Mk2 Golf GTI 16v
Discussion
I must be slightly mental. I've bought another car just as the weather turns cold, which just so happens to need more than a quick service... Two years ago I did the same with my £50 Puma shed which I'm still driving and is totally reliable and not at all borked really. So why the hell do I want another car? I'm asking myself the same question really... I saw it, it was on that online auction site that all PH'ers get addicted to, I went to view it, I ended up buying it. Just because it was in good condition and it took my fancy. Plus my Escort RS Turbo (which I've not yet made a Readers' Cars thread on) is not occupying my garage while it's away for welding and paint. The perfect storm of spare money, Ebay, and just fancying a running retro motor!
The intention was to press this car in to daily service. It needed slightly more work that I thought it needed but that's par for the course when the car in question is 30 years old. The problem is that the Puma is still excellent to drive and I actually quite like driving it still. So I'll fix this Golf up and have a bit of a think along the way. Unfortunately, the Escort RS Turbo won't be away being welded and painted forever so there will come a time when I have too many cars and not enough space. Again. I'll need to either sell a car or find a drive/garage/field somewhere that I can dump a car for a while!
Anyways, while I despair over my first world problems I'll show you the car and what I've been up to with it:
Exhibit number one. 'An Golf' in 16v flavour with random Borbet wheels:
Not too shabby, generally used and abused though. More or less everything is present and correct. I think the doors have been changed for later versions as I've got no quarter windows by the door mirrors. Not complaining though, the early quarter windows look gash if you ask me! There are a few shades of Jade Green in those pictures but it's presentable enough, and most importantly there isn't any rust. Not too bad for 20 owners and 180k miles. Yep, really.
Engine bay. Looking reasonably tidy. Evidence of recent work like a service, timing belt, water pump etc. Which was nice:
Confirmation that the water pump was definitely new, along with a thermostat too:
Ooh a shiny exhaust manifold. Except it touches the steering rack and makes a nasty vibration if you even think about turning right...
The front engine mount was shot to pieces. Probably explains some of the vibration above. This was the first job. As you can see I've changed it and it's now new and shiny:
Top view of same mount:
The wiring was a bit of a mess. I removed the lower dash part and pulled the fuse box down and was greeted with this:
Passenger side wasn't a lot better!
While I'm here, I'd better check behind the stereo and the dash clocks. Luckily that lot wasn't too bad at all. The usual stereo wiring butcher had been practising, but nothing too bad. Behind the clocks was all as VW intended:
Much dead wiring removed! One alarm/immobiliser and another seperate alarm install just for the hell of it! None of which were working:
Much better! I went out and bought a decent soldering iron just for this job:
Let's inspect the front end in a bit more detail then. Wheels off. Brake discs and pads are recent and in good nick:
Roll bar drop link not looking so good though:
Things escalated slightly, necessitating the use of my engine brace:
Sub frame is now on the floor!
Jack under the sump just for good measure. The brace above is doing most of the work though:
Old parts in a pile. These include lower arms, rear engine mount, gearbox mount, steering arms and rod ends, drop link bushes:
New bits built up and attached to sub frame. I cleaned all the mounting points for the frame to the car as well. At some point I'll clean the whole sub frame properly, but right now that's not a priority:
Here is a random drive shaft picture too:
Now here's where it gets really serious! On the way home from collecting the car I discovered it had a wierd judder when you pull away. Quite a big judder. Which explains the knackered engine mounts probably. It felt like metal on metal resistance somewhere. I decided to take the path of least resistance and change the inner CV joints as they're a possible cause, more than likely need changing anyway, and are cheap! In the pic below you'll see what I found in amongst the grease in one of the drive shaft flanges on the gear box. A dirty great lump of metal (right of pic):
I stripped down the old CV to see if I could find a missing part of ball bearing cage, but this CV joint was all complete. Looks like it was from the joint before that one then! Anyhow, I was quite happy to find that and fitted up my new inner CV's thinking that would be the end of the problem. I put the car back together, and went for a small test drive. Find out what happens in the next installment...
The intention was to press this car in to daily service. It needed slightly more work that I thought it needed but that's par for the course when the car in question is 30 years old. The problem is that the Puma is still excellent to drive and I actually quite like driving it still. So I'll fix this Golf up and have a bit of a think along the way. Unfortunately, the Escort RS Turbo won't be away being welded and painted forever so there will come a time when I have too many cars and not enough space. Again. I'll need to either sell a car or find a drive/garage/field somewhere that I can dump a car for a while!
Anyways, while I despair over my first world problems I'll show you the car and what I've been up to with it:
Exhibit number one. 'An Golf' in 16v flavour with random Borbet wheels:
Not too shabby, generally used and abused though. More or less everything is present and correct. I think the doors have been changed for later versions as I've got no quarter windows by the door mirrors. Not complaining though, the early quarter windows look gash if you ask me! There are a few shades of Jade Green in those pictures but it's presentable enough, and most importantly there isn't any rust. Not too bad for 20 owners and 180k miles. Yep, really.
Engine bay. Looking reasonably tidy. Evidence of recent work like a service, timing belt, water pump etc. Which was nice:
Confirmation that the water pump was definitely new, along with a thermostat too:
Ooh a shiny exhaust manifold. Except it touches the steering rack and makes a nasty vibration if you even think about turning right...
