Royal Blue MK2 GTI, 16v KR then ABF, now abf management+widetrack

Discussion in 'Members Gallery' started by rubjonny, Feb 25, 2006.

  1. notenoughtime

    notenoughtime Moderator Moderator

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    Good to see some progress more than I done this weekend
     
  2. Tristan

    Tristan Paid Member Paid Member

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    How's the mk4 Climatronic working out, Rj?
     
  3. rubjonny

    rubjonny Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    still not had the time to get the a/c working so all I get is very find control of the temperature and air direction at or above ambient :lol:
     
  4. Mk2Singh Forum Member

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    Looking good dude!
     
  5. rubjonny

    rubjonny Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    So I finally got permission from the wife to do a bit of work on the MK2, clutch was starting to slip in 5th so wanted to do it before the weather turned. Quick 02a box swap, only a couple days work (if only we knew :lol:)

    So the first problem I came up against was before I even opened the bonnet. Like a complete idiot I had managed to leave my socket set down the scrappy the week before, so I was faced with having to do all the work with a breaker bar and a medium socket plus my 'B team' of sockets dug out of various boxes in the garage. Not too bad except for those stubborn bolts which need a bigger ratchet than I had, but are in a place which is too small to fit a breaker bar. (lower, rear gearbox bolt you git, I'm looking at you!)

    Anyway after a bit of spanner flapping:
    gti83.jpg

    and some more (sorry about some of the photos, my skills seem to be lacking)
    gti84.jpg

    1 job was ticked off the list early on, had a bit of an oil leak from the oil pump/intermediate shaft upper bearing thingy and bought a new one from classic a while back. I was just going to swap the seal over short term, but then noticed a problem with that idea so swapped the whole thing
    gti85.jpg

    I put the proper 02a brackets in, obligatory pic showing the extra length:
    [​IMG]

    and a shot showing the difference once fitted with 020 brackets still on the front and gearbox:
    gti86.jpg

    rear bracket swapped, time to get the gearbox off. much swearing later:
    gti87.jpg

    quick shot of the slippy 020 bits, ebay special lightened flywheel, bought becasue it was cheap and I needed one more than anything else :lol: Lasted well, clutch was fitted in 2005. can see my pushrod has wandered, I did the bush and seals so not sure what happened there. maybe a slight droop in my rod...
    gti88.jpg

    It was at this point I remembered I had also lost my 9mm 12 point socket as it was in the socket set box, so I needed to buy another to properly torque the new 02a clutch. Off to halfords and I bought the most expensive 9mm socket, In The World
    gti89.jpg

    and just because its the law: (only kidding 2Y, I still love you)
    gti90.jpg

    spent a lot of time previously cleaning up the 02a, it was properly caked in grease, dirt and corrosion. near 5mm thick in places! last time it will ever be this clean I expect
    gti91.jpg

    after some more harsh language:
    gti92.jpg

    It was at this point I noticed both of my steering rack boots were split! After a bit of swearing I found some TRW ones for a good price, work stalled while I waited for them to turn up. I had to take the rear bracket and mount off AGAIN to get enough room to pinch up the driver side clamp, the passenger side was a bit easier but still a faff. If only I could have timed the job while the gearbox wasn't in place... [:x]

    some plumbing, finally got the proper ABF metal pipe fitted which has been in storage for 5 years or so, and can see the start of my 02a -> rod shift conversion
    gti93.jpg

    Moving on to the radiator. I bought a Nissens brand SEAT Toledo ABF one as it came up a while ago for a price I couldn't refuse. Eventually the MK4 climatronic will be installed so a bigger rad is required. I thought the MK2 8v shroud would fit straight on same as it does on a MK2 diesel rad, but this was not the case! One of the lower edge brackets is too far over, and the upper isn't there at all. So after some digging in my bits boxes, a MK2 8v exhaust heat shield steady bracket was used on the passenger side, it was exactly the same length as the upper extendy bracket (rad only came with 1 extendy bracket, not 2 as you would have on a MK2 diesel rad!) On the other side I had to get creative. Eventually I found an odd little bracket which I couldn't quite place. Out with the hacksaw, drilled a suitable hole further down then I clamped it to my 17mm oil drain tool and hammered it round to add some strength and so it fits the rad shroud profile. Ended up with this:
    gti94.jpg

    Its actually version 2, V1 was screwed down all the way to the left. The bracket I made wend up top between the extendy bracket and shroud, down the bottom I had a MK2 golf handbrake cable bracket to add the length to reach the lower edge bracket. I wanted to move it over to give more clearance to the ABF engine wiring, as the fan plug gets close to the knock sensors. But once the starter cable went on it was hard up against the shroud so I had to rethink the layout.

