AE92 GTi-16 Progress Thread

[KPARRIS-JONES]

forget the pic i want to see a video of it running

Don't worry yourself about that, I'll get a video camera and start videoing once the keys are in. :D

I have been told to place fuel in parts of the fuel line before turning the engine, but I'm not too sure on how to do that. I am also ordering a VARTA Blue Battery for £73.

The clutch and brake fluids will need replacing too, can anyone recommend any good brands and what dot fluid I need?

[KPARRIS-JONES]

Just ordered some Stainless-Steel Plug Covers for the 4A-GE. £28.45 including delivery. Bargain. :D

Linky

[dawesy]

DOT 4 will be fine or 5.1 if your planning some hard track use.a litre should fill the whole system. if your feeling flush the ive got this in the rolla

its about £20-30 a litre though and maybe a tad overkill for ya

wouldnt worry about fuel as as soon as you turn the ignition on the fuel pump will fire up and fill it for ya

[KPARRIS-JONES]

DOT 4 will be fine or 5.1 if your planning some hard track use.a litre should fill the whole system. if your feeling flush the ive got this in the rolla

its about £20-30 a litre though and maybe a tad overkill for ya

wouldnt worry about fuel as as soon as you turn the ignition on the fuel pump will fire up and fill it for ya

Thanks Lee. I'll go for the DOT 5.1 to make the most of the little brakes I've got. Ok, that's good about the fuel because I didn't know what would happen lol.

Fluid id expensive but worth it I would have thought. Any recommended gearbox oils? I have Castrol Magnatec for the engine, I know gearbox oils are very different though. :D

EDIT: Here's my order that has been shipped out from SA:

Now incredibly excited!!!

[KPARRIS-JONES]

Just put the order through for a Varta Blue Battery. It'll be delivered tomorrow. I'll order in the PAS fluid tomorrow, along with coolant. I already have my own oil and there is no point in me doing the brake fluid yet because the callipers are being replaced. :D

Just to help GTi owner with what fluids to get:

Brake/Clutch Fluid:

DOT 4 or 5.1 for tougher usage, 1 Litre

Engine Oil:

10W40, 3.7 Litres [i personally used Castrol Magnatec]

Transmission Fluid:

75W90S, 2.6 Litres

Coolant:

Ethylene Glycol based antifreeze, 6 Litres

[Tsporter]

EDIT: Here's my order that has been shipped out from SA:

snip

Now incredibly excited!!!

Wouldnt be postin my name and address on the interweb....

Keep up the good work by the way!!

[KPARRIS-JONES]

Thanks mate, picture edited. ;)

[KPARRIS-JONES]

Had a long and rather gruelling day working on getting her started up, but unfortunately it never happened. :(

The day before I had ordered a VARTA Blue Battery, and it was supposed to be next day delivery. I arrived at the garage at 9:30 and by 11:00 I had completed almost every task I had to. I fitted the Radiator, the Strut-Brace and HT Leads, the last Connectors, the Spark-Leads and every other little thing that had to be done. My first problem was the radiator, which had developed a leak at the bottom left hand corner, which I only saw after puting three litres of anti-freeze in it! It isn't huge but needs a bottle of rad weld which I purchased to fix it. I then wasted an enormous amount of time waiting for the Battery to be delivered. To make sure I didn't waste too much time, I went out to Eurocarparts to get some exhaust putty, radweld, petrol can, and exhaust U-Bolts.

When I got back at about 3:30, I got a call from performancebatteriesUK to tell me that they didn't have my Battery in stock. I was none to pleased an asked them how they expected tostick to their offer of next day delivery if they had only just found out that my order wasn't in stock. She said nothing and I put the phone down...

At this point, I couldn't fit the exhaust because the ramps weren't free, and I had nothing else to do. I decided to cancel my order with performancebatteriesUK and went to Halfords to get a ready-charged calcium battery. It set me back £90 but was ready to go and that was all that I cared for seeing as I just wanted to get the motor ticking.

I got back to the garage at 4:30 (they close at 5:00) and was in a rush to get the engine going. I'm doing it without the exhaust fitted, just the manifold. I got the positive terminal ready but had found out that I'd lost the negative Earth wires. :censor: I didn't have time to get new leads and get back to start the motor which put me in a serious mood. We packed up and went home, stopping off at motorserv on the way back to get the leads. They asked for £15 per cable (thats £30 for the two) to which I said "For what!? A bit of copper in a sock of rubber, that's taking the piss" I was concerned that I had taken it too far, but the bloke smiles and said, "Okay we can do them for £9 each. Still extortionate but hey, my fuss had knocked £12 off overall.

So basically, when I go back to it friday afternoon, I will have to fit the new Earth cables to the block and chassis, and refill the coolant system. Once I get it going for 20 minutes, I can put the Radweld in to sort out the leak.

Anyway, here are some pictures!:

This is the engine bay as it is now:

And I had to get a picture of the fan which I painted red, I've no idea why but I was particularly proud of it!:

My chrome-cover in place:

I also had a bit of luck when my chrome spark plug covers got delivered today. Very very shiny to say the least. I'll get pictures of it when the cam covers are painted up. But I need a vote on the came covers. Should I paint them white or black?

