clipper engine rebuild

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hi to all.her is my mk1 golf cabriolet karmann clipper.

after having a old h reg polo (my first car) this is when vw's became my passion. after that literally died. i got a mk2 golf 1.6 driver which i absolutley loved!! now i look back at why i sold it!!! madness i tell you/

after having numerous cars i was never happy. so i moved from my 05 plate 1.4 fiesta to my k reg mk1 1.8 golf.

happy days.i bought the car knowing that it needed work doing to it which i was happy with. but was told the engine was sound. (not really a problem if it wasnt as i was happy that the body work was in great condition with no rust in any of the usual places. just on the passengers rear arch which is about the size of a 2 pence piece)not long after having it it started smoking after it had been idling. the longer the idle the more smoke.so after driving it for a few months the smoke started getting on my nerves. plus to the fact the water pump had gone and a pipe had burst and various niggly bits. it started using a bit to much oil. was burning it rather than lubricating the engine. lol. and water was being used but no visable leaks.so i set my mind on taking a week off getting the head of and replacing all the seals throught including valve stem seals. that was it……but……one thing leads to another and now im rebuilding the whole engine and engine bay.heres the start/

engine bay looking tired and in need of some tlc.

it starts. with the legs off which was actually a struggle as the drivers side caliper sliding bolts were rounded. managed to get there. disks were heavily lipped and pads low. i knew this but now know why they hadnt been changed!!

with the engine finally out after a struggle with rounded drive shaft bolts, anti roll bars bolts snapping. drivers side driveshaft falling apart from the inner joint to the flange. and the crappy downpipe exhaust clamps which were hell to get off and im dreading putting back on!!!so the fun begings.

so with the head off and gearbox off we can see whats been happening.in one of the pistons theres alot of carbon build up and crud compared to the others. this shows one the head as well. all pistons and valves seems pretty good to me so far. the gearbox was oily as seen. this will be changed as well as it crunches into 3rd gear and is sometimes stiff going into 5th. i believe that 3rd and 5th gear are on the same train??? and also my flanges are 100mm. i thought they would be 90mm as i thought it was the gtis that had 100mm??the rocker cover breather was pretty blocked and has now been cleaned. all parts taken off will either be cleaned up or replaced if needs be.

engine bay before

engine bay after quick jet spray to remove most of the many years of build up.this is how far ive got over the last few days. heads goig to be skimmed tomorrow just for piece of mind. will remove sump and check oil pump and remove any crud. when head is back i will do all that and then start putting the whole engine back together.if theres any tips or any advice that can be offered then i would be very greatfull. or if you see anything that catches your eye that might be wrong or could change.

im sure ive missed bits out. i will keep updating as im going along.this is my first major rebuild. i have no garage. kind of doing it the wrong time of year. but im determined

not even the rain will stop me. haha. so i started with the root of the problem. the valve stem seals.

new ones in place

upon removing the cam this happened.

luckily enough i bought another ex engine so had a spare.

here are the valves before and after

all cleaned and reground. next the seats.

after this i moved on to the bottom end. the bottom end was fine and didnt need a full strip down. yet!!

so just a clean up was in order.
from this….

to this …….

to this…….

while i was there the gearbox had a spruce up. this was a replacement as mine was crunching into 3rd.

so with both ends ready to rock i played cupid and brought them together again.

firstly they needed protection.

now they are one again.

everything needed tidying up so i set about showing it some tlc. in my make shift workshop!

all ready.

after removing most parts i thought it best to buy new on certain things. goodies

cleaned up inlet manifold. dropped the pierbeurg and replaced with a weber 32/34

so now time to put it all back together.

engine in.
old.

new

new pads and discs

thats the engine bit sorted. the car is up and running now. missed taking some photos but basically ive gone from this

to this

this is a pic of about 2 months after putting it back in. got dirty quick with the bad weather

and with a water pipe failure that poured water everywhere!!!

since doing the engine rebuild i can concentrate on other problems like intermittan central locking. replaced the window module as that failed. found one and have electric windows again.

fuse box was full of water but still worked. going to buy a new one though.

interior needs a good clean or replace.

treated her to some new rubbers.

but all in all its my daily and a working progress. im thinking of maybe a full strip down soon to bare shell and full rebuild. thinking candy apple red for a new colour with some polished cookie cutters??

but for the time being shes running lovely and being well looked after.