The front engine mount was shot to pieces. Probably explains some of the vibration above. This was the first job. As you can see I've changed it and it's now new and shiny:
Top view of same mount:
The wiring was a bit of a mess. I removed the lower dash part and pulled the fuse box down and was greeted with this:
Passenger side wasn't a lot better!
While I'm here, I'd better check behind the stereo and the dash clocks. Luckily that lot wasn't too bad at all. The usual stereo wiring butcher had been practising, but nothing too bad. Behind the clocks was all as VW intended:
Much dead wiring removed! One alarm/immobiliser and another seperate alarm install just for the hell of it! None of which were working:
Much better! I went out and bought a decent soldering iron just for this job:
Let's inspect the front end in a bit more detail then. Wheels off. Brake discs and pads are recent and in good nick:
Roll bar drop link not looking so good though:
Things escalated slightly, necessitating the use of my engine brace:
Sub frame is now on the floor!
Jack under the sump just for good measure. The brace above is doing most of the work though:
Old parts in a pile. These include lower arms, rear engine mount, gearbox mount, steering arms and rod ends, drop link bushes:
New bits built up and attached to sub frame. I cleaned all the mounting points for the frame to the car as well. At some point I'll clean the whole sub frame properly, but right now that's not a priority:
Here is a random drive shaft picture too:
Now here's where it gets really serious! On the way home from collecting the car I discovered it had a wierd judder when you pull away. Quite a big judder. Which explains the knackered engine mounts probably. It felt like metal on metal resistance somewhere. I decided to take the path of least resistance and change the inner CV joints as they're a possible cause, more than likely need changing anyway, and are cheap! In the pic below you'll see what I found in amongst the grease in one of the drive shaft flanges on the gear box. A dirty great lump of metal (right of pic):
I stripped down the old CV to see if I could find a missing part of ball bearing cage, but this CV joint was all complete. Looks like it was from the joint before that one then! Anyhow, I was quite happy to find that and fitted up my new inner CV's thinking that would be the end of the problem. I put the car back together, and went for a small test drive. Find out what happens in the next installment...
Edited by Gallons Per Mile on Monday 6th November 22:48
Edit as above for poor spewl-ling...
tumble dryer said:
Love it. Bookmarked.
(next year's project, build myself a proper man cave)
I desperately need more space to practice the dark arts of tinkering. I dream of garages big enough to house a ramp and a work bench. Probably good that I don't have one though - I'd only surface for food and to go to work unless I was actually out driving the car(s) (next year's project, build myself a proper man cave)
Wow! Thanks for the replies everyone!
I'm not a stranger to Mk2 GTI's - a few years back I had a 2L 8v that someone had converted. Great fun that car was. I also had a standard 1.8 8v and loved it. Really eager to rev and went quite well for only 112bhp. I remember the previous owner to me was a middle aged lady and she'd had it forever. She obviously never pressed the throttle hard enough for the 2nd butterfly to open because it was stuck shut! I had to free it up using slip roads and a lead foot.
dandam - Cheers for the info. Mine's a late '87 so yes I guess that means it got the '88 spec bits. The doors have definitely been changed though as the paint is a shade different, and the electric windows have gone missing! I've got keep-fit ones at the mo and a cut/taped bit of wiring loom under the dash...
I'm pretty sure I've found the cause of my juddery problem as I had a bit of free time this morning to crack on with a bit more work on the car. I'll leave you all in suspense a bit longer while I sort out the photos. Oh and I've actually got to go to work in between all this!
I'm not a stranger to Mk2 GTI's - a few years back I had a 2L 8v that someone had converted. Great fun that car was. I also had a standard 1.8 8v and loved it. Really eager to rev and went quite well for only 112bhp. I remember the previous owner to me was a middle aged lady and she'd had it forever. She obviously never pressed the throttle hard enough for the 2nd butterfly to open because it was stuck shut! I had to free it up using slip roads and a lead foot.
dandam - Cheers for the info. Mine's a late '87 so yes I guess that means it got the '88 spec bits. The doors have definitely been changed though as the paint is a shade different, and the electric windows have gone missing! I've got keep-fit ones at the mo and a cut/taped bit of wiring loom under the dash...
I'm pretty sure I've found the cause of my juddery problem as I had a bit of free time this morning to crack on with a bit more work on the car. I'll leave you all in suspense a bit longer while I sort out the photos. Oh and I've actually got to go to work in between all this!
aka_kerrly said:
Good work especially sorting the wiring, sadly there are a lot of mk2s that have iffy wiring looms.
I'm a massive mk2 golf fan, had loads of them but cut my collection down to just 1 now.
Have you signed up to the mk2 owners club?
Cheers! Only stereo wiring and speaker wiring left to sort really. Talking of which - is there an ignition live wire behind the stereo anywhere? Mine is currently wired to stay on permanantly unless you switch off manually...I'm a massive mk2 golf fan, had loads of them but cut my collection down to just 1 now.
Have you signed up to the mk2 owners club?
Also - dodgy fuel gauge. Works with ignition on but crank the car over and in running position it reads 0 petrol. Sender and gauge must be ok as I'm getting accurate readings, but only when you first turn ignition on. Answers on a postcard please!
