I've been meaning to create a thread on here since I bought this car. Not because I think anyone will be interested lol but more as a way to keep a record of what I do to the car. It's my second mk2. The previous one was purchased after wanting one for many years and being lucky enough to have a bit of cash laying around. It was an 89 16v with big bumpers retro fitted and an angry abf lurking under the bonnet. The main reason for creating this thread is that due to hard drive failure on my PC, I have basically no photos of the car except for the night it met it's untimely demise Fire service in attendance and about to do their thing The aftermath It burned so hot that the wheel melted and fused into the road surface Not entirely sure what happened to be honest. It was well alight by the time I stopped but I was out before it really went up. It was a sad day but it could have been a whole lot worse. Brief spec was ABF, bored to 83mm Lightened/ balanced bottom end and flywheel Heavily ported 027 head, Port matched inlet and stainless 4 branch exhaust manifolds. Jetex 2.5" stainless exhaust (leaked and made too much noise lol) K&N panel filter in an air box with more holes than box Stainless Rohr pipe and red ht leads - an easy 10BHP FK highsport coilovers Black mk3 Recaro Colour Concept front seats with mk3 VR6 highline rear bench A bit of rust here and there None of the above were salvageable so all I ended up with was a cheque from the insurance company that was about 1500 less than it should have been. Oh well... So the search for a replacement commenced. A simple task (in my head) find something similar in term of spec and performance. Maybe a nice 3dr valver that wasn't going for silly eBay prices, any colour but black. It wasn't as easy as I thought. Everything of interest that came up for sale was miles away and would sell before I was able to get there. The ones I was able to get to were dogs or rust boxes. I decided that I wanted more torque than I had with the abf and started looking for a vr6 conversion. I found the perfect car, and had my heart set on one but again, it had sold before I was able to get to look at it. One evening while browsing eBay, something popped up that was quite local. Buy this point, 5 months of searching was starting to wear thin so even though it looked a bit tatty,wasnt a vr and was black, I decided to take a look as it was only down the road. Got there and to my surprise, it was blue. And nowhere near as tatty as the photos made it out to be. The previous owner was a terrible photographer lol It had the engine from a corrado G60 fitted, no rust and a wealth of nice goodies to accompany it. The guy selling took me out for a spin and I was impressed with the power delivery straight away. I had a go driving and it all felt ok so I went home, had a think and a couple of days later a deal was done. We loaded it up with some tasty spares including a votex console, g60 front arches, electric window kit, electric mirrors and a few other bits and pieces and I drove it home. didn't take any other pics of when I got it back but it was dirty! Very dirty! It had lived in a barn for 8 years and hadn't seen much use. I think a cat had been living on the roof given the hair and paw prints so the first thing I did was wash it. Several times lol this is how it looked after a few buckets of soapy water and a hose down I dont have too many pictures on my phone, loads in my camera though so I'll add more in due time. So a brief spec (because I'm not entirely sire if what the full spec is yet lol) PG engine from a Corrado sitting on the Corrado subframe and wishbones, still 4x100 Stage 5 charger Rebuild from JMR 68mm pulley with chip to match, running standard injectors. Sprinter fmic connected to a rallye u bent at one end and Bartek aluminium boost pipe at the other. (badly, with worn silicone tubes lol) Boost return is retained, as it the Corrado air box albeit with a K&N panel filter in there. TSR stainless exhaust manifold mated up to standard 16v system. 280mm front brakes with mk4 rears AP coilovers (which ride surprisingly well) BMW E30 BBS wheels, powder coated in metallic grey I'll update that list as I figure out what's on there lol So the thread is created! All that's left is to do things to the car and remeber to put them here lol it needs a lot of work and time is a limiting factor so if anyone is reading, please dont expect much to happen to quickly. It'll get there eventually! Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk
Nice!! I will be watching this! What an awful, awful experience it must have been to see your first MK2 go up like that. Every classic car owner's total nightmare.
From a distance it does lol its only when you get up close that you realise the paintwork is chipped, swirled and scratched. I've also taken the pics from such an angle that you can't tell the headlining is missing lol its a good Base though. Nice and solid with no rust in the usual places which was why I decided to go for it. Even though it was the wrong colour and had the wrong engine... And yeah, it wasn't a nice sight it go up in flames. It didn't really hit me at the time, it wasn't until a day or two later that it really sunk in. I never thought about how much work had gone into it, it's only looking at the new one that makes me realise how much I had changed on it Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk
I sorted out the rusty wiper arms on Saturday. From this To this I'm not sure I like the aero blades but they're better than the old ones! Also received some smoked indicators for the frontAgain, I'm undecided on whether I like them. I'm not a fan of orange though and they were only a tenner so they'll do for now! I need to do something about the side repeaters too, I've seen some smoked Hella ones on eBay but they're 30! Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk
The wiper arms and caps make a big difference, did to mine too. I also had aero wipers and eventually changed back to standard ones as they didn't look quite right to me. Looks better on yours though, maybe a colour thing? I swapped out my smoked indicators for orange so still have the smoked ones here, you're welcome to them (specifically the repeaters). Happy to drop them in the post since you've done me a deal on those few bits, drop me a PM with your address if you want them.
