bens ... 1986 MKII 1.8 8v K-Jet Golf ... project

[Ben Lessani]

how to's buried in here
headlight loom
electric window support repair
engine removal
fitting pas
alloy wheel refurb
heater matrix replacement
glovebox removal
fitting front discs and pads
pas belt tension adjustment
sound deadening
delocked handles
gear linkage
refurbishing tappets
valve steam seal renewal
vdo gauges
handbrake tightening
wishbone replacement
gearbox mount replacement
rear top mount replacement
distributor replacement
is my starter faulty
spark or fuel
replacing coilover front top mounts

prices!!
I thought I'd do a price rundown of how much I have spent so far on this automobilo, and here goes?

£100 - Road Tax (6 Months)
£100 - Road Tax (6 Months)
£180 - Road Tax 12 Months
£180 - Road Tax 12 Months
£370 - Insurance
£430 - Insurance
£624 - Insurance

**

£0   - 1986 MKII 1.8 8v K-Jet Golf
£0   - Exterior respray (Black metallic)
£12 - Clutch Cable
£41 - Alarm/Immobiliser
£7   - Haynes Manual
£4   - Windmirror Gromets and Handles
£20 - New heater fan
£22 - 4awg Wiring Kit
£38 - Sunroof Seal
£6   - Condensation/Water Trap
£18 - Bonnet Lifters
£17 - Leather Handbrake Gaitor
£12 - Smooth MK3 Door Handles
£13 - Inner Boot Cover
£25 - Debadged Grill
£30 - MOT
£30 - Rear Discs
£5   - Rear Bearing
£12 - 5l Quantum Semi Synth Oil
£6   - Big bag of 4awg and 8 awg Crimps
£1   - BatAid Battery Restorer
£4   - Rain X AntiFog
£4   - Duct Tape
£20 - HT Leads
£10 - Plastic Underbonnet Scuttle
£25 - Fuel Pump
£13 - Accelerator Cable
£60 - Sound Deadening
£10 - ARB Bush
£5   - Seat Covers
£20 - Front and Rear Lights
£35 - Electric Windows
£5   - Ring 80w/100w Rally Bulbs
£10 - Front Door Speakers
£40 - Fuel Line
£10 - Uprated Headlight Loom
£12 - Door Cards
£225- Coilover Suspension
£170- Creme Leather Interior
£200- Chrome 15" 7J Alloy Wheels
£130- 4x Uniroyal Rainsport 195/45/15
£5  -  Exhaust Clamp
£1  -  Exhaust Sealant
£10 - Steel Cable Ties
£25 - Full Stainless Steel Exhaust
£50 - Power Steering Setup
£40 - Gearbox
£25 - Sunroof Parts
£3  - Rubber Rocker Cover Grommet
£22 - 4 Gallons 10W40 Oil
£3   - Oil Filter
£5   - Ball joint lock plate
£2   - Manifold studs and nuts
£7   - PAS Belt and Fluid
£10 - PAS, Water pump Pulleys, HT Leads
£5   - Bottom Ball Joint
£30 - Battery
£15 - Wiper Mechanism
£30 - MOT
£15 - Wheel Alignment
£1  - Wire Wool
£12 - 6" Farecla Compound Pad
£5  - Farecla Paint Repait Kit  (used it for my alloys)
£40 - 4 Wheel Alignment
£20 - Metal Coolant Pipe
£40 - Radiator
£35 - Heater Matrix
£5  - Coolant
£20 - Heater box housing, Sunroof panel, Passenger door handle, Rear seatbelt, Glovebox, Interior boot trim, PAS bracket, Weighted shift rod, 99 Relay
£24 - 2x Front wheel bearing kit
£8 - Ball joint
£18 - 2x PAS Steering arm gaiter
£5  - Spark plugs
£10 - Forté engine flush
£30 - 25l 10w40 Engine oil
£5  - Rear top mounts
£5  - ARB bush kit
£25 - 4 Wheel alignment
£50 - Front pair grooved and vented Brembo disks
£20 - Front pair Pagid fast road pads
£25 - 8 New tappets
£11 - 8 Valve stem seals
£5  - 1L ATF
£10 - Rubber sump gasket
£8  - Rocker cover gasket
£4  - Oil filter
£3  - LEDs for Dashboard
£45 - VDO Gauges
£35 - Braided brake lines
£30 - MK4 callipers
£13 - 5l Fuchs XTR Oil
£3   - Oil filter
£10 - Thermostat housing (genuine)
£15 - 5 litres concentrated coolant
£20 - Drivers wishbone
£12 - Gearbox engine mount
£1   - Wishbone rear bolt sleeve
£100 - New windscreen
£12 - Rear top mounts
£8   - Tappet
£22 - Valve stem seals
£11 - Timing Belt
£16 - 2x Front flexi hoses
£18 - Rear engine mount
£25 - MOT
£40 - Front engine mount
£35 - Bosch coil
£80 - Bosch distributor
£30 - Rear beam poly bushes (Poly Sport)
£35 - Front op mounts (Lemforder)
£15 - 5l Car lube Dot4 brake fluid

