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

@1990 - Not any time soon, thats for sure!

If I get my ass in to gear im hoping to be ready for wiring before xmas so ill give your guide a go and im sure ill be in touch lol

As im broke until next week i've just been doing little bits this week.


Trimmed off the extra bits to make a Corrado subframe look like a standard mk2 Golf frame.


Build up with new bolts and arb brackets. The original subframe looks awful!


The Neuspeed arb came satin black and looked a bit boring so used some Halford graffiti paint and applied some new decals, then decided matt red looked crap so used some heavy duty lacquer to give it a shine and stop the decals from falling off.

Next update I should be finishing off the subframe, refurbing the steering back and getting the brakes finished off all round, ready for the engine to go in!

 

Change of plan, decided to get the tank in last weekend, soo mini update:


Mk2 vs Mk3 tank. Not a lot of difference apart from the obvious pump and slightly larger capacity.

I degreased and jet washed it followed by some AF revive to make it look almost new and also cleaned out the inside but the petrol came out clear with no sediment anyway.


Fitted really well, I used a stack of plastic boxes to prop it up. The polished straps look amazing compared to the standard ones, my crappy pictures don't do this car any justice. Looking at it now I need to refit that strap on the far right as it looks like there is a gap at the bottom... thats bugging me now!


Subframe fitted. Im glad I did the ARB red now to break it up a bit. Mk3 fuel lines fitted too.

 

Upgraded the gazebo ready for the winter.


Although the KWs were a huge bargain, 4 of the lock rings in total were very chewed up and totally siezed. I decided to 'peel' them off and replace rather than risk damaging the threads. I have since ordered replacements from KW along with a couple of new bump stops.




Decided to paint the coilover bodies silver to preserve them.


Sent the springs away for powder coating.


Plenty of grease to prevent siezing. Will also wrap them in tape or get some coilover socks to stop grit sticking to the grease.


Found that clamping the C spanner to the lock ring made spinning them on a lot easier.




Mk3 VR6 top mounts.




New rear discs and bearings.




Cleaned up some Corrado hubs and had new bearings pressed in.


Decided to go for 280mm discs as I don't want to go bigger than a 15" wheel.






Fitted some Goodridge beam hoses and a Mk3 filter + housing.


Refurbed the standard mk2 rear calipers.


They are actually red, not orange.


Wound the Mk4 rear calipers back.


All fitted with some brembo pads (Still waiting for the lockrings from KW to get the rear coilovers on).


After looking at the price of buying a new servo, I decided to refurb the original one!


Ground back most of the rust with the trusty knot wheel. The lower half is very pitted, presumably from split brake fluid over the years.


It was then time to start the POR15 process, so mask on.


The first step involves a good scrub with some Marine Clean, then leave to soak for 15 minutes.


After 15 minutes, wash the marine clean off, dry with a heat gun and apply plenty of metal prep. Keep it soaked for 30 minutes. Wash and dry again,this leaves the metal looking very powdery and dry.


Finally, brush on the POR15 and leave over night to dry. You should be left with a very glossy and hard wearing finish.

 

Bought a Cupra stubby MC, it was predrilled so I didn't need to use a 3mm spacer. Swapped over the Mk2 Golf seals so I can use the standard reservoir.


MC fitted.


Self adhesive gold heat sheild.


Got it as neat as I could, it won't be on show anyway. I may add some further up the bulkhead and I plan to make a brake pipe shield aswell.


It made sense to add a bit of heat sheilding to the UJ boot, I tried to make it as neat as possible with the addition of a stainless band both ends but it looks untidy. I think I will buy some heat 'tape' rather than a sheet and try wrapping it a bit tighter.


Cleaned and painted the steering rack, re-greases the internals and fitted new track rods, rod ends, boots and bushes.


Made a small start on the fuel pipes, got the hang of cutting the braid without it splaying. I found that wrapping in silver foil tape was better than ducktape.

 

The earthing tab on the mk3 tank was missing. As a temporary measure I have used some wire.


I have tested it with a multi-meter and its seems to be a good earth. Does anyone know if the metal ring is replaceable?


I wanted to simplify the Mk3 breather system to work more like the original mk2 item. Added a brass barb to the neck rubber.


Joined the breather from the tank to the brass barb with some fuel pipe.


Added some rubber to cushion the fuel hoses.


Tank going back in.


Refurbed the compensator spring and painted it red to match the calipers and arb.


View from the front.


(Please ignore the wheels)






The engine bay is looking really unloved, needs a good wet sand and polish.


View from the back.






Back down on earth.


Almost ready for an engine, just need to rebuild the shifting assmembly and run the front brake lines.




I have stripped the engine down to a long block, cleaned it up and painted it with POR15 followed by POR15 engine enamel. In this pic im just starting to build it back up. Managed to source a new genuine rocker cover gasket aswell. Ignore the gearbox, I have a freshly painted O2O box to bolt on, just waiting on a seal kit.

 

Just seen this thread will re-read it when I have 10 mins
Excellent!

 

In the words of Lego movie "totally awsome " great update brilliant work it'll be stunning when finished OE awsome

 

Superb work on this, keep it up fella!

 

Awesome stuff.
Plank and threaded rod going in the back of the race van!

 

Many thanks for the kinds words guys.

I painted the gearbox a while ago but forgot to upload any pics:








Replaced the seals.


On the left is the original Mk2 GTI 8v flywheel that came with the car. On the right is the flywheel the previous owner of the ABF was using with an O2O box, the part number came back as Audi A3/Mk4 Golf. I am using the Mk2 GTI flywheel (after a good cleanup), sachs clutch and gearbox.


