1990 MK2 GTI Project

I definitely won’t be polishing it regularly as it will be in a bay full of rough and ready 30 year old parts! The sooner they blend into their surroundings the better haha.

 

Time to clean the rest, too

 

Those linkage kits are a game changer. I had on on my mk2 before my vr swap.

 

It looks the same as the MK3 weighted gear change linkage, just shiny. Is it different?

 

The improvement comes from all three linkages not just the weighted shift rod. The adjustability in them allows you to take out any slack, and the ball joints replace the flexible rubber bushes. So it’s a benefit from a lot of little things that add up.

 

That makes sense.

 

Another small update. Managed to grab a MK3 (VR6 I believe) fuel tank and lines for a decent price. Everything is working perfectly on the car at the moment, but the pump under the car is rumbling quite loud. Not sure if its normal or not, but as this tank popped up at a bargain price I decided to jump on it even if I sit on it for a while.



Arrived looking every bit its age! haha. But I gave it a quick blast off with the hose just to clean it up before I store it away. After cleaning it turns out everything is actually in really nice shape. The only frustration is that the metal "crimp" that joins the rule line to the rubber hoses on the fuel filter are pretty much gone. Given that they look like they are "crimped" at the factory I fear I might be searching for a new fuel line... That is a bit disappointing but other than that Im really pleased.



Another item taking up more space in the garage.... Will try get it fitted over winter.

 

I got one for exactly the same reason, just to have for the future.

 

Did a bit more digging and on removing the fuel filter its clear the lines are properly crusty.



I literally just picked at it and the "crimped" area around the hose literally came away.



That said, the join still looks fairly tight, so I might try just put a new clamp over it and see if that does the trick. I don't really want to take chances with fuel lines but will see if I can get a sturdy enough clamp over it when it comes to fitting the tank (whenever that might be).

 

Don’t do that. Get a new rubber section, clean up the plastic and do it properly. As you say it’s not worth messing with fuel lines.

 

Yes I will sort it out properly. Was also interesting to discover that the alloy fuel filter had started to corrode inside the ripper hoses, resulting in them being filled with white oxidisation residue. Who know how long that had been running through the donor cars engine for. Will definitely refresh everything so that it is spot on before I fit it to my car.

 

There was a small local pre 2000's car meet in Durham last night. Stole a few snaps of the Golf off of Facebook that were taken by folks who attended.

 

So its been quite on the GTI front for the last 2 months as work has been the priority, however winter is here and its time to get stuck in over the Christmas break. I have been slowly collecting bits and pieces for the engine bay refresh, and have got to the point now where I just need to pull the motor out and get stuck in.



I managed to pick up a G60 rocker cover, and will be swapping out the old steel one for this once the motor is out and its cleaned up. To be honest there is noting wrong with the old steel one, but it does have a tendency to weep from the back onto the manifold, and my hope is that the alloy G60 one will have a tighter seal given it won't flex like the steel one.

I do need to figure at a way to plumb the breather and ISV a bit more neatly. The breather on the G60 exits to the right instead of the left, so I will need to find a way to get it looking OEM. I did find a few pics of people who have done it by just using the PB parts (see below), but Id like to try and use the G60 breather. Will cross that bridge when I get there.



I also managed to pick up a set of BBS RA254 wheels. They are the same as the original ones but are 7J and ET25. I have always felt the original wheels tuck a little too much, especially on the big bumper cars, so hopefully these look stock but fill the arches nicely.



The wheels were available to VW and BMW, and I actually got the paperwork that lists the VW and BMW models they were approved for. I have however never seen any VW brochures that list the wheels as an option, only BMW ones. They were mostly found on BMW 325I cars like the below.



Anyway, its time to start pulling the car apart and seeing what troubles await me... Its now backed up in the garage ready for me to start tomorrow. Plus I am adding a pic of the bay as it currently stands as Im sure I will need to come back to this page and remind myself where all the parts go.





More updates as I get going.

 

Thanks for the info (as always it’s exactly what I was after). Will seem if I can get this one to plumb in neatly but if not I will try the MK3 version.

interesting to hear that the studs cause issues. Will try track down some low profile bolts. Will see if my local fastener place has som domed torx bolts or something like that.

