2.0 KCC 356 Speedster - www.356speedster.co.za

[flatfourfan]

Okaaay. update time. I'm now officially glad that I re-did my radiator cage in the front of the car. As when I came to trim my side panels, I realised that everything would of been out of wack and nothing would of lined up. I didn't think the welding through on the radiator supports and the side panels would of been on 4 different levels when it came to mounting them. A space out about 1/2".

The new radiator support is level all throughout and with the exception of the minor mistake with trimming the fiberglass panels, everything looks kosher. The minor gap I can repair with cotton flox and a resin. Then they'll be painted.

I really got the hang of using the CAD (Cardboard Aided Design) by the second panel. Still, we live and learn. And yes the car got a wash for the first time in 7 months.



The front lip was something that I was trying, but I decided to rather take it off as I want this done in fibreglass and integrated into the trunk. Here you can see the tabs that I've welded on the bottom for the panels to attach to and there is another on the top. I still have two more to go on the sides, but it's damn study.



Some trimming needed up top and then finish with a rubber edge and then it's time to mount the top slam panel. You can also see the diamond blade tile cutter on my grinder..........man that thing slices through fibreglass like a hot knife through butter....a must have.





Here you can get an idea of how she all fits together. I want to close it off like this as on the right hand side of this, I want to mount the fuel filter as well as the fuel pump in this gap so that it's close to the fuel tank, but also easily serviceable. I'll do this once the two flaps are done for the last of the air intake. The other side will hold the car jack and the tool kit.



To give an idea of how she sits. The radiator has been dropped about another 1" which will give it more air and it still sits lower than my battery pod used to sit and that never hit anything, so I'm safe.





So next is finishing off the welding on the cage as it's all just been tacked in place, trim off the extra panels as well as put in the tabs for the upper slam panel and then box in the top. I'm hoping to have that done this saterday morning so that work can start on the fuel pumps and filter.

I missed the car show yesterday that I was aiming for, so this gives me the time to find another motor.

[flatfourfan]

Managed to get an hour in last night as I got suckered into going to a kiddies party on Saterday. So I decided to kill some small projects that have started to stack up that had to be done before the nose could be closed up.

Enter the fuel pump clamp that was pulled from a 92 Honda Civic so that I can use a stock Honda filter that's nice and small and has some cool angles in order to mount the hard lines and a beetle coil clamp that I had lying around that I knew would come in handy one day, plus it looks way better than a plastic tie or a hose clamp. I've been a honda fan for ages and I like the way that they do certain things on the older cars that are just so well thought out and simple, hence me using a lot of the ideas on this build.

You're not even going to see the two fuel units, but I wanted them to look good. I also wanted to make service times easy.

I had to cut the fuel filter brace at the bend and then pull it back and then re weld as I wanted the bolt to be accessible for service times. Stupid I know, but I'm hoping that service times on this engine set up will be a 1/2 hour affair for oil, plugs and filters.



This is almost a match made in heaven. I have some nice rubber mat somewhere which will be made into a gasket between the filter and the clamp. There will also be a rubber base on which the clamp will mount as I want to try and keep the fuel pump as quiet as possible and also transfer as little vibration and noise into and onto the rest of the vehicle.



Where it's all going. The fuel pump will be mounted below the fuel filter against the fender well to keep the fuel lines as short as possible. The routing will be from fuel tank to fuel filter to fuel pump, then under the car to the fuel pressure regulator and fuel rail out back and then to the engine, the return line will go from the fuel rail under the car into the overflow pipe on the tank that will mean that I won't have to cut this tank to get all of this to work.

I also want to use as little High pressure rubber pipe as possible. I want majority of this fuel system to be hard lines mounted to the car to keep things clean and simple.





I've also been putting off the front scoop now for at least a week as I know it's a crud load of work and the A-frame has to come off the car as I need to get proper access to the front of the car and while it has to be rock solid, it also has to be removable as the A-frame has to be able to go back on for moving it around until she's

[flatfourfan]

Work started on about the 10 odd templates that have to be made so that I can close up everything. Camera bummed out when I was uploading onto FB, so will post the last pics at the end of the day.



There will also be a panel in the front that will close off the front of the radiator and then box it in. The radiator brace is also bolted down now and all the tabs welded in to mount the panels. So I'm getting there. I've made all the templates for the front panels and the box section, so all I need to do now is to make a plan to get to Willem to put these down into dry fibreglass panels and I can be done. The front will be carpetted as well as on top of the new tank that will be built. So it should look all pretty quiet in the looks department. With the Exception of the radiator cap that will stick though......lol.

