one spot. 

5/25/2010

not gonna happen tonight.:tear::tear::tear::tear: my starter worked ok for probably 7ish to 1 compression. 10.5:1 makes it spin about 30 rpm. Started ny fusebox smoldering from the draw. I will have to get it re-wound and rebuilt to turn this bitch over. So. I am at a standstill on assembly for now. Does anyone know if quickstart on alpine will upgrade the guts, or is there someone else local that will for sure?

5/26/2010

So i used nylon quick disconnect connections for ease of installation. Sorry about the shaky first picture. 

And yes, i double and triple checked my timing and everything is spot on. TDC cyl 1 lines up directly with the cam sprocket mark on the valve cover. Distributor rotor is spot on with the distributor mark. Before with the 1.7 it was kind of slow cranking and would only really start when i held the throttle open. I even ran a 0 gauge wire directly from the battery to the starter. At that point with a battery charger on the battery on start mode, it still turned slow and then my fusebox started smoldering so i ripped everything out of it and unplugged the battery. 

5/29/2010

replaced the starter with a tested good ABA starter, spins over wicked good. No crank signal. Please see my tech section post and let me know of any ideas whatsoever you may have. MY coil and injectors are functional. The computer is not seeing RPM's so is not firing them when it should be. I REALLY want this thing running tomorrow!!!!!!!!! All your ideas and help is very appreciated as always guys..... 

6/2/2010

THIS MOTHERFUNKER LIVES!!!! GODAMN RIGHT!! Vids if i can figure it out. Revs up like a damn bike! Just gotta tune my CTS and IAT properly then hide all my wires away and drive the bitch. Hopefully tomorrow it sees the road!

prof315 on the Tex helped me out and it also took some research on my end to figure out exactly what he was talking about. I basically had to move a jumper over one set of pins. Remove two wires that told the computer to look for a hall effect signal and solder in one wire fora vr sensor pickup. 

6/3/2010

I am now home. I have headlights, taillights and brake lights wired up. All engine controls relayed and fused. Vehicle is ready for test and tune! Some pics very shortly. I should be at the bike night tomorrow. With this car if you wanna see it. 

pics yay!!

6/5/2010

mmmm premium toilet water!

A little better lookin

Finally ran out of parts for now.

6/6/2010

got fueling a lot closer. It reverted back to a narrowband O2 so i reset it saved the changes and put 50 miles on it. No underfueling. I need to aim the headlights, get the turn signals working and maybe hook up wipers cause it sucked driving in the rain tonite. I am driving around all day tomorrow after my short shift of work. Maybe i will visit everyone's projects :D: 

6/14/2010

so, i made it there and back. Engine is running strong. Averaged 28.5 mpg on the return trip. Not quite where i want to be but i did quite a bit of tuning when i got back and got all my under load fueling to around 14:1 The car doesn't want to go over 95 now though. Maybe from retarding my cam timing 4*? Dunno 

6/22/2010

7/6/2010

7/13/2010

pic stolen from the "tex. Ben, Drew and I before the real madness ensued.

7/18/2010

finally ordered the proportioning valve, just need pads and i will have my rear disc kit installed next Monday night hopefully. 

7/27/2010

rear disc all installed. Stopping power is pretty badass. i would like just a little more pressure to the rear but it will definitely throw everything off my passenger seat if i get on them good. Brembo blanks for a 94 golf and PBR ultra ceramics. Will upgrade to mk4 calipers later. (prolly winter) 

8/4/2010

yeah, meijers lake and 12 mile, right at the curve. was going fifty and didn't even have time to brake. ****er ran in front of me, probably a 200 pounder or so. he flew probably 60-70 feet from where i hit him. 

8/5/2010

Somehow my aircleaner is bulletproof lol

just found the cap and rotor exploded internally, it still tried to start after the hit though lol... Distributor is ok hopefully..

8/11/2010

sanding sanding sanding, thanks Dr Dre for the badassery help so far. Still hoping for friday completion smewhat. still need 7" round housings.

(also filling some holes while i am there, rear wheel arch mounting, trim holes, etc. also foudn some rust in the rear of the back wheelwells! :ugh!: 

8/12/2010

well, did some primering, ordered more 7inch crosshairs, and got bugs stuck in the primer yay! money is overated anyways right? 

8/14/2010

Core is off, pics soon, only problem is the new one didn't come with a shipping/ tow hook loop.

everything is staged, need to get a perfect fit on the fender alignment, will weld tomorrow and hopefully have back on the road by monday...

8/16/2010

9/24/2010

The rabbit just saw 7500 rpm swoot! Thanks to prof315 on the vortex for the insight. 2nd gear rubber here we be. Now i can play with my cam again.

add a 10k ohm resistor in the + side of the crank sensor and adjust the potentiometers on the 'squirt board all the way out. Now i've gotta retard my cam a couple more degrees and and tune in my higher R ranges. Pulls from 4000 up, doesnt drop off at 7500, not sure where it will lol.