That blue plastic tesco pallet/dolly makes an awesome engine stand.


Manky old exhaust studs out.


Seven of the studs came out easily, this one was holding on for dear life! I had to use a monkey wrench to get it out. It looks like the first three threads were cross-threaded somehow.


Cleaned out the hole of the dodgey stud.


New studs and copper nuts.


Engine fitted. I didn't bother renting an engine crane, I just pushed the engine into place on the Tesco pallet and then used two jacks to align the body with the engine. Lastly I bolted on the front crossmember and mount.



Thats its for 2014 probably. Im now on the hunt for a loom and ECU if anyone can help?

 

Happy New Year!

Its proving really difficult to source a loom and ecu! Breakers don't seem to be willing to remove looms without cutting, my local scrappers don't have any cars with ABFs and no luck contacting anyone breaking cars on here and other forums.

So until I find one im just doing little bits just to keep things moving.


Fuel hoses fitted with colour coded ends and billet hose separators.


The hose finishers match the colour of the mk3 brake lines.


The engine came with an almost brand new ISV which i've given a quick polish. Ignore all of the dirty/rusty bits. Everything will be overhauled to match the rest of the car, new hoses, clamps, bolts etc. Everything made of ally will be polished, anything steel will be painted black.


The Jetex system also got MOP'd to a better than brand new shine. I also dabbed some POR15 engine enamel on all of the welds.


The mk3 manifold lets the engine bay down a bit but it was free and I suppose I could upgrade to a TSR/Miltek item at some point, although I've heard these standard manifolds actually flow pretty well.


Rubbed down and painted the engine lifting bracket, painting outside in the winter isn't really ideal haha.


I don't like the look of painted bolt heads so I ground the markings off with a file and then mirror polished it using various stages of wet and dry followed by a high speed polish. Looks really good but I wouldn't fancy doing too many of these, very tedious and took too long for what it is.


My girlfriend bought me some VDO gauges from an old audi so i've trial fitted them to see how they look. They will need splitting to polish the glass lenses.


I modified the standard audi bracket to fit by trimming the side mounts off and elongating the bolt holes.


Temporarily hung the exhaust (still need to clean and paint the heat shields). Im thinking about shortening the tail pipes as they protrude a bit too far with small bumpers.

That's it for now, not a lot of progress but at least its something.

 

Stripped and coated the floor and bulk head with epoxy mastic.


Decided to fit the polished sump and gearbox bracket I bought over a year ago. Also got a polish stainless steel bolt kit.


I couldn't get the sump plug out so dropped the sump with 4 litres of oil in it!


Old Sump.


Gave the new sump a quick polish before fitting, really happy with it.


Smoothed the ariel hole in the wing.






I bought one of those fake 16v badges from china for a tenner, I was expecting to stick it on the toolbox but when it arrived I was quite surprised by the quality.


Next to a genuine GTI badge, doesn't look too bad.


New gearbox end cap. I did buy a genuine one but it turned out to be about 15-20mm too big so I had to settle for a cheap 4 aftermarket one.


I didn't have a 17mm allen key to remove the gearbox drain plug so I had to improvise.




Bought a nice ally top fill rad.


The bottom 'pegs' were in the correct place, I added some rubber O rings.


Fitted.


I welded on a bracket to hold one side.




And welded on a nut to hold the other side used the supplied mount.


Sits nicely.


The rad has mounts to fit the standard cowling and fan so i've cleaned it up a bit to use for now. Eventually I want to run twin slim line fans.

 

Lovely

 

you dont hang around! great work!!!!

 

Coming on well

Love it

 

Time for a mini update:


I could only find 500 and 700mm decat pipes, both not long enough for what I need, it would mean welding on an extension to reach the rest of the exhaust (only running 2 rear boxes). So it worked out cheaper to buy the pipe, flange and lambda boss and weld the lot together.


A friend of my dads did the welding as I don't have the kit for welding stainless. I wish I could weld like that.


All done, a 1.5M decat/ centre section. I will just need to cut it off to suit.


I bought some J&R driveshafts, i've heard terrible and also great things about these. I have decided to just bolt them on and see what happens. They were under 100 for the pair.


I packed them with plenty of CV2 before fitting.


Just as I was about to bolt the shafts in, I realised the spreader plates I bought from VWH were too small?! They were listed as being for a Mk2.


I couldn't be bothered to return them and wait for replacements so I just gave the original ones a clean up.


Not too bad.


All done, I forgot to take a pic of the other side though. Ignore the dodgey looking brake line, Im going to make a new one soon.

 

Woops! I forgot to check that when ordering.

It does indeed! I swapped out a shaft on the daily last week as the Inner CV was shot, it was a horrible job compared to the Mk2. It makes a massive difference when everything is new, clean and not seized lol

 

The 2 rear shields cleaned up ok and looked alright after a coat of VHT paint. They were a bit corroded around the mounting points so I had to add some big washers behind the clips. Ideally I would like to source some better condition ones but that can come later.


The complete exhaust. Im hoping it wont be too boomy without a cat and centre box.


The red tape is the cut line, not a lot had to be cut off the 1.5M length.








The Nyloc nuts are temporary, just to check fitment.


Whilst I had the car jacked up (higher on the passenger side), I noticed a dreaded puddle under the front of the car


Gearbox is leaking Chances are its probably due to the shaft seals I replaced. I have a spare gearbox and clutch but still a real pain


Made a start on the loom. I have thinned the ABF loom down to the essentials, labelled every wire of plugs F, G1 and G2 aswell as plug D of the CE1 PB loom. I just need to do a bit more reading up on what to do next.