'E-MAD' - 1988 Mk2 Golf 16v Track Car Project - Seats & 'Wheel lowered...

Hi All,

I thought I'd start a thread on the joint track car my friend Neil and I are working on ready for the 'Ring in the summer.

Some of you will recognise the car as the guy we bought it from, Paul, occasionally posts on here and it's seen some track action already, as on this nice photo I've borrowed from a thread on the Northloop forum




I'm pretty sure the car has had a few other owners from CGTI over the years too who might be glad to see it still going?

Basically it's an '88 Golf Mk2 16v, 3 door in red with about 190k miles on it (just run in etc...) in fairly standard fettle. This is a pic of the car when it arrived on my driveway, thanks to Paul for delivering it!




The car was already partially stripped out and fitted with bucket seats, harnesses, vdo gauges, a 4-branch manifold, larger (256mm) late model 16v front brakes, a funny little steering wheel and a few other bits and pieces. Most importantly it was reliable, had an MOT and tax and could be used straight away.










My initial thoughts were to keep it as it is, perhaps just give it a once over on the brake side of things and find a roll cage for it but then Neil came to visit and we started, er... 'lightening' the car a little, it is a track car after all...





This is Neil working on the rear of the car, once we'd removed most of the trim, rear seat etc. he decided to remount the boot light with a little switch in the side of the car, there was a hole just the right size for it - handy...




It ended up looking like this that day, kind of 'minimalist'...




I found this part... tried it on, as you do... didn't fit me that well....






We even removed the passenger seat, not to save weight but for this festive purpose...




Aside from setting the timing, checking fluids and belts, wheelnuts, brake pads etc that was it for now and we did a bit of driving round town terrorising the locals in it - good fun.

Due to the weight reduction, the car was already getting to be comparable in acceleration to my other 'daily' Mk2 which has a 2 litre engine, P&P'd head etc.... and we had more plans up our sleeves in the power department...

 

The next step in the budget track car build was to definitely not buy another engine or brakes... oh hang on, no, we did that...

Steph on here obligingly delivered a nice ABF (2 litre 16v) engine and some larger G60/VR6 (280mm) size front brakes. Stored them away in the garage for now and continued fixing various little problems and reducing weight where possible.

We decided that the door cards, centre console and sound deadening had to go, well it was that noisy anyway that we thought we might as well! We also took out excess wiring, central locking and various other bits and bobs.

Relocated the electric window switches (yes, it still has electric windows at the moment!) to the dash, cigarette lighter the same and then removed the console and various other bits of trim and tidied up the doors with the cards removed.








This is how it looks now, and in the rear 'luggage' area...




Nice!


Plans are now to get my spare flywheel lightened ready for the ABF engine, baffle the sump (might just do this DIY style) and fit the ABF with a new clutch. Need to fit the oil cooler I got too, then the larger front brakes preferably with SuperBlue fluid and braided hoses.

We're still on the lookout for a decent (read CHEAP!) rollcage for this car if anyone spots one, if I can't find one soon I'm going to find some tubing and a pipe bender and enlist my brother in law who's a handy welder in his spare time and DIY build a cage!

As for further weight reduction, aside from swapping to manual winding windows that's about it I think. Sunroof removal looks too big a job at this stage to be honest, plus the ventiliation may come in handy! In the future perhaps plastic windows but want to keep costs down for now.

I wondered if it's worth getting out the rear seat base metal that's welded in and removing that? Doesn't look structural but I expect it doesn't weigh much either?

So, that's progress so far - comments and suggestions welcome

 

think i would leave the elec windows .

 

looks like fun, how much has it cost over all so far? if you don't mind saying....

nice one

 

Its maybe a bit sad that I recognised the number plate
http://www.clubgti.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=122442

 

Best cheap/free thing I can think of is more weight removal.

Not a fun job but the you can loose the tar type sound deadening (i think its something like tar)

It lines the footwells and the exhaust tunnel and surrounds base of gear stick . It all adds up to a fair old weight once removed. Best way to get it off is to heat with a hair dryer and scrape off. Clean up what might be left with white spirit.

