1990 VW Scirocco - The Green Hell

[jonvw84]

Some may have seen/known about the Polo G40 I had (thread was posted on here) that constantly played up and was sold as a non runner

This is its replacement

Decided am going to keep this one as I was in a cycle of having one, getting bored, buy something else, then sell that and buy another rocco

This is my 5th scirocco and came across purely by chance as it was offered as a swap for a friends E34 on FB and he wasn't interested, I'd been looking for another but could only find carb'd cars in price range but this was an injection and well within price range (also £500 or so less than other injection cars; more on that later)

I happened to be in Norwich so the wife and I travelled up and stayed in Dereham on the Friday night and collected on Saturday

Relatively standard apart from eBay specials as coilovers and the ubiquitous cherry bomb (which is welded to the centre pipe, fun times!) along with a mk2 golf grill cut down to fit with the spots taken off the front

The coilovers launched me off the seat and into the roof on the A14 on the way home but also discovered a whine in 5th that got worse, to the point where it would jump out of 5th by the time I reached the M6 so had to settle for 4th and 55mph the rest of the way







K jet in all its messy glory



063 battery replaced with the correct 075 (why people do this is beyond me!) and replaced the grill and spots

Popped it in for MOT and needed some welding on the rear passenger side (previous repair gone to pot, will need to keep an eye on that 1/4 as its been painted in the past

Got it home and did some comparisons with its newer, bigger sibling













Sold the Ronals to fund any work that was likely to be incoming (stay tuned for that...) and put the OZ's from the Polo on it (need to sack off the 195/45/14 for 185/55/14 at least to fill the gap)







So started to look into what might be wrong with the clutch and gearbox, clutches on these are quite easy and the guy I purchased it off had changed the clutch 8 months prior

Turns out he was a massive cockwombling idiot

Assembled it so one part was on the wrong side of the pressure plate so if you started it with the clutch in, you got no gears.....

He also neglected to fill it back up (or at all) as the box had been run with no oil, toasting all the bearings and knackering 5th as its splash lubricated

bks bks bks bks bks!!!!!!!!!!

Cue a £900 bill for gearbox rebuild and new clutch

Got it back with the advisory of needing a bush kit for the linkage as 1st was a bit iffy, drove fine down to the in laws in Ross but then lost all gears when I got there

Cue RAC out with the tech approved cable tie repair on the selector arm (which had cracked plastic on it so when you went for 5th it came off!) and drove back home on A roads rather than m/way as only had 2nd/3rd/4th

That pretty much brings us up to date (collecting on Saturday after having a full linkage repair kit installed, would've been last weekend but no ramps at the garage)

Future plans

Sort bigger tyres for OZ's
Remove eBay specials and replace with Weitec HiCon GT's
Sort the exhaust out
Sort intermittent mileage recording (bit of glue in back of clocks) and replace LCD screen that has bled

Should keep me busy for a while!

[Paul S4]

Really like these era Sciroccos...I recall going out in a test drive in a Storm ( cannot remember if it was a Mk1 or 2,,,!) but it had a close ratio 5 speed ZF box IIRC and fuel injection. It seemed quite rapid at the time and it handled well...but then it was brand new !!

Yours looks great and keep the updates coming. They still look good even after all these years, in fact I prefer them to the Corrado but thats just IMHO !!

[MARLBOROLITES]

Nice car OP. I think the styling of these was inspired back in the day and it's maturing with age.

I had GTS for a couple of years. It had all the looks of the GTX - colour coded arches and lower bumper trims - but was a carb fed 1800cc. It was finished in champagne silver (light metallic gold in my book) and had P Slot alloys. It handled so well with great fuel economy. It wasn't as rapid as a previous MK1 Golf GTi (1600cc) but handled better I believe.

I always remember when I traded it in having an argument with a salesman who was adamant I had bought a plastic red 'S' badge from Halfords and stuck it next to the GT badge! To$$er.... I had to show him the reg doc and point out the engine size to relieve him of his belief it was a 1600cc GT!!

