LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Quick intro. This is my 4th MK2 Golf GTI, the first being a GTI Engineering back in the late 90s. After a long gap I wanted another and ended up buying the one that is now on here owned by UKLonar.

I've been on the Mk2OC for many years so if you've been on there you may know me, but it seems that forum is all but dead now, waiting days for any kind of replay so I'm transferring my thread across.

The current one I purchased back in October 2019. My previous 3 have all been early models so this is my first late spec big bumper.

October 07 2019

Just less than 3 years I'm back in a mk2 and I think I've found myself a bit of a peach for them money. Not perfect, but good in the right places.





I didn't set out for another white one, but I saw this one on eBay but initially dismissed it, for reasons I'll get to, but after the listing had ended unsold I spotted it in the comments of a Facebook post and recognised it, so decided to make contact with the seller and start a conversation.

It's registered August 91 and is a genuine factory Big Bumper CE2 model. A first for me, door mirrors are in the wrong place and the wipers go the wrong way but I guess I'll just have to get used to that.

Only 128,000 miles, but despite the roof aerial and rear tinted lights (they're FIFFT not Hella) it is in fact an 8v. Major gripe of mine, a bee-sting on an 8v but again a compromise I'll learn to live with.

It has a full Miltex exhaust, It's on coil-overs, I haven't determined the brand yet, but have seen the coils are blue but the gezzer said they more mid-range than budget and to be fair the ride is decent, a lot better than I was expecting so I guess he must be right.

And as for the ride, it's also on 17" wheels, which again has surprised me as I though it would be really harsh and crashy but it's not.... or maybe I've just got used to the MK5 GTI on stiff suspension, 18" wheels with 40 profile. Either-way, I'd say it's on a par with that.

Ultraviolet interior, with no holes...



bolster foam is weak, but I've stripped down and padded out late spec seats before so it's on the list of jobs.

Headlining is in good order...



and dry inside which is great.

Clean in the areas that often aren't...



Factory air fed central locks, which works everywhere apart from the boot.

And standard issues of heaterbox foam hits you in the face on full blow and blows cold as you'd expect.

Thermostat needs replacing, gear linkage bushes have been done but I think the alignment could do with a tweak as 5th isn't always achievable first try.

Apart from that it's just the deep dish OMP steering wheel, fake tow strap, hella stickers and over the top Wolfsburg accessories that need to be replaced...













also the door pins, but I forgot to photo those.
And just in case there wasn't enough Wolsburg inside...





and a couple of videos the seller sent me pre-purchase.

Walk around video
YouTube video:


Underside video from pit
YouTube video:


So that's about it. Apart from the reason I nearly passed it by. Well the first reason was asking price, it was originally listed much higher than I actually paid. And I think the reason it didn't sell at that price and why I was able to knock it down, it has an "accident" recorded against. If what I'm told is true the hand brake was left off and it rolled into a tree on the rear offside quarter. The result it it has been fixed and benefited from full paint, and since most cars of this age have had some work done I thought so what if it's had some metal work, if not from an accident most have had work through rust, rot and neglect.

I scrutinized it as much as I could, under the trims and internal carpets, and could see no obvious signs of repair so happy it's been done to a very high standard so based on that I took the plunge ...


October 08 2019

And so it begins...

Quick fix number one: fake tow strap removed:



Trimsports VW Motorsports gear knob removed and up for sale already, and fitted a decent condition original golf ball that I'd purposely kept back for such an occasion:



On retrieving it form the drawer I noticed how grubby it was so I'm sure I'll be taking an old toothbrush to it at some point along with the rest of the required deep clean.
Already much better, the Alloy one is smaller than stock and also cold to touch which I don't like.

Another quick swap over, a tinted interior light that I'd also wisely kept back in case my next one didn't have one:



and out with the old white plastic one:



Surprising how much this caught my attention every time I looked int he rear-view mirror. I guess knowing I had a tinted one in a drawer didn't help.

And just for good measure and to give a full an complete picture of the madness, here's the Wolfsburg branded billet plunger:



Can't promise an update everyday, and just to confirm, these 'fixes' were done this morning before work. But I'm certainly not going to guarantee a regular Breakfast project.

The original PAS wheel came with the car so I think in the first instance I'll fit that. The horn isn't plugged in on the OMP wheel anyway and the boss must be fitted wrong as the indicators cancel in the wrong place. Being deep dish the stalks are just out of fingers reach which is also annoying. That said the OMP is a nice wheel to handle even if the styling isn't to my liking.

October 10 2019

A bit of tinkering last night. First off did this satisfying little job:
[youtube]

Now this does leave me with Crystal clear headlights, spots, indicators and side repeaters.... at least they match :sorry, what?:
Which I'm sure most peoples opinion will be to replace. But they work and I need to think about the costs so no immediate plans to replace them all, although I did fine a genuine set of orange side repeaters in my stash. Unfortunately I've only got early bumper front orange indicator lenses.


Then took the OG steering wheel that came with the car into the house.
Mixed up a paste of washing up liquid, bicarbonate of soda and white vinegar and got to work:
[youtube]


It was pretty grim:


It came up great but even so I'm not 100% convinced all of the grime has gone, I might have another go.
I'll sort an after photo at some point.

I also did the golf ball gear knob but that might also need a bit more of a soak to get mint.

October 14 2019

Saturday night, while I waited for my daughter to get in from the Cinema I sat in front of the telly half watching Tron (the new one) with a bowl of soapy water and the infamous toothbrush again, and scrubbed the contents of a "Mk2 Spares" delivery that had previously arrived.



And true to tradition, I took said box of sparkly bits to work with me so I could sit in the car park on this drizzly lunchtime and complete this little task:




I also fitted the gear lever cover that Matt sent me, as mine was missing and changed over the fixed position grab handles for the flappy ones as they feel more GTI - even though I gather the fixed position ones were fitted at factory:




While I was climbing around the interior of the car I found a few other small interior trim bits that are missing, darn if I'd only looked properly I'm sure Matt would have included them into the box.

In other news, the name has now been chosen. Lucy
It just so happened to be the film that was on when we got home last Saturday after collecting her. I bounced it around as an idea for a while but needed some way to qualify the name. Also with the reg being PVC this sort of opened up other ideas ... then in came to me, not sure out of where, but the Lucy Liu scene from the Mel Gibson film of the 90s, Payback. Good film and if you remember it you'll know, if you haven't seen it and don't mind watch old stuff it's worth a look.

Here's one of the few Google images of that particular scene I found that was "work safe" enough to share




October 16 2019

Another quick fix this morning from something I had in my stash.






October 18 2019

Just as quickie this morning, a freshly painted satin black rear badge almost ready to be fitted



October 24 2019

Parts have been arriving this week, such as:


So the full list consists of:

Hella heater matrix
Febi expansion bottle
Febi thermostat and O-ring
Topran thermostat housing
Topran blue coolant cap
Topran heater matrix hoses
10L of ready mixed G12+ Coolant

Already in the stash from previous, a load of foam sheeting and high temp adhesive. So hoping to grab some time this weekend. Although with a broken washing machine potentially taking priority and my wife's birthday looming I might have to rethink that. Anyway, for whenever I get chance to get rounds to it I'll be ready.