Not signed up to the Mk2 owners club. Are you talking about vwgolfmk2.co.uk?
Time for an update now I've sorted out all the pictures. This brings us up to date with how the car currently sits.
Once I'd got the car back together I went for a test drive as mentioned above. I'd cured about 90% of the vibration from the manifold touching the steering rack with the new engine mounts, though clearance is still very tight so I'm going to remedy that soon. The car drove much better with all new bushes and ball joints on the front end, but it was still pretty juddery... The inner CV's and removing that bit of metal obviously helped but there was something wrong still. Mentally prepared for a gearbox problem, I did a bit of research and realised gearboxes aren't that difficult to rebuild. I've never needed to rebuild one before so it sounded like fun. I'd better get the car back apart and see what's going on then! Pulling everything apart was really simple as I'd only just built it back up and cleaned threads on bolts and copper greased everything. I love it when being slightly anal about general maintenance pays off!
The pics pick up after I'd taken the sub frame off again and wiggled the gearbox off the side of the engine. I decided to drain the box of oil for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the car's done 180k and it was probably in desperate need of a change, and I'm going to crack the gearbox casing open and have a poke about inside anyway, and secondly I needed to remove the driver side drive shaft flange to make it easy to get the box off.
Gearbox on the floor. Hmm, that doesn't look right! Shiny bits from metal-on-metal contact and some bits of metal I picked out of the bell housing:
Interesting. What's the clutch looking like then?
I was laughing to myself at this point. Only one spring left in the clutch and those bits of metal in the bell housing are what's left of the other three! I think I found the problem... Looks like no gearbox rebuild needed in that case, just a new clutch and gearbox oil. I bought an LUK clutch kit anyway because I'd planned on changing the clutch while I had a box off. Result!
Here's the pressure plate. Totally ruined!
Back plate was filthy. Better clean that up:
Cleaned the contact face on the flywheel. This looks ok to reuse. I'm glad about that: 16V flywheels seem impossible to get hold of:
While I'm here, as a side note, it's possible to remove the gearbox without dropping the sub frame, but as I've got limited space by doing this on the floor rather than a ramp it makes everything so much easier. Plus I needed to change the rubber boot for the steering linkage:
New one:
The garage has now got almost as much Golf in it as the Golf has! If you look hard, at the back of the garage you'll see a CVH turbo engine from my Escort RS Turbo. Can't wait to get on with that project!
Here's how I left things. The jack is now the only thing supporting the engine. I had to remove my nice brace from above in order to shut the bonnet. Really, I could have just dropped the engine too but time was against me and I'd have needed to lug the engine crane from my shed at the back of the house round to the front on my own. Sod that!
Unfortunately I had to leave the car like this for a little while as work got in the way. I should be able to make some more progress at the start of the week and I'll get some pictures up after that. I don't think I'll bother cracking the gearbox open now after finding the clutch in bits. Fresh oil once it's back in the car and fingers crossed we're good to go! Apart from the fact that I noticed a stud is missing from the exhaust manifold which would explain why it's blowing. I wondered why there was a manifold stud and copper nut in the car... The whole exhaust is falling apart at all the joins so that'll come off and go back on properly while I'm there. Can't wait to get this in to daily service!
Once I'd got the car back together I went for a test drive as mentioned above. I'd cured about 90% of the vibration from the manifold touching the steering rack with the new engine mounts, though clearance is still very tight so I'm going to remedy that soon. The car drove much better with all new bushes and ball joints on the front end, but it was still pretty juddery... The inner CV's and removing that bit of metal obviously helped but there was something wrong still. Mentally prepared for a gearbox problem, I did a bit of research and realised gearboxes aren't that difficult to rebuild. I've never needed to rebuild one before so it sounded like fun. I'd better get the car back apart and see what's going on then! Pulling everything apart was really simple as I'd only just built it back up and cleaned threads on bolts and copper greased everything. I love it when being slightly anal about general maintenance pays off!
The pics pick up after I'd taken the sub frame off again and wiggled the gearbox off the side of the engine. I decided to drain the box of oil for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the car's done 180k and it was probably in desperate need of a change, and I'm going to crack the gearbox casing open and have a poke about inside anyway, and secondly I needed to remove the driver side drive shaft flange to make it easy to get the box off.
Gearbox on the floor. Hmm, that doesn't look right! Shiny bits from metal-on-metal contact and some bits of metal I picked out of the bell housing:
Interesting. What's the clutch looking like then?
I was laughing to myself at this point. Only one spring left in the clutch and those bits of metal in the bell housing are what's left of the other three! I think I found the problem... Looks like no gearbox rebuild needed in that case, just a new clutch and gearbox oil. I bought an LUK clutch kit anyway because I'd planned on changing the clutch while I had a box off. Result!
Here's the pressure plate. Totally ruined!
Back plate was filthy. Better clean that up:
Cleaned the contact face on the flywheel. This looks ok to reuse. I'm glad about that: 16V flywheels seem impossible to get hold of:
While I'm here, as a side note, it's possible to remove the gearbox without dropping the sub frame, but as I've got limited space by doing this on the floor rather than a ramp it makes everything so much easier. Plus I needed to change the rubber boot for the steering linkage:
New one:
The garage has now got almost as much Golf in it as the Golf has! If you look hard, at the back of the garage you'll see a CVH turbo engine from my Escort RS Turbo. Can't wait to get on with that project!
