My 1991 Mk2 Golf GTi 8v 3-door Diary

Very nice, It's good to see some remaining original and looked after to this kind of standard!

I did Wolfsburg in my Corrado about 5 years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Mixed in with a trip to the 'ring on the way there and it was a top week. I have since visited the Ferrari centre in Maranello and that was disappointing in comparison (museum aside).

 

Stunning!

 

Hello again folks...

Just an update following 5 months on axle stands. I have just completed my 8th year anniversary with 'EEG'.

It all started with a header tank full of an oily creamy sludge. It has what I believe to be the original head gasket, so I thought that time had come. Kept running it for a bit expecting serious things, but the temperature gauge was always steady as a rock. That, and the coolant level in the reservoir was actually increasing in height - not loosing coolant - but gaining something!

Oil cooler it was... the original oil cooler dated 1990...!

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Rear wheel bearings happened in mid-2015 as they were becoming quite noisy. I had already re-packed them and nipped them up for the last MoT. Discs looked a bit scabby, so I thought what's the point putting new bearings in old discs?

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Races had worn through their shiny coating... no wonder they hummed!

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She didn't like me using the oven! Forget British Bakeoff!!

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Autumn 2015 and SORN came, and I decided to tackle some gremlins. Clutch and power steering lines were key objectives.

• Powertrain Removal

I had the idea of making a powertrain dolly as it would make power steering lines and clutch a bit easier.

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Basically a metal plate, on two trolley jacks, on an old TV stand I got out of the skip at work... it did the job as I don't have an engine crane...

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However, upon powertrain removal, all it did was reveal some nasty subframe gremlins

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No other choice but to drop the subframe and get it all sorted out...

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Lower control arm bushes past their best...!

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• Subframe Overhaul

I went to town on the subframe, cut out all the bad stuff, welded in new. All cleaned and preservative treated & painted.

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Engine mount issues with the bolts snapping...

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Time to rebuild, with new LEMFORDER lower control arms and LEMFORDER anti-roll bar bushes. LCA threads cut and new high tensile black bolts sourced...

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New steering rack bolts, with a serrated top, still available from my VW Stealer Vindis...

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• Clutch Replacement

Clutch next. No dramas here, apart from I didn't have a double hex-socket for the clutch bolts. All my sockets are single hex by choice to stop stuff rounding-off. Had to borrow one. Clutch sourced from ECP which was a SACHS. Never seen so much clutch dust. It was about as close to the rivets as you'd want. Again, date stamped 1990 with 178,000 miles to its name... quite incredible!

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• Gearbox Input Seal

Gearbox bell-housing looked damp so did the input seal too...

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Made a gearbox plug key out of an old wheel bolt

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Continued below...

 

...continued from above...

One of the main objectives was the PAS lines as they looked real bad. A local hydraulics shop cut them about and did what they had to...

Before :

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After:

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Searched our forums seeking a PAS oil, as my owners manual gives a VW part number only. General consensus was; red cap = dexron II (ATF), green cap = CHF. I have a red cap, but my glovebox literature (the owners manual) states G002000 which is CHF11S. Confusing eh? The old stuff was black and burnt, no doubt original, so I couldn't use this as a reference. I went with red cap = ATF.

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With the subframe dropped, my magic corrosion finding screwdriver dissapeared through the body in a few places, especially the jacking points...

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I salvaged the actual jacking cups...

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... cleaned them up ...

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... made the plates on the bench first...

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... then cut out even more floor!

Sorry, bits of EEG, your journey stops here . Least you did the Wolfsburg trip...

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So, powertrain back in and the clutch cable didn't look too clever. I had always looked at the clutch cable bracket and thought how awkward a normal cable looked. I wanted the auto-adjuster cable in that hoop because that's what it had from new I guess... and that's what it got. The auto-adjuster sits in that hoop and i'm happy.

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Many people bin the auto-adjuster. It costs more and is unreliable they say. See how we get on I guess. Easy to set up though and I don't understand why there are threads on here with people struggling. Clutch totally transformed and if anything, its too too light! Guess I have done 8 years with a stiff clutch...

