Another VW Golf Mk2 16v
Discussion
Woohoo! Glad the bulbs were ok for you 
Is the leak coming from the sunroof or the door seal? If you take off the door cards and then sit inside the car with the doors shut you'll be able to see how well they're sealing - with the door cards on they hide the seal quite well. In the end my doors needed some brute force adjustment as they weren't sealing at the top and needed bending in a bit.
Is the leak coming from the sunroof or the door seal? If you take off the door cards and then sit inside the car with the doors shut you'll be able to see how well they're sealing - with the door cards on they hide the seal quite well. In the end my doors needed some brute force adjustment as they weren't sealing at the top and needed bending in a bit.
martin mrt said:
Great thread and a fantastic write up, really like what your doing with this
Is the exhaust being changed.?
It will be eventually - but it's almost brand new at the moment, so I might drive around with it for a bit - it's got a nice tone actually. Is the exhaust being changed.?
I'm eyeing up a 'trackslag' exhaust which looks OEM (with the angled twin tips) but is actually a bit more freeflowing. Finding a genuine VW exhaust is pretty hard now.
Cheers,
Drew.
Edited by drewwa on Friday 1st May 07:51
Gallons Per Mile said:
Woohoo! Glad the bulbs were ok for you
Is the leak coming from the sunroof or the door seal? If you take off the door cards and then sit inside the car with the doors shut you'll be able to see how well they're sealing - with the door cards on they hide the seal quite well. In the end my doors needed some brute force adjustment as they weren't sealing at the top and needed bending in a bit.
Thanks for the bulbs - awesome stuff even if a bit fiddly - got there in the end! Is the leak coming from the sunroof or the door seal? If you take off the door cards and then sit inside the car with the doors shut you'll be able to see how well they're sealing - with the door cards on they hide the seal quite well. In the end my doors needed some brute force adjustment as they weren't sealing at the top and needed bending in a bit.
I think the leak is from the passenger door - the bottom of the door card is damp. There is no membrane in either door at the moment (wasn't there when I dismantled) so will have to improvise something soon.
Weather better for the next few days, so will investigate further!
Just received new discs in the post, so that's another job to line up. Then it's getting close to being MOT-able.
Cheers,
Drew.
Mk2 and Mk1 factory sunroofs share the same problem, in that the drain tubes become blocked with dirt and debris.
The tubes are quite long, and pass down the A-pillars into the front wheel wells. The best way to clear them out is with a length of net curtain wire, which is a long, flexible spring wrapped in a plastic coating. If the car is in regular use, it's worth doing every couple of months, it's an easy job which can save you a whole mountain of grief.
The tubes are quite long, and pass down the A-pillars into the front wheel wells. The best way to clear them out is with a length of net curtain wire, which is a long, flexible spring wrapped in a plastic coating. If the car is in regular use, it's worth doing every couple of months, it's an easy job which can save you a whole mountain of grief.
Dermot O'Logical said:
Mk2 and Mk1 factory sunroofs share the same problem, in that the drain tubes become blocked with dirt and debris.
The tubes are quite long, and pass down the A-pillars into the front wheel wells. The best way to clear them out is with a length of net curtain wire, which is a long, flexible spring wrapped in a plastic coating. If the car is in regular use, it's worth doing every couple of months, it's an easy job which can save you a whole mountain of grief.
Yep - good call. The tubes are quite long, and pass down the A-pillars into the front wheel wells. The best way to clear them out is with a length of net curtain wire, which is a long, flexible spring wrapped in a plastic coating. If the car is in regular use, it's worth doing every couple of months, it's an easy job which can save you a whole mountain of grief.
I'm used to this from my mk1 mx5 - Drain holes from the sunroof are clear and running good - both drip out into the front wheel wells ok. Definitely the door membranes. I'll check the alignment of the doors too, draining over a litre of water out of the car with the vax. Standing in the sun to dry now.
Cheers,
Drew.
Bri957 said:
For the exhaust, have a look at the Novus Classic Line from Germany.
They are stainless replicas of the OEM exhaust, and pretty good value (£250ish) for a full system.
Thanks. Will do. They are stainless replicas of the OEM exhaust, and pretty good value (£250ish) for a full system.
