1990 GTI MK2/ABF/5dr/Alpine White - Au - Mission Complete 1/7/2016

Don't show me those I've just been out to free an electric window for the nth time in the cold, dark and damp . Never lost a door panel screw before, but I have this time.

I looking sharp. I've only managed to wash mine once this year so far lol

 

I hadn't washed it too busy foolin around with a quad (that fell out of the sky). Weather is nice and cool here too, need to get interior back in but Im waiting on parts that are taking way too long to get here :/

 

The good, the bad, the ugly... What do you think?

I finally received the radiator



Bought these too
-

Threw money away on the grill it's been melted and bent and the side tabs are broken, top screw holes smashed, what were people thinking..

And the bumper, complete rubbish all the tabs are broken, how are you supposed to fit it?




At least I got my radiator, the bonnet looks like it's been bogged, so Im not sure it's going to be straight. The radiator frame has to be stripped and painted, but I knew that and it's straight. The bumper bar was also what I needed and it needs a small tap and should be better than what I have and my bumper skin will fit better, at least it has tabs left.

So all in all, I spent over 600 GBP for a new radiator and frame and bumper mount, the rest was scrap imho, now to get to a dump and spend money throwing it away!

 

Bogged? Is that the same as shat on?

It's a bit of a minefield to be sure buying parts unseen. I bought a spare sunroof panel off of ebay years ago it came in the right sort of box chronically packaged with bits of muddy old insulation rubbing against it. There was an unmentioned rust spot in the middle and it was actually a Red panel blown over with Helios Blue so I couldn't even use it as a practice/guide for using cutting compound on factory lacquer.

Try selling it on instead of dumping it.

 

Bog = Filler I asked if the bonnet was straight, a bonnet with filler isn't and never will be, specially a MK2 sitting on our hot sun! Took a closer look at bonnet, it's been filled as well, worse that mine. So it's off to the rubbish too, I don't sell on trouble, it find me, I wear it. I did get my radiator and the bumper bracket is better than mine, Wednesday radiator frame get stripped and painted, the fog lights might come in handy too

Bonnet has been previously repaired, I think mine's better, you never know I may give it a shot.




Spares I have if in need:

• ABF Dizzy
• ABF Hall sender
• ABF Cam Belt Tensioner
• MK2 Coil
• A heater pipe that looked right but isnt.
• A 675mm radiator with RHD Driver side In/Out
• CV joints
• 16V Top Radiator Flanges
• Oil Pressure sensors
• Several 8v (I think side head flanges)

There should be a master cylinder lying around somewhere too.

 

Beating the hood!

So I hooked up the vacuum cleaner to my sander with 80m grit, I should have used 40 grit to get more off and keep it cool. It wasn't as bad as I expected though I assume the underside is covered in spray putty as I saw the mustard colour of it while beating out the bumps. I've also sent the bumper and radiator mount to the sand blasters and it'll be ready Friday with a fresh coat of matt black for 30 GBP. He didnt want to do the bonnet because they warp with the friction and I was ok with that.


Here's a look at the original, it wasn't in good shape and I rushed the job and the filler shrank and the warping returned. The seam is hard to beat out and get right so I'm going to see how the other bonnet works out, if Im not happy I'll prime it, put it on and spend more time with the original. From memory a lot of the bumps were behind the subframe and I couldn;t get to them and excess filler isn't what I want for the MK2, cosmetics are fine but BOGGING isn't something I do on my own cars. When I was a lad and worked in a panel shop as the detailer I recall Taxis with huge dents in the doors and the boys would just grind and FILL, up to a kilo of the stuff as they weren't up for removing door skins etc, had to be in and out quick, yeah I've seen what happens behind the scenes.

 

Harry, send me your address for the sticker

 

I've been sweating over the bonnet all day and it suddenly dawned on me, this is Nige's colour... I'm stoked now, surely there's a horse or two just knowing that!!

 

I bet those taxis took turns well on the side with the bogging lol Frost Blue is a cracking colour my favourite Mk2 light metallic. You probably have the right climate being warm and humid to use Bilt Hamber deox-gel on rust patches like on that bonnet.

 

Bonnet prep

Finite tell me more about that rust gel...

I've given the underside a scuff and a light coat of spray putty and even more thinned on the top of the bonnet to prevent it rusting in our high temp hot humidty. While I was sanding back the top, it would seem the previous makeover painted over surface rust, I really didn't want to go to bare metal, but as I took the layers off I noticed a lot of very mild surface rust UNDER the layers. It's strange because it seems like Im down to factory primer, but underneath was the same spray putty Ive used, so it's been cut back hard before. I dont know the history of the bonnet.

