"TAG" - 1983 Campaign restoration blog

It does work quite well  

Ian

Latest update.  On with the works.

Having finished the exterior paint removal it was time to clean up the interior.  Many hours spent with fine sandpaper rubbing back.  I have removed all original seam sealer and after rust treatment I will replace it - but rather neater than the crude original.  Fiddly and time consuming work especially in teh rear wheel well and around the rear lower seat belt bolt holes.   











After rust treatment I wafted over the bare metal areas/treated areas with etch primer.

Very glad I removed the seam sealer from the spare wheel well as it revealed another rusty nasty spot.  Having dug out the large chucks of filler I was left with a 6" x 2" rotten hole at the rear of the well, above the reinforcement panel that supports the rear of the well from underneath.

Cut out bad metal, treated rust, new panel welded in, etc.  Not looking rather better and nearly ready for painting.




Hard to see here - looking underneath into the  slot between the reinforcement plate and the spare wheel well the rotted hole.  Nasty place to get to !!

Time to remove the sunroof panel.  

Again a few hours then spent with the DA sander taking it back to bare metal.  Rather like archaeology going through the various paint layers - like geological strata!











The rain gutter fitted to the rear edge was in quite poor state, having been repaired previously - though rather crudely.  I welded up various small holes in the water channel and remade one end which was in a bad way.  Only later found out they are still available new….. could have saved a few hours work!




Before

Before

After remaking end.

There was now only one area of the car to clean up/prepare for the body shop………… the engine compartment.  So it was time for the engine to come out………………….



To spread the weight distribution more evenly, rather than just lifting on the engine, I chose to use a rope around the gearbox as well.  Maybe not required but I thought it may be too gearbox end heavy on lifting out.






I did find I had to removed the brake servo/master cylinder as I could not see a way to get around them without damage.








Only real trouble was the drivers side engine mount, by the belt cover, was catching.  I found it was due to the two rubber pieces either side of the mount itself causing friction.  I used some long nosed pliers and pulled them free and that did the job.





I separated the gearbox from the engine to make it more manageable to get them round to the workshop.



I have had many things in my wheelbarrow - but a VW Golf engine is a first……………….

Now time  for yet more cleaning up………………………











Again I have removed all the factory seam sealer, and again I very glad I did.  As the following photos show, the sealer has gone hard from the heat of the engine and led to water getting under it.  The orange line show clear evidence of this. In some corners it was really quite nasty corrosion but thankfully nothing too serious.  

Deja-vu……………………….

……two photos taken 25 years apart………….. and I am still sitting in MK1 Golf engine compartments…>!  Happy days……!!

Excellent work!  Looks first class.

Rusty areas of the engine bay then painted with Rustbuster epoxy.

Then time to replace the seam sealer I had removed.  I used masking tape to define the lines better and then used PU seam sealer with a "wet" thinners finger (health and safety would go MAD!) to create nice smooth lines before removing the masking tape.  Worked pretty well.  

… and finally a waft of etch primer.

Then onto seam sealing the bonnet using the same process as above.  Very please with the results.

Then onto seam sealing the bonnet using the same process as above.  Very please with the results.

And finally for this year (!)…. seam sealing in the rear of the car.












Looking good after a waft of primer.

Finally I would just like to thank all the members of this great Club for their support, help and advice throughout 2018, especially those who have read this blog and taken the time to respond to my questions and queries.  

Happy Christmas and here's to a great Golfing 2019!!!!!

Merry Xmas. Really enjoying this thread.  Will be a cracking car when finished!

It's looking good Guy, I can't wait to see it with a coat of paint. It's gonna be a great looking car.
Have a great Christmas and new year.

Nice bit of fingering!! Looks a tidy job  

Have a Merry Christmas too  

Excellent work!
Good luck with the project

Finally the GTi has headed off to the body-shop for the expert attentions of a pro!!!  He will now go over the car and fill any minor imperfections etc before painting it.   

He has got a spit which will enable him to be able to spray the underside in top coat as well.  

He will paint the panels off to get good coverage of the door jams etc and inside the doors/tailgate etc - before fitting the panels and gaping it all before final coat.

The "Chinese eBay" waterproof car cover seemed a good idea in case of any rain - keeping it off the primered body - it was totally shredded/destroyed after a 15 min journey!!