    MK2 heat shroud bracket (that's a rear caliper bolt off the Bora by the way :lol:)
    gti95.jpg

    'mystery' bracket ;)
    gti96.jpg

    I managed to find a matching NOS SEAT Toledo lower rad hose for peanuts, only issue is its designed for a MK3 lower thermostat flange setup and there was no way I was going to give up my nice alloy MK1 flange. So I bought a little metal joiner and used a random MK3 diesel hose chopped down to make up an adaptor (I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a G60 metal lower pipe, I have a NOS G60 rubber hose to go on it from the same source! Upper hose was some random MK2 small block hose on the block side, a MK4 Golf plastic pipe with small hose fitting, random MK4 small hose and a bit of MK4 hose from the fitting to the rad. Its a bit tight so I need to get a slightly longer piece, this is why there's a bit of offcut hose cable tied in place to protect it from chafing on the shroud.
    gti97.jpg

    After a lot more fiddling the shifter linkage now looks like this, it still needs a little work as the forward/back throw is too long. Just need to shorten the extension piece I made for the shifter tower (MK3 golf PAS pipe retainer, cut down and new hole drilled if you were interested :lol:) for the side to side setup its a MK1 relay lever bolted into one of the holes for the cable bracket, I will make up a steady bracket from the top to the lug next to it at some point. Also needs a load of new bushes to finish it off nicely. At the tower side I chopped the top of the plastic bush/cable bracket, leaving the hex profile. After some digging in my spares I found a MK3 alternator mounting stud thingy which was the right size to fit the plastic hex profile, with a stud either side. It pushes the rod I made out nicely so it lines up a bit better to the MK1 relay rod too :thumbup:
    gti98.jpg

    Then it was off to the MOT, what can possibly go wrong! FAIL. Turned out both my top mounts had play, the number plate lights were off (only lights I forgot to check) and he didn't like my white LED sidelights for some reason, even though they have been in there no problems for over 5 years. Hey ho! So taking advantage of the GSF 55% discount deal I ordered some new lemforder top mounts for collection the next day. That sorted I went outside to investigate my number plate lights, no voltage seen at the plugs. So I know what you're all thinking, and yep!
    gti99.jpg

    I wanted to do a quick fix to get it through the MOT as I didn't fancy messing about with a loom swap, plus I was planning to redo all the rear loom as I wanted to move the joining plugs to the driver side to reduce the loom run lengths. But due to a combo of freezing cold weather and grotty contaminated copper plus absolutely bugger all room to work my gas soldering iron said NO. So I gave it up and dragged the entire loom out of the tailgate and went back inside. A few crimps later and some fluffy loom tape:
    gti100.jpg

    Of course the screw holes for one of the plate lights were now so rusty the screws wouldn't tighten, I was well past my 'bothered' point by now with numb fingers crusted with old VW wax I left it for another day :lol: The next day I popped down to GSF Reading to collect my nice pair of lemforder mounts, but what they actually had for me me was 1 lemforder and 1 firstline 'equivalent quality' top mount. Just when it was going so well! [:x] So I left the firstline with them and a polite request they get what I actually paid for... I chucked 1 side on and cracked loose the nuts on other side to aid fitting the next day. Luckily with my eibach springs you can slip the top mounts in and out with the struts still fitted to the car so it was a pretty quick if cold job. Can see they needed doing:
    gti101.jpg

    Next day rolled by and with the top mount slipped in nice I managed to find a couple of those metal captive nut plates which slipped nice around the plate light holes, another job ticked off. Last on the agenda was find some std bulbs to replace my sidelights. This took a long while, as I just couldn't find my bulb stash box anywhere! I eventually found an old one in a bits box, plus an orange tint bulb which I set about cleaning off with a rag and some white spirit. That job done, I pop the bonnet and am just about to unplug the sidelights when I remember that they are actually bayonet BA9 bulbs, and I had a couple of 501 wedges :lol: Feeling like a right prize plum I set about turning my shed and garage upside down, eventually finding the previously mentioned bulb stash box at the back in a lower drawer in my tool chest. Bulbs swapped, I drove it down the MOT place where it passed!

    And breathe!
     
    Last edited: Oct 3, 2022
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  6. rubjonny

    rubjonny Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    Some things did go right though, while looking for an unrelated part I found an ABF sump plug seal so was finally able to change the oil (in a box full of MK4 service parts of all things). Plus I found a late abf non-pas alternator belt I forgot I had so I can swap my a/c bracket over at some point and clear up some extra clutter.

    Forgot to mention how on the way to my first MOT test the relay shaft upper nut I swear I tightened came loose so I lost all gears which was fun. Luckily I had the foresight to put my tools in the boot but it did cost me a burnt wrist as at first I thought it was the pinch bolt which had worked loose :lol:

    As an added bonus now the correct 02a rear bracket has fitted my SEAT airbox/pipe fits properly now, before it was pretty stretched out as with the 020 bracket the engine was sat 10mm further back on than the car these parts all came from
     
  7. Savagesam

    Savagesam Moderator Staff Member Moderator

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    I've not seen anyone convert 02a/j to rod change, it's a good idea. How does it feel?
     
  8. rubjonny

    rubjonny Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    Its still a work in progress, I need some bushes for the MK1 relay lever plus the tower and the throw is too long. Once I've had a good fiddle with my rod I'll decide whether its worth writing a full thread up on it or if I'll bin the lot and go polo 02j gearstick & cables :lol:

    after a couple days on the road the only niggles I have apart from the above is a clicky speedometer, not sure if thats down to the cheap cable or if its not quite fitted correct as I fitted it by reaching in from underneath which was not fun :lol: I also noticed I've managed to miss one of the front bumper clips so bumper will have to come off again. I need to adjust my clutch cable too as the biting point is right near the carpet.
     
  9. oldnick

    oldnick Paid Member Paid Member

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    Some things are better kept private.
     
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