After the oil cooler incident, I tried and tried to clean the reservoir but it was so full of intricate chambers, you just can't clean it internally. ECP does a reservoir at a sensible price so I replaced it. I feel so guilty loosing original parts put the old reservoir was so bad you couldn't see the fluid level!

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So, all the above was about 4 months. It's difficult, when all you have is dark and cold evenings, outside, after work.

Back down on the ground, first drive, all fine right...... ?

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erm no...

No power steering. I had fitted new power steering lines, all bled out OK, no air bubbles in the reservoir..... but no power steering. Dammit.

I buy another pump off eBay to eliminate the pump (didn't think it was the pump anyway). I swap the pulleys and fit & bleed.

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Still no power steering. Double Dammit.

I then started to blame myself. When I removed the subframe, I had the steering rack hanging from the column only. I thought I may have stressed the pinion. New rack it was then. I then had to drop the subframe I had just fitted

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New rack fitted and still no power steering. Tripple Dammit.

So that's pump, rack and lines all renewed. There is nothing else. Someone has done me over...

Cut a long story short, and with me to the point of tears, BOTH pumps had sticking pressure relief valves. The PRV is a metal piston in a metal bore. It has no o-seals and relies on machined tolerances to seal. Because my pump had sat idle for months, perhaps not capped off properly, it had stuck. End result is that any pumped fluid just returns back on itself. It had actually stuck at 80% open, so it still swirled the fluid in the reservoir, fooling you the pump was pumping - but with no actual pressure. I'm guessing the breakers yard pump had also sat on a shelf for months too, thus doing EXACTLY the same thing.

I found all this out by stripping the pump apart - both pistons did not pop-out on their springs.

Removing the cap...

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Lifting out the PRV (should spring out)...

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I cleaned one piston, re-built it and had perfect power steering for about 20 miles. Then it stuck again and I lost power steering. A new pump from ECP and all is cured.

So that was three weeks, two bottles of wasted ATF, one pump and a new power steering rack needlessly fitted. I guess the rack would of needed doing at some point but still....

Power steering was a bit noisy but it all worked so I was happy!

I turned my attention to some cosmetics next...

continued...

 

.... continued ....

Chassis cleaned up to hopefully extend life a bit more. I feel like King Canute here, holding back the inevitable rust; you can only do your best...

Below is when the subframe was dropped. All wire-brushed and KURUST preservative on the main rails.



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I had a quote for 600+vat for the infamous wiper blanking plug corrosion. Forget that I thought, you'd pay 600 and still not be 100% happy, so why not do it yourself, and still not be 100% happy, yet it only costs 20! Asked Halfords to mix a can (pearl grey) thinking results would be comical. You be the judge.....

Before :

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All cleaned and treated :

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All primed...

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I'd give myself 6/10 and may get it done properly one day... when I have mountains of spare cash!

Front bumper mounts next. The front bumper has always been wonky. The brackets are still available amazingly...

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Following the fitment of genuine HELLA lamps all round, I decided to protect my glass investment by some plastic discs cut to size...

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• The Power Steering Saga

What follows was another 3 months of utter turmoil. Endless power steering whine. Once you notice it, its hard not to focus on any other noise. The pipes would resonate so bad you touch them and could feel the resonation. Power steering whine is because of one reason; induced air. Its the air bubbles hitting the pump vanes. Sure enough, the reservoir was full of microbubbles after switch-off. I just couldn't get rid of them. Lock to lock, engine on, off, wheels up/down, it just wouldn't matter. It wasn't a bleeding error, it must be a part fault. As everything was new, I didn't know where to start - Pump? Rack? Lines?

Pas reservoir micro-bubbles...​

Countless litres of power steering fluid, two more new PAS pumps, another second hand rack, another second hand set of power steering lines, a new low pressure intake hose and a new reservoir. Literally everything was changed and leak free. Each item had a separate system drain, fill & bleed. Still noisy...

