1983 1.8 gti

Having purchased the car in 2010 (I think) I have had various periods of making progress, then nothing for a while.. 


 I will link the previous build threads on the car but wanted to start a freshie for the next phase, which hopefully takes the car to completion. 


 The car has been kept in my parents garage and while only 40 minutes away, I just haven't found a huge amount of time to get over there and work on it. Finally got it moved over last week so no excuses not to spend the time getting it sorted.



Have a garage rented down the road so it can be inside while the weather isn't great. 

Mot and tax exempt now which makes things a bit easier for moving it about and getting work done. Taking it to a neighbours workshop at the weekend so we can do an inspection and make sure it's roadworthy and put together a list of jobs. 

 

More recent thread:


 https://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/forum/index.php?page=topicview&id=projects%2Fyour-mk1-golfs_2%2Fold-project-new-thread_2

Makes it a lot easier when the car is at home/very close to home. Only made real progress on mine when I had it in my own garage! Oh, and lockdown helped!

Yeah it's great. Just spent a bit of time last night doing a couple of small jobs that are easy to get off the list and don't have to worry too much about packing everything away and getting home. 

I did get a lot done in lockdown too, had just finished university so was working part time, and went over twice a week and some weekends. Bought a mig and my first go at it was doing the rear inner and outer arch on the passenger side. So hard to match the paint and there's a lot more to sort so will be leaving bits in primer as I go

A little bit of progress:

Wipers are back on and only work at one very slow speed so expect a new motor is needed. Drivers side wiper also has no grip on the pin and swings around pretty freely.. 

Has been idling quite high since I changed the inlet manifold over so sorted that.

Looks like the old boot floor earthing point had a bolt snapped off in it and the ground for the lights had been fixed to one of the bolts holding the lights to the car.

Drilled a new hole in the proper earthing point and tapped it out to screw a new one in, first time I've actually done this successfully so was pretty pleased. Lights were still acting weird so chopped the wires down and fitted new spade connecters for the tail light, brake light, and earth on the passenger side which seems to have done the trick. Drivers side tail light dims ever so slightly when the indicator comes on so I'll redo the connection on this side as well. 

Heard a rattle in the engine which turned out to be a nut I dropped and is sat behind the alternator, job for another day fishing that out.

Hopefully all the boxes checked to be roadworthy so will be driving it to get an inspection this weekend, fingers crossed!

Got it up on the lift today and nothing that needs addressing urgently which is good.


 At some point it looks like the car was sat on something that squashed the floor and sills just behind the front wheels.


 Couple bits of welding to the chassis at the rear I'd like to prioritise and then work round doing sills, wheel well and corners etc where it's getting bad. 


 Sorted the rear beam and running gear, fuel tank, fuel lines, pump, accumulator etc and that's all still looking good. 


A few pics:

 

Got a plan together with the workshop (Born to Roll in Bristol, highly recommend) to tackle some issues to ensure road worthiness and a few other gremlins, booked in for March to cover:

- brake check/adjustment 
- rear wheel bearings 
-O/S cv boot and driveshaft if needed, front backing plates
- new clutch
- overhaul of the gauges (suspected 10v stabiliser issue)
- check gearbox oil etc 
- sort out the broken plastic timing belt cover 


That's pretty much everything mechanical that needs doing, once it's all sorted we will make a plan for all the welding and bodywork 

Forgot to tie down the cover last night and woke up to some really bad weather, looked outside and it had blown off 🤦‍♂️


 Despite a new sunroof seal it let some water in, although I'm guessing they are designed that way as otherwise there would be no point in the drainage holes, which are definitely blocked. 


Can anyone confirm if these holes in the inner roof skin are from factory, or if a previous owner had drilled them to relieve the water build up? 



Safe inside for now until the weather improves 

 

There are 4 drains for the sunroof , one in each corner, with pipes attached which run down the pillars, so I'm not sure what the hole in your image is for.

jazzydog said

There are 4 drains for the sunroof , one in each corner, with pipes attached which run down the pillars, so I'm not sure what the hole in your image is for.

Yeah those are all blocked for sure, have got a pipe cleaner on the way as the actual metal parts are clear so blockages must be within the rubber tubes.

I'm thinking someone drilled those other holes to relieve water at some point 

Could it be a bee sting aerial hole? 

Dano said

Could it be a bee sting aerial hole? 

There are multiple holes, 1 on each structural section of inner roof skin where water could sit so I don't think they would have been for that 

Well this is the state of the drain tube after there was a fire on that side of the car when a garage was doing some welding a few years ago.

Definitely the cause of the issue 😂 

   

New one on the way along with some other bits. Noticed a decent puddle of oil on the floor under the car today so need to spend some time figuring the source of that. 

Very speedy delivery of top mount risers from Coltech today, definitely a priority to get these on with all the other issues I've got with the car 😂

Be really interested to see how you get on with these. Did you buy them because you want to drop the ride height or because you want more suspension travel?
The one complaint I have about mine with the H&R lowering springs I have is that the ride is really harsh - well it is with the state of the roads round my way, not to mention the speed bumps.
I know I;d have to change to coilovers, but at least then I might find the sweet spot of more travel, but maintain the 30mm drop I have with my springs.
How do you find the AP's?

Read a thread on here with a really good review from someone who had their car pretty low so hoping for good things. 

I used to have lowering springs with koni adjustable dampers and it was such a comfy ride, so I wouldn't expect switching to coilovers would be better for you. Although it may well work out that way with a set of these risers. 

I got the APs because they were cheap on here and needed a set quickly to replace the rotten set, didn't realise they were meant to be semi decent as the ride is not good 😂 maybe I'll change my opinion with some more travel as I don't imagine any ride good when you lower them.

I'll try and get a before and after video as I feel like I'm being thrown all over the place by bumps in the road at the moment so it should be quite an obvious change. 

Sorted out the drain tube, the one I got wasn't long enough but  connected it to the good parts of the old one. Now at the length VW should have made these from factory 😂





Also switched out this giant screen wash reservoir with a smaller one that was lying around while I was trying to get the lower plastic belt cover to sit better. One of the bolts snapped and I need a smaller drill to get in to remove and replace it so didn't get very far with that 

Nice to see your progress.

My golf has been similarly stored in parents garage for almost 10 years, so good to get some inspiration.

BURNSY91 said

Nice to see your progress.

My golf has been similarly stored in parents garage for almost 10 years, so good to get some inspiration.

Thanks! Glad I'm not the only one.

Now it's here it's getting much more of my focus.

I was really worried about having it sat on my driveway and now it's here I'm not actually that bothered. Although I have rented a garage down the road so it's in there most of the time to avoid the worst of the weather 

Took the car and some tools to my mates today to do some wrenching. New brake light switch in which sorted the brake light issue.



Changed over the rear discs and wheel bearings, there was an annoying rubbing noise before so wound back the calipers to let them reset, although the carrier pins felt quite loose and the rubbers have split so greased them up for now and will source some new pins and rubbers