'79 diesel LHD

I was so pleased I spent some hard-earned cash on the old girl. 5 euros for an aeriel and 10 euros for a set of mirrors.

A NOS Hirschmann, still in its box:


Kind of easy to fit - no plastic inner arches and under the dash is only carpet, but it's a bit tall!


Then remove the plastic cover:


Clean up the holes:


Fit the mirror:


Clean the car a bit, but no need to polish in Winter!


And put her away to dry:


Here's the radio - no plate yet but I'm working on it. I can pick up 7 stations now, three in English, two in French and two in Dutch:


Next job, figure out why the reversing lights and the clock don't work.

Come to think of it, the reversing lights don't work in the cabriolet either.

Robin

Early-1800 said

When I had a 1.6D Caddy it would average 55+mpg on a bit of a run (5spd gearbox). A previous Jetta 1.6D (4spd G/B ) used almost entirely on short runs would do @40-45mpg. So your average sounds about right and about right for a Diesel, you sound surprized? Are you used to filling up a V8 petrol?

Not so surprised, but it is reassuring. My 1800 cab does 35+mpg on petrol, but diesel is a lot cheaper over here, so using the diesel halves running costs. Petrol is 1.55 euros (£1.25) a litre and diesel is 1.35 euros (£1.10) a litre.

Robin

Reversing lights fixed, with a switch from a Polo (but the switch on the cabby was OK, so the fault must be elsewhere. So much easier to park with lights on!

Now it's holiday time, so I'd better get on with the car. Plans are a little welding, a driveshaft boot, a steering rack gaitor and the later front brake upgrade. The small brakes are actually not that bad - I think a large part of the problem must be in the RHD setup…

Here's the first problem:


Hoping it's not too bad:


Clean it up:


Cut it out:


Weld in a new piece:


Clean up and reweld the bits you missed:


Tomorrow I'll do the second skin, but I'll have to improve my technique. It comesof not having touched the welder in the last ten years,rusty wire, a dodgy torch and shaky hands…

Robin

Hi,

here's the outer arch after another hour's work:


Sorry, no before and during photos - the batteries were charging. The welder runs better on clean wire, and my technique is less pigeon poo, but I still blow a few holes here and there. Metalwork should really be left to the pros, as you can see every hammer blow in this piece. On the other hand, it will be covered by the spat, and with a quick skim of filler no-one will know. The splodgy edge is where I sprayed underseal over the etch primer on the inside.

Here's the next job:


Any suggestions?

Robin

Nice work dude…. The arch might need a bit smoothing off which i believe you will do later on…

With regards to the tailgate just pull it out….

Hi,

not much work today - I made myself a slide hammer to try to pull out the dent, but haven't triend it yet. I also went to the local VW agent, the same one who originally imported the car in August '79 - and he identified the colour from a plate under the bonnet as LA5V Azores Blue. Now I'll be able to order a spray can and touch up my repairs…

Robin

Took the badge off and cleaned up a bit - it doesn't look so bad:


Drilled a few holes and used a self-tapping screw to pull:


A few more holes, used a bolt on the bigger ones, inserted from the inside on the end of a piece of wire stuck on with blu-tack!


Getting better:


Welded up the holes - it still looks like a mine-field:


A quick coat of paint,and that's enough for today:


This is taking a long time, and it needs quite a bit more work, but I do have the satisfaction of having tried it myself…

Robin

Under the front arches today, a couple of bits need looking at. The steering rack gaitor is split:



If the tie rod end doesn't need replacing, just mark the corresponding faces, measure between two clear points and unscrew the locking nut, then turn the steering arm with a 13mm spanner while holding the track rod end with a 22mm.


The steering rack gaitor just slips off after removing the spring clip from the outer end and a plastic zip lock (?) from the iner end, and replacement is the opposite of removal, as Mr Haynes says:


The second problem is going to take a little longer, as the wing needs to come off to do it properly:


Purists close this page now. This is not how to repair a lower front wing mount… but then this car is used every day, and if I take the wing off there is bound to be more involved repair work needed, so it can wait until spring:
 

That's all for today.
Robin

Got the faceplate for the radio sorted. A few minutes measuring and a few seconds on the CNC, and it fits perfectly:



The only remaining electrical glitch is the pump for the rear screen wash, but I'm too lazy to dig around in my boxes and find a spare.

Robin

Having started to change a driveshaft boot and given up when I realised that a 12 spline bit was needed to remove the shaft, I reassembled it all and we went for a drive. It was sunny in Dieppe, if a bit cool:



Robin

Hi,

got a bit more renovating done today - the outer CV boot on the driver's side.

