ben87 - '88 8v on a budget

[jv]

here you go

[Mew]

Righty then, here goes!

Bought this last week, an 88 8v gti 3 door in atlas grey.
Its got 85k on the clock and although it has no history to back this up, the engine feels smooth, no noises or smoke and the condition of the interior is pretty spot on. 3 months MOT left on it, had a new radiator, centre section of the exhaust and also had the brake lines done. There is one bit of rust that stands out, couple of bubbles on the bootlid but apart from that, nothing! Only thing that I can fault it on is the wear on the gear linkage, but a trip to GSF has sorted that one out.


Now for the plans......

Replace the suspension.
The car feels far too high and rolls too much for my liking. I've driven my dad's 8v with koni adjustable dampers and the springs which is a bit nice so i'm looking out for some of these. He's also got the eibach anti-roll bars but i don't think i'll be able to afford these aswell as the shocks/springs. 

This is where most of my money is going:

2.0 bottom end, kent gs2h cam, and a chip (undecided what though at the mo). Stainless exhaust will also be going on together with a k&n panel filter.

Oh yeah, i've got a grand to sort all of this out with, and thats including the cost of the car!

[Mew]

These would probably help wouldn't they! Btw, it hasn't been cleaned yet.



Riding high!






You can see the rust under the bumper on this.



Close up of pretty much the only rust on the car!

[Mew]

This one's only a small update:

I am back at uni now til easter so not a lot is actually going to happen to the car as I can't keep it up here with me (halls regulations!) and I don't go back at the weekend or anything.

However, this doesn't mean that I won't be buying parts for it while i'm away, and that started today!

I won these tonight on ebay. Tyres have about 2mm of tread on them apparently so won't be around for too much longer.







The above are my attempts at photoshopping the wheels on the car (just incase you couldn't tell!). I have just put them over the 14" steelies with 60 profile tyres on but the alloys are actually 15"x6.5" so should look like they fill the arches a bit more?

[Mew]

Went home over the weekend and managed to get a couple of things done.

The first thing was a trip to Andover to pick up some Koni adjustable shocks with Eibach springs (cheers Rob if you're reading this!). These aren't fitted yet but i am going home again thursday evening and so by the end of friday the car should be sitting nicely.



The seconds thing was to fit the wheels that i got off ebay about a month ago. After smacking my chin on the wing when the locking wheel nut key decided to come apart as i was tightening the bolts, i managed to get them all on and i think they look pretty good. The wheels themselves are more or less spotless too!






As you have probably noticed, it's a bit high with the standard suspension but hopefully will look a little something like this:



And i'm also on the look out for some half smoked rear lights and smoked side repeaters to get this look:



Actually, gave the trim a bit of autoglym bumper care too which came up very nice indeed. Didn't wash the car though because it was too cold but look at the difference it has made from the 1st set of pics!

[Mew]

This isn't really a "proper" update as not much progress was made when i went home a couple of weeks ago! However, this is what did happen:

Got up Saturday morning after quite a heavy night out, so I wasn't in the best of states to be working on the car but i wanted to get it done. I needed some spring compressors as i had to take apart the rear koni's to replace the bump stops. So a trip round to my dad's place to borrow his spring compressors was made, only to find they weren't anywhere to be seen! So up to Halfords to buy some: 20 QUID (this wasn't helping how i was feeling either!). 
Went home and replaced the bump stops which was alright, thing that took the longest was winding the spring compressors on!

So with that done i set about taking the standard front struts off the car. I managed to undo the front left one at the top just using a socket rather than the allen key and ring spanner. Popped the koni on then went to tighten up the top. This is where i did need the offset ring spanner which i don't have! Homebase don't have them either! Or B&Q! Or Halfords!

So went home to do the rears, got the originals off no problems again, put the koni's on, went to tighten up the tops to find that the threaded section on the koni's is a larger diameter than on the standard shocks, so the original nuts and washers don't fit!

This was about 5 o'clock on saturday at which point i gave up and went to a gig, leaving the car with its arse in the air on axle stands with the rear beam just hanging and the front left lowered 40mm!

[Mew]

I'm going home this Friday evening which just happens to be my birthday which means i can finally get insured on this beast! GET IN!

Saturday could be interesting for a couple of reasons though:
A) Friday night will be very messy
B) I need to do a few bits to get the car ready for an MOT on Monday morning

This will include:

• New discs all round and rear pads (i could get my dad's mate to skim them all but they will need replacing soon anyway so might aswell do it all now)
• Bleed the brakes
• Get 2 new tyres as they are a bit borderline on the edges
• Get a new battery as the car has been stood for a while and the battery was weak when i got the car anyway
• Get some washers and nuts to fit the rear Koni's and fit all of the Koni's to the car

I also have to put these items on the car at some point:

• gear linkage repair kit
• a new exhaust rubber
• poly steering rack bushes
• smoked side repeaters on
• k&n panel filter in and maybe have a play around with a drill and a spare airbox
• cd headunit, although i may leave the tape player in and use an adapter thingy with my ipod

So it should be a very busy weekend for me!
I don't even want to think about what i'm going to have to do Monday afternoon, as even though it has no rust, its had recent brake and fuel lines fitted, new(ish) shocks, brakes will be sorted and all electrics work; i'm sure it will find a way of failing!

