GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk3 => Topic started by: teamspb on 08 April 2014, 09:14
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Hi everyone,
I may be able to get my hands on a cheap 8v Gti and was looking for some pointers if possible...im getting it dirt cheap but a few things about the vehicle;
Its been parked up for around 5 years so needs some attention but having covered only 55k from new, having a new exhaust, 2 new tyres etc all before being taken off the road, it makes it a worthwhile buy in my eyes
I was hoping you could help me out with the following;
- The side sill has rust on it under the black plastic kit, are these panels still available or do I need to fabricate something of my own?
- The car is having difficulties getting into first gear...the owners says the clutch has gone but the car goes into the rest of the gears fine...do you think its a linkage problem or could the clutch me gone (I know its a hard question to answer but I havent been able to drive the car yet to check myself if the clutch slips etc)
- The sunroof is leaking a bit of water, again, is this a matter of adjustment or could there be a more serious matter at hand?
- If I want to change the 8v brakes to 16v/VR6 setup, what is it that I require?
Thank you for any help....would like to get my Mk3 ownership to a great start!
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Most body panels are available. I sell outer full sills for £25 each delivered
The gearbox could be the linkage as it's reverse and 5th that fail. Also clutches start at £60 so it's not really expensive if that has gone
Sunroof is tricky but I would check the seal myself
Brakes depend on year as from mid 95 the 8v gained the 288 ate set up as per vr6. If it's earlier uou can easily change from 280 mm with only a few parts
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Thank you for the quick reply!
The one im looking at is a 1992 model...so has the smaller brakes on it...
Do you have a pic of the sills you sell? I may just buy both and replace them...do you know if its a hard job? Ill need the plastic kit to as its in bad shape at the moment...
Im also considering changing the gearbox to one with a hydro clutch, do you know what bits I will need?
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The sills I sell are insurance approved and come as a complete outer panel, The old sill needs cutting out and replacement welding in
(http://www.clevelandpanels.com//media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/f/_/f_2.gif)
the plastic skirts may only need the outer plastic cover replacing (they have a metal strip that runs along them and corrodes, luckily replacements are all plastic)
(http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/m0iP4Nv1cOO3eL-MOMvZ2xw.jpg)
Regards the gearbox, There isn't a hydraulic box available for the 8v but you can fully overhaul the linkages and fit a good cable to improve the clutch action/feel.
And for the brakes, 280mm lucas is the o.e spec and changing to 288's is carriers, calipers, discs, pads and hoses but an easy conversion to do. (you can also go 312mm if you run 16" rims, that uses the same carriers, calipers,pads and hoses as the 288 and you just need the discs and a couple of washers)
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Your a star! Do you have the sills in stock? Do you also do the plastic covers or know where I can get them from?
Can I keep my stock hubs or do I need to change them if converting to bigger and calipers?
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mk3 gti 8v gear boxes are prone to breaking . so be careful, but as its only done 55k maybe it aint the gear box. :wink:
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Depending on bad the rust is you may not need complete new sills to be welded on. I am getting my rust treated and as it is not that bad it is being cut out with new piece welded in. Far cheaper then getting a whole sill welded and painted. Get a few quotes from local body shops first. Oh, and keep all the trim off!
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Your a star! Do you have the sills in stock? Do you also do the plastic covers or know where I can get them from?
Can I keep my stock hubs or do I need to change them if converting to bigger and calipers?
I have a pair of 5 door sills in stock and 3 door are available next day to me (delivery is usually 2-3 days from order)
The plastic inserts are only available new from vw and are £46 each from myself (p&p on the inserts is £11 per parcel extra due to size! There's only a few items I sell that my normal courier won't collect and the strips is 1 of them!)
All 5 stud mk3's share the same hubs so whether 288 or 312 you can use the originals
And I agree with the last post, you may not need the full sill fitting, I would still get the full sill panel and use which part you need (The front/jacking point is a weak spot). Although I don't agree with removing the plastics, mine has all it's original plastics fitted and is rust free under them (you may be lucky?)
