boost monkey

So I picked up Willow (name TBC) today, and was pleasantly surprised! G reg Mk2 8v GTI, just hit 165k on the drive back from St. Neots in Cambs with 4 previous owners. Bodywork was in really good condition, just some rust around the rear screen washer rubber, and a couple of small dents and scabs. I think the rear rust may creep towads the glass in which case I will get a new tailgate for it. It shouldn't be too hard to find a black one, or even respray a good one black. Engine is the PB i think, deffo is Digifant. Started easily and idled without effort although the rev counter didn't work (I have spare cables, you know me) so I thought it wasn't a big issue really. Let the car warm up, checked the MFA worked which it does and allowed the fan to kick in and I signed the papers and gave over my money First surprise was that the car was actually still in MOT (until Monday 25th but advertised as expired) which is great news and means I can use the car over the weekend! Also there's a ton of paperwork including a lot of new brake parts such as lines, cylinders and the BPR at the back. It had recon PAS rack at a cost of £140 2 years ago. VWSH until 134k. Car's had a lot of suspension problems and now sits on Spax adjustables (with adjuster!) and unknown -40mm? (I can just 2 finger the arches) springs. Black Diamond discs and uprated pads (unknown) at front too. The ride back was pretty uneventful, and everything worked as it should. The spax were harsh and I was aware that they may not all be on the SAME setting the front brakes need some heat into them also, I thought it was the surface rust but it wasn't :-s so I'll have to look into checking those out. Managed to get the rev counter to wake up when I gave it some beans out of a layby on one of the A roads (A421 iirc) which was quite nice, and surprise #2 Also the MFA was telling me 99.9mpg the WHOLE time so I'll have troubleshoot that at some point. I think the car needs a tune. It doesn't feel fast, and I know it's just 115hp but I was expecting more. Blue coolant sensor?! LOL. That's the only thing I know about on 8valve engines But the car ran spot on, no problems of any kinds. Well, actually I did have one problem. I snapped the MFA/Wiper stalk clean off. I couldn't believe it. The guys said the washers didn't work so I tried to use them and SNAP. Insane. I got back to Oxford, and took the steering wheel off followed quickly by the stalk. Seems it had been glued once before. SO I'm looking for another (early not late) MFA stalk for a Mk2 (early corrado no good - I tried robbing the plum already but different electrical connectors) ASAVP as I have new MOT booked for Monday and it will fail without the stalk. Funny that. But it was a great drive, I will have a little play with the suspension, probably set to fully soft and then midway. There was still a fair amount of bodyroll (as the scattering of biscuits throughout the passenger footwell attested to!) but that is also down to the springs of course. I don't think I could handle fully hard. Not on oxford's roads. All in all, not a bad little car for £400. ---------- Post added at 06:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:43 PM ---------- I noticed some more stuff today. The car seems to have the rainbow (can someone confirm?) interior, and none of the seats have any wear at all, not even bolster wear on the drivers side! I'll try to get some more pics: The rear bench was missing the peg which it locks into when you lay them flat, so I pinched that from the plum (Sorry Cazza!) to ensure no MOT issues. It also has a hole-free parcel shelf which must be at least 72 scene points :lol: It does need a shelf strap though. The tailgate is a bit rusty. A couple of scabs and a parking ding, plus a LOT of rust around the rear washer rubber: I'm starting to think this is a standard mk2 thing? Looks like someone has wacked black silicone on it, but prob won't last for long. I think I will replace the whole tailgate when it gets really bad, which will be a shame as this is the original item, unless someone paid to have the reg plate etched into another tailgate. Apart from this, the body is quite straight with just some minor dings etc: And an overview: And a random dashboard shot (shows the right stalk before I broke it. Obvious superglue line!)

I'll start a new thread for the Golf now.

Gorgeous day in oxford this morning, bright and cool. Gonna wash both the dubs, and clear out my old parts from Bro's place. Look out for very cheap: Door, drivetrain, KR head (I think), some other bits.

