Chris's HDi D Turbo

[Tom]

Beams well and truely gone when it gets to that point! Lovely car though and some decent plans, look forward to seeing the progress

[Toms306]

Then maybe gather up the courage to do the Water Pump / Cambelt by myself. Tom?!!

Go for it! It's not difficult at all tbh. The access is a bit tight but no more so than changing the aux belt. Ratchet spanners are a massive help.

That said, I still haven't tried starting mine yet lol, made sense to change the 'box while the battery/airbox/starter were out instead of putting everything back for a few days. Hopefully will all be back together tomorrow though!

[C.A.R.]

Whatever you say! Road trip to Ipswich! You're the one who's been to college, makes you more qualified than me, and I only have a couple of ratchet spanners....

[C2K]

No clutch pics? Boo :-P

[DeeTurbo]

Today I went over to Chris's and I gave him a hand fitting his replacement axle, new front dampers and springs.

[attachment=14544]

Had a couple of issues with seized pinch bolts on the front hubs so things over ran a little.

[attachment=14545]

[C.A.R.]

'A little' haha, I'm so knackered I can't even write a proper reply just now!

[DeeTurbo]

Yeah me to, I'm proper aching now. Did the car driver better on the way home?

[C2K]

Seized pinch bolts... during a lowered beam... either you got lost or were lowering it.

[C.A.R.]

So Dee's pic above pretty much says it all...

Started 9am sharp on Saturday morning, garage full of parts...



Beam swap was finished by about 12:30ish, we didn't even have to touch the brake circuit in the end (beam can be removed without removing the brake pipes after all!) So I didn't end up changing the rear flexi's, that's now a job for another day (will hopefully swap the longer one for a correct shorter length one before then)

By this point we probably should have stopped. Front wheels off, go about removing the ARB drop links...



Neither side would come off, had no grinder/cutting disc, one decent hack saw between the two of us. Quick phonecall to EuroCarParts and they had a pair of Lemforders on the shelf, so put the car back together, said goodbye to my daughter and headed over to Dee's place. I had only eaten a bag of my daughters Pom Bear crisps by this point so between driving from ECP to Dunstable I managed to consume a small bag of Haribo. The intention was to offer some to Dee when I arrived but...Well I was starved!

This is where we should have just re-fitted the new drop links and cut our losses!

THe hub did not want to lose it's life-long partner, the knackered shock absorber!



Off with the old -



(notice the level of light...it was getting dark...)

By this point my phone completely died. Mid-conversation with an agry Mrs C.A.R. too!

So from the previous page:

Changes coming / done recently:
Sort Aux belt squeal - done (hopefully)
Sort auto tensioner - done
Fit Scorpian Backbox (thanks Tom) - Done (thanks Dee)
Fit Niall's old 1.8 beam - Done (thanks Dee)
w/New beam mounts - Done (thanks Dee)
Fit Bilstein B4 front shocks - Done (thanks Dee)
Fit Apex Lowering Springs (35mm) - (thanks Dee)
Fit new(ish) front tyres after the Rainsports have turned into slicks -
Fit OMP strut brace (thanks Sean)
Investigate ABS problem (light has come on)
Replace both front ball joints
Fit RH shock boot (forgot on reassembly)
Replace both rear tyres as the camber'd beam has done for them

Not too happy with how the OMP strut brace fitted, does anyone else have a picture of one fitted on a HDi?

[Toms306]

Certainly a productive day there lol!

[Dum-Dum]

Hows she looking now shes low though?

[Niall]

Is that my old beam that went on? Hope its still ok. Wish i never sold that as when i had it, it was spot on and now my GTi one is starting to go

[C.A.R.]

It all looks good and straight - well certainly much straighter than what was on there before. To be honest it doesn't look much lower (to me) because it was on knackered shocks and a knackered beam before, but it does look smarter being all the same height (rear used to sit too low on drivers side).

Bit miffed about the rear tyres getting f*cked by the old beam, yet another expense there

[C.A.R.]

Changes coming / done recently:
Sort Aux belt squeal - done (hopefully)
Sort auto tensioner - done
Fit Scorpian Backbox (thanks Tom) - Done (thanks Dee)
Fit Niall's old 1.8 beam - Done (thanks Dee)
w/New beam mounts - Done (thanks Dee)
Fit Bilstein B4 front shocks - Done (thanks Dee)
Fit Apex Lowering Springs (35mm) - (thanks Dee)
Fit new(ish) front tyres after the Rainsports have turned into slicks - Done (now on Goodyear Efficient Grip)
Fit OMP strut brace (thanks Sean) - Fitted
Investigate ABS problem (light has come on) - Still exists
Replace both front ball joints - Done
Fit RH shock boot (forgot on reassembly) - Ignored, it'll be alright :p
Replace both rear tyres as the camber'd beam has done for them - Now on Michelins

Some other little jobs which aren't important but more of a 'want' than a need!

Fit black masks
Replace front bumper as paint is ruined
Replace drivers' side fog as it's gone orange inside
Replace GTi front seats as the runners aren't the best on the passenger side and neither has a map pocket?!
Possibly replace passenger door. Been putting it off a lot as it seems like a lot of hassle!
Fit phase 1 door cards. Cos I prefer them and they match the seats!

Gave her a clean yesterday. She's looking good now

[C.A.R.]