And to give me a head start I stared by getting the lower dash panels and console out of the way.

I found a hidden switch, still to discover what it does but I'm not going to try it till I'm safe on my driveway at home. Don't want to get stranded at work.

Also found some retro ICE crossovers:


haven't checked out what speakers are fitted yet but a sneaky peak in the dash grills looks like some done tweets and for the first time ever I have a golf with door speakers.

There's obsolete wires in the boot so I'll be interested to see what else I find when I start digging.

And having done this before I'm getting organised this time round. Mapping screws so they go back in the right places.

As you may notice not all of these are the correct screws anyway.


Note:

Just adding this here for my own future reference after a bit of a google search.

Re: the hidden button. The alarm is a TOAD and if it ever gets stuck in servicing mode, potentially after battery removal I'll need to get it out of service override mode:
• turn the ignition to ON, and leave it on
• press the override button (now I know there is one)
• the siren will double chirp to confirm exit of service override mode.
• turn the ignition back to OFF


Decoded the options, nothing groundbreaking.

X2B - National sales program Great Britain
1AF - Power brake
3FB - Spoiler roof
5JI - ?
1C1 - Antifreeze up to -25 degree celsius tolerance up to -30 degree C
4KC - Side and rear windows in tint glass
4GF - Tint glass windshield
3NB - Rear seat bench/backrest, not split
1ME - Steering wheel GTI PAS
8J1 - Hand brake/low brake fluid level warning light without inscription
8K2 - ?
8M1 - Rear window wiper and washer system with intermittent control
8BK - (Something to do with lights)
8D7 - 6 speakers (passive)
3D1 - Center console
8TD - Rear fog light for driving on the left
8WD - With front fog light
8F2 - Side turn signal lights
8U0 - Without additional instruments for distance measurement
1TB - Fuel tank vent line with gravity valve and PVC breather hose
1H1 - Load-sensitive proportioning valve


Interior code XT which is Ultraviolet so that confirms the interior fitted is the original. Not that I was in doubt, but good to know. Maybe one day I'll find some Corrado Recaros.

 

October 25 2019

This all seems strangely familiar...


(Click here is you wanna see when I did this last time)

But I know it'll be worth it in the end to get rid of 28 years of grime and have a fresh clean heating system...


October 29 2019

Here's another job I've done before...

But this time wanted to be a bit more OEM about it - or I didn't like it that last time I chose light grey foam (as that's all I had) and you could see it in the air vent. I didn't have anything darker till it dawned on me I could sacrifice a splash guard from the side of the heater box, as I had a spare and this one was a bit scruffy - there was also a chunk missing which wasn't there before so I think my dog has had a pop at it while I wasn't looking (note to self keep R A R E parts and soft furnishing out of reach - just remembered one of them eat some small bumper indicators previously, can't remember which dog

Perfect


a bit crude but you get the idea, I binned this one and tried again:


like so:


And trimmed around:


Full set done:




And for good measure some little videos:

YouTube video:


YouTube video:


YouTube video:


All clean and fresh and ready for when I complete the heater system build and refresh the dash.

And as a side comment, after finding the crossovers I can confirm there are Focal tweeters.


These will be getting some dust removal.

Not removed the door speaker grills yet, trying to limit how many small parts I put the car in for the moment. Door cards to get attention later on.

I also forgot to post up the pics the other day but here goes...

from this:


to this:



And yes, bought myself a snowfoam lance when I got the mk5 as it seemed the right thing to do, so obligatory photo opportunity:


So happy with my driveway right now:

 

November 04 2019

So, after doing some preliminary work during the previous weeks, removing the lower dash panels and vents etc on the weekend I went in deep and turned the car into a bomb site:



To liberate this:


And as expected:


The matrix was a Valeo one, date stamped 1991, the age of the car so fair to say it's the original so I'll be glad to get the new Hella one in there.

So all components hosed down to get rid of the worst parts of 28 years of dirt and debris before being taken inside for some attention:


Some arts and crafts time later, and making use of the currently empty conservatory, flaps and foam all sorted:


Meanwhile -

drain off this:


bin off this:


fit this and this:


In the process of trying to replace the thermostat the bolt for the housing sheared off:


Exactly what happened to me previously, and just like last time, after trying for a short while to remove the stump I decided it's much easier to just replace the whole water pump. Only £30 ish (think it was more like £20 last time) for a Febi one from B and B components. Should arrive tomorrow and I can continue.

I want to get it back together now, but I also want to continue stripping it to check it all out inside and get it all cleaned up properly. So I'm at the pivot point. Do I fix the heating/cooling and get it back together and deal with the interior later... or do I make a bigger job of it now and keep the car off the road for the coming weeks?

Well the Mk5 is technically Carole's car so I'm on the bike full time at the moment, and it's been a wet couple of weeks, so yes, the wise move will be put it back together asap and enjoy the effective heating system.

I will be using it this time of year, although I'm not afraid to get wet on the bike so I'll split the time equally. Both will be harmed by road salt so there's no winner solution really. I'm not in a position to be precious about it. It's a car, I'm going to be driving it. But I will try to keep it clean over winter. Which may well include a good jet-wash of the under-body and arches.

Oh yeah, and the other thing I forgot to mention, whilst under it I managed to check out the coilovers finally. Disappointingly I discovered they are JOM after-all, the guy suggested they were about £270 which I thought was close to FK or AP money so I was hoping for something a bit better. So he either got ripped off, or simply got his numbers confused as JOMs can be had for more like £170 I thought.

Anyway that said, for cheap coilovers on 17" wheels, and tbf with tyres that don't have a massive amount of life left I do think the ride and handling is very very good. Not really pushed it that hard yet, and I'm sure I'll find the limits, but for now I'm on no rush to change any of it.... it'll do.

November 08 2019

Well yesterday was an odd day. Bike broke down on the way to work, so when I got home I decided to sack off the day as an impromptu day off and as it was dry and bright get the car back together.

This thing of beauty had arrived earlier in the week so I had everything I needed


Fitted:
New Febi water pump
Tested Febi Thermostat - worked as expected so fitted with new topran housing
Fully refurbished heater box back in
New topran hoses to do away with the bypass valve
Dash back in with cleaned air pipes, refurbished vents etc.
System filled up and tested
Original steering wheel fitted back on, fairly certain the OMP deep dish wheel is fake
Carpets vacuumed as I created a big mess with all the dead foam

Sorry lack of photos, but I was busy getting it all done. But I did take these




The late spec carpets are rubbish, but at least the lack of pile makes them easy to clean.

I did a few other jobs, and still have plenty left to complete but at least I have warmth in the car and transport for work again.


Quote from: rickygolf83
Excellent progress

Did the old thermostat housing remain in one piece? Always good practice to have one on standby as you did; i didnt when i changed one in 2010 lol

From previous experience I treat the housing as a single use item, if nothing else they warp so re-use is not an option. Especially with PAS in the mix, not a job I want to do too many times. It’s a right pain getting that out the way, especially as the pas pump is low down and gets all the grime, water and all the bolts seize up. Happy to report appears to be leak free first time this time and no air lock.

Although I should have followed my previous experience and bought the new water pump to start with too.

