Where to start?

After owning my 92 cab for a fortnight, I finally have a chance to look at it when it's not dark and raining.

I only have the garage for two weeks I'm a complete newbie, but my brother knows a bit about cars. I've been reading through Briano's excellent posts, but I really don't know where to start…

I'm going to treat the hood today as it gets really sodden in the rain.

People talk about "the green stuff" and "the pink stuff." I seem to have "the brown stuff" (and not much of it). so I guess I need to flush the coolant. I'll follow the guide if I can order the pipes in time. Still unsure whether to get green or pink.











Are these bad?







I'm no expert, but this looks a little low…




Any help much appreciated.

the_whip said

After owning my 92 cab for a fortnight, I finally have a chance to look at it when it's not dark and raining.

I only have the garage for two weeks I'm a complete newbie, but my brother knows a bit about cars. I've been reading through Briano's excellent posts, but I really don't know where to start…

I'm going to treat the hood today as it gets really sodden in the rain.

People talk about "the green stuff" and "the pink stuff." I seem to have "the brown stuff" (and not much of it). so I guess I need to flush the coolant. I'll follow the guide if I can order the pipes in time. Still unsure whether to get green or pink.











Are these bad?  YES







I'm no expert, but this looks a little low… yes




Any help much appreciated.

Depending on who you talk to the traditional blue/green AF is supposed to be used in older cars.

Top mounts look past their best, bump stops and dust covers probably gone too and if going that far might as well replace shockers. Use Febi top mounts

Has it got 'in-the-weeds' coilovers or totally fkd shockers? The paints cracked and peeling from the passenger side inner wing strut tower being hammered

did you check fluid with roof folded down?
i bought hydraulic oil from halfords in the past, since all the o rings will either seal or leak after 20 odd years. mark carter has started doing a reseal kit at classic-VW.co.uk  ,carl chortle chorely will advise you on correct oem oils.. . Look for chortle posts on here.
 

There is also a problem with the steering (a bit loose), which the previous owner thought was the rack. I don't have the time, tools or experience to deal with all that at the moment so I'll have to find a good mechanic here in Somerset.

I'm not sure what 'in-the-weeds' coilovers or totally fkd shockers means. I think they are Bilstein and they have been lowered (too far IMO). I noticed Febi top mounts in the service history.

I didn't think to check with the top down. I'll try tomorrow. I don't need to use the hood in this weather, so I can take my time with that. Is Carl a member here?


Thanks for all the help.

the_whip said

There is also a problem with the steering (a bit loose), which the previous owner thought was the rack. I don't have the time, tools or experience to deal with all that at the moment so I'll have to find a good mechanic here in Somerset.

I'm not sure what 'in-the-weeds' coilovers or totally fkd shockers means. I think they are Bilstein and they have been lowered (too far IMO). I noticed Febi top mounts in the service history.

I didn't think to check with the top down. I'll try tomorrow. I don't need to use the hood in this weather, so I can take my time with that. Is Carl a member here?


Thanks for all the help.

In-the-weeds means lowered to a stoopid amount….. which sounds like what has been done. So there is in effect little or no suspension travel and that which remains is rock hard which inturn mucks up the steering geometry leading in some cases to pulling the steering rack off its mountings/cracking the bulkhead and murdering all the other steering/suspension components.


 

Hey

If you are not too confident then I would advise you find some old boy mechanic who knows what he is talking about / has worked on older cars and understands things like carburetors and ask him to take a look over it and give you a good idea of what needs doing (don't bother with the newer mainstream garages that diagnose a car by plugging their laptop in)

once you have a list you can work out what you will do yourself and what a mechanic can sort and prioritize it all as you might have a few more serious/pressing issues that you might not be able to spot if you are not sure.

Pink vs Green - I use whatever is cheapest! - at the moment it's pink as I managed to get a big concentrated 10L bottle for £5 on a clearance sale!

Early-1800 said

In-the-weeds means lowered to a stoopid amount….. which sounds like what has been done. So there is in effect little or no suspension travel and that which remains is rock hard which inturn mucks up the steering geometry leading in some cases to pulling the steering rack off its mountings/cracking the bulkhead and murdering all the other steering/suspension components.

Lol, I like that expression. I hope there isn't too much damage  I had budgeted for a big hit at some point though (he says, trying to remain positive).

I think 35mm was mentioned. I can't get the camera far enough away at the moment, but here is an idea…

squideatingdough said

Hey

If you are not too confident then I would advise you find some old boy mechanic who knows what he is talking about / has worked on older cars and understands things like carburetors and ask him to take a look over it and give you a good idea of what needs doing (don't bother with the newer mainstream garages that diagnose a car by plugging their laptop in)

once you have a list you can work out what you will do yourself and what a mechanic can sort and prioritize it all as you might have a few more serious/pressing issues that you might not be able to spot if you are not sure.

Pink vs Green - I use whatever is cheapest! - at the moment it's pink as I managed to get a big concentrated 10L bottle for £5 on a clearance sale!

Yeah, I think you're right. I want to do as much as I can myself, but better to have someone with experience to look over it first.

Right, I'll get green or pink (whichever is cheapest). Seems to be the general consensus.

Cheers.

Try not to be too worried about things.

Invest in a decent set of tools, either pick up what you need from car boots or markets or splash out and get yourself a Halfords big tool set.

What you spend on tools will enable you to do more stuff yourself thus offsetting the cost of garage bills.

Also get a manual, Haynes Brown one seems to cover most things.

With a correct size spanner or socket,  a manual, a jack and some axle stands most things are do-able.

WD40 and some decent penetrating fluid are also essential along with a flat head and cross head screwdriver.

I started with one of these Tool Kits & Car Tool Kits | Halfords UK about 15 years ago and then replaced stuff bit by bit as things wore out or broke. They aren't the best quality but they get you going without a huge outlay and there's pretty much all you need to start.

Get some paint on those cracks and replace the top mounts for a start.

Pop the bottom hose off the engine block, you'll need pliers to get the hose clamp off assuming it's a VW coloured one and not a traditional hose clamp. Flush everything with a hose pipe (it'll be dirty rusty water so it'll make a mess, do it outside) then re-fill with you coolant mix. Once filled to the 'max' line, run the engine until the engine is warm enough for the coolant to be sucked into the block and/or the fan come on. I usually do this with the expansion tank cap off so the air can escape from the system. The level will suddenly drop as the coolant is moved into the block properly. Once this happens stop the engine and top it up. Keep you head away from the expansion tank in case it 'burps' back and sprays out.

Put the cap on and run the engine again for about 5 mins. The fan should come on with the bonnet down. Once the fan comes on you can check the level again. DO NOT open the cap at this point.
Check for leaks during the process.
Once cool top up if required.

Have fun

Ian

As Ian says start little by little, water flush, oil changes, and brakes are not too bad even with wrong tools. on the list ian supplied add little heating torch, can work wonders on stuck bolts. https://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/tools/socket-sets/halfords-advanced-200-piece-socket-and-ratchet-spanner-set--limited-edition-black https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0765WWWW8/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_UljcEb46QX2WZ https://www.sgs-engineering.com/tjl2jsr-low-entry-trolley-jack-axle-stands https://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-mas830b-digital-multimeter-600v/75337?tc=RB6&ds_kid=92700022850517724&ds_rl=1241687&ds_rl=1245250&ds_rl=1244066&ds_rl=1249796&ds_rl=1245250&ds_rl=1249481&gclid=CjwKCAiAuqHwBRAQEiwAD-zr3VAEK_MJBJqdO3lVBd8xwotbejwOSCrXQ5xmkWPjcn8WlfxF4VR-qhoCHmwQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds Above all, get a haynes…or bentley, and ask advice via the forum, no one is out to mislead you.. If you cant do 90% of stuff on the car with above items then its time to find a good garage.  What area are you based maybe someone can recommend a local friendly garage. I'm rubbish with finishing my own projects, but bring a car to workshop and i'm happy to tackle any make or model, confindence grows when on car lifts with wide selection of tooling, and with some other mechanics to give hand.

Make sure heater (matrix )is open and that the heater is set to hot when bleeding and flushing. nasty air trap…… fingers crossed that heater works at this time of year. if you find clamps a pain to remove  then invest in some stainless jubilee clamps, as easier to remove in awkward positions.  Keep eye on fluid level for few trips looking for minor leaks and topping up.  Also good point to check water level switch in expansion tank, mines always saying no water but yet its full.. its annoying but i wipe it down with cloth and seems to work for few months.



 

Thanks for all the support. It’s really helpful.

My brother came down yesterday. He got me a trolley jack and a couple of axle  stands for Christmas. I need to get a full set of tools at some point, but luckily there are quite a few where I am staying. No flame thrower though  The manual Haynes suggested is a little short on info as it tries to cover so many cars, but I found a pdf of the Bently.

We got the front up on the jacks to have a look. The disks are good and the pads have plenty of meat on them. The shocks are B4s possibly with alternative springs on them. Have to look into that.

We flushed the coolant (didn’t change the hoses as I didn’t have any new ones). Damn, those hose clips are annoying!
While we were waiting for the engine to cool, Ian’s reply turned up (good timing) so we followed that for the rest. So that’s one job done Before we started the flushing, the coolant warning light had started to flash. It kept flashing whether the coolant was hot or cold and regardless of coolant level. Sensor perhaps?

The LCD has given up displaying the time in Japan, and now does a poor impression of a  Predator’s armband…




The MFA button never worked anyway, so I’ll add that to the ever growing “to do” list of electrical problems.


Before my brother had come with the jacks, I decided to take a look inside the car. As advised, I checked the hydraulic fluid level with the hood down. It was a little above min so I can put that on the back burner for a while.