I will keep this post updated, but so far...

Grand Total: £4656

Holy crap, but bear in mind that includes tax, mot and insurance.
Without them... it is

Grand Total: £2532

service checklist

Customer: Engine Size: 1800
Make/Model: Mileage: Golf MK2 GTi / 178K

Pre Engine Checks
D 2. Check timing belt replacement interval* miles. Replaced at 178k
D 6. Check operation of interior and exterior lights. Bulbs and Loom fitted January 10, 2007 - H4 connectors replaced April 10, 2009
D 9. Check windscreen washers and wipers. Washer Jets Replaced at January 10, 2009
D 11. Check operation of suspension dampers. Replaced with coilovers at May 03, 2007
D 12. Lubricate all door hinges, locks, and bonnet catches. ***
D 13. Apply treatments to remove internal contamination. Engine oil flush at February 21, 2009  :: Oil change at July 26, 2009

Under the Bonnet
D 16. Check and record Anti-Freeze protection °C 50% dilution, Replaced at December 19, 2010
D 17. Check and record brake fluid condition. Changed at April 17, 2010
D 18. Check all auxiliary drive belts (not timing belt). Replaced at 155k, PAS belt at January 09, 2008
D 21. Check power steering operation and fluid condition. Fluid changed at April 17, 2010
D 23. Check battery level and lubricate terminals. Bosch Silver Fitted at January 09, 2009
D 25. Replace air filter Cleaned February 20, 2009
D 26. Replace spark plugs. Bosch Super fitted at April 10, 2009
D 27. Replace fuel filter. ***
D 28. Check coil pack. Replaced at 179k, August 2010
D 28. Check distributor. Replaced at 179k, August 2010

Tyre Report
Tyres Fitted at May 08, 2007
Spare As new
Tread mm ***
Pressure (Setto) 30 PSI at January 03, 2010
Tyre Size: 195/45/15
Torque Nm: 110Nm at April 17, 2010
Wheel Alignment: Set at April 17, 2010


Brake Report
Discs Rear disks replaced at November 14, 2006, Front disks replaced at January 12, 2009 (171,500), Slide bolts refurbished at January 12, 2009 (171,500), Rear callipers replaced at April 10, 2009 (173,000)
Pads / Shoes Rear pads plenty of meat, Front pads replaced at January 12, 2009 (171,500)
Brake Fluid Condition: Changed at April 17, 2010

Vehicle Raised
D 29. Change oil, filter and fit new sump plug washer. Changed at 171,500 January 09, 2009
D 30. Check fuel lines and brake pipes. Replaced fuel line at January 10, 2007, Replaced rear beam unions April 10, 2009, Replaced rear beam flexi's April 10, 2009
D 31. Check the condition and security of the exhaust. Refitted November, 2008
D 33. Check and top up gear box oil level. Filled January 09, 2008
D 34. Check all steering and suspension joints, mountings and gaiters. Replaced gatiers, offside ball joint at January 09, 2009
D 36. Check all wheel bearings for excessive 'play' and noise (adjust if required). Both front replaced at January 09, 2009, Rear nearside bearing replaced at November 14, 2006
D 37. Check CV gaiters and joints for wear or splits. Both fine
D 38. Check clutch cable/cylinder* Replaced at October 31, 2006
D 40. Check operation and condition of front brakes. Ok
D 41. Check operation and condition of rear brakes. (including handbrake) Ok

