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GarytheGolf

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It has been some time since my last update. Sounds like a confession!.

I finally managed to repair the drivers side rear axle mount by cutting down a repair panel and fettling it to fit. My efforts in welding it in resulted in much grinding and rewelding.

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As soon as I starting welding, much of the wax inside the chassis section would melt and instantly cool the weld, making my welding look like a bunch of grapes in certain areas.

In addition I had to patch over the join because I burnt through in two areas.

When I addressed the passenger side, it was not so bad and it had been welded before. I decided just to patch the area around the rear stud and up the side. I also cleaned up the previous weld. The remaining hole I will repair when I finish of the front of the rear arch.

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I have since removed the surface rust in the fuel tank area and etch primed it and the axle mounts. In addition, I have used seam sealer (very forgiving!) around the welds of the axle mount repairs. I will use stonechip later in the exposed areas.

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Today, I repaired the front of the rear arch on the drivers side. It made a change to weld sitting up.

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Sometimes the weld finish looks worst when you grind it down then paint it. I will probably grind this area again. Another day though!

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P.S, always looking on ebay for stuff to repair the car upholstery. I have managed to recently aquire some of these, I spread the cost over the last few months. A bit expensive because of the exchange rate, I know, but very quick delivery and good communication.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=110319261151

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=110319255665

Last edit: by Malcolm

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nice work

very neat repair, wish mine looked that good

top work, keep it up!!! :D

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Good work on the beam mounts Malc :wink:

Andy

LINCOLNSHIRE REGION - https://www.facebook.com/groups/467122313360002/

1983 MK1 Golf GTI Campaign Model - Under (looooong) resto!
1962 Rover P4 80
2002 BMW 745i
2008 BMW Z4 2.5Si

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Thanks for the comments, much appreciated.

I am glad that I have finished welding flat on my back for now. I have only set myself alight 3 times!

I have bought a reasonably large powder fire extinguisher from Lidl for ?20.

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GarytheGolf update 12 Jun 09

Again some time since I last posted anything. Family commitments created a 5 week or so drought of activity. However, I did quite a bit last Saturday and some of the photos relate to work done before the break.

I have continued doing small repairs in preparation of stonechipping the rear underside area. Some further examples below:

The front of the passenger rear wheel arch had some metal to be replaced.

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The picture is poor but I was reasonably happy with the welding.

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Weld smoothed out a bit.

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Zinc primered.

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Seam sealed.

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Rear of the drivers rear arch, just kurusted after welding.

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Rear passenger rear wheel arch, the more I welded here, the more holes appeared, pretty solid now, but a bit of filling to do.

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Seam sealer around the rear axle mount welding.

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2 small repairs on the wheel arch, got a bit messy near the back seat mount, somehow I need to smooth this out, any suggestions, I can't get the grinder in there.

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and the other side

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The drivers rear arch is in pretty good shape having only covered 62K miles.

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I could not get to the small hole at the top of the arch, I had previously kurusted the area and zinc primered it, so I glued a small plate to cover the hole and sealed it will seam sealer. Poor photo.

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In addition to the above, the lower edges / lips of the rear wheel arches have been repaired /metal replaced.

This weekend I plan to do the stone chipping / repair to underseal as required in preparation for getting the back axle back one, once that has been refurbished of course.

Last edit: by Malcolm

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A little bit more done today, mostly painting.

Underside stone chipped and undersealed by the axle mounts. Note the cardboard over the axle mounts for spraying.

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Drivers rear wheel arch stonechipped and painted.

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Passenger side, stone chipped and painted.

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The next few jobs are going to be the fuel tank and rear axle refurb. The tank has been venting for months now.]

Last edit: by Malcolm

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how did you apply the stone chip?

looks awsome

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U-pol Stonechip Spray, However I did not remove all the original stuff, only that was loose and where I need to weld or repair.

Before applying, I degreased all the wheel arch areas, allowed them to dry and sprayed the U-pol all over. The U-pol stonechip dried for a 4 hours before applying the silver top coat. I used all the silver paint I had left on my shelf, i.e. halfords, 5 wheel and tetra silver paint

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upol?

does that dispense itself, or do you need some kind of air gun to do that?

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A little more work this weekend, painting the fuel tank and fuel filler pipe.

First time I have used POR-15. Bought a starter kit with the additional marine clean and metal ready products. I am really impressed with the results. A little seems to go a long way, but cleanliness gives the best effect.

The more I work on this car, I realise that I am not having the depth of the problems that some of you guys are having.

My fuel tank is almost spotless, no debris inside and no rusty holes, the top of the tank and the edges need the most rust proofing treatment.

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The underside of the tank had been previously wax/underseal treated, and only afew areas and the connection needed treatment .

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I completely refurbished the filler pipe as it had not been fitted for long by the previous owner. had it been left for longer the pipe would have certainly started to corrode in the usual places.