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Im hoping its something small like the linkage or cable etc...if the box needs changing then ill just do a 16v gearbox conversion I suppose and convert it to hydraulic clutch once I figure out what parts I actually need lol
If the car is with me for a year or so, ill be building a 16vT for it so I want to future proof myself with whatever I do with it
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You will need the pedal box off a valver and fab it into the car.
Late 8v had the brackets ready to go, what year is it?
You don't need hydro unless you are going for power, which would be an engine and box change anyway.
I'd save the money until then.
Patches on the sills is only a temp fix imo, also budget for some floor/inner sill work to join the new outer sill section.
Sun roof can be a real pita, check the drains first a search on here will throw up loads of information.
Rust is your main enemy, it's been sitting and you know about the sills.
I'm betting you have a few bungs rotted out and others, so check thoroughly before you take on Mk3 :grin:
Every thing else is easy and cheap.
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You will need the pedal box off a valver and fab it into the car.
Late 8v had the brackets ready to go, what year is it?
You don't need hydro unless you are going for power, which would be an engine and box change anyway.
I'd save the money until then.
Patches on the sills is only a temp fix imo, also budget for some floor/inner sill work to join the new outer sill section.
Sun roof can be a real pita, check the drains first a search on here will throw up loads of information.
Rust is your main enemy, it's been sitting and you know about the sills.
I'm betting you have a few bungs rotted out and others, so check thoroughly before you take on Mk3 :grin:
Every thing else is easy and cheap.
TBH, if the vehicle stays with me for a year or so, then it will be going big power, circa 650hp from a Valver should be interesting. We build plenty of fast cars so want to build one for myself again (previous being 430hp Focus RS Mk1 with C63 AMG brakes, and before that a 520hp Zetec Turbo Escort RS Turbo S2)
Ill just get it running right for now and use it as my work horse until I decide what to do with it.
This is a VERY early model - 92 or 93 (J plate)…so I doubt it will have the necessary brackets in place for a hydro conversion. Out of curiosity, what work is involved? Welding brackets etc in to?
Inner sills appear to be fine, but time will tell when I peel the kit back to see whats lurking underneath.
Thing is, for the price I'm going to pay (less than £100), its worth the gamble! If it doesn't work out, I can make the money back just by scrapping the car!
Ill search for the sunroof leak problem, I'm hoping its just a seal or something…if its something major, might just make the perfect excuse to cut the roof off and go for a carbon roof instead!
Thank you all for the great input so far! I will hopefully be going to see it tomorrow again and hope to get it moving!
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I had a MK3 1992 GTi it was 2 years old, low mileage and a terrible car even then. I had a MK2 GTi 16V prior to that and the build quality on the MK3 was appaling in comparison. If the car has been unsed for so long, there will be all kinds of problems, sounds as though the syncromesh is going on the gearbox, it will be a moneypit and no end of trouble. Stay well clear.
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TBH, if the vehicle stays with me for a year or so, then it will be going big power, circa 650hp from a Valver should be interesting.
:shocked: :shocked: :shocked: you would be better to look at a 1.8t conversion even then that power if it could be done (which I doubt tbh) is not going to be cheap.
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Plenty of 16vT around with over 600hp over in europe...the head on a 16v actually outflows a 20vT so we are already at a head start over a 1.8T and we have more CC's to get the turbo spooling.
The T61 on my Zetec turbo (2048cc) was on full boost by 3800rpm (36psi) and redlined at 7.8k so had a lovely power band...
Not sure if ill use the same turbo on the Mk3 yet or go for one of the EFR turbos...time will tell
Money is no issue, everything is built in house, just need to source the parts...if you look carefully you can have them cheap enough.
Dont expect anything for happen for a year or so yet though lol!
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I had a MK3 1992 GTi it was 2 years old, low mileage and a terrible car even then. I had a MK2 GTi 16V prior to that and the build quality on the MK3 was appaling in comparison. If the car has been unsed for so long, there will be all kinds of problems, sounds as though the syncromesh is going on the gearbox, it will be a moneypit and no end of trouble. Stay well clear.