Keep up the good work!

Ad

 

Ooh that used to be mine, it was a bit shabby when I picked it up, looked much better when I sold it onto the last owner though

You mention the mileage, are you aware it was fitted whith an 18k old rebuilt engine? (well it was 18k old when I bought it, obviously slightly more now)

Someone has posted a link to my thread on the car which shows the changes I made when I had it

 

Good work so far. With regards to lightening, have you considered getting a pressure washer and cleaning the arches and underside of the car to get rid of all the mud and road grime? A few kgs to be lost there.

 

why dont you put some electric window switches in the dash?

 

Thanks for all the replies

Yes, I've changed my mind a little on that one and think the electric windows will be staying for now.

Not sure exactly, but not too much yet. I would hope to have the whole car bought, built up and ready for track action for about 2 -3k depending on spec if all goes well but having trouble sourcing a cheap roll cage so that might bump the price up a fair bit.

Good work! I knew I'd seen it before too, nice to reveal a bit of history on the old girl

Thanks for posting, nice to find the previous, previous owner (if you see what I mean!).

Yes, I knew about the engine being rebuilt not too many miles ago, Paul told us that when we bought it from him and it runs great and certainly goes very well indeed for a standard 1.8 16v. It's a shame to swap the engine really but the extra torque of the 2 litre will come in handy at the 'Ring in particular plus my brother in law has a Mk1 that may well need a bit of 16v power so it will probably go to a good home...!

Done! I might not have mentioned it above but when we removed the centre console we messed around and re-routed the wiring to mount the window switches in the spare dash blanks where the hazard warning switch etc is.


For those who mentioned lightening the car further - yes, that's the plan but I got fed up removing sound deadening and stuff the other weekend so it stands as in the pics for now.

Any more comments or suggestions?

 

Here's what I got up to at the weekend, been a while - thought it was time for an update!

Started with this - standard 1.8 KR, nice and basic - no PAS or A/C to contend with unlike when I did my green Mk2...




Take some bits off to help get the engine out...






Wings look ok, battery tray not too grotty but some of the wiring is a little suspect and needs attention... it is 20 years old I suppose...!






Plumbing and wiring all disconnected, slam pannel etc removed. Loosened engine mounts, scarily some weren't very tight to begin with...!




Not got a photo but at this point came the dread driveshaft removal, well, un-bolting from the gearbox end - I hate this job. Took a while and lots of patience with the right tool to save rouding the heads of any bolts but they come off in the end.

Next, apply engine crane with car jacked up under front subframe. As I was working on my own it took a bit of fiddling back and too to get the engine up and out as I couldn't be bothered removing the front bumper and cross beam etc.






I wanted to leave the exhaust manifold attached so un-did at the joint under the car, near the base of the gear stick and carefully brought the engine up and out.
It had gone dark at this point, hence the poor pic!




Engine, gearbox and manifold out as one piece and resting on the crane in my garage for dismantling...




Packed up for the day then, that was a Saturday afternoon well spent!

 

Sunday now - only had a spare hour so didn't get much done, made a bit of progress though.

This was the engine bay in the light of day - not too bad. Bulkhead heatshield as a little bent from catching on the manifold as I pulled the engine out the day before, it will be re-shaped and put back into place.




Four branch manifold came off nice and easy once in the garage, will re-use this on the ABF engine. Wonder if it's worth heat wrapping it before re-fitting, any thoughts?






Stubbern inlet manifold allen head bolts took some persuasion to get off the head, but got there in the end. Can you spot what's wrong in this pic just after I removed the manifold?




No... closer pic of inlet port number two...




Yes - that's the spark plub removal tool thingy stuck in there - how did it get in there? Must have been restricting the air flow a little...?!?
Someone must have dropped it while fitting the manifold in the past!




