Maybe I was wrong, THIS is probably my best update yet…She runs AND drives!!!
Put her down on the ground yesterday after some last minute stuff and boy oh boy did it feel amazing to do so. Everything went fine on the test drive. Ride felt great. Idled smooth. Accelerated fine (I didn’t push it too hard yet). I do have a bit of an exhaust rattle around 2k when slowing down in gear, but oh well, thats easily fixable in the future, and you can’t hear it with the cutout.
Some pictures from last minute stuff that I did and also before/during the test drive:
Picked up a new rear o2 sensor from Mark yesterday after chillen at the dmv. Turns out Denso’s o2 sensors are slightly larger then stock (not by threads, by actual sensor diameter). Due to this, the sensor wouldn’t fit through the spacer correctly. So I had to drill out the sensor a bit to make it fit. Incase anyone picks one of these up, a 1/2" drill bit gives plenty of room and won’t thin out the sidewall too much.
This is just a little fact I thought was amazing. I didn’t lose a SINGLE one of these interior screws that are all over. I honestly thought at least ONE would make its way behind the carpet, in the corner of the garage, stolen by a bird, etc. But no, the last two I put in were for the tach surround and those were the last two I had sitting around. Amazing.
/story that nobodies interested in
Crank pulley then went on
Preparation for secure status #1 is starting to happen
I cut away at a small portion of the front support to get things to sit a little bit better. No spot welds were removed. Structural integrity was not compromised.
You’d be surprised how much better things sit with just that little bit of space added.
I cut away in one other area as well. Since I routed things different than most people do with their tucks on this car, my harness line comes from the lower side of the crash bar and sits about even with the lip of the lower radiator support. By cutting away a small portion again, I could gain the length previously lost by the curve created in the harness by the lip of the support.
Things all lined up
She was all done after that. I zip-tied a few wires, clips, and other things out of the way for now so I could comfortably test drive, and then put her on the ground.
Little bit of camber
After that I sat inside, started her, pulled out of the garage and then…
First order of business? Jump the Jetta. lol
Took care of that, and then drove around the neighborhood. I hit a few main roads for a quick minute to see the reactions on people faces. Everybody looked well beyond confused lol.
Some pics I took at a stop during the drive:
rears are a little bit tucked
Aaaand the money shot:
Exterior is dirty as fuck right now. But I’m not cleaning it until all the panels are back on. Cars back in the garage now. Have to bleed some power steering again, finish wrapping/securing all electrical things, throw fenders on, liners, bumper, hood and lights.
I still have a few cosmetic things to take care that I put on the backburner until the car was on the road. Such as the valvecover, intake pipe, and strut bar. But w/e, those will come as they come. As long as they’re done before I go to TN in August for the big meet.
Yay!