November 19 2019

Thanks, been away for a few days - took in the Haynes and Beaulieu Motor Museums (been sticking loads of pics on my Insta @AKAeddypeck) so no further updates but using the car for work and I can report it's toastie hot inside.

A little bit too much condensation building up though so I need to work back through my own guide to make sure I'm 100% dry inside as right now I fear I'm not. There will be more to follow.

November 25 2019

Few small jobs over the weekend tweaks

First, the roof areal is rubbish but looking for a quick win I bought an FM amplifier of eBay for a fiver.


It made things better, I could pick up Radio 1 outside of work, but still had a couple of miles of radio black-out on the M5.

Needless to say i didn't use the red scotch block, I crimp fitted a bullet and plugged it into the radios blue accessory feed so it only comes on when the stereo is on.

I also bought a new (Genuine NOS Alpine) CD changer lead, since even though I kept the retro Alpine, I left the old lead in the old car as I'd trapped it under the carpet behind the heater box and was too lazy to free it.


So the CD changer is currently in temporary residence in the first aid box caddy to testing.


I say temporary, because although this ended up being the permanent location in the old car. The old car didn't have stupid low profile tyres on 17" rims with cheap coil-overs! so although I've actually be surprised how smooth the ride is, it actually must be a lot more "crashy" than I realise as it's certainly not smooth enough to play a CD for long without skipping. Luckily I do a lot of motorway miles where it's mostly OK as long as I don't hit a cat's eye too hard changing lanes.

So with the heater-box complete, and now I've finished playing with the front end of the audio I finally refitted the lower dash panels and tucked away all of the alarm wiring and crossovers etc that I discovered.

Milestone, the car's just rolled over to 130k miles last week.

I also bought an adapter ring so I could fit my Italvalonti VW Motorsport wheel to the large spline momo 'type' boss. Since the original boss is small spine and I didn't want to mess around removing the large spline adapter - in case I wanted to revert back to the OE wheel.


It wasn't cheap :eh:





However I discovered the horn didn't work. Which made me suspicious as it used to in the old car, but since the horn didn't work on the fake OMP wheel that was on there when I got the car this got me to thinking....

But it wasn't till yesterday afternoon when I was sitting in the passenger seat as I was letting my 16 year old daughter have a drive round a local disused car park that I caught a glimpse of something from an angle I wouldn't normally have.

The cheapo eBay boss that came with the car sits about 5 mm away from the horn contact.



So now I'm on the look out for a genuine large spline momo boss for not too much money. I have a spare small spline one I might need to pop up for sale to fund said purchase.

December 08 2019

The aftermarket boss has its own horn ring but it’s very poor quality. It’s very short since it was fitted with a deep dish wheel. so with a flat wheel and even with the adapter ring it’s still short and too close to the stalks. the mfa switch on the stalk could do with a bit more clearance.

I had one of these adaptor rings before to convert a momo boss when I bought a nardi wheel, that did bring it forward. Most difficult thing is it put the stalks at a further reach.

Anyway, Turned out the spare boss I have is for a bmw e30. I guess I should get that on eBay.

A decent momo boss should sort me when I get round to getting one.

I did a few other jobs this weekend that were on the list.

Previous owner had a set of Recaro seats fitted. He refitted ‘badly’ the originals before the sale. Unfortunately they we’re bolted straight through the floor. Meaning 4 holes on each side. At some point in the future I’ll weld the floor properly but for now I’ve put in some stainless coach bolts with large washers and coated in waxoil. The bolts were from some I bought to fit the beetle bumpers.

Also hooked up the seat mech and got the seats sliding back and forward as I said, fitted badly, so they weren’t previously free running. Need to get new plastic sliders and gummy bears to sort it fully though.

Undid the rear wiper lay flat mod, and put that back in it’s appropriate place.





Much better :thumbs:

And replaced the coolant flange on the side of the head. It started leaking after I did the heater matrix and stuff, presumably I upset it swapping the pipe work. The one I took off had been gunged up sealant.






Washer jets work now as well.

Had a look at the boot lock. As It doesn’t lock with the central locking. Wasn’t sure why, but with my son as a second pair of eyes at the back we were able to determine that the boot actuator isn’t functioning. So that’ll need further investigation.

Quote from: sly_gti
I expect the vacuum line has come disconnected somewhere. Pull the boots at the top of the tail gate for a quick inspection of the wires / air line.
My thoughts exactly but I checked the fitting onto the actuator, the end where it joins the pump and pulled back the rubber conduits at the tailgate hinges and no sign of damage.

I would have thought if there was a leak in the system then it would affect the whole lot???


I almost forgot to add, I also checked on the door speakers and can confirm they are also Focal components and the doors are lined with Dynomat. So looks like someone put some effort into the audio. I just need to sort out the rear end.

December 09 2019

Well as luck would have it a large spline Momo boss popped up on Facebook selling page today for not too much money so I should have the steering wheel sitting nicely soon, as I said in it's current stat the stalks are too close and managed to turn the wipers on going round a bend today


Thanks both, yes I followed the CL vac line down to the T-piece near the n/s rear light cluster. The hose was firmly seated, to the extend I couldn't easily disconnect it so I decided not to disturb it. I was thinking if I disconnected I could suck and blow and see what happens ??

There's nothing obvious so like I said one for further investigation. It's a shame the house move never went ahead as I missed out on the much coveted double garage/workshop that I was due to be getting. Would be handy this time of year to get some of these jobs done rather than just be restricted to a couple hours on the weekend .... providing it's not raining.


Quote from: big F
Could it be the actuator that has failed.
That’s my guess, but need time to look into it. My plan is to pop off the hose and blow/suck, that should hopefully identify either a leak or as I expect a failed diaphragm inside the actual unit. I’m just sure if there was a leak in the system it would effect the rest of the locking but that all seems really responsive.

I’ve also been wondering if I can get a remote module to hook I to the toad alarm and trigger the master on the drivers door.

Plenty of things to tinker with and thankfully (dare I tempt fate) nothing too heavy duty so far.

 

January 10 2020

It's Friday, it's sunny, it's lunchtime and today I'm in the mk2 not on the bike so thought I'd pop down the road to the local scrap yard - like the good old days.

They don't tend to have much that is that old anymore, or if they get in a 'classic' they leave it out front to sell as a project car - I guess they know the value now. Still a few Mk3s though.

I already have a weighted shift rod so no use for those and it seems everyone knows the usefulness of a 99 relay so those are always gone first. However I spotted a MK3.5 (a Mk3 Cabby in a Mk4 frock) obviously the vultures weren't away of the similarity so the fusebox hadn't been raided yet - managed to bag myself a 99 relay at last. Funny to think how many I'd lifted and passed on over the years to eventually find myself needing one again.

Also grabbed the springs off the seat mech as some of mine were missing.

While I was at it I also picked up a temp sensor, along with the plug and a length of wire as I was reading elsewhere the mk3 sensor can be used as a single unit to replace the separate gauge and ecu sensors on the mk2 - thought it might be handy to have.

Not a great deal more to report at the moment. Looking forward to better weather.

January 15 2020

Quick fix today.

After overhauling the coolant system I knew everything was fine but the temp gauge has continued to read low.

