So let's stop FOX-ing around. A VW lover's story.

So as n Birthday present to myself, I did something with the FOXs exhaust. 

The old system was a 57mm two box system, with an offset rear silincer. 

So I went had the middle silincer and had the rear one swapped out with a 63mm straight through 

Got a new trunk gasket/rubber today

I think after 31 years, it was time

Also got a nice new vernier pulley for the head and lumpy bumpstick

Mmmmm, adjustible cam timing. I likey!

Any more details on that lumpy bumpstick?

hobiercr said:

Mmmmm, adjustible cam timing. I likey!

Yap! And with the 276cam will really wake up the 2L at a bit higher eevs

Finally found the boot spoiler I was looking for. 

Since the FOX 1.8 SPORT was only produced for a couple of years, VWSA did not do a reproduction of it's boot spoiler. 

But the rubber reproduction Alpina E30 BMW bootspoiler is a very close match, but the aftermarket suppliers almost never carry them around here. 

Then last week, while at one of said suppliers searching for something for a customer, I spotted one. Luckily the guys there know me, as they are also in return a customer of mine, and agreed to keep it to one side till today(payday). 

And here it is. Now to finish cleaning the new to me bumpers, so that I can fit everything to the car

obsolete said:

Any more details on that lumpy bumpstick?

Don't know how I have missed this comment.

Yes it is a cut G-cam, from the late Mk3 GTi 8V. All I know is that it is a 276degree lobed cam

So the head and cam swap is a bit behind due to my mechanic friends health being down the last couple off months, but he is getting better, so hopefully this will happen closer to the end of this month. 

Also, my front wheel bearings are starting to grumble and growl at me, so car is going tomorrow to get that fixed at the suspension shop. 

At the same time, my modified hubs are going in

I had the threads drilled out and long M12x1.5 studs presses in, especially since I am running 10mm spacers per side

Edit: Wanted to upload photos of my spacers, but seems they are on my old phone that had decided to take a E36 M3 and refusing to switch on

So, still a no-go on the head swap, since my mechanic friend is still in the hospital, but I did receive a package today. 

Now I don't know if there is a Take-a-lot site for the USA, but if there isn't, it is basically like Amazon, where you can buy almost anything, even take-aways. 

So since I am in procurement as well, I had to source 7" LED headlights that is E-code approved, for the inspections when the vehicles are registered. 

Now since my FOX is already registered and such, I can fit non E-codes. Luckily our vehicle laws are very lenient, and doe not require retesting every year or second year with private vehicles. Only taxi's and transportation vehicles need to retest every year. 

So I jumped and bought the babies on Take-a-lot

Just keep that small white box in the back of your mind

Why do they look so small? They are supposed to be 5.25" in diameter. Reread the add.... E36 M3!!! 9cm!! I had my calculation wrong from imperial to metric. They were supposed to be 13cm. Oh well. Time to put my thinking cap on... 

The lay out idea on the FOX

The our IT guy, who is Scottish by birth, gave me an idea after talking to him about perspex rings and vacuum molding adapter brackets. He has a 3D printer setup in his office, where he will print me an adapter ring that will be a press fit into the grill, with the brackets on the back for the spotlights to mount to

So tomorrow I will attack my car's grill with the vernier, and draw something for him with the measurements and then let's se what he can cook up

During 10h00 tea time, took the calipers out to the car, measured the grill two or three times, and wrote down my measurements. 

Then during lunch, free handed the 2D design and gave it to the Scott

Front View

Rear view, with the mounting points drawn on as well as the screw hole sizes. He can use his discretion with that, since I handed him one light with the drawings. 

Side viewe, with mounting points drawn as a suggestion 

So... 

The Scott just send me some renderings

Well, in South Africa, and our taxi, Toyota Quantum 16 Seater, driver's "No-care" attitude, you can literally live or die by your hooter. And when the FOX's hooter died a couple of weeks ago, I decided to replace it with a set I got years ago, for this purpose. 

It is a high-low tone set, but after fitting it yesterday and rapping the noise maker button, I realized, with this muffled tone, nobody is going to hear me. 

So I went to the garage, rummaged around and found the set I was going to add to the wife's Fiat Palio, and then we sold the car before I got the chance. 

No, these hooters have the tendency to be miss adjusted from the factory, and I suspect the set I put in the FOX was one such set. 

So here I am going to show were these hooters are adjusted for maximum volume

Underneath these red domes is the connection points, as well as the adjustment screw. Take them off

On this set, they are covered by some black silicone sealer. The hooters I took of the FOX, were covered  with white, but in the same location. 

Bad photo, but silicone removed. 

Now just adjust inward(clockwise) until maximum volume is obtained. Past some point, the volume will stay the same, that is when you now you turned it up to 11

Replaced red dome, remove "faulty" hooters, and fit these. Tomorrow I am going to go through the whole process again, just to get the "faulty" set adjusted, and stored as my spare set

Oh the joys of working in a hand built vehicle manufacturing plant.... 

