New owner, new project.. 1.8gti..

Evening ladies and gents..

I wasn't going to start a progress thread because this is going to be a very slow burner, more of an investment..  :wink:

I've been keen on vw's for a long while, you may have seen my intro thread but this is my work van.





During an every day work week..



I've been dead keen on mk1 golfs for even longer! Ive had a subscription to Golf+ for a just as long, but I've never been in the financial situation to afford a project.. My business is starting to picking up nicely, and having had a couple of drinks and having received a bit of cash from a job I trawled my 'watch list' on eBay, I found Danny's inari silver



but got sniped and the last second on the auction..

This made me cross  :evil: and now I had permission, in fact, actively promoted by 'er in doors' I had to buy me a golf!

I stumbled across this little cracker in the sale section on here..



Phoned, and went to view. The little lady was all tucked up in the garage and as soon as the battery was reconnected it started first time! And sounded lovely.. Add that to the absolute minimum of rust I had to have it..

Unfortunately it's a funny time of year to buy a car, no money, no daylight all equals a slow start and crap pics!  



I've had the car around a month now, and already done 1000miles  :? It's just so fun to drive, I can't help myself..



The engine is nice and solid, but I don't know my arse from yours when it comes to tuning and maintenance, so I'm looking to teach myself.



All I've done so far is fixed and replaced the interior light, had the interior out to give it a deep clean, fitted new pedal covers, I had to machine polish some oxidation of the roof and wax a couple of times.
Managed to source a matching pair of black plastic and chrome bumpers (no pics yet) although they were in the condition you'd expect for the £50- I paid for them. So I had to paint them up and that back fired a bit, when removed the tape it pulled the paint off, just another job for the new year..

Hi Nick

Could you do be a favour & measure your power rohr pipe.

James_W said

Hi Nick

Could you do be a favour & measure your power rohr pipe.

Yes mate, length and diameter?

What's on your mind?

BIGNICKC said

James_W said

Hi Nick

Could you do be a favour & measure your power rohr pipe.

Yes mate, length and diameter?

What's on your mind?

Yeah, just thinking about getting one made up.

Sorry for the delay james_w ive been proper ill for the past week, haven't left my bed regardless to the house. Got out tonight, the rorh pipe is 300mm long with a circumstance of 250mm..

Managed to sort some lighting issues out, courtesy light in the cab seemed to be shot door switches, easy..

Updated bulbs in the dash as well. 








Makes so much difference.. 

Thanks Nick

Looks tidy this, I looked at it a few times. Danny's was nice though Inari silver is mint! 

Had an enjoyable day today, sorted out the coolant system..

Before..


Drains down, slapped some of this in and filled it back up.



Went for a drive and drained again to start the flush thru..

This was the colour of the gunk!



This is 9 watering cans in..



Decided to tidy up the rad cowling whilst i was in there..





All back together..



It's such an easy job, if anyone's thinking about but went sure, just do it..

Even had time to give her a wash and wax..



Iorn-x



Then some Armorall and megs endurance to tidy up the shoes..

Argh!

Came out to go for a drive this morning and she wouldn't start! Acting like a flat battery, turn the key in the ignition and nothing, tried to bump start, down hill, again nothing wouldn't turn over. Now I'm at the bottom of the hill with a car that won't start and a mrs that won't push it back up..
Got some jump leads on it and it turns over but won't start, not even a blink..

Any ideas? It started and ran fine yesterday..
I washed the engine but only with a spray bottle and degreaser, could something have shorted?

Any help would be much appreciated..

I didn't get a chance to have a look yesterday, but hopefully one of the esteemed members round here could help..

Am I right in thinking a starting issue that can't be over come by jumping or bump staring would point to an electrical issue?

Where should I start looking?

Any help would be really appreciated..

Mate I'd be tempted to think you have may have got the dizzy a bit too wet when washing the engine… they can be temperamental as hell when wet.  You at times need to be careful with these when cleaning.

Check your getting a good spark… if you are then you should be able to eliminate the dizzy, if not then check your getting a spark from the coil (central plug on distributor cap)… should be good and healthy.  Again if not then check the connections at the coil have not come loose… be armed with some WD40.

If your getting a good spark from the coil and nothing from the dizzy then the hall sender in the dizzy is most likely shot… That's assuming that the cap etc are in good nick making good contact inside.