Also found this in a stash of old steel parts that are half done. I have a box of 4mm steel rods that are going to be used for the banjo sections, then build up with epoxy and then work it down. This is a super long term project. It looks off centre, but that's just because of the penned outline on my work bench. This is built from 6 sections of 10mm round bar.



Will have to move that up the list of things to do when I get the car up and running. WIll update this thread later today.

[flatfourfan]

So after following a lead on Junkmail of all places. I came across a guy in Midrand who put up an add advertising 356 parts......I must of searched for 356 parts on the junkmail for at least the last 2-3 years and nothing.

Then I see this ad. 356 parts for sale.........he was local, so I shot him off an email and he sent me a list of what he has. He stays in midrand, less than 5 minutes from ferdi's place.

A few things shot out, rear teardrops and some rocker trim. The rest was pretty much 356B related and as I'm getting a truck load of those parts next week. I rather held out and decided to see what I'll get from that stash.





Just went to pick up this lot R900 for the lights and R140 for the rocker trim. Both reusable, rocker trim will need a gasket and inner trim, but that I can get no problem. I'm contemplating letting these go with the 356b depending on the condition of the stuff that's new. Will decide. But at least I have the parts now.

I have a list of other 356b stuff that he sent me, so if anyone else wants his details, then drop me a pm. Apparently he knows Armand pretty well as well.

[flatfourfan]

Finally got my fuel lines from Seal Centre in Pta West last week. Only took about 3 weeks to get them. I was planning on using old fuel lines from a Honda Civic, but they didn't like to be bent and so I just pulled off the end fittings and will add them to my newly bent fuel lines this weekend. I'm having 4 High pressure fuel lines made up this week for the fuel filter, fuel pump and the fuel rail. But I'm getting there.

Also picked up from a place in pta west that does mandrel bends who are across the road from seal center, nice guy, cheap prices and good stock. They stock weld-els which many guys use for turbo manifolds and stuff and are also used for high pressure steam pipes.



I've also decided that I'm going to use these guys for my parts for my exhaust. Parts will be about R800 and then I've got a friend doing all the welding for me for some help with his water-cooled build. That is down pipe, flanges, and a bespoke silencer.

The fibreglass panels have been completed for the front and now it's a case of just fitting them.





The last of the radiator lines are in and this weekend is some wiring and fitting of my fuel lines and hopefully next weekend is the engine.

Engine Den seem to be the place to go in Pretoria. Good stock, R4950 for a 2.0 8v with alternator and they have about 40 in stock. And more important........they're local.

[flatfourfan]

Had a good weekend. I finally got my fuel lines in. All I can say is that there is a LOT of work involved in getting the bends right, and also doing it all in one shot, front to back.

After seeing pics of what a guy on an Australian forum did. Can't think of who it was off the top of my head, but to get it this good must have taken a crud load of work. So I seriously take my hat off to the guy that did this lot.



Started in the front with braising rods to get the bends right and then pulled out the pipe bender and started going to town.

Fuel tank out and routing the main line and the return line.





The main line comes out in the spare tyre well as along the outer wall is where the fuel pump will be mounted. We want to take advantage of the gravity feed from the fuel tank as well, hence it being so low. I have some glass work to do in the nose section before I can close all of that up, but that should be the last fibreglass work on the car.



The return comes out right by the top of the tank and we'll have a 180 bend going right into the tank.

This gives you an idea of the where the lines are run. They are attached to the pan using P clamps with a rubber insert which hold the fuel lines very secure, I'll have a total of about 20 holding the lines from front to back.







The fuel lines are run between the radiator lines, so it'll give some protection if I do ever hit anything, but that's highly unlikely as even with the car slammed all the way down, I'm yet to hit anything. The lines run down the center of the floor pan and is attached with tec screws all the way to the frame rails out back, where it then goes up to the Honda Fuel filter.



Some things did change this weekend, for starters, the fuel filter is being moved again as the spot for it would be putting it right above the distributor, so we're going to move it to the other side of the engine bay and then make a hard line to go around the rear of the car.

This week I have a friend picking up the last items that we need for the build. (new water pump, my new rubber lines, manifold sensor, knock sensor, new air filter box as I can't bring myself to using a cone filter and some misc stuff, cam belt and tensioner and then we should be set).

The car goes on Friday to have the radiator pipes nudged up a bit as I'm not happy with how low they hang where they exit for the radiator, so the shop is going to bend them up so that they exit through the front H beam. That way, I won't have any issues. They also have to weld on an adapter so that I can use stock radiator pipes as the last thing that I want to do is to pay R600 odd rand every time for a damn radiator pipe that has to be custom made.

I've also decided to spend a bit more on some new items that weren't originally included in the original price estimate. I'll be doing another complete break down of what is involved with this once she's running as I'd estimate it to be in the region of R20 000 - R23 000 with all the bells and whistles. Quite a bit more than what was previously estimated. 16k - 18k. The extra expenses that I've had have been.....

