richandhazel - 1983 mk1 cab

[richandhazel]

Background:

Its the 20th October 2002 and I was doing what I do best, sitting in my local social club, drinking a pint of Stella and talking to some friends. Tony and Sharon ask me if I know anyone that might be interested in a mk1 Golf GTI cabriolet? They've had it sat in their garage for 5 years and now need the space. An hour later and £250 lighter I am the proud owner, bargain

However, there were a number of reasons why it was only £250. They were honset enough to tell me that the engine was 'tired', a core plug was missing, the gearbox was knackered and that it would probably need rewiring due to the fact that the lights, MFA, electric windows, wipers, heater, in fact just about everything didn't work.

On the plus side, however, the bodywork was totally rust free as was the underneath. As far as I'm concerned this alone made it a worthy base for a project.

[richandhazel]

First job after getting her home was to take some pictures, so here they are. Check out the kamei kit square headlights, yuk, not my taste at all.









Despite the square headlights and the problems, you've got to admit, thats probably the best £250 I'll ever spend 

[richandhazel]

20th October 2002:

Ok, first things first, I need to find out how 'tired' this engine is. 50p for a replacement core plug, topped up the coolant, charged battery and cranked. It took a good 30 seconds of cranking to get the fuel pressure up and then she started; first time in over 5 years
However, she wasn't running well, very lumpy, reluctant to idle, cutting out. I decided to check the cylinder compressions. My suspicions were confirmed:-

Engine warm, dry check: 70/110/95/110 psi
Engine warm, wet check: 100/150/150/150 psi

My conclusion was that the engine was generally worn with excessive wear to number 1 bore. This was confirmed later that evening after removing the cylinder head. At the very least I would need a rebore and oversize pistons, but to do the job properly, a complete overhaul is in order.

So the engine needs to come out. I thought now, before removing the engine, would be a good time to see what was wrong with the gearbox. I knew that there was a problem with 5th gear: it was possible to engage 5th gear but nothing happened, the engine simply revved freely. I drained the gearbox oil, at least I think that was what it was! It was like liquid metal (mercury) with bits of metal dropping out!

To be continued.......

[richandhazel]

My God, I can't believe it's over 5 years since I posted in here I will try and fill in the gaps when I can, but in the meantime moving forwards:-

As you may have gathered a lot has happened since my last post; the car was back on the road in 2003 and 2004 and attended quite a few shows in that short time. Many from here saw her at the shows.

She was on the road for a couple of months in 2005 but since then has been stored in the garage...........until now

I carried out a post storage and pre-mot check where I found the need to replace the N/S engine mount (the rubber had perished and the mount had collapsed), O/S front steering tie rod end ball joint (again the rubber had perished), N/S rear wheel bearing, N/S tie rod assembly, O/S steering rack gaitor and the steering column gaitor.

She passed her MOT first time with no advisories on Tuesday 25th May 2010, six years since her last MOT

 

[richandhazel]

Whilst waiting for the tax disc to arrive at the beginning of June I decided to carry out my exhaust manifold and downpipe 'upgrade'.

Somewhere along the way I picked up on the fact that the later Mk1's were fitted with a more inferior/cheaper to produce exhaust manifold and downpipe. It uses the spring 'C' clips and goes from 4 into 1 at the manifold:-









I understand that this set up is quite restrictive and that the earlier 4 into 2 manifolds with the twin downpipes were much more effective. So, I have now fitted this that I removed from the 1982 Mk1 shell that went to 'topher' :-









comparison:-





The new set up also has the added advantage of heatshields that will be additional protection for the new steering column boot that I have just fitted:-