 

So while everyone else is getting their cars out for the start of spring, I finally found the time to start to pull mine apart... Getting the engine bay and engine cleaned up finally got under way, and now that its all coming out Im glad I started. Plenty of boys under the hood are looking pretty shabby, so once done the car will be much better for it.

On getting the grill and bumper off I was glad to see that the wings weren't complete rotted out. There is some surface rust and scabbing right in the bottoms of the wings but they are salvageable.





The rad support is shot though, and so weak in places that you can break it with your hands! Good thing I decided to get stuck in and not drive it for another summer. The front cross member is much more solid, but still has holes in it that shouldn't be there.





I was really hoping I could reuse all of the radiator assembly and after removing it I still had high hopes. Unfortunately after getting it all separated that proved to be wishful thinking. The Shroud had rusted though in 2 spots right at the bottom, and once sand blasted would have been in bits.



Sadly the fan its self was also too far gone. Bolts snapped when I removed it, and the corrosion was really bad behind the shroud. Will have to find some replacements before it goes back together.



I salvaged what I could and gave it a quick clean up. Hopefully I can still use the original white fan as I noticed all of the replacement ones are black. Will try and buy a new motor and swap the original fan onto it.



I need to keep disconnecting the motor in preparation for pulling it out, as well as start to source a few more of these bits I now need. A friend of mine who I haven't seen in years sent me a surprise message out of the blue asking if I wanted a bunch of old parts that were at his parents house. I went over to pick them up and there were some nice exterior parts in the lot. Will save them for when the car finally get s painted.



Hopefully get to the point I can pull the motor next weekend so will update on the progress.

 

So.... 1 year later finally some progress! The reality is I have been chipping away at the golf, but all sorts of life stuff put it on the back burner for much of the time. Anyway, 6 weeks ago I was put on gardening leave while I changed jobs, so with nothing work wise to keep me busy I decided it was time to get back onto finishing the Golf... ("Finishing" being used in the broadest possible sense haha).

As you saw from the previous post I was bust tidying up the fan assembly. Wile the old motor worked fine, it was in rough shape, and while disassembling it all 2 of the bolts broke off the back. I ordered another online, but when it arrived it was quite a lot bigger. It bolted up fine and had the correct plug so I figured Id give it a go anyway.



The fan shroud had a few pin holes in the bottom and once sand blasted they opened up and a lot of the sheet metal was paper thin as a result. I sourced I nice used one and had it repainted before bolting it all back together.



With the fan assembly done I decided to get the slam panel sorted. I looked at replacing the bonnet latch but old used ones were surprisingly expensive, and repot ones got bad reviews so I decided to just do what I could to clean up the original one. Far from perfect but at the same time it cleaned up well enough.



I also took the opportunity to clean up the inside of the headlights as I had already done this to the inners and wanted them all to match. With a bit ow work they came up like new.



Probably one of the more unnecessary things I have done but I decided to clean up the horn as well. With everything else looking fresh it stuck out like a sore thumb so it got a refresh as well...





I was also really pleased to source the cover of the airbox side headlight. Another thing that will most likely make zero difference to the performance but I love how they clean up the area behind the headlight. They seem to go for quite a lot of money on German eBay but I got this one for a bargain on marketplace.



And with that the slam panel was all back together with fresh paint and looking like new.



After that the car basically sat for 6 months until I was put on gardening leave. At that point I figured it was now or never to make a big push on the car, so I borrowed an engine hoist and dived in to pulling the engine. This is the first time I have gone this far with pulling a car to bits, so I was looking forward to getting stuck in. An afternoon later, and with the help of a buddy, the motor was out.



And this is me staring into the engine bay wondering what the hell I had just done, and if there was any way to quickly put it back in... haha.



I got busy dropping the subframe as I had the refurbished G60 one to go in, and doing so exposed the true state of the bay. It was really rough, but luckily all superficial, and validated why I wanted to pull it all apart and clean it up in the first place.





All of the steering rack bolts were rusted over and rounded out which meant I had a proper fight getting it to let go of the rack. Angle Grinder 1, subframe 0.



