'89 Mk2 Golf GTI 8v -> ABF -> VR6 -> VR6 Turbo

Awesome work with this!

 

Cheers for the feedback guys!

@ IzodRE16v - Yea I removed it for the same reason. If I decided to keep the red stripe I would ideally like to run some early trim that incorporates the red stripe.

Since the last update I've got the subframe out and done a bit more welding on the bay.




The rusty area behind the exhaust.


After grinding it back fully I had to cut quite a lot out as I didn't want to risk leaving even a trace of the rust.




Bought a new toy for removing the seam sealer in tight spots, works a treat!


Subframe out, the condition isn't too bad but the Corrado frame I have is a lot better so I will be using that. Looks like my MOT guy missed that steering boot!




US servo area finished, the rest of the holes still need grinding back. The welding looks really rough in this pic, Its mostly a lot better I promise!


I decided to smooth the wing air intake.






Found out why the heater wouldn't get hot on the move, the missing foam was letting in the cold air from outside.


Im trying to work out what holes I need to keep, I only plan to keep holes for the servo, steering knuckle, speedo cable, throttle cable and the clutch cable. I will run all of the cables inside the chassis legs and/or behind the wings. I should have took more notice before I ripped everything out! Is this the hole for the speedo cable?


..and are these two oval holes for the clutch and throttle cables?


This photo was taken the day I picked up the Golf*

Thats it for now, the next step is more welding and prep ready for paint.

 

Since the last update i've been working on the bay as much as I can to get it ready for paint and it isn't far off now!












The weather was really starting to pee me off so it was time to put up a gazebo.










Its such a relief to finally be at this stage -_-


This carbide bit was my secret weapon for cleaning welds in tight areas, its a bit of an animal but does a great job.


Rather than grinding the metal back it literally scrapes it off without a single spark, all you're left with is a pile of big metal filings.


Found the first problem area that needs attention, seems pretty common and shouldn't be too bad to replace.


This looks pretty bad, im going to grind it back from both sides and see how it looks then.


When I dropped the tank I found a couple of fuel line blanks sat on top of the tank, looks like they have been sat there since the car was built!


I found this document under the carpet, any ideas?


I've also bought a few polished bits and a waterpump ready for the ABF conversion, im gradually collecting as many replaceable parts as I can ready for when I get an engine. I just need to find one that with some service history that hasn't done 120k+!

The wheel arches are also stripped back clean, ready for some fresh seam sealer and stonechip. I just need to research which brands are recommended as I have no idea what to buy

 

So the cheap gazebo gave in during the mild rain we had last week.


My dad helped me knock up some wooden braces to replace the bent and broken metal. Its now solid as fu*k.


Etch primed and seam sealed the inner wings.


Gave them a coat of black Gravitex but I used a small nozzle so its a bit too smooth IMO. I will give it a heavier coat before top coating.


The bay is now finish, I just need to block it back ready for top coat.






Found my way in via the chassis legs to run the wiring loom.



Thats it for now, the next step will obviously be top coat which I cannot wait to do.

 

....Found my way in via the chassis legs to run the wiring loom.

Something tells me you work in the golf course industry or you have a mate that does? Is that a fibreglass switch rod/dew whip? Handy fishing tools! Some hard graft going into that bay. It's looking good!

 

Cheers

It is indeed a cobra rod, a mate works for Virgin media. Its used for feeding cables through holes etc.

Time to spray the engine bay and inner wings.


Made the gazebo into a booth with some tarps and wet it all down including the floor. Not perfect but worked well as it was a calm, warm day.


Mixed up the paint, yes that is a pyrex jug and a fork from the kitchen.

I went for old fashioned cellulose as i've used it before on the bumpers of a 106 and got great results. I know 2k is a 100 times better but I don't want to shell out for a suit and air fed mask, I also don't want to harm my neighbours/family or pets


This spray gun is very old but worked great once I got used to setting it up again. Does anyone know the brand? The only writing on it that's still legible are 'HVLP' and the max air pressure which don't give a lot away!