Testing another second hand rack remotely, all plumbed in, engine running, mole grips on column...​

I tried blu-tack round all the connections in case they were drawing in air, but not leaking (a very rare symptom). I replaced all the o-seals with genuine VAG seals at stupid cost from VW. I even invested in a pressure/vacuum tester. The PAS system would happily maintain a vacuum for hours so why was the system full of air? How could I get rid of these micro-bubbles?

20 of stupid o-seals from VW smaller than a 5p​

My attention turned to the reservoir. Now, at the factory, I assume these systems are vac filled. When you replace one PAS component it probably doesn't matter, but an entire dry-fill is something different. When you look at the mk2 reservoir, the return (full of micro-bubbles) is directly opposite the feed. There are no baffles. What is being returned gets sucked straight back in. How does this cure microbubbles? Basically, it doesn't. I bought a selection of the newest, cheapest, second hand PAS reservoirs off ebay. One was for an Audi-TT. An internal cross section of these modern reservoirs would reveal a swirl-pot, two baffles and a micro-gauze mesh all stored internally. I temporarily fitted the TT item and drove round for a bit. Not joking, within a day all my micro-bubbles had gone and my PAS was as quiet as it always had been. Refittted my original reservoir and its been fine ever since - those bubbles have never returned. Crazy.

Temporarily running a TT reservoir...​

Conclusion - the standard reservoir is rubbish for a dry-fill and can not eradicate micro-bubbles if your fussy about PAS noise. In all my years of messing about with cars, this one nearly broke me and cost so much time and money for what was proven with a £3 reservoir off ebay.

There you have it folks, another winter keeping the old girl on the road. That, and owning other demanding mistresses, some even made of plastic. The Golf always plays second fiddle to the TVR, but we do our best with what we have left over each month.

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After the wasted months of PAS noise, EEG finally made it out season end 2016...

Just managed to squeeze in VW Action at Santa Pod late 2016. Entered Saturday 'Everyday Concours' and Sunday 'Originality Concours'. Won sweet FA for both events. What a reward for all that work!

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Finally, on a closing note, my mate came round with his new 'GTE'. No, not the Astra we all grew up with, but the latest electric Golf GTI. Made me wonder; who will be fixing that on their driveway in 26 years time I wonder....

Its already gone back to Vindis for a charging fault.

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See you in another year or two. Hey, perhaps for the decade anniversary

All the best,

Jay

 

Interesting find about the pas reservoir. I gave mine to do from completely dry. I wonder if I can add some sort of sponge or another type of baffle to bleed it properly, then remove it.

 

Hi Beetie,

Thanks for reading my hassles! Sure, if you're ultra-fussy about PAS noise, like me, give it a try. Nothing to lose!

Below is the infamous ZF PAS reservoir. I recognise this reservoir throughout the nineties, perhaps even late eighties, on BMWs, Mercs et al. Even as early as then, it had a return and feed not opposing, and the installation of a micro-filter. Not only does this mirco-filter prevent the recirculation of debris, but larger air bubbles will struggle to pass, become bigger bubbles, and quickly rise to the top.

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When you consider the Golf mk2 reservoir, its just an empty box and the ports oppose. So, deeply aerated fluid is shot directly at the feed and sucked back in. Crazy in my eyes.

The Corrado is even worse. Its reservoir has only one port and just gravity feeds a T-piece, unless I'm mistaken. How on earth can this thoroughly de-aerate fluid? The fluid just shoots straight past the T!

Golf reservoir left; Corrado right. Red arrow denotes majority of fluid path.​

Like I say, running the TT reservoir reduced whine. This whine didn't come back when I refitted my original reservoir. Technically I didn't have to, but for any future work, I decided to make a baffle, yet maintain originality of the reservoir. Its basically a shield blocking line of sight between feed/return. The top of the mk2 reservoir unclips so you can fit what you like. Obviously be careful of foreign matter getting sucked in. Like I say, totally unnecessary after running the TT reservoir for a week, but its just something I wanted to do.

Looking down into the original reservoir. Return port left, feed port on the right. Fluid now has to go up and over. Every little helps.​

Regards, Jay.

