MK1 Vert Project !

As I've been a member on the forum for a few weeks now, I thought I'd better start a thread in this section.
 So here we are, here's my kind of refurb ongoing project !

A few weeks back, myself and my neighbour took a little trip down to Dorset to have a look at a MK1 we had spotted on Gumtree. After a little bit of a faff about speaking with the seller on the phone, we decided to bite the bullet and go for it !
So cutting a long story we short, we walked away with this for a good price.




So a  2.5 hr drive later, and we arrived back in surrey. Well what can I say she drove back very smoothly. So the following day, we decided to get on with a few jobs, the first being to change the spark plugs, and well, this is where the fun began. The previous owner for some reason in his wisdom, decided to remove the crush rings from the bottom of the spark plugs and did them up so tight inside the head, that 2 of them snapped off inside the head- major head ache ! We huffed and puffed and even tried an easy out tool, and apllied heat, but no joy. So the car had to go off to a garage on the back of a low-loader to have the head removed and the spark plugs removed, and the head re-machined ! A major major head ache !



So off it went to the garage for approx 11 days. I decided to save my self some money and rather than the garage charge me for the parts, I decided to buy them in advance, so a new gasket kit , new plugs, new head bolts, new cam belt, and pulley was ordered up, and supplied. So 11 days passed and the car was returned to me having had the head off and re machined. However the nightmare continued. When the car was returned I was told of a slight water leak on the side of the head, which was odd. Secondly when I fired the car up on my drive the night it had been returned, it was aat on idle for 5 to 10 mins, and it overheated and splat its load of coolant all over the drive- i was not happy at all. Basically the garage had not re-connected the fan, they left the connecting block disconnected casuing the engine to over heat, which caused the heater control unit to give way !


So the next day the garage returned and picked the car up- to then diagnose a faulty fan sensor switch which again was odd, but hey ho, a new was installed and the fan worked as it should. The car was then returned to me, but I decided to change the heater control unit myself, which was pretty straight forward to be fair. Now best to point out at this stage when they picked the car up and loaded it onto the truck they scuffed and curbed one of the wheels which is currently in a work shop being re-welded and polished back up.

So the car was finally back, and what more could possibly go wrong, well the clutch cable they fitted was rubbing on the bulk head. I was going to fit a new clutch cable myself, byt thought seeing as the head was off it would make more sense for this to be carried out, how wrong was I.
Anyways on to better things:

Last weekend I thought it best to check over the brakes as they seemed rather poor to say the least. With the vert up in the air, the rear shoes seemed in good nick on both sides, so that was a right result. The fronts also seemed pretty new, and in good order. However the front brake lines had seen better days. Some wear and corrosion on show. So back onto Hertiage to orde some replacements up. Thats a job for this weekend to replace them.


Whilst the rear wheels were off, the rear slincer was showing some sign of wear, in fact a massive great hole down the left hand side of the box, so another replacement was ordered up which again was ordered via Heritage. This will be another job for this weekend, weather dependent.




Where to next: Well there was a large amount of play in the steering column, so off came the steering wheel and plastic barrel surrounds. Now trying to get a 3 lever puller onto the column to release the spring was a nightmare. A little bit of a dremel around the nut to create a lip so the puller could grip was the one. Hey presto and we were in buisness, a new bracket for the coulmn was fabricated which stopped the movement, and so another job ticked of the list.



During the recent rain we've had - I decided to take off the wiper arms as they kind of looked in a poor state and were showing signs of rust. So with them off I rubbed back and removed the rust and old paint. A primer was applied followed by a top coat of Satin Black to finish, and well I have to say, they look top notch.



I've got quite a few more things to sort out on the Golf. It needs a new aerial to be fitted which I've got. The head unit to be installed too.
The drivers side head light needs to come up a little. I have a full leather interior which was taken from an Audi TT MK1 to go in. I think this will need some seat runners fabricated for it to work- if anyone can shed some light or help on this one., I'll be most happy ! The interior was an eBAY bargain- £150 inc delivery.

Also I need to fit a new chole cable as for some reason the one installed is dead tight and has no slack what so ever.
I've also got a new boot lid- another ebay bargain, which needs a little work to bring it right. The badges have been removed and painted up in Satin Black. I've also got a new VW front grill badge in black to install, as well as the Euro type Wiper Blades.