Here's how I left things. The jack is now the only thing supporting the engine. I had to remove my nice brace from above in order to shut the bonnet. Really, I could have just dropped the engine too but time was against me and I'd have needed to lug the engine crane from my shed at the back of the house round to the front on my own. Sod that!
Unfortunately I had to leave the car like this for a little while as work got in the way. I should be able to make some more progress at the start of the week and I'll get some pictures up after that. I don't think I'll bother cracking the gearbox open now after finding the clutch in bits. Fresh oil once it's back in the car and fingers crossed we're good to go! Apart from the fact that I noticed a stud is missing from the exhaust manifold which would explain why it's blowing. I wondered why there was a manifold stud and copper nut in the car... The whole exhaust is falling apart at all the joins so that'll come off and go back on properly while I'm there. Can't wait to get this in to daily service!
Time for the next update! I was about to do a bit more on the car but it's raining outside so you lot can see what I did last time instead:
Firstly, I need to get the exhaust off for two reasons; one being that all the joints between the sections are wobbly and blowing, and secondly I need the exhaust out of the way so I can remove the ball and socket on the end of the gear stick and replace them. Oh, and I wanted to investigate this missing stud on the head:
It turned out as I suspected. Someone's buggered the thread in the head. Not sure if there's still some stud in there too, but either way it's a trip to the machine shop to get that one solved. I'll have to come back to that in the future as it's not a major problem right now.
Back box is off the car, and not looking brilliant. I found a hole in between the two tail pipes, so this is only fit for the bin:
The centre section wasn't any better. It wasn't blowing at the join between it and the manifold as I first thought, it was actually cracked somehow. Looks like I need a whole new exhaust then! I was half expecting this anyway
Here's the only 'good' bit of the system. Shiny manifold, probably of chinese origin as it was pretty cheap looking at the receipts that came with the car:
I put some heat wrap on it to help out with proximity to the steering rack rubber boot:
Now, on to the fun stuff. I decided it would be a good idea to change the crank seal behind the clutch while I was there. I don't think it was leaking but it's hard to tell on this car because the block and gearbox are covered in a crust of old oil and dirt...
Old and new on the floor, showing the change in design in the new one I bought:
New seal in place:
The sump bolts and back plate went back on, then the clutch pressure plate:
The release plate mechanism with spring is next:
Then the friction plate and flywheel. I lined this up by eye as there's not a lot of play with VW's design so the friction plate isn't ever going to be that far out. I got it pretty much exactly central though, and did all the bolts up:
Next, lets get the gearbox prepared to go back on the car. I removed the driver's side drive shaft flange to make it easier to remove the gearbox so I started on this side by removing the drive shaft seal:
You can see the (brass?) thrust washer. Something didn't look quite right so I removed it:
All the bits on the floor: old drive shaft seal, plate that seats the spring on the back of the flange, and the thrust washer on the right. If you look carefully it's in four pieces! I pieced it back together to make sure I'd got all of it out.. I did a bit of research and apparently it's completely normal to find them in this state, and you can put them back 'as is' as long as the breaks are clean and it all marries back together ok - which mine did. They're sandwiched between the bearing groove and the spring plate for the flange anyway so can't go anywhere, and it's just there to take up slack in parts and make the diff quieter. I put it all back together with the new oi seal.
I took the other side apart too:
This thrust washer looks like it's in less pieces than the other one so I won't even bother disturbing it.
New seal in place:
Spring plate, spring, flange, C clip and new seal in middle of flange all in place:
On to the clutch release bearing. Which is at the 'wrong' end of the gearbox compared to most designs I've seen in the past. You have to open up this cover on the other end of the box. Dirty scrapy time:
Peeling up the lid:
You can see the metal finger that presses on the release bearing, and the bearing below that has slid down it's cylinder as the gearbox is upended:
I removed the catch on the clutch arm so I could spin the finger part out of the way:
1x magnet tool later and the old release bearing is out. New and old together. Looks like it needed replacing as it's a bit dimpled from years of contact with the finger:
Other side. Slightly different design but still works the same way:
Sliding the clutch rod out of the middle of the input shaft. The rod contacts the plate with the spring in the middle of the pressure plate on the clutch to actuate it. Interestingly, the new rod was a fair few MM longer than the old one. That may explain my high clutch pedal even though the old friction plate wasn't worn out:
I slid the gearbox over the clutch, it lined up first time and took about two minutes from being on the floor to being attached to the engine again. Which was nice! I was expecting it to be fiddly to do while lying on my back under the car and having to negotiate the driver's drive shaft flange around the flywheel first:
Next up was gettting the sub frame back in to position. Pretty straight forward if you get the balance right with a jack, but you have to get the steering UJ connected up at the same time. This is pretty fiddly to do on your own but I got there in the end:
Sub frame bolted back up. All the heavy work is now done, fingers crossed!
If it stops raining I'll do some more work!