Crazy Dave and Kevhaywire both use chargecoolers on their VRTs. Try searching inside their car threads :D

Anyone know?

Ditto yan, cools airflow much better and no hacking needed :D

ah that's the auto adjust? cool, thanks for clarifying. Last mk2 I had was a jetta and I sold that to buy the plum! so over 3 years ago. wow.

Legendary post! Thanks tony_ack. I've got CE1 with a hazard light switch to the right of the radio, and not above the steering column (which the Plum has). If I can find another early mk2 MFA stalk I will be grabbing it! :D I will peruse that info when I have a decent amount of time. ---------- Post added at 08:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:33 PM ---------- Also, my clutch bite point is really high, perhaps 1/2" off the top of the pedal resting position, does this mean that the clutch is wearing down and on its way out? Looking in the engine bay, the cable is the manual adjustment one with the big black disc on it, should I try to adjust this or should I just buy a clutch and do it at some point? I think I adjusted one of those cables so much on an old mk2 that when I pushed the pedal, it locked up and I snapped off the clutch release arm inside. cost me about £200 to fix :/

Seems there's a little VDO vacuum unit also which fits to the MFA so maybe this is dead. Sometimes the overall one says something other than 99.9, but not always. Gonna fix the rev counter today, you were right supercharged, it is just a wire! The other wire I saw in the gearbox is speedo cable....muppet!! lol. Apparently there's a braided earth between the coil bracket and rocker cover, so I'll check that and also check the coil -ve as that's where the rpm gets signal from :) Oh and Happy Easter everyone :D ---------- Post added at 09:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:20 AM ---------- I'm gonna wash both today/tomorrow if I have time and I'll get pics up. Maybe should start a mk2 thread tbh.

Cheers Alex, We managed to fix it today, a LOT of corrosion on the brass switchgear inside the stalk and all is well again :D took all day, but that's just old VWs isn't it? :-s ProdigalSon was an absolute hero, soldiering on with the witchcraft of electronics as I just scratched my head, and read the Mk2 Golf Bentley!

That's really odd. Do you get a puff of smoke out the back when you start the engine too? that would indicate valve stem seals and you'd be looking at a head rebuild. blue smoke under hard bootage is more likely to be piston rings, or the dreaded ovalisation of the VR bores.

Coullstar, it does feel old compared to the C :D Fortunately, it has given me more drive to finish the Plum. I was a bit worried I'd leave the plum as it is, so this is a good thing! Supercharged, yeah the guy was a little bitter about it (ebay jobby) as I was the only guy to bid the £400 start price and I won. lol. I think the rev counter is the cable driven style like my corrado. I thought it was a wired connection, but I've spotted 2 cables going to the gearbox, and I know one of them is the clutch cable :D I have a couple of these spare though which is nice (and one of the reasons I could justify picking up a Mk2 - the similarities of parts with the Plum). Prodigal has epoxyed a metal pin through the MFA stalk overnight, bit messy but promising! As long as it gets through the wiper test for MOT on tues then I don't care, and will replace it asap. Will try to get pics today. The Plum is REALLY dusty now, so I'll be throwing a bucket over that aswell.

Need one ASAP for Willow. must be WHITE molex electrical connector, not the black (as found on 90 spec Golfs and Corrados and later). Let me know if you have one, need it as soon as poss. Cheers, Jon.

Great build! Give Mark a slap though and call him a lazy slag, those rear arches aren't clean! You can barely tell the body colour! :lol: put some effort into it my son!

