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Last weekend, the high compression ABA motor became officially installed - the transmission is bolted to it, and the rear engine mount is connected. With the crankshaft serpentine belt pulley removed from the timing belt pulley, there was enough room to maneuver the engine so that it would mate up to the transmission. Here she is, finally home:
high compression ABA motor installed

While working on the cooling system, I ran into a little bit of a problem. The Mk2 Golf coolant hose which runs from the front side of the cylinder head down to the water pump did not really fit any more. Two things that the original engine block did not have were the auto tensioner for the serpentine belt (since it didn't have a serpentine belt at all) and the assembly for routing crank case vapors. The coolant hose was really blocked by both of those until I trimmed about a half inch off the end of it. That allowed it fit, albeit snugly, between the serp tensioner and the lower crank case vent. Most people doing this sort of ABA block swap would be using a blockoff plate for the crank case vent (like the one Techtonics sells), and that would save you from this coolant hose problem. Instead of using the blockoff plate, I used the original plastic vent and simply plugged it using a modified coolant flange plug and o-ring. Here is a picture, showing the coolant hose wedged snugly between the vent and the serpentine belt tensioner:
high compression ABA motor, coolant hose

high compression ABA motor, coolant hose

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Date: 03/05/08, 21:31:43 PST
From: aj `
Comments: hey< i say pix of your scirocco i was wondering i just got one given to me with a rebuilt 1.8liter about 3000 miles on it and it has been sitting for 4-5 years it turns over but i cant get it started what should i look for ur help would be appreciated thank you aj

Date: 03/13/08, 19:47:58 PDT
From: JP
Comments: Hey Max, looking good!

Date: 03/19/08, 10:17:09 PDT
From: max
Comments: Hi AJ, It's sometimes tricky with cars that have been sitting that long. Hopefully it is even capable of running - you never know, when somebody else has done an engine rebuild. The easiest things to check would be making sure the air intake system is clear. Also, check the distributor cap, rotor, and spark plugs. While you have the spark plugs out, you may as well go ahead and do a compression test - it's fairly quick, and definitely worthwhile in a situation like yours. If you have 4 or 5 year old gas still in the vehicle, then that could very well be most of your problem - it's a pain, but you'd have to empty the tank, refill it with fresh fuel, then purge the rest of the fuel system of the old stuff. Other things to check would be to make sure you're actually getting fuel flow and spark. You can pull the injectors, set them up to spray into a container, then see if they are squirting fuel while a friend cranks the engine. To check spark, wait until it gets a little dark outside, remove a spark plug (but keep the plug wire attached to it), and rest it in a safe place where you can still see the electrode end, and see if it is sparking while the engine cranks (DON'T TOUCH THE PLUG OR WIRE WHILE DOING THIS!!!) I suppose the last two things would be ignition timing and valvetrain timing. You should be able to get both of those close enough for the engine to at least run, by referring to your Bentley manual. For an engine to run, you need fuel, air, spark, compression, ignition timing, and valvetrain timing. It will ultimately come down to something affecting one of those things. Good luck! -Max