[Ben Lessani]

right, where do i start, well for one, expect poor punctuation - ive got a new laptop and the shift key is microsized to touch type on, so expect all lower case posts.

heres a little history of the car
so the golf i have was given to my step dad by his mate, he had left it stationary on his driveway for 2 years, never used it. so my step dad asked for it, and he just did the basics to bring it back to life, oil change, new leads, sparks, dizzy, rad flush. then after about 1 days work, it was a runner, 2 days later it passed its mot. i've not really had anything to do with the maintenance (as i was only about 14), my step dad (chris) and his mate (graham) did most of the work, he drove it for about 2 years before he'd gotten bored and needed something a little more practical, which turned out to be a 2lt 16v passat, and now an audi coupe 20v . so, again, the poor golf just sat on our driveway for another year rotting.

by this time i was about 18 and i had my licence, so my plan was, whilst at uni, to bring the car back to life - on the cheap of course it was in a faded metallic green with a grey bonnet, with dented rotten wings and dodgy bumpers. so first, i got in touch with a body shop to get it all sorted - i was going to do the work myself, but i didnt realise how much time uni would take up, and i didnt have the facilities (garage/parking) to do any work. kindly, the body shop let me leave the car in their yard over the year.

the project started
so, the car now had a home and someone willing to spray it up for me. in exchange for me being their IT technician, they were going to work on the car for me. so i had the front wing, bonnet and both bumpers replaced (with pattern big bumpers from euro - bit of a regret now). it was all fitted up and sprayed in the new metallic black (spare paint left over from another mk4 vw)

the pattern parts, well, the rear bumper isnt sat straight, i fought the mounts for ages, but just couldnt get it to sit nice - neither could the shop, when its light i will post photos of them.

whilst the car was at the garage
all the dents were filled
it was sprayed black
i tinted the windows (£2 a film - did it for a laugh, but looks quite good)
i tinted the indicators, repeaters and rear lights
i changed the clutch cable
fixed a lot of electric wiring issues, faulty hazard light switch, broken wire for fuel gauge, heater controls were dead, broken earths everywhere, dead battery

excuse the phone photos, but these are the only ones i have...

[Ben Lessani]

this weeks work
the car wasnt starting, and i managed to trace it down to the fuel injector pump, i got it off, and ordered a new shiny - well, not shiny, used, fuel pump for £25 from ebay, which should come tommorow. apologies for all the night photos, but im always working late night on the car.



when the car was being sprayed, they removed the plastic door covers over the doors, and as a result, when it left the garage (it closed down) it sat on my uncles driveway for about 10months. subsequently it was about 2 inches deep in water. mould was everywhere and there was this weird growth on top of the lake of water. took a few hours to clear the water out, and then took about 45 mins to pressure wash the seats, they've taken 3 days to dry. the carpet is still slightly damp in the car, there is still water lingering, i'm going to put a big heater in there overnight to dry the whole lot. i have a fear i might have rot issues now, so i need to lift the carpets to double check, it might be worth just laying down a coat of hammerite.

as mentioned above, i cleaned the seats, and i noticed one of the door cards is slightly torn, so i need a new drivers side door card (rainbow style). i ordered a new set of rubbers for the wing mirror controls - im not going to bother making these electric as i never re-adjust my side mirrors, only important one is rearview.

todays alarming work
so, i got my new car alarm off ebay this morning (remember, everything must be cheap), its got...

immobiliser
central locking interface (so now the car has remote central locking)
ultrasonic sensors
shock sensor
2nd'ary function button
automatic door locking after starting driving
automatic alarming

the list goes on, and it was only £35, so i love it.

i popped it in, went in and i managed to blow a relay with a bit of stupidity, so i'll need to buy a new one, but thats me sorted then.



would you believe i took those photos after i wired it all up :0 im going to leave the dash in pieces for the time being so that i can get some brighter bulbs in the dash, im either going to stay with green, but just go brighter, or fit white ones, blue looks a bit tacky for my liking.

what do you think about a retrim, im either going to keep the interior standard, or retrim it in a nice tan/cream leather....the only thing i wouldnt really be able to pull off is the seams. but it wont stop me trying.