Been working on water ingress prevention today. Both doors now fitted with a membrane. I'm going to let it dry for 24 hours and then cut necessary gaps to fit.
Cheers,
Drew.
Trimmed all the plastic and reassembled slowly and carefully. Makes a surprising amount of difference to the 'sound' of the door when in place - more of that 'VW' thump when the door closes. Hopefully water ingress problem solved!
I'll get around to cleaning the inside of the car soon, I promise!
Cheers,
Drew.
I'll get around to cleaning the inside of the car soon, I promise!
Cheers,
Drew.
We think we're getting down to the last few jobs on the 16v to get it roadworthy.
1. Brake discs all round
2. Tracking - comedy negative toe at the moment
3. Reset timing - Will stick to the stock 6 degrees for the time being and then advance later on.
Other things on the list to make it 'nice' are:
4. New seat runner linings to stop 'wobble'
5. Headliner reseating (not looking forward to that) - It's hanging on by four plastic pins in the roof.
6. Run in engine and replace oil (then we can go above 3k rpms!)
7. Proper detailing inside and out (it's horrible at the moment)
6 is very much C-19 dependent. The car had done 130 miles on the new engine and it needs to do 500 before we can change the oil and up the rpms. Currently that stands at 136. We have driven a mere 6 miles since acquiring the car in November last year!
Cheers,
Drew.
1. Brake discs all round
2. Tracking - comedy negative toe at the moment
3. Reset timing - Will stick to the stock 6 degrees for the time being and then advance later on.
Other things on the list to make it 'nice' are:
4. New seat runner linings to stop 'wobble'
5. Headliner reseating (not looking forward to that) - It's hanging on by four plastic pins in the roof.
6. Run in engine and replace oil (then we can go above 3k rpms!)
7. Proper detailing inside and out (it's horrible at the moment)
6 is very much C-19 dependent. The car had done 130 miles on the new engine and it needs to do 500 before we can change the oil and up the rpms. Currently that stands at 136. We have driven a mere 6 miles since acquiring the car in November last year!
Cheers,
Drew.
Fired the old girl up and moved her around today and fixed a few more minor things - replacement seat runners and adjusted the toe visually.
Exhaust alignment and replacement discs still to be done and bumpers need some cosmetic attention, but she's now getting close to an 'honest' example of small bumper Mk2 Golf GTI 16v. I'll get a really proper clean in at some point too.
Cheers,
Drew.
Exhaust alignment and replacement discs still to be done and bumpers need some cosmetic attention, but she's now getting close to an 'honest' example of small bumper Mk2 Golf GTI 16v.
I'll get a really proper clean in at some point too.Cheers,
Drew.
Edited by drewwa on Thursday 7th May 12:44
Gallons Per Mile said:
Look really smart! Are you keeping those wheels or changing them for original ones?
I'm going to source a set of the original 14" bottlecap alloys, but I'll probably keep these BBS reps as they are 15" and far easier to get half decent rubber for nowadays!Cheers,
Drew.
Short but satisfying upgrade today. Replacing the original rear speakers with some Alpine slot in replacements.
The originals were still working, but as you can see were both past their best and rather surpassed by modern equivalents. No idea what wattage they were but "not many" seems to be about right, they were buzzing and vibrating badly.
The Alpines aren't the last word in audio fidelity, but they are a very easy drop in replacement for the stock locations and (for some reason) the front speakers in the dash had already been replaced with similar items from the Alpine range, so these were a match.
The Blaupunkt headunit definitely sounds better through them and it's now the limiting factor in the system. I'm looking into wiring in a separate modern mp3 player somewhere (perhaps in the glovebox) to give me the option of some additional music in the car. Not sure at the moment. Not much point in trying to make an 80s car a paragon of audio quality given the limitations.
However, the rear speakers in particular use the empty boot to good effect. There's a surprising amount of bass for such a small driver, and it sounds good. Pretty happy thus far.
Cheers,
Drew.
The originals were still working, but as you can see were both past their best and rather surpassed by modern equivalents. No idea what wattage they were but "not many" seems to be about right, they were buzzing and vibrating badly.