I am really pleased with how it looks, although I was dissappointed at the end, overall I have really enjoyed putting it back together. I have done this with my own two hands and I can't say I'm not proud. :D

Comments are welcome. :)

[ae102]

getting their turn that filter so it points towards the wing - every lil bit helps. just drove me GXi after about a year - its got the juices flowing again, hopefully finish mine this year, wish i had your dedication young man.

[KPARRIS-JONES]

Thanks, I can't move the filter without having to extend the MAF wires. Not my top priority just now but I'll look into it.

Get a thread up of your GXi! :)

[ae102]

by the looks of the pic - if you rotate the pipe between your filter and the pipe comeing from your tb your maf will be closer to the harness?

on my gxi i've done the engine swap, replaced the interior and have some bodyparts prepped - its the rest of the bodywork thats the problem, but its in hand - kind of? trouble is i'm busy doing stuff on the t sport - ready for the rollong road, be nice to know what i'm playing with and sush the doubter.

i see your is the tvis - when you get it running a have a couple of parts for you to try.

[mrluff]

Hey there..

I'm a Norwegian Corolla GT-i owner and trying to restore/upgrade the car in different ways.

I've bought a few parts from Fensport and I have a spare non GT-i Corolla for other parts.

Your project looks serious and well thought out. I was going to buy the Mongoose exhaust system but as it is discontinued

I will probably be making it with a friends help. My question to you is how is the Ashley exhaust system considered?

Quality steel? Quality welding? When I see the system at the Ashley website there is a single 3" tailpipe, did you specifically ask for

dual ones? How big are they? I'm looking into dual 2" myself.

BTW. Does your original exhaust have a cat.? Does the Ashley one have it?

EDIT: I can now see that you have the early spec. car without cat. and that the Ashley one doesn't have one either (?).

My question then is, do you think Ashley will customize the system with a cat. for me? Or just chop it so that I can fit one myself?

[KPARRIS-JONES]

Hey there..

I'm a Norwegian Corolla GT-i owner and trying to restore/upgrade the car in different ways.

I've bought a few parts from Fensport and I have a spare non GT-i Corolla for other parts.

Your project looks serious and well thought out. I was going to buy the Mongoose exhaust system but as it is discontinued

I will probably be making it with a friends help. My question to you is how is the Ashley exhaust system considered?

Quality steel? Quality welding? When I see the system at the Ashley website there is a single 3" tailpipe, did you specifically ask for

dual ones? How big are they? I'm looking into dual 2" myself.

BTW. Does your original exhaust have a cat.? Does the Ashley one have it?

EDIT: I can now see that you have the early spec. car without cat. and that the Ashley one doesn't have one either (?).

My question then is, do you think Ashley will customize the system with a cat. for me? Or just chop it so that I can fit one myself?

Hi, thanks for your comment.

The Ashley isn't made of stainless steel but is of decent quality hence why so many people buy them over here. I was just grateful to find an aftermarket exhaust for £200. My GTi never had a cat and neither does the Late-Spec model as far as I knew. The AE92 ceased production just as cats were introduced in big way in 1992. It does have a middle section but that's it. I could be wrong though.

I doubt that Ashley will make it with a cat for you, but that's because GTi's over here never had them fitted. :P You'd be better off finding an exhaust specialist to fit the cat for you, but if you are doing that then you may aswell get them to custom make an exhaust for you instead of just a cat.

The Ashley had twin 2" pipes as standard, but I didn't get it from Ashley. I got it from here: Europerformance.co.uk

To fit it you will need two 58mm U-Bolts and some exhaust putty to smear on the insert tubes. It connects to the down-pipe backwards. I think I mentioned it on page 1 of this thread. ;)

If you have any other questions feel free to ask. ;)

KP

[KPARRIS-JONES]

Decided to get some pictures of my Plug Covers:

Here are the Earthing cables that I got for the battery:

I quite like them because I reckon they look better than the old tatty braided cables.

[farhanali89]

very nice, Good to see the progress has come so far. The plug cover looks very nice reminds me of my carbon fibre plug cover i gave to ckman.

KP get the plug cover wrapped in carbon

[dawesy]

looking very good. nearly there now.

you have done very well and a rightly proud. top job

[KPARRIS-JONES]

Thank you for the comments. I just finished making my Terminal and Leads. It's just a case of bolting it on, filling her up with coolant and turning the key. Simples.

I'm posting up a little how-to.

Thanks for all your help so far Dawesy, most of the facts I post I have learnt from you so don't think I'm just credit stealing! I'm glad you told me about the negative to gearbox cable though... that could've gone very very wrong!

Replacing your Battery Negative Terminal Leads:

What you will need:

* Tough and sharp wire-cutters

* Two Heavy Duty Earthing Leads with Ring Connectors

* A Negative Terminal with two securing screws (one for each cable)

* A sharp Scalpel

* Screwdriver

There are two cables that need to Earth the Battery, one goes onto the Gearbox, and the other goes to the chassis.