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/ryanggg/Mk2%20Golf%20GTI/IMG_20140607_164327_zpsesr6hsvb.jpg][/url]

[img]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a137/ryanggg/Mk2%20Golf%20GTI/DSC_2196_zpsbl0y59m9.jpg


I wasn't happy so flatted it back and touched up the dodgey spots.


It came out amazingly well after a few more light coats. very smooth and mega shiny for an out of the gun finish. It certainly shows up the rest of the car. I will give it a month before wet sanding and polishing but for a DIY back garden paintjob im happy.

There are a couple of areas I could redo to get it 100% but im happy with it. I can easily see why some people spend a year+ on a smoothed bay.


Did underneath the chassis legs and inner wings at the same time as it made sense. It was hard to take a decent photo as the green tarpaulin is reflecting onto it.


Thats it for now. The next step is to beg/borrow/steal/build a rotisserie/rollover jig so I can do the same treatment to the underside!

 

Got the rotisserie built over the course of a few nights, came out pretty well considering I only had to buy 2 x four inch posts as the rest of the materials were what we had lying around! (Notice the random brackets on the cross member that I couldn't be bothered to cut off.


Very basic but works perfectly for what I need it to do.




Finally dropped the rear beam, came out surprisingly easy.


On first impressions the underside is fairly solid!


So far i've removed the seamsealer/stonechip stuff from most of the floor pan leaving just the rear area to do. so far the only repairs to do are a tiny hole in one sill and another below the front driver-side jacking point.


Found this little guy between the underside and the fuel tank!

The next step is to obviously finish cleaning off the underside, repair any bits that need attention then apply the epoxy mastic, gravitex and paint.

 

The gazebo almost needs a build thread of it own! Almost all of the metal broke and had to be replaced with more wood, it looks a bit extreme but it works so well.


When this car is back on the road the one thing I won't miss is grinding underseal/seam sealer


The only bits left are in the corners and behind the spare wheel well, any suggestions?




Ive tried small wire brushes, heat and even paint stripper on the hard to reach areas with no effect. Its getting to the point where I may just smooth these areas with fresh seam sealer and try and blend them in.


With the car flipped onto this side im working so close to the conservatory that I had to stand inside to try and take a pic.




This shell is so clean, couldn't be happier. The only bits of rot are tiny and in easy to repair areas.








One of many buckets of underseal.


I've got used to finding these embedded in my arms, legs and neck from the wire wheel.


I decided to give the floor pan a rest and make a start on the beam. I tried to burn the bushes out and it worked but made an absolute mess! On the other side I just passed a wood drill through a few times and it just pulled out.


The sleeve part of the bushes weren't too bad, they took about 20 minutes each to remove.




Stub axles off, they are pretty good condition but I will be replacing them anyway.




I spent a couple of hours with the wire wheel to remove all of the loose rust and it cleaned up a lot better than I expected. I was going to get it powder coated but i've heard so many people say how it doesn't last and just chips and flakes off pretty quickly.

In the end I cleaned it up with some parts degreaser and a jet wash, followed by the POR15 3 stage treatment. I forgot to take a pic but it came out really well and it looks like I will be using the same method on the rest of the metal bits.

 

The last 2-3 inches of the passenger side wheel arch lip had competely rusted away so I cut it back to fresh metal and welding in a new piece. It came out really well and once painted would look good even if I wasn't going to put the plastic arches back on.


Did a similar repair to the corner of the rear valance.


I did this in one piece and it was more complicated that it looked but came out alright although it isn't perfect.




Epoxy mastic and seam sealer now done (wasn't finished in this pic).


Grommets.


Genuine VW grommets Im not a purist and normally wouldn't care about details like this but they were the cheapest source of 40mm grommets on eBay.


The original wish bones are really rusted and those bushes are dangerous!


Im going to refurbish these Corrado wishbones instead as they are a lot better condition to start with. The shape is slightly different but they are essentially the same item.

In my next update you should see the underside coated in Gravitex and painted body colour.

 

Interesting those 40mm grommets look to be valved.

 

They are two-piece, they are loose fitting until you press the 'button' in the middle and they lock in place. Originally the car had tape covering these holes (no grommets) which was then covered with the yellow underseal stuff.