Time to tear it all down and clean up everything for next year, progress pics will be up by the weekend. I hope to have everything pulled by then, we shall see. 

11/17/2010

Where I got to in an hour...

11/18/2010

more progress, at this rate i will be broke and bored next week lol.

11/20/2010

now just master, rack, radiator and engine remain. forgot my fluid evacuator so thats all for tonight.

1/30/2011

Vdo millennium 6 gauge set is on order 2.5" exhaust is on hold status. head is at the machine shop for extensive cnc pnp work. Roll cage and brake master and booster are on the docket next. Should have all my parts in the next month and i will post a pic of the mayhem to ensue. Thanks for reading :D:

2/15/2011

Ordering Cage, Coils and Other surprise parts as soon as tax return comes in. Pile 'o Parts to be uploaded soonly! 

2/27/2011

such slow progress!

3/2/2011

Thanks for helping Nick! Rear markers gone w00t! 

3/3/2011

3/5/2011

Current state of disassembly:

Roll hoop:

Base plate welded:

Oh, there's the rest of mah car!:

New skins, mount up:

3/7/2011

3/8/2011

Almost there, done for tonight, tomorrow brings seat staging and door bars to finish it off, then lots of shop vac and cleanup action. This is a dusty piggy! 

3/13/2011

out with the old! suspension day.

Rear struts in, waiting on strut tops for the front, the old ones are torn. Hopefully will have time to lay some glass and filler this week if it stays warm. 

3/20/2011

I am done with the bay. tired of filler. Engine goes back in this week.

3/22/2011

3/31/2011

bump for some progress.

4/7/2011

My head is finally done, approx 19% increase in VE on exhaust and i think 26 on intake, all limited by valves now, will post flow chart this evening or tomorrow when i get home. 

4/12/2011

a little closer.

4/13/2011

4/26/2011

just needs to finishing to make it pretty, the general idea is there though.

So sick of working on this damn thing...

4/28/2011

And done.

5/12/2011

sneak peek..

5/20/2011

a little hint

5/24/2011

Just a couple little things left, coil adjustment, installing the cluster and brake light wiring and a windshield and this bitch hits the streets!

5/25/2011

Seats mounted!

Car comes off the porch and drives in la manana! 

5/25/2011

Driving to work in the rain with no windshield = WIN

MMMMMMM my ****ing face and ears still hurt, like driving through needles. The hood is going to stay blue, just need to get it up in the air to adjust the exhaust up and relearn the O2 sensor

Needs to be re-tuned with the higher RPM range, will report back with results. Also need to finish wiring up the Speedo/Odo and check shit out tonight up in the air. 

Also, pulls like a bastard, can't wait for dry pavement :D Getting my windshield put in at the moment, the first one broke on install lol.

2/23/2012

3/16/2012

looks like a need a different radiator/hose. 

4/3/2012

Finally got a new brake booster! From centric. Just need to finish adapting my hose and tps and I can get this thing up to the shop and put a new clutch in it and reseal the trans, replace the pushrod bushing and such. Using a foam filter wrap for the horns.

5/3/2012

TPS didn't quite fit proper so i had to make an adapter..

Hopefully pulling the trans this weekend, replacing the clutch for the nine millionth time and resealing the pushrod and input shaft. 

5/7/2012

Pushrod bushing needed replacements, took the seal out and ruined my clutch disc.

5/21/2012

Well mine is running but it idles at 3500rpm lol. Thanks go to Nick to spotting my n00b move of hooking my fuel lines up backwards.  Also my coil magically took a shit over winter  I will be bringing the smoke machine home to check for vacuum leaks, the charger for my baby battery and the fuel pressure tester because i need to set my adjustable FPR. 

I think i need to re-synch the center 2 butterflies, If i spray brake clean into the center trumpets it bogs, the outers do not. i already relearned the TPS for Min and Max. Will probably need to readjust once get the throttles all cooperating. 

6/14/2012

Well, I have been having problems getting it tuned at idle properly, finally had some progress, test drove it, pulls like crazy, at less than half throttle. Read:My battery wasn't fully secure and it was trying to climb into the back of my car if I went over half throttle. I get back home, shut it off. flip the battery around to resecure it. Attempt to restart the vehicle with no success. All of a sudden I have no communication to the ECU on my laptop. After searching all this week, I finally pulled it out of the car, hooked it up to the Stim and was able to reflash the Firmware with the latest update, updated tuner studio and now it communicates. 

Plausible conclusion that it was a matter of a voltage spike from reconnecting my battery that damaged the firmware? 

6/16/2012

Now I am running super lean, I may have eaten a fuel pump :\

But Pics for clicks in the meantime :D

6/20/2012

Finally got the paperweight out of my driveway pix for clix :P

6/21/2012

need to tweak my high end. Right now power dies out at 5500 which is not right at all, I just need to get some drive time in to make some adjustments. I drove it to work for the first time this year though. And lowered the front a fuzz, replaced the strut tops as they were blown out, rewired some things in the bay, refastened my battery, changed the oil, checked it over etc.