OSR's "Silver Bullet"

[OSR]

Standard car? No not at all - Revo Stage 2, coilies etc. This is just the first time I've been able to do a proper strip down and get through my wish list now it's not a daily!

The inter cooler is the THS kit which I was pretty impressed with - it's dual pass so all the pipework sits at the drivers side hidden so it's a lot neater than the eBay specials. I was looking recently and it seems THS have vanished, maybe gone bust?

[lemski]

Dont know but saying that ive not heard of them for a while.
Sound like you have a fun little golf. How is the revo for delivering the power

[OSR]

Yeah it's good, for whatever reason my stage 1 map (which was a custom map, not a Revo) was never quite right. It only made 190bhp on the rollers when I had it done but should have got 210bhp as it's the KO3s turbo, vvt, etc (AUM). This was identified at the time as a boost/vacuum leak so I did do the N249 and vacuum simplification mod including fitting a catch can which helped but it still used to go into limp mode fairly frequently when under full boost. In the end an N75j valve sorted the issue and it's been fine ever since but interestingly when I had the Revo stage 2 map done the guys said they couldn't do a before run as it was "overboosting to f**k" but it made a clear 230bhp and 200whp on the after run.

The stage 2 map I really like - it's quite aggressive in that it hits full boost after a bit of lag but then holds all the way to the redline without really tailing off at all.

The big thing letting it down is the clutch, which I believe to be original as I bought the car with 69k on and had the stage 2 done after I'd hit 100k so it tends to slip the clutch under full load rather than spin the wheels which is what kicked off this entire process!

Long way to go yet to do everything I want but happy now I have it as a toy rather than a daily driver. I'm useless for remembering to take pics but I'll try to get some when I start to reassemble the front end.

[OSR]

Update - been working away when I've had the chance and got the gearbox off a couple of weekends ago. Given it a good degrease and clean and now painting silver, partly to tidy it up but also so it's easier to spot leaks!

To get the gearbox out easier I removed the subframe and removed the old bushes using a hacksaw - got loads of photos to put up here when I'm next on a laptop... I then cleaned up the subframe with a drill and wire brush attachment to remove surface rust and a screwdriver to scrape off any bits of scale around the nooks and crannies. Bit of sanding down and then three coats of hammerite black spray and she's good to go!

Went to the local TPS and they actually had all the bolts in stock with the exception of one wishbone bolt which I need to nip back to get when I have time. £50 for all 4 subframe bolts and wishbone bolts but I only plan on doing this once and doing it right.

Ordered a SMF clutch kit which uses the G60 flywheel and VR6 clutch from Darkside Developments. Decided this was not o lay cheaper but a more OEM/quality item versus the ECS tuning kit.

[OSR]

Finally got around to uploading some photos of progress.

Painted gearbox, still a few bits to do but I think you'll agree looks a lot better than the oily lump I pulled out of the car



DIY refurbished subframe, before;



After;



I also have quite a few pictures from when I removed the subframe bushes to create a DIY, but I'll wait for the new Polybushes to arrive and get some photos on installation to cover it all in one hit.

Clutch kit and ARB arrived with wishbones on the way so hopefully can get the majority fo the front end back together over the coming weekend. Ideally want to get a test run in before Xmas.

[OSR]

Pile of parts;



And assembled ready to go onto the car this Friday;



No pictures of the clutch but there's not a lot to see really! Slight issue was when doing the flywheel bolts up on the third stage (1st 22lbsft/2nd 44lbsft/3rd +90deg) I managed to slip the socket on the final bolt so didn't quite get the +90deg, maybe got 30-45deg but they were new bolts with blue loctite so I'm living with it. Not ideal but I couldn't tighten it and couldn't loosen it without totally goosing it so thought I'd take my chances. If I need to strip it all back again then that will suck but they were bloody tight and it's not like it ever needs to come off again so fingers crossed!

[lemski]

That looks good did you not poly the roll bar

[OSR]

I used the bushes it came with, which are poly but a very dark (almost black) purple/grey colour. Definitely not rubber so was happy enough not spending another £20 on bushes for the sake of it! Getting those arb brackets and bolts back on though, what a pain in the ass!

[lemski]

Ahh. You wanna try doit in on a mk2 golf. Makes you sweat. Coming along though. Whats next

[OSR]

I've always wanted a mk2, but haven't really got the room so all my eggs are going in the mk4 basket!

Next is getting the driveshaft bolts back on and then subframe all torqued up and bolted back onto the car. I've got Friday off work so I'm going for an early start and a test run after lunch all being well!

Bought a couple of cheap balljoint kits just for the fitting kit (bolts and plate) as there's technically nothing wrong with the ones currently on there. The only bit that may not work so well is using the standard drop links with the Whiteline ARB but I'm not silly low (yet) so hopefully it will all line up when the cars sat on the ground again.