'79 diesel LHD

Remember these from last year:


Well I had a play with the bead blaster and then some spray cans, and spent a bit of time masking:


I'm quite pleased. If the weather stays nice I'll do the other three tomorrow and get some tyres fitted.

Robin

Nice job on the masking mate, more patient than me!

36thCrazyFist said

Nice job on the masking mate, more patient than me!

It does take a lot of patience - I'd planned to do the other three today but various jobs got in the way, and I only managed one…

As started - I'd tried hand-painting the insets in an earlier attempt, but my hand was too shaky!


First bit of masking is easy:


Next bit takes a little longer:


All the little edges done and ready to paint:


Three coats and an hour to dry:


The bit I like best:


The final shot - not perfect but good enough for me:


It takes about an hour per wheel - 45 mins to mask and 10 mins to paint (5 mins left to open beer and admire)

Robin

Hi,

the wheels got fitted to the cabriolet in the end, and the tracking done at the same time, but that's another story…



Robin

Hi,

following a few issues with difficult starting I've done a little maintenance today. First, a nice big battery will help, and with Golf Mk3 battery cables adjusted (dremel) to fit there's no question of voltage loss now. The new one is a 70ah compared to a 55 ah previously.

The battery leads were longer, and fitted easily enough, though I've left the original earth strap across the gearbox mount for the moment. The new negative lead goes to the body under the battery and then to the top starter motor bolt.


On the other side of the bay, there's a 65A alternator in the place of the 45A original, and now I'm getting 13.5V on tickover, so let's hope it holds out.


I also changed the diesel filter at the same time (2 years and 28k kilometres on the old one) and, as before, was amazed at how easily the Bosch pump self-primes. I simply unscrewed the old filter and screwed on the new one, without even filling it with diesel, started the engine and it ran for nearly two minutes on fumes, with the revs slowly dropping, until the filter filled and the diesel began to flow through the transparent pipe. At that point the revs rose slightly, end of job!

More welding soon, I think…
Robin

That new battery should do the job

Hairyarse said

That new battery should do the job

It does, instantly. She's never started so well, and I've never heard the starter motor spin so fast - like a turbine!

Robin

It's the small things that can make all the difference some times!

The main thing with diesel is cranking speed so you've done nice work improving that

A while back I rebuilt my starter all new bushes and it made a huge difference

jellybelly said

The main thing with diesel is cranking speed so you've done nice work improving that

A while back I rebuilt my starter all new bushes and it made a huge difference

You beat me to it. Watch this space, I've just finished repainting a Golf II TD starter body and fitting new brushes, to replace the turbo starter if needed.

Robin

Picked up another starter motor at the scrap yard - a good clean inside and out and a new brush pack and it's ready to go.



Robin

Ok, so after a white smoke moment two weeks ago, I've found enough time to have a look. I've been using my Mk1 Pajero instead of the Golf, and it's just not the same. I really need to fix this.

Start of play this morning:


Three hours later (there's a lot to remove on a diesel):


There appears to be no damage to the block:


The head looks OK after a quick clean:


It has got small cracks between valves in cylindres 2 and 3, but this is apparently not a problem. The water-pump housing was hard work, with two sheared bolts, but I managed to extract the remains by welding nuts onto the stubs.
Now it's a question of checking everything, changing what needs to be changed, and careful reassembly.

Robin

as you look at that bottom picture of the underside of the block

cyclinder far left take a closer picture of that area please i may have spotted something

Is this the one?


The head is still fairly oily, and the light out in my stable isn't good. What did you see?

Robin

if you look at the top head bolt hole, the water way to the right of that

the dirty patch looks although it creaps into the area where the bore is

if you still have the gasket see if its the same

OK; I'll check on that. Does that mean the head needs a skim to re-seal properly or can I get away with a good clean?

Robin

Me personally I tend to get heads skimmed when I take them off

You can get a steel rule and use it as a straight edge and feller gauge to check it to see if it's out 

Well spotted Matt  

Here's mine from a few years ago



Then after welded a skimmed


yours isn't as bad but that mark could be the issue