Thanks for the heads up, if the syncromesh is going then gearboxes can be had cheap enough I suppose...even if I can rebuild the exisiting gearbox then I may go down that route....hopefully the test drive will reveal more
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I had a MK3 1992 GTi it was 2 years old, low mileage and a terrible car even then. I had a MK2 GTi 16V prior to that and the build quality on the MK3 was appaling in comparison. If the car has been unsed for so long, there will be all kinds of problems, sounds as though the syncromesh is going on the gearbox, it will be a moneypit and no end of trouble. Stay well clear.
Thanks for the heads up, if the syncromesh is going then gearboxes can be had cheap enough I suppose...even if I can rebuild the exisiting gearbox then I may go down that route....hopefully the test drive will reveal more
Synchro is easy enough to fix, if you do a rebuild then a bolted diff kit is essential.
Either that or just buy a scrapper box with 3 months ticket
They are not bad boxes contrary to popular opinion, most fail due to excessive miles and boy racer style rally changes :grin:
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Your cars you do what you want but I am always amazed by people that put that much power in a fwd car. Just seems a waste.
A mate of mine has a 450bhp mk2 focus rs and that just spins 1st 2nd 3rd. Spins all day long in 4th if its wet.
Why not 4wd or rwd?
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Admittedly that does sound a big excessive. :laugh:
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I love excessive LOL! I dont drag race so putting the power down in first and second are no real issue, my focus used to light up the tires in third no issue until I put the Neuton's on it.
TBH you can put the power down in FWD if you pedal it right...ive never had problems putting the power down in any gear and a bit of wheel spin can be fun lol
I am however toying with the idea of a R32 DSG conversion...BUT first things first, I need the car to be running right and iron out its existing problems before I think of going big power etc...
For the next year or so it will be my workhorse and nothing else...after that, it may be my toy or it will be scrapped lol
But thanks to all for your inputs! Its greatly appreciated and has helped me ALOT!
Im off to see the car tonight so will update tomorrow with what happens
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i bought a mk3 that had been stood for just over 2 years for £150 , although its a few years younger than yours , i had the same issue , mine wouldnt get into reverse , 1st or 5th, in my case it turned out to be just abit stiff, a good spray of all the linkages with lube and a good run and mine freed up a treat, ive been using it as a daily for almost a year now and the gearbox has had no issues and runs a treat, good luck !
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Thanks for the heads up!
Went to see the car yesterday, got it started and managed to move it a little...brakes work which is great just need to clear the rust of the discs.
The sunroof worked however, when it went into the tilt position, as it was coming back down, the passenger side stayed up in the air a little (around 5mm if that)...is this a common problem? Easy fix?
I also noticed with the gearbox/clutch problem, when the car was cold, it was worse, when it warmed up, the car would go into first and reverse alot easier...there is a quote in the car saying its the clutch cable which it possibly may be as the first 1/2 way of clutch pedal travel does nothing and then it seems to pull the clutch in towards the bottom of the travel...then when finding biting point, it literally is right at the bottom.
First things first! Time to get a battery for it!
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Could be a bent fork in the box or the cable, or both :smiley:
I had the same situation on the sunroof once, it was a top out job and some new plastic bits from vw iirc
how rusty is it? did you look underneath?
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http://www.vagcat.com/
Join here for VW part numbers and exploded diagrams, will help a lot :wink:
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Could be a bent fork in the box or the cable, or both :smiley:
I had the same situation on the sunroof once, it was a top out job and some new plastic bits from vw iirc
how rusty is it? did you look underneath?
Underside - chassis rails, floor pans etc all looked fine thankfully otherwise I would have walked away...
The only rust appears to be bottom of the passenger arch and the passenger side sill under the kit. Ill get the kit off and have a proper look around the car and see whats what.
I have finally agreed the price and will actually pick it up for less than I thought...RESULT!!
As long as the test drive goes ok, ill have it on the weekend!
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Rusty sills are from bent jacking points 99% of the time.
Not only does the plastic trim trap all the water and sh!t off the road, it acts like vaseline on the jack :grin:
Once it gets bent and the paint broken it rotts out pretty quickly.
The wings always rott down the bottom, not a problem they just unbolt.
Check where the floor blends into the inner arch/leg area, this tends to go with the wings.