[Ben Lessani]

degrease, wash and wax
so today, for the first time in 2 years, the car was washed, and the paintwork really needs some attention. i gave it a good clean, then a good wax on top of that, but the paintwork still feels really rough to the touch, so i need to get some farecla g10, or megauirs paint renovator to try and smooth it out. im talking hours of polishing here, so i need to get hold of one of them 1800 rpm industrial mops - i used to have one but i lost it.

the engine has a leak (i remember) coming from somewhere, so i degreased most of the oil, well, without removing any parts, so when i get it running, i can spot the oil leak. i think its coming out between the rocker cover and head - is that the valve cover gasket on gsf's website?

so heres the before....




and heres the after....



water, water everywhere!
so the bodyshop did a real bad job on the seals, the sunroof is leaking badly and theres this other super leak, which is coming out the centre console (see photo) and has just flooded the passenger footwell. as far as i can tell, its just coming out the dash? so i have no idea how to remedy that - could not having that plastic baffle under the bonnet (just in front of the windscreen) be the cause, and its entering through the fan vent?

[Ben Lessani]

first time the car was started in 10months!
yey, my ebay fuel pump arrived, and without tempting fate, it appears to be a minter. the housing he sent me was slightly damaged - the bracket that held on the fuel filter had broke. so i just swapped all the components onto my existing housing, and when i took it apart, the fuel pump looks BRAND NEW, i know the petrol will keep it cleanish, but it was sparkling shiny. good news eh?

i fitted it up and low and behold, it started! so it put a big smile on my face, now just to sort the niggles. i managed to damage the fuel line to the engine, put a small crack in the plastic pipe, so i need to make a bridging pipe between the two, as just a jubilee clip is applying too much pressure.

i checked out the sparks because the idle was a bit uneven, it was hesitant upon acceleration, and they were powdered black, i had cleaned them before starting the engine. hopefully its just decoking itself. i also noticed a small leak coming from the 2nd cylinder spark plug, its a tiny trail, not sure what, but it only appeared when i started the engine - investigation to follow!

the exhaust is completely buggered, so i'll definately look into a new one. but im not going to buy one, thats too mainstream for my liking, im going to make one myself. use some 2" steel pipe, a pipe bender, a welder and a bit of patience, and i can make up a straight though exhaust which will still use original fittings, and if it needs more backboxes, i'll add them until i like the sound.

the interior fan isn't working - i think its because of the amount of water that came in through it, so that needs a looking at. but aside from that, all seems well. the best thing is the battery is super ancient and wouldnt even hold a charge, i bought some, whats it called? battery something, comes in a blue tube with loads of tablets inside. i whacked a pill in each chamber, stuck it on a deep charge overnight, and its like new! it cranked for about 40mins before it started to struggle, so im completely impressed! saves me another 40 quid on parts anyway.

so its now back on 4 wheels and no more axel stands for the weekend, so its going to get a bit of peace whilst im at work. sorry no photos this time but my cousin has borrowed my camera.

[Ben Lessani]

just ordered a new plastic scuttle from Arnold Clark for £21+VAT - he couldn't tell me if its the hard plastic or thin plastic, but I'll be able to tell you on thursday.

i managed to bridge the two fuel lines with a bit of old pipe, and it seems fine but an interesting thing is that the car definately wont ever, remotely, even slightly start if the rubber air feed isnt connected to the air box - i can only assume its because the MAS is part of the airbox.

so the leak was definately coming from the fan, which is now goosed. i stripped the fan apart, but the copper contacts had gotten quite bad, i tried to get it apart so that i could sand the contacts down, but i just couldnt. i tried for about 1 hour before just cutting it apart with a hacksaw, cleaned up the brushes and contacts and then couldnt get the welder out the garage to put it back together, so i just bought a new one then i tried to address the other leaks, i relocated the sunroof seal, untrapped the overflow hoses for the sunroof and then tore out all the carpets. so all the carpets are on the washing line, and the sound deadening was completely sodden, and to be honest it smelt of sulphor - eww. so i need to refit some new sound deadening too, time for some knock off dynamat.