 

10th Anniversary!

Yep, tomorrow, '17/04/18' marks ten years with 'EEG'; I made my first CGTI post (above; page 1) ten years ago. Jeez!

Due to matters out of my control, I lost my garage and car storage. Kept the cars though.

Here 'EEG' sits outside my mates house, which it did for six months. Bumpers grey, inevitable condensation inside. Sad times.

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The roof had gone beyond polishing (it had been mopped twice before, anymore risked primer poking through)...

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The sunroof seal was green with moss...

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Lacquer issues had got worse. You just can't help but pick...

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Sunroof wind deflector looking a bit sad...

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Whilst it was parked up, I did fix the boot hinge wiring with 'new old stock' corrugated boots...

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At the end of my mates hospitality, I booked it in for the roof.

I removed the sunroof...

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and gave the sunroof seal a soaking...

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In the meantime I dropped the car off. Got the roof, sunroof panel, bonnet, b-pillar and door tops painted....

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Whilst the car was at the paintshop, I entered several bidding wars for a bit of plastic...

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Is it sane spending over £30 for a bit of plastic?

Got the car back, trimmed the sunroof...

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Fitted the powder coated wind deflector...

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So, car was looking smart again..

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Then, a week later, my worst nightmare caught my eye in the rear view mirror...

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I don't know if it was the heat from the paintshop oven, or my recent disturbance with the tailgate hinge wiring. Whatever it was, the glue had given up after 27 years

Ah, 'no problem' I thought, i'll whip that out and re-glue it. What happened next was utter carnage.

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I can only describe the headlining as a 6ft long poppadom, with similar strength and brittleness. It came out in three pieces, the fabric detaching entirely.

And with that, I got so angry, the car went back on SORN! I had spent all that money on paint and that's how it repayed me!

To be fair, I still had no garage, and was buying a house, so poor 'EEG' went on the back burner.

Right, I have a headlining to fix... and a garage to build...!

Here's to another ten years - ultimate objective - MOT Exemption!

 

Great read - fair play to your perseverance!

Always good to see a car that shares a story with its owner through the good times and the bad!

Coming up to 10 years of ownership of mine too, not much that hasn't been replaced/sworn at lol

 

What a great read and a great car! Keep the updates coming.

 

Wow keep up the good work

 

The Headlining Saga!

Welcome to an update describing what is, without doubt, the most drawn out, frustrating and joyless tasks in ten years ownership. Doing something with this...

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So, what did I do...

1) Try and restore the backing board into one piece. I had two cracks which resulted in a fractured section from the sunroof corners; circled.

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2) Get a load of pegs, newspaper and a tub of PVA. Join the broken section with the newspaper & PVA, using pegs to clamp.

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3) Do the whole backside, to give it some rigidity.

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4) Now use plasterers mesh tape for extra strength.

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5) Repeat the process, time and time again, allowing each layer to dry, evening after evening until you lose the will to live.

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6) Paint the backside edges black, just in case anything is visible through the windscreen or side glass.

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7) Flip it over and attempt to remove the horrible foam. Use many cans of brake cleaner. A hateful task.

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8) Try your very best and remove the foam residue from the back of the salvaged fabric.

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9) Wash the fabric in preparation for spray glue.

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10) Position the fabric in place, peg at critical locations so it doesn't shift. Feel quite smug that you have managed to save it.

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11) Start in the middle, a section at a time, spraying liberally with the best 3M spray glue.

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12) Stand back and admire... looking good eh?

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13) Admit to yourself you have completely screwed it up. Mess around with hot air guns. Accidentally burn it. Visit VW Heritage website and check the stupid price of new material. Cry.

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14) In desperation, try to peel it off...

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15) Discover the glue is so strong, it actually de-laminates the headlining backing board, taking away a plastic base layer with the material.

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16) End up with an almighty mess. Fabric destroyed. Headlining damaged. Chuck the fabric you salvaged in the bin. Swear.