So if fitted a mk3 4 pin temp sender and patched in the plug. At a later date if I need to I can patch I the other 2 wires for the ECU but with no current issues I decided not to do that now.






January 16 2020

Quote from: Monkey
That reminds me, I must get a 99 relay myself!
Unfortunately the 99 relay I picked up was toast, so still on the to find/do list.

Meanwhile another little job ticked off...


Also took a look at the sticky throttle, the rubber bung which sly suggested may had been the issue looked good.



But then I noticed the alignment was a bit off for the lever arm, it looked to be too close to the heater splash guard and the cable was coming out at an angled, preventing a clean return. A quick bend and adjust and the cable lines up with the opening ... I’ll pop out later for a test drive, hopefully that’s sorted it.

I wanted to give it a clean today but the weather has other ideas.


Yep. Sticky throttle now sorted


Quote from: big F
Might be changing my job soon and theres a scrap metal yard at the end of the road. They deal with cars and builders scrap mostly.

Worked near there before and that yard has no idea of classics. In the past (3 years ago) they crushed a 5 door cl that was better nick than mine, it was in there because it wouldn't start. The excuse, its not a GTI so not worth anything.............

I did offer a few hundred but the preferred to cube it they cubed a bay bus also that was far from a basket case.


There are a few scrap metal merchants that are just about crushed metal and the weight for £. I think the place that Shelly works at might be like that. I guess if they don't have the land hoarding cars isn't as cost effective. There are some other 'new' style yards that strip the cars so you don't go past the front counter and just buy off the shelf. Where I go is just down the road form where I work so easy to pop out on a lunch time - although I'm not always suitability dresses and have brought in oil on my shoes across the work carpet occasionally ops:

This one has been there 85 years - so the sign outside says - and is a proper old school scrappy, like they used to be. It's great.

Quote from: big F
Some where i have a box of 99 relays, i went through a “stage” of going to the scrappies every weekend and made a point of pulling 99 relays.
Same, 99 relays and weighted shift rods, and any cross vehicle bits and bobs - they haven't had a mk2 in for years, but the door handles, boot lock and number plate lamps etc are the same for Polos and other variants. Even the occasional old Audi. I used to have a good stash of these which could be sold off for a few quid profit to top up the build costs.


Anyway, I was excited for my drive into work this morning, with my drivers seat that didn't rock and my throttle pedal that didn't stick - I'm really loving this car.

I think gear linkage might be a job to tackle soon. I found receipts for it done in 2003 so it's not original, but could benefit from being done again. I need to try and find some solid bars again and maybe have a go at making a short shifter link. If anyone has one I'd be happy to know the measurements. Otherwise it'll just be trial and error I guess - but it's more fun than buying one.


Quote from: tabbie
Reading your updates makes me want to start tinkering with my mk2 Eddy but it's definitely to cold.
Great to see you back in a mk2 mate.
Great to be back in one mate.

The thing is filthy as it's on daily duty - but it was made to be used not stored in a museum is how I see it, and it's just too wet to use the bike right now

January 18 2020

Bit of cleaning done today.








February 10 2020

Latest job done, the old classic - gear linkage!

The stack of bills that came with the car show it was done in 2003, and putting that in perceptive it's still 17 years since it was done.

So some of the bits were still ok, the ball was still very much in place however the top and bottom bushes were nowhere to be found giving this effect:

[youtube]

I wonder if they were fitted the wrong way round in the first place and dropped out the bottom?

Needless to say I bought the full kit from good old B&B components and also got myself another set of the solid bars that I put on the old one.

The usual suspect the orange bush was quite knackered:



Easy to push in place with my 6 tonne press, a bit overkill maybe but did the job in seconds :confused:

The end result:





And for the alignment, because I'm tight... I would have 3D printed if I had one, but I don't so I made an alignment tool from cardboard

I did a test run with paper to check the fit:



Then layered up some card:



And it just about held up to get everything tightened up in the right place:



Gear selection is very slick now.



March 09 2020

Not a massive update and a month since the last one.
Over 4000 miles now clocked, with an average MPG in the mid 30s.

Everything behaving as it should.

Washed it quite intensely last week and afterwards spotted this


Haven't had any issues with damp from the rain but I know it's not 100% dry as I get a little bit of internal condensation. This was obviously a result of rigorous pressure washing, but first look will be the bonnet release cable grommet.

Also did the world a favor and finally got rid of the unnecessary marketing




after:



and this cliche



but forgot the after photo.

I did however add this little fellow



My daughter bought me the sticker along with some other bits and pieces from Bristol Volksfest about 4 or 5 years ago, never got round to (didn't really want to :roll: ) put it on the old car but it feels like it's a little step towards making the car mine (and my family's).

C L E A N . . .



And for the first time in history I was first to arrive at the Bristol Meet, was also the only VW



But with the clock changing this month hope April onwards might pick up again.

 

May 06 2020

6 months of ownership and I finally have a boot that locks. It wasn’t anything I’ve publicised before as I didn’t want to advertise the fact.

I had mentioned the CL wasn’t working on the boot. But they key also wouldn’t turn.


I removed and dismantled the lock, but the aluminium barrel was so badly corroded it was fixed solids. Over 2 hours in the ultrasonic bath and things started to look hopeful but still jammed.





I pumped it full of maintenance spray then add heat. I thought I might be able to boil the oil out and clear out some of the crud but the barrel was so badly corroded it basically crumbled.


Thankfully I picked up a spare a while back, and had already managed to retumble the lock to match my key. It’s just not a CL one.

So now at least I can lock the boot with a key.

I tested the CL, the actuator is fine so there must be a break in the tube. No rush to resolve as I’d need to find a new CL boot lock but at least I’ve diagnosed and glad I didn’t rush into buying a new actuator when I thought it was that.

May 26 2020

And bringing things up to date since lockdown began.

I'm working from home so suspected I wouldn't need the car so it was placed on SORN at the end of March to save me a few quid. But working from home meant no travel time, and with lighter evenings I was able to start a few tinker jobs.

I started by removing the seats to fix them. The foam was pretty bad but thankfully the cloth hadn't gone through.





but I've fixed seats like these before so wasn't put off.

Next bit was a clean, previously I stripped the covers and put them through the washing machine but I thought I'd go a bit gentler on these and opted for the paddling pool.



They came up OK.



With the seats out I decided I wanted to fit heated seat pads, so ordered a kit off Amazon.

Meanwhile, while I waited for the delivery I cracked on with the repair.

Starting with a steam clean of the foam.



I've seen this used on various TV shows to 'freshen' up old foam, so I cracked out the wallpaper stripper with the small attachment. I tried to do a video but didn't work well but it's fascinating. The foam expands and reforms to its original shape. Afterwards it feel much softer and more flexible.

Next was a case of stuffing the caping hole with foam bits and building up the surface. Last time I did this I used foam carpet underlay and it worked out great, I still had some so did the same again.







The backs were in better condition, but I still decided to cover the bolsters with some thin skrim foam, this time I turned to some foam back material I had left over from doing the headlining on the BMW e30.









And before the foam went back on the frame a did a little bit more to bulk up the bolster and reduce the chance of it tearing in future by protecting the metal rods.



By now the heat pads had arrived.











Before the seats went in it made sense to clean the carpets, and as the seats were already out it made sense to remove the carpets to do this.