If your getting a good spark allover and the cap etc… is in good condition then it could be a multitude of other issues.

Good luck with it….

Thanks for the reply.

Got home a bit late for faffing about, bit of a noob question, is it safe to spray wd40 on electrical terminals? Like spark plug and distributor cap?

Hi… firstly check for a spark from a plug then the coil if no spark from the plug.  If getting a spark from the coil and not a plug give the distributor cap a good clean with a cloth or tissue and check for sparks, if nothing then try a squirt of WD40 in there, if there is moisture in there it will disperse it.  Don't go crazy with the WD40, just a small squirt.  It's ok for using but if too much is used it will through time attract dirt which will then make it an issue.

If your getting a spark and it's not starting then it could be as I said earlier a multitude of other problems… you just need to systematically work your way backwards ruling out potential reasons.

If there is a spark, is fuel getting in, are the spark plugs dry or wet with fuel it maybe that relay 2 has packed in and the pump is not priming etc… but with you washing the engine and it not starting the next day it does seem more than likely to be the dizzy…

 

So, still no luck..

Took the distributor cap off, and its pretty much brand new, how ever looking at the ht leads and spark plugs found this



And a bit of electrical tape for good measures..

 

Replaced all the leads and spark plugs, checked all the plugs were sparking, which they were..
Topped up the fuel..
Then got the Quick Start out, gave the throttle body a squirt and it gave me the most action if had for weeks..

Not an actual start be near enough..
Am I right in thinking that points to the fuel pump or pump relay? 

Still having running issues, but what else is there to do when the weathers restricts work outside?! 

GO SHOPPING! 

Starting to collect quiet a collection of bits, managed to source a brown dash and under trays..


£60- good price..

A five piece, never been fitted, un-molested biscuit carpet..


£100- happy.

Also on the receipt, brown binnacle, brown steering coloum, brown window wiper and indicator stalks. Guess? £27 for the lot, very pleased..
And not to forget the interior door handle surrounds. Chrome exterior handles and top fill rad.

So getting there.

Just needs To warm up a touch.

:p ello have you checked your fuel filter? might be gunked up? Also if it was a fuel problem, you could disconnect fuel end to the filter, then pump it through, to see if you are squirting fuel? Lovely golf there mate, the colour looks like my dads mk1 polo =]

HuggYBeaR said

:p ello have you checked your fuel filter? might be gunked up? Also if it was a fuel problem, you could disconnect fuel end to the filter, then pump it through, to see if you are squirting fuel? Lovely golf there mate, the colour looks like my dads mk1 polo =]

Could be, my friend. Need to have a good going over this weekend hopefully.

Thanks 
I'll have to whisper it round here, but I do like the mk1 polo, lovely shape and a bit over looked in my opinion! 

Mk1 Polo is a nice looking motor, classic shape - rare old beast too!

It's been a while since I've updated this..

Not really too much to write home about, fitted some mk2 gti seats and rear bench, bit bigger and the hight adjustments pretty cool, no pics as they don't really match but an investment for retrimming at some point..

I have, however been working on my new dash.. 
Firstly, we all have good ideas at some point in our short lives, but in my case they're often out weighed by the bad ones.. Some of the dash components were grubby, and my dish washer cleans most things I put in it!
You can see where this is going, don't bother. It ruins them, so if anyone's got a brown lower dash I'd appreciate a pm 

I started painting the dash binnacle and switch covers Lada cream, I love it!

I also intend to move the vdo gauges to where the radio is currently situated, thus moving the sterio to a hidden spot in the glove box..

Pics





I'm also pinching the steering wheel from the van, cos it matches the gear knob I picked up..



But today's been all about the sterio housing, well chuffed with this..

I was gonna build it out of plastic, the wood but settled for this..



The old glove compartment from the van.

Bit of cutting and felt looks like this (pics do it no justice  )





Goona look SWEEET!

FYI, if you do find that nature calls for a number two and you've been using spray adhesive, wash your hand thoroughly first, needless to say it was a car crash, like poo-y paper mâché! 
So if there's a mole at the counter ringing the bell, ignore him as long as possible. 

LMAO at the toilet incident!!

Nice work - I too have great ideas that turn out to be disasters, glad I'm not the only one

Looking forward to seeing the dash finished