The boot was split, and Mr Haynes showed me how easy it was to change, but it wasn't, as usual. The first problem was removing the driveshaft. I didn't realise it needed a specal 12 pointed bit which I hadn't got. Four of the bolts came out with a hex bit, bu tthe other two didn't want to know, so I had to get a special tool - 15 euros for a set of five. They're called XYZ fittings, or something like that.

I still had to cut one bolt off with a disc grinder because it had no splines left…

Then, with the drive shaft off and the boot pushed back, the CV joint wouldn't pop off the end whichever way I tried - so I decided to remove the inner CV joint and change the boot that way. Having removed the inner CV easily, after simply taking off a circlip, one of the balls dropped out - that was fun trying to get it back in place without the others dropping out.
Then I washed out both of them with petrol, and realised why the outer CV hadn't popped off - it's the older version with a well-hidden circlip which has to be removed first.
Anyhow, after cleaning the two CV joints, packing with moly grease and fitting the new boots, the shaft went straight back on and all was quickly back together, with new bolts (hex fitting, not 12 spline) and thread lock to keep them in. I went out for a run and all feels fine, then tidied up the mess, grease, rags, etc, and found the circlip I had forgotten to refit on the inner CV!

It'll have to wait until the weekend, but I don't think there's much risk of the driveshaft pulling out of the gearbox in the meantime.

Some photos:

Here's the kit of new parts:


Here's how far I got before I bought the right tool:


If you've got x-ray eyes you can see the circlip:


All back together:


I only used the metal clamp on the wider end because on the narrow end it didn't grip very well so I used a cable tie instead.

Robin

PS See that circlip on the piece of wood in the background, well it's still on the piece of wood.

keep up the good work mate!  can i ask you why the golf has different number plates on it from the one's that were on it when you bought it?

Good question - when a car changers owners over here it changes plates too, unless it stays in the same area. Also, France has moved up to new 'European' style plates and you have to fit these ones now, although I'm allowed to fit black ones becauseit's over 25 years old.
Like in the UK, you can no longer tell where a car comes from with its registration, which is a pity,
We do have a few advantages with formalities, like no road tax, over here, but don't forget that France is the country that invented the word 'bureacracy'.

Robin

Hi,

I'm getting better at this. Today it took only 45 minutes to remove the offending drive shaft, refit the missing circlip, and reinstall:

Without the clip:


With the clip:


Next time I won't forget it…

Robin

Nice work Robin. You do learn fast when you're working on cars. I am finding this atm.

Hi,

another bit of rot repaired today:


Clean it up:


Cut out the rot and prime:


Cut a piece of metal to fit:


Drill a few strategic holes and weld them up:


As you can see;my welding is not very good. The gun on my Mig is very tempermental, sometimes it's perfect, then the wire sticks and it just spits. I tend to do a first run, grind back the welds, then do a second run to fill the holes!!!

Then etch prime and underseal:


This area is not finished, unfortunately, as there a scary bit right next to the rear beam mount, just behind this new metal, so I'll have a look at that next weekend. At least I'll have something to weld to!

Robin

Is that spot type welding good enough, ( i know you said unfinished but as its been undersealed i assume it is finished) over here the plate would need to be completely welded around its edge.

No, you're right, it's not good enough. I've undersealed it temporarily to try to keep the damp out for a few days until I can do the next bit. When I've done the edge to the wheelarch and the rear to the beam mount, I'll reinforce the plug welds with a seam around the edge, but I need to do the other bits first.
About the MOT, it got through the French MOT with a hole there, so I guess regulations are not the same, and it's certainly stronger now even though it isn't finished.

Robin

Hi,

I finally have time to play with my car, though it is being used every day. Last month I split a radiator hose, but luckily I saw the steam before it got too hot, taped it up and limped home. I've fitted another temporary hose, but will need a new one. It's the top hose from the block to the rad, for a '79 diesel, and seems to be quite hard to get. Any ideas?

Next on the line are the wheels. I fitted the 15s from my cabby with the onset of the bad weather, as the tyres are new, but the ride is not so good, so today I went out and found these:



They're actually cleaner than they look, with very little kerb rash and just the varnish and paint which needs doing. I've also bought myself an ebay wheel polishing kit, so I'll have something to do over the next weeks.

Should these wheels have centre caps?

Robin

Just a quick photo to prove the car is still being used every day:



Robin