My 1991 Mk2 Golf GTi 8v 3-door Diary

Annual update.... well that's 2020 done! SORN just applied for November...



EEG was all comfortable but don't get used to it...



We have a new (NON-VAG) project (sorry!)...



Don't worry, EEG isn't going anywhere, other than outside for the winter i'm afraid. Despite some of the negatives, I am going to try a car covering(s).



Firstly, a soft inner all weather liner. Wheels off, discs covered, as high off the ground as possible.



Then, a non-woven, high quality tarpaulin, with plenty of eyelets.



See how she fares under that. See you in 2021!

2020 has passed with very little drama - which is what we like.

Just two issues...

I had one rear brake disc getting slightly hotter than the other, and a very slight bind, so a full refurb by BCS Calipology required with new sliders...



Another 2020 failure was the oil temperature gauge. This has always worked. Normally it's blank (displaying - - -) and then displays 50'c upwards. It then floats around 88-96 dependant on how hard you drive. Then one day, nothing, just displaying - - - all the time...



Firstly, the wiring to the sensor (on top of the oil filter housing) didn't look too clever...



Sorted that out...



Then replaced the sensor... amazingly still available... think the latest application is the 2010 Seat Alhambra (049 919 563A).



All good! Oil temperature gauge operation restored.

Like I say, that was an uneventful 2020. Not a single car show this year - I normally do VW Action at 'pod but Chinese Flu put a stop to that.

Some favourite pictures this year...









On a side note, my parents have just moved out of the family house of 38 years which meant a great clear out. They unearthed this photo of me which I believe to be fitting of ClubGTi...



That's me in about 1983 and my dad's Mk1 which he sold in 1985 for an Allegro. Yes, I know!

Here's to 2021 and hopefully a show season.

All the best; JKM.

 

2021!

What a year... but there has been some good news...

You know when you just keep looking at something, saying it's too expensive, but just keep on coming back to look at it?

I have done a very silly thing after a year of conjecture...




Blaupunkt Bremen SQR46 Installation

Removing all the previous spaghetti...



Hands-free... this is modern for me... we have officially arrived in 2003!



Lookin' good....




Dashboard Illumination

Whilst I was there, I took action on something that has annoyed me for years - heater control illumination. It appears to use a special bulb with the tails 'squished' onto connectors. Didn't think that would suffice so here is my solution...

Strip down the unit trying not to break it...



Find in your spare parts drawer a pre-bladed bulb holder. This was fluke to be fair and I have no idea what it was originally from...



Cut the back off the bulb port, which just by sheer chance, my square bulb holder is now a snug push fit...






Dash Switches

Whilst I was on a dash illumination mission, I considered all the switches. I'm not keen on LED conversion as the LED intensity is not congruous to age.

It was easier to actually buy the switches from Febi and they didn't cost the earth...



I think there are four headlamp switches available; early, late, Scandinavia (for day running lamps?) and UK (for dim-dips).

The UK switch has an extra pin for dim-dips, whereas the new one doesn't...



You lose your dim-dip functionality, but that isn't an MoT requirement anyways.

For some reason, VW made a totally compatible switch non-compatible with this blocker tab...



That has to be cut & filed off...




The irony being, if you plug in an early switch, there is no blocker, and you fry your wiring!

Basically, whatever switch you use, compare the pin-outs which are always number coded dependant on function.

Anyway, all sorted now. I have never known this headlamp switch to be illuminated in my ownership...



...or heater controls either...




Side Door Window Trims

The front door window scrapers are in two parts, a rusty metal trim, and a shrunken push fit seal/scraper....



As you can see, the metal trims were well past their best...





These go for silly money on eBay but what else can you do? New old stock item found...





All fitted with new rubber scrapers...




Wheels & Tyres

Every year I say I must get these professionally refurbished. Yet another year that hasn't happened; just a few cosmetic touch up's here and there...



Yet another cracked Toyo Proxes... but shock horror... The T1-R is discontinued! It is now the TR-1 with a totally different pattern.



Left, the old T1-R.... right; the new TR-1.

It is now asymmetric instead of rotational. I only wanted one tyre, but as a minimum had to buy an axle pair for symmetry. Annoyingly, I also noticed the huge price difference between 195/50 (cheap as chips) and my not so cheap but correct 185/55...

I paid the extra and maintained 185/55 which I will always. My front axle tread pattern no longer matches my rear axle but this will be rectified in time.


Accelerator Cable

I had noticed over a year ago that revs were 'hanging' ever so slightly between gear changes. Cause; a binding throttle cable. I had been checking VW Heritage and there was a myriad of cables. The one I wanted had been out of stock for months. Finally I sourced a cable...