My LED headlight brackets. Lazercut, bent and painted

Lights and brackets assembled 

This Monday morning the Scott surprised me with one of my spotlight brackets that he printed over our local long weekend

Came out looking really nice, even the textured surface matches the original grill. 

Light fits nicely aswell. 

While admiring the light fitting, my next install for the FOX also showed up

A/F ratio gauge with sensor and gauge pod

Can't wait to see pics of the lights installed. 

In reply to jfryjfry :

You and me both

So, I started organizing the stuff that needs to be done on the FOX into "Must do", "Needs Doing" and "Nice to have". 

So current list is as follows, memory permitting

Must do:

1. Finish installing all the door switches and bonnet switch for alarm
2. Rebuild extra wiper mechanism and install new wiper motor(will be done before number 1 as raining season approaches) 
3. Install new taillights, as old ones are cracked and leaks into the boot when it rains. Already lost an amplifier because of it
4. Install new cylinder head and re-jet carb

Needs doing

1. Redo electric window installation, as motors are as slow as molasses (damn "universal" kits) 
2. Remount driver's side electric motor that came loose
3. Remount door speakers(electric motors pushed them away, so might need spacers
4. Repaint bumpers and over fenders and fit

Nice to have

1. Install LED head lights
2. Install AFR gauge(will help with the jetting) 
3. Install my new acquisition for the FOX
4. Clean boot and grill badge and repaint it(may require removing them) 
5. Install Alpine E30 boot spoiler

So what is this new acquisition for the FOX? 

Well I picked it up this afternoon. Even more scares than gold plated hen's teeth these days. 

A genuine Perana Louvre for a Mk1 Jetta

Screenshot from the Fb market place transaction 

Just laid it on to get the idea. Needs some cleaning an paint rejuvenation, but I am very stoked to get one

Did number 2​​​​​​, oops, above in the must do list

So I got an extra wiper mechanism with a "busted" motor. Motor just needed wiring fixed, but I decided to replace it with a motor with a higher RPM rating

When it was raining, with wipers on full speed, mine timed out at 37rpms, ie, 37 times it moved from rest, to it's apex, and back to rest. Later Citi Golfs in South Africa had the Mk3 wiper motor as std, with a RPM rating of 42rpms. You would think 5rpms is not much, but in heavy rain, that is sometimes what you would need to see in front of you. Now the motor I decided to use, measures in at 52rpms. That is a whole 10 faster than the last model Citi's and 15 faster than what I had. 

So this is how I did it:

The extra wiper linkage and motor as I got it

The missing wire to make this one work. This motor will be used in an upcoming experiment with the electrical windows

2000s Isuzu KB series wiper motor

Removed from its bracket, it mounts directly to the Mk1 wiper linkage bracket

New E-clip for the shafts

Everything packed in separate bags, cleaned and ready to be lubed and installed

After everything was installed, I found this interference with the motor shaft. So with a little bit of spacing, all ends well. On to wiring

The shop's sparky tested and laid out the standard motor's wiring for me to transfer to the new motor, as well as showed me which wire to use for the intended relay I am going to add

Everything back together again, with the standard plug added

Relay added, without the main feed wire from the battery. 

This was all done from Wednesday to Friday, during my lunch breaks. 

Then on the weekend everything was removed and replaced on the car, but having only one day for car projects, and having a short but important list that ties in with this project, the "While I am in there" list, I did not take any photos. 

So these are just a couple of, "told you so" photos:

Old motor and bracket out of the car

As an autolec on one of the UK Mk1 forum always say:

What do Divorces, Great Coffee, and Car Electrics all have in common?

They all start with GOOD Grounds

So I added an extra ground to the wiper motor. 

And all of this resulted in this:

Pardon the water mark. I am still searching for a nice editor that is free and doesn't leave marks

Weeeellllll...... 

This sucks some big monkey balls

Waiting on a friend that lives a couple of minutes away to either bring me a spare ignition module, assuming that is the case, or if it is not, a tow to his workshop. 

What a way to start your Tuesday. 

Here's hoping.... 

So the problem was.... 

Seems there is more up and down movement than want needs to be there, so the window disc chowed through the hall sensor ring... Also, the ignition coil failed

StripesSA1 said:

Weeeellllll...... 

This sucks some big monkey balls

Waiting on a friend that lives a couple of minutes away to either bring me a spare ignition module, assuming that is the case, or if it is not, a tow to his workshop. 

What a way to start your Tuesday. 

Here's hoping.... 

Remember this photo, the reason behind no bumper and grill was the Monday before this, I started removing stuff to measure my headlights. 

Some before photos. Don't mind the water, it was raining that day

And... Bumper gone

And grill gone... 

Now the grill had some issues to fix, so fixed them, fitted the spots and measured the headlights

Also cleaned behind the bumper

You all know the saying about measure twice, cut once? Ever heard of measure once cuss twice? 

Well those nifty inhouse fabricated brackets will not fit in the cradle, or behind the grill

BUT it does look nice just dangling there. 

So had to spend extra money and order the "right" brackets, "some body modifications required"