Street Build '91 TSI AWD 75k mile time capsule resto mod

[DreamChaser7]

Do yours have the Swift spring option?
Which series?

 

[Capt Obvious]

They are the BR series without the Swift springs.

 

[CrackedDSM]

I can confirm the red Megan coilovers are stiff AF even properly setup. Although setting proper preload helped a ton with comfort.

The BCs look super nice. I’ve heard swapping the springs out for some softer eibach springs are the answer.

 

[Capt Obvious]

It's been awhile since I touched the 1G. It's been just chilling on the lift for almost a year now, taunting me whenever I'm in the garage. Basically the only thing stopping it from being drivable again is rebuilding the rear axles and putting them back on the car (along with a few little things like bleeding the brakes). Unfortunately, lots of "life happens" things have been going on lately (work, kids, house projects, etc.) so the Talon has gotten pushed to the bottom of the to-do list. This fall/winter is looking good for me being able to dive back into it again though, so I'm hoping it will be ready to hit the streets again by next spring.

In the meantime, I came across a pic of my old 2G. I think this picture is from sometime around 2002.

 

[Capt Obvious]

It's a miracle, I finally had some free time to work on something for this car! The axles for the 4-bolt rear have been sitting on my workbench since March, and I finally made some time to get them cleaned up and rebuilt this weekend.

They were in pretty good condition still, all the boots were intact with no tears and there was just a bit of surface rust. First step was stripping them down and soaking them in gasoline to break up all the old grease. Then they got sanded and wire wheeled then blasted with some brake cleaner to get them fully degreased.

Then some paint. Decided to paint them gray for no particular reason, mainly to provide some contrast against all the black under the car when I'm looking at it on the lift.

And now we have shiny new rear axles.

Unfortunately, I realized when I went to install them that I ordered the wrong axle seals for the differential so I'll need to wait a couple days to put them in.

 

[92AWDHX40]

I just ordered some bcs can't wait to install them

 

[Capt Obvious]

I think you'll like them. I may end up ordering some softer springs for mine though. I hear 7k or 8k springs all around is the sweet spot for ride and handling based on some stuff I've read.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Yeah i saw the option but for now im gonna run it as is for my setup i can always upgrade at a later date. Following your build im gonna rethink some things on my suspesion i need to order some por 15 and address the parts.

 

[Capt Obvious]

I've finally gotten the desire (or rather free time) to work on this thing again.

With the axles finished the final task I needed to complete before being done with this part of the restoration was doing something with the rear bumper. As I'm sure may of you are aware the factory crash bar weighs approximately 1200 pounds and mine was full of dirt and rust that couldn't really be cleaned out. Since this is still a street car I didn't want to completely eliminate the bumper bar, but I did want to lighten it up a bit. I also wanted to be able to properly mount the bumper cover still using all the OEM connection points.

So out came the cutting wheel. I basically cut away anything that wasn't needed, as this part of the bumper wouldn't doing the "bumping" anymore.

To keep it strong, I added a piece of 1.75" .120 wall thickness square tubing with some rivnuts to attach it to the bumper shocks. Once that was done I gave everything the standard wire wheel/sanding/degreasing treatment and then everything got a coat of rust encapsulating paint.

I forgot to weigh the modified bumper before I installed it, but I would guess it is around 18 pounds now including the shocks. If anyone knows the weight of a standard rear bumper, let me know.

Now I just need to put everything back together (tail lights, bumper, etc.) and rewire the fuel pump and it will run and drive again. Except as soon as this part is done I'm tearing apart the front of the car...

Here's how the bottom of the car looks as I button up this part of the project:

 

[92AWDHX40]

I plan on using this

 

[Capt Obvious]

The stuff I used on most of my undercarriage was essentially that, just made by Krylon. Anything satin black is that stuff or Raptor Liner, and anything glossy is VHT spray Epoxy.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Looks so clean im gonna wait to get some ecaupuslating stuf on it, this should help it out, but im loving this build thread.

 

[Drewpy Dawg]

Nice idea with the rear bumper. I may have to do this with mine. I was thinking of ways I could soak mine in Evapo-rust to remove rust from the inside without having to buy a ton more of the stuff, but this method would allow for easy rust removal and weight savings at the same time. Good idea and nice execution.

 

[Drewpy Dawg]

I forgot to weigh the modified bumper before I installed it, but I would guess it is around 18 pounds now including the shocks. If anyone knows the weight of a standard rear bumper, let me know.

I found an old post on DSMFAQ that says the stock rear bumper is 32 pounds. I don't know if that includes the shock absorbers or not. I would have to dig mine out of the shed to weigh it.

 

[Capt Obvious]

I would wager that 32 pounds includes the shock absorbers. Now I might have to take the bumper back off and weigh it because I'm really curious how much I actually saved...

 

[Capt Obvious]

Feels good to be working on this thing again!

I was curious so I removed the modified bumper and weighed it this weekend: 25 pounds including the shocks.

However, when I went to install the bumper I ran into an issue when I realized the square tube I added did not actually clear the reverse lights like I had hoped it would. I made the decision to convert the single large tube into two smaller bumperettes. Not quite as much protection but enough to not make me too nervous driving it on the street.

Total weight of the bumper now is 20 pounds, so looks like a 12 pound net loss or so.

And with that, that back half of the car is complete for now and it looks like a fully assembled car again.

Next on the list is the front suspension and wheel wells.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Looks good I have to remove lu rear bumper to address some rust ugg

 

[jesse12345]

Looks good I have to remove lu rear bumper to address some rust ugg

Rust never sleeps.

 

[92AWDHX40]

yeah its more surface rust im using por 15 on and eastwood encapsulator later this spring.

Im gonna get the encapsulator i get a discount on this stuff so ill be using it.

 

[jesse12345]

That's good stuff and it does work great.