So it's getting there bit by bit…… Once all the above has been completed It will be MOT time, so fingers crossed it passes ok !

I shall try my best to keep this thread up to date with other works and developments as they progress.

Cheers

JP

Hi jp.

A nice looking car you have and good to see you sorting problems out yourself.

I would imagine the seats will need some modifications, possibly modify some mk1 bases to suit the seats?

Matt

sounds like you've had a bad start to ownership but once all the rubbish jobs are out the way it will be a lot more plain sailing

pazwaa said

Hi jp.

A nice looking car you have and good to see you sorting problems out yourself.

I would imagine the seats will need some modifications, possibly modify some mk1 bases to suit the seats?

Matt

 Hi Matt
Thanks for your kind comments ! Yes gradually sorting it out ! Yeah I think I will wait until the spring to faff with the seats as welding in this weather is not ideal !

jamiep said

sounds like you've had a bad start to ownership but once all the rubbish jobs are out the way it will be a lot more plain sailing

I did ask my self why did I start this project at one point, but I picked myself up and carried on !

Progress update.

With the weather not being too kind today, I had to move the RX7 out of the garage, which was fun as the front pads had seized a little. With the RX7 out of the garage and the Golf in, at least I could work in the dry for the day.

So first job of the day was to remove the rear silencer- it had to come off as one side of it, was split the whole way down the side of the can. This job wasn't too much bother, just a couple of snapped bolts on the exaust bracket, but not much of a problem ! Plenty of duck oil was applied in order to remove the back silencer from the rest of the exaust system.

Now to remove the Silencer the hammer and flat bar came to hand and I had to open up the rear box with a little force in order to get it off. Some 20 mins later and it was off- again some ease and adjustment to get the box of the rear hangers. Job done !



New one ready to go on



Old and ready for the scrap heap !



So before sticking the rear silencer on , always best to apply some Firegum, which aids and easy connection and aids to make a sound joint !
So that was the exaust on. Onto the next part, as mentioned above the front brake lines/hoses had seen better days and had started to perish out in places. My news ones turned up in the week so I also managed to get these fitted this weekend- a bit of a fiddly and messy job this one. I would say best to have a bowl at hand to catch and loss of brake fluid- which does happen and cant be helped. I forgot to take pics of the new lines- plus my gloves were covered in fluid and grease !

As the car was up in the air- I knew i needed to adjust the handbrake as there were far two many clicks on the rachet aprox 7 or more ! So an adjustment to both the rear mech on the drums was undertaken, as well as an adjustment on the rachet bolts too ! Now the handbrake clicks up to 3/4 clicks- much better now !

A quick drain of fluid and any build up of air from the system was carried out followed by a test, and I must say I'm a lot happy with how the brakes now feel ! Stoppers are pretty important right! :0
 Whilst having a quick cup of tea, I carried out another job on my list to change the front VW badge in the front grill as I'm not a massive fan of shiny things, so I swapped it out for a matt black version- looks better in my opnion!

Next job- Ripped out the choke cable-disconnected from the carb and undone from the dash- the reason for this was due to the fact that it was not pulling or retracting, and as I thought the cable was split and shot to pieces- so I've got a replacement on order ! So hopefully a new one will turn up in the week, and it will be fitted at the weekend all going well.

Next job- removed orginal head unit, and managed to get half way through installing a new Alpine unit purchased from Ebay. Wiring it up using the orignal staero set up was a little nightmar ish , but my neighbour was well equipped for the job- this one is to be continued !

Next job of the day was to fit a new aerial as under the previous ownership, someone had decided to snap the metal one off at the base! So I purchased a plastic/ rubber one a number of weeks back from Ebay to replace the metal one. Now I know it;s not an orginal look- but makes sense to me. So off had to come the front wheel arches and wheel arch liner to run the cable through into the bulk head- again this item will be finished next week.

Last job of the day was to treat some small patches of rust just underneath and near to the sills.  Some rust proof agaent was brushed on, to prevent it spreading further, followed by a layer of underseal !

That's about as far as I got today- a ran out of time and decent light, so I called it a night and packed the tools up until next weekend. I'm pleased with the progress, it's getting closer to being fit and ready for an MOT ! Just a slight head lamp adjustment needed….

Now can anyone tell me which is the best oil to put in these? Where can I buy it?

Also I would like to say thanks to VWHeritage as they have supplied me with quite a few bits, and I have  to say the service from those guys has been top notch !

Apologies for the lack of pics in this update, but when you are covered in grease its a little tricky !

Cheers
JP
 

Good progress so far.
As for oil and filter….

VW uses this stuff 10W40
AVS Car Parts
Always best to use a genuine VW filter
Genuine 056115561G Oil Filter | AVS Car Parts

You can still get these parts from VW so try phoning your local dealer as sometimes you can get it cheaper than the links I've posted so shop around.

A little update:

I had to fit a new clutch cable as the one I had purchased and fitted was not quite right. So a quick trip down to GSF and I picked one up for £20- not bad !
It was easy getting rid of the one already fitted, and well I had to chuck it out as I'd lost the recipt and the packaging, still never mind.

Also on the list was a new choke cable. The previous owner had installed one in the lower part of the dash, near to where the elctric hood switch is located, so I'm not surprised it was having some issues. After removing the cable, I took it to pieces and well, it was shot to pieces the cable was well worn in a number of places so another item for the bin ! New cable in hand, it was decided to install the cable in the panel adjacent to the steering wheel- which as far as I know, is where it should be ! A bit of jiggery pokery and it was in ! So that was another 2 fiddly jobs ticked of the list.

On Friday I decided I was pretty much ready to book it in for an MOT. I must admit I was a little un easy about taking it in, but sometimes you have to go with the flow. So up at the crack of dawn to do a further bit of tinkering and checking everything pre MOT. Anyways what a relief it passed first time with no advisories ! Happy Days !

Apologies for no pics but working in gargae light and semi darkness is not ideal, and not ideal for pics !

The chap at the station said it was running a little rich, but apart from that it's very solid and a classic car ! So I was dead chuffed with that ! So I bunged a years worth of tax on it, and off I went happy as pig in S**T ! I guess all the hard work has paid off !
Well I have a few other jobs to do on it, like fitting the new dash vent kit. I also have a accelarator pedal bush to fit !

I need some advice though. On the odd occasion after a run, I return the car to the drive and let it run for a few minutes before switching off at the ignition . On the odd occasion it seems to over run. sort of splutters and then cuts out, which I would say only lasts about 2 seconds. can any one shed some light on this?  Would it be a coil?
Plugs are new, and are installed correctly. The HT leads from the dizzy are all set up perfectly too !
Help !

Thanks

JP
 

If the car is not stopping when turning off the ignition it may be the timing is out and depending on how rich it's running that won't help.
When you fitted the new clutch cable was there a plate fitted to the bulk head?
like this?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-GOLF-MK-1-GTI-BULKHEAD-REPAIR-PLATE-SCIROCCO-/271576603810?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3f3b3a1ca2
Other places do sell them and GSF used to sell them as well. It's a weak point on the car as the bulkhead cracks and if the cable pulls through it makes a right mess so it's worth fitting one as it will strengthen the bulkhead, the plate has a sticky back so you just clean the area and stick it on.

mark1gls said

If the car is not stopping when turning off the ignition it may be the timing is out and depending on how rich it's running that won't help.
When you fitted the new clutch cable was there a plate fitted to the bulk head?
like this?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-GOLF-MK-1-GTI-BULKHEAD-REPAIR-PLATE-SCIROCCO-/271576603810?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3f3b3a1ca2
Other places do sell them and GSF used to sell them as well. It's a weak point on the car as the bulkhead cracks and if the cable pulls through it makes a right mess so it's worth fitting one as it will strengthen the bulkhead, the plate has a sticky back so you just clean the area and stick it on.

Hey

Thanks for the reply.

I'm not sure if it's timing related as the car goes through the rev range in every gear without any trouble or any stuttering or pull back , I believe…..

It's not running massivly rich, just a tiny bit- that I can adjust on the mix screw.

Yeah the clutch cable has been fitted with the plate as you mentioned. I ensured that was done !

Just not sure what this over run problem is. It's weird that it does it every so often ! Perhaps a coil, or something along those lines maybe? Not sure……if anyone can point me in the direction of where to look or what tests to carry out…i'd be gratefull.