The Alpines aren't the last word in audio fidelity, but they are a very easy drop in replacement for the stock locations and (for some reason) the front speakers in the dash had already been replaced with similar items from the Alpine range, so these were a match.
The Blaupunkt headunit definitely sounds better through them and it's now the limiting factor in the system. I'm looking into wiring in a separate modern mp3 player somewhere (perhaps in the glovebox) to give me the option of some additional music in the car. Not sure at the moment. Not much point in trying to make an 80s car a paragon of audio quality given the limitations.
However, the rear speakers in particular use the empty boot to good effect. There's a surprising amount of bass for such a small driver, and it sounds good. Pretty happy thus far.
Cheers,
Drew.
Really interesting read.
Re the audio system, it's amazing how poor OEM speakers are....
I have had a couple of Alfa 156s, which came with the OEM sound system. I read a thread on an Alfa forum, and so via that bought a full set of JBL co-axial speakers which were a very good price.
They swapped over easily, and after disabling the OEM tweeters in the car, I found that the difference in sound was amazing !
The OEM cones were, as your VW ones seem to be, made of 'paper' and the magnets were so light compared to the JBLs ( part of Harmon Kardon IIRC)
Fortunately, my current car, a Volvo C30, has a really decent sound system, so not requiring an upgrade.
I have had a couple of Passats ( an 86 and a 96 )....your sterling work on the dash reminded me of those cars !!
Your Golf looks great.... but not a fan of the current wheels ....but that's IMHO of course !
Re the audio system, it's amazing how poor OEM speakers are....
I have had a couple of Alfa 156s, which came with the OEM sound system. I read a thread on an Alfa forum, and so via that bought a full set of JBL co-axial speakers which were a very good price.
They swapped over easily, and after disabling the OEM tweeters in the car, I found that the difference in sound was amazing !
The OEM cones were, as your VW ones seem to be, made of 'paper' and the magnets were so light compared to the JBLs ( part of Harmon Kardon IIRC)
Fortunately, my current car, a Volvo C30, has a really decent sound system, so not requiring an upgrade.
I have had a couple of Passats ( an 86 and a 96 )....your sterling work on the dash reminded me of those cars !!
Your Golf looks great.... but not a fan of the current wheels ....but that's IMHO of course !
Paul S4 said:
Really interesting read.
Re the audio system, it's amazing how poor OEM speakers are....
I have had a couple of Alfa 156s, which came with the OEM sound system. I read a thread on an Alfa forum, and so via that bought a full set of JBL co-axial speakers which were a very good price.
They swapped over easily, and after disabling the OEM tweeters in the car, I found that the difference in sound was amazing !
The OEM cones were, as your VW ones seem to be, made of 'paper' and the magnets were so light compared to the JBLs ( part of Harmon Kardon IIRC)
Fortunately, my current car, a Volvo C30, has a really decent sound system, so not requiring an upgrade.
I have had a couple of Passats ( an 86 and a 96 )....your sterling work on the dash reminded me of those cars !!
Your Golf looks great.... but not a fan of the current wheels ....but that's IMHO of course !
I didn't like the wheels much to start with, but they have grown on me since. I'm undecided at the moment. The standard and correct 'bottle cap' alloys for the car are a bit dull...Re the audio system, it's amazing how poor OEM speakers are....
I have had a couple of Alfa 156s, which came with the OEM sound system. I read a thread on an Alfa forum, and so via that bought a full set of JBL co-axial speakers which were a very good price.
They swapped over easily, and after disabling the OEM tweeters in the car, I found that the difference in sound was amazing !
The OEM cones were, as your VW ones seem to be, made of 'paper' and the magnets were so light compared to the JBLs ( part of Harmon Kardon IIRC)
Fortunately, my current car, a Volvo C30, has a really decent sound system, so not requiring an upgrade.
I have had a couple of Passats ( an 86 and a 96 )....your sterling work on the dash reminded me of those cars !!
Your Golf looks great.... but not a fan of the current wheels ....but that's IMHO of course !
...and my son already has my favourite BBS RAs on his, so I can't steal his thunder.
Cheers,
Drew.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff