Another VW Golf Mk2 16v
Discussion
I see there's already a thread about a Mk2 Golf GTI 16v, but we had the opportunity to get one of these too. With prices for decent Mk2s on the rise (and seeing what happened with the mk1s in the last decade) it seemed like:
a) The man maths might actually work in our favour (long term)
b) A 16v Mk2 is always going to be a fun thing to punt about anyway.
Car has an MOT, but given the sellers (reassuringly honest) appraisal of its current set of faults my son and I decided to trailer it home yesterday amidst flying branches, sideways rain and gale force winds.
Got home safely though.
So this has just joined the fleet alongside my supercharged Mk1 Mx5 and the Mk1 Audi TT. It's a 1989 16v, pre the big bumpers, type 1G, but with the earlier electrics.
It's pretty smart looking but needs quite a bit of TLC. Plans are to take it back to 100% stock over time and rejuvenate what needs rejuvenating.
Good:
Once the paperwork is sorted I may have a go at contacting previous owners - got most of their details - Might be fun to see if anyone is still about and has pics of the car from days of yore.
Nice to own an a Golf GTI again though. Haven't had one since 2009.
Cheers,
Drew.
a) The man maths might actually work in our favour (long term)
b) A 16v Mk2 is always going to be a fun thing to punt about anyway.
Car has an MOT, but given the sellers (reassuringly honest) appraisal of its current set of faults my son and I decided to trailer it home yesterday amidst flying branches, sideways rain and gale force winds.
Got home safely though.
So this has just joined the fleet alongside my supercharged Mk1 Mx5 and the Mk1 Audi TT. It's a 1989 16v, pre the big bumpers, type 1G, but with the earlier electrics.
It's pretty smart looking but needs quite a bit of TLC. Plans are to take it back to 100% stock over time and rejuvenate what needs rejuvenating.
Good:
- Starts, runs and idles. Engine has only recently been rebuilt so is still being run in, runs up to temp ok and fans cut in. In 500 miles we can open her up a bit.
- Has Newman cams, so potentially a bit livelier at the top end
- All original in terms of trim, though some a bit tatty
- BBS RMs are in good nick
- All gears work
- Most of the electrics work
- Bodywork has been done and underseal too
- Paperwork is comprehensive - all MOTs back to the first one and a massive folder full of stuff
- Damn good clean, interior a bit of a mess, door jams etc full of dirt
- Fix brakes - scarily has almost nothing and what it does have pulls to one side
- Small water leak from bottom of the water pump, hopefully just a pipe
- Tidy up engine bay (wasn't done for some reason when the engine was out)
- Replace parcel shelf (been cut for a set of 6x9s )
- Has some quite nice mk3 GTI 'GTI Edition' recaro seats - not standard, but in two minds as to whether to replace.
- Front valence needs some attention
- Remove rock hard coilovers
- Replace front headlamps with stock (currently some 'crystal clear' things)
- Replace rear light clusters with stock (currently some 'crystal clear' things)
- Remove non-standard exhaust
- Fix rear wash wipe - currently pipes popped off at both ends and sprays water into the boot and engine bay)
- Replace all locks to allow use with a single key (currently has 4!)
- Fix MFA lcd
- Fix Temperature gauge (hopefully a broken wire as sensors in place)
- Fix Speedo (works but bounces around below 40 mph)
Once the paperwork is sorted I may have a go at contacting previous owners - got most of their details - Might be fun to see if anyone is still about and has pics of the car from days of yore.
Nice to own an a Golf GTI again though. Haven't had one since 2009.
Cheers,
Drew.
Edited by drewwa on Sunday 3rd November 18:20
It has had the sills replaced and resprayed, which has been done well as far as I can tell. No sign of any rust under there and we have pictures of it being done with all the trim off, so no nasty surprises behind the arches!
As for tuning, don't believe so, hasn't been gas-flowed or anything. The only non standard addition is the Newman cams, which I'll identify when I go through the receipts. I believe they are slightly cheaper than stock at £380 for the pair based on their website and probably the like for like equivalents. I'd like to keep the KR engine stock and have the oldskool fun of chasing revs. I'm not really looking to improve the performance of it given it's a 30 year old hot hatch. It also has a 4-2-1 exhaust manifold - not sure if this is stock or not.
As for the coilovers - not sure yet. Might drive it around a bit more. First impressions are that they are the worst of both worlds when it comes handling/ride. Ride is very jiggly even on smooth-ish roads, but there doesn't seem to be much damping. Our other golf has Eibach springs and Koni dampers and is much better to my mind - smooth ride and firm damping. The coilovers are brand new and set a bit lower than stock height - I agree it looks nice like this, but it's not riding how a Golf should as far as I'm concerned.
Starter motor is also dicky, so we've taken it out to see if it needs new bushes. While doing this we discovered that the bolts for the starter hold in the front engine mount - odd design!
Cheers,
Drew.
As for tuning, don't believe so, hasn't been gas-flowed or anything. The only non standard addition is the Newman cams, which I'll identify when I go through the receipts. I believe they are slightly cheaper than stock at £380 for the pair based on their website and probably the like for like equivalents. I'd like to keep the KR engine stock and have the oldskool fun of chasing revs. I'm not really looking to improve the performance of it given it's a 30 year old hot hatch. It also has a 4-2-1 exhaust manifold - not sure if this is stock or not.
As for the coilovers - not sure yet. Might drive it around a bit more. First impressions are that they are the worst of both worlds when it comes handling/ride. Ride is very jiggly even on smooth-ish roads, but there doesn't seem to be much damping. Our other golf has Eibach springs and Koni dampers and is much better to my mind - smooth ride and firm damping. The coilovers are brand new and set a bit lower than stock height - I agree it looks nice like this, but it's not riding how a Golf should as far as I'm concerned.
Starter motor is also dicky, so we've taken it out to see if it needs new bushes. While doing this we discovered that the bolts for the starter hold in the front engine mount - odd design!
Cheers,
Drew.
Edited by drewwa on Monday 4th November 17:09
Edited by drewwa on Monday 4th November 17:38
Waded through the service history and receipts today, quite interesting overall and lots of history.
Car had a full VWSH up until 2002 whereupon it had hit 121k miles. After that it gets a bit vague, one MOT recorded in 2006 at 147k miles, and then nothing until 2017 (previous owner) at 150k. According to him it had been in a lockup from 2007 and hardly used. He'd got it running and through an MOT again.
A few more pics - still only using the phone so apologies for 'pinkness' - the paint is a much fuller red in reality. I'll go get my SLR in a bit.
Parked up next to my son's 1988 CL
In the receipts was a newspaper cutting from when the car was sold a second time from the same garage (Skinners then - still a VW garage now - Caffyns of Eastbourne). Check out the other cars on offer! This is circa 1992.
Lots of early history - here are all the MOTs from 1991-2002.
And the original brochure for the car.
Interior isn't original unfortunately. These seats are a Mk3 Golf GTI item from Europe, a 'GTI Edition' set of unbadged Recaros (quite nice actually). Otherwise the dash hasn't been mucked about with.
Cheers,
Drew.
Car had a full VWSH up until 2002 whereupon it had hit 121k miles. After that it gets a bit vague, one MOT recorded in 2006 at 147k miles, and then nothing until 2017 (previous owner) at 150k. According to him it had been in a lockup from 2007 and hardly used. He'd got it running and through an MOT again.
A few more pics - still only using the phone so apologies for 'pinkness' - the paint is a much fuller red in reality. I'll go get my SLR in a bit.
Parked up next to my son's 1988 CL
In the receipts was a newspaper cutting from when the car was sold a second time from the same garage (Skinners then - still a VW garage now - Caffyns of Eastbourne). Check out the other cars on offer! This is circa 1992.
Lots of early history - here are all the MOTs from 1991-2002.
And the original brochure for the car.
Interior isn't original unfortunately. These seats are a Mk3 Golf GTI item from Europe, a 'GTI Edition' set of unbadged Recaros (quite nice actually). Otherwise the dash hasn't been mucked about with.
Cheers,
Drew.
Edited by drewwa on Tuesday 5th November 14:51
A bit of research and working out going on at present. A shopping list of bits.
First - things that need to done:
Starter Motor
Brake Pads front
Brake Pads rear
Brake Discs front
Brake Discs rear
Water Leak from near the water pump (hopefully a pipe as the pump is new-ish)
Oil Change (after run in period)
Oil Filter
Battery Area Clean and Antirust
Temp Sensor
Dash Lights (ok on the binnacle, but not working on the temp/air sliders)
Battery Clamp
Battery Cover
Speedo Cable
And then the list of cosmetic things to tidy up and return the car to stock:
Interior Door Trims
Interior Seats
Cambelt covers
Sunroof Wind Deflector
Gear knob
Right inner Door Pull Surround
Door Striker Pins
16v Key
Front splitter vent
Door/Ignition Locks
Front Lights
Rear Lights
Door Lock Pulls
Wing Mirrors
Bonnet Rubbers
Rubber Bonnet Buffers
Front Valence
Bee Sting
Scuttle Trim
Side Trim
Speakers
Stereo
Headlining
VIN/Stickers tidy up
Suspension
Exhaust
Front Badge
Alloys
Parcel Shelf
Parts list comes to just over a grand. Going to be a bit of project.
Pic for attention.
Cheers,
Drew.
First - things that need to done:
Starter Motor
Brake Pads front
Brake Pads rear
Brake Discs front
Brake Discs rear
Water Leak from near the water pump (hopefully a pipe as the pump is new-ish)
Oil Change (after run in period)
Oil Filter
Battery Area Clean and Antirust
Temp Sensor
Dash Lights (ok on the binnacle, but not working on the temp/air sliders)
Battery Clamp
Battery Cover
Speedo Cable
And then the list of cosmetic things to tidy up and return the car to stock:
Interior Door Trims
Interior Seats
Cambelt covers
Sunroof Wind Deflector
Gear knob
Right inner Door Pull Surround
Door Striker Pins
16v Key
Front splitter vent
Door/Ignition Locks
Front Lights
Rear Lights
Door Lock Pulls
Wing Mirrors
Bonnet Rubbers
Rubber Bonnet Buffers
Front Valence
Bee Sting
Scuttle Trim
Side Trim
Speakers
Stereo
Headlining
VIN/Stickers tidy up
Suspension
Exhaust
Front Badge
Alloys
Parcel Shelf
Parts list comes to just over a grand. Going to be a bit of project.
Pic for attention.
Cheers,
Drew.
pistolpedro said:
Looks like a good straight example
Noticed you’ve got the correct OE rubber mats which is cool, they fit really well and match the rest of the interior nicely,
Will you be fitting the rear hatch vinyl? It’s often missing on GTI’s (usually after repainting) IIRC was a bit of a pig to fit (can’t recall if it’s a window out job) there’s a number of aftermarket ones available now at a reasonable cost, contrasts with the red really well
We have the vinyl to go back on - a later job I think. Installation does look a bit tricky!Noticed you’ve got the correct OE rubber mats which is cool, they fit really well and match the rest of the interior nicely,
Will you be fitting the rear hatch vinyl? It’s often missing on GTI’s (usually after repainting) IIRC was a bit of a pig to fit (can’t recall if it’s a window out job) there’s a number of aftermarket ones available now at a reasonable cost, contrasts with the red really well
Cheers,
Drew.
Not much in the way of updates, too cold to be working on the car for my liking! A few parts have been trickling in though.
Found the manual for the original stereo (long gone of course) in the documentation. A bit of search online bagged me a working one though, so here it is in all its retro glory.
As a dealer fit accessory from 1988 - I present the awesome Blaupunkt SQR38 Radio/Cassette.
Cheers,
Drew.
Found the manual for the original stereo (long gone of course) in the documentation. A bit of search online bagged me a working one though, so here it is in all its retro glory.
As a dealer fit accessory from 1988 - I present the awesome Blaupunkt SQR38 Radio/Cassette.
Cheers,
Drew.
rickygolf83 said:
Love it!