Previously I've used my George Wet & Dry Vac, but I'd seen other people say a pressure worked well







Honest opinion, I think using a bit more effort and using the George would give better results, but they're clean.

Now, here's the thing. The previous owner had some other seats fitted at some point and had bolted them through the floor leaving holes in the carpet, 8 in total.



Trimming a bit of carpet from up behind the heater box I was able to get some donor material and started to cut out the damaged areas.



With a matching square of new carpet



and some tape on the back



I had a good enough fix that wouldn't be obvious at first glance



so I continued with the rest



Before long the cleaned carpets (and mats) were re-fitted, including the wiring loom for the heated seats







I was able to get a nice dash shot before the seats went in

 

The loom for the heated seats was easy enough to follow the instructions and switch, although not OEM style, fits well in the aperture and with the seats on the number lights red









and the symbol lights with the dash illumination, although currently blue and on my switch the R doesn't illuminate. I've contacted the seller and have a new switch on the way, so when I have a spare I'll open it up and change the LEDs to green.




September 14 2020

Sorry to report it's been very quiet here. 3 weeks from now will see a year of ownership, but what a year. It's like 2020 the year that never happened. I know we've all been effected by Covid-19 in different ways, for me well I've been working from home and therefore have no reason for transport. The Mk2 has been SORN since end of March, in the first few weeks of April it was moved around the driveway till it was eventually parked on up out the way on the garden making space for skips we've had due to building work, as seen here when my AMAZING shed was delivered in July.



So there is sat, looking more and more sorry for itself.

On the weekend I thought time to move it, and perhaps cut the grass

But I was met with a pool of water in the drivers footwell and a totally flat battery, which in turn caused the Alarm to totally spaz out and repeatedly try trigger the central locking pump.

Battery out on on charge, pleased to report the charger returned a GOOD status when fully charged. I have one of those fancy ones that can do a full recovery cycle.

Anyway, out came the George wet vac to suck up the puddle and on to investigate the cause. I 99% certain it's not the sunroof and I suspected the bonnet cable grommet as tbf I've seen a drip of water on the plastic foot rest bit before now.

So out came the scuttle and ECU cover and the George came into it's own again vacuuming up all the rubbish and dead leaves

Looking a bit pitiful, like the rest of the car:


And for some odd reason most of my loom is missing a cover.



I think that at some point in the past it was wrapped in cloth loom tape which has rotted, perished and disintegrated away to dust.

Not to Damiens standard, as this was an emergency water leak repair not a full on detailing session, but out with the parafin, a brush and some rags and a bit of a clean up went on. Along with some windscreen sealant around the grommet and finally some new loom tape.



Happy with that result and after a bit of clean up the other side and along the rest of the scuttle I thought I'd best check the door membrane.

The remains of the factory membrane was still there, but not doing a very adequate job.

Sorry, forgot to do many pics, but here's mid progress with a new inner flap added before the final plastic sheet over the whole thing:



When I came to do the passenger side, I found the membrane had been replace very badly before and also this door used to be red.

Then the cable for the window winder snapped!

This has now arrived so this job can continue...



who knows, maybe I'll drive it again one day.

Just a quickie, didn't take long to fit the new window mech.
And then I completed the door membrane on this side.



I remembered I had some butyl cord for this job and it was what Lukybabes used on one of his how-to posts. Made a much easier and less messy job than the drivers side.

However it would also seem by not touching the car for months, I have now completely missed the benefit of summer this year and now it's getting dark by 7:00pm but just about managed to get this job completed (almost) and the door card back on.

Screwed in the lock plunger and noticed I'd forgot the little surround trim, found it in the dark, unscrewed the plunger and the rod dropped below the door card. It was too dark now, so just locked up and went inside the house.

Still haven't re-fitted the battery after the positive charge, not run up the car, not moved it and still haven't cut the grass.

In other news, we had the quote for getting the driveway done. so that won't be happening for another few years I expect!

October 23, 2020

When I went to check on the car the other day I noticed the dreaded damp footwell:


This was slightly upsetting as I'd just done the membranes and sealed the bonnet release cable thinking I'd solved this.

But before I could tackle that I had another issue, when I finished off the passenger door membrane in the dark I made a boo-boo at the last stage of screwing on the lock plunger, I pushed the metal rod below the door card. And since then the passenger door has been stuck in the locked position.

So I had to get the door card off with the door shut.

Luckily, I found with the seat pushed and flipped all the way forward I could just about get a screwdriver to the screws with a bit of an angle on. Phew, just about got away with that.



So having done this a few times now it didn't take long to whip the carpets out.

in removing the lower dash panel I noticed the foam on the back was damp:


And with the carpet out I saw this mess:


And with a deeper dive:


Well as 'luck' would have it, while I was doing this is started to rain.

YouTube video:


Whilst watching the drip a second drip could my attention.

Now to find the source. Nothing seems to be obvious in the scuttle area so I think I'm going to need to start removing stuff.

Not sure when I'll get chance to follow up but at least the carpet is out and drying and I can monitor the puddle.

November 05, 2020

So I've been battling with this water leak for a while. And yes I wrote the guide but it would appear I have to update it.
I'm still not 100% I've got to the bottom of it, but here's the latest from my most recent few lunchtimes:

Following the previous update I chucked a bit more gunge around the bonnet release grommet and the bitumen panel under the ECU.


But this clearly wasn't enough.
There was still water the following day.

So happy at least the carpets were out and nothing was going to get ruined I took this to the next level, dash out:


My lunchtime involved, making and eating lunch and giving the dogs a quick walk leaving me about 20 mins, so there.. if anyone is concerned about dash removal it's can be done in 20 mins. So when it comes to the heater box I still say dash out, even though you don't need to, is the best option.

Back on topic, with the dash out nothing was obvious and my time was up.

So the following lunch time I removed the wadding from the bulkhead area and took out the fusebox and fusebox bracket and started to get some clarity:




I poured water over the top of the car and wasn't able to see anything coming in which was annoying but with rust stained lines I'm fairly certain this is the issue.

Skip a day:



I didn't have my phone with me to start with, so I miss scraping off the bitumen pad, I used a heat gun and paint scraper and it came up no bother.

I also didn't take pics, but I can assure you I did treat the rust before moving on.

And finally all cleaned up, primed, seam sealer (lots of it) and painted:



So everything crossed.

Oh and in other news, I bought. New Alpine stereo. The same series as what I had just better condition but what I failed to spot as the ad didn't show it working was the illumination was orange. I didn't give it a thought as most Alpine are green, but they did do orange versions. I should have realised when the seller said they had it in their Audi.

Anyway, being compatible I swapped over the illumination panel in the face plate.



I so hope I have sorted this water leak as I can't wait to get the dash back in and get the new one fitted properly.

Here's my old one, but now orange:


looks quite cool actually.

 

November 12, 2020

A while back you may remember I bought some LED bulbs for the instrument cluster. Well since I have the cluster out and not much else is going on at the moment I thought I'd fit them ready. Only to find the cheap Chinese rubbish I bought are indeed rubbish!