Frustratingly removing the engine also resulted in loads of snapped bolts and a broken rear engine mount. Years of corrosion had fused the alloy mount to the bolts and the only way I could get it off was ultimately removing the mount from the subframe cradle.



WARNING: If you are into professional bodywork, now is the time you want to look away... From here on out you will witness a first time body / paint guy attempt to restore a car with hand tools and rattle cans...

The whole reason I wanted to pull the motor is because I knew everything under the front of the car needed cleaning up, and with the car always being a "tidy driver" as opposed to a "show car" I needed to carry out all the restoration myself to keep things within a reasonable budget. plus I was keen to do it myself and see what I could achieve, so I did some YouTubing (as you do) to see how to approach it and got stuck in.

I decided to use Bilthamber hydrate 80 to treat any rust I couldn't remove after reading rave reviews. And for prep and coatings I went with all UPOL product throughout as they all came in rattle cans, and I wanted to stick with one brand to avoid reactions between products.

As you can see below it needed attention...



I used a wire wheel on my drill to remove all of the surface rust (didn't take a pic of that), and then immediately coated it all with the Hydrate 80. Its a really impressive product and created a black layer over all of the exposed sheet metal.





I then used the UPOL primer and seam sealer to redcoat and seal all of the required areas. After 2 coats of primer and the seam sealer I applied UPOL stone chip to both chassis legs. I applied this really thick at the base of the legs, trying to replicate and blend back into the factory finish, and then applied a lighter coat to the underside and inner sides of the chassis legs where the drive shafts will run.









After letting the stone chip cure for 24 hours I gave all of it another coat of primer, and then started to apply the paint. I considered ordering a can or two of UPOL 2K aerosol, but decided to go with Halfords tornado red. I saw a really good review of it on the Hagerty website, and as Halfords was just down the road I gave it a shot. it went down really well over the UPOL primer, but FYI, it does not like to be in contact with the UPOL stone chip. the UPOL primer goes down lovely over the stone chip though, and the Halfords paint went down with no trouble on that.





With the chassis legs back in decent shape I decided to tackle the brake booster, it needed the same love as the chassis legs however on removing it I saw a fair bit of surface rust on the firewall. I decided to get rid of that while I was at it, so did the same wire wheel, hydrate 80, primer, and then paint process. on the effected areas. Once again, the idea wasn't to get it show ready, just stop any of the issues developing further. All of this will be hidden in the bay anyway, so my motivation was just to stop the issues progressing.









With all the rough spots in the bay sorted I decided to get the new G60 subframe assembly back in the car. As many of you will know from earlier posts, with the G60 subframe I used MK4 R32 wishbone bushes. These have a different inner ID to the MK2 ones, so the locator pins don't fit thought them. Many people say they are not necessary, however I wanted to see if I could find a solution.

I decided to try and make some spacers that I can push into the subframe that would match the ID of the R32 bush. Looking online I found some chunky washers with a 16mm OD that fitted snugly into the subframe. I needed the hole in the middle to me 12mm to match the Bush, but the ID of these was 10mm. I don't have a lathe, so used a stepped drill bit to drill them out to 12mm, and I was surprised how well they worked.







Here you can see the spacer pushed into the subframe and how it lines up with the bush. It worth noting that the bush ID is wider than the bolt, so there is some factory movement there, however the spacer just mans the subframe won't move independently of the bush. As I said, its probably not necessary, but the OCD in me wanted them all to line up.



With that I bolted up the subframe and it all went together great. I did struggle to find torque specs for the subframe bolts though. Different threads seem to suggest between 75-140 NM? I just did mine up to 75 for now, but if anyone knows for sure please let me know.

And yes, that is all the original engine bay wax still in there.

I thought about cleaning it all out, but in the end I was only cleaning out / restoring the crusty stuff, and the old wax has kept those areas perfect. For that reason I kind of like the old wax in there so it's going to stay.



That's it for today. More updates soon.

 

That’s all excellent work, looks great. It’s nice to have it clean and tidy and not overdone because that makes you it want to drive it.

By the way, I’m looking for a BMX, do you know anyone who might have one

 

Thanks.

As for BMX bikes, what are those?

If you are looking for something in particular though then drop me a DM and I will see if I can point you in the right direction.