Accelerator back to its snappy self.


Continued...

 

...continued from above...


Gearshift Gaitor

Another original item past its best...





That'll be 191711115CC22... a slightly abnormal looking VAG part number to me but that's what it is.

Available from Topran as a like for like exchange (for that part number). It's not quite the same but looks smart enough...




Grille Stripe

Another strong sense of job de ja vu here.... but the last paint was 9 years ago...




Rubbing Strips

These looked like they were slowly falling off. They are unobtanium on eBay, so detachment would be a bad thing for many reasons.



A couple of the mounting points for the clips broken and/or missing...



Resolved with some Tiger Seal...




Summer 2021

So after all that, ready for Summer 2021 with new oil & filter....



Errrr not so fast!

Snow mid-April!



It was finally on the road for May 1st. They were still salt gritting late April!

By the end of the first week we had issues already...


Driver's Window

I pulled up at work and tried to lower my window to scan my work pass at the barrier.

The window would only lower 3" and come to a thud of a halt.

Time to examine why...



A part of the winder mechanism had sheared, backed out and was stopping the window go down...





To be honest, failure was on the cards all round...



Still easily available and dirt cheap. These are like hen's teeth for some other classic cars I have owned... so refreshing to be able to buy stuff for something so old now!



Really easy to fit too and full window operation restored.


Idle Control

A problem that has been getting worse and worse over the years. When you pull the clutch in, the revs drop too low and the idle control valve (ICV) struggles to catch it. It never stalls, but the car shudders real bad. It's best described with this graph...



Whilst in Neutral...

(1) Rev the engine
(2) Off the throttle and let revs free-fall
(3) Engine revs drop well below your idle base line
(4) The ICV catches it
(5) Revs settle to idle (controlled by ICV)

It is the yellow section I want to eradicate. The car shudders badly as the engine is close to stalling.

Firstly I thought it was idle control valve related, so I changed the coolant temperature sensor...



Then a new idle control valve.. the old one is original so might be gummed up...



Made absolutely no difference whatsoever

Anyway, cut a long story short, with 185,000 miles, I think it was wear to the throttle stop...



I adjusted the throttle stop (with a warm engine) to be just below the idle base line. This means the ICV has less to 'catch' and it eliminates that yellow section of the graph.

Post-adjustment of the throttle stop, you have to adjust the throttle switches. The bottom one is so hard to get to, I found it easier to just whip off the throttle body and set the idle switch via multi-meter...



Conclusion; much much better. Blip the throttle and the revs smoothly meet the baseline. Very happy.


1991 to 2021 ~ 30 Years Young

Just a little history write-up to mark 30 years old. Not for everyone this part, but I'm a huge geek for this stuff...



I have the PDI dated February 1991; so some 30 years ago now. The car was delivered new to an address in Peterborough, about 15 miles from my home today.



That sale was made by Crowsons in Spalding, Winsover Road.

Here's Mr. Crowson sat at the forecourt where my car was sold...



Here's some further pictures with Volkswagen Audi showroom branding circa 1984...






They moved from this address in 1994, so my car definitely rolled out of here in 1991.

You get so used to main dealers today having almost cathedral like showrooms - so it seems amazing that an Audi main dealer operated out of an old petrol station... but that's how it was.

Thanks to Google Maps, here's a shot of the premises. You can make out the double pitched roof, arrowed, although the old petrol station canopy has gone.



To mark 30 years young, I took a little road trip with my fresh 2021 MoT...






Oh dear... too late

Least the car has outlived the building!

Genuinely hope I can do a 40 years old update on here!

Kind Regards; JKM.

 

Fantastic reading, love the dealer trip, even if ended up visiting a hoarded clearing.
Excellent.

 

Absolutely brilliant Sir!

 

Great thread

 

sign on the green MK1 'Petrol Miser'

Really like the canopy pictured above, find the design of these fascinating (Albert Frey, Tramway is my favourite) they seem to capture a time in history when motoring was exciting and surrounded by optimism, I do wonder if canopy design will be invigorated again with EV charging stations.

Great thread really enjoyed reading it, here's to the next ten years

 

Great write up and really enjoyed reading it
- i am guessing the price on the cars in 1984 just can quite make them out and back then i wonder if they knew
how expensive todays volkswagens (and cars generally) would have become

 

2022

New year, new tin-worm problems!

Sadly, you just can't escape it's age or miles, so it's back underneath we go...



I regularly check classifieds and see many other 1990 or 91 cars for sale, with 130,000+ miles, claiming "NO RUST". Just can't see that myself...


Nearside Front Jacking Point

This is strong déjà vu as I did the offside a few years back...