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The next plan is now to refurbish the main axle. A little dilema though, I want to replace the axle bushes.

Replacing the original bushes is approx ?50 each side from VW, that's the complete assembly.

I thought of replacing the rubber with polyurathane bushes. I see from cheapest to dearest, the red ones, yellow ones and purple ones from the different suppliers on ebay. I am not after a sports ride, the car is a GL with no anti-roll bars, which one would be the preferred option?

Last edit: by Malcolm

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i got the red one one mine

i've never driven using them but i don't think i will make a massive difference

the old bushes took some right abuse to get them out. set fire to the rubber and clean up the metal

here my rear axle using por 15 good stuff


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Another update, started to attack the rear axle and its components.

Before I took the hubs off , I used my angle grinder with a large wire brush to spin the hubs and remove the rust. It was very quick and saved a lot of time.

I dismantled the rear axle, rear hubs, brake back plates, servos and shoes.

Where necessary I removed and treated the rusty areas, and soaked rusty bolts and fittings in a tub of the Bilt Hammer stuff.

The back plates after a derusting, being treated with the POR-15 Metal Ready

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The axle and the backplates were painted with the POR-15. POR-15 is good, but too shiny for me as it highlights imperfections. So a few days later I oversprayed in matt black. See later pictures, it nearly looks powder coated.

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The back plates were temporarily installed for painting.

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The stub axles were treated and the bases painted with caliper paint.

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I decided that I would replace the servos and the brakes shoes. I managed to get the servo bolts, back plate plugs, nipple covers and spring retainers from VW. The shoes and the servos from GSF. The remaining stuff has been cleaned / reconditioned.

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I used spray Caliper paint for the drums and the large rear axle washers, brake shoe pins (you can see the VW/Audi logo on the ends of the pins) and handbrake cable retainers, in addition I used Hammerite Gold paint to paint the axle bolts, almost a Cadmium plate / yellow passivate look.

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Everything was assembled using Duralac jointing compound and copperease grease for the servo attachment bolts. The axle mounting and stub axle bolts were torque loaded as per Haynes manual. As discussed previously I opted to fit original axle mountings, you can still get them, though a little expensive

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Only one side done so far, the rain came today. The hub is installed temporarily as the handbrake cable will need to be fitted when the axle is refitted to the car.

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When the axle is completed, I shall be addressing the brake lines and then fitting the fuel tank, thats if I can find all the parts I took off !!.

Then refitting the rear axle. I will be nice to get a different view of the car and work on the front.

Last edit: by Malcolm

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its all gone resto crazy here this summer!!! good work! 8)

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8O

Love it !!!  :P

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Another update after a few weeks of work. I have finally fitted the fuel tank and rear axle back on the car. It is nice to get the car out of the garage after welding!.

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All items have been assembled with Duralac jointing compound and torqued up as required.





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I replaced the rear shocks, but refurbished the cups and springs.

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The rear exhaust box was pretty new, it has been refurbished with heat resistant paint. It has been fitted to the car for storage but not connected to the rest of the system yet.

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The fuel filler pipe is also temporarily refitted, it is connected to the fuel tank and the rear wheel well but not to the fuel filler mounting in the rear panel, I am not going to do that until after respray. I was able to replace the fuel gravity valve mounting up in the wheel arch with a new one from vw. New Jubilee clips used all round.

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For the moment I have reused the rear brake pipes and replaced the rear hoses with new.

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I am not going to connect the brake hoses to the rest of the system until I see the condition of the remaining brake pipes and system. They are blanked with the blanks from the new brake servos to prevent dust contamination.

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The rear hubs are now properly installed with the original rear brake cables connected. The hub bearings are now serviced with new grease, bearings set up and locked.

I need to clear out the car and clean it, there is a lot of dust from welding. Also make good the welding scars inside the car after repalcing and repairing the rear axle mountings.

I want to turn the car around and continue addressing the engine bay and service / refurb the front suspension.

Last edit: by Malcolm

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Another update, I have started on the front of the car, I decided to remove the engine. I want to service and refurb the engine and the engine bay.

Last weekend I had the car out of the garage and broke / cracked each joint on the suspension and steering, so everything was loose. In addition I removed the driveshafts and disconnected / slackened off all the engine mountings and attachments.

I scrounged a small pallet from work to mount the engine on. I strengthened it and put on 4 caster wheels so I can move it around.

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In preparation, I managed to get an engine hoist from ebay. A Clarke model, the smallest at 500kg, but still quite large and heavy. Larger than the ones I have hired before.

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Once the engine was out, I spent most of the day attaching mountings to the pallet to support the engine.

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Note I can still access most parts of the engine and remove the gearbox, I hope to change the gearbox for a 5 speed.

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Now I have plenty to do and should keep me occupied for a while.

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Last edit: by Malcolm

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Great work there, i hope to do the same to mine.

Good luck with the rest of it.  :D
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