MK1 Golf GTI 2.0 TFSI Edition 30 p12 (was 2008cc R1 bike carbs)

Front seats removed. Not bad for 33 year old seats?


 

It's been great weather today, so lower dashboard trim and 1st section of carpet removed.




Being careful to remove all the carpet pins first.

 

Back section of the carpet now removed and dreaded rust spotted on both sides of the car The good thing is that it's been spotted now rather than later.

Hopefully this is just surface rust and that there is a solid base once sanded back. Will soon find out!





 

Seats look in amazing condition. And fingers crossed its only surface rust  

Matt

pazwaa said

Seats look in amazing condition. And fingers crossed its only surface rust  Matt

Thanks. Hopefully I will get chance this weekend to sand this down and find out. I've got some nifty stripping discs from Frost http://www.frost.co.uk/car-autobody-blasting-soda-blaster/wire-brushes-auto-grinding-discs/115mm-stripping-disc.html so these should make this light work

I've made a bit more progress this week, as the dashboard has now been removed.





There are now two obvious issues.

Firstly, the panel behind the dash will need modifying to allow installation the front roll cage bars,
and secondly, I have 33 year old dust in the car  

One step forward and two steps back.

Having removed the front carpet, it is clear that the front jacking points have suffered badly at the hands of poor garages.

This is the inside of the same sill, notice the crease in the sill and floorpan.  Extra repair work will be needed to rectify this before proceeding with any further.





 

One forward, two back is standard for these projects  

Will you cut out and replace the damaged steel?

Matt

Not sure yet! The outside sill had already been cut/repaired welded etc, so I'll  sand down the inside and see how bad it is first

Managed to fit in time for a quick weekday update.

Having sanded down the two B pillar corners, it's pretty much just surface rust.





I also took the opportunity to pop off the wiring bracket in preparation for preparing the area to fit the main hoop footplates


So that the footplate can sit flush against the sill, but also so I can spot weld the bracket back on afterwards Hopefully I'll get chance to finish cleaning up the surface rust at the weekend  

Good news it's only surface rust  

Are you making your own cage or fitting a bought item?

Matt

pazwaa said

Good news it's only surface rust  Matt

  x2!!

pazwaa said

Are you making your own cage or fitting a bought item?

Matt

As I don't have access to the tools to shape the metal tubing, and the fact that I wouldn't have a clue where to start if I did ..I have therefore bought one!!

This is a  very subtle clue of what I bought  

 

Full image spoiler alert!!!

So this is it! A Custom Cages 6 point weld in MSA approved clubman cage  
 

Looks a nice piece of kit  

Do you weld it to the shell anywhere other than at the base?

pazwaa said

Looks a nice piece of kit  

Do you weld it to the shell anywhere other than at the base?

Hi Matt

So as well as the six main weld-in points (front foot wells, bottom of B pillars, and the rear struts towers)

It is also possible to attach the cage to the A pillars and upper B pillars.   

This cage is much less complicated and easier to install than the full multi-point version. But still should make a big difference to stiffening up the shell.  

Bodywork now complete for B pillar foot plates.





I am wanting to fit the cage with the least amount of changes to the original bodywork, but to still ensure that the cage is correctly installed. Therefore I have cut away a small amount metal to allow access to weld the back of the foot plates.




Spot welds carefully removed and sill prepped for fitment of the foot plate.












 

Main hoop and rear stays trial fitted to give me an idea of where they will need welding to the rear suspension struts.







The rear foot plates come pre-shaped at the top, but will now need shaping to fit.







 

The A pillar have also been trial fitted.  Unfortunately the interior light will need to be removed to allow fitment.






Also the front dash bodywork will require some modification too. Hopefully I can keep this to a minimum and keep nice and tidy too The wiring loom can be moved to the right a little and it should also clear the fuse box without needing to move it. 




 

While trial fitting the rear diagonal, I also quickly measured up the rear strut braces/harness bars

They should look like this:



Except they are like this!  The right hand side rear strut brace (rsb) should align with the right hand side rear stays!



The rear turrets are approx 102cm apart, but the two rsb's are 120cm in length!!

The supplied Custom Cages instructions state "Custom Cages Roll Cage Kits Should Not Require Trimming to Fit If any tubes do not appear to fit please contact us before altering the tube length"

However on the website it states that Clubman Roll Cages may require trimming to fit!!  

Would definitely seem like the right hand side is too long. Or they've sent you the wrong piece??

Annoying when standard parts that should fit, dont!!  

Matt