Greasemonkey

Active Member
Apr 27, 2008
116
0
Hull
Well while searching on ebay i came across a t reg ibiza cupra for sale as spares or repair. Being an apprentice mechanic i went to have a look at it to see just what was wrong with the engine. I came to the conclusion on how much i thought it was worth and bid on it and won it.
Got it home via a mates trailer and tried to work out why the engine was running rough. The guy said it just got slow and didn't let on to much.
This is how it looked when i got it.

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Well after alot of head scratching i rewired the injection loom because there were 1-5strands of wire left on two of the multiplugs. Didn't sort the problem but it needed doing anyway. The fuel injectors got checked and came back all ok. The engine hesistated and hen started but ran like on three cylinders. Well i've got to the bottom of it. By the looks of it its had a head gasket fitted and the firing order was wrong so i just swapped 1 and 4 ht lead over and it ran on four cylinders.

I wanted the ar fully serviced before i put it on the road so changed the timing belt and water pump only to relise that whoever did the head gasket had set the static timing for the distributor wrong and it was 90 degrees out so when i had cyl1 at tdc the rotor arm was actually pointing in the wrong place. So with the new belt on and tensioner and the dizzy timing set the engine started and ran properly :D WAHOO!!

Just a few pictures of the progress i've made so far:

Service bits ready to fit:
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Old timing belt change which was a dodel considering i've not done many before:
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New timing belt fitted and tensioner with the engine turned over twice to make sure nothing locked up:
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I love the car but hate the wheels
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so when i've saved some money up i'll be changing them but not sure what i want yet. As spare parts are quite reasonable i've always wanted to go on a trackday meeting so when i'm happy with the setup i'll hopefully be joining some of you for some good track action
 
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nice looking motor

some kind of deep dish wheels would look sweet
 
Well i've bought some new wheels today and ordered some spiggot rings off ebay so progress is being made.

Changed the oil and filter last night and it stank of petrol, so the misfiring was just washing the bore and filling up the sump :doh: Seems to run better but probably just me.

Just an update really, changed the water pump (pictures below) the coolant pipes are :censored: to get on and off but managed it after lots of swearing and cups of tea!

This is with the alternator removed and just about to take the water pump housing off.
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Did this picture as a comparison from the old and new pump. The old pump had plastic fins which can go brittle and break off, the new one came with proper metal fins so even though the water pump wasn't leaking or noisy i'm pleased i changed it to eliminate future problems.
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New water pump fitted to the housing and thermostat ready to be replaced.
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I flushed all the old coolant out before i fit the pump and put some fresh antifreeze in the engine and bled it through which took some doing. Only thing i've noticed is the heaters not very good. Had the fan cut in and the heater was only warm not hot so i may need a matrix before winter time comes???

Then i wanted to give the engine a bit of a refresh so took the rocker cover off and painted it metalic black, i'm really chuft with the result even though masking up the lettering was quite time consuming! What do you think guys?

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Sneak preview of my new wheels :) need a lick of paint when i get time
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Rocker cover fitted and injection loom all insulated and re-fit.
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looks like things are coming along nicely mate, keep up the good work
 
When i can afford to Rich ;)
Just going down the route of how much things cost and whats best overall, coilovers or uprated shockers and springs. Probably won't get lowered for a bit tbh, i just want it on the road with an mot so i can get rid of the fiesta i've got :rolleyes:
 
nice job on the waterpump and rocker cover. nice pic of the old vs new pump too.

gotta say I don;t think the new wheels are much nicer looking that the old ones, if not less....:whistle:
but that may just be me...
 
Well small update, car was booked in for its mot but the throttle cable snapped and their currently on back order so looks like i'm going to have to wait 'could be two weeks' seat are saying :cry:

Paul
 
Thank you :) Hopefully it'll be road worthy soon. Rang round some seat dealers today to see if they had any in stock but no luck. Took it off tonight and i think i might be able to chop here and there and make it do, just for the mot though. :doh: Bloody cars!

Paul
 
Looks really nice, but i suspect its had a light front ender at some point as the headlights arent GTi ones with the two seperate sections.

I'm impressed with the mechanical work, if i had the time and no consequences if it went wrong i'd probably do mor eof that kind of work to mine.
 
Yeah your right cupra kid, its been in an accident at some oint in its life, buts its 9 years old and there aren't many cars out there that are still on original paint and panels at that age so it doesn't bother me much.

Well it was mot day yesterday and after bodging the throttle cable together, it got me to work and back- craping myself all the way!! It failed on exhaust emissions and a cv boot which i'm well chuft about, i was expecting a list as long as my arm. Going to buy a universal cat and sleeve it into the system as its a much cheaper option.

Paul