Still deciding if I should source an oem unit for my valver once its resto is complete.
They just look and feel so right in a car of this vintage
Any pics of how your four branch sits near the bulkhead? Any heat shield/wrap etc used? Fitted mine but yet to start car up and manifold looks mighty close !
Next time I'm up there I'll get some pics. Still deciding if I should source an oem unit for my valver once its resto is complete.
They just look and feel so right in a car of this vintage
Any pics of how your four branch sits near the bulkhead? Any heat shield/wrap etc used? Fitted mine but yet to start car up and manifold looks mighty close !
Edited by rickygolf83 on Tuesday 3rd December 19:25
Edited by rickygolf83 on Tuesday 3rd December 19:25
Cheers,
Drew.
A few more bits have come in. Strictly speaking these are not quite 'stock' for this car, but I much prefer the smoked look to the stock orange rear lights. They are OE for the slightly later 16v cars and, I think, will look fab on this one with its red/black theme. They will replace the 'crystal clear' ones that are currently on the car.
Cheers,
Drew.
Cheers,
Drew.
rickygolf83 said:
Love it!
Still deciding if I should source an oem unit for my valver once its resto is complete.
They just look and feel so right in a car of this vintage
Any pics of how your four branch sits near the bulkhead? Any heat shield/wrap etc used? Fitted mine but yet to start car up and manifold looks mighty close !
Here's a pic of the manifold, bit awkward to get, clearance to the bulkhead is about 1/2 an inch or thereabouts.Still deciding if I should source an oem unit for my valver once its resto is complete.
They just look and feel so right in a car of this vintage
Any pics of how your four branch sits near the bulkhead? Any heat shield/wrap etc used? Fitted mine but yet to start car up and manifold looks mighty close !
A little fun and games with the 16v.
We refreshed the bushes in our starter motor, put it back in, turned the ignition and...
Click, buzz.... white smoke. Bugger.
Took the motor apart to find out that the bearings were also shot and the magnets around the rim cracked. Not quite sure what went wrong, but it's definitely foobar'd.
Got another one off ebay only to discover that the 16v Mk2 starter motor is slightly different to all other mk2 Golfs (typical). It has an extra pin on the solenoid in order to drive the 5th fuel injector (otherwise no cold start).
Our old starter was 16v one... our new one was an 8v one. Bugger.
However... the connectors are on the solenoid, so we took the good old solenoid from the knackered 16v starter and put it on the good new 8v starter and...
It worked!
Buoyed by success, a little bit of fettling ensued. Swapping the old crystal clear lights off and putting the 'proper' Hella ones on. Already looks 100% better. Used my yoof to give me a helping hand.
So, pleased thus far. We now have a working car again which starts reliably. Always a good thing!
Cheers,
Drew.
We refreshed the bushes in our starter motor, put it back in, turned the ignition and...
Click, buzz.... white smoke. Bugger.
Took the motor apart to find out that the bearings were also shot and the magnets around the rim cracked. Not quite sure what went wrong, but it's definitely foobar'd.
Got another one off ebay only to discover that the 16v Mk2 starter motor is slightly different to all other mk2 Golfs (typical). It has an extra pin on the solenoid in order to drive the 5th fuel injector (otherwise no cold start).
Our old starter was 16v one... our new one was an 8v one. Bugger.
However... the connectors are on the solenoid, so we took the good old solenoid from the knackered 16v starter and put it on the good new 8v starter and...
It worked!
Buoyed by success, a little bit of fettling ensued. Swapping the old crystal clear lights off and putting the 'proper' Hella ones on. Already looks 100% better. Used my yoof to give me a helping hand.
So, pleased thus far. We now have a working car again which starts reliably. Always a good thing!
Cheers,
Drew.
Popped the 16v out of hibernation and started doing some work on it today. Quite pleased with progress.
First, the ghastly "crystal clear" headlamps were for the chop.
Then the colour coded wing mirrors went in the bin, replaced by new.
Ditto the rear plinth for the numberplate. FOund a bit of a bodge in here, some filler used to mask old rust. Will probably replace the tailgate at somepoint, but it's not too bad.