[Tin Hat]

Very nice colour,have always thought these Sciricco’s looked good

[crofty1984]

Awful - you had to go to Dereham? You poor thing!
Nice car though.

[Dr G]

Shame on the gearbox, as soon as you mentioned 5th I thought 'oil!'.

I got very lucky on an extremely cheap MK2 Golf 16v years ago that jumped out of 5th; put in the missing litre of oil and it came back to life. Never skipped a beat.

[Sammo123]

I very nearly bought this a few months ago! The advert made it out to be a very well looked after Scirocco. It’s a shame you’ve had so many problems from the word go, but you’re getting it all sorted so it should be decent soon enough

[jonvw84]

crofty1984 said:

Awful - you had to go to Dereham? You poor thing!
Nice car though.

Not too bad, got family living there and my dads side is from Norwich originally, though the car was in Sprowston, make of that what you will!

Thanks for all the comments, picked up some Weitec Hi Con GT's to replace the eBay specials which should make the car more livable with day to day and hopefully picking up some Michelins in a 185/55/14 flavour to replace the 195/45 on the OZ's so will hopefully have them back on soonly

Linkage has also been completely refurbed and it drives lovely now, one of the best I've driven if I'm honest

Currently looking at some of the paint work as its not the greatest, passenger wing needs attention as the laquer is a bit potholed but its nothing on the Stevie Wonder passenger rear 1/4.......its been repaired in the past but there's been no attempt to follow the lines of the car or even sort the metal out (if you feel behind it feels like the surface of the moon!) luckily its not rusty so thankful for small mercies but it'll need sorting at some point

Edited by jonvw84 on Friday 8th March 09:30

[LennyM1984]

Absolutely love these and can't wait for more updates.

I had an 1992 "Inka Blue" GT2 in the early 2000s (K98 VPC if anybody knows where it is) and it was fantastic. I had always wanted one (literally from about age 5) and was convinced that they were the ultimate "Bad Boy" car. I later bought a new Scirocco in the closest colour I could find (Shadow Blue I think) to my original.

The Mk2s are pretty good for lift off oversteer if I remember correctly...

[Trophy Husband]

I bought Mrs TH a Storm back in 2002. It was mint. I remember driving it back from Blaenau Ffestiniog in the p155ing down rain and realising it was a little twitchy to say the least. She loved it but unfortunately neglected to tell me about a red light on the dash for 2 weeks until she broke down having run it dry of oil and toasted it! Local garage gave me £200 for it!!
Just like this although I thought the bumpers were colour coded?...………..

[Podie]

Ooh, liking that. Looks so much better with the extra lights and proper grille.

Looking forward to updates.

[s2000_f20]

Lovely Sciricco, you don't see many of these on the road anymore.
Your one is in great condition.

[Spinakerr]

Great car and colour combination - good luck sorting it out, hope there's nothing unsightly like rear beam or rear hatch attention required.

[chrismc1977]

Quality cars! More mk1 Golf than mk2 so consequently very lively.

What does a mk2 Rocco weigh I wonder?

Certainly ripe for a 16v swap. Bought an Audi 80 2L 16v as donor for my last Oak green valver.

Swapped the motor in complete, couple of little detail bits to swap from longitudinal to transverse , threw the KR Golf cams in & job done. ~160hp/140lbs/ft with minimal effort.

Later owner also went with a properly flowed head too. Made for a very swift mk2 GTi

[e46m3Mark]

Always liked these and the MK1 Storm. I actually viewed a grey MK1 Storm that was for sale for just £150. In the time it took to go to the cashpoint he sold it to someone else. It still smarts today.

Looks much better on the dark coloured alloys.

[jonvw84]

Podie said:

Ooh, liking that. Looks so much better with the extra lights and proper grille.

Looking forward to updates.

Spinakerr said:

Great car and colour combination - good luck sorting it out, hope there's nothing unsightly like rear beam or rear hatch attention required.

s2000_f20 said:

Lovely Sciricco, you don't see many of these on the road anymore.
Your one is in great condition.

