mookie - '91 8v GTI aka the Autotrader Lemon

[jv]

Lemon heh?

[mookie]

Well it's been a long, tedious tale thus far, covered in some detail in multiple threads on this very forum. Essentially I had a bit of cash to spend on a GTi after my 16v got bummed at some traffic lights, and alas I foolishly fell for the oldest trick in the used-car-sales-con-book. I bought a car mainly based on how it appears visually and not how it drove. Oh, that and the fact the guy who sold it to me was a liar and thinks selling unroadworthy cars is a Good Way To Make Money.

The car is a 1991 8v GTi (duh) in Tornado Red. 159k on the clock as we speak, and it came with every bill, receipt, MOT and tax disc it had ever had. Even included a summons for the previous owner to attend the local police station... and his credit card number on numerous invoices 

Anyway, I've already spent a packet on it at the garage to get the following done:

-new trackrod ends
-new boots
-new UJ steering assembly
-new bearings for the steering column
-rear axle bushes
-all suspension springs replaced
-new bottom arm bushes
-new NS ball joint
-new NS front CV gaitor
-new top and bottom steering column bushes
-new front brake pads, discs, lines, and a full fluid change
-new coolant flange
-tracked and aligned wheels (twice)
-new rear tyre (the previous owner supplied me with bonus woodscrew and nails in the old one)

That lot has set me back over £1000 so now it's going to be mainly me and a Bentley manual for anything else.

Anyway after all that being done, the car is road worthy and handles tighter than a nun's fanny. Ahem.

And here are some recent shots after a proper wash (I have clay and polish at the ready too):


Looks nice huh? The trim and paintwork has been well cared for, although there are a few areas that some clay and polish will help to buff up the redness of the paintwork is good and looks real purdy with the sun setting and reflecting on it... Ignore the gash tax disc holder for now... 


Alas the wheels look nicer on these pics than in reality. Two are sweet looking with only a light scuff between them, the other two range from mildly curbed to serious - not immediately noticable however so they'll do for now.


In terms of cosmetic damage, aside from a small bubbled patch of paint under the drivers mirror and round a windscreen wiper blank, this is the only damage of note to the paintwork - a long straight scratch down to the bare metal it seems. I'm gonna try a temp touch up for now.


The engine is quite surprisingly clean tbh, with little grime or globby grease to see. The cables and pipes etc need a tidy however.


The interior is absolutely spotless. Stonkingly so infact. Aside from the rubber mats needing a brush, there's fook all to do here except sort out some decent entertainment as at the moment it's limited to the factory speakers and a Kenwood iPod package. Good enough for now though.

[mookie]

My plan for this project basically boils down to getting myself to the position of a car that is as 'renewed' and tight to drive as possible. At the moment I don't have the expertise or experience to attempt something flamboyant or show stopping. But what I think I am capable of is getting this car to the point where it looks OEM-esque-lush  and relatively mint, standard looking. With that in mind, I want to try and restore the small flaws on the body work, and get the mechanical running of the car as good as it can be without invasive modifications or non-standard parts.

My experience (until now) of all things mechanical has been zero. So as much as anything it's going to be a gradual learning process for me that will hopefully mean I learn alot about cars whilst picking up some dead useful skills in the process. Because of this entry-level skill base that I have, this thread might seem worthless to the more experienced forum goers - I do hope it might prove useful for people in the same position as me in the future though.

Anyway, here's what I wanted to do (so far):

- Renew and clean as much of the ignition/idle components as I can (it idles lumpy and is a little rough to drive)
- Correctly set it up according to the guide rubjonny has elsewhere posted
- Replace the air filter
- Get some new wheels - black or black centred
- Install some decent ICE
- Mend/restore the damaged paintwork
- Replace the passenger lock mechanism and handle
- Replace the horn - it sounds like a clown car
- Needs a new front pipe and I want to renew the back box to (at the very least)
- Bonnet catch is a bit funky and prone to popping open if not pushed down firnly enough
- Heater/blowers not completely functional
- Both doors need some tlc as they don't quite hit the strikers correctly

[mookie]

Okay so I've done a few things today (and over the last couple of days too) and they've made a massive difference.

First thing I did was get an entire door mechanism from a breakers to replace the exisiting internals of the passenger door. In short the car has obviously been broken into at some point in the past and the internals had been damaged and not properly replace/reassmebled meaning that if the door was closed a little too hard the clip that linked the catch with the door pin etc would fall off - and thus make the door impossible to open. So everything bar the central locking pump thing was pulled out and replaced. Took me friggin ages as I couldn't figure out how some of it fitted together - ordered a new handle as the current one has had a screw driver pushed into the lock and bent it slightly. I'm going for the lockless variety.