Also replaced all the doorhandles and fixed the boot lock - all on one key. Have the bits for the ignition barrel but that's a bit more involved and sunlight ran out, so put it all back together for now. Nice to get a few new parts on the old girl, and she's starting to look the part now.
Main problems remaining at present.
Leak from general area of the thermostat - undiagnosed at present.
Found rear nearside shock isn't properly secured, lower bush is busted or not present.... fun and games on this one as the alloys have locking wheel nuts and... you guessed it.
We have no key.
Any suggestions on removing these? They look like these ones.
Despite all this, quite pleased so far. Starting to look like a Mk2 Golf 16v again!
Cheers,
Drew.
First, the ghastly "crystal clear" headlamps were for the chop.
Then the colour coded wing mirrors went in the bin, replaced by new.
Ditto the rear plinth for the numberplate. FOund a bit of a bodge in here, some filler used to mask old rust. Will probably replace the tailgate at somepoint, but it's not too bad.
Also replaced all the doorhandles and fixed the boot lock - all on one key. Have the bits for the ignition barrel but that's a bit more involved and sunlight ran out, so put it all back together for now. Nice to get a few new parts on the old girl, and she's starting to look the part now.
Main problems remaining at present.
Leak from general area of the thermostat - undiagnosed at present.
Found rear nearside shock isn't properly secured, lower bush is busted or not present.... fun and games on this one as the alloys have locking wheel nuts and... you guessed it.
We have no key.
Any suggestions on removing these? They look like these ones.
Despite all this, quite pleased so far. Starting to look like a Mk2 Golf 16v again!
Cheers,
Drew.
chrismc1977 said:
Good old valver.
Had 2 plus a Jetta GTi 16v. All were 2L blocks.
Newman cams- hmm! Not convinced. I know there were quality issues a while ago.
If it were me & staying ‘stock’ I’d go for the KR twin exhaust cam mod. That with the fabled WUR mod & you’ll be able to sneak a bit more ignition advance (which valvers love!!) Only other thing is to uprate the stock anti roll bars. Something 25mm ish on the back end dials out any understeer. Best single mod you can do. Oh & a solid front engine mount with that 4 branch....
I now pedal a nice DC2 Integra. Spiritual successor to the Golf in many ways. Light, chuckable, lots of revs!
Interesting mods! I'll do a bit more research into those, particularly the anti-roll bars.. Love the Integra, had a drive of those many years ago when they were new. Cracking cars. Had 2 plus a Jetta GTi 16v. All were 2L blocks.
Newman cams- hmm! Not convinced. I know there were quality issues a while ago.
If it were me & staying ‘stock’ I’d go for the KR twin exhaust cam mod. That with the fabled WUR mod & you’ll be able to sneak a bit more ignition advance (which valvers love!!) Only other thing is to uprate the stock anti roll bars. Something 25mm ish on the back end dials out any understeer. Best single mod you can do. Oh & a solid front engine mount with that 4 branch....
I now pedal a nice DC2 Integra. Spiritual successor to the Golf in many ways. Light, chuckable, lots of revs!
Cheers,
Drew.
rickygolf83 said:
car is looking great !
if you are replacing your exhaust I would stick with the four branch and change the rest; noticeable performance increase on mine with the TSR manifold now fitted.
Yes. I think this is what we'll do with the exhaust. I'd like to keep the four branch. if you are replacing your exhaust I would stick with the four branch and change the rest; noticeable performance increase on mine with the TSR manifold now fitted.
Edited by rickygolf83 on Sunday 19th January 01:17
Cheers,
Drew.
Slow progress in the winter months, but a long round trip bagged me some goodies.
A complete stock interior with the matching door cards as would have been on this Golf when new. They need a bit of tlc, but that will wait for warmer weather.
My son is eyeing the GTI edition seats for his Golf.
Cheers,
Drew.
A complete stock interior with the matching door cards as would have been on this Golf when new. They need a bit of tlc, but that will wait for warmer weather.
My son is eyeing the GTI edition seats for his Golf.
Cheers,
Drew.
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