Firstly, I need to get the exhaust off for two reasons; one being that all the joints between the sections are wobbly and blowing, and secondly I need the exhaust out of the way so I can remove the ball and socket on the end of the gear stick and replace them. Oh, and I wanted to investigate this missing stud on the head:
It turned out as I suspected. Someone's buggered the thread in the head. Not sure if there's still some stud in there too, but either way it's a trip to the machine shop to get that one solved. I'll have to come back to that in the future as it's not a major problem right now.
Back box is off the car, and not looking brilliant. I found a hole in between the two tail pipes, so this is only fit for the bin:
The centre section wasn't any better. It wasn't blowing at the join between it and the manifold as I first thought, it was actually cracked somehow. Looks like I need a whole new exhaust then! I was half expecting this anyway
Here's the only 'good' bit of the system. Shiny manifold, probably of chinese origin as it was pretty cheap looking at the receipts that came with the car:
I put some heat wrap on it to help out with proximity to the steering rack rubber boot:
Now, on to the fun stuff. I decided it would be a good idea to change the crank seal behind the clutch while I was there. I don't think it was leaking but it's hard to tell on this car because the block and gearbox are covered in a crust of old oil and dirt...
Old and new on the floor, showing the change in design in the new one I bought:
New seal in place:
The sump bolts and back plate went back on, then the clutch pressure plate:
The release plate mechanism with spring is next:
Then the friction plate and flywheel. I lined this up by eye as there's not a lot of play with VW's design so the friction plate isn't ever going to be that far out. I got it pretty much exactly central though, and did all the bolts up:
Next, lets get the gearbox prepared to go back on the car. I removed the driver's side drive shaft flange to make it easier to remove the gearbox so I started on this side by removing the drive shaft seal:
You can see the (brass?) thrust washer. Something didn't look quite right so I removed it:
All the bits on the floor: old drive shaft seal, plate that seats the spring on the back of the flange, and the thrust washer on the right. If you look carefully it's in four pieces! I pieced it back together to make sure I'd got all of it out.. I did a bit of research and apparently it's completely normal to find them in this state, and you can put them back 'as is' as long as the breaks are clean and it all marries back together ok - which mine did. They're sandwiched between the bearing groove and the spring plate for the flange anyway so can't go anywhere, and it's just there to take up slack in parts and make the diff quieter. I put it all back together with the new oi seal.
I took the other side apart too:
This thrust washer looks like it's in less pieces than the other one so I won't even bother disturbing it.
New seal in place:
Spring plate, spring, flange, C clip and new seal in middle of flange all in place:
On to the clutch release bearing. Which is at the 'wrong' end of the gearbox compared to most designs I've seen in the past. You have to open up this cover on the other end of the box. Dirty scrapy time:
Peeling up the lid:
You can see the metal finger that presses on the release bearing, and the bearing below that has slid down it's cylinder as the gearbox is upended:
I removed the catch on the clutch arm so I could spin the finger part out of the way:
1x magnet tool later and the old release bearing is out. New and old together. Looks like it needed replacing as it's a bit dimpled from years of contact with the finger:
Other side. Slightly different design but still works the same way:
Sliding the clutch rod out of the middle of the input shaft. The rod contacts the plate with the spring in the middle of the pressure plate on the clutch to actuate it. Interestingly, the new rod was a fair few MM longer than the old one. That may explain my high clutch pedal even though the old friction plate wasn't worn out:
I slid the gearbox over the clutch, it lined up first time and took about two minutes from being on the floor to being attached to the engine again. Which was nice! I was expecting it to be fiddly to do while lying on my back under the car and having to negotiate the driver's drive shaft flange around the flywheel first:
Next up was gettting the sub frame back in to position. Pretty straight forward if you get the balance right with a jack, but you have to get the steering UJ connected up at the same time. This is pretty fiddly to do on your own but I got there in the end:
Sub frame bolted back up. All the heavy work is now done, fingers crossed!
If it stops raining I'll do some more work!
Matt_N said:
Always good to see a Mk2 getting some tlc, wish I never sold my 89 16v.
Buy another one before prices go mental! They're still quite cheap for some reasonbern said:
Nice to see a MK2 getting some love. Looks like it needs it!
Not sure where you are in the country but if you're near Sheffield and ever need an extra pair of hands drop me a PM. Getting the sub-frame and the steering UJ lined up on your own can't of been much fun!
I'm down South, but thanks for the offer! Ironically, the car was bought from someone in Sheffield by the previous owner to me.Not sure where you are in the country but if you're near Sheffield and ever need an extra pair of hands drop me a PM. Getting the sub-frame and the steering UJ lined up on your own can't of been much fun!
The sub frame wasn't that bad actually - balanced on the jack and it lined up fine. The only fiddly bit was the steering UJ but I'd already had the sub frame off and back on again a few weeks beforehand so knew what to expect.
darkyoung1000 said:
Another former owner here, I had the MK2 GTD. VW's first attempt at a warm diesel, which ran happily on recycled vegetable oil.
Good to see you getting stuck into yours, looks like it's coming along nicely!
Cheers,
Tom
Ooh, I just had to look up GTD's as I'd not really heard of them before. They look interesting and apparently very tuneable... That gives me ideas of ultra cheap retro daily driving! Good to see you getting stuck into yours, looks like it's coming along nicely!
