Right here we go, the weekend!
Saturday was spent doing a 420 mile trip up to Sc**thorpe and back to pick up a mint half leather interior for the 205 to replace the shredded old ones. Good interiors are becoming very rare and I've been searching for months so this was a great find! Pictures coming soon
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Anyway that was Saturday gone. Sunday we were up at 7am and had the bonnet up by 8 with the intention of making a start on the mammoth task of rebuilding the engine.
Here's how it's stood for 3 months waiting for the rebuilt cylinder head to be returned:
First job was to clean the block and liner faces up so the gasket could make a good seal. A tedious job, took me sodding ages but it was a job worthwhile. Then the fresh gasket was lined up:
Next we'd got hold of some fancy and very expensive stainless studs to replace the old rotten ones. They'll look smart under the bonnet and hopefully aid any future removal of the manifolds:
Then we bolted the newly painted exhaust manifold on. Also becoming a rarity for the GTI as they commonly crack and spares are running out, luckily ours is in great condition:
Starting to look abit more like a cylinder head again now! We also got the thermostat housing bolted onto the side of the head:
Next was to mount the cylinder head up with its old friend the block:
I took a last minute chance to spray up the rocker cover as he doesn't favour the messy jobs lol. Turned out better than expected - until....
He cracked it in half whilst fitting it
. Super thin alloy needs a light touch:
Replacement via ebay is already en route
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Head was bolted down in 3 stages with increasing torque settings. In 24 hours it has to be completely wound off and then tightened again, to aid bolt stretching and gasket compression:
New plugs fitted:
Now timing up, got a fancy new vernier pulley for the new 1.9 spec camshaft, this will come in handy for timing adjustments in later months when some twin webers are planted in there :evil:.
Lower pulley assembly put back on and spring tensioner setup to accept cambelt. The belt was then slipped on, tension setup, 2 full rotations and reset:
Inlet manifold built back up with throttle body and injectors:
Then refitted to the head:
The arch lining was put back on, wheel refitted and after 3 long months it has finally been dropped back onto 4 wheels. A day we werre doubting we'd ever see. It was a good moment
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Thanks for reading! Next time silicone hoses, interior and new tailgate being fitted
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