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17) Commence headlining backing board repairs all over again, this time on the fabric side. Remove the green plastic base layer with a knife.

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18) Fill all the cracks and get a uniform surface.

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19) Prime...

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20) Spend a few weeks thinking what on earth you're going to do. You want an original look headlining. All the ones on ebay are just as broken and it's too fragile to ship. You could spend a fortune on new material, but could have another glueing nightmare. What to do?

21) Realise painting gives the most durable long term fix (will never sag) - but how to maintain that original look?

22) Discover the world of textured paints - namely Rust-Oleum Textured "Aged Iron". Mess about with some test pieces. Not too much messing about because the tins are expensive!

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23) Buy 6 cans (at £10 a can) and just go for it...

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Personally, I think its the best of a bad situation. No wrinkles or creases. It looks 95% original. It will NEVER sag again.

Just got to fit the bl**dy thing now!

Anyway, on other matters, the workshop is coming on...

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We are nearly there, just boarding out the ceiling.

Thanks for reading. If you attempt your headlining, then godspeed my friend.

Jay.

 

May 2019

Finally the workshop is done!





Got the Golf back, jet washed all the storage debris off. Massive oil slick on the drive. Oh dear, here we go again..!



Oil leak traced to the steering rack column input seal. Really annoyed at this. Its a reconditioned rack, must of only done 500 miles. Sadly, that was two years ago, so outside any claim window.



So, rack to come out, might aswell drop the subframe as its just easier to remove PAS pipes. Again.





Rack removed and I wanted the best recon I can get. Plenty of reviews from the TVR Club Forums about Kiley Clinton rack services in Birmingham. Rack posted off for a turn-around post-back service.



Just a matter of killing time now, waiting for the rack.

Drive shaft output seals have always been weeping. Never bad enough to be a concern but the time had come...



Driveshafts removed; inner CV boots not very clever. They were in quite a state really.





All cleaned.



Wanted boots that looked as OE as possible. Genuine boots have no inner clamps and are shaped funny.



Turned to VW Heritage as they claim their specialty is Heritage Parts. What turned up were not as photo'd on the website, poor quality (Topran?), bolts missing from the kit and a totally different design to OE (see above). Bit disappointed really, otherwise what’s their USP compared to any other motor factor?

Anyway, found all the proper GKN boots that look exactly like factory from Euro Car Parts.

New cork gaskets and repacked with horrible CV grease.







Shafts cleaned, painted and rebuilt.



Now to get the drive flanges out. Read a few threads about spinning some bolts in and pressing against the case. Made some up with threaded rod and tried this very method. Not a chance! The flanges turn, which is annoying, and the bolts bend. Rethink required.





Used a three-legged puller and MAN they were tight. Scary tight as I thought something was going to break. Anyway, they came out eventually.





Levered the old seals out.



Then, something caught my eye in the nearside. This bronze ring had broken and half had fallen out!



Pulled out the 2x pieces.



Amazingly this bronze ring is still available from VW at a ridiculous price obviously. Same part number from 1977 to 2006! Thankfully a lot of the SEAT cars keep our part numbers going a bit longer.



New seals fitted, now time to press the drive flanges back in, knowing how tight they’ll be.

I started with two door handle spindles and welded them to some thick flat plate. These sit in the flanges avoiding the rim.



Then, some threaded rod, with a welded long-nut and counter acting holding bar. They were so tight they nearly stripped the stud threads! Plenty of oil.







How’s this for new-old stock? Again, not paying VW Heritage prices so had an eBay saved search for the part number and low and behold one turned up with the original sales reciept from 1996!



All fitted.



Next was sump gasket, nothing complicated here…. he says.

It’s really awkward to get out without taking the PAS pump off. There is a particular 'route'.



Anyway, got it out, cleaned.

Just inspecting and noticed a broken section of the baffle plate. It was soooo brittle.



Again, thanks to a SEAT, this is still an available VW item.



New gasket ready to go back together.




Continued (double post)...

 

...Continued (double post)...

New discs and calipers as the old ones were OK I guess, but just in shocking visual condition.





