With the gussets done, the focus was back on the scuttle. Another fibreglass hole was revealed near the wiper. This was cut out, and a some fresh sheet welded in. The scuttle was then keyed with 400 grit paper by hand, making sure to get into the gaps in the panels. I’d managed to get a trim tool under the roof gutters and lift them up enough to get some masking tape under them, which worked surprisingly well! Etch primer applied in a can, wet sanded with 800 grit ready for 3 coats of base coat, followed by 2 coats of clear. Really happy with the finish. There is some dust in the clear which is inevitable without a proper booth, but I should be able to wet sand these out. The image below is straight out of the gun. One thing I’ve learnt from painting a few things now, is in the clear coat. The clear I use recommend a 2-1 ratio of clear to hardener with 10% thinners, I’ve found this doesn’t flow through the gun well and it doesn’t really atomise very well. I use around 20-30% thinners in the mix, and the paint seems to go on really nicely! Obviously, you run more risk of runs, but it's a lot less work after wet sanding and polishing. I’ve also picked up a new windscreen, this one is a factory green tint with a blue top tint band. I can confirm a mk2 screen fits in the back of a e36 BMW with about 3mm to spare
I managed to get all the scuttle buttoned up over the weekend. But firstly, sometimes things don't always go to plan… When I was welding, I had a thin plastic painters sheet over the bonnet, with a big sheet of cardboard over the top. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough, the splatter from the welder got through and destroyed the paint! And the cardboard had left loads of marring in the paint. Not pretty… Not knowing how much paint I had left to play with I had to just go for it, with the thought that I’d probably have to paint the bonnet as well. So I had nothing to lose. At this point I decided to give both the bonnet and scuttle a really good machine, as I just wasn’t happy with the dust nibs in the paint, so I decided to wet sand them out as well. I used some 2500 grit on the nibs and a 3000 3M Trizact disc on the rest of the panel, this takes the heads of any inconsistencies. Usually a quick flick over with the machine and she’s grand, but this time it was a real pain to get the wet sanding marks out. For some reason the paint was rock hard. I ended up using G3 cutting compound on a hard pad, and my machine set on a faster speed than I was comfortable with. The danger on such a skinny panel is cutting through an edge in the panel or bonnet. There was some serious heat in the panel from the machine work but luckily it went well. Refined using Menzera Medium on an orange medium pad and finally Menzerna Super finish on a red soft pad. I’ve said it before, any type of paint work is stressful… at any moment you’re back to square one, so I was very happy to have this one ticked off. Luckily the bonnet survived! Treated myself to a cold one! I then managed to refit the new screen on my own, using some builders brick level string in the seal, putting pressure on the outside while working the string around the inside in a circular motion. The new top tint has really grown on me! Almost like a factory sunstrip, which is right up my street. Last job was a clean of the glass and a couple of coats of Swissvax Sheild Wax. Glorious.
Your 16v engine used to be in my old track car I think. I sold it to a guy who I assume is your mate 2 years ago (I think, could've been more) the engine was definitely the highlight of that car. It needed too much work for me to keep it but I'm glad the engine is going to be put to good use. I didn't do any work to that engine myself, but it pulled very well and revved up a treat. Will be following your progress with it. Edit after reading your strip-down of the engine - It was sold to me as a 2.1 TSR, I'm a bit miffed that it was a standard bottom end. The sump looks terrible too. That car was a short fling for me after I inherited a bit of cash and wanted something fun. At the time I was building a cafe racer in my workshop and needed it done before my daughter was born. One of the projects had to go and the Golf drew the short straw before I had chance to fettle with it. Hopefully you still get some use out of it, I can only apologise to your friend who bought the car, I was just passing on info provided to me when I bought it.
Hi mate, it's no problem at all! it was all a bit of an unknown for us anyway, a few tell tail sights were that TSR blocks are usually painted blue, the engine was very oily and looked like it had been rebuilt a while ago. My mates plan from the get go was to strip that engine and fit a VR so it makes no odds to him either. On the plus side the head is a lovely bit of kit! it needs some new guides but other than that good to go. I went out in the car the night he got it from you, and yep I can confirm it flew! That was the confirmation I needed that an ABF was the way to go. Its on the back burner at the moment, and its still in bits in the shed - will be a few years off competition due to other life commitments.
