1985 Black Edition with 42k

borednow I haven't driven it since September so I'm not sure how the prosports are yet but when jacking up the car it seems very stiff but thats the nature of the beast I guess.

Its actually the second set of coils to be fitted as my first set were very cheap and had heard good things about the prosports, mine were on an 83 campaign model for 1000 miles before I got them for £150 so pretty much brand new. 

Tyres clear the collars no problem and I still have the helper springs in. There is more than enough room to drop maybe another 30mm before I'd need to space the wheels out (et42)

The 195/50's that are still fitted to the rear meant the wheels wouldnt turn. Rears to be changed next week 

Here's the issue before!  

Damn that's close  

That's what I seem to find. Exactly where i need the coilovers to be ends up being exactly where the tyre is.

Much annoyance  

Ian

Been a bit to busy recently to worry about my Golf until I noticed the sun was out and I wanted to drive it

Finally made a start on the brakes, plan was to just renew and tidy a few bits at the business end and fit a 16v servo but one of the brake lines broke so I've got to fit all new copper as well

Pagid discs and pads on the front and painted, also painted the edge of the discs to avoid rusting.
Light refurb on the carriers and calipers and Hel braided lines to go on the front 



Looks a little better!

16v servo and 22mm master cylinder fitted, servo rubbed down and painted, no perfect as heavily pitted but better



Decided to replace everything on the back end for new so drums, shoes, springs, cables, bearings and goodridge lines on the rear

Rear drums also painted before fitting



Just the copper lines to make up and fit now, I've got the copper and flaring kit and I dont have to make allowance for brake light switches so it should be quite straightforward I hope

Also found this in the footwell, not a clue what its for yet 

The switch in foot well is probably a home made immobiliser.

I've got brakes!!!
Working ones and I dont have to mash the pedal into the carpet anymore.

Made new brake lines and have hel braided fronts and goodridge rears and all feels good.

Wheels on tomorrow and just the horn to sort out. Wont be long and I can actually drive it knowing everything is good and not have to drive around any issues

Looking Good !

Today I actually drove it and its MOT ready (pretty much)
Just needs some brackets welding on to the exhaust as its for a tintop and is knocking slightly but otherwise its all there.

The brake overhaul and 16v servo has been a success and I've got no idea what I've done but it feels actually quite fast, it must of been losing compression from the old cork rocker cover gasket if thats possible because now the rubber mk3 one is on there is no issues

I still need to:
Wire in VDO's
Fit a short shifter
Retrim seats
And get myself some raised top mounts because it feels like the dash is going to shake off into my lap, but after 10mths of ownership I'm finally going to enjoy it

Well the MOT went well, apart from a slight overheating issue.
Got an advisory for the front tyre valve being perished and a noisey / dry rear wheel bearing

Bit odd as the rear bearings are 8 miles old but I went home and checked them anyway just to make sure they didnt need packing with grease further but both sides are silent and smooth as silk with no play so not sure what that was about

So as a little treat I trialed some 15mm spacers on the rear and after a short drive couldnt get them the wheels to rub so treated her further to a proper wash and detail

I used the 2 bucket method with auto finesse shampoo.
Then a coat of Poorboys black hole glaze followed by Poorboys Natty black wax. Fantastic products and have worked wonders on my dull paint.









Had a root round in the loft and found a box of bits that came with the car when I got it and didnt really pay much attention to.
Numerous relays, switches, window winders, number plate lights, original gear knob, a spare mirror, 3 headlights, 2 taillights and a wiring loom from a 1989 Audi for oil pressure??? Im sure I can use it to get my VDO'S going with soon.
Also found a set of 20 wheel nut covers but I quite like my shotgun shells

What's the story with the chocks?
Handbrake not working or you can always leave the car 1st gear as well then it won't roll away…

I do like the shot gun shells for wheel bolt covers…  

mark1gls no handbrake is all fine.
I have to use a set of 4 of them rubber ramps to get it on and back of the road because I haven't got a drop kerb yet

I rarely park with a handbrake anyway so they just live under the back wheels

Finally swapped the supersports out for ap racing shocks.

