Pistolpete's Lhasa Green Mk1 16v Restoration

I thought it's about time I started another thread for my next resto.  I know many people have seen my Mars Red project, and the fact that it is largely complete.  As a result, I went on the lookout for something else to tinker with.  I knew I'd gone too far with the red one and wanted another Mk1 to enjoy more regularly.  Hard to believe, but I actually bought this Lhasa Green tintop in November 2019 after it was advertised on here.  The seller Damien ( LhasaWob ) was a total gent, sent me loads of pics and details, and a flight was booked into London to go and see it, with an expectation to buy.  The car was MOT'd, so my intention was actually just to drive it back up to Cairnryan and get the ferry over to Northern Ireland (I do enjoy a road trip adventure!).

Damien started a Forum thread here, which has some nice details about the car's history from a previous owner and the original purchaser based in a Belgian RAF base:-
View topic: Wolfsburg-Berlin-Somerset-East Dulwich - The Mk1 Golf Owners Club

A brief history of the car, well apparently it was pretty well known in the original Club GTi days, and was actually used on a flyer for one of the first GTi International events back in 1991.


It passed through a couple of owners until a guy called Roshan bought it.  He completed a fairly major restoration in 2008 including a full respray, engine/gearbox rebuild.  At some point during it's time with Roshan, a KR 16v engine was fitted, with twin Weber 40 DCOE's and fast road cams.





Truth be told, since Roshan sold it, the car doesn't seem to have been particularly well looked after, and I know that Damien had intentions to restore it but ultimately realised he didn't have the time to put into it.  When I went to view the car, I must admit to being rather underwhelmed.  I was quite surprised it had been passed fit for MOT, there were quite a few issues - none of the doors or boot locked, the steering felt loose, the fuel pump was cable tied to the brake pipe, there was no dashboard illumination working at all, the front top mounts were shot……..I could go on.  It had also had some fairly obvious "just get it through an MOT" type repairs to the inner sills, the filler surround was rotten as was the front of the sunroof opening.  I probably should have walked away, but a deal was struck and off I went up the road.  Engine drove faultlessly until just north of Manchester, then started dying and spluttering.  I struggled on to nearly Carlisle but had to admit defeat and call a recovery company to take me to the ferry port (I'm pretty sure it was fuel pump related).  It ran just long enough to get on and then off the ferry, and I live close to the port so limped it home, arriving at around 0600hrs!!!

On the way up North:-





Finally on the ferry home:-



As the Mars Red ended up continuing for a while longer than I was expecting, unfortunately PNH 543Y sat in my driveway like this for pretty much a year.

And so the strip-down has now begun.

My biggest problem right now is lack of space to work, with the red one in the garage beside it.  Not so bad doing the inside stuff, but need to keep rolling in and out of garage for anything else.  Not sure how practical that's going to be in the long term.



So overall the plan is:-
Complete shell restoration in original Lhasa green.  Underside will be done in 3M bag sealer.
Tidy up the engine, light overhaul if required and make it look nice.
Overhaul the carbs, new fuel pump and lines.
Upgrade brakes with 9" servo, 22.2mm master cylinder and Mk2 16v calipers/discs/pads with the correct Audi caliper carriers.
KW V1 coilovers (Heritage OEM+ ones)
Powersprint 60mm 2 box stainless exhaust system and a 4-branch manifold (not sure which one yet).
Some nice wheels and interior.

Hopefully this one won't take me 6 and half years like the red one.  I just need to find someone to do the shell resto for me!

Aha, my old car. Much missed….. (i'm actually in the passenger seat in the GTI International pic, with Graham, the previous owner driving)…..all the best with the restoration, the car was a corker (when in my hands anyway) back when it was an old school tuned 1.8 (well a 1.9 8v by BR Motorsport….with many other mods & set-up by Geoff at the original AMD in Oddington, both legends in their day)…. I will watch with enthusiasm…Remember mate that you can only drive one car at a time so I expect first refusal on the car when complete. You'd make an old fart from Wales (and my wife) very happy if she came home…

Any bodywork gurus able to advise me how bad this is likely to be to repair, as it worries me a bit (quite heavily blistered with corrosion all along the front edge of the roof at the sunroof aperature):-



I do love a sunroof though !!!!

Looking forward to the updates on your build again , no doubt it will be another beauty

I was wondering when this thread would start - definately looking forward to it. Just make sure you don't get too carried away - if you want any tips on that - I'm happy to oblige  
As for the garage space - you'll have to go old school, get the thermals on, and pray to the weather gods!