Also, at some point over easter (i have 2 weeks off) i want to do an oil and filter change, fan belt and am thinking it would be wise to do the cam belt too just for peace of mind. Going to give the "Rubjonny how to tune your digi" a go too. I also need to revise for end of year exams though

I'll let you know how i get on this time next week.

[Mew]

Bit delayed but........................

The car had it's MOT 2 weeks ago and failed on a bit of corrosion underneath, a missing brake line clip and a dead front shock absorber. The leaky shock means that i am now driving round with the standard shocks and springs until i find some replacements so i'm not too happy about that!

I also have a stainless Supersprint backbox now which is in seriously mint condition.

I was having trouble getting into 5th so replaced the ball and cup on the gearlever as this was gone. It helped but not enough so i replaced a couple of bushes in the linkage and in doing so got 5th back, but there is now a bit of a "technique" to find 1st so i need to sort that out when i get home in around 3 weeks.

I killed my central locking too, it works from the passenger side so i'm guessing something has just disconnected in the drivers door, but i haven't been bothered to sort this out yet.

[Mew]

Not a lot (well nothing actually) has happened recently due to uni work and exams and stuff so this isn't a progress report, more of a what is going to happen report!

Last week i was seriously considering selling the mk2 to get a mk1 gti, but then then the morning before i went to look at the mk1 something made me think about how good an idea it was, so I'm keeping the mk2!

Looking forward to the weekend for a couple of reasons: I've got my last uni exam on Friday so from then on it's freedom, meaning i can crack on with doing stuff to the golf. I won a flip key on ebay the other day for 6 quid including postage which seems alright! I can also get my gear linkage sorted which is starting to do my head in now. I'm also going to do the digi tune-up thing in the maintenance section as i didn't get to do this over the easter break. So once she's running sweet I'm going to fit a corrado interior which I'm collecting on Sunday. It's the type with the 2 seater rear bench. Also need to fit my Eibach springs to get the car sitting a bit lower and stop it going round corners at 45 degrees! Another thing on the list is re-align my back box as it's a bit wonky at the moment due to the exhaust coming off where the front silencer meets the downpipe, that is now back on though.

All of this WILL be done by the Stonor Park show as I've got the car on the stand, so hopefully it will look worthy of a stand place and not just like a mk2 with wheels and an exhaust which it is at the mo!

So watch this space from Sunday onwards and expect plenty of pics.......

[Mew]

So watch this space from Sunday onwards and expect plenty of pics.......

Yeah right, like that happened!

First update for a long time! I've been meaning to sit down with pics and write about what has been happening but haven't got round to it, and even now this is only going to be a half arsed attempt!

Since i last posted in here someone tried to break into the car. They got it unlocked but mashed the handle and so couldn't open it. Alarm now fitted!

• I put the Corrado seats in but never got round to welding in the rears so have now sold them to a mate and stuck my originals back in
• I put the Eibach springs on the original shocks but then replaced the shocks all round with Boge Turbo's and that made a hell of a difference!
• Bought some 16v half tinted rear lights and also some smoked side repeaters
• Did a service at some point with new oil filter, oil, dizzy cap, rotor arm and fuel filter
• Took the plastic arches off to see how it looked. Prefer it with arches so they're going back on soon.
• Bought some new clocks as the mileage counter stopped working on mine. It works on the new ones but the oil light constantly flashes and the full beam led doesn't work. The speedo needle also fluctuates a lot but this may be the cable?
• Took my Supersprint back box off because i couldn't get it sitting right with the standard system. It is now back on though and even sitting straight!
• Bought a 2.0 bottom end that has done approx 90k miles. Currently sat in the shed!
• Got some 16v front callipers/carriers/hubs/pads/dics. Currently sat in the shed!
• Bought some g60 front callipers/carriers/hubs/discs/pads and rear callipers/pads complete with g60 shocks with 5 day old Weitec springs and new bump stops/top mounts and abs sensors. Currently sat in the shed!
• In the last 10 days i have bought a new alternator as the regulator in mine went. A new coil as mine was in the process of dieing and the car kept cutting out. New spark plugs which has sorted out my misfire. I also need a new tyre as i have a gash in the sidewall of one of mine. An expensive couple of weeks!
• I also bought a "GTI" grille badge as mine has never had one

On the list to buy at the moment is a new downpipe and front/centre exhaust sections, preferably Supersprint. I also need a new passenger door as it doesn't always open from the outside after the break in attempt and a new bonnet would be good too as the lacquer on mine is peeling.