Re-Prep and Okemo Hillclimb
July 23, 2010After a great run at STPR I decided it was time to go through the car thoroughly as it hadn’t been done since last summer. I pulled the whole drive train for inspection and made some improvements and repairs. The new injection pump I fitted delivers a lot more fuel so I upgraded the turbo and exhaust to match. Both drive axles were removed, cleaned and re-packed. Wheel bearings and ball joints were replaced and intake and intercooler piping were improved to avoid the damage we had at STPR.
De-laminated engine mount that was allowing a bolt to rub against one of the timing belt pulleys (not good)
The torn boost hose that caused us to lose much of our power on the final stages at STPR (must upgrade)
Replacing silicone boots with “V” clamp connections.
Left: original VNT-17 turbo. Right: larger 17/22 hybrid off of my street car
I had to do a bit of welding to make the turbo plumbing fit in the Rabbit, but hopefullt it will move more air and be more secure than the previous setup.
Added vents to front struts to allow air to escape upon compression and hopefully prevent water build up.
The old 50mm down pipe next to the new 2.5″ pipe.
Surprisingly the clutch has plenty of meat left after a year of abuse.
After the re-prep was complete I headed to Okemo Hillclimb for a bit of a shakedown and to accumulate some more Rally America Regional points before the New England Forest Rally. Unfortunately due to the weather Saturday was a bit of a wash out with no timed runs but they did allow us to make some brisk caravan runs. The car was full of vibrations as the new engine mount and exhaust settled in and a bad alignment made steering a bit darty but the upgrades certainly made more power. Jay brought the 1.6L Rabbit up and made some strong times despite the long initial climb. In the end he took almost 20 seconds off of my best time last year in my 1.6L Rabbit. We did get 3 timed runs on Sunday but a couple of cars went of and really slowed down the day.
The car proved to be solid after the rebuild but still needs some tuning to get the exhaust smoke and temperatures down while still offering the power of the increased fuel and air.
Here’s a cool video from the weekend:
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