I wasnt aware the kit was inserts only so had to source some original parts and then get them off to the blasters and coaters for some renewing and they look pretty good



Car seems to sit at pretty much the same height and it still firm as would be expected from a -60mm kit but I dont feel as if I am just smashing into bumps anymore

But more to the point I've test fitted my new wheels and I've got a bit more clearance than with the coils so I dont need to space which means they should fit (15x8's)

Gap before on coils



Gap after on shocks



Also finally cured some cooling issues in the shape of a new fan, the connections on the old one had come loose and were tripping the fuse.

VDO'S next . . .

good work pal. Looking nice. I have had a black sportline for about 8 weeks now, had a cooling issue and swapped fan and rad out an now works perfect. When does your fan kick in, mine seems to come on when car gets to half temp (middle in gauge)

Quick question on suspension set up, as im looking to drop my front slightly, back sits ok but will need to do all 4 corners so its all new. Do you not rate coilovers, I was looking at some AP coilovers as im worried a set of shocks and springs may not qive me the stance I want as my back already looks too low. You dotn rate coilovers or was it just clearance issues for you?

Unless you are on a track or have a £1k budget I dont think coilovers work on Mk1's

Personally I think they are too light a car for coilovers to work effectively

We all buy them for their adjustability but then we never seem to adjust them anyway

Mine was the same as yours and sat low at the back, I've gone for the ap 60/30 kit and took measurements before I fitted it and will again afterwards to see how close I got it to my chosen height on coils

Whats your verdict on the AP from a ride point of view at moment I think my suspension must be shot as the smallest bump rattles car to bits and makes it feel a bit cheap. Would prefer the shick/spring route but concern I have is its a set drop and if im not happy woth rear or front then its tough. Ideally i want my front to sit about 30mm lower than now but my rear about 10mm higher. So worried butting on a eibach spring might not give me what I want but at same time dont want car to feel like it does now if coilovers will be worse.

I've only driven it with the front fitted so far but feels a world apart from the supersports.

Before the dashboard used to make a bashing noise as if it was going to come off and didnt take much of a bump to cause it, but now I only seem to get that if I hit a well sunken man hole cover for example.

Its still a hard kit but it reacts a lot better.

As for the rear being lower this is probably down to (in part) tired rear top mounts

Just make sure you sort the bump stop properly.
I cut the required anount out the middle and then used gorilla glue, I put them in a vice for a couple of hours to make sure they stuck

Why do you have to trim the bump stops?

If you leave bump stops the original length you limit the amount of suspension travel and will bottom out.
Give a false impression that the suspension is rock hard when in fact it hasnt got anywhere to move.

Ideally you remove enough bump stop to equal the anount its been lowered by.
E.g the rear bump stops in the pic have had approx 30mm cut out the middle.

Might be worth checking yours, may explain the hard ride

Looking good.

Still not a lot of clearance for the wheels  

VDO's aren't too bad to do. The audi wiring loom helps as at least it joins them all together pretty well. You'll just need a good live feed from behind the fuse box and a spare earth on the crown and then the rest of it is getting the readings to the dials.

Charge and voltage are easy as the live feed powers them.

Oil temp and pressure you'll probably need to change the senders and might need a splitter for the extra guage feed but it's all relatively simple.

It's the lying upside down trying to get to the back of the fuse box and feeding the wires through the bulkhead that's the pain.

Enjoy!

Ian

Well Ian seeing as you've bought it up.

I've already got a new low pressure sender for the oil so thats all in hand, I've also got another loom for the 3 gauges as well as the audi.

Little confused by the temp gauge though, its an Audi 60-170 one but cant seem to find a sender that goes higher than 150 anywhere.

According to the MFA it runs about 120 at hottest!!