It's quite tricky to do a close up pic, and the white is over exposed (iphone 6s camera clearly ain't that good at macro) but hopefully you can see the moulding of the white LED bulb holder doesn't include a tab at the top like the OE blank one, which meant although the bulb would fit there was nothing much securing them in place and they'd most like drop out if I went over a bump.



So I set to work popping out the old bulbs and the new LEDs from their holders ...



... band transferring the LEDs into the OE black holders. A fairly simple and satisfying job.

I just hope they work when refitting and I need to remember to check before I finish installing all the trim.

Although one of my three bulbs was a slightly different design and wouldn't work so well but I had a couple more spares available that did work.

The pack of ten cost peanuts meaning I now have 7 spare LED, already with resistors and ready to be unsoldered from the tabs ready for reuse in the rest of the dash switches. I mean, I may as well, I can't do much else with them.



I did also drag my old spare 140 speedo out of a storage box. It's from a CE1 cluster but RubJonny has assured me it'll work in CE2, so I was considering the swap over, but on reflection the original cluster is in good condition and has never been opened before so I'm not decided yet if it's worth the hassle. Plus I'd need to match the miles, else I'd ben sticking an extra 10k on the car and we don't want that do we.

January 04, 2021

Not the biggest of updates, but one thing that needed fixing was the sunroof deflector lifter arm. The head was completely rusted away on the right hand side and the arm was 'cleverly' connected to the deflector with a web of cable ties.


Sorry for the poor pic

I was lucky enough to find a stainless steel one months back in a scrap yard, but only the left hand side (not the side I really needed), so since then I've been on the look out for a single right hand side one for not too much money.

After drawing a blank with Matt Palmer of Mk2Spares (he said he'd sort me out but never got back to me) I'd been watching on eBay and finally found one that was still expansive as buy now or offer and I gave an offer within what I was willing to pay. It arrived Christmas eve.





Still battling the water leak, I've had to re-visit the door membrane as I did that in a bit of a rush. If not that then I'm going to have to consider taking the screen out and potentially removing the wing to check the bottom of the A-pillar.

Another EddyPeck life hack being repeated....



and some sticking down of lifting edges:



Thankfully the card is not too bad, so still has some decent shape along the bottom edge so once it has a few coats on varnish on it it should be pretty solid.

In other news, the leak is ongoing - not that I've put much time into it - so 100% has to be under the windscreen seal. I've got some time booked off in a few weeks so hoping I can get to the bottom of it and put the car back together.

 

March 02, 2021

It's been a while, but I've just had some time off work so had chance to catch up on some well overdue maintenance.

To summarise, the car has been off the road now for almost a year since I've been working from home since last March due to COVID. Being left and neglected has taken its toll and I've been suffering with damp carpets. After ruling out every other option I was left convinced the bottom of the screen area could be rotten.

And damp over winter hasn't just effected the interior:


Firstly I needed to get the screen out to check the state of the metal underneath, to do this I needed the car in the dry so I had to reconfigure the garage and temporarily re-home mine and my sons motorbikes.

In over 11 years of living in this house it's only the 2nd time a car has been in the garage.


It's a very small garage, so OK for storage but not really suitable for working. Anyway, I started to slowly work my way around the windscreen seal and was about a quarter the way round when it cracked from behind the mirror

I shan't dwell on that, but continued to remove it carefully to avoid it shattering.

The plus side was that on removal no big hole was found and I wasn't going to spend the rest of my week cutting, welding and painting like I thought I would.

To be honest, this is the best windscreen aperture I've ever seen on one:





Even around the drain:




The blue/green stuff is this:


Like Kurust but cheaper and I thought if it's good enough for the Land Rover guys it'll be good enough for me. I think it takes longer to go off than Kurust, but that might just be the cold weather.


Anyway, with the area all cleaned up and treated, I needed to source a new screen. £77.50 from Heritage, so I checked with Mark Carter of Classic-VW and he said he dosen't bother stocking them just uses National Windscreens. Thinking that was not such a bad idea as I didn't have to take on the responsibility of fitting and risk a potential break again.

So I made a call and booked a slot for next day. I was also able to chose a sun-strip so went with Green (blue was available also). I got them to supply a new seal but when the fitter arrived he said the old seal was perfectly good so reused it.




So back to the leak, if water isn't coming in from the screen then where? I checked the inner wing, and was surprised to find original wings, that had never been removed. So I decided not to remove, but inspected and felt around the bits I couldn't see.



Cleaned up, rust treated a few spots (on the whole all very good) and Waxoyled before refitting the liner.

The worse area was this spot on the chassis leg under the air filter


I checked the underside of the scuttle, to make sure where the drain goes is going back into the bulk-head side and not into the cabin. Again all good so cleaned, treated and Waxoyled. Sorry, a bit lacking with the pics.... was just busy tinkering away.

All areas checked and double checked, cleaned and sealed, resealed the bonnet cable again.... etc.

You'll also notice I took out the wiper motor and linkage for better access, so while they were off, I turned this:



Into this:



I also took the opportunity to re-wrap the loom. The old tape has turned to dust, and where it is still remaining it pretty much disintegrates on touch.



All of the loom in the scuttle is done and most of the bay before I ran out of tape.


To confirm the progress I gave the car a good wash, a 3 stage foam power wash....

With no sign of water following the wash I took the gamble and started to put the insides back together.

Underlay and carpets:


And eventually dash, including fitting my new replacement Alpine and SWG console I bought for the old one but never got round to fitting.



Gotta love finding previous owner 'fixes' ...



I discovered on the re-fit that I actually have a CE1 light switch fitted.



Now I know this can be a fire hazard but I think the issue is fitting a CE2 switch in a CE1 car, thankfully the other way round is fine. I'm just missing the pin for Dim/Dip which I unplugged anyway, and the dash illumination ... I do have dash illumination but it's always been crazy dim, so I guess the switch is being bypassed in some way. New CE2 switch on order.


Test fit of the dials, of course I have "TIM" gauges rather than the predictable VDO ...



... yet to know if they work and they need to come back out for a lick of paint.

And by midweeks a big box arrived from Germany




March 12, 2021

Just a small update....

My cheap CE2 light switch finally arrived form China



TBF ... it looks pretty good. I thought the one fitted in my car must have been a cheap aftermarket switch as the surface was shiny and not lightly textured like OEM switches, but to my surprise it was a genuine VW part so I guess it's just been worn shiny over 30+ years of use. Obviously not original to the car, but must have been replaced at some point by someone that didn't know there was different kinds.

In other news, we've had some pretty appalling weather this past week, the car appears to still be dry which is great. Haven't had chance to look at my running/timing issue but the battery is now out and on charge.

Brake bias valve has arrived from Autodoc along with an exhaust rubber, so a few parts building up ready for the next wave of activity.

April 15, 2021

After the service the car wasn't running right. I swapped back the leads, cap etc. and still no difference.

I haven't had any time since my week off at the end of Feb, we had a fitting date for a new floor so I've been against the deadline to complete decorating. Anyway the floor is fitted and although I have some more DIY to do, I thought I'd grab half hour as I'm so frustrated I didn't get it all done and ready for MOT in my time off.