Time to address the boot central locking. Lock removed and the plastic slider was both seized and broken. Amazingly, new boot locks are available on eBay for £7. Admittedly I didn’t want to use it because the lock barrel quality was awful; not surprising for £7. I just disassembled it and robbed it for its new black plastic slider. Benefit of this is you keep your original key.







With the tailgate handle removed, some rust observed. Not a cure, but merely delaying the inevitable as best you can.



Cambelt time. Only 10,000 miles old, but nearly 6 years so might aswell.



You buy Continental for originality, a famous German brand. Made in india!



Yet another item that hasn’t seen any miles, but no good. Tyres...



Breaks my heart to put tyres with 8mm tread in the bin but the TOYOS had cracked real bad. But only where they had been in the sun.

New Toyos Proxes fitted, wheels all cleaned up and balanced. Wheel nuts sharpened up.





Not going to stay like this for long!



Believe it or not, these vacuum lines are still vacuum-tight... but visually fit for the bin...



Nearly good to go and ready for first start after the cambelt etc.

Went to start it, hydraulic tappets rattled a bit. Nothing abnormal there. Still they rattled. And still. Erm…. oil pressure light still on. Not good. No oil pressure.

Removed the oil filter and tried to burp-it cranking. Nothing. No matter what I tried, engine wouldn’t get oil pressure. Thinking the worst (oil pump) I was thoroughly hacked off as I had just cleaned, sealed and torqued the oil pan up all nice.

I turned to further measures. I knew that some oil pumps don’t self-prime if allowed to drain down. Obviously without an oil pan for a few weeks this had happened. I took the oil cooler off, got my squirty oil can and some hose, and injected oil into the block.



Oil cooler back on, new oil filter (also fill primed) and oil pressure restored! Hooray!

Headlining next, with utter fear of breaking my newly restored item. Firstly, I re-glued all the factory sound-deadening that had fallen down.



Two person job, headlining fitted and very happy with the finished article. Guaranteed never to sag again....



Always like to end on a high and a few photos...











All ready for Summer 2019.

Thanks for reading.

 

Brilliant work as usual! Love to see the work arounds when trying to do some of the awkward tasks yourself! Just wondering what you thought to the reconditioned rack and how much it cost? as looking to get this done myself later in the year?

 

I admire your commitment and perseverance.

 

Hi Bissone,

Third time lucky as they say...

1st attempt was a secondhand rack off eBay advertised for a Mk2. £95. When it turned up, it didn't have the gear linkage mounting (with three threaded holes), so guess it was off a Corrado that uses shift cables? Seller was amicable and I still have it (with a partial refund) collecting dust. Can't vouch for it to put it back on eBay... my thoughts are keep it for its pinion and rack bar one day just in case (?).

2nd attempt was the first refurb of the original rack. I didn't want to pay postage so found somewhere local; a motor factors in Peterborough. £165 inc vat. No idea where they sent it, but it came back sprayed black and in fancy packaging. Did 500 miles and started to p*ss fluid out the top seal.

3rd attempt is the same rack, sent to Kiley Clinton as mentioned. First thing they said was they hate refurbishing other peoples refurbs and prefer untouched items. Regardless, posted it off to Birmingham with their arranged courier. Really nice guys on the phone, and they have a good reputation. Like most good businesses, they are extremely busy and it wasn't a quick service. £20 to post, £165 to overhaul and bench test, £20 to post back... all plus vat on top. That's about £240 all in. Whose to say if that's good value..... good value if I never have to touch it again I guess!

Its always been my rack returned as I security marked it with a dot punch.

340 miles in and all is good (crossed fingers).

Hopefully it goes smoother for you...

I always use my power steering on the GTi as a benchmark for all other cars... hydraulic or electric motor on the column, new or old. The weighting of the assistance vs. feedback has always been brilliant... even after 28 years!

Regards, Jay.

 

that was an enjoyable read! loads of love gone into this car, well done you

 

This is incredible - a man devoted to the Mk2 GTI cause and there's no nobler cause in my humble opinion.