Im apprehensive cutting back to metal, it might start getting hot the closer I get and I don't want to warp it, I used those gnarly wire wheels to remove the paint on my old bonnet and that's what warped it, so this time it was large grit and cold sanding. I did take that heavy rust spot right back and ground the section clean of rust, put the dolly on and worked the metal, and gave the top a quick very thinned once over, but I'm going to be cutting that back today.





PS: At least I made use of the bumper skin, came in handy as a cradle to hold the bonnet off the ground

 

Bonnet Prep. What a boring job !. Thing with bonnets, it has to be as good as you can get otherwise you see it everytime you walk up to the car. Much easier with wings or bumpers

Good luck with it.

 

Bonnet update

Nige, here's a question for you... When the ABF was installed, the throttle area of the intake was pressing against the bonnet and we had to cut out a peice of the bonnet to make it fit. While my son was driving it, he was pulled over by the police for a random check. They failed him on the cut out in the bonnet, apparently a structural breach, yes I know, he's 18 and they were giving him a hard time. But why is the ABF sitting higher than the 8V and have those with ABFs had this problem, is it an engine mount or are they all like that?

Tell me about it, and the thing is you have to go slow and let all the filler cure and shrink. That's what bit me last time, I rushed it. There's a couple of things I can't tolerate with cars I own:

1) Cracked Dash - Mike will save me in the near future.
2) Scratched clocks
3) Pitted windscreens
4) Wobbly bonnets.

I saw Cope's bonnet, I nearly cried, the reflections were perfectly straight, this time I'm going to wet it and check the reflections before the final coats. It's going to take me weeks at this rate, ever tried dry sanding back soft putty and sweating all over it. NOT FUN, I had to stop half way

The old bonnet:

NOT the correct way to strip a bonnet.


Looked good to me here hanging with primer, so I painted it.


Then after a buff, the warping was obvious and it's taken 3 years to get a bonnet.


Current progress, had to stop because of sweat dripping all over it.
I've managed to get a pretty good layer of filler on the front and the side near the seam that was dinged. Now I'm keeping it from rusting but will cut back a lot more of this layer to get all the edges nice and clean. Then another coat of spray filler and level that back, then onto priming. The underside came up quite well with two coats of spray filler, scotch pad and later a prime to do.

 

They are all like that. The throttle cable bracket catches on the bonnet without any modification.

Structural ? What a load of cobblers. It might stop the bonnet flexing at speed, but that`s all. You can cut it our `neatly`, smooth the edges to make it look like it was always that way then paint it and you`d most likely be fine. I suppose if this is a concern, you could ` reprofile` the bracing with a ball-pein hammer ? Just to made an indentation in the ribs like there is already in a few places ?

 

I'll have a look for some pictures of a bit of underside de-rusting I did on mine. I'm still unsure of the best way to handle it afterwards though as you need to wash it off with a lot of water.

 

Much appreciated, but its so hot and humid it's gonna start rusting if I leave it too long, I'm going to move on and get it finished. If it goes pear shaped and any surface rust comes through (nothing like the rust you have in UK), I'll do it another time. The bumpers and radiator support are getting sandblasted and painted, so I'm trying to tie in the bumper, radiator support, new radiator(which is what this was all about) and then the small ding on the guard to touch up, all at the same time and the bonnet is taking longer than I thought it would.

 

Isn't a concern for me at all, a complete joke to say it's structural. I'll get a dremel blade and slowly cut out and then fibreglass it in to keep them cops happy. I just didn't know if there was a wrong engine mount or whether everyone has to cutout, I'd not read it anywhere in the forums and thought it was an isolated case with our car only.

Yes, they were just hassling an 18 year old, if they said that to me, I'd put them in their place with some structured comments about how they need to go back to school, but you know how they are with the younger set, they like to bully people, it's understandable, they were jealous, it's a MK2 Valver it's a one off in .au and it's ours

 

Harry, I've found those rust gel before and after pictures. I've put them in my > thread < rather than clutter yours.

 

Clutter, this thread is all clutter in my opinion, but hey there's nuggets of cold in rivers of sand too!

That rust removing gel did a might fine job, must get some for all the other things rusty in my life!

 

[video=youtube;a28YukeL8gA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a28YukeL8gA[/video]

So I'm top coating with spray putty to seal it, then I cut it back to where the metal protrudes. I had to add a few more filler layers for the right side hollow to level, I think it's pretty close now. As Nige said, it takes forever to get right, I learned my lesson last time.



So just like Karate Kid... "Filler on, filler off!"

PS: If anyone's wondering why our Aussie posts can get missed, they are updated at the wrong timezone and it can be new for an hour only until you all wake up in Northern Hemisphere. So there's nothing wrong with the system.

 

A freind driving his MK2...

[video=youtube;a3QyZfDnIGI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3QyZfDnIGI[/video]