Cheers,
Tom
Cheers, I'm just about to do some more on the car as the weather's sorted itself out today. Might even have it back in one piece later on depending if I pull my finger out or not.
gary71 said:
Great project. Your clutch brings back memories of my own 16v friction disk exploding in spectacular fashion taking chunks out of the bellhousing on the way. It ended up with a 2.9 VR6 (back in ‘97!) but the 16v was a great engine.
Cheers! I got the car finished off today and just been for a quick test drive around the block. It drives much more like it now!! Clutch is excellent but the exhaust is a tad loud... Feels quick for a Golf too, so I guess the exhaust is actually helping. Pictures and a proper update to follow some time soon!
Next update!
I got the exhaust through the post, direct from the hub of high quality retailers known as Ebay... It was cheap. As in half the price of a proper Jetex system. You get what you pay for but I thought I'd give it a go and see what happened!
First impressions, good:
Seems like a reasonable design, free flowing but resonated so it should be quiet enough...
Anyway, before I get around to fitting the exhaust, I've got another job to do. The first job was procrastination. I noticed I've only bought an 'f GTI'
Ok, lets get on with some work. It was pot luck whether you selected first gear or reverse and this needed sorting. In the history file for the car I noticed there had been a recent selector rod/bush refurb kit put on, but this didn't seem to have done the trick. Must be the gear lever ball joint/socket in that case. They're cheap to buy but a little bit fiddly to fit. You've got to have the exhaust off to do this job, so now is the perfect time!
Heat shield off:
There's the socket the ball joint on the end of the gear lever goes in to:
Here's the top view. I took the centre console out because it's only in place with that one screw you can see. So easy to remove for better access:
After rather a lot of fiddling around I managed to remove the gear lever and socket part. The socket has to go up though the metal box part that it's located in but the gear lever has to go down through the hole left where the socket usually goes. I got there in the end!
Closer view:
They looked a bit past their best. I cleaned up the parts so I could tell for certain if they were actually faulty. You can now see the socket part is really badly worn:
The ball joint isn't much better either:
And for comparison, here's the gear lever built back up with the new ball joint:
And here's the new socket part. Don't worry, I greased them after taking these pics!
Next upate soon!
I got the exhaust through the post, direct from the hub of high quality retailers known as Ebay... It was cheap. As in half the price of a proper Jetex system. You get what you pay for but I thought I'd give it a go and see what happened!
First impressions, good:
Seems like a reasonable design, free flowing but resonated so it should be quiet enough...
Anyway, before I get around to fitting the exhaust, I've got another job to do. The first job was procrastination. I noticed I've only bought an 'f GTI'
Ok, lets get on with some work. It was pot luck whether you selected first gear or reverse and this needed sorting. In the history file for the car I noticed there had been a recent selector rod/bush refurb kit put on, but this didn't seem to have done the trick. Must be the gear lever ball joint/socket in that case. They're cheap to buy but a little bit fiddly to fit. You've got to have the exhaust off to do this job, so now is the perfect time!
Heat shield off:
There's the socket the ball joint on the end of the gear lever goes in to:
Here's the top view. I took the centre console out because it's only in place with that one screw you can see. So easy to remove for better access:
After rather a lot of fiddling around I managed to remove the gear lever and socket part. The socket has to go up though the metal box part that it's located in but the gear lever has to go down through the hole left where the socket usually goes. I got there in the end!
Closer view:
They looked a bit past their best. I cleaned up the parts so I could tell for certain if they were actually faulty. You can now see the socket part is really badly worn:
The ball joint isn't much better either:
And for comparison, here's the gear lever built back up with the new ball joint:
And here's the new socket part. Don't worry, I greased them after taking these pics!
Next upate soon!
Misterv said:
Looks like your doing a fantastic job, the devil is in the detail and it certainly seems as though your making sure everything is done correctly!
keep up the good work!
Thanks! I like to think that if I'm going to do something I might as well do it properly...keep up the good work!
Which brings us nicely to the most up to date pics and the fitting of the exhaust!
The exhaust is 2.5" bore, and I thought my manifold was the same. Turns out that it's 2.25", as I realised when I tried to fit the exhaust and saw the pipes next to each other! To get around this I went to a local exhaust place and they made me a nice reducer pipe - 2.25" one end and 2.5" the other:
Only cost a tenner, which was nice. They deliberately didn't cut slots in case I needed to go back to them and have it flared a tiny bit more. It was actually a perfect fit first time so I got the grinder out and made some slots and then fitted the exhaust:
Pretty good fit, everything's nice and snug. Moving on to the backbox, however:
That was the best I could make it look. You get what you pay for! It's a bit loud too which I was a little surprised about considering there are 3 boxes and they've all got some sound deadening in them. Maybe it'll get quieter with a few heat cycles, but I doubt it... I think it's going to be too loud to live with day-to-day so I may well end up spending another £200 on hooking up a standard system to my shiny manifold. The other option is to splash out on a Jetex 3 box system which I know is quet enough as I've had one in the past. They're over £400 though, so I might have to wait until Christmas and see if I've been a good boy
The plus side is that the car really pulls well and there's a noticeable surge >4000 rpm. Not had a chance to drive it at all before now, since buying it over a month ago!aka_kerrly said:
Fantastic work, I always have extra admiration for people who do this kind of work on their drive!!!