J

no the thermals and weather thing well

Bit more progress, got all the engine and front end wiring harnesses removed, rear is all disconnected but the old fuel pump wiring is trapped somewhere around the tank so I'll drop this out before pulling them through as I'm not keen on just cutting wires.

I knew I had a pic of this somewhere…..how does this pass an MOT !!!!????

Wow, never mind an mot, how can that pass your conscious doing nonsense like that

Jeez!

paceman said

Jeez!

Life has no meaning to some people

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

Couldn't sleep at night if I knew 😂

Time for a quick update.  I have been pressing on with the strip-down as I'm hoping to get it to the bodyshop in during Feb 2022.

I removed everything from the underside and then bolted the rear axle back into place so I could still roll the shell.  Left the rear discs and calipers installed purely for the handbrake.



It actually had some really good bits which surprised me, including an original GTi tank and the internal swirl pot is like new.  It also has a stainless filler neck which sounds great, but it was installed with no gasket between it and the shell, which looks to have caused a severe amount of galvanic corrosion around the area (or it might just be general rot, but seems very localised to me).



Got the engine and gearbox out.  I'll need to figure out a better way to arrange the lifting attachments, as it was angled too far back and didn't come out of the mounts very cleanly.  Will have to maybe add a rear strop to lift it more vertically than it came out, so if anyone can show me how they've rigged up for a 16v engine that would be great.



I haven't been looking forward to removing the roof lining, not because it was particularly difficult, but I was afraid of what I would find around that front edge of the sunroof.  Sure enough, it's really not pretty, and will probably be a tricky enough repair.  The rest of the sunroof tray actually looks pretty good.



Apart from a couple more interior bits to remove, I'm pretty much ready for the shout from the bodyshop to get it down to them, and then I can start refurbing all the boxes and boxes of stuff I've just removed.
 

A small ratchet strap or 250kg chain pull is handy to help you align the engine while on the crane.

I was about to reply to your sunroof question from the start of your thread….. was planning on saying its a tough one but it will be coming from underneath.

I see you have the lining off now though, Thats a tricky one, the corrosion needs cut out as its under the skin, don't think you get skins for these anymore, if ever I’m not sure. You might need to consider a carbon roof skin or just rust treating it but I’ve not seen that successfully work long term. Any welding from top will warp the roof and fabricating a section underneath and spotting it will need a proper artist!

Sorry man I’m sure you were aware of the options to some extent.

Great thread, watching closely! 

Lucy750Y said

I was about to reply to your sunroof question from the start of your thread….. was planning on saying its a tough one but it will be coming from underneath.

I see you have the lining off now though, Thats a tricky one, the corrosion needs cut out as its under the skin, don't think you get skins for these anymore, if ever I’m not sure. You might need to consider a carbon roof skin or just rust treating it but I’ve not seen that successfully work long term. Any welding from top will warp the roof and fabricating a section underneath and spotting it will need a proper artist!

Sorry man I’m sure you were aware of the options to some extent.

Great thread, watching closely! 

Thanks for the reply.  You are right though, I knew it was likely to be a bit of a mess on the inside.  The bodyshop I'm sending the car to is a very experienced panel beater, so I'm gonna trust his abilities to make this good.  He certainly hasn't shown any great concern about what he's seen so far, so I'm confident he'll repair it properly as it needs to be 100%.

Quick update and a little bit of advice required.
Car is stripped and has been delivered to the bodyshop with a load of new repair panel sections and genuine VW front wings.



Whilst the engine was out, I couldn't stop thinking that a 2.0 litre bottom end would be a nice upgrade to go with the KR head, so I sourced a 9A corrado unit. Everything looked good …. but…. on stripping it down I've found this in No.1 big end



Thankfully the crankshaft seems to be ok and should polish up fine. Has anyone ever seen a bearing failure like this and the likely cause? The rest of the shells were all perfect (mains & big ends). 



I was always gonna fit new bearings, rings and thrust washers so I'm not too bothered,. The cylinder head is in really good shape, but I can't find any info on how to check cam chain wear and if it needs replacing. It's got a couple of Piper 270 cams in there too.

Shells can slip as they wear, that's what happened to mine back in about '95. Like that, it was only the one, unfortunately for me, it trashed the crank. A few more miles and that block would have done the same. I'd imagine it was knocking slightly which is why it was removed from the original car. As long as the crank measures up OK, or can be reground 0.25mm (and oversize shells) it will be fine.