Still waiting on my black masks, but in the mean time I have fitted this



Now I know the standard filter does a great job and there's no reason to replace it, I wasn't going to bother. But this was so cheap on the forum I thought what the hell. Got the little reducers for £2.99 each too which I thought was a bargain, spent almost as much on stainless jubilee clips! I meant to order black hoses as I didn't want them to stand out so much, they were so cheap I may actually replace them.

Still got my ABS issue, haven't been able to revive the old N/S rear sensor, so I think I'm going to need a new one if anyone knows the cheapest source for them please chime in! ECP / CP4L are around the £48 mark!!!

I had this annoying rattle from the rear too, which turned out to be the rear brake dust shields - both of them. Check this out -



Completely rotten!

Have replaced with some other 2nd hand ones for now, hopefully they'll last a bit longer than 4 weeks.

Whilst I was under there I had a bit of a fright, looked over my shoulder to see this -



Shiiiiiit! (yes I got out before I took the photograph). I had left the jack in place just in case, but still, was a bit un-nerving...

Also fitted my front splash guard - Thanks Tom! Although I shouldn't have cleaned it, it shows up against the others!



I have acquired my bumper, just waiting on some fogs (again, from Tom!) to yellow mask and fit the whole lot at once.

I've also decided 'sod it' and I'm gathering parts to go limited torque stage 2 for the summer. Should be a giggle.

[C2K]

Looking smart.

[Mattcheese31]

doesn't matter now you've swapped them but, mole grips on the back of the droplinks if you ever come up against some troublesome ones again . . .

[ozonehostile]

those heatshields are such a pita to find decent ones, I rummaged through about 3 beams to match up a decent pair haha

[C2K]

doesn't matter now you've swapped them but, mole grips on the back of the droplinks if you ever come up against some troublesome ones again . . .

This, or a spanner on the flats after the snap the actual link off the socket joint.

[C.A.R.]

Thanks for the comments fellas

It's coming along. Induction kit definitely makes a change to the sound, however if I'm going stage 2 the original airbox might have to go back on as the routing is better, so I may put this up for sale soon anyway

It sounds like a scooby burble! Only with rattly diesel overtones

[C.A.R.]

Not much has changed recently with the car, swear I have a boost leak as it whistles like a bitch on boost and seems down on power, so going to replace the gasket between inlet and the little L-bend as there's evidence of oil spray all over the bulkhead there.

Just got to wire this in too -



Auto Acoustics sub enclosure, moulded to the shape of the rear wheel arch. Actually stuck very well there but will put some velcro on it too just to keep it secure. Going to need to mount the amp on an MDF board on the opposite side of the boot though, as it's bigger than I anticipated and sadly won't fit next to the sub.

[Alex4193]

Jealous of your interior pal! Good job!

[C2K]

Screw it to the seat back!

[C.A.R.]

I was discussing this with DeeTurbo the other day, really want to avoid screwing it to be seat back if I can! Occasionally have the seats down to lug crap about and don't want the amp getting damaged!

Gonna wet vac it again soon (it's been 2 years!) and considering getting my AC repaired and working for the summer as it was pretty unbearable for the little one the other day

[Tom85]

Beam swap was finished by about 12:30ish, we didn't even have to touch the brake circuit in the end (beam can be removed without removing the brake pipes after all!) So I didn't end up changing the rear flexi's, that's now a job for another day (will hopefully swap the longer one for a correct shorter length one before then)

Nice tip! Did you just unbolt/unclip all the brake lines from the old beam? Was there much clearance to get the beam off with them off?

[titch]

Just looking at your picture, of the new air filter, what have you bolted the throttle potentiometer to ?

[C.A.R.]

Beam swap was finished by about 12:30ish, we didn't even have to touch the brake circuit in the end (beam can be removed without removing the brake pipes after all!) So I didn't end up changing the rear flexi's, that's now a job for another day (will hopefully swap the longer one for a correct shorter length one before then)

Nice tip! Did you just unbolt/unclip all the brake lines from the old beam? Was there much clearance to get the beam off with them off?

If you take your time there is enough 'flex' in the pipes to carefully slide the beam one way then the other to go around them. You'll need to have 2 people and support the beam with two trolley jacks ideally. Not gonna lie, it did drop on my hand but I was lucky! And we didn't stretch any pipes in the process.

Just looking at your picture, of the new air filter, what have you bolted the throttle potentiometer to ?

At the moment it's bolted to the same location as the little clamp which supports the heater hose, right next to the engine cover clip stud. It's not ideal, I'm going to change it but at the time the cordless drill had died

[titch]

Just looking at your picture, of the new air filter, what have you bolted the throttle potentiometer to ?

At the moment it's bolted to the same location as the little clamp which supports the heater hose, right next to the engine cover clip stud. It's not ideal, I'm going to change it but at the time the cordless drill had died
[/quote]

Nice one thanks, i am just looking at moving mine to make room for the boost pipe when i finish off my fmic. But not 100% where to mount it.

Titch

[Tom85]

If you take your time there is enough 'flex' in the pipes to carefully slide the beam one way then the other to go around them. You'll need to have 2 people and support the beam with two trolley jacks ideally. Not gonna lie, it did drop on my hand but I was lucky! And we didn't stretch any pipes in the process.

Nice one. Going to swap my beam in a few weeks - be good not to have disturb the brake circuit.

[C.A.R.]

Comedy packaging yesterday, can you guess what it is?