I cant imagine how many hours I've spent working on the undersides of mk2s propped on axle stands. Once I nearly took my eye out in a strange scenario where I was trying to put a rubber hanger back onto the back box and a bit of dirt dropped off the underside into my eye. My instant reaction was to roll away an in doing so i rolled onto a screwdriver that catapulted toward my other eye.
Speaking of exhaust hangers, are you aware that you can spin the rear most hanger around which ought to help pull your exhaust toward the upper right corner to sit more evenly in the valance cutout.
Thanks! I'd prefer a ramp but I don't have a workshop or a garage big enough, so the drive it is! I cant imagine how many hours I've spent working on the undersides of mk2s propped on axle stands. Once I nearly took my eye out in a strange scenario where I was trying to put a rubber hanger back onto the back box and a bit of dirt dropped off the underside into my eye. My instant reaction was to roll away an in doing so i rolled onto a screwdriver that catapulted toward my other eye.
Speaking of exhaust hangers, are you aware that you can spin the rear most hanger around which ought to help pull your exhaust toward the upper right corner to sit more evenly in the valance cutout.
I'm aware they can be spun around, but that would make the other end of the back box touch the heat shield around the spare wheel well, so that's as good as it gets! I've decided to sell this exhaust on as it's a bit too anti-social for me, and I'd definitely annoy the neighbours starting it up at 5am...
Wow, time flies! I still haven't driven this car in anger yet. It passed its MOT in the summer and went straight back in to the garage as I've been ridiculously busy with work. I had to kick it out of the garage at the start of November with the return of my Escort RS Turbo shell, so that's another project that needs to be looked at. I insured the Golf in November for less than £100, which was nice. I guess I need to pull my finger out and do some more work on it!
Highlights from this year include:
Discovering a coolant leak:
Finding the source of the leak... Top work whoever though bathroom sealant is a good replacement for a rubber O-ring:
Removing heater box:
This is why it makes no difference where you select the air direction to - the foam isolator has disintegrated:
Removed the heater matrix too. This has been replaced relatively recently by someone, but I'm changing it again while I'm here as it's annoying to get at:
Heater box in all its glory:
I covered the holey flaps with some plastic superglued in place so I'll be able to have hot or cold air pointed wherever I want it now!
Cleaned up associated vents and replaced foam strips for a reasonable fit:
Bought the correct wheels for the car:
I quite like the current wheels but the spigot rings are the wrong size and have plastic inserts, so I'd rather the original and correct fitment wheels were on instead. Plus the BBS's look just as good!
The car as it sits now, on my drive. I'll get around to driving it soon:
Highlights from this year include:
Discovering a coolant leak:
Finding the source of the leak... Top work whoever though bathroom sealant is a good replacement for a rubber O-ring:
Removing heater box:
This is why it makes no difference where you select the air direction to - the foam isolator has disintegrated:
Removed the heater matrix too. This has been replaced relatively recently by someone, but I'm changing it again while I'm here as it's annoying to get at:
Heater box in all its glory:
I covered the holey flaps with some plastic superglued in place so I'll be able to have hot or cold air pointed wherever I want it now!
Cleaned up associated vents and replaced foam strips for a reasonable fit:
Bought the correct wheels for the car:
I quite like the current wheels but the spigot rings are the wrong size and have plastic inserts, so I'd rather the original and correct fitment wheels were on instead. Plus the BBS's look just as good!
The car as it sits now, on my drive. I'll get around to driving it soon:
Another update for anyone reading this still:
Time to get some better springs on the car. I asked for some nice Eibach 20mm lowering springs for Christmas so I'm counting this as a zero cost fix
The springs on there currently are orange and of unknown make. They're really low and not very good, but the car looks cool I guess...
Off with the top mount nut:
Here's an offending spring:
Getting the strut bolts undone was unexpectedly really difficult! Someone had done them up to about 34963747nm (approx
) and I had to hang off the breaker bar! I got there in the end:
Old versus new spring:
Having a half decent electric impact wrench makes doing up and undoing spring compressors so much easier:
New spring fitted, making sure the spring ends sat in the correct locating places:
I stopped taking pics at this point, but refitting was just putting the 3 nuts/bolts back on and sticking the wheel back on. I made sure the wheel camber looked about right by eye too, as there's some adjustment on those hub bolts, and one of my front wheels had some positive camber before I took it all apart to change the springs!
I got one rear spring done and then ran out of light so called it a day. It was actually more difficult and time consuming doing the rear spring as you need to remove the parcel shelf support to get access to the top of the turret.
A few days later and it decided to snow and be even colder than when I did the other three springs...
Clearing the snow off the car!
General cold and snowy pic. Ignore the grey door, the green one's going back on. I just wanted to see if the green door was bent, as some water was finding its way inside, but it look like the door latches are worn and need replacing to hold the door in to the seals better:
Again, I forgot to take pics of the rear spring being changed, but here's a few 'after' shots of how it sits now:
Suspension looks a much better height now. It's a bit more raised at the front than on the old springs but the rear's not changed much. Front dampers are OEM VAG kit and look in reasonable condition and the rears are Sachs and also in good condition so I'll be keeping those for now. It's much nicer on the road too.
