What's Cathy been up to? (long)

[roccit_53 at scirocco.cs.uoguelph.ca (C Boyko)]

See, now you can just delete based on the dull topic eh?
For the non-deleters, here goes:

Well, you may think that I?ve been uncharacteristically quiet of late, and
you?d be right. I secretly have installed a 1.8T in both of my
Roccos...no, sorry, that was Kirsten, my bad. Though both of mine have had
a 1.8L bolted into them at some point, does that count? (And one still
does)

But I HAVE been doing some Sciroccoish things, so I thought I?d share.

?FALL CINCY?: Well, the usual small gathering of friends at Daun?s was
scheduled for last weekend, and I?d planned to head down with my partner
in crime, Mr. Tech Procedure, which meant I had to find a seat for him to
sit in. Klaus had been stripped out for steam cleaning, and I was planning
to buy an ?S? interior down there. So I bolted the headache?s seat in, no
problems. Drew shows up and declares he is ?not doing any tech procedures
all weekend?. Fine.  I laugh, knowing that is just not possible, and he
sits down to discover the seat belt won?t buckle. Tech procedure 1 before
we got out of the driveway. About four more minor ones on the way down
too, but who?s counting. Klaus had decided to act like a Scirocco, and
this required an ?emergency  ignition swap? at Daun?s. The points are now
retired.. But it was NOT a tech procedure.
The weekend progressed to more Scirocco goodness, as I tried a test fit in
the twin and was told I HAD to take it for a drive. It took some
convincing, but with Anson riding shotgun, I managed not to break it
before the true masters of the drift took over. Anson, Cammisa  and the
Mad Bastard, what a combo. The location of Daun?s dad was closely
monitored as grass blade after grass blade got shredded beyond recognition
in the sideways silliness.  I?ll tell you, there is nothing on this earth
that can compare to the scream of a 16V under the hood, unless, of course,
 it is one under the hood, and one more warming your buns from behind.
What a crazy ride, and thanks Anson for being so generous with letting
everyone beat the poor thing. Of course there is lots of video, so look
for it. There was lots of horse trading too, two interiors made it
northward, with the nicer of the two going into George?s stealthy black
ride, mmmm, black leather. He?s cooking up something else with that
beastie too. And engines shuffling from car to car, we?ll see how all
those work out, but power upgrades are always a good thing. Not everyone
can have a nice ?cam? like mine, after all.
I managed some air time, always a good thing, and Sunday was the ride home
for me, and more flying for those who stayed.. It?s the best gang, and
always a pleasure to stay at my Ohio home away from home. Both myself and
Klaus felt pukey on the way home, I guess it was just too much fun in
Ohio.

MK I INTERIOR NOTES: Just so you know, not all MkI rear benches are the
same, I discovered I couldn?t bolt up my new S benches since the late cars
have seats which are a full inch narrower at the brackets which attach the
seat back. So I could do some creative metalwork, but since I lack the
skills, and am recovering the seats at some point anyways, I?ll use the
stock rears and the S fronts.

FUEL INJECTION AND HAIRBALLS: So Klaus decided on the way home from Cincy
that he only needed to accelerate for the first mm or so of pedal travel.
Not a good thing. Eventually, we both thought we were gonna be walking,
but he passed whatever hairball that was gumming up things into an
injector, or so the theory goes, and he would accelerate a bit, but run on
3.5 +/- 0.5 cylinders. He got us home, and my connections in the fine
German scrapmetal business cooked me up a new Frankendistributor. The old
distributor had been making odd ticking noises after shutdown for some
time, and the airflow plate had gotten quite stiff to lift. So last night
I installed that and new injectors, and there were, well, say, over half
of the unions leaking. So let?s say around seven leaks. Another attack at
it this morning got the worst of it sealed up, but there is still some
seepage. He?s running smoother, but still doggy, which I?m assuming is a
function of the mixture being off. Time will tell. But in true Scirocco
form, he had a dead battery, and managed to spray me with gas square in
the face. Nice to smell good for the big fat Ukranian party this evening.

THANK GOD FOR ?THE GIRLS?: Well, they may be sagging, but they still work
as well as when I had the red Firebird in high school. So I finally get
the time to get under the headache and find first and second gear. The
Bentley method for linkage adjustment just plain rocks BTW, one try with
the trusty dollar store calipers, and it?s shifting beautifully. So here?s
how the year has been for this car: two months of gas fumes, one month of
dead clutch and squished air boot, two weeks of not having time to adjust
the shift linkage. Somehow I still managed to put 16 000 kms on it since
last July, but I digress. So finally I have this beautiful combination,
new plugs/cap/rotor/coil/Bully Level II clutch all broken in, the sun
shining, the mixture newly tweaked...and I had just washed the bug, and
didn?t want to get it dirty...so I needed a car to drive to the party, and
we?re late...can you just see where this is headed? Let?s just say the
headache is back in prime form.
Pull up to the main crossroads and this grey sedan is just blasting down
the road, so I decide to let it go first. Of course I?m on its ass in
short order, but no need to pass, it?s doing a good speed, and then pulls
off the road to let me by. THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN A CLUE. On down the road,
I?m hitting my favorite S bend at somewhere in excess of 100 kph, and then
accelerate nicely out of the last turn, enjoying the LSD, noticing that Mr
Grey Sedan is right on my tail. I?m starting to get suspicious and ask
Denny what he can tell me about the grey car. In true Denny form, he says,
?It?s a grey car?. By this time the grey car also has a nice flashing red
light, and I know I?m cooked, since I?d been up to 140 or so at several
points. I?m thinking excuses like ?I haven?t had a chance to properly beat
this car in months? and ? I just nicely broke in my clutch and had to try
it out? wouldn?t wash, So I go the meek and mild fumbling for my paperwork
route, and resist the urge to say ?Umm, 65?? when he asks the inevitable
?Do you know how fast you were going? ? (Super Troopers fans will get that
one). I?m seeing my life pass before my eyes by this point, a few more
incriminating things are clearly visible: lots of track related sticker
tuning, some shoe polish still clinging to the rear glass, and the glamour
plate which reads ?ROCCIT?. He hands me back my paperwork after telling me
he?d clocked me at 140 (60kph over) , tells me to slow down, and walks
away!!!!!! You go girls!!! Julie!!! I didn?t even have to resort to
spandex and lace!
And let me tell you, doing the speed limit in that car just plain bites.
But that ticket would have been NASTY. Sometimes the planets line up right
and I catch a break, today was that day.

That?s it from here, hope you either stayed awake or hit delete in time.



Cathy
1987 2L 16V Scirocco - the Silver Headache
1979 1.8L 10:1 8V - Klaus- sounds like 0.33 of a Chevelle
"The light at the end of the tunnel is probably an oncoming train"