The electric windows make a strange noise and the manual remote mirror control doesn’t work so I took the door card off to have a look. Somehow the cables for the mirror had got caught in the wrong position and the window was slowly sawing through them each time it opened. To make things worse, the rubber guide had split and got chewed up by the other side of the window. I cut away some of the window rubber and re-routed the mirror cables to free the glass. Is this 21 in the following picture?













Sorry for such a long post. I’ll start asking questions in the appropriate forums.


Cheers,

Nick
 

Sounds like you had a good day!

If you can, spend good money on decent tools and do it bit by bit over time rather than buying a load of junk all at once - they will last a lifetime and be much better quality - they will also work better to loosen rusty bolts without rounding themselfs or the fastener !.

Buy second hand ones - the best quality ones I have are hand me downs or second hand ones, cheap ones are fine but like I say they just don't work as well - you can deffinatly feel the difference between a quality one and a cheap one , as a general rule the more reflective and covered in chrome.it is it's the more likely it's going to be useless tat. - older the better! Car boots are a great place.

99.9% of the time the only spanners and sockets I use on my VW are a 10mm 13mm 17mm and 19mm - 7mm is handy for your clamps and jubilee clips - I would advise buy quality spanners and sockets in those sizes, the rest can be cheap Aldi junk kits because you will only use them once in a blue moon.

For MFA disconnet battery for 20mins, replace an earth from dash clocks to rocker cover and then reattched the battery, it happens to me loads when recharging battery and jumpstarting from flat.  window seal guides etc from classic-vw.co.uk, vw heritage… go new /repro rather than old second hand  stuff, as will be just as brittle as the old thats fell away.  As mention above there are certain sizes used alot, but you never know whats been refitted in the past, you can get same thread size with different heads, allen, hex,torx  or someone may have rammed a BSF or UNC threaded bolt in metric hole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cgOVDCT3Zc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW4KWSfcGRU

a great little video on cheap vs good tools - good for a chuckle

Shoot, I have some good and some Cheap spanners and sockets, but mostly I have a good 1/4 drive socket set from 4.0-15 short and deepwell all 6pt.  I have 2 sets of 3/8" drive from 4.5-19mm one set is 6pt, and one 12pt.  I have a set of 1/2" short and deep well drive from 8mm to 32mm plus a set of Allen sockets 3/8 drive from 3mm-10mm the proverbial 17mm Allen for the Trany oil..  3 sets of Jacks, and 2 sets of stands.  not to mention that I have straight and wobble extensions for all sets of Sockets so I can assemble about 2 foot of them at any given time…. I have the 1/2 to 3/8 and 3/8 to half, and 3/8 to quarter drive conversions.  The the 3 special tools that you need the 8mm, and 12mm Triple square drives 3/8 drive, and the 19mm 12pt socket. Don't forget a set of wobble extensions and a good hand or screwdriver Handle, that fits your hand….

Various screwdrivers, and spring clip pliers, Hack Saws, Grinders and a Sawz-all… but then again I have been buying tools for about 50 years and I never throw any away…. About 10 years ago I did replace my spanners as the 13mm, and 10mms could do 13 as well as 14..

I started acquiring a complete set of articulating speed or gear drive spanners, and they are the Cats-Pajama's..
I can go from 6mm to 19mm…. Started about 15 years ago….

The other thing that I have found useful over the years is a good quality 16" Number 2 and number 1 Phillips screw driver, good for Dash screws and things (make sure they have magnetic tips or get a magnetic tip maker)…. oh and a small and large magnetic Pickup tool that extends 2 feet at least, as well as a set of magic finger pickups at least 18-25 inches….

Last but not least a DVOM…. There are more, tools that you may want to buy, but if you buy a few every payday, you will get a good set soon…At least in 2 years.. I stay away from Cordless Battery drills on the car, and only use my Electric drill occasionally…. A great useful set of
Left handed bits and a reversible drill are a godsend for stripped screws and bolts….

Tools, one other tip, you need at least 2 spanners of 8mm, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, and 19mm…. 1 you never know when you are going to drop one and not relocate, or you need a backup spanner to fully tighten..

Finally, you need a good 1/2 and 1/4 drive torque wrench, the 1/4 in Inch lbs as the small 10mm bolts that hold the flanges to the head are set at 87 inch/pounds to tight and you strip the head….

Don't go cheap when buying a tool box set get one with the roller slides that hold about 100 pounds…

Gee, I think that is all… 

A lot of stuff to get!

The MFA trick worked  

the_whip said

A lot of stuff to get!

The MFA trick worked  

!! good thing or bad thing is that your not too far away from VW Heritage so you can always pick there parts up, and compare drawings etc.. But most parts have a part number marked on them, so a quick question to mark carter @ classic- vw, richard masters at crazyquiffs,  and B&B components at maidstone and you will be sorted. !!