1. Decide which Ring Connector you will cut off.

2. Remove the protective skin on the terminal.

3. Cut the wire as close the the connector as possible.

4. Using the Scalpel, cut throught the insulation all round the wire about 1.5cm down the wire.

5. Slide off the insulation to give you a bare wire end.

6. Insert the bare wire end into the terminal ring.

Make sure that you push the wire in as much as you can, holding it in place as you use the screwdriver to tighten the securing screw.

7. Repeat steps 1-6 with the other lead.

8. Feel proud of your achievement :D

[KPARRIS-JONES]

Some brilliant news for today. I finally got my headlamps delivered!

They are better than I thoughy, very light, the black will go nicely in the engine bay and the grill clip slots are chromed. The quality is suprisingly high too, with all mechanisms such as the bulb holders operating properly. :) I am very very pleased, well worth £150.

Comments are welcome, I think they'll look fanstastic on the car. Can't wait to get them fitted up!

[dawesy]

they look very nice. do look good quality as well. good find, just got to get em fitted ;)

[Gordy75]

Those lights are awesome and they look sweeeet on the car, theyre on my summer wish list!

how long did they take to get here from SA? dont know if to order them from this guy or

get my cousin to send them over. What is the guys name, I might know of him?

Fluffy is coming along well and looking good, hope she starts up soon and get a video up!

seeming as ure putting everything back together am I supposed to have a heat-shield on my downpipe?

[KPARRIS-JONES]

Those lights are awesome and they look sweeeet on the car, theyre on my summer wish list!

how long did they take to get here from SA? dont know if to order them from this guy or

get my cousin to send them over. What is the guys name, I might know of him?

Fluffy is coming along well and looking good, hope she starts up soon and get a video up!

seeming as ure putting everything back together am I supposed to have a heat-shield on my downpipe?

Thanks, yeh you should have a heat shield on your downpipe to stop the sump from burning up. :P

It took them 14 working days to get here from SA because of a delay with the flights, but usually it takes 10. He only goes by the name hybrid but he is very helpful and reliable. I couldn't recommend him any higher, a brilliant guy and always helpful. The lights all cost £150.

Okay, now about today.

SHE HAS STARTED!!!

The motor works with no fatal problems, but the timing makes it run like a pig with a harpoon up its arse.

She turned over no problem, perfectly smooth and no nasty sounds to report. I had a small fuel leak but only had to tighten up the line. I kept trying but she just wouldn't start. So I tested the spark, it was very strong on all the plugs and I managed to zap myself by the HT lead (Not part of the procedure). I couldn't figure it out, but then remembered the distributor could be incorrectly set. It was 180 degrees out so I had to set it roughly with the crank and spark 1. She settled down a little, idling at 1600 but the cam covers weren't secured, pissing oil everywhere which didn't help. Sadly I ran out of time to do anything else with the timing, but I did manage to have a listen to the exhaust.

I can safely say that the Ashley exhaust sounds gorgeous, it isn't chavvy or farty, it has a lovely low and bassy rumble which roars when revving only to 5500.

I have developed a leak around the sump seal, so I need to remove the sump and reseal it which shouldn't be too hard if the cars up in the air. I didn't get to do the radweld due to the bad timing, but there are no other leaks or problems to report.

The next time I go to the garage after my GCSE's, I will have to put the new cam cover gaskets on, drain the oil, reseal the sump, adjust the timing with the strobe and then do the radweld.

I am very happy, I have taken a motor apart and rebuilt it with no faults made by me, only from wear and tear. The video is utterly shite, it just distorted and crackled so I wont haunt you ears with that. I will be posting a video (from a decent camera) when I have the idling adjusted. You will have to wait a little longer. :P

Comments are welcome. :)

BTW What does the vacuum tube on top of the throttle body connect to? I think it's playing with my idling...

[Gordy75]

Another step closer, looking good!

The vacuum tube on top of the throttle body goes into the housing for the air filter system you used to have just

above the sensor!

Its always a good feeling to hear a new exhaust for the first time!

[KPARRIS-JONES]

Another step closer, looking good!

The vacuum tube on top of the throttle body goes into the housing for the air filter system you used to have just

above the sensor!

Its always a good feeling to hear a new exhaust for the first time!

That applies to the Late-Spec models though, I just looked at my old housing and it only has a slot for the MAF sensor. And that has nothing else on it...

Any other ideas?

P.S. found my old Earthing leads. I'll fit them instead because I know they are factory standard. So if anyone wants my negative Earthing system aswell as the bolts just let me know. I ask only that you pay for postage if you want them. Threy do work fine and look nicer than the standard cables...

[dawesy]

well done KP, glad you got her sorted.

dont worry about the dizzy, i had to sort a car for a guy who had fitted the rotor arm 180 deg out, didnt think it was physically possible but he managed it.

coming together well now. cant wait to see and hear the vid.

[KPARRIS-JONES]

well done KP, glad you got her sorted.

dont worry about the dizzy, i had to sort a car for a guy who had fitted the rotor arm 180 deg out, didnt think it was physically possible but he managed it.

coming together well now. cant wait to see and hear the vid.

haha, you can trust me to do the impossible with things like that...

I can't touch her for two months now. :( Gonna be a loooong wait.