83 GTi - now MOT'd!

Actually, if you pm me your address I'll stick a couple in the post (I have 4 left) and it will only cost me a 2nd class stamp (I'm from Yorkshire, so no 1st class!)

paceman said

Actually, if you pm me your address I'll stick a couple in the post (I have 4 left) and it will only cost me a 2nd class stamp (I'm from Yorkshire, so no 1st class!)

LOL ordered them before I saw this, I'm near Barnsley! Not sure when I'll be getting around to fixing it, being totally messed around with our wonderful NHS at the moment, booked in for operation week after next thats been cancelled 4 times so difficult to plan things…..

Great work going on here, enjoyed reading your thread!
Keep up the good work

jakethepeg007 said

Great work going on here, enjoyed reading your thread!
Keep up the good work

Much appreciated!

So, where we….
In the last installment I had this list:

• finish the seat and fit it
• get my side trims painted up and fitted
• Have another look at my WUR as I can't quite get the pressures right
• Get the timing,idle and mixture right
• Wing mirror glass to fit
• Then it's probably ready for an MOT….but I'm sure there will be the odd thing that needs doing after that, but at least it will be driveable!

My neighbour hasn't finished my seat back repair yet, so in order to remove that from the critical path I bought a cheapo set of seat covers and put the seat back in with a cover. At least I can sit in it now!
Side trims are still a work in progress..

Completely rest my WUR. After reading a whole heap of stuff I went for a fail safe approach. Split the WUR and pushed the main fule cell out about 5mm, and did the same with the post. Reassembled without the bimetalic strip fitted and set the warm pressure by tapping the fuel cell back in. Refit the bimetallic strip and set the cold pressure. Tested it with 12v applied to make sure it went from cold to hot pressure - all good.

Spent a whole load of time getting timing mixture and idle right - it's hard to time when it doesn't idle, but it's at a point now where it ticks over nicely when warm - timing is spot on and mixture is about 1.75% according to my Gunson guage - will get it checked on some proper kit though as I still think it may be a little lean. Starts from cold, but after a few mins (not timed it exactly yet) it starts to struggle without some throttle, but once slightly warm, it's perfect. Will have to get the guage back on the WUR, but again I'm wondering if it's too lean.

Managed to extract, in one piece, a mirror glass from another set of wing mirrors - did a quick write up here - https://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/forum/index.php?page=topicview&id=new-technical-non%2Fhow-to-remove-wing
Waiting for some very sticky sticky pads to fit it.

Saturday was a momentous occasion - she moved under her own power for the first time in 24 years! To say I was pleased is an understatement (sadly my excitment and joy wasn't shared quite so much by my family - but what do they know). Her it is in action: https://youtu.be/wffPWH-yYKc
(Colour doesn't look right in that vid for some reason)

So, I'm going to try and get an MOT booked for next week! Exciting times, very exciting!

Still some things to do post an MOT (trim, seat, etc) but at least I can drive it !


Thanks for reading!

J

MOT is booked for Monday afternoon. Cross your fingers for me!

Awesome J, the video is a cool milestone.  Hope the MOT goes well, I'll keep an eye out for the update with the news!

Pistol said

Awesome J, the video is a cool milestone.  Hope the MOT goes well, I'll keep an eye out for the update with the news!

Thanks Pete.
Good or bad, the result will be made public!

Pistol said

Awesome J, the video is a cool milestone.  Hope the MOT goes well, I'll keep an eye out for the update with the news!

Thanks Pete. It was a rather surreal experience to be driving it again - even that short distance.

Good or bad, the result will be made public!

I know your elation having just had mine running for the first time in almost 20 years

Good luck with the mot, I'm sure it will breeze it after all your good work

jakethepeg007 said

I know your elation having just had mine running for the first time in almost 20 years

Good luck with the mot, I'm sure it will breeze it after all your good work

Thanks fella, much appreciated. Its been a long journey, but worth it!

paceman said

jakethepeg007 said

I know your elation having just had mine running for the first time in almost 20 years

Good luck with the mot, I'm sure it will breeze it after all your good work

Thanks fella, much appreciated. Its been a long journey, but worth it!

