The 1993 Clipper cabio I didnt know I wanted. It found me.

As you can tell there has been nothing Clipper related to report recently as most of my time has been spent on the Beetle.
Today however the Golf's infinite headroom again proved itself useful.

Holidays are coming 11 by Dave Campbell, on Flickr

Holidays are coming 7 by Dave Campbell, on Flickr

Merry Christmas everyone.

Liking the picture… Tinsel included?
I fitted my real Christmas tree in my Golf at the weekend  but it was raining so roof up and passengers seat lay down and the tree still fitted in.  

Merry xmas everybody by Dave Campbell, on Flickr

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Next years Christmas card sorted.  

Most amusing picture :-) has brightened my day, thanks

I have let this thread go without updates now for over 2 months for one good reason………. The trusty wee Golf has been performing its duties without drama through the winter.

I did however take this amusing picture last week;

Odometer palindrome. by Dave Campbell, on Flickr

All the while I have been puting the miles on going up and down to the workshop where I am restoring SWMBO's Beetle (which will be getting MOT'd on Wednesday)

seats in 6 by Dave Campbell, on Flickr

seats in 7 by Dave Campbell, on Flickr

Golf at night by Dave Campbell, on Flickr

Dave

Today the wee Golf went for its third MOT in my ownership. Not bad for a car I didnt really know I wanted.

Only three issues to sort and I am looking for some knowledge if you are able to help I would be grateful, stay tuned.

1st issue is easy. N/S number plate light. Changing a bulb should be a piece of pee-pee but now I have typed this it will probably be a nightmare.

2nd issue. N/S front spring is broken. I hate working with coil springs but needs must and I have the loan of a proper spring compressor, not the threaded rods of certain death.

3rd issue is the odd one. Rear brake imballance and they are only working at 54% and 32% efficiency. Handbrake is fine so its not the shoes and I replaced flexi lines 3 years ago so thinking I need to swap out the rear cylinders.

This is where I need to tap into the collective knowledge.

The usual sources are listing 2 types of cylinder. For cars with pressure regulator and cars without. How do I identify if my car has a pressure regulator and could the car have been fitted with the wrong cylinders in the past and this is why the efficiency is low?

As said, its not a bad list for another years motoring but whats the betting I order parts from GSF the day before a 50% off weekend?

Dave.

P.S. I also tried to give the car a coat of turtle wax last week but didnt know which end the wax came from.

I turtle waxed the Golf. by Dave Campbell, on Flickr

    Don't squeeze the wax pot too hard!!    

I didn't realise there was two types! lol. Brake compensator is mounted just in front of the rear beam on the near side.

You can see it in the lower diagram in this link - http://www.oemepc.com/vw/part_single/catalog/vw/markt/RDW/modell/GOC/year/1993/drive_standart/44/hg_ug/611/subcategory/115020/part_id/3688223/lang/e

Hope that helps? For the cost, maybe it's worth just replacing both rear cylinders so you know they're the same?

Brilliant mate, that diagram has helped a lot and it seems my car does not have the regulator.

I had planned to do both cylinders, new shoes and wheel bearings while I had it all apart, seems a missed opportunity not to.

Dave.

You may as well. The parts won't brake the bank and it's worth it for peace of mind


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….one question and maybe I missed this? Have you whipped the drums off already? If not it could be that one of your cylinders is just starting to weep


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Ive not had the drums off yet and could be a leaking cylinder but the pedal is firm and stops with no sink.
Im wondering if the long term lay up has contaminated the fluid with moisture and the cylinder bores are corroded and starting to seize.

I also found out that as well as the pressure regulator shown in the diagram above the later cars came with them fitted to the outlets on the master cylinder. A quick look confirms that my car has the later style of pressure regulator on the master cylinder so parts are now ordered.

I waited until today to order the parts in the hope that GSF would have a money off voucher and BINGO! Email came through this morning so £126 worth of parts and £8 next day shipping for £67

This weekend should be fun.

Remember my prediction about the number plate light being the easy bit?

Didnt expect this rust covered mess;



So a good excuse to try the vinegar dip rust removal;

Bottle of smart price finest vinegar (not distilled condiment), tin and part;



This is what we start with for a before and after comparison;





We will see how it looks after a day or 2 in the tin;



Dave.

I've tried the vinegar thing before. It does work, just takes a little while!

After 24 hours in the vinegar the results are in.

Before;


After;


Looks a lot better now.

Wow that looks so much better, I must remember to buy some vinegar.  

I started ticking off jobs for the MOT today.

Number plate light working then onto the front strut which all came off without issue;



Right up to the point I had to remove the top nut.

The other side is a 22mm but this side is a 21mm. No big problem except my set of swan neck spanners includes 13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20 and 22mm spanners.

Sunday afternoon and I need a 21mm swan neck spanner and I have no car.

No problem however, necessity is the mother of invention.

Start with an old 21mm socket;



Tickle it with the grinder;



Introduce it to an old spanner;



Make the bond permanent;



Jobs a good un.

No pictures (video will follow when I edit it) but the spring is swapped and the strut is back on the car.

Need to think about getting the tracking done after working on the front and tomorrow I hope to get onto doing the back brakes.

Dave.

The reason there are not too many pictures of the job is because I was shooting video and this is the finished how to. The full front spring swap compressed into 10 minutes;

VW Mk1 Golf/Rabbit front coil spring swap in 10 minutes. - YouTube

Dave

BTJustice said

The reason there are not too many pictures of the job is because I was shooting video and this is the finished how to. The full front spring swap compressed into 10 minutes;

VW Mk1 Golf/Rabbit front coil spring swap in 10 minutes. - YouTube

Dave

Thanks Dave that's a top notch video for idiots like me. Not a job I have needed to do yet but feel I could tackle it having watched this.


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Wes_france said

BTJustice said

The reason there are not too many pictures of the job is because I was shooting video and this is the finished how to. The full front spring swap compressed into 10 minutes;

VW Mk1 Golf/Rabbit front coil spring swap in 10 minutes. - YouTube

Dave

Thanks Dave that's a top notch video for idiots like me. Not a job I have needed to do yet but feel I could tackle it having watched this.


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No problem and Im glad there was enough in the video to follow the process.

What I would say is if doing this job, get a spring compressor like the one in the video. I borrowed that one but they are available from £60 on ebay and MUCH better than the threaded rod of death type compressors.