Mk1 GTI Cabby.The Project So Far... NOW SOLD :( !

Seats look nice, would like to do that to my polo but with red leather.
What size is your compressor? i take it you will use that for your blasting cabinet? I've got a 25l compressor but i'm not sure if its big enough for a blaster?

Got a 24L compressor which I'll use for my blasting cabinet.

Had a go at the weekend at it worked a treat.

More progress today!

Started to take the engine out and strip it down.

What a handy bit of kit the engine hoist is!



My step dad helping out…used to be a mechanic so knows his stuff when it comes to old school motors.



Got the engine out and onto the stand to start taking it apart.









Engine stripped! Cambelt timing looks very suspect but it's going off for a full rebuild anyhow. Going to get new water pump, oil cooler ready for when the engine cones back.

I hope I can remember where everything goes when it comes to putting it all back together!!

Tried labelling it all up as I go…



Removed the final bits in the engine bay ready to be prepped for painting. Not sure about the wiring…will be mission to pull it all back through the bulkhead!





The car looks very sorry for herself now. Can't wait till it's all going back together. Keep looking at everyone on the forums motors to keep me going!

This arrived today too…zinc/nickel plating kit. Read the manuals a few times and it's starting to sink in…think I'll do a tester 1st.



How hard can it be??

Hello mate,

I must say that this thread is pretty awe inspiring.  I've only had my cabrio for a week and I've just been busy sorting a few little things - however nothing on the scale of what your doing!  I've picked up a few little ideas from reading through this so cheers for the inspiration.  

Andy

Thanks Andy,

My original plan was to tidy it up a bit but I've got the bug and one thing leads to another!

Hoping to have it ready for a few of next years meets.

This forum is great with plenty of top people to help out if you get stuck.

Good luck with your project!

Spent all day yesterday trying to get my zinc plating kit going.

1st attempt went well resulting in 1 'ok' nut. Then tried 10 in 1 go but it all went pear shaped! Tried again…no joy!

6 hours later…still can't get it right!! Argh!!! Very grumpy in the evening (much to the mrs annoyance).

Woke up and decided to take my bits to get them done at a professional plating company. Wasted £120 on the plating kit which is annoying….my advice would be don't bother…save your time, money and effort and get it done by a pro.

So….started stripping all my bits to send off to the platers.

Tried to arrange them in order so I know where they came from. Took lots if photos too to help.




Parts individually set up…







Will get some more parts stripped tomorrow and boxed up.

Using brick acid to clean all my grubby parts before priming, and painting. Cleans them up a treat, leave it over night and 'voila'…clean as a whistle!

More updates tomorrow hopefully!

Quick question. Can I clean parts with electrical contacts in water/degreaser? I assume as long as they are dry before re-assembling they will be fine? Any advice?

Cheers.

Hi Russ,

Car looks great….I know you'd spent days / weeks / months in the garage, but had no idea how much detail you were going into……

Make sure the Cabby's ready for next summer…..I've got a few roadtrips planned!!! lol!   

PS - Your fingers look sick on that photo….worse than mine!! and thats saying something!

Keep up the good work, and remember….if you need a hand……………I'm working away!  :wink:

Da

Cheers mate!

It's turned into an epic. Will be worth it though.

Few updates…

Engine has gone off to be rebuilt, polished and ported head and maybe a fast road cam too. Should be ready next week so I can get on with painting.

Did a bit more stripping today (car parts!)









All parts soaked in brick acid, wire brushed and a spray of wd40 to stop the rust from setting in before zinc plating.



Rubbers gloves to protect my fingers!! This stuff is pretty lethal.



All my bits ready to take to the platers. Bargain £50 for all of it to be plated. It's quite a big bucket too!



More bits will get plated later on (door locks, boot locks, bonnet catches etc)

New bits arriving tomorrow. Hopefully start refurbing my ancillaries v soon.

Had some bits arrive today…

Primer, VHT paint for the manifold and exhaust…



Some supplies for Frost (as I've heard great reviews)

Metal Prep to kill rust, Aluma Blast for my engine ancillaries, Underhood black for my engine mounts etc, Pre paint for cleaning everthing down and diamond clear for any bits that need extra protection.



Spent a good few hours today cleaning and prepping. So boring but the key is in the prep (so I'm told)

Made use of a wire brush on my drill to get rid of loose rust and dirt.