So I picked up Willow (name TBC) today, and was pleasantly surprised! G reg Mk2 8v GTI, just hit 165k on the drive back from St. Neots in Cambs with 4 previous owners. Bodywork was in really good condition, just some rust around the rear screen washer rubber, and a couple of small dents and scabs. I think the rear rust may creep towads the glass in which case I will get a new tailgate for it. It shouldn't be too hard to find a black one, or even respray a good one black. Engine is the PB i think, deffo is Digifant. Started easily and idled without effort although the rev counter didn't work (I have spare cables, you know me) so I thought it wasn't a big issue really. Let the car warm up, checked the MFA worked which it does and allowed the fan to kick in and I signed the papers and gave over my money :D First surprise was that the car was actually still in MOT (until Monday 25th but advertised as expired) which is great news and means I can use the car over the weekend! :D Also there's a ton of paperwork including a lot of new brake parts such as lines, cylinders and the BPR at the back. It had recon PAS rack at a cost of £140 2 years ago. VWSH until 134k. Car's had a lot of suspension problems and now sits on Spax adjustables (with adjuster!) and unknown -40mm? (I can just 2 finger the arches) springs. Black Diamond discs and uprated pads (unknown) at front too. The ride back was pretty uneventful, and everything worked as it should. The spax were harsh and I was aware that they may not all be on the SAME setting :lol: the front brakes need some heat into them also, I thought it was the surface rust but it wasn't :-s so I'll have to look into checking those out. Managed to get the rev counter to wake up when I gave it some beans out of a layby on one of the A roads (A421 iirc) which was quite nice, and surprise #2 :D Also the MFA was telling me 99.9mpg the WHOLE time so I'll have troubleshoot that at some point. I think the car needs a tune. It doesn't feel fast, and I know it's just 115hp but I was expecting more. Blue coolant sensor?! LOL. That's the only thing I know about on 8valve engines :lol: But the car ran spot on, no problems of any kinds. Well, actually I did have one problem. I snapped the MFA/Wiper stalk clean off. I couldn't believe it. The guys said the washers didn't work so I tried to use them and SNAP. Insane. I got back to Oxford, and took the steering wheel off followed quickly by the stalk. Seems it had been glued once before. SO I'm looking for another (early not late) MFA stalk for a Mk2 (early corrado no good - I tried robbing the plum already but different electrical connectors) ASAVP as I have new MOT booked for Monday and it will fail without the stalk. Funny that. But it was a great drive, I will have a little play with the suspension, probably set to fully soft and then midway. There was still a fair amount of bodyroll (as the scattering of biscuits throughout the passenger footwell attested to!) but that is also down to the springs of course. I don't think I could handle fully hard. Not on oxford's roads. All in all, not a bad little car for £400.

matt paint looks awesome. good work, even though there are some rattle can marks! :)

lol!! Newbie hijack.

Nicest C i've seen in a LONG time. Looks so right on the Schmidts. Even better than Bally's. ---------- Post added 22nd April 2011 at 12:25 AM ---------- Previous post was 21st April 2011 at 11:14 PM ---------- Forgot it was Easter stuff this weekend! My local MOT station won't be open until Tuesday, but I'm pretty sure I can leave it in the car park and then run up with the keys on Tuesday morning. If anything feels horrible on the drive back tomorrow, I'll go to the MOT station via my Corrado and pick up some parts! :D

Same, nipples are separate. In fact I think I got those as pattern parts, they're hardly an OEM-only item, but then they don't cost much either way.

Yes everyone, the cable will stretch. At least two of you seem to be scratching your head over whether a few strands of steel wire will fatigue over time. Ummm........

The PCV is designed to route gases including HC blowby which pass the rings during engine warmup back into the intake so they can be burnt again and emissions can be reduced. The problem is, it will suck through oil mist that has been churned up from the crank too which is why you are burning smoke (although I wouldn't expect it to be THAT obvious unless something was wrong with your engine)

Do you mean the VW seal kits? Yeah i've used them tons of times, they're really good f you do all the prep and clean the calipers up well. I would have recommended putting new seals on the calipers before you put them on the car, they're not expensive really. Otherwise, I bought Lucas brand front G60 calipers for my 16v for about £35 brand new and boxed on ebay.

Offering warranty too, up to 12 months! He's clearly never had a C in before :lol: Chubby, I'd bet the MOT was done in-house.... dodgy.

I don't tend to sit in the middle of the car, and at 6ft3 the sun would have to be pretty damn low to be in my eyes ! :D

What's the point of this?