Sun was out yesterday so decided to get the car out for its first proper run since bolting the rear end back together. Did a 50 mile loop on some lovely back roads but about 15 miles in started to hear a whining noise coming from the rear when turning left. Got home and discovered both rear wheel bearings were incredibly loose! Took the wheels off and tightened them back up, but had to tighten them much more than a lot of the how to articles suggest. Took it for another short blast and the noise was gone, however on returning home there was a little play in them again. This time it felt more within the realms of what people describe as “normal” but will keep an eye on it. I’m hoping it’s just all the new parts setting in. And I also went through the pain of filling it up with premium unleaded… Still collecting parts for the front end rebuild. Will hopefully get going with that later in the summer.
The weather was too good to pass up so I headed out in the golf again today. Made a quick stop at a cars and coffee meet, and then did a bit of exploring. The whining noise from the back of the car has returned when I turn left ... Will have to do a bit more investigating to try and identify the issue. Did manage to stop and take a few phone snaps on the way home from the cars and coffee meet though.
I love these updates, keep them coming please! Although you really need a black number plate screw cap for that front plate over the 8
Haha. You feel my pain! I’m in the process of getting some dealer plates made so have decided to wait until those arrive before I sort that. Might run those without any screws at all to keep it nice and tidy.
Ah fair enough. I hate number plate screws as a rule but then sometimes bonding them on without the screws is a mission in itself. Not so bad on the painted panel but more so on the textured front bumper. Mine are holding up with some decent sticky pads after taking some time with the prep cleaning the surface so far, touch wood
Probably you cooked the bearings on the side it’s whining, I would replace when you can afford it ! Otherwise a stunner !
Have had a bunch of new bits arrive for the engine and front end refresh so started to chip away at some of the to do list. I have been debating if I should go down the poly bush route or not but have decided against it. Plan now is it use Vibratechnics engine mounts so as to keep the motor nice and tight, but use OE bushes for all the rest so as to keep the compliance as supple and comfortable as possible. I ended up buying lemforder bushings as they seemed to be highly recommended by all of you on the forum. I went with the TT/R32 rear wishbone mount and then standard MK2 ones for the front. The car currently has aftermarket wishbones on it so I tracked down a set of genuine early wishbones to try and get everything back to stock as possible. Next up was getting the wishbones all built up. It’s all pretty strait forward doing so but for anyone without a hydraulic pressure below is how I got the bushings in… Firstly I cleaned out some of the Powdercoating where the rear bushings would seat. The paint was quite thick and I didn’t want to make the job any harder than it needed to be trying to push the bushings in. I then used an old floor board and my bench vice and slowly pushed the bushing in. Pushing in the middle does nothing and the bushing just flexes, so I had to slowly make my way around the edge. Working mostly left and then right, I pushed the bushing in a few mm, and then switched to the other side. Eventually after repeating the process over and over it was all the way in. The reason I put the floor board on one side is that it had some give and allowed the bushing to push “through” the other side a little, meaning I could get it centred in the wishbone. the whole thing would have take two seconds with a hydraulic press but without one this seemed like the best way for me to do it. The front bushings were much easier. I put a 30mm socket behind the wishbone and used the vice to push the bushing in. Was very easy and popped right into place. I haven’t taken my old wishbones off yet so just set the ball joints in the middle before torquing then down. If it’s an issue when I bolt it all together I will adjust them at the point of getting the alignment done. And job done… tomorrow I will offer them up to the subframe and get that bolted together. I’m looking forward to seeing how the R32 bushes feel compared to the stock ones with holes in. With the G60 ARB I’m hoping the front is firm but not harsh. Will see how it goes when all done…
Nice work, what about drilling a hole on the wood to let centre of the Bush sit in so can press in square directly. Doing a similar job on the polo with rear wishbone bush swapped to ibiza cupra solid version rather than the cruciform standard, it's supposed to be a great improvement so would think TT ones would do wonders on the mk2
I actually tried that with a chunk of 2x4. Problem was the wood was too soft and just crushed instead of pushing the bush in. I think with a better quality bit of timber it would have worked a treat but the stuff I had was rubbish and as it crushed all the pressure went on the rubber instead of the metal retaining ring.
Made a bit more progress today getting bits and pieces put together. Decided to get the cross member and rad support done, and recall people saying that they have even been able to get the bushings in by hand… Well all I’m going to say is that I clearly don’t eat enough weetabix. After fighting with a single bush for about 30 minutes I rummaged around the garage to make a tool to do it as I was getting nowhere. I found a section of tube that could fit a bush inside and cut a section off long enough to fit a bush inside. It wasn’t a pretty solution, but in an effort to stop it chewing up the new paint on the cross member I wrapped it in tape. I then used my spring compressor and some washers to squash the bushes into the cross member. Even with this contraption it was a real bastard of a job! Even considered setting fire to the whole lot more than once. I’d hate to try and get some of those stiff poly ones in as there were stock ones and were bad enough. Anyway, after plenty of sweating and swearing they were in. On reaching for the brackets I realised I had forgotten to drop them off at the Powdercoater with everything else and the were looking a bit tatty. I gave them a once over with a wire wheel, primer, and then satin black and they were looking decent enough to go back together. pressed in and looking all shiny… lastly I bolted the front engine mount on and added the rad support. I don’t suppose anyone knows the torque spec for the engine mount? Searched all over but couldn’t seem to find it. Plenty reference for the bracket that bolts to the motor, but nothing for the mount to the cross member? I also got started putting the wishbones and ARB onto the subframe but decided the bolts were beyond salvaging so will order some new ones before I carry on with that.
Collected a few more bits from the Powdercoaters today. Most of them are for when I pull the motor out and refresh the engine bay, but the G60 ARB went strait onto the subframe. I almost never bought G60 specific drop links as I wanted the chunky Moog ones. They were not offset though, and I eventually went for some proper G60 spec ones. In the end I am glad I did as it seems regular ones would have barely reached the ARB. I was also pleased to see plenty of clearance with the G60 ARB. I have heard that people who use the Eibach ones sometimes have issues with wishbone clearance, and that’s what ultimately motivated me to track down a G60 instead. Now that it’s on and has plenty of clearance I’m glad I made that decision. I’m still waiting on a bunch of subframe bolts to arrive but after that I will get it all bolted up. I also need to order the rear engine mounts and then I am pretty much ready to tear the car to bits again…