Accidentally got it caught in my trousers whilst cleaning an engine mount which nearly ripped my leg off!! LOL. Wasn't very funny at the time… :redfaced:

Anyway, quite a few bits prepped ready for final degrease and painting.





Nice shiny water pump arrived too. The car was using a bit of water so thought I'd replace this as it was pretty cheap (and it saved me re-furbing the old one) Hopefully all my other engine bits will look like this when done!



New oil cooler too…this'll get a fresh paint to match my other engine bits.



Took my alternator and starter motor to be re-conditioned today. They're going to strip them down, give me back the bits to paint / get zinc plated. I'll hand it back to them to re-assemble. Good as new.

Hopefully painting tomorrow?

Got my starter motor and alternator back today…in pieces!

Acid stripped it, ready for painting and zinc plating.





Set up my conservatory as a mini spray booth (much to the Mrs delight - not!)  :evil:

Got all the parts hanging nice.





Gave everything a final clean off with Pre-paint, then any bare metal was sprayed with Metal Ready. Once dry it was a couple of coats of zinc primer.



The black parts had 3 coats of under Hood Black…amazing stuff. The finish is superb!





All my silver bits had 2-3 light coats of Aluma Blast. This stuff is pretty cool and very easy to use. It has a metallic flake in it which is difficult to see in the pics…

A final couple of coats of Diamond Clear lacquer which gives a really nice gloss finish and will protect against grubby fingers…









Some of the pics look gold, but they're silver.

I'll get some better photo's when it all goes back together.

Finally hung it all up in the loft to dry thoroughly (won't be playing pool for a while!)

Had a phone call today…Zinc plating is done and will be here on Wednesday so I can start putting things back together!

djrussf1 said

Cabby looks great but just a helpful bit of advice for you, your front speakers need some kind of baffle to work against to sound their best.

Your aiming to cancel any sound waves from the back meeting the ones from the front and at the moment they are just suspended in fresh air. Not sure of an easy fix but if you can fill the gap between the grill and the speaker you'll be amazed at the difference.

Hope thats a help and keep up the good work, its going to be a cracking car when its done.

Ah. Bugger!

Thanks for the advice. I get what you're saying.

I suppose it's like having a sub woofer without a box? Flapping around like a fart in the wind??

I'll take them out and have a look to see what can be done….answer to follow…

Cheers!

Was having a think and If you have a nose on the internet or any car hi fi place you shold be able to get some pre cut mdf speaker rings or of course make your own.

Not sure how much room you have but you can either mount them to the doors behind the grills or fix them between the grill and the speaker and shave it a bit to fit so to speak.

More stripping down today…

I know the pics aren't very exciting!  :roll:

Photo's should get a whole load more satifying when I start putting it all back together though.

More bits ready for acid dip and then off for plating…











Decided to strip my calipers again as I wasn't happy with the quick lick of paint I'd given them before. Properly acid strip them back and re-paint this time.



Next time I update I should have some nice shiny plated parts!!

Good news from the engine builder today…Engine is really good with no noticeable wear. Result! He's going to polish and port the head and put a new oil pump and shells in while he's cleaning it up. Should be back at the end of this week.

:notworthy:

You are going to some detail - fair play and well done - an interesting build thread, one to watch :wink:

Thanks,

It's been a bit of a grower. Only planned on tidying it up originally but has turned into something a whole lot bigger (and more expensive!)

Probably done most of the work arse about face but it'll all get done eventually. Keep plodding on.

Needs to be done by April as we want to do some meets next year and a road trip through France.

djrussf1 said

Thanks,

It's been a bit of a grower. Only planned on tidying it up originally but has turned into something a whole lot bigger (and more expensive!)

Don't they all, I remember taking mine off the raod to touch up some rust and fix a few niggles… 4 years later and its a bare shell! I'll get it finish one day!  :roll:

Finally got the bits back from the platers.

Spent all weekend re-organising the nut and bolts which was a minor headache  :dontknow:

Everything came back from the platers fine but I was 1 bolt short (nothing major as I can source another) Phew!

Me organising everything…again…



I know I labelled some of the parts wrong…but I know what they mean and where they come from.



All the cleaned and refurbed bits ready for re-assembly…



Now for some before and after photo's. Well pleased with the results. It's so nice putting things back together and still having clean hands at the end of it!

Throttle body before…





After…





If anyone knows a good way of cleaning the plastic connector terminals… I'm all ears. I did the best I could but not prefect