 

Bought a better shutz gun, the other one was knackered.










Top coated, as you may notice the driverside rear arches still needs doing. Im waiting on a filler neck bracket

repair panel.


Cleaned the Mk4 calipers with a wire brush in the die grinder.


Painted them red, I think I will do the ARBs red aswell.


Wishbone bushes out.


Painted the wishbones and beam pivot brackets with POR15.






Gave the crossmemeber the same POR15 treatment, came out amazingly well for a brush on finish.


Picked up the engine saturday!




Freshly rebuilt 3k miles ago, brand new genuine ISV, new clutch and loads of receipts adding up to triple what I

paid for the lot. Also has an O2O gearbox bolted onto it so i've now got a spare.


It also came with a Mk3 manifold and downpipe, I think I can just bolt a mk3 decat pipe to this and mate it to my

2.5" jetex system? Or do I need to use a mk2 downpipe?


I couldn't resist polishing a bit of the manifold to give me an idea of how its going to look.

Thats it for now, my next few jobs are:

Weld on filler neck repair panel
Epoxy, gravitex and paint driverside rear arch
Fit shift box
Clean and fit tunnel heat shield
Run all the brake lines
Assemble and fit the rear beam
Fit mk3 fuel tank and new fuel lines

 

Really good work going on here
Carry on and keep us posted

 

Thanks Jonny, my 2.5" Jetex system has a straight pipe for the centre section anyway so I could just cut the decat pipe down and weld it straight to the centre pipe, would be one less join then.

Mini Update:


New reverse gate and main shaft bushes ready to fit.


Freshend the shift box and shaft with some satin black.


Also replaced the ball and socket while I was at it. For anyone trying to replace the ball I found the easiest way was to compress the spring and clamp the shaft in the vice. The pin can then be tapped out easily.


All assembled with plenty of lithium grease. The original foam gasket was knackered so i've just used some draft excluder, it looks a bit naff but it will do the job and won't be seen anyway.


Frist piece of the puzzle bolted back on using fresh bolts and washers.


Cleaned up the tunnel shield and gave it 3 coats of silver VHT paint, fitted with new claw grip thingys.


Beam brackets trail fitted with new 10.9s. Whats the technique for alligning these? As the holes are elongated there is about half an inch of adjustment! Do you just offer up the beam and get it centre and then pinch the bolts up after?

 

Many thanks for that Jonny, really helpful. Are you still making looms btw? I have the original CE1 8v loom, I just need to find an ABF loom for the mating process to commence.


Brake pipe time. Decided to go for Cunifer as its a lot safer than copper but still easy to bend.
No fancy tool needed for straightening the pipe.




Tried a cheap ebay brake flairing tool, I DO NOT recommend wasting your time with these. The first 4/5 flairs were almost acceptable, the rest were shocking. It was very fiddly to setup and eventually the ribs inside the die block wore down and so did the die itself, resulting in really crappy flairs. This pic shows one of the 'better' flairs.


So I threw that dangerous tool in the bin and rented a real brake flairing tool in exchange for a packet of crisps and some donuts.


The Sykes Pickavant tool was the dogs! It made brake flairing so easy it was actually enjoyable, perfect flairs every time in seconds. Definitly recommend!!!




I took my time to try and make the lines as neat as possible. Nothing worse than wobbly brake lines!




I used different sized sockets to keep the bends neat and smooth.










Decided to go for Audi TT/R32 rear bushes and purple powerflex up front.


Forgot to take a pic of the replacement filler neck bracket.


Its nice to be finally boltings bits back on the car. I really need to use a decent camera, or at least clean the oily finger prints off my phone lense.


New Genuine backplates and stub axle covers. I didn't fancy non-genuine stub axles and the originals were good conditions so I just cleaned them up and coated the back plates with POR15.


Ignore the temporary suspension lol!


Bought some second hand KW V2s! The bottom one is after some eblow grease, they cleaned up pretty well but im going to get the springs painted or powder coated as well as some new lock rings as they are a bit chewed up.

Thats all for now until payday

 

Great pics!!!

Fancy doing another underside?

 

Tis all very neat and properly done