Thanks guys, its remarkably solid for its age, the worse was sorted for the MOT due to previous bodgineering, still going to give the rear beam a rub done and a coat of hammerite as it won't hurt, hatch is also in decent condition, need to replace the number plate light domes at some point but that can wait

e46m3Mark said:

Always liked these and the MK1 Storm. I actually viewed a grey MK1 Storm that was for sale for just £150. In the time it took to go to the cashpoint he sold it to someone else. It still smarts today.

Looks much better on the dark coloured alloys.

Oof, I can imagine! The prices even for basket case cars these days are getting a bit out of hand. The snowflakes are on for now whilst I sort tyres and mini refurb the OZ, looking forward to having them back

chrismc1977 said:

Quality cars! More mk1 Golf than mk2 so consequently very lively.

What does a mk2 Rocco weigh I wonder?

Certainly ripe for a 16v swap. Bought an Audi 80 2L 16v as donor for my last Oak green valver.

Swapped the motor in complete, couple of little detail bits to swap from longitudinal to transverse , threw the KR Golf cams in & job done. ~160hp/140lbs/ft with minimal effort.

Later owner also went with a properly flowed head too. Made for a very swift mk2 GTi

For some reason I have kerb weight of 1080kg in my head, not sure if that's right, it could be 980kg, will check the V5 later

I KR'd a earlier scirocco of mine but didn't enjoy it, tbh I'll keep the 8V going as long as possible as it suits my driving style more, I'd probably throw a V5 out of the Golf/Leon/Toledo in it if I was pushed to make a choice right now, 2.3 narrow angle 5 pot with 170 bhp if memory serves, more than enough in this chassis

Also these have arrived



Time to get the ride sorted out

Edited by jonvw84 on Wednesday 13th March 10:53

[jonvw84]

Time for a bit of an update, bought a full set of spare headlights and made one good set (with working adjusters) and put them on the car and adjusted the bonnet so it now sits where it should



Then this weekend, took my time putting the rears in, good job I did as I'm either not as strong as I once was or the suspension I'm taking out is super stiff! Had to drop one through the rear beam and disassemble the coliover (take the mounting cap off and the springs) to remove it



Car flying courtesy of magic carpet

The other side wasn't too much bother





I was bored

Attacking the fronts with some help from a friend tonight who's made a trick bit of kit for sorting out the camber which should make it a bit easier, also taking the car up a bit whilst putting these weitecs on as it was too low really, also need to get it out and play with the dampener adjustment

[chrismc1977]

jonvw84 said:

For some reason I have kerb weight of 1080kg in my head, not sure if that's right, it could be 980kg, will check the V5 later

I KR'd a earlier scirocco of mine but didn't enjoy it, tbh I'll keep the 8V going as long as possible as it suits my driving style more, I'd probably throw a V5 out of the Golf/Leon/Toledo in it if I was pushed to make a choice right now, 2.3 narrow angle 5 pot with 170 bhp if memory serves, more than enough in this chassis

Also these have arrived



Time to get the ride sorted out

Edited by jonvw84 on Wednesday 13th March 10:53

I had a fully worked 2L 8v mk2 back in the day. Schrick cam, big valve head etc etc. Made a solid 155hp at Stealth Racing. A great road engine.

Way more punchy than a KR & quicker on the road.

A worked 2L 16v was a step up again however- nice & torquey across the range but revved out more strongly thanks to its greater valve area. A good solid 165hp as a starting point too...

A quality front strut brace will tighten things up & compliment the coilovers perfectly as well.

Had the fabled Eibach brace on two of my mk2’s & they made a huge difference to taughtness...

[jonvw84]

Went and got the tracking done at A-Line in Dudley (throughly recommend these guys, knowledgeable and was in and out inside 20 mins)



Drives a bit better now as the fronts were slightly fighting each other

Had a nose underneath whilst there and saw the deluxe mounting job that was done on the cherry bomb, more of an excuse to get it removed!



Being tempted with a V5 conversion for this but it'll stay standard for now

[TotalControl]

There's more rust on the lift than on the underside of that!