1) Fuel lines and P clamps - R600
2) Decided to replace water pump, manifold sensor, knock sensor, do a service as well as cam belt change and tensioner, expansion tank and new airbox with filter. - +/- R2500
3) Decided to use mandrel bends for my water system instead of having a whole load of connectors, clamps and rubber hose clamps. R200
4) Radiator pipes - R300
5) Water temp sender and gauge - R190 ( I cannot believe that I forgot this...lol)

[vader]

nice work bud!!!

[flatfourfan]

Just picked up what will hopefully be the last of my purchase.

1) Manifold sensor
2) New dizzy as the import motors need that to work with MP9
3) New airbox and airfilter
4) Cam Belt and tensioner
5) Service Kit (plugs, oil, oil filter, new water pump, coil, new plug leads, oil seals, crankshaft seal, new oil breather pipes, new cap for my expansion tank)
6) Knock sensor
7) new HP fuel pipes with all my fittings already on.

All in all............bye bye R4600-00. I knew that this was going, but it didn't make it any easier when I paid it over.

I am now officially ready for my new motor. Now I just need a Saterday to get it and install it.

[flatfourfan]

Another cool weekend.

Got all my goodies together to find out what I had to fabicate mounting brackets for in order to mount the whole lot. Looking at the boxes of stuff it quickly dawns on you how much more stuff there is on a modern motor compared to an AC motor. I also decided to replace the dizzy as to get MP9 to work with the import motors, the internals have to be modded. At R270 for a new one, it's easier just to replace.

This is about a 1/3 of what I bought for the build. One thing that I have to admit is nice is how cheap good quality parts are. It was however weird seeing so many small water pipes in the mix.



Expansion tank and it's bracket mounted to the firewall. One this bracket there is another bracket that holds my fuel lines that come through the back to the fuel filter as well. I have to refit the section that I cut out of the back and then the fuel filter will mount to that and then in turn, the airfilter box will mount in front of the expansion tank. It's all a tight fit, but the final arrangement will make servicing easy as well as allowing access to everything that I need to do. I was thinking of pulling a lot of brackets off a mk1, but at the end of the day, I would of been cutting and modifying everything to fit, so it was easier just to make my own.



I've already fabbed the brackets for the airbox, but that can't be mounted until the fuel filter and it's pipes have been fitted first. Hard lines will run from the fuel filter to the wall opposite the fuel rail as that way my rubber hoses are as short as possible.

This weekend coming is making the last radiator pipe for the back as well as some finishing touches on the fuel system and some minor fibreglass issues as well as wire in the engine harness and fuel pump and then we're good to go for the engine.

[flatfourfan]

Hopefully the second last update before I can post a video of a running motor.

The fuel system on this car has been a challenge of note, but I have to admit that I've loved every single minute of it. We bent the last of the hard lines that link the tank in the front to the engine at the back. My lines are now just awaiting to be attached to the car with P-clamps as I need a few more in order to finish the mounting. I also have to weld a few tabs to the cars frame in order to make sure that everything is neat and solid mounted.

I had to first repair the rear fiberglass section of the car that I pulled out way back when because the lower section of it was totally rotten and looked like it had been badly joined. So that was trimmed and a new piece was sectioned and then glassed in, this had to be done because on this panel I'm mounting my fuel filter as well as my expansion tank. (It's moving from the firewall because I want it more accessible.

Before



After



Yes I can assure you that the very bad picture is indeed the repaired section. Still needs a lick of black primer which I'll do when I'm 100% sure everything is where I want it to go.



The filter finally in it's final resting place. There is a rubber hose to the rear of the car, then it's all hard lines from there with a rubber hose to the fuel rail.





Where the last of the hard lines will be located. It's been fun bending these pipes into the shape that they're supposed to be in order to follow the steel frame of the car.



This is the main line and to give you an idea, this has seven bends in it.

So the plan of action, during the week I've got to fit all the small stuff like the pipes as I need more P-clamps and also get some more hose clamps. Then it's back to the exhaust shop to get the to make the final changes to my undercar cooling system, then it's off to my buddy on Saterday to tie up the electrics and rear radiator hoses.....

I was on the search for a few things from the agents. I love how cheap things are with VW, if this was my old honda, then I'd be lucky to get 2nd hand parts for double the price as new parts from the VW agents.

1) Expansion tank cap, I got one, but it's the wrong size. So time to take that back and just take my tank to make sure that I get the right one.
2) I was looking for the baseplate of the 99-03 Polo 1.6/2.0 for the airbox as I wanted to save some time, but it seems that it's a royal schelp of note trying to get one, so I've decided that I'll fab one this weekend and know that it's going to work. Plus it's going to cost me nothing as I have all the material at home already.

[jolas]

This is great progress man, interesting and easy reading with great pics
So you are about 2 weeks away from starting up the motor ?

[flatfourfan]

Yup, I'm a pic whore when it comes to my threads. I love seeing pictures of every single step and if this makes the decision any easier for any guy out there, then bonus. Plus having a mock up motor in place makes everything a LOT easier. I'm about to attach the waterpump, alternator, tensioner as well as dizzy tonight so that I can do the lay up of my airbox and also the intake pipes.



Having buddies who have all the parts that I can loan has also made all the diffs. Many guys can only do mock up when they have the actual engine in place. If I had to do this again, I think that I could do the lot in a week from start to finish. There has been a LOT of trial and error on this build and I've kept pics of both, so that guys can see what to do and what not to do.

If all goes well, we buy and install the motor next weekend. I want to get the most out of my 30 day warantee.

[flatfourfan]

Very productive weekend as well as a public holiday that I had yesterday.

Willem finished off my hard line radiator pipes that go out to the back, including adding all my bends. A quick lick of paint on these to clean things up and then we've got to wrap the rear section to help with heat.

Crappy photos.sorry about that. dummy engine out, which only means one thing.......I'm done with mock up and dont' need it anymore.



I also decided to move the overflow tank from the firewall, to the side wall, this will make it easier to fill up if need be. Even with the engine lid on. I also wanted the pipes to point either towards the engine or the firewall in order to clean things up.



I'm still waiting on this part from VW as well as the two screws that go with it. This prevents the water being sprayed over the engine bay and instead directs it straight down in case of over-flow.



Then work started on hooking up the last of my high pressure fuel lines, this was a bit of a pita because to get it all evenly spaced, took a bit of thinking. Luckily we had bent these before hand and all that I needed was a bit of tweaking.





Flex hose connectors in place to join the front with the back.





In all her glory, the mainline, filter and the return line.



There are some final things to tie up this week before we go and pick up there engine.

1) Wiring for fuel pump - Not too hard
2) Wiring for water temp - basic (Temp unit is going to be mounted under the dash for now.
3) Wiring for fan switch to ECU - Basic
4) Fab a heatshield for the exhaust as it's a bit too close to the fuel lines for my liking. - Easy job that.

I have 4 nights to tie up all of this before we get the engine, so, so far so good.

[flatfourfan]

Minor set back this weekend. After wiring the car up with the ECU during the week, we found out that city used spares didn't include the injector plug for the harness and that I'm going to wait 2-3 days for it, so the decision was made to delay putting the engine in as I was going to lose a week in running time, plus I can't do anything this weekend on it, so that would mean 2 weeks with no running.

So I used the time to do some ducting work as I had a lot of left over dry fibreglass panels that I had made. This craptacular picture will be replaced this afternoon once I get her out of the garage and also get the A-frame off.



It gives you an idea of the side ducts that I have bolted into place to the radiator cage that direct all the air through the radiator. There will be a steel lower scoop section that will bolt to the frame as well as the side panels. Besides that, we're done, nothing else to do now, but kill time till we can put the engine in.

As soon as my BB charges, I'll post pictures of the final install.

[flatfourfan]

I wasn't expecting to be able to do anything this weekend as I was on kiddy watch, but the kids were playing in the garden, so dad tied up some final things. Pulled the engine wiring harness through as well as trimmed the firewall for the brackets etc. Got to finally use my Einhell dremel knock off.



280 fittings and 6 speed with workm drive and table mount for R265-00, plus 2 year warantee?.........dremel can go and screw themselves. My last dremel gave me so much issues and the replacement parts were so dammed expensive, I sold it after 6 months and bought this cheapy. I can't fault it.



All in all, not a lot of wiring to pull through, this is pretty much everything. Coil pack, injector harness, dizzy wiring, throttle wiring, knock sensor and map sensor. Not too bad, I was expecting way worse. I still have to pull the last of the temp sensor as well the power for that, but now it's killing time till the weekend.



Also had a bit of drama as my bonnet wouldn't close. Got under the car and felt around and it seems that my nice trim panel that fits over the top of my radiator is hitting the underside of the bonnet. Trimmed it a bit and all is now fine.

The final plan will be to drive the car for a while and sort out the bugs and then drop the radiator about another 20mm, but only once I'm sure that there is no clearance issues. This will allow the radiator cap to sit flush with the slam panel for the bonnet. I have a day off this week, so I'm going to pick up some sheet steel to fab the scoop for the front as well as fit the bumper back on, so that I can get an idea of how much lower it will have to sit.