However the biggest improvement has been a relatively easy one to make - new spark plugs. Before I added them, the car was very lumpy in idle, lumpy in first, and very prone to spluttering in reverse and crawling in second. Sure it still not perfect at idle now, but new plugs have transformed how it drives. All gears feel incredibly smooth now, and the car will now crawl forward with just the clutch without coughing or shaking. After changing them I drove about for almost two hours in disbelief at the difference they made. It just feels so smooth and effortless both accelerating and decelerating. If you're interested I used Bosch Super 4's (WR 78's).



As you can see, I have also made the compulsory airbox modification and removed the funnel that leads to the right headlamp. Not sure of the merits of doing this but the majority opinion seems to favour doing this. I'm not keen on making the airbox into Swiss cheese just yet though, so a good clean and wipe will suffice for now. I also noticed the jubilee clip that holds the pipe to the back of the lower half of the box wasn't even keeping the pipe in place so that was tightened up properly after a large squirt of WD40.

I also transfered the K&N airfilter from the 16v (still on my drive...) with the paper filter. I didn't notice a performance increase  (like I would anyway) but it can't hurt to try.

Certainly with the sparkplugs in the car is a lot smoother to drive and quieter too, so after only a couple of hours of easy work I am extremely pleased indeed.

[mookie]

Waiting on some bits to come from eBay and Venom, so nothing drastic to show off just yet. I have had a spanking new Cat 1 alarm/immobiliser fitted though as the Toad immobiliser it was sold with didn't even work - another point gained in it's lemon status then as it cost me nearly £300 to put right effectively.

The only other thing I've done is replace the dist cap and rotor arm, and the ignition leads. Which is like, sooooooo exciting and definitely not worth a picture.



I did however have to use a rather MacGyver-esque solution to the fact one of the clips had been broken - yes, a non-VW approved cable tie  But hey, it works as the cap won't budge even a millimeter with it on. Bizarrely this was how the old one was held on, even after it been seemingly replaced at a very well respected VW specialist in the area 

One major bonus: flipping through the masssssive service history folders, and there's a receipt from late last year, about 5000 miles ago, to show that the cylinder head had been removed and skimmed and all gaskets (including the head gasket) had been replaced. Something like £400 of work done, which is mental considering the previous owner was driving it around on f**ked springs and random steering. Certainly made me feel all fuzzy inside as that was one job I was dreading the bill for.

[mookie]

Not a massive update, but the car is slowly getting there. I've now added smoked repeaters and front indicators, and replaced the default four light GTi grille with a two light one instead - cost me £2.99 on eBay and is in mint condition so if I decide I don't like the look then I'm sure I can make my £2.99 back again  :laugh:  Anyway, here it is as it stands in all it's unwashed, Yorkshire-Moors sediment glory:



I really like the look of the new grille. I don't want at this stage to go down the completely debadged route, and I think the black VW badge on this grille looks canny lush, like man.

I've also got some crystal crosshair headlamps coming (I know some people divn't like 'em) to complete my lighting plans (the back lights are good enough for me being the smoked 'n red variety).

Other additions in the works are a full stainless 3.5inch twin exhaust system, some replacement wheels, and a sneaky addition to the slightly weedy speakers I have in the car.

More as it happens.

[mookie]

Not updated it this in a while so here's a quickie!

Since the last time I posted, I've added crosshair headlamps, an Alpine powered sub under the passenger seat (made a black felt covered mini-enclosure to hide it - stealthy as f**k and made a massive difference to the sound in the car), and a full stainless exhaust system. Also put on a rear door handle on the passenger door, sorted the wonky heater/blower controls, had a fuel leak fixed, new tyres on the front, new n/s rear wheel bearing, and got it MOT'd without any problems (just a new brake bulb)  .

Lamps (also put the GTi badge back on - half thinking about getting some crystal inner spots and putting the old grille on). They're LHD unfortunately which I wasn't aware of when I bought 'em. Look good though imho.



The new powaaaar zorst pipe! Took a while to get used to the increased size, and the sound is mad in comparison. Noticable extra bass to it when driving but idling it sounds very mean indeed. Haven't noticed the supposed performance increase although (would I really on an 8v?) it does seem to have smoothed out certain aspects of the performance where it was a little rough before, especially blasting through from 2nd up to 4th. Only cost me £150 from off another 8v, done about 1500miles before I got it.



Here's the beast as it currently stands:




It's doing approx 60miles per day at the moment which probs isn't ideal, but it seems solid as f**k without missing a single beat.

Plans:

- Getting it lowered pretty soon, probs only by 40mm as it needs to be practical for the crap Yorkshire roads I trundle over every day.
- Wheels. On the brink of ordering some G60 steels although still looking about for maybe something a bit different.
- Want to get the minor paintwork issues on the doors sorted. Either source some mint doors or get it done professionally?