Personally I don't like tinted lenses! If you need a home for the orange ones I'm happy to send you my address! lol
Small update time. Decided to see why the stereo didn't work. It would cut in and out and the screen flickered randomly so I figured it would be wiring issue given that the head unit is fitted to the centre console so started pulling it apart. You know those jobs that you start and then wish you hadn't... Started looking behind the vdo gauges to see if I could find the original wiring for the stereo nope, that led to this which caused this uh oh None of those wires belong in the car. There's a lot of speaker cable that doesn't connect to anything, there are some random ign live and earth wires floating around. Also not connected. And a whole load of cables that traced back to some knackered solenoids in the doors for remote central locking at least I'm hoping that's what is. I cut it all out and threw in in the bin. I also chopped the wiring out for the gauges as it was done very poorly. This looks original haven't figured out what it's for yet, it looks like the wiring to the fog light and heated rear screen switches? Whatever it is, it's been cut and taped up (not by me!) After seeing the wiring I'm the dash, I also ripped out all the wiring for the amps in the boot as after looking at it it wasn't done properly. I left the main power cable in but disconnected it from the battery. What I managed to achieve in the short time I had today was basically making fewer things work than when I started lol. I did manage to find the original 12v live and earth cables for the stereo and I've ordered some ISO connectors so I can make up a proper loom. I want to make a separate loom for the VDOs as well and run them from the fuse box if I can. I'm not a fan of chopping into wires here and there. Are there spare 12v pins on a ce2 fusebox? Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk
Regarding the +12V required for the VDOs, is this required for backlights on the gauges? You can check Rubjonny's Fusebox FAQ, but off the top of my head the CE2 fuse panel sadly provides no useful spare 'general purpose' switched ignition terminals. One popular option is to make use of the switched lighting supply for the glove box or cigarette lighter lights. A neat 'factory' way of doing this would be to extract the relevant terminal from the relevant housing (such as terminal 5 on housing D, which is the black/red glove box light feed) and crimp the existing black/red wire, plus a new wire, to a new terminal and insert it back in. The supply for the fag lighter itself would be good for a general switched 12V
Cheers Trev, I had a look through that faq last night actually. I'm liking your suggestion on the fan control. That wire has already been hacked up and used previously by the looks of things. So I'll probably take it from there but in a neater and safer way lol. The cigarette lighter wiring is still there so I might tap off the plug that I found up by the steering wheel. Is there a proper tool for extracting the pins do you know? Are they a standard connector? I don't think it's worth trying to return everything back to factory but I want to do it better than it is now! Already had one fire lol Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk
It's worth running a wire back to the "key in ignition" power feed for the stereo if you're already messing with the fusebox (assuming you're CE2). Makes the stereo a little more user-friendly. Instructions in one of John's threads somewhere if you do a search.
Right, I suppose it's about time I added to this thread. Did I mention I'm no good at build threads? Progress is slow. I only really get to play on Saturdays and the odd evening in the week after work. The first thing was to fit the smoked side repeaters that were supplied courtesy of Bootsie [emoji106] Took all of 5 minutes and matches the smoked fronts nicely I finished ripping out all the old wiring in the dash and the terrible excuse for a stereo install. The amp(s) had been 'fitted' in the spare wheel well in the boot. They weren't screwed down, just loose lol So out it all came Made a loom to power the head unit by soldering the wires into the existing connector for the ciggy lighter. I popped the spade terminals out of the housing and soldered my wires to them Made some new speaker cables and ran them into the four corners of the car. I'm not currently using the rears, just got the 6.5s in the doors and the sub running from the amp. I also added some little 3.5" in the dash, running from the head unit with a non polarised cap in line to cut the bass. They actually improved the sound considerably. I should really take more pictures as I'm working! Wired the head unit to come on with the key in the ignition as Bootsie suggested earlier. not the best picture bit this red/ brown wire is the one to use. While I was sorting the wiring out, I noticed that interior was absolutely filthy! I had to wash my hands every time I drove it lol so while the seats were out, I set about cleaning. At least 2 days were spent removing what could be removed and scrubbing anything that couldn't. The carpet was full of sand and crap but a few hours with a stiff brush and the hoover and it can up quite well When I bought it, the dash was faded and grey, after a good scrub and several applications of shoe polish, it came out quite well too A few exterior bits next... Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk
Shoe polish found is way onto the rear bumper first Then the arches It made a huge difference! I still need to go around and fish it all off properly. I reckon it all needs one more coat as there are a few areas that look patchy. That last pic was before the Polish had dried. It looks a lot better in the flesh now. The wipers were looking tired So pulled them off and have them some TLC and re fitted them with some retro fit aero wipers Only a small thing, but it makes a big difference looking at the car. I also did the rear, but don't have piccies of that. Must take more pictures! Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk
I made a start on the engine bay yuk! The wiring for the engine loom is horrible! That's a job for another day though so I taped it up as best I could and cable tied it in place to at least keep it secure. The heater matrix had been bypassed in a previous life. The matrix had been replaced (thankfully) before I bought it but I was left with those nasty copper joiners. Luckily, there were a couple of hoses on the pile of parts that I got with the car. I think they're mk3 items? They weren't too bad a fit, one needed an inch cutting off either end but they went on with no problems and look a whole load better than the old ones. I gave the clamps a coat of matte black before they went back on. That was largely pointless as I scratched them as I was arguing with them to get them back on lol. While I had the enthusiasm for painting things, I did the timing belt cover, ISV and breather cover in matte black with gloss lacquer over the top o give them a satin finish. They actually came out really well considering paint is not one of the things I'm good at lol although all it really dos it highlight hoe tatty the rest of it is. It'll get there in the end though! As the MOT was looming, I decided to get underneath and have a good look around. Everything looked pretty good under there, one cv boot was starting to look a bit tired so ordered one up along with new gaskets for the rocker cover, inlet amd exhaust manifolds. I figured I may as well tackle them while the driveshaft is off as it looks like there'll be a bit better access with it out of the way. I also decided it would be a good idea to clean the underside of the engine etc as there was a lot of old oily crap over everything so broke out the gunk and a brush and set to work scrubbing. Then got excited about using the pressure washer my other half bought me for my birthday once all the old oil was off, it was nice to see that there was nothing to be overly concerned about. However, after getting wet, the starter decided that it didn't want to be a starter motor anymore. Turning the key you'd get a click from the solenoid but nothing else so after checking and double checking the wiring I pulled it out and tested it on the floor. I jumped the 2 live terminals with a piece of wire and whilst wearing a welding mask and gloves lol attached some jump leads to the motor running from a spare battery on the floor The result? Nothing! Same click as when it was in the car. I used a screwdriver to encourage the bendix out a little and dribbled a little plus gas down the shaft and again zapped it with the jump leads. The bendix now moved in and out as it should but there was no rotation of the motor. I bough a new cheapy one from eBay to use while I rebuild this one. I figure bushes in the motor or a bad contact in the solenoid but I won't know until it's apart. Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk
Good thread. These were all things I did on getting my current Golf and wished I'd kept track like this
The ride height on the car was too low. Although I think it sits nicely, it would scrape the splitter getting onto the driveway and the wishbones were pointing skywards so I though oh, I'll just wind the coilovers up a few mil... Now I'm pretty sure there's thread on here somewhere called 'coilovers - grease the threads' and here's another reason why you should do it Oh dear, maybe this won't be the 5 minute job I thought it would be (again...) I gave them a scrub with a wire brush and a good soaking with penetrating oil (3 in 1, Excellent stuff) and left them for a while with my fingers crossed this was half successful. The drivers side came free with only mild persuasion from a hammer, the passenger side however was stuck fast. Even with a blow torch to warm it it wasn't going anywhere no matter how much oil, heat, oil, heat, hammer, oil, heat I gave it. I got a little enthusiastic with the hammer and managed to knacker the c spanner and the adjuster at the same time lol. I think the adjuster ring was slightly damaged anyway but it's now terminal so I need to get hold of a new right g and spanner from AP as the FK ones I have won't fit. Another entry into the shipping list then! After that, whist moving the car on the driveway, there was a strong smell of fuel in the car so switched it off and had a nosey under the bonnet. The line from the end of the fuel rail to the pressure switch had split! It was help on with a jubilee clip which I'd bad anyway but when I pulled the line off it was obviously passed it's best the hose lives here, in front of the throttle body So... Ordered up some 8mm stainless braided hose and some end finishers measured up (twice) and cut (once) I uses a dremmel to cut the braid and then a fresh blade on a scalpel to go through the rubber. Old vs new I then decided it would be a good idea to check the other 2 hoses on the other side of the engine. I'm glad I did because they weren't much better . The inner part of the hoses has dried out and started to crack. So, 2 new hose made up and fitted you can just about see them in that picture. You may or may not notice one or two things missing in that last picture lol Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk
I got the new starter fitted yesterday and took the old one apart with a view to reconditioning it. I was expecting to find worn bushes or a bad solenoid. Not much chance of that working again! It looks like one of the magnets came lose and shattered jamming the motor. Anyone know whether you can get replacement magnets? Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk
