Nige`s Golf MK2 2.0 16V Turbo track car with Aero. www.pinderwagen.com

Nige you are a god in the eyes of all mk2 enthusiasts. Keep it up, this is top notch!!!

 

this is such a sweet build thread, nice work, again!!

andy

 

Loving this thread Nige! I like the way you've got the family helping you, keep up the good work.

 

Fitted the Engine,


I`ll post details later, however, I have a slight problem in that the radiator I had was an uprated corrado one, the one that came with this golf is smaller, which in itself is OK, however, the hoses I have for the top of the radiator to the engine block are unsuitable.



The Red / Green outlined ones are what I have, I need the invisible blue one

Any ideas where I can source one?

 

sure they are cheap enough from gsf? its only the one top hose for a mk2 16v.

 

doh, is that all it is??? Thought it was something special...

Cheers.

 

Can't you just use the one that is circled in green? but flipped over?

 

andrew, thats a good suggestion, I had actually tried it after my wife said the same thing !!. it fits, in a fashion, but it is slightly kinked, I`ll see how it goes when its under pressure.

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

Today was engine fitting day. Set up my portable scaffold and block again and after manhandling it into position, I connected it to the block


Lifted above the engine mounts and then thought that instead of skinning my knuckles when bolting up the exhaust downpipe, I`d do it whilst I had a bit more access, then lower the engine, worked much better :thumb:
Load of access !


Lowered Engine onto the mounts and fitted the front crossmember. However, the crossmember caused me some problems. Its held in place temporarily by 2 long bolts (about 55mm long), but the ones I had were 45mm and were too short. I had put the bolts into a bag when I removed the engine and every other bolt i`d needed to mount the engine was there, apart from those 2. It took me several minutes to realise the bolts the the rear engine mount used were the 45mm ones, and I`d fitted the 55mm ones, leaving me with the 45mm ones that were too short :shame: . Swapped them around and it fastened into place properly.


I then started connecting the wires and pipes back to the engine, everything was going really well, I had to refer to my photos that I`d taken of the engine in the old shell a couple of times, but most were pretty obvious. However, I came to a stop when I tried to connect the water pipes to the heater matrix.


If you look at the above photo, you`ll see the pipes going throught the bulkhead and those from the engine, but I just couldnt get them to mate up. After several attempts, I stood back and realised that I`d left the valves on the engine pipes, and they were also still connected to the bulkhead on the new car What a fool... Removed one set of connectors and it went in place easily...

The radiator expansion tank had been secured by a random piece of aluminium in the old car, that I always thought looked a bit cheap, seeing as I`d bought a welder, I decided to weld the bracket into place

My first weld on the car..


And the expansion tank secured to its new secure bracket :thumb:


Next up was the tie rod end, this went in easily, however, it is slightly tapered and I could not get the locknut to turn, the whole shaft was spinning.

Found a simple solution, use some of these pliers to squeeze the taper into the socket, this locked it enough to be able to tighten the locknut

The lower balljoints had been a pain to remove, the hole where they were secured was pretty corroded.


to ensure I had a fighting chance in the future I cleaned it out with a wire wheel attachment in the drill


All clean and greased up ready for fitting. :thumb:


Fitted a well greased new lower-balljoint bolt


Pushed the tie rod end into place.


When I tried to tighten it, the shaft started spinning. Its a tapered shaft and it wouldnt grip. To stop this, I squeezed the tie-rod into the hub and this caused enough friction to enable me to tighted the new locknut :thumb:


The hub all assembled ready for the wheel :thumb: (I`ve used the old suspension to enable the car to be moved, once the coilovers arrive I can quickly swap them over)

 

Good work, and in no time atall.

 

Sorry to hear about your other car, I've been reading your threads with great interest. Keep up the good work and your second car looks brilliant.
Hope to see this car in the flesh sometime.
Cheers
Sukhvir

 

New front coilover ready to assemble


I am well aware of what can happen to coilovers if you dont grease the threads properly. These are GVK`s after 3years on the car and no greasing !


Applied liberal amount of grease to the whole thread (an old paintbrush is ideal for applying grease to items and not your fingers


Then simply removed the old ones I`d temporarily fitted and bolted in the new one. I`ve set the height to a mid (ish) point and will fine tune once its on the floor.


Just fitted one tonight, i`m working tomorrow and didnt want to be late, but i`ll try and get the rest fitted tomorrow.

 

minor report update, more details to follow..

Tried starting the engine today. First turn of the key and this is a clip of what happened...

 

I was waiting for it to explode nice work nige will be on the road soon?

 

lol, bloody glad it didnt !!!. Hope to be on the road by next weekend.

 

Me too!
Good work Nige, looking forward to seeing you at the Ring sometime soon.

 

When I refitted the front subframe, I noticed the mounting rubbers were pretty worn and cracking in places. The new ones arrived today, so I fitted those.

Supported the front engine mount and unbolted the subframe
You can see the existing rubber mount here


Saw through it


Then just pull it out of the subframe


Thoroughly grease the subframe and the new bush



I didnt have a suitable vide / press available, so a length of threaded bar, spacer washers and bar with a hole in the middle does the job of a small press :thumb:


Ensure the bush is aligned CENTRALLY to the hole, or it will not go through....


Tighted the bolt to compress the bush, which slowly pushes it through the hole. Make sure it stays central by `wiggling` the threaded bar if necessary


Here you can see the bush 80% through the hole


The bush will `pop` through the hole without a massive amount of force, of you find one edge doesnt come through all the way, just move the threaded bar around with your hand and that should be enough to make it come all the way through


The new bush in place


and the completed front subframe


Whislt I was fitting the bushes, Louise said she would remove the soundproofing form the ceiling... Taking care not to use anything that would damage the roof externally, she used a 6" steel rule and hairdryer to remove the insulation


After quite some time, she had finished, its now ready for a quick clean with some white spirit, then I can start on the roll cage :thumb:


Meanwhile, I refitted the front slam panel, lower valance, bumper, chin spolier and grille :thumb: I need to get hold of the metal panel that sits at the bottom of the grille, and above the bumper, visit to scrap yard required I reckon....


I`ve had to re-solder many of the connectors for the headlamps / indicators as they are slightly different / damaged on the loom. I`ve got the dipped beam and nearside main beam and indicators working. Having a spot of lunch then back on with it this afternoon.

 

You've been busy again this weekend Nige! Nice work

 

good work nige... love your tech tips... always very useful!

 

I hope someone finds them useful

This afternoon, Louise finished her mammoth task of removing the soundproofing, she managed to remove of 2KG worth...Hairdryer and scraper did the trick, slow and steady. It needed to warm up before it would `peel` off


Afterwareds, a scrub with white spirit and job done


I found out why my clutch was `sticking`, I`d forgotten to fit this rubber... It goes on the release arm and `spaces` the clutch cable so it is always tight, without it, the cable was slack and thats why it wasnt releasing properly, there was no tension on the cable...


Spent the afternoon finishing the electrics, I now have working Headlamps, indicators, windscreen washers and main beam. The horn isnt working, so i`ll look into that.

I mounted the Bias valve in the cabin again, I need to get a brake pipe modified. I made one with Chris, but its 8" too long so I`ll go to the local motor factors and shorten it tomorrow. I can then fill the brake system so I`ll have working brakes.
Went to the local scrapyard, wanted the bit of metal that clips onto the bottom of the front grille, it goes above the bumper and below the grille, but the cars in didnt have it, so my search continues....