How is my accumulator doing mate

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Hey Paul, I've not forgotten mate!
Well I still don't have any residual pressure, but neither accumulator shows any leakage from the screw at the back. I'm still puzzling over it as the fuel pump and non return valve are brand new. Chances are both accumulators are good, so I'll swap mine back on and get yours back to you. I might even deliver it by hand as part of my running in process!

paceman said

Hey Paul, I've not forgotten mate!
Well I still don't have any residual pressure, but neither accumulator shows any leakage from the screw at the back. I'm still puzzling over it as the fuel pump and non return valve are brand new. Chances are both accumulators are good, so I'll swap mine back on and get yours back to you. I might even deliver it by hand as part of my running in process!

Be nice meet you half way unless you want to visit the house of car parts

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Minor hiccup yesterday, took it for a run up and down a quiet road in the evening to try and bed the new brakes in a bit, come home and suddenly there is steam pouring out from under the bonnet (thought it was smoke at first glance!) Split coolant hose grrrrr. Weird as I've had it running up to temp quite a few times. Thankfully I had a spare that will hopefully get me to the Mot so I've stuck that on this morning. To be fair the hose I replaced was manufactured on 17/02/83 😁

Well it nearly passed….
Failed on one thing, and I'm kicking myself as I'd read all the check lists…what none of them (at least that I read) mention tyre rotation orientation. I've got one tyre that is basically on the wrong side so the rotation arrow is pointing the wrong way. I;d bought a set of wheels with tyres on and put the matching pair on the front. I knew it was wrong, but had no idea it was a fail. Learn something new everyday! Still easy fix, but it still hurts.
Brakes were a scrape, but they've only done 14 miles, so not bedded in yet.

On the plus side, I got plenty of compliments on the car - that made me happy!
I was weirdly very nervous before I set off - felt like I Was about to sit a major exam or something - very odd feeling that I've not had for quite a long time.

Car drives well, certainly put a smile on my face, not given it loads as the engine needs some running in as well as the brakes - and it doesn't have an MOT. On the odd occasion I got it over 3k rpm it seemed to bog down, so something isn't quite right just yet. Suggestions welcome….

Oh, and I looked at the price of road tax - that was a shock! Got used to low tax modern cars!

Such a shame about the tyre rotation. At least you know everything else is ok.
I’ve been following your thread for a while and it takes me back to when I good mine on the road, from the first drive out in years to taking it to the MOT station and feeling like you were about to take a major exam. I remember having the same feelings and I also remember the shock of the cost of the road tax.
I don’t have any suggestions on the running issue but possibly vacuum advance or other timing issue.
Got luck getting the retest, then the fun really begins. They’re great cars to drive and once you’ve done a few hundred miles to bed everything in and iron out the teething problems you’ll find how well it performs, even against a lot of modern cars.


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That's a bummer, but at least an easy fix

Could be worth a new fuel filter  to try as you may have pulled some junk through, and check for air leaks in case you are running too lean

Good luck with the retest, hope your tester is fair and just check your tyre!

Run the engine in and keep it below 3000rpm and no more than 1/2 throttle for a few hundred miles, be patient as it will be worth it on the long run.

paceman said

Well it nearly passed….
Failed on one thing, and I'm kicking myself as I'd read all the check lists…what none of them (at least that I read) mention tyre rotation orientation. I've got one tyre that is basically on the wrong side so the rotation arrow is pointing the wrong way. I;d bought a set of wheels with tyres on and put the matching pair on the front. I knew it was wrong, but had no idea it was a fail. Learn something new everyday! Still easy fix, but it still hurts.
Brakes were a scrape, but they've only done 14 miles, so not bedded in yet.
……

I know that feeling J, but as already said such a minor fault to fail on (I'm surprised he didn't just let you away with it as an advisory, it doesn't seem like a dangerous fault).  

Once you get her MOT'd, then at least you can start tinkering and adjusting things properly as you'll be able to drive it more than just around the street.  It's been a great build thread, keep the updates coming.