[Ben Lessani]

more parts
so i got a couple more parcels in the post today, my new shiny 4 awg wiring kit, a new fan motor and my plastic scuttle. great bargins actually, i think the wiring kit was only £20 and its pretty good, the fan was £20 delivered and the scuttle - i managed to get the hard plastic one, from the dealership for £10+vat !!! its only one side (the longer side) so im going to order the other side too, because the old thin plastic one looks out of place.

but the bad news is the fan, it worked for about 5 mins before it died one me, its not my controller, its the fan itself, it was grinding until it just stopped working - bit gutting really, so i emailed the ebay seller to see if he will send me a new one - as it was sold 'like new' and 'working'.

the sunroof is leaking like crazy, i cleaned the drains and its no longer coming out the front, but because the felt seal on the sunroof itself is quite small, there seems to be a little gap between the bodywork and the seal, so its just happily dripping in - do they make a rubber air tight one? i'm going to call the dealers to see if they can get me one. and hopefully with the new scuttle, there wont be the lake of water in the footwell anymore.

i got totally fed up with all the water, so the carpets are out drying at the moment, until i've sorted all my leaks, then im going to source some cheap sound deadening to make the car as quiet as poss. whilst maintaing bass the door membranes seem to be holding up alright, so really, once ive sorted these leaks, i can actually refit all the seats back in and start driving it, but theres no way im doing that till all the leaks are gone!

photos are below, as always, note the old green colour it used to be...

...will upload photos later, have to go to work

[Ben Lessani]

so, as promised, here is the video of my poor dead fan...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiFUQFtJT0k

the guy i bought it off seems stellar and agreed to post me out a new one - yey!

and the photomographs...

[Ben Lessani]

wiring
so today i emptied all the parts out of the car into the garage, so that i could install the wiring for the stereo. my beautiful 4awg wiring was popped in, and i ran new speaker leads down to the boot for the amps (although i think im going to mount them under the rear passenger seat). its a shame the wiring has to be hidden because it looks awesome! nice and tidy install, ran the 2 rca's on the drivers side, and the remote and +ve feed on the passenger side.

i tried to get a start on redoing the membrane on the doors, then it started chucking it down, big time. so i threw a big sheet of tarp over the roof and had a try anyway, but it was just awkward and annoying, so i got bored and just covered the whole door with duct tape, but i'll sort it properly tommorow. the sunroof seal is definately the problem bit, as you can see light coming through it! so i got a new seal off the bay, and if that works, great, if not, pants!

i'm going to clean up the whole floorpan (its full of broken glass - must have been broken into a few times) and put down some sound deadening, im stuck for what i want to buy, because i don't think that a couple of layers will actually make a drip of difference.

i'll post some photos of my glorious wiring when it is light. oh and i covered the wires for the central locking and speaker wire going between the door and body with some trunking - looks smart

[Ben Lessani]

holey god
today i finished preping the car for the sound deadening, cleaned the floorpan, dried it completely, gave it a quick clean with white spirit and i noticed a few things. i may or may not have fitted underfloor neons when the car was completely screwed, and one of the screws may or may not have gone straight through 2 wires, one - the fuel tank gauge sender and another - fault yet to be found.



after patching up that wire i went to bolt the whole bunch back down to the chasis when i noticed a bit of surface rust, so i poked it, and bad news, my finger went straight through. so i got out my hammer and beat out the rest of it until i was back to clean unrotting metal. so it looks like the MOT will be put back a little, i need to buy some sheet steel and then angle grind a square section out - gutted, but it was to be expected, it had been sat with a inch deep pool of water in the footwell.



i then turned the car around for the first time, without a seat in it - its a bit scary driving whilst propped on your ankle, especially since you only have one spare foot to clutch, brake and accelerate. so i equiped myself with a coolbox seat.



i then taped up all the electrics, wired in a new ISO connector for my HU, and tidied the inside up in general. grounded the amp wire to a seatbelt bolt and used some spare trunking to tidy the misc wires leading from the cabin to the engine bay. i was having difficulty trying to find somewhere to mount the siren for the alarm and the fuse for the amp, as the body panels are harder than granite - and i didnt have a drill. so i just welded everything, a small bolt was welded to the wing, to clip the fuse holder down, and i welded the siren just next to the battery bay.



i was testing the window wipers and found that the splines had completely smoothed off, so i welded a notch onto the wiper arms to give them something to bite onto.

i also noticed the heated washer jets weren't wired to anything, so i hooked them up to the coil pack and the rocker cover top for a ground.