Golf III ITB

[Knestis]

Looks like I've found a freebie parted out shell that will be the basis for our next MkIII.

Also, If anyone is interested, I have a drawing done for the part and a local shop that could churn out a batch of sunroof covers - with corners radiused and rivet holes pre-drilled. The more that they make, the cheaper they are so let me know if you want one.

It might seem silly to some people but I'm discovering that my time is valuable enough that I'm money ahead to farm some of this stuff out, particularly since I don't have all of the tools that I used to.

K

[Bill Miller]

I love the picture of Chris' A3 w/ the snowflakes! I just got new tires for my A3 street car, and mounted them on an old set of snowflakes. They look good on the car!!!! I can't even count how many of those wheels I've had over the years.


Hey Joe, shoot me an email millerwj_at_yahoo

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MARRS #25 ITB Rabbit GTI (sold) | MARRS #25 HProd Rabbit
SCCA 279608

[Jason Weaver]

Originally posted by Knestis:
[B]Looks like I've found a freebie parted out shell that will be the basis for our next MkIII.

This means Pablo will have a brother!?!


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Jason

[Knestis]

...or a sister, maybe. My rally heritage is showing when I start thinking about having a caged shell on hand, just in case.

K

[OTLimit]

Originally posted by Bill Miller:
I love the picture of Chris' A3 w/ the snowflakes! I just got new tires for my A3 street car, and mounted them on an old set of snowflakes. They look good on the car!!!! I can't even count how many of those wheels I've had over the years.

They are still the mainstay of his wheel supply for ITB. Buys all of them he can find at the junk yards, and it's amazing how many of them are still out there and in good condition.



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Lesley Albin
Over The Limit Racing
Blazen Golden Retrievers

[Bill Miller]

They came on a lot of cars (even Quantums) Lesley, and they're pretty popular. I do remember when my A1 GTI got hit in '87, I had a hard time finding them at the j/y, and when I did find them, they were not cheap!

Oh, and please tell Chris congrats for me, on his 4th at the Runoffs!

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MARRS #25 ITB Rabbit GTI (sold) | MARRS #25 HProd Rabbit
SCCA 279608

[Knestis]

I tried something different on my sunroof plug - painting it black to emulate the OE dark tinted glass.

I figured that it would be more idiot-proof than trying to match the stock white.



We also have a coooool part for the enduro.



Carbon fiber is so hard to capture with a digital camera.

It came from my rally buddy in Seattle and is a duplicate of the one he has. It's just mocked up for the picture...

K

[Bill Miller]

Originally posted by theenico:


I built the cage

Not trying to nitpick on this, but doesn't the GCR require the diagonal in the main hoop to be continuous, and the lateral bar to be spliced at the diagonal?


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MARRS #25 ITB Rabbit GTI (sold) | MARRS #25 HProd Rabbit
SCCA 279608

[Knestis]

I had to admit that I hadn't thought about it until he asked, but Bildon asked if our class victory at the VIR 13 hours was the first ITB win for a MkIII Golf.

I actually think that it might be (whee!) but does anyone know if someone else beat us to it?

K

[OTLimit]

Sorry, Kirk. August 21/22 Chris posted his first two victories in the new car.

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Lesley Albin
Over The Limit Racing
Blazen Golden Retrievers

[JOESELLSVW]

Kirk, I just removed the AC compressor for my car and started to install the new water pump pulley that you mentioned way back in this thread..... is it suposed to be smooth, mine is..no grooves? What are you using for a tensioner...the Bentley manual mentions a large coil spring under the alternator that tensions the serp belt. This sound familiar? Joe

[Dave Zaslow]

Joel,

BTDT. Yes, the pulley is smooth. You should replace the entire tensioner assembly with a new one. This is a known failure point. The tensioner spring is on the right of the tensioner assembly. Look below and to the right of the alternator. For routing the serpentine belt, look at the diagram in E**a for the various belt arrangements. If you don't have E**a available I can pdf the diagram and email it.

Have Fun,

Dave Z

[JOESELLSVW]

Dave, Thank you! Could you email that to me? [email protected] . This means that I must replace the whole bracket with a different style or do I keep this same style and replace with new? I appreciate your help! Joe

[Knestis]

Thanks for bringing this one back to the top, Joe. I sent an email but I'll try to get some pics to post.

K

EDIT - the little socket head bolt in the end of the tensioner is one of a very few failure points we had last year.

[This message has been edited by Knestis (edited February 16, 2005).]

[Fastfred92]

Kirk

Contact me offline at: falphin(at)acs-rdu.com during business hours. I have some Mk III parts from Fritz you might be able to use...

Fred

[Knestis]

I'm giving up.

I just can't bring myself to run an illegal 4th gear ratio and can't find the "old style" .97 so I'm going to install my pimpy LSD behind the original, tall R&P ratio.

If you have a clever solution that I haven't considered, I'd love to hear it - and by "clever" I mean "not illegal." I did get a chuckle out of some of the creative suggestions from shops around the country during my search - like the guy who asked me twice in the same conversation which 5th gear I wanted to run (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)...

K

[Knestis]

I've been battling with a too-long serp belts, using the "right" one and finally found a couple of NAPA part numbers for slightly shorter options. If you find the same problem, email me and I'll send the info.

Also, the warning above about tensioners is a good one. I just found my second bad one.

K

[Eric Parham]

Hey Kirk, I could use a couple of those metal sunroof covers. How much do they weigh?

Also, not sure what exactly is your gearbox dilemma, but it seems like A3 3-4-5 would work well with a 4.25-4.60 R&P for short tracks and maybe the 3.94 for longer ones. I can't imaging the 3.67 being worth keeping, though, if the box is coming apart anyway.

[Knestis]

I confess that I don't know how much the cover weighed but there are tables that will tell you the per-square-foot weights for sheetmetal. I have a cheap-O-CAD drawing if you want it, or I could ask the people who did mine if they would do a couple more. Shipping would add to the cost of course.

The gearbox problem hinged on the fact that the earlier pinion shaft (3.94) out of a MkII uses a differently configured 4th gear than that in the MkIII CHE 'box. Since I last posted, my Charlotte-area gearbox guy HAS found the proper 4th gearset so we are back on track on that front. If my freebie R&P are good - and I'm not an expert by any means - we may yet finish this project.

Fact, based on what I have learned with this project - YOU CANNOT simply bolt an earlier R&P onto the stack of gears that come in a MkIII transmission.

Opinion, formed while doing the same - Anyone who tells you that's what they did might simply be fibbing about what gear ratios they are running since, "Nobody would ever put up a bond to take apart an IT transmission."

I confess that I was tempted to take the easy way out with that 1.13 4th there for a while. And heck, why not use a .91 fifth if we're starting down that road...?

K

[This message has been edited by Knestis (edited March 14, 2005).]

[Eric Parham]

I'd like to take you up on the CAD drawing. I think I know where I could get it implemented locally. [email protected]

I guess the correct ratio 4th for the OEM short R&P could be sourced from a 1976-1980 Rabbit 4-spd (or 5-spd, for that matter), which had the same 0.97.