It's Alive! (longish)

[Brett P VanSprewenburg <brettv@rocketmail.com>]

I've been off-line for a bit while I concentrated on putting my engine in.

What an ordeal...took me about 40 hours by myself.  Fired it up last night
for the first time, and it actually worked. :)  I was really nearing the
end of my rope, and was pretty tired of working on the car.  I was very
agitated about turning it over for the first time, wondering if I'd put
it all together correctly, tightened everything, lined everything up...
But after a 20 minute ring-seating session in my driveway, I took it for 
a spin through the neighborhood (without a hood naturally...isn't this what
you're supposed to do after changing your engine?  I see the muscle car
guys doing it all the time).  My 60 second drive put a grin back on my
face pretty fast!!  It felt sooo good to be back in the drivers seat of
that car, and it was sooo good that I was actually done putting the
engine back together and IT WORKED! 

This phase of the car project stared in late August 98 when Jim & I brought
the 2L short block back from West Virginia...

So here's what I did over the winter/spring (harder then it looks, trust me):

-2L 16v block bored 2nd oversize, 83mm pistons, giving 2008cc's, also given
 the royal treatment of new parts...right down to the oil pump drive gear
 which runs *$84* direct NOS warehouse in the Fatherland.  Klaus retrieved
 one for me, there are only like 40 or so of them left...
-Cleaned, freshened, ported & decked 1.8L head.
-Schrick 260 cams.
-Lightened flywheel with HD 2L 16v pressure plate.
-Kent Adjustable cam gear.
-Polished valve cover, and intake manifolds
-Pretty much new *everything* (water pump, oil pump, all seals/gaskets, belts,
 flanges, distributor, and on and on and on and on...and on and on and on...)
-Stainless steel brake lines
-rear caliper
-H&R wheel spacers in the rear
-ABD weighted shift rod
-Rear axle pivot bushings
-Front control arm bushings
-All new rear axle brake lines and one new p-side front brake line (thank you
 flare nut wrenches)
-More stuff I've probably repressed

Tons and tons of cleaning, sand blasting, and painting to go along with it
too.  Don't even ask how much it's all cost me...I may be a bit ill :(

I have gathered a very deep understanding in *exactly* how the engine goes
together, *exactly* where and what every wire, hose and vacuum line goes to.
I can hold the picture of just about every  nut and bolt on the engine
in my head at the moment, but it's somewhat painful... :)  I just can't
really believe that it's done, or that I did it.

I have been planning this engine swap for at least 5 or 6 years, I've owned
this Scirocco for 7 years, I had wanted a 16v for at least 4 or 5 years
before that (since high school)...the final stage is a repaint to be done
next year when I (might) be able to afford one.  Needless to say, this 
project is culminating into the perfect Scirocco embodiment (in my mind
anyways).  To make this car as perfect as I can make it is one of my goals
in life...too sad, eh? :)

See you in (near) Cincy next week!

==Brett



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