Mazza's Golf Driver Daily

Its about time I made a project thread so ill start from when I first got her back in may 2013. I was looking for my first car and this turned up at a local garage that dealt with a few decent classic vw's


The state of the seats confirmed the 168k mileage


Then bad luck struck… headgasket went on my way to the AGM!

I decided it was best to get the job sorted by a garage because I hadnt had much experience with engines


Once I got more into doing my own thing I picked up a 5 speed box for her

Up till this point I'd refurbed the rear drum breaks, swapped the fronts for gti calipers, fitted mk2 leather seats (until i get mine re-trimmed) and just generally tidied and reconditioned things.

Bought some cookie cutters to polish up and paint


But they ended up being warped, pitted and generally past it which I only discovered once Id stripped back 50 layers of paint!!
So some 6j cookie cutters were found and I set about making them look nice again

Heres what she looked like with the finished wheels, also with a heckblende and kamei spoiler fitted


Over the times ive owned her the tired bodywork started to show, thin paint, rusty arches and rear lower panel.


But she managed to make it to the 2014 AGM drive out


But on the way home, the heat and long drive took its toll on the engine, and the catchcan that i fitted to catch all the oil that it was throwing out due to the badly worn piston rings was  full So i took her off the road to give her a new engine,
out with the old…

in with the new…

Its a 1.3 polo gt engine running on my old carb and standard exhaust and manifold just to get it running while i upgraded things!

It took a while collecting parts for it but I finally got it running and it ran well… apart from the clutch slipping

So out comes the gearbox and it seemed like a good time to change the waterpump which both of these jobs should and could have easily been done with the engine out Then i got bored of the heckblende and went back to standard: much better !


New 2" jetex system and 4-2-1 manifold but horrible tailpipe
So got a nice new stainless steel one made up

Then the headgasket went on it… just when i think im on top of everything it decides to go wrong again So thats where im at at the minute, nothing really interesting I know but I wanted to document for myself what I have done so far and there are many things to come such as firstly changing the headgasket! but also fitting twin webers, reupholstering the seats, and above all starting on the dreaded bodywork!

So thanks for looking! Cheers,
Matt

Well done for not giving up on it Matt. The little car doesn't seem to be that bad. And I'm sure as soon as you've done the head gasket on this motor she'll be fine and you'll be able to enjoy her more than having to repair. But you seem very motivated so I'll be keeping an eye on your thread to see what you come up with next.  

Thanks Beeno for you kind words  

So today I finally had the correct spline tool to remove the head bolts. Once the head was off i discovered this!


As you can see all these holes were jammed up with gunk and corrosion. So after a good clean up the block looked like this

Put the new gasket on, new head bolts, tourqed it all up and bolted everything back together and she started up very easily!

It seems to run a fair bit smoother but im not 100% happy with it   the main issue being this

But also it seems to be making a tapping sort of nise which I hope isnt engine knock?

The sound quality on my phone is pants so i dont think you can hear it in the video


Thanks for looking,
Matt

Turns out the head which I thought was straight needed to be skimmed and so Ive just wasted all that time and new bolts and gaskets because it all needs changing again!  

Steam seems to have cleared now so I think it was just boiling off what was left in the exhaust system

Treated myself to a set of VW Heritage's KW OEM+ Coilovers!  
 

Im also going to look for a set of twin 40's and a vw motorsport manifold because im really getting tired of this rubbish pierberg carb  

Some hard work gone into this car, looking good for it.

I had all sorts of problems with my pierberg carb and swapped for a direct replacement Weber 32/34 DMTL (IIRC, it was a few years ago) - it ran superb out of the box and I was glad to have shut of the old carb. No doubt they can be great but with the headaches it caused me I was very glad for the change.

Those coil overs look really nice. Are they in yet.

looks good bro, any progress?

yeah, if i could get hold of a weber i would have put one on ages ago but i cant seem to get one anywhere!

