1990 MK2 GTI Project

So some of the items for the winter refresh have started arriving. First up is a set of new bigger brakes. The rears are 38mm that should be a direct bolt-on. The fronts were supposed to be 280mm calipers and carriers but now that they have arrived I am not so sure... Everything I see seems to suggest they are 256mm 16v units. Don't suppose anyone has a definitive way I can tell which they are before I go out and buy disks etc?





Either way I also now need to track down some 16V hubs as my current 8v ones won't work with either option. I also started poking around under the car (some of you will have seen the oil leak thread I posted) trying to pull together a list of everything I need to get the car sorted over winter. Once it's up on axle stands and in 100 pieces I don't want to be discovering I have bitten off more than I can chew. So I'm trying to get the full measure of it before I commit to pulling it apart.

I have a few more bits on the way from Dubstock that will hopefully be here early next week.

 

Mk3 tdi hubs, 4 stud ones, fit mk2 and can be found cheaper usually, not the gti 5 stud ones. 2.0 mk3 may have same hubs actually, lower engine ones don't.
Also mk2 caddy or seat inca, ibiza 6k2 are options but think some of those have the devil claw hubs too so don't get them.
I paid 30 for my mk3 tdi hubs, if you are near Glastonbury I can point you in the direction of possibly a couple of sets.

 

Thanks for the info. Just been quoted £140 for a ratty set of 16v ones so will definitely be trying to source some TDI ones instead. I’m all the way up in Durham unfortunately otherwise I would have taken you up on that offer.

 

I'm not down there until Christmas otherwise I could grab them, @caddyboet ,
New ones aren't too bad on ebay, admittedly aftermarket, but available.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/For-VW-C...2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seat-Ibi...2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

 

Thanks for the feedback everyone. It turns out they are definitely 256 versions based on the measurements. Not the end of the world as they will be a bit of an improvement over the 8v ones regardless, and I paid very little for them anyway.





Now on to sourcing hubs and all the other bits. Second hand prices seem crazy and all of them look like they have been dredged from the bottom of the ocean. Will see if I can track down some aftermarket German made MAPCO ones in the UK before I look to get a set from Germany. They only seem to cost a few quid more than second hand OE ones.

 

That's a good shout. I will get the wheels off tomorrow and see what condition mine are in. If they look decent I will go down that route.

 

So after struggling to find hubs and carriers that didn’t need a refurb, I decided to just spend the cash upfront and get a new set. Mapco came highly recommended by a few guys in Germany, and I found a set for £160 delivered. Not cheap! But I would have been in for almost as much returning and rebuilding a rough set.

After ordering them on German EBay they arrived in 4 days with no additional charges either. I was really impressed with the service.



Im now waiting on a new subframe and cross members to arrive from Dubstock and then I’m going to send all the other bits off for blasting and Powdercoating.

 

So the car has clearly figured out that I have bought new brakes for it. Walked into the garage today and both rear wheels were surrounded by puddles of brake fluid. Unbelievable…



It’s looking really grim under there so the sooner I get it up in the air and replace everything the better.

 

Tears of joy from the calipers I suspect.

 

Few more bits arrived from Dubstock. Now I need to get the car up on axle stands, remove rear beam and a few other crusty bits, and get it all off to blasting and powder.



Unsure if I should leave the weight block on the front of the subframe or chop it off before blasting / powder. Part of me is curious to try it and see if it makes any noticeable difference.

 

I think I will chop those bits down to their normal size but might give the weight block a go and see if I can feel any difference.

 

Backed up into the garage and ready for the winter strip down and rebuild. It’s going to be a busy week…

 

Looking for to the build

 

So I finally got stuck into tearing down the golf and getting the underside / running gear sorted. I decided to tackle the rear first as it's my first time doing this and starting at the motor end felt like a bit much to kick things off. As expected it is really crusty underneath (which is why I'm getting it all sorted).




I need to get the rear beam off so that I can send it off to be blasted and powder coated with the new subframe and cross members. The first adventure in getting this done was being greeted to a rusted in and rounded out brake carrier bolt...



I hammered a big allen socket into it, and then blasted it for a few minutes with a heat gun. As soon as it was red hot I put a long lever on the wrench and tried to break it loose. When in doubt, make it red hot and use the biggest lever you can find! haha.



With a loud squeal and crack it came loose and the carrier was off. As mentioned earlier in the thread the rear calipers had started leaking a few days earlier, and on inspection, it was clear that the fluid was coming through around the piston seals.



The splash guards were in surprisingly good shape compared to everything else, so I can only assume they have been replaced at some point. The bad news was that whoever did it had rounded off the bottom stub axle bolts... More heat and the long lever later they were off.





I want to try and reuse the stub axles and while the bearing surfaces were in decent shape the exposed areas were super crusty. Years of exposure to salt had pitted the surface and raised areas. I want to use stub axle spacers on the rear beam when it ll goes back together, so decided to treat them so that everything is nice and flush when bolted up.



I made a solution of oxalic acid to soak them in. For those of you who have never used it, OA is an anti-oxidant commonly used to bleach timber. You can buy the crystals cheaply online, and when you mix them with warm water it makes a potent rust remover.



I mixed a tablespoon of the crystals with a liter of warm water and dropped the stub axles into the tub. (do this in a well-ventilated area as the solution gives off horrible fumes).



A few hours later the solution had turned a murky green, and almost all of the crusty rust had been dissolved.





I decided to leave them in the solution overnight to totally remove the last of it, and while that was going on I carried on trying to remove the ream beam. Unfortunately, I had to cut some brake hoses that I had hoped to save, but progress was good until the right rear shock bolt wouldn't come out. It seems that the H&R coilovers don't drop the beam low enough to extract it, and it is hitting against the fuel tank.



With that, I accepted defeat for the day. I need to remove the parcel shelf supports to get to the top of the shock and drop it down, so will tackle that tomorrow. It's never straight forward is it...

More updates tomorrow.

 

Alway something but looks like your no to a good start

 

Oxalic acid is interesting
Why did you choose that over other rust removal solutions?

 

Mostly because you can mix it up to be as aggressive or mild as you need. All other options are a set strength based on the manufacturers receipt. With OA you have loads of flexibility to mix it up based on the job you are doing (and it’s dirt cheap. This 1kg tub will make about 50l of off the shelf strength rust remover and only cost £12).