So today in classic lunchbreak style I swapped back the old fuel filter (as this actually seemed like the quickest and simplest thing to try) in a hope that the new filter was in some way faulty and restricting fuel flow. Unfortunately refitting the old fuel filter (Lucky I hadn't chucked it) made no difference and the car is still miss-firing. With that making no difference I put the new filter back on while the car was still jacked up. So looks like I will need to follow some further diagnostic investigation. I hate that side of mechanics, I like removing old stuff and bolting back on shiny new stuff to fix problems, but when it goes wrong I get a bit lost.

So to do so I can get it in for an MOT and hopefully back on the road:
Get it running!!
Fit brake bias valve
Rebuild rear callipers
Fit exhaust rubber
Fit cam belt
Reconnect hand brake warning light - Hasn't worked since I put the carpet and dash back in, I think I've left something unplugged hopefully I can find a wire.

April 16, 2021

Well how stupid do I feel? on the other hand I'm glad it's sorted.

Adapting Monkey's advice, as he said pull a lead and start it, repeat 4 times till all leads are checked. Well with it running I just pulled a lead and put it back, and pulled the next and so on.

Pulling 1 and then 2 made it run worse but when I got to 3 it made no difference... but then when I pulled 4, also no difference.
So even though I'd convinced myself I'd double and triple checked the firing order I simply had 3 and 4 the wrong way round

The car is now purring as expected.

So with a bit of time left to kill I investigated the handbrake light. I didn't remember unplugging it at the lever end, but I removed the cover to check. Confirming that was connected I looked to the plug on the back of the bulb, and with a multimeter no power at the plug. So then to investigate the random spare plug I had pulled down to the console area. This was in fact the handbrake plug and I'd put the wrong plug on the back of the bulb. Not sure where the other one is supposed to go, I don't seem to be missing any functions.

So just the brake bias valve, getting the handbrake function up to scratch and fitting an exhaust rubber and I can book in for MOT

May 28, 2021

Well for those of you still here, I suppose I owe you an update. As another years seems to be rolling by and with the National Meet looming I had another push to get her MOT ready.

Looking at previous MOT advisories I'd seen the Brake Bias Valve being stiff was a reoccurrence. And after over a year of sitting idle the brakes were in quite poor shape, surface rust and sticking handbrake. And I can confirm the brake bias wasn't going to be moving for anyone, that was well and truly solid.

So after a bit of spannering...


Being on my own at the time I had to get inventive as a one man brake bleeding machine....


Whilst under the car I noticed a spot where the sealant was peeling back, so I cleaned that up, brushed on some rust converter and once gone off sprayed on a bit of waxoyl. Didn't spot anything too bad.

So tool the plunge and booked in the MOT.

 

MOT day: Thursday 27 May.

Dropped off at 8am, and left with them. The MOT slot was 11:00.
By 2pm I hadn't heard so looked it up online and was met with a nasty fail, it's public knowledge on the Gov site so I've nothing to hide. This is what I'm dealing with:


Repair immediately (major defects):
1. Nearside Rear Service brake lagging in operation (1.2.1 (d))
2. Offside Headlamp aim too low (4.1.2 (a))
3. Exhaust emissions carbon monoxide content excessive (8.2.1.2 (b))
4. Offside Rear Inner Suspension component mounting prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength arch, currently filler and tissue paper (5.3.6 (a) (i))
5. Nearside Rear Inner Suspension component mounting prescribed area is inadequately repaired arch, plate has been tacked on in a few spots now peeling off (5.3.6 (a) (i))

Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):
6. Front Brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (1.1.14 (a) (ii))
7. Rear Brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (1.1.14 (a) (ii))
8. Front Brake hose slightly deteriorated both (1.1.12 (b) (ii))
9. Rear Wheel bearing has slight play both (5.1.3 (a) (i))
10. Offside Front Macpherson strut pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement top mount (5.3.4 (a) (i))
11. Coolant leak thermostat housing area ()
12. Front Lower Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement both (5.3.4 (a) (i))
13. Rear Suspension component pin or bush slightly worn axle bushes will need replacing soon (5.3.4 (a) (i))
14. General corrosion to underside of vehicle unable to fully inspect due to side skirts and under sealing

I think it reads worse than it is, a rear calliper clean up, set headlight aim, and change the spark plugs and give it a good blast will sort out the emissions. Allowable CO is 3.5 and it was 3.52.

But a couple of nasty bits of welding by the sounds of it to sort out some previous bodges. I think they must have poked quite hard into a suspect area as I certainly wasn't aware of this.

The rest of the advisories are nothing too concerning.

My plan is to get it up on some stand and get all the plastics off and really see what I'm dealing with. My fear is once I start pulling at it, the repair might end up a lot bigger as these things usually do.

June 01, 2021

Well due to more pressing jobs, patio laying and the like, the best i managed over the 3 day bank holiday weekend was to get it on stands and take a look. It's a start I suppose, and at least I'm not guessing anymore.

And thankfully, it's not as bad as they made out, at least not on the face of it, I know rust holes can get bigger when you start cleaning them up. Anyway, here's the previous repair on the nearside, front of inner arch.



I might just wire wheel it and if it looks solid stitch weld the existing plate. I'll know more once I get the under-seal off.

And the offside, same place....



No attempt at a patch here, just stuffed with cardboard. I'm not even sure if there was any filler involved, or the MOT station chipped it all away. But lashings of under-seal was hiding this little gem.

A good poke all around and it seems to be fairly limited to the mouse house size hole. So a good clean up and a patch similar to the other side and I should be good to go. And I'm happy that's within my ability as a welder, so I'll be taking this on myself. so if anything catches on fire it'll be on me this time.

Thankfully the weather seems to be on our side so I'll see if I can get a few evenings on it. Watch this space....

June 02, 2021

A few pics from last night, I was hoping to make a bit more progress and update later on, but looks like it'll be raining this evening so doubt I'll do anything more.

The bodges continue. I was aware the black on the rear bumper had been painted with truck bed liner (or something) but this was not what I was expecting.



A hidden screw that had been filled and painted over. Not sure why the side bracket was in place and the bumper fit didn't seem to be effected after I'd cut through it.

After lifting the bumper away I worked out why it weighed so much...


A hacked up tow bar. and a bodged up repair on the skin. Not anything I can afford to replace yet, but I will keep my eyes open for a rear bumper with bar and brackets. Shout if you know of one!

Anyway, some good news...



Don't think I've ever seen such a clean rear end! now I know this has had a repair so it's not as old as the rest of the car, but straight and true which is reassuring at least.

Much the same for the arch





A bit of tiger seal to help the trim, but all the rivets were there so not sure why. But one thing it has done is kept the lower lip of the trim off the paint, which I'm sure aids drainage so perhaps it's not such a silly idea.

Sill looks good, but seem to have forgot a pic.

Other side.



not awful!

But a bit of crust on the lower rear corner.



But this is shocking!!!





But I think I can clean it up and finish it off, no need to strip it back and redo it at this point.

June 23, 2021

Well I've managed to grab the odd hour here and there, and have made some good progress, still plenty more to do but I thought it was time for an update.