Not been able to do much lately due to being at uni, so coilovers are still in their box, and when i was home i found yet more problems with the carb so ive got a replacement on the way and ill try and make it run on that until i can afford to get some twin 40 goodness on it  

So nothing interesting to update with but should be able to do more next time im home  

Cheers for the comments

Oh and you may have seen my car on tv recently (its the white one next to Mr Brewer  )

Matt,  for someone who was a complete novice a short time ago, my word you've come a very long way! 
Good on you Sir.  

golfcabrio said

Matt,  for someone who was a complete novice a short time ago, my word you've come a very long way! 
Good on you Sir.  

Thanks mate, Its this club and its members which have kept me going!  

May need jetting to suit your engine but I used a kit like this:-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Weber-32-34-DMTL-Carburettor-VW-Golf-Jetta-Scirocco-T25-Webber-22670-916-Kit-/251694266617?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3a9a25b8f9

Also a brand new kit at a bit steeper price:-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-genuine-Weber-32-34-DMTL-VW-Golf-1-6-carburettor-kit-22670-916-/261391156957?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3cdc2086dd

I used a brand new kit because I'd had enough of the headache of the pierburg - I then blew the engine and sold the carb on to someone else!

If you want a scrapyard bargain I'm pretty sure you can get that style of carb from old Vauxhall Nova/Astra's - but you'll likely need a mounting plate.

I was tempted by this because it includes an adaptor plate Http://www.ebay.co.uk/…ts_SM&hash=item2ed1ee8ff0 Buts its again quite pricey, the only issue I have with getting the carb is the adaptor plates to fit my manifold, or would those dmtl ones be a direct fit?

Hi Matt

Despite a few set backs, looks like you have a decent mk1 there. And good on you for the work you've carried out  

You're coilovers look sweet.

Matt

Well, I'm very nearly ready to give up on her…

After not so many miles after I first changed the head gasket I noticed that yet more steam was plooming out of the exhaust so the other week I had the head skimmed and replaced the headgasket once again along with new headbolts and it started up fine.
Im still having carb issues which I believe is down to an air leak in the throttle shaft which has a lot of play in it and also leaks fuel slightly which is worrying! But also after about 70 miles on the new headgasket, im still getting some steam out of the exhaust, not much but still more than I should be getting!!

So my plans of fitting the new suspension and other things now seam pointless as I cant really use the car…  

Oh know you don't, now's not the time to give up my friend!
Leave it for a few days, enjoy the Holiday season and then after that the Club Members will rally round you and before you know it this will be history.  

Merry Christmas my friend!  

Is it actually over heating and/or loosing water???

golfcabrio said

Oh know you don't, now's not the time to give up my friend!
Leave it for a few days, enjoy the Holiday season and then after that the Club Members will rally round you and before you know it this will be history.  

Merry Christmas my friend!  

Youre right Mike, Its just today was my first actual day off since I got back from uni and I planned to spend it working on my golf, now Ive just lost the motivation!

Merry christmas to you to  

Early-1800 said

Is it actually over heating and/or loosing water???

Its not overheating (it is actually running suspiciously cool, taking a while to reach the middle of the gauge) but I believe that it is loosing some water, although I will confirm this once it has cooled down and I can check the rad again.

I have actually made the carb run better but it still is acting weird, it tends to drop its idle after it has had a high rpm then if it doesnt stall it recovers again and idles correctly but not 100% smoothly.

I went for a bit of a thrash, I did about 20 miles and got it up to temp and up to 70. When I got it home the steam seemed to have stopped, so im assuming it was just more water trapped in the exhaust system and hopefully it got hot enough to burn it all out. Also the coolant level seems not to have changed so Im hoping the headgasket is all sorted now, but only time will tell and the stalling issue is still better bur still present so im certain there is still another air leak i need to find and eradicate!

heres what the headgasket looked like when i took it out, not blown but looking a bit wet!
 

So to finish off for the day I fitted the rear suspension

I wont bother with the front till I can get the camber and tracking sorted