Mk2 Golf 1.8T Track Project with 80's BTCC Inspired Paint

Since I went to the Nurburgring last year in my Mk2 PD Tdi, I have had the urge for a track orientated golf. I'm going to the ring at the end of April this year and was planning a budget ABF mk2/3 as I don't want to take my Mk2 PD again as I'd be devastated if it all went tits up in her.

Then one of my mates pointed me to this Mk2 track project on another forum, and it was too good to miss out on. So off I popped down to the south coast, the deal was done and the Golf taken home on the trailer.

Here's the for sale add pictures:






Current spec:
16v 3dr G plate CE1 car
AUQ 1.8T engine, so K03s
Qpeng management, running 230bhp
Qpeng downpipe, straight through exhaust to a nice back box
02A CDA gearbox from mk3 ABF, B4 Passat hydro pedal box
E36 radiator and universal slimline fan
Welded in 4 point safety devices cage
Inside out respray in alpine white with 80s BTCC inspired stripes
Stripped out interior bar dash and roof lining
FK edition gewindefahrwer coilovers (think theyre old school FK AK with proper progressive springs?)
Stock 16v brake set up, with 22mm cupra m/c and braided front lines & ATE discs.
B4 passat rear engine bracket, abf front and gearbox.

It needs a fair bit of work, mainly silly little things but they do all add up time wise. Ill list these later, the main problem is that it will only run on idle. It starts great (sometimes I have to short the starter solenoid) and idles great, but wont rev up. It sounds like it isnt getting enough fuel, I suspect its an earthing issue as the dash plays up as if it has a bad earth. The rev counter works fine until you turn the lights on, and the indicators work fine with the engine off but dont flash with the engine off. All pointing to earth, so thats my first area to check.

Also, its not running VVT because its using the MBE 992 ecu, Im not sure if this has any effect or not? Lastly (for now) the lambda isnt wired in. Its a 4 wire narrow band lamda, Im presuming Bosch as the colours are black/grey/white/white. But Im not sure how the qpeng wires are supposed to go. From the qpeng I have 12v (lambda heater(s)?), 5v (signal to lambda), 0v, and ground.

I have literally zero experience with 1.8T as Im a PD tdi man, so this is a new adventure for me! I need advice on narrow/wideband lambda for tuning/running an AFR gauge (if thats even possible with what appears to be a 4 wire Qpeng lambda loom. Also, is the Forge baffled sump recommended as Im planning on taking this over to the ring?

Cheers

 

Very nice
Keep us in the loop

 

Saw this for sale and definitely thought about it.
I need a mk2 in my life

 

Good looking shell ... have fun

 

Will do!!

Yeah a few people were after it which didn't surprise me, you really do there's nothing better than a mk2!!

Cheers, I'm sure it'll be fun when it moves!

So at the moment the golf idles perfectly but won't Rev up at all, to me it sounds like a fuelling issue but I have no knowledge of 1.8t as I'm a diesel man.

The other points worth noting are both fuel pumps sound healthy (16v kjet), and I've earthed the qpeng ecu directly to the battery as the earth wasn't very good. I think there's an earth issue inside the car as the Rev counter works until I turn the lights on and the MFA display goes off when the engine starts. I also ran the fuel pumps direct from a different battery but no difference!

Here's a link to it running, it pops when the throttle is wide open but doesn't rev

http://youtu.be/9UTw0KpM3U8

Cheers

 

Good buy, It looks really clean from the pictures!

 

Looks sweet!!! Are they Sparco alloys?

 

Cheers, it's not mint and needs some work, but its very clean!

Thanks, no they're Braid Winrace TA wheels

 

Small update, I managed to bag a complete 1.3 CE1 loom (engine, lighting and dash) for a nifty fiver from my local scrappy, it's mint other than the brake fluid connector has been cut off. The dash loom is perfect and uncut which is rare as hell, the currently installed loom has a horrendous stereo bodge!

So as the car doesn't run well, and has had a small electrical fire in the past (few large wires melted and taped up) I figured i'd remove all the current lighting, dash and engine loom, and replace it with the 1.3 loom which has none of the KR bits on it. All i need to do is extend the starter solenoid wire and i think add a wire or 2 for the Qpeng (fuel pump trigger and something else). Should be a lot neater and safer.

I had to unbolt the rear 2 mounts to lift the back of the engine to get the brake servo out, then pulled both looms out






The engine loom is quite a lot bigger than the 1.3 version, I'll post a comparison photo next time

Me doing actual work (very rare)






So a wire free car apart from the rear end and qpeng loom still installed. Hopefully get it re wired over the weekend and then onto diagnosing the running issue.

 

nice toy

 

Love the wheels and the paint

 

That's a fine looking Mk2, I hope the re-wiring goes smoothly.

 

Thanks mate, have you got a build thread for you mk2?

Cheers mate!

Thanks, it went almost smoothly (i think!)

So I installed the new dash and lighting loom, but I think I need a set of stalks as well, I dont get a click on to main beam, and am waiting on a 9 pin headlight switch to arrive to test the lighting out.

I had to take a wire from the 16v loom and add it into the 1.3 loom for the fuel pump trigger to Qpeng, and extend the starter solenoid wire from the bulkhead down to the starter. The only bits I haven't connected up are the oil pressure sensors as i dont think the PO has installed the mk2 sensors in the oil filter housing.