Also VW used a shed load of underseal, which tends to hold the bungs in and make things look intact.
Whip ot the seats and carpet (30mins) and have a proper look under the sound deadening.
Good luck
Where about in London are you btw?
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Update on this!
Got the car home this morning! Car drive home no problem…took it round the block a few times to help clear the rust off the discs, filled up some water in the expansion tank, then off I went home! The car felt a bit shaky and nervous when getting to around 40mph but put this down to the tyre pressures being low!
Stopped up at a petrol station and put £20 of Shell's Premium…not finest…its premium unleaded LOL! Filled up the tires with air and off I went down the A60 at a leisurely 50-60mph and found the car not to be nervous any more and drove steady and as I would expect it to!
Problems were still there with the difficulty of getting the car into first gear and reverse so as soon as I got home it went into the workshop and had a proper look around it!
Now, what I thought was a rusty sill, actually wasn't, it was the metal section on the trim panel that you all mentioned earlier!! RESULT!!!! Unclipped the trim and the car looked fine (albeit missing the trim)! So some new side trims and we are good to rock!
Also thought I may as well change the clutch cable considering I can get it cheap enough…put that on and BINGO!!! First gear and reverse problems solved!! No issue with the vehicle now as far as I'm aware, had a look underneath it to and all seems solid…I did notice rust on the tailgate just above the VW badge which has come through on the inside of the tailgate so ill look for a replacement tailgate to put on. Check the tires properly to and can report they are as new and haven't perished either which is great!
Only problems I have with it now are the sunroof issue not closing on the passenger side (tilt position) and faded paint LOL!
Overall I'm pleased with the car especially with what I paid for it and look forward to getting it back to its former glory!
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Sounds like you got a good bargian mate, I replied to you on ED38 - hope you can get the sunroof fixed!!
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Sounds like you got a good bargian mate, I replied to you on ED38 - hope you can get the sunroof fixed!!
Thanks for the reply!
At the moment it doesnt seem to bad to be honest! Ill get it in for a MOT in the next few days and see if anything pops up!
Hopefully it sails through...only concern at the moment are the brakes as they are pretty poor due them being slightly pitted and rusty...they got better and better on the drive home so I dont think theres an issue there...just need to drive it more! Perfect excuse lol!
Sunroof wise, where is the best place to get a new cartridge if its needed? Not sure if its easier putting a new cartridge in (do these come with all the relevant seals?), or if I should just source a second one and hope its OK
Ill get some pics up over the next few days!
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Sounds like a good buy you got :smiley:
If your front brakes need replacing I can do some very good deals on discs and pads (280mm or 288mm for £56 delivered)
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Sounds like a good buy you got :smiley:
If your front brakes need replacing I can do some very good deals on discs and pads (280mm or 288mm for £56 delivered)
Net5 at ECP comes in handy for this lol
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Net5 at ECP comes in handy for this lol
Still more expensive than my brake engineering and delphi set up (even the eicher with that code are more and them brakes are scarily bad!!) :smiley:
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Net5 at ECP comes in handy for this lol
Still more expensive than my brake engineering and delphi set up (even the eicher with that code are more and them brakes are scarily bad!!) :smiley:
Im not going to lie, its a brilliant price…but I can still get it quite a bit cheaper from ECP…Please don't think I don't want to buy from you, its just a budget car that I'm not going mad with just yet and will DEFINITELY be coming to your for bits at some point or another.
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No worries, I just don't want you sucked into the ecp discount codes mean cheap which lots of people are until they check again!
(For example My service kits for example were still cheaper than ecp and gsf when they had there 25% off service kit deals on!!)
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No worries, I just don't want you sucked into the ecp discount codes mean cheap which lots of people are until they check again!
(For example My service kits for example were still cheaper than ecp and gsf when they had there 25% off service kit deals on!!)
Yeah no worries, been dealing with ECP for a LONG time, pads and discs work out at £31 if I want them ;)
Out of interest, what other bits do you do for the Mk3? Im after little bits to...scuttle panel with the black seal bit, major bit I have a feeling I will need is a complete sunroof catridge