Same again, cut out...



Salvage the cup...



and rebuild...




Chassis Rails

Corrosion on the forward chassis rails which is especially annoying as the fuel pipes run inside...



Fuel pipes all withdrawn and welded accordingly.

Although I cursed at the time, fuel hose removal was a blessing in disguise. Quite perished and these are only five years old...




Rear Corners

Whilst underneath, couldn't help noticing something that looked suspicious...



Foolishly I removed the bumper which revealed all sorts of issues...



Inspection after exhaust removal...



Not good, to say the least.

I cut out all the bad stuff...



Luckily, I was just able to keep the exhaust aperture...



I know full rear panels are available, but it just seemed a bit extreme to cut the whole tail off. I decided to fabricate what I need...



All fresh metal, inside and out...



Schutz and paint...



I'm not a professional bodyshop guy (obviously) - but that's good enough in my eyes for something hidden behind a bumper...




Exhaust

Nothing but good things to report with the old Jetex. That's nearly ten years old now and looks good as gold...



Good time to spruce up the heat shields (again!)...



Re-tapping my floor pan studs which are corroding real bad...



... and securing with nylocs and repair washers instead...




Rear Bumper

This was looking pretty sorry for itself...



The historically car park bruised bumper bar (not me) stripped and zinc powder coated...



Time to fix that broken bumper guide (arrowed) and I bought a new guide in preparation...



However, I felt nervous drilling out this melted attachment point, with it being millimetres from the outside skin...



I chickened out and decided to repair the old mount instead. First, file away all remains of the top guide...



Fabricate a new guide from stainless and pop-rivet and Tigerseal into place...




Side Skirt Disaster

I was just tidying things up and getting ready to remove the jack stands. I crawled out from underneath the car and the back of my jacket caught my side-skirt with an almighty crack. Disaster....



I had accidentally busted every securing clip...



...and every single clip bracket... the remains of which staying in the "holder"...



With spare parts being discontinued this is now difficult. The easy solution is a shed load of tiger seal, but it's a fairly safe bet that the sills will need welding one day, so I wanted a clean bolt-on, bolt-off, solution - no tiger seal involved thank you!

I made a selection of brackets out of stainless steel...



This enabled me to use my new toy; a riv-nut gun...



Fitted to the sill...



My sideskirt is now secured by stainless bolts...





Not "OE" I know - and that pains me - but my hands are tied.

I'll do the nearside some other day.


Parcel Shelf

About 12 years ago, I removed the original shelf and made an MDF shelf. Don't worry, the original un-cut shelf is still safe in my loft!

However, after 12 years, the MDF is showing its age and had sagged like a banana. I used this now sagging shelf as a template...



...and made as smart a job as possible with the new one...



Note the 90' ally strips to prevent sagging this time.

Looking good enough...



New MoT and fit for another year we hope...



I'm a bit of an originality geek but we are entering a new era now. Parts are drying up and sometimes you have to engineer your way out of things - like the side skirts. Makes me sad when I show things on here that aren't OE, but i'm boxed into a corner. Hopefully the fact that the car still exists trumps the fact that any method is no longer OE.

I don't like to talk about values - but have you seen some used prices of late!?! It's a crazy situation that I have arrived at this position by default. I'm still using it as a (summer) daily - this Tuesday it drove through a thunderstorm and localised flooding. There comes a point where that becomes a bit silly looking at some of these advertised prices. Perhaps they are all dreamers?

Anyway, I enter 2022 and the ownership experience after 14 years becomes ever more surreal. To me it's still the £1400 car I went over budget for

As is customary, some photos on the next post...

 

... CONTINUED...







All the best, here's to the 2022 show season.

Jay.

 

Great read Mk2 looks fantastic!

 

Awesome work mate!

 

Great work - Can i ask what colour is that - Pearl grey??

 

Awesome work on the side skits. Your solution looks spot on.

 

Thanks for the kind words.

Yes, its Pearl Grey Metallic (LA7U). Many people mistake it for Atlas grey but that's not the case. I think Pearl Grey replaced Atlas Grey 1990 onwards (?). My 1991 brochure only lists Pearl Grey that's for sure.

I sometimes see classified ads for 'H' and 'J'-reg cars which also say Atlas Grey. To the best of knowledge that can't be.

 

2023

So, this happened...



Which normally means more of this...



Let's do something I have been putting off for years...



Yep; the rear beam. Every year I get the same comments from the MoT tester; "your rear beam bushes look awful mate, but there's no free play"

It came to a point where the same remarks each year was just too embarrassing!




Rear Suspension Beam

Here we go then...