Engine as it stands now, got the alternator off, loosened a few other bits and pieces... ABF engine is in the background in a nice green plastic sheet.




I intend to keep on with a bit during the week, get all the parts off we need for the other engine and wait for the lightened flywheel to come back from the machiners, sump baffles to arrive etc. then re-assemble with the 2.0 engine next weekend.

Any comments and thoughts much appreciated

 

Good work Stu, that spark plug removal tool can't have been helping performance much!

Before you ask, I didn't fit the manifold

Glad to see the direction your taking with the car, I was planning to do exactly the same

Keep the updates coming

 

Cheers - it's going well, thought you'd like to see the old girl getting a make-over of sorts!

 

Another hour in the garage last night...

Removed more bits from the KR engine to clean up and swap onto the ABF engine... water pump, brackets, pulleys etc...




Separated engine and gearbox...




Gearbox seems in good nick, just needs cleaning up and will be refitted with new clutch and lightened flywheel onto ABF engine. It's one of very few 'non crunchy 2nd gear' 'boxes I've ever used in a Mk2 - rare rare rare!




Took the distributor and a few other bits and pieces off after that, not too much left to get off the old engine now and can begin building up the 'new' one.

 

Definately, I do miss the car, had a fun summer tinkering with it, and the four branch sounded awesome

Mind you the MK2 I bought after I sold the valver isn't too bad

The box was/is sweet, I couldn't beleive how good it was, I have a feeling it was rebuilt before I got it as it looked very clean/painted

 

think this is my favorite track day car on here.... when is the first outing planned?

 

Thanks - a compliment indeed!
Not sure on the first outing, as you'll see from my next post in a minute, progress isn't quite as quick as planned on the engine swap...

 

Weekend update - some good, some bad, some frustrating...!

First, here's a pic from last week of the car sat waiting for it's engine next to my daily green Mk2




So, Friday - started dismantling the front of the car to make access easier while Neil was working on the engines - swapping bits from the old to new in the garage.

Weather was rubbish hence dark pic, ended up like this...




Wheeled him into the garage to continue, tidying up engine bay etc...




Engine bits - ABF in foreground, checking cam timing, KR at the back...




ABF sump cleaning ready for baffling... til we worked out it was alloy and couldn't weld plates in... oops...




Bottom end without sump




Saturday, new windage tray, was going to baffle as well but decided to stick with nice alloy standard sump and just fit this...




Oil pump going back on after windage tray




Fitted...




Sump on, gave it a clean...

 

Did various other bits and pieces, picking up the lightened flywheel from the (not very) local courier depot as they weren't going to deliver it 'til Monday for one.

Also fitted some hoses, cambelt and tensioner, belt covers and stuff, oh, and tidied up and painted slightly grotty battery tray.

Sunday (today)... flywheel time... or maybe not as we'll see!

Anyway... lightened / balanced flywheel, all the meat that's usually there next to the starter ring is gone!






After bending a screwdriver that I was locking the engine with I remembered to do it this way with some bolts and a spanner...




Test fitted new clutch and flywheel with old bolts first...




Found new bolts in bag of bits from GSF... they seem a bit short...




Old bolt for comparison...




Together...!




So, had to give up with the flywheel fitting, and therefore more or less halted progress 'til I can get new bolts from the VW dealer. I knew there was a reason I didn't get them from GSF last time I did this a few years ago on the green car!

Engine as it stood...




Decided a test fit of the engine wouldn't go amiss anyway so attached gearbox and flywheel but just with a few old bolts for now.




Neil putting the manifold on, awkard b@stard that it is...




Due to time constaints, lack of bolts etc. we decided to just get the engine in more or less the right place and leave the gearbox off so I can fit it once the new flywheel bolts are in place. Shouldn't be too bad (hopefully!) with all the front panels off the car. I've done gearboxes before from underneath with the engine in the car and hated it so fingers crossed this is easier.

As it stands now, Neil pointing out piece of wood acting as a handy engine brace in place of the front crossmember...




Oh well - nearly there!