I'm getting there slowly, but eventually I'll have a half decent 16v Golf. Intentions are to be able to take it to work occasionally to keep it in regular use and get out on some track days. I didn't use it at all last year...
Time to get some better springs on the car. I asked for some nice Eibach 20mm lowering springs for Christmas so I'm counting this as a zero cost fix
The springs on there currently are orange and of unknown make. They're really low and not very good, but the car looks cool I guess...
Off with the top mount nut:
Here's an offending spring:
Getting the strut bolts undone was unexpectedly really difficult! Someone had done them up to about 34963747nm (approx
) and I had to hang off the breaker bar! I got there in the end:Old versus new spring:
Having a half decent electric impact wrench makes doing up and undoing spring compressors so much easier:
New spring fitted, making sure the spring ends sat in the correct locating places:
I stopped taking pics at this point, but refitting was just putting the 3 nuts/bolts back on and sticking the wheel back on. I made sure the wheel camber looked about right by eye too, as there's some adjustment on those hub bolts, and one of my front wheels had some positive camber before I took it all apart to change the springs!
I got one rear spring done and then ran out of light so called it a day. It was actually more difficult and time consuming doing the rear spring as you need to remove the parcel shelf support to get access to the top of the turret.
A few days later and it decided to snow and be even colder than when I did the other three springs...
Clearing the snow off the car!
General cold and snowy pic. Ignore the grey door, the green one's going back on. I just wanted to see if the green door was bent, as some water was finding its way inside, but it look like the door latches are worn and need replacing to hold the door in to the seals better:
Again, I forgot to take pics of the rear spring being changed, but here's a few 'after' shots of how it sits now:
Suspension looks a much better height now. It's a bit more raised at the front than on the old springs but the rear's not changed much. Front dampers are OEM VAG kit and look in reasonable condition and the rears are Sachs and also in good condition so I'll be keeping those for now. It's much nicer on the road too.
I'm getting there slowly, but eventually I'll have a half decent 16v Golf. Intentions are to be able to take it to work occasionally to keep it in regular use and get out on some track days. I didn't use it at all last year...
Mr Tidy said:
More great love being lavished on your Golf - a great read. 
I had a 1986 16V back in the late 90s and loved it - even though it had had about 12 previous owners and most didn't seem to have looked after it much!
Yep, I've had a few and they all seem to have had a load of owners. This one's had 20 previous! I dug up some info from a Google search where someone was unsure what to do with it as it was almost worthless at the time. IIIRC they were thinking about making a track car out of it. I'm glad it survived!I had a 1986 16V back in the late 90s and loved it - even though it had had about 12 previous owners and most didn't seem to have looked after it much!
5harp3y said:
lovely lovely thing
shame about the fitment of the exhaust but i'm sure a decent shop will be able to tweak it right
Yeah, the fitment is wshame about the fitment of the exhaust but i'm sure a decent shop will be able to tweak it right
k, but I took a gamble as I knew it was a cheap Ebay job... I think I'll just bin it off and get a proper Jetex system on there soon. The current exhaust is too loud and droney for me anyway.BristolAl said:
This brings back found memories of my 8v Jetta GTI. Was lucky to have this as my first car and ran it from 1997-2000.
H 103 GBK - think its long gone now.
H 103 GBK - think its long gone now.
I love the way the 8v's drive. Really nice engine, but this time around I had to have a 16v as I've not had one before!shalmaneser said:
That gearbox clucth setup is pretty crazy, did VW stop that for the Mk3 and go to a more conventional setup? I've never seen anything like that before!
Car's looking great!
No idea what they did for the Mk3, I've never owned one! Yeah, the clutch is a bit arse about face for some reason, but it works well so I'm happy Car's looking great!
Coakers said:
Very good thoughtful running repairs pal. They are the type of car that have not to have particularly easy lives back in the day so it's great to see one be so well looked after now.
Oh People rave about the trackslag system, it even comes with the oem style slanty tailpipes for an extra £20. But it is still quite loud. Is yours kjet or digifant btw?
My 16v resto is a rabbit (black) hole that I have well and truly fell into head first. Seeing yours makes me kinda regret buying something more decent. Keep it up.
Cheers! I like the idea of OEM style slanty tail pipes, but quietness is a thing I need if I'm going to actually drive this thing. That's why I'm leaning toward a Jetex as I know the one on my old 8V was quiet when you wanted it to be. Mines a K-Jet by the way. I don't think they made an EFI version of the 16V in a Mk2 Golf? There's the 150bhp ABF (I think?) unit that came in the Mk3 which is a popular swap in to the Mk2.Oh People rave about the trackslag system, it even comes with the oem style slanty tailpipes for an extra £20. But it is still quite loud. Is yours kjet or digifant btw?
My 16v resto is a rabbit (black) hole that I have well and truly fell into head first. Seeing yours makes me kinda regret buying something more decent. Keep it up.
I've been following your thread but I don't think I've commented yet. You had your work cut out from the start! A massive project to get it back to a good state. Keep plugging away - throwing money at a problem isn't necessarily the best way to fix things, sometimes you just need materials and a lot of your own labour. I'm happy to help you out with bits and pieces if I can!
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