Project Plum - The Plan of Attack

[CazzaVR 0]

Like it! Willow?!

[boost monkey 0]

G*** WLW :lol: Any manlier name suggestions are appreciated!!

[Alex_G60_Fanatic 0]

willow... hmmmm

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096446/

[boost monkey 0]

lol good film :D

 

no magical midgets are involved with my wagon though, sorry :/

[boost monkey 0]

 

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

[boost monkey 0]

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.

[coullstar 0]

Bet it feels old compared to the Corrado. That was my feeling after jumping into a Mk2 after a big brake. Double check rear jacking points and the usual rust spots as they all seem to be getting to the age where the underseal and paint are hiding a lot of nasty suprises. Nice cars though.

[Supercharged 2]

£400 for a Mk2 - bargain!

 

The Rev counter thing might be a loose coil connection and the MPG will be a vac pipe come off...

[boost monkey 0]

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.

Edited April 23, 2011 by boost monkey

[Alex_G60_Fanatic 0]

Ive got an early MFA stalk going for cheep if you wont one mate... not sure if a corrado part would fit the mk 2 thou...

 

Edit: ok just read your previous post. Never mind! :lol:

Edited April 23, 2011 by Alex_G60_Fanatic

[boost monkey 0]

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!

[CazzaVR 0]

Good work! 8)

[aide 0]

wow £400 notes is a great deal, well done for spotting that!

 

i had the 99mpg issue on a previous valver as well but I never got to the cause of it, wasn't a vacuum pipe in my case.

[boost monkey 0]

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.

[tony_ack 0]

You'r right to check the earth strap on the rocker cover - non-working rev counter is a common problem on the MK2 and it's usually a dodgy earth. Since it worked once for you at least you know the wire is connected!

 

Is the hazard switch on the steering column (CE2) or dash (CE1)? Late 89/90 was the switchover to CE2. The later (post 90) clocks can be a little unreliable. Worst case scenario is you'll need a new set of clocks (you can swap your speedo to keep the mileage). There's a chance a new set of clocks will come with a new vac sensor too, so you can sort your MPG problem out too! 8v Clocks go for about £25 if you shop around.

 

Here's a link to the Digifant tuning guide:

http://www.clubgti.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-124949.html

 

And here's a little info I put together a while ago:

http://www.vwgolfmk2.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=3482

 

Tuning is pretty simple - get up to temp, disconnect blue temp sender, rev cleanly through 4000rpm three times (returning to idle each time), then set the timing to 6 deg BTDC at 2-2.5k rpm (it must be set at this, not at idle!!). Then set CO to 1.8 and idle to 850rpm

 

8v aren't the quickest car in the world, but they should pull well from 2000 revs up to about 5500

 

If you think you still have problems, replace the blue temp sender (you should probably do this anyway) and also replace the vac lines in the engine bay (there aren't too many luckily). A leaky PCV bung can also cause issues

 

For rust, check the usual Corrado places, as MK2s tend to do the same (arches, sills, lower A-pillar, fuel filler). Any serious and visible rust on the fuel filler is going to be a cut out and weld in jobbie.

 

---------- Post added at 08:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:58 PM ----------

 

Oh, forgot to add, if you're removing the clocks, take out the driver's lower dash for better access to the speedo cable and wiring plug.

[boost monkey 0]

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 :/

[dannyboy 0]

that black disc is the auto adjuster for the cutch cable,grease it up a bit but dont touch it unless someone else has and forgot to rewind it if they changed the clutch.

 

I had one on my gti and p1$$ed around with it,never got it quite right again!

[boost monkey 0]

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.

[boost monkey 0]

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.

[boost monkey 0]

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

[boost monkey 0]

I've found this fully loaded tailgate on the bay:

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VW-CORRADO-COMPLETE-BOOTLID-TAILGATE-VR6-16V-G60-8V-/320662668216?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4aa8fc03b8

 

it's the right colour, 20 miles from me, and £50! I thought that was pretty reasonable! Anyone else got any ideas? I never se panels come up for sale in DBP so I try to grab them all!

[Swompy 0]

Do it before I do

[boost monkey 0]

²³

Edited April 29, 2011 by boost monkey

[Swompy 0]

Just been looking through the sellers other items and there is a drivers door in DBP as well. possibly a couple of wings.

 

Might send him an email and see what other parts he has in DBP

[boost monkey 0]

I'm not gonna buy any of them mate so feel free(!). I'm concentrating on getting the daily straight more as she needs a clutch and a cambelt.