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1979 Mars Red Series 1 GTI

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Ok, so I've bought a S1 GTI - Out the body shop...

i rekon its your stem seals lee just got brittle over time not being run and now knackered and you gotta get the head off to find out so don't matter if it is the head gasket now, and you will be able to see if it is head gasket failure anyway, and i was number 1 on the list on page 2 i'm moving backwards lol :)

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your done mate, in the post tomorrow I promise.

yea Im sure its the valve stem seals mate.  its easy to test and im sure a new head gasket and cambelt won't hurt too :-)

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AL_Mk1 said


MFA :dontknow:

no MFA on a s1 gti is there?

one to the carb one to the air intake maybe? not ower clever on injection if i'm honest….. I'm a carb man  :twisted:

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hi lee have you not dun a compression test?

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The other vacuum line is for the fuel enrichment circuit, ther is no MFA on a S1!

No I haven't done a compression test mate, I don't have a kit

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should be able to pick up a compression tester for bout £10-15 from your local parts place…or  have one if you can be arsed to come get it not sure if i'll have the right end for yours like will have to check….

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rustys_mk1 said

should be able to pick up a compression tester for bout £10-15 from your local parts place…or  have one if you can be arsed to come get it not sure if i'll have the right end for yours like will have to check….

seriously like that cheap? Ill get one if they don't cost the earth! can you use it when turning the engine by hand? or does it have to be on the starter?

Also, doesn't the engine have to be warm to do a compression test?

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Ah google is my friend

Not by hand and not with a cold engine, im just gonna whip the head off and do a valve leak test russ

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furry muff. a compression test will still give you some indication of how "good" or "bad" the engine is when done cold handy to have too. although with the amount of oil in the cylinders you say you have there's a good chance you'd get false readings anyway now that i think bout it….

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Lee_dub said

ther is no MFA on a S1!

I know that!

But you said it had a 1.8 DX lump in it, so who knows what else is in there - Clocks, dash etc…

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Ah reet I get ya mate, its a s1 except for the bigger lump and quad lamp grill, think someone in the past wanted to campaign it up unfortunatly.

Id love to put the 1600 with a 4 speed box back in there but it seems counter productive.  Any guesses on cost of a head rebuild then fellas? Anyone had one done recently?

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bout £200-250 at cleasbys in durham iirc.

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yea think thats where ill take it mate.  £250 is more than i was expecting! thats gotta come out the bodywork fund! eeeek

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i think a full rebuild is about £750 there!? worth it though they seem to do good work.

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Russ you need another mk1 man :-(

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was just thinking that. I'm gonna convince mark to sell me one of his floppy tops silly cheap hopefully and keep it at work so our lass doesn't know……for now lol!

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Thats the spirit mate, then you can go work on it when work is slow or you can put in an hour after work etc.

Got to be done man, I can't ever picture you in another car!

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Here is a shot of the top of the piston on cylinder 1 through the spark plug hole, I know its crap but you can just about see the sludgy oil on top of the piston



A current shot of the engine bay, vacuum leaks now sorted, not massive starter power lead lol!


Here is my working area, I really need a double garage but I can't winge too much as I know some of you dont even have a garage


It gets untidy


The paint looks really good in these pictures! its not too bad so its a shame it needs painting again.  That panel you can see is a  NOS VW full small light panel


And that concludes this episode of the MK1, another flurry of activity followed by silence for at least a month now as im soooooo busy.

Cheers for reading so far!

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Not much going on with this at the min lads, ive ad no time to work on it!

I have bought a few things, NOS glove box lock and a fog light switch.  I have since realised tho a 1979 car does not have to have rear fogs!  :banghead:

I just need a good half day on this to get the head striped off and tested - as soon as its running it can go in the bodyshop! (if only my mrs could work on cars! lol) living 280 miles away from where your project is severly effects the ammount of time you get to work on it :-(

I will get this head off soon tho lads and then it will go into the bodyshop! funds are sat waiting in my bank acount for all the repairs and a full shoot, Its just time is against me unfortunatly.  :banghead:

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Doing a little update for lee as he asked me take the head off for him so been round his today and got the bugger off. everything came off fairly easily and i was steaming along till i got to the exhaust manifold….. took me over 2 hours to take the 8 studs out  :banghead: . but after much swearing and scraped knuckles they came out. cylinders look fine slight lip on them but thats to be expected. gonna get the head to the engine place for a check over and any work that needs doing carried out….

so heres the car left as much on as i could just so i could get at the head…..



one of the bores thats not damage just some crap or a reflection of the camera



one removed head couldnt get some of the injectors out so just took them with it will sort that later..



and a close up to finish..

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