Just came in here to say, props to you on this build. I have read through this build thread from the beginning and can definitely say I am inspired to do all of the work on mine by myself This whole thread is almost like a time capsule of your life, cherish it
Thank you mate! I honestly think thats a big reason why I keep it up to date. The car and the progress has been a big part of my life. got some updates to post up. Just got back from a successful Nurburgring trip this week
I too have read this from the start to now, another great thread. Please keep the updates coming. Thanks.
It feels like its been a while! Since the last update I’ve been on the mk2 golf owners sprint day, which was a lot of fun! I was there both days this year and camped over, it was great chatting to some old faces and meeting some new ones! At the end of 2 day, I thought I’d go squeeze in one last run… can you guess… yep I had a fairly decent off! Went into the chicane too wide, rear tyre touched the grass and I was just a passenger. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NleSmjesP1o Unfortunately I did take out Matt’s Trackslag sign… sorry Matt! But luckily no damage to the car, other than some marks which polished out. That evening I was tagged in this picture Lol After the sprint, my wheels were absolutely obliterated, the pad deposits from the CL RC8’s were like nothing I’ve seen before. I used some iron out remover, it took a full bottle and about 10 goes at it to get the deposits off. I’d also noticed I’d gone through a set of nearly new discs… in a 2 day sprint!! (yes those are meant to be grooves)
Nurburgring 2023 Let’s start with the prep. The first port of call were new brakes, I went with a Ferodo DS300 on the front after having loads of success for years with the DS2500, and a new set of Tarox Strada on the rear. The front received some new Brembo Maxx grooved discs and new ATE Type 200 fluid. I also needed to sort some new tyres, the part worn NS2R’s were well past it, and provided little grip even in the dry. I’d been putting tyres off just because of the cost, in the last year or so like everything prices have gone through the roof. I’d decided on a set of new Nankang AR1, but this time in a 205/50/15 instead of the usual 195/50/15. Sourced for £460. This was a big risk because the arch clearance with 195’s was already tight on the 15x7 et13 Mahles. So some jiggery pokery was needed. For me the golf has always been about function and form, so raising the car, or fitting generic arch extensions wasn’t an option. I’d decided to make as much room in the arches as physically possible, whilst keeping the standard OEM look. The front was easy enough, the wings were chopped out behind the arches. This is all well and good but then the arch fitting also needed removing, again arches can be stuck on with adhesive, but I’ve never been a fan of that, I’ve done enough rust repairs! I remade all the mounting points lower down to secure the arches with flanged bolts and captive nuts. It’s hard to photograph, but the plastic lip on the arch was sanded flat with finger sander to the face, so it retains its profile from the outside. The same was done on the rear, the double skin welded back together, ground flat, seamsealed and painted. It turned out really well! Believe it or not, the car doesn’t not catch at all! Relief! And I love how the chunky tyre gives a really purposeful look. Next up, a new cambelt and tensioner, which I bought from Amazon prime of all places! I also aligned the car, using a length of cotton across 2 axel stands, the tricky thing for me was room, as I don’t have the space to make a square box of string around the car, so I had to do one side at once. To make sure nothing moved (hard when you have to drive the car to turn it around!) I marked the steering wheel boss and the column, so I knew the steering wheel was exactly in line. I set the geo as: Camber: –3.0 Toe: 0.01mm Toe out At this point I’m only a week or so from going to the Nurburgring, and thankfully the car went straight and felt amazing! The last job on the list before going away was to sort out the relay ball on the gear linkage, as these like to melt on track. So I bought a length of nylon, and made a new ball for a spare shaft I had. The benefits of nylon is the heat resistance and easy of manufacture/cost. After the gear linkage was aligned, the car was finally done, and ready to go! I’ll uploads a full trip report shortly, stay tuned!
Look forward to your report James. Great update so far. You might want to delete the above post as its duplicated!
