Lil Red Rocket

Some big news!
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IMG_7866.jpegWas digging in my parts and found a spare used fuse block so decided to swap it out and see if it would fix my lights. Got the old one out and you can see it’s not real pretty. So I drenched the new replacement in contact cleaner and just blasted the snot out of each connector as I hooked it back up. We now have dash and tail lights again!!!

My new thermostat came in and I got that popped in and we are now holding temp!!! Gauge is still only showing just a slight heat I feel it should be somewhere close to middle on the gauge and it stays close to the bottom but it doesn’t fluctuate at all when driving vs stopped so I think maybe my cluster has an issue? Either way it’s no longer in open circuit.

Then I was poking around under the hood and found these suckers!
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As well as a few others! So I swapped all the cracked and dried hoses out while I was messing around.

Result throttle issue seems to be sorted also! She drives so smooth again no more jerking. Still a slight surge in decel but can’t remember if that’s normal or not. Drivability wise we are back though! Took it for a nice long drive to celebrate. 😁😁 At night!! First time driving at night for a year or more. I forgot how good the lights were in this thing they really light up the road.

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Small update, took the car out for a spin the other day and the fuel pump died while I was out. Dead dead unfortunately. I'm currently in the middle of tearing the whole front end out of my daily driver/commuter car so I decided to have it towed to a friends shop who has a lift to get it fixed, while he is there I'm going to have him fix my exhaust as well since it has broken the hanger again and torn a big chunk out of the pipe.

So as is typical for me if you've been following this car for awhile you know I can't just throw in a new fuel pump.

So I've decided to refresh the whole system:
  1. Walbro GSS342: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000EVN7W8?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
  2. HiSport Fuel Pump Kit For GSS432: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08N4XMCG7?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
  3. Wix Fuel Filter: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000C9TB3Q?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
  4. Spectra Fuel Filler Neck FN1163: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EUHBMGE?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
  5. Spectra Fuel Filler Hose FNH060 from RockAuto.
  6. Spectra GM35 Fuel Tank from RockAuto
  7. AliExpress Chinese FSU: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805752692367.html
Was pretty tickled to find the FSU, wasn't expecting it because it has been out of production for so long, but Gary Lock on one of the Facebook groups just happened to post that he had found and ordered one from AliExpress and it ended up working out to be the real deal or at least good enough. So I jumped on that and ordered it right away.

Once all these parts come in I'll take them over to my friends shop and get him to swap it out. I'm sure the 36 year old fuel system was long overdue for all this stuff.
 
Years ago when i bought my gti it had new injectors installed. had a miss. installed old injectors, ran fine....
after a few days of driving the new to me car, i noticed that around 1/2 a tank of fuel, the car would slightly stumble- then one day, it was below 1/2, around 1/4 of a tank- engine quit running....

Up on the hoist, drop the tank- and there was a ton of crud in the bottom of the tank, rust all over the fuel pump- the strainer on the pump did its best, but the crud in the fuel finally killed the pump.

Replaced the fuel tank with a clean unit, installed new fuel pump, filter, blew out fuel lines. ran great for a few days- then one of the small screws for the ignition module inside the dizzy decided to fall out and DESTROY the new cap and rotor i had just installed....

So, from what the previous owner had told me when i bought the car, and the work that had been done, they were obviously chasing a stumble issue- but not checking the ENTIRE fuel system is why i got this one for $500- with extra parts!

Funny, i never met the owner- he was on the other side of the country at a new job, he hated to sell the car but it was sitting on the street, he wanted it to go to a new home and not be crushed, and his mom wanted it gone.

yup, after 30 odd years , some systems need a refresh. hopefully the replacement parts do as good , or close to, oem...
 
blueturbofly said:
Years ago when i bought my gti it had new injectors installed. had a miss. installed old injectors, ran fine....
after a few days of driving the new to me car, i noticed that around 1/2 a tank of fuel, the car would slightly stumble- then one day, it was below 1/2, around 1/4 of a tank- engine quit running....

Up on the hoist, drop the tank- and there was a ton of crud in the bottom of the tank, rust all over the fuel pump- the strainer on the pump did its best, but the crud in the fuel finally killed the pump.

Replaced the fuel tank with a clean unit, installed new fuel pump, filter, blew out fuel lines. ran great for a few days- then one of the small screws for the ignition module inside the dizzy decided to fall out and DESTROY the new cap and rotor i had just installed....

So, from what the previous owner had told me when i bought the car, and the work that had been done, they were obviously chasing a stumble issue- but not checking the ENTIRE fuel system is why i got this one for $500- with extra parts!

Funny, i never met the owner- he was on the other side of the country at a new job, he hated to sell the car but it was sitting on the street, he wanted it to go to a new home and not be crushed, and his mom wanted it gone.

yup, after 30 odd years , some systems need a refresh. hopefully the replacement parts do as good , or close to, oem...
Click to expand...
Oof! Yeah I went looking for info on the forums about doing this work and found several posts with photos showing the condition of the fuel system when they did their pumps and that is what put me over the edge and on the hunt to just find all new parts for the system. Some of those photos were down right scary and they were on newer cars than mine. Mine is an 89 so one of the oldest, so I can't imagine that it is nice and clean in there. My friend hasn't dropped the tank yet, because he is waiting on me to bring the parts, but I am confident that replacing things is going to be the way to go. One thing I"m debating is welding a drain plug into the new tank or not, I've seen people do it and it seems like it could be handy but not sure if I should or not. Any thoughts on that? @blueturbofly
 
sure, a weld in bung for a drain- then the tank could be drained / flushed as needed...how often does the car sit with gas in it, not being driven? ethanol gas is the worst, it makes a white chalky film / corrosion when it dries out- then the chalk doesnt mix with fresh gas, and there is small blisters of rust- AAAAAND the fuel tank destruction has started all over again.

i have not found a long term fuel additive that works.

its like manufacturers and gas companies are in cahoots with each other.....
 
blueturbofly said:
sure, a weld in bung for a drain- then the tank could be drained / flushed as needed...how often does the car sit with gas in it, not being driven? ethanol gas is the worst, it makes a white chalky film / corrosion when it dries out- then the chalk doesnt mix with fresh gas, and there is small blisters of rust- AAAAAND the fuel tank destruction has started all over again.

i have not found a long term fuel additive that works.

its like manufacturers and gas companies are in cahoots with each other.....
Click to expand...
Makes sense to me, I can't see any reason not to do it esp since it's a clean new tank and will be easy to weld. Just wanted to make sure there wasn't some downside I wasn't thinking of...
 
Small update on the car, I shipped my cams for my planned engine build to Mike to have them done and they arrived safely today thanks to my ingenious packing job. :)

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Also my gas tank and parts are all in and I’ve just been waiting to get it all over to my friends.
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The new FSU and tank are a thing of beauty!
 
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