Cutting off seized nuts that haven't been turned in 32 years...



Removed and all stripped down. Stub axles off...



Amazingly, hanging bracket bolts came undone without a fight...



Box of parts off to powdercoat...



Told you they didn't look pretty...



No actual freeplay, just incredibly ugly.

Drill out the centre sleeve...



Then hacksaw the casing...



I just knicked the beam with the hacksaw so plugged with weld...



... and filed round...



... then off to sand blasting & powdercoat...



New Lemforder bushes...



I then purchased a third, chinese-special, very much non-Lemforder "sacrificial" bush...



I cut the innards out and used the shell...



...the idea being it's the exact opposite shape, which makes for a good press tool...



Winding the new bushes in with threaded bar...



... and the powdercoat lived to tell the tale...



New anti-roll bar bush...



Mounting brackets bolted up...



Rear shock mounting nylocs in the restored captive brackets...



These are getting more difficult to find; the clips that go into the beam to support the park brake cable...



...fitted...



These too are getting scarce; the specific brake pipe mounting clips...



New brake hoses that hinge from body -> beam...



With a new Brembo load sensing valve....



Fitted and all bled out.

All ready to adjust and tighten when the wheels back on the deck...



Job jobbed..... only after much procrastination. Rear beam finally sorted.

You'll be pleased to know it hasn't made the slightest bit of difference handling wise. It has cheered up my MoT tester though.


Rear Jacking Point

Whilst poking around the back, the nearside rear jacking point was not looking too clever...



All cut out...



... section fabricated...



.. all welded and ready for wax injection through that hole, plus stone guard.





Steering Rack (Again)

My current refurbished steering rack has done 9,000 miles before I noticed a significant loss of PAS fluid.

Time to drop the subframe again :rage:



Pouring out from the gaiters for both the nearside and offside...



Spoke to the refurbisher - obviously it was my fault :confused:

"Contaminated fluid" apparently. It was fitted with new fluid and fully flushed but you can't argue.

Sent away for yet another refurbishment...



I'm told it's now gold standard... rack bar polished... casing line bored... different seal supplier... 48hr pressure tested... and £260 lighter of course.

To eliminate allegations of "contaminated fluid" for next time, I sourced an in-line PAS filter. To be fair, the Mk2 has no filtration. The reservoir is simply a box.

This Edelmann filter is designed for the job. It has traditional filtration, plus a magnetic filter too...



All fitted noting the FLOW arrow...



All fitted & bled out.

Annoyingly, I sent the rack away with the track rod ends fitted. It came back with them removed. Number of turns unknown.

So had to set the tracking up from scratch, steering centralised, turns equal...



All done, let us hope that it's fit & forget this time. Can't do it a fourth time.

That damn rack has nearly done as many miles in a cardboard box as it has fitted to the car.



... CONTINUED ...

 

... CONTINUED FROM ABOVE ...


Underbonnet Fuel Hoses

Just doing some pre-flight checks and noticed my fuel lines to the engine are perished real bad. Again!

They can only be two years old...



Time to swap them all out. The supply line to the rail can be done with just straight hose. However, the return line is more difficult as it needs to be a tight "S" bend to avoid kinking and the hot exhaust manifold.

This would be achieved using 037133988Q but i'll be damned if i'm paying £75 for 10" of hose!



Previous years I have made my own rudimentary "S" bend...



Which is fine, but time consuming to build. Also, the hose has perished in no time, meaning it has to re-built all over again...



There must be a better way!

After a bit of searching I found Gates "MFL1110" for a Vauxhall...



It has all the pre-formed bends you could ever need and (with a bit of trimming) fits a treat. All for £5.77!



Fuel Lines

Previous years I have had trouble with leaks at the connection point between nylon line and hose...



To make the hose more secure I have converted the end of the nylon lines to proper serrated 8mm connection points...



I heat the line with a hair dryer, clamp the connection piece, bit of soapy water and just go for it...



Sorted...





Fuel Filter

11 years ago I changed this. The external corrosion on the casing suggested time for another change...





"What neglect" you say changing fuel filters every 11 years. Well here's the dissection...



Shocked at just how clean it was.


Exhaust Hangers

I've said it before, but the car has an incredible appetite for exhaust hangers...



Doesn't matter what brand you use.

All renewed before they snap...




MoT Time

As usual, this has all taken much longer than expected and the MoT ran out.

It's such a pain to MoT a car with no actual MoT. You want to road-test and shakedown well before the test but this isn't legally possible. Instead, your shakedown has to be done en-route to your pre-booked MoT. This is not ideal.

Anyway, fighting fit again...



Only 10k miles away from being worthless



All the best;

JKM