(2/24 continued) 

The last show stopping item that is still plaguing me is the right drive axle.  Since the Passat axles were too long for the swap I bought re-manufactured VR6 C/A3 VR6 units, well the driver's side at least.  I buy parts locally from one place I've been going there for years and they give me good deals and are a nice bunch.  Whatever the deal is for some reason the passenger axle was not available when I bought the bulk of the CL parts and is still not available to this day.  I've called around trying to keep local since there's a core on the unit and shipping would be expensive but I can not find the axle for less than double what it would cost me through my usual place.  So around the middle of last week I called Nick at M&M (where all my dealer stuff gets shipped since it about a mile from my house) and asked what he did when he can't find one and he said usually just get them from Nappa (again twice as much) he called me a few hours later though and had one lined up for $50 which was great but the guy that has it was none other than the guy who weezled me out of that 87 GTI with the Zender kit.  So weather or not to even deal with him was a dilemma, but I've tried to get him to meet me twice now to pick the thing up to no avail.  I may just break down and pay the Napa price and be done with it.

The Techtonics 2.5" exhaust had arrived earlier that week so I installed it Sunday as well.  TT has become one of my favorite tuners over the years their consistency in the industry has been second to none.  While others have went bankrupt, mainstream or downsized their VW applications TT keeps the pace in a forward motion and was the first to offer the A2 VR6 exhaust.  The kit comes in four pieces which clamp together, mid-pipe, over axle, muffler, and rear pipe. Start to finish the whole exhaust installation takes about 45 minutes.  Everything is supplied with the kit including new exhaust hangers and instructions the fit and finish are second to none.  the larger cat requires some  modifications to the heat shield to get it up under the car.  I started by beating on the shielding with a rubber mallet which got it close, ultimately rather than crawling back out from under the car again I used the cat to beat the shield into submission which work better anyway. 

I also got a set of Toyo FZ4 tires in 205/50 for the BBS five spoke wheels that were powder coated black for the project.  I never intended to use the Passat wheels but kept them around so the car would be mobile while I lined up a extra set of wheels and tires. Ended up using my own personal extra set of wheels and bought tires when I couldn't line up a good set within traveling distance.  The Rallye GTI seat deal worked out so those are sitting down in San Jose at a friend's house they should be shipped up sometime next week.  Also finally located a gauge cluster at a reasonable price which should arrive in time for this weekend.  If all goes well (knocking on wood) the car should be up and running this weekend ready for debugging. 

3/03 Updates: I had mapped my final plans well throughout the week, Friday at lunch I picked up the final few parts (sans the power steering pump). Included in those parts was the right axle, which my parts place had finally lined up, although it was more than the left side by a significant amount.  I had a check list and a game plan for Saturday, the car would be operational by noon.  It all started out well enough with the passenger side axle nut coming off much easier than the driver' side (still need to return that ratchet and and extension, gotta love Craftsman tools), things went downhill from there though.  the replacement axle had what is probably the smallest outter CV I've ever seen, it wasn't the correct 100mm one, or even a 90mm, but what looked to be a 80mm! I knew instantly I was screwed but spent an hour on the phone trying to find a used axle. Jon came by to grab us lunch and help bleed the clutch and brakes so I put the axle out of my mind and proceeded to button down the fuseblock wiring in preparation to starting the car. I made the first attempt at starting the car just as Jon pulled back up with lunch, it wasn't firing, no spark, the fuel pumps were coming on and the ABS was kicking on so that would mean the brakes could be bled at least.  Over lunch I thought about possibilities as to why the car wouldn't fire (endless list) the car ran when I brought it home so I knew it was wiring. Once we were done eating we went back out to the garage and I had him cycle the key to see if I could here the injectors click, which they didn't the first time, then I re-adjusted the main harness plug on the side of the motor, had him cycle it again, everything clicked on! I said fire it up, and thanks to my four minute cranking session earlier the fuel lines had plenty of fuel and the car fired right up.  I felt much better at that point.

I decided to call the Zender kit guy that claimed to have the VR6 axle and see if I couldn't get him to meet up with me at M&M later on after we finished bleeding the brakes and clutch. Quick Note on bleeding the clutch, over-fill the reservoir to the top for bleeding the clutch, the line is high and you will suck nothing but air if you don't over-fill the reservoir. It also takes about ten minutes of pumping the pedal by hand before you are even ready to make the first pass at bleeding it out.  Use the slave cylinder rather than the master to bleed the clutch.  We finished it up and Jon took off, I went to meet the axle guy and he brought three axles, none of them were A3/VR6 C axles, but one was a 2.0L A3 axle which we swapped outter CVs on and there it was, I finally had the missing link. He redeemed himself from the Zender kit saga by giving me the axle so he's got a clean slate with me now.  I forgot to mention that Chris wanted to try and use some Loc-Tite 640 on the lower fitting on the power steering pump which also came undone that morning adding to the frustration. Once back home and the axle bolted up I took the CL out on it's maiden voyage, no core support, bumper, lights or grille, only  a bungee cored held the hood down so it wasn't going to be a long drive.  I took it around the block a couple times and would have liked to have driven it more but with the power steering pump needing replacement, no gauge cluster, and a very bad alignment I didn't want to play too much.  I couldn't help but laying arguably my longest neighborhood burny yet spanning almost a full block (four houses).

Once the power steering pump is repaired or replaced (Chris is going to try and weld the fitting on at work) I'll re-assemble the front of the car and it has an alignment appointment this Thursday.  The gauge cluster just arrived today so I'll get it installed as well.  Sunday was spent largely cleaning up the work area (started loosing things) and wiring the front lighting connections. Will post more pics of the completed car soon.

3/10 Updates? Not really much to write about for the next couple weeks while the car is de-bugged. Installed the radiator support, lights and bumper early last week. I took it in and had it aligned Thursday, installed the gauge cluster Saturday, buttoned up the fuseblock wiring. The car has a host of minor problems that I need to iron out over the next couple weeks.  I will weigh the car before re-installing the back-seat and trunk carpet/spare tire.  I've attempted to take photos of the exterior but the sun hasn't been out and every photo the wheels don't show up.  Here's the one good photo -->

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The left rear hole needs to be moved over by about .5" so the airbox sits in correctly.