few people had suggested a build thread, so here goes....
Bought it in Nov 2012 from a guy in Millisle who had brought it over from England and owned it for a month before selling it to me at a loss. (he'd gone from a S15 to this so got bored very quick)
2002 1.9tdi Mk4 GTI Anniversary Number 1684
106,000miles
Standard with all the Usual Anniversary Trimmings bar-
Lowering springs
Allard hard pipe kit
Full turbo back Miltek
And remapped. From talking to some people that new the owner it had been dyno'd at 185bhp. Compared to the tdi vento it replaced it felt like a well built rocketship
Got the windscreen replaced as it was covered in chips
Standard problem with the ARL engine is the wiring loom for the injectors is actually inside the engine, so theyre prone to dying. Changed that, inspected the cam for the dreaded wear and was happy it appeared to be a healthy engine
All was well, then at 112,000 miles the engine shat itself.
It went to Matt McGowan in Comber to have the old donkey lifted out and a new one put in. Payed over the odds from @sam_9n for a 9,000 mile arl that had been lifted from a written off anni and put into a mk2. Engine was fitted with all my existing ancillaries and back on the road again. We'd a bit of bother trying to stop the engine from overheating, but it passed the head gasket tests and eventually we got it running ok.
Got about a month before disaster struck again
Overtaking a swarm of cyclists on some backroads i heard a pop, there was a plume of smoke out the back, and the engine sounded like a bag of spanners
By this stage i was all out of funds and couldnt afford to buy another full engine. Matt managed to find me a bare bones 130 pd engine so the desicion was made to put the car into my garage and rebuild it myself.
Id done my fair share of stripping down cars, helping other with engine work, done a few engine swaps so knew it wasnt going to be easy. But you'd be amazed what you can achieve with Google, some mates and a halfords socket set
Engine out, started the strip down.
Turbo off and discovered that whatever had gone in the engine had made its way through the turbo
So at this point i contacted OBD Autotune in Ballymena to see what my options were. We agreed i'd bring it up to be converted to a stage two hybrid with a 56mm compressor wheel, and we would get it remapped to suit when the engine was rebuilt and had a few miles under its belt.
Next up was to split the engine......
Bought it in Nov 2012 from a guy in Millisle who had brought it over from England and owned it for a month before selling it to me at a loss. (he'd gone from a S15 to this so got bored very quick)
2002 1.9tdi Mk4 GTI Anniversary Number 1684
106,000miles
Standard with all the Usual Anniversary Trimmings bar-
Lowering springs
Allard hard pipe kit
Full turbo back Miltek
And remapped. From talking to some people that new the owner it had been dyno'd at 185bhp. Compared to the tdi vento it replaced it felt like a well built rocketship
Got the windscreen replaced as it was covered in chips
Standard problem with the ARL engine is the wiring loom for the injectors is actually inside the engine, so theyre prone to dying. Changed that, inspected the cam for the dreaded wear and was happy it appeared to be a healthy engine
All was well, then at 112,000 miles the engine shat itself.
It went to Matt McGowan in Comber to have the old donkey lifted out and a new one put in. Payed over the odds from @sam_9n for a 9,000 mile arl that had been lifted from a written off anni and put into a mk2. Engine was fitted with all my existing ancillaries and back on the road again. We'd a bit of bother trying to stop the engine from overheating, but it passed the head gasket tests and eventually we got it running ok.
Got about a month before disaster struck again
Overtaking a swarm of cyclists on some backroads i heard a pop, there was a plume of smoke out the back, and the engine sounded like a bag of spanners
By this stage i was all out of funds and couldnt afford to buy another full engine. Matt managed to find me a bare bones 130 pd engine so the desicion was made to put the car into my garage and rebuild it myself.
Id done my fair share of stripping down cars, helping other with engine work, done a few engine swaps so knew it wasnt going to be easy. But you'd be amazed what you can achieve with Google, some mates and a halfords socket set
Engine out, started the strip down.
Turbo off and discovered that whatever had gone in the engine had made its way through the turbo
So at this point i contacted OBD Autotune in Ballymena to see what my options were. We agreed i'd bring it up to be converted to a stage two hybrid with a 56mm compressor wheel, and we would get it remapped to suit when the engine was rebuilt and had a few miles under its belt.
Next up was to split the engine......