I poked this (nearside rear arch rear corner):



I started grinding back to find clean metal, and found filler (offside rear arch front corner):



So I ground back more and ended up with holes larger than initially expected. Pics here show freshly applied rust converter, has the blue goo:




So I ordered these:



Mocked up this (using the roof panel from the one I broke previously - I knew keeping a large sheet of metal would come in handy):




Not pretty, but solid and happy with that as my first ever real life attempt at welding:



and after a good grind and splash of protection:



too nervous to do the outer repair panel just yet I switched to the other side for a bit more practice on 'hidden' metal before going for body work.

So cleaning back that previously added patch, see last post, I decided it was crap so cut away to start again:



More roof panel, to this:



and finally this:



Now, that other hole I poked.... got bigger:







To finally this:



So my next job is back to the driver side to tacked the front of the arch, also the rear corner looks like it has some filler in it, so I guess I should really poke that one too.

In other news:


The bumper mount on the body had been cut down, because the mount on the bumper was broken and had been bodged, so I bought both of these to fix it.

The bumper mount is genuine and actually bought from long time 'friend' of the forum and eBay seller x4mgs153-mk2 because he was actually the cheapest

The mount to go on the body is aftermarket but the two slot together really well so I'm hoping the bumper will fit well once fixed.

And finally, for when that day comes that I finally get to drive it again, my son didn't know what to get me for my birthday so I said I wanted new speakers for the rear, as the fronts were decent but the rears original. I was going to get some JBL but when it came to it they were out of stock so I ended up spending a bit more for these. Hopefully they'll be worth the extra.







I know shelf support 4x6 are never going to pump out the bass, but they should at least provide a bit more sound to the rear.

 

Excellent thread. Looks like a lovely clean car, rust holes notwithstanding
You need to change your MOT tester, they shouldn't be poking about like that, they are not allowed to and they seem a bit overzealous.

 

That's a cracking bit of work, and a lovely car.

 

Great to see you've posted here mate. Keen to see what you do next.

 

Great progress you are making

 

Ace dedication. Which is always to be respected. And good to see your journey posted to keep us all motivated.

 

Got some time off soon so hopefully crack on with the rest of the welding, but as a little side project I've been working on trying to make the best of the knackered rear bumper. It's never going to be perfect but until a responsibly priced one comes up local it'll have to do.

So the black of the bumper had previously been painted and I noticed some stress cracking in the paint. I forgot to get any before pics but I started to chase out the cracks with a dremmel.



and fill



and flat back



to which I discovered the true depth of the repair, anyway as said already it'll have to do.

So I dealt with a few other bits and flatted the whole of the painted black part





Replaced the bodged bracket





prepped..... and finally found a use for IKEA instructions



and emptied a spray can of black texture bumper paint onto it.



I'm not 100% happy with it, was very hard to spray and I'm thinking (since I have a compressor and paint gun) I might had been better off buying a litre of paint rather than using the aerosol. But we'll see how it looks once it's dried off and the paint has calmed down. It'll pass a 10 yard inspection at least, and hopefully will fit better with the new bracket.

 

That bracket is nearly as sophisticated as the front one on my small bumper was, coachbolt fitted by slotting the plastic then two more nuts to hold in position and spacer to go through hole in wing, washer, big nut and a holding nut, simple.
Or just spend £2.50 on a new guide, hmmm let me think...

 

Outcome of the bumper....


Not bad, but the finish is a bit too rough/sharp IMO. Maybe the spray distance was a bit far or the coverage not thick enough but as mentioned before it was really hard to spray from the tin, the nozzle kept clogging and would have been better through a gun I'm sure. It'll do, and maybe it will soften a little over time, after a few washes and with a bit of bumper gel built up on it. The bumper is basically scrap, but I just wanted to make the best of it till I was able to replace but it it was a keeper I might be tempted to slightly sand back and respray with satin black.

In other news, I had a couple days off (booked off for the National that didn't happen so had a Friday and Monday going spare) so thought ideal time to get the last of the welding done, after all the weather was fine, if not a bit too hot.

So nice and early Friday morning I get all set up...


Only to discover I'm out of gas!!!! I must have left the bottle open and had a leak, as I'm sure I haven't used that much.

Also stranded at home with no useable car, so no option to do anything about it.
So a few days later I manage to get some Gas and the following Friday get a few hours spare so think I'd at least make a start, only to find my regulator is shot, obviously why the leak and no gas.




So again no progress, and currently waiting on a new regulator. The new one has gauges which the old one didn't so will hopefully tell me a bit more about what's going on.

Anyway, with a few hours spare and no chance to weld I thought I'd make a start on a few other jobs.

Fitted new spark plugs and leads, one at a time so no fear of muddling them up this time. Battery is out for welding, so haven't tested yet.

Also fitted new front brake hoses both sides, new exhaust rubbers as the old were very saggy.

Anyway, after reviewing the MOT advisory list, and knowing I'll have to resubmit for a full MOT since I'm way past the 10 day retest I thought I'd try and knock a few off so they don't turn into new fails next time.

So placed my 3rd order with AUTODOC, went for the easy option of complete front wishbones with bushes and balljoints fitted (cuz I have enough on my plate). And although not listed, thought it was easier to just replace, ARB mounts and links joints and Track Rod Ends. Also ordered rear beam bushes. I held off on new discs all round, they have surface rust from sitting for well over a year now, but I'm happy they are solid and that will clean off. It won't matter if it takes a couple of weeks to arrive, I'm sure I'll still have the parts before I'm ready to fit.

Oh, I also added a new central locking compatible boot lock (see previous) as AUTODOC sent me a £5 voucher, but I had to spend over £90 and the above list came in just under.


Any tips on doing the rear beam bushes? I'm not interested in refurbishing the beam at this point I just want a quick easy fit. I'm sure I read somewhere someone did the bushes in situ by just lowering out of the front mounts. Although if I do have to remove the beam I do have a 6 tonne press.

 

New welding gas regulator arrived and didn't fit, looked like it should be thread pitch is slightly out. Not sure if it's bad manufacture or just for a different type of bottle. New one ordered from elsewhere while I battle with eBay for the return. But another week lost. And my wife is getting very stroppy about the car on stands on the driveway still.

I week later the new regulator arrived, better quality, BS marked etc. Fits well.



So since then I've had 2 evening sessions, sorry pics are a bit lacking. Was just eager to get it done in fading light and wasn't focused on taking photos.

But first off, here's my blockade arrangement, 1. so I'm not shooting sparks at the other car, 2. to give a bit of wind protection, 3. to deter onlookers.



It works, and I have the theory if it's windy so the card blows over it's probably too windy to be welding outside.

Anyway, the first session was the rear corner, I only took these (poor quality) pics part way through:






I did get this finished and the outer panel on.

Second session was the front corner of the rear arch, again a bit light on the pics, but I did get this one.



You can't really see a lot as I was loosing light, but with a slap of filler over the join (still to be sanded) and some paint protection to cover the bare metal...







All welding is now complete, I can move on with the next stage.

Meanwhile. I started to apply Forever Black to the plastics, here's a half done pic of a sill cover:



I know my welding isn't excellent, but I'm learning and what I'm putting in seems to be adequate. Over the years I've paid for welding to be done, which I know has since had to be redone and I had a place set fire to my Beetle, so I'd rather take this on myself than let anyone else do it.

It might need doing again in years to come but hopefully I'll be more experienced by then so it's no big deal.

 

Looks great to me
What's this "forever black" you speak of?