Pistolpete's Mars Red Mk1 GTi restoration

So this picture was the start of my project, dated 01/02/2014.



Almost 6 years have passed to the day, and I'm hopefully on track to fire her up exactly 6 years to the day on 01/02/2020!!

Have had a couple of minor niggles to deal with but nothing major.  I managed to get her back onto all 4 wheels again this afternoon for the first time in those 6 years!!



The layer of dust kind of hides the amount of work underneath!!









Need to find my washer bottle and get that cleaned and fitted, then bonnet on, put some fuel in and see if she fires up.  Once I've had her running, it'll be a full detailing session to get the paintwork back to tip top condition.  And then show season 2020 !!!!  At last.

Great work Pete, great work. Fingers crossed she starts up and runs well. Always a nerve-wracking time!
Then onto the next one eh!

Wow that is beautiful Regards Dean

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That's super clean, I guess you will be waiting till the weather gets better before taking it out as the roads are rather dirty and covered in salt…  

paceman said

Great work Pete, great work. Fingers crossed she starts up and runs well. Always a nerve-wracking time!
Then onto the next one eh!

Cheers J, yes I'm nervous about firing her up. I'm supposed to run engine at 2k rpm to bed in the camshaft, but can't see me doing that from the first start up. I'm sure it'll be fine.

Deano777 said

Wow that is beautiful Regards Dean

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Cheers Deano

mark1gls said

That's super clean, I guess you will be waiting till the weather gets better before taking it out as the roads are rather dirty and covered in salt…  

Cheers for the comments, you're right about the roads, I'll hopefully tax her again in April.

Pete  

Loving your blog here.  Great inspiration as I am in the same process of nut and bolt rebuild.

I have a set of CrazyQuiff braided fuel lines like yours.  Did you put any protection around the pipes where they are held by the under car metal lugs??  Clearly you cant use the original rubber protectors.

I also see you have used a couple of P-clips in the engine compartment to hold them.  Would the original fuel pipe clips not hold them in place?  I see you talk about a fuel pipe lug breaking off - is that why you used them?

I would appreciate if you have any more pics of your brakes servo pipework set up.  I have a 22mm master cylinder and larger servo like you.  My previous setup used the three way adaptor as well.  Would you mind posting a few more of the pipe work for the servo/master cylinder as you appear to have done it very neatly.  

Keep up the great work!  

Looking forward to seeing it after the detailing session.  Keep the pictures coming.

cdgthreesalmons said

Pete  

Loving your blog here.  Great inspiration as I am in the same process of nut and bolt rebuild.

I have a set of CrazyQuiff braided fuel lines like yours.  Did you put any protection around the pipes where they are held by the under car metal lugs??  Clearly you cant use the original rubber protectors.

I also see you have used a couple of P-clips in the engine compartment to hold them.  Would the original fuel pipe clips not hold them in place?  I see you talk about a fuel pipe lug breaking off - is that why you used them?

I would appreciate if you have any more pics of your brakes servo pipework set up.  I have a 22mm master cylinder and larger servo like you.  My previous setup used the three way adaptor as well.  Would you mind posting a few more of the pipe work for the servo/master cylinder as you appear to have done it very neatly.  

Keep up the great work!  

I've sent you a PM.
Had a few issues of my own to deal with, can't get the car started at present.  Plenty of help as always on the forum so hopefully I'll get sorted soon.

https://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/forum/index.php?page=topicview&id=helllllpppp%2Fk-jet-experts-please

Pete,
I take my hat off to you…. just got back up to speed with this build as not been on here in a year, really chuffed to see your progress and the attention to detail with the mods you've done, it's a absolute cracker you have!
Just shows me how far I have to come with mine.  
Hope you get her running and enjoying it soon! 
Well done! 

harveygti said

Pete,
I take my hat off to you…. just got back up to speed with this build as not been on here in a year, really chuffed to see your progress and the attention to detail with the mods you've done, it's a absolute cracker you have!
Just shows me how far I have to come with mine.  
Hope you get her running and enjoying it soon! 
Well done! 

Thanks for the kind comments Harvey. I've had a few niggles to get her back running again, but had it out for a quick run round the block. Had to adjust the gear linkage slightly as 1st was not quite right. Got the indicators at the front fixed with some new wiring.

I haven't had a chance to get it fully detailed, want to get my garage sorted first so have ordered an epoxy 2pack floor coating.

As always, there'll be more updates to follow!,

Quick update, my Mk1 seems to be fighting me all the way to getting back on the road, probably my own fault for taking so long.

Good news:-
I took it for a quick run round the block and it drove really nicely, but obviously still needs to get the fuelling properly set up.  The exhaust is catching ever so slightly on a heat shield near the axle, and the gear linkage needed adjustment.
I got my agreed insurance valuation back from Lancaster at £20k.

Not so good:-
After adjusting the linkage, thought I'd take car out of garage to check I could get all the gears ok.  Couldn't understand why it was turning over and not firing up again (thought I was back to square one with the previous issue).  Then noticed a large pool of fuel under the car at the fuel pump.  After further investigation, found the new braided hose from pump to accumulator has suffered a fairly major failure of the hose under the braid.  Looks like there's been a flaw in the crimp.  Now waiting on the replacement coming from CQ's.



MOT is booked for May but I don't even think the MOT Centres in NI will be open so unlikely she'll be on the road any time soon.
 

Check the NIdirect.gov site to be certain. but my reading of it is you'll may not be able to MOT the Golf for a while.

Test centers here are apparently closed until late June at the earliest.

It's pure bureaucracy, but if your car's due an MOT (or it has recently expired) you still have to apply for a test knowing the centers are closed. Close to the test date they'll cancel it and refund your fee, plus issue a 4 month Temporary Exemption Certificate (TEC).

I'm going through this with the Peugeot at the moment.

Your problem may be that if your previous MOT expired more than 12 months ago you'll not be eligible for a TEC.

Test dates are also an issue… 7 weeks ago I tried booking one for the week before my MOT expired and none were available. The earliest available was almost a month after I need the MOT.

Seems they're no longer even physically issuing the TEC's you've to keep checking the online MOT site for updates instead.
 

bacardincoke said

Your problem may be that if your previous MOT expired more than 12 months ago you'll not be eligible for a TEC.

Seems they're no longer even physically issuing the TEC's you've to keep checking the online MOT site for updates instead.
 

Yep, you're spot on.  MOT last expired in 2014 so no chance I'll get an exemption cert.  My daily cars have had 4 month extensions automatically applied once the MOT was booked.

As you say, could be a long summer looking at the car in the garage !!

This is awesome. Great build well done! I'm just at the start of mine, can see how much work you've done! Brilliant! Shame about the timing of the MOT fingers crossed when June rolls on by, you'll have it on the road. 

some testing stations are still open

Great to see progress Pete! Underside lookin sharp!! You are nearly there! 

wow that looks amazing and this brings back a lot of memories of when I did the same to my GTI years ago. More engine pics please.....

Forgot to say in my last post how well the car's looking, incredible work and health to enjoy!

Just an update on the TEC's… The Pug's MOT would have expired this Friday, I've just checked the Gov.UK site and it's now showing as November 2020.

That's a full 6 months extension and not the 4 they previously advised.

I've heard nothing from them, nor has a physical TEC been received.

The longer date suits me, but may be a revised indication of when they're expecting the centers to reopen?