Love the colour

oops -posted these 3 posts in error- please scroll down for recent updates !

cheers

juan

oops -posted these 3 posts in error- please scroll down for recent updates !

cheers

juan

oops -posted these 3 posts in error- please scroll down for recent updates !

cheers

juan

 Good afternoon all

My apologies for not updating this thread sooner, but due to a few factors, progress has been slow. ,Mainly due to the weather, funds, and health.
Well recently the car has had a little tune up, and is no longer running rich ! A freind of mine using a exaust gas probe managed to get the levels just abour right!

The Webber carb has been taken to pieces and the jets have been removed and all cleaned up, and put back together.
As the old girl has an inline fuel filter that come off the fuel tank feed, I decided to replace this, and look at the flow of fuel coming up from the tank- if I'm honest the volume coming up and through wasn't really enough….so a bit of work was required to get it better.

So I ordered up a few more parts from VW Heritage, a new pump was ordered as well as a new fuel swirl pot/ seperator.

The old pump and seperator had seen better days, this probably wasn't helping its cause, when pumping fuel up from the tank.

So off with the old…






As you can see looking at the old parts, they are both covered in rust on the outside, and more than likely rusty on the inside ! so removing these was a straight forward job to be honest. I was suprised as the fuel pump was covered in grease and all sorts of muck to say the least ! So a little de-greaser applied and they came off easy !
So, on with the new:




I was pleased with how quick I managed to get the old ones off and the new ones on, a pretty simple job to be honest ! Whilst fitting new parts, I thought it best to replace the old fuel line hoses, and replace with new, alos supplied from VW Heritage ! It also made sense to replce the in line fuel filters, as to be fair they looked like they had seen better days too ! So that's another job ticked off the list. I do however have a little problem. I'll try to describe it as best I can.

When running the car, and giving it a little run during the weekends, I seem to have a little problem. When the car is under power in 2nd and 3rd gear, 4th and 5th not affected, it seems to judder as I accelrate harder throughout the gears. If I back off the power for about 10 seconds it seems to be ok, until you hot the power again. A freind of mine thinks this is fuel strarvation, not sure if this is right, as the pump etc has been replaced and the car has been tuned. I was thinking this could be a timing issue ?!? I have l;ooked at various images on the internet of how the HT Leads connect from the dizzy cap, and the correct number set up- could some one confirm the number set up from the cylinder head to the dizzy for me ! Having seen various images on the net- it would seem by HT lead set or should I say dizzy cap is on 180 degress the wrong way- would this cause this issue?

If any one could perhaps show me a picture of theirs i'd be most grateful -thanks for your help in advance.

( I may post this segment in the technical area )

Cheers

Juan

At a guess your problem is to much fuel is returning to the fuel tank, you can put a restrictor in the fuel tank return line, I hear a welding tip will work or as a test, try folding over the fuel line a little to restrict the flow and hold it there with some wire and take it out for a drive to see if it helps.
It seems to affect some cars fitted with a webber. Try searching for restricting return fuel line as it's been discussed on here a couple of times.

Thanks for your help - i will have a search and see what I can find

mark1gls said

At a guess your problem is to much fuel is returning to the fuel tank, you can put a restrictor in the fuel tank return line, I hear a welding tip will work or as a test, try folding over the fuel line a little to restrict the flow and hold it there with some wire and take it out for a drive to see if it helps.
It seems to affect some cars fitted with a webber. Try searching for restricting return fuel line as it's been discussed on here a couple of times.

Do you know where I can buy one of these restrictors?

cheers

Ok- I've managed to source a 8mm down to 6mm restrictor and a y piece restrcitor from Webcon Uk Ltd, so hopefully they will turn up soon or at the weekend so I can have a fiddle, and see if they make a difference.

Fingers and toes crossed !

Juan

Fueeling issue under throttle -

Ive searched on here and found a thread - which states the same issues I'm having.

So basically what that thread is saying to me- is to fit a restrictor the y piece plastic connector in the fuel line, and do away with the fuel/ vap pot? Would this be your understanding of it ? Webcon supply them !

I'm guessing this is why webcon make this y piece which includes the restrictor? Thus forcing more fuel up to the carb, and less of a return to the tank?

This is what my understanding is of the thread. I think I'm having the exact same issue, and I have carried out the exact same work too !

Replaced fuel lines, replced pump, and swirl pot/ vap pot, and in line filters too !

Can any one on here confirm if the vap pot can be done away with and this y piece is a good enough replacement?

Thanks Jp