Nothing special but the wiring is tidier now


The engine still runs the same, but I wasn't expecting a loom swap to fix that! Hopefully I wont have any faults with the interior loom, but can't test a lot without the headlight switch as I had an earth fault inside previously where the rev counter would stop when i put the lights on.

The car came with a cracked windscreen, but a good spare too. I spotted some rope in poundland which looked perfect, so pushed the old screen and and slotted the un damaged one in.









The golf came with a set of polybushed wishbones so i set about stitch welding them






Zinc primed


Painted matte black




Fitted them, didn't bother comparing them with the ones i removed as I (wrongly) assumed the PO would have purchased stock mk2 wishbones, but they're mk3! I didn't notice until i lowered the jack and the drivers CV joint popped out! So that annoyed me and I packed up for the night. I will weld up the wishbones I removed and swap the bushes over at the weekend. Hopefully the CV joint isn't damaged and i can put it back together.

 

Forgot to add, the DV port on the TIP is blanked off with a bolt, and there is nowhere for it to route into the intercooler pipework. So I completely stole the idea of using a stock 1.8t intercooler pipe from Richards mk2. Luckily my mate had a spare and this means i'll have somewhere to route the DV.

Looks pants at the moment but hopefully I can make it look reasonable/better than it was before




JOBS TO DO!!

- Replace FK coilovers with Koni's
- Fit rear ARB
- Fit different rear beam
- Bleed brakes
- Fit mk2 polybush/stitched wishbones - COMPLETE
- Fix CV joint - Needs boot
- Fit new ball joint nut thingys - COMPLETE
- Tighten driveshaft bolts
- Fit exhaust flexi - Needs hanger
- Sort backbox hanger
- Make intercooler brackets
- Make intercooler piping work/fit
- Block off unused vac/water pipes properly
- Wire up lambda sensor
- GET ENGINE WORKING
- Change cambelt/tensioner
- Service
- MOT
- Fit a horn and horn switch
- Fit door cards
- Tracking
- Attempt to get to/around/home from nurburgring in one piece without breaking down

 

Not a lot happened this weekend as I had to change the lower arm bushes on her mini cooper - I hate BMW's!!

I decided it was more hassle than it was worth to press the polybushes out of the mk3 wishbones and into the mk2 ones, so instead I bought some R32 rear wishbone bushes and stock front bushes and fitted them instead. Then welded them up and did a quick swap over. I also put the driveshaft back together as the outer CV joint popped out, just need to order a boot as it's ripped.

I bought new ball joints because i needed the plates with the nuts on as both sides had 1 snapped stud in. 5.49 delivered for 2 was a result, not sure if i'll chance the ball joints but this was the cheapest way to get the spacers and bolts

This is how far out the tracking was with widetrack wishbones


R32 bushes going in


No voids


Fresh mk3 wishbones removed (and now for sale )


welded and bushed originals installed


1 of the bargain ball joints


Another job on the list was to join the Qpeng downpipe to the rest of the home made system. The PO included a flexi, so I used that.



Welded one side


I didn't take a picture after as I was annoyed so went home for the night, but I can see why mk2's didn't come with a flexi, there isnt enough support near the join so the centre of the exhaust is flexing down. The qpeng donwnpipe has a flexi so i can either remove the one i installed yesterday or make a support up which is the more likely plan.

 

Done a few more bits on the golf, but as I do them I keep finding more jobs to do!

Went to fit my door cards but found the passenger window regulator was a dud so stole one from my blue mk2 so i could get the window back up and door card on






Door card fitted


Ordered these straps in blue for the door handles


Then climbed down under the dash to put the steering column to UJ spring that was never fitted




Whilst I was down here I saw that the steering column wasn't bolted in whatsoever at the bottom. The state people leave cars in when they sell them is often poor and sometimes outright dangerous!

Obviously bolted that back up.

I needed to bleed the brakes as they've not worked since i got it, so started with the fronts and whilst i was there i quickly swapped the FK coilovers out for some adjustable damping koni's I had lying around


If anyone knows anything about the FK's I'd love to know, they seem pretty good compared to the common budget FK's as they have a decent progressive spring and no need for a helper spring.

Bled the brakes - I'm not sure whether to stick with the 256mm vented for the nurburgring or to upgrade to either G60's or Vr6 calipers and G60 discs? I want the least unsprung weight possible but I don't have much track experience.


Found about 10 inches of the lambda wiring was melted so stripped it right back until it was healthy, also found it had already been joined/extended previously





Last (i think) problem i found that evening was the MAP sensor nipple had been broken off and bodged back together using glue and some putty. New sensor on order!



I cleaned the inside out and put all the dash trim back on and the inner dash back together









Looking sorry for itself on it's temporary wheels

 

Door straps arrived, now I have no excuse not to fit the drivers door card.

 

I quite like them..

 

Thanks Nige, they're for sale when I stop using them 80 so ideal workshop wheels

I keep plodding through your thread but have a long way to go, I don't get on the forums very often! I love the amount of laps you get in at the ring, and your videos are always nice to watch

I keep comtemplating changing the 20vt to an ABF. I've never been keen on 20vt and I need to feel I can trust the engine reliability wise. I like the idea of 80~bhp more than a stock ABF will give me, but ABF is my engine of choice for a track mk2 if I built one from step one. Any thoughts welcome

 

Just get the car running. There are a lot of reliable 20v turbo engines running on track. If you don't like it, you can always change it later, but at least this way you get to use the car.