Shed-esque Golf2 Syncro

[Diamond Hell]

I purchased this with just under 100k on the clock for the princely sum of £155 almost three years ago.

When I collected it the tyres were shot, there was a blown flexible front brake hose and it didn't have an MOT.  I showed up the evening after the auction closed, replaced the flexi-hose on the guy's drive, bled the brakes up as I worked my way around the car, swapping out the standard wheels for some Seat alloys I happened to have lying around and drove it from there to an MOT station, where it passed in one.



Someone had already blessed it with a Weber 32/34DTML carb, so I just used it for a bit as my daily, in tandem with a T25 Syncro.  The first change was to swap out the rear ARB for a Rallye one.  This stiffens the rear end considerably and removes the pig-understeer that the Syncro has out of the box.

I took it to an off road event for a laugh and here's the video of it driving up a bloody steep slope.  I think it was on the way back from this event that I v-maxed it on the M5 and noticed it was running lumpy when I got back home - the head gasket had gone.  I got a PB head off a mate for £30 and got it skimmed and fitted this with 1p coins in the injector ports, as seen here:



This made the motor quite spicy for not a lot of money.  It also made it even more rev-happy.

There then followed a lot of dicking about with springs and dampers, which put it at this height at one point (note cheap-assed Sebrings - I like them even if no one else does!):



This resulted in one of the top mounts being trashed, as the suspension topped out quite violently on the IOW.  Thankfully it's now at a slightly more sensible height, as seen here:



Some people might still think it's too high, but it handles and can suck up bumps without being bounced off-course and stay fun and provide throttle-tuneable lines and that's what matters to me.

Prior to this photo I also installed 280mm stoppers on the front.  As it's now not my daily driver it has become solely aimed at having fun.  To improve performance I stripped out the interior in summer 2007, which made a huge difference to the straight line speed.  It also made it rise over an inch on the springs, which had me worried, but it had settled back down again the next day.  I had a couple of top days at Castle Combe in late summer:







At the first day I still had some shagged old tyres on the back, which ran out of interest just as I ran out of talent after the Esses, which resulted in a nice 180 spin - nothing damaged except pride, so I continued and had a fantastic day.  For the second day, I was running an 'intake kit' (a bit of concertina tube from one of the spotlight holes to the air filter inlet  ) - pic:



Old skool ram-air, innit 

I also had a full set of Firestone Firehawks, which proved a pretty good tyre for what's quite a low-power and very grippy car - I have big sausages of rubber on the tread blocks now!

Fast forward to the winter and the Golf now looks like this:



The 1.8 GU motor is out, along with the rod-change gearbox.  It's being replaced with a cable-change gearbox from a Rallye and a 2.0 motor from a Passat.  This upgrade will take it to fuel injection, which necessitates an electric lift pump from a Rallye in the tank and a pressure pump where the GTI has one, too (among other things!).  These aren't the scary part of this conversion.  Due to the 4WD system, there isn't enough space for a proper downpipe on the Syncro.  To get round this big issue I'm going to be (gulp) cutting a section out of the tunnel and basically making a clutch foot-rest which will give the downpipe the space it needs.

Once this is done the next items on the shopping list are a rear disc upgrade (already got them on the shelf, ready to bolt up), a 6 point rollcage from Paul Botch Venners, competition seats and proper harnesses.  Somewhere among this list will be a visit to Nurburg, as I've not been in a few years and I'm gagging for it, frankly.

Yes the whole thing's being done for pretty much peanuts, but this car has put a lot of big smiles on my face and looks like it will be continuing to in 2008 as I continue to modify it in a low-budget kinda way.

I'll try to post significant updates as soon as possible, but with a young family I'm not getting quite the same amount of time to play with VWs as I used to!

For anyone who's interested in learning more about the Golf Syncro, there's a wealth of information at www.vwsyncro.co.uk.

[MK2RussRacer]

Like it mate! off roader and a track car! 

[nealey]

these are the kind of projects i like to see

[Dinky]

very interesting project darl! If i had the knowhow, and luck with finding a bargain like this, id try it myself..
deffo get sum pics up when you visit the ring!

Dinx

[Neaty]

i like it mate, how do they handle compared to a 2 wheel drive GTI?

[Diamond Hell]

deffo get sum pics up when you visit the ring!

I absolutely will.  I've also booked a day at Castle Combe with 928.org.uk - I did a day with them last year, too.

i like it mate, how do they handle compared to a 2 wheel drive GTI?

I've taken various people out in it who have had 2WD Golf GTIs and it's always the same - they're quite chatty until I tip it into the first of a series of roundabouts near here, then they either go quiet, or as the starter of this thread said 'oh f***'.  Why?  If it had been his GTI apparently it would have been facing the other way.  Syncros hang on.  However, if you have the stiffer Rallye ARB fitted and you let off and come back on the power they'll settle into a beautiful four wheel drift.

The thing to remember about them is that the rear of the car is totally re-designed vs the 2WD car - instead of the torsion bar there is independent rear suspension, which changes the way the car behaves, whether you're delivering power to the rear wheels or not.

I especially love the grip and security in weather like we're having at the moment - that's when the Syncro really shines.

[Neaty]

I would love to have one, I had the chance to buy one a few years ago but for some reason I didn't 

[Diamond Hell]

Busy evening - I've finally plucked up the courage to cut the required section out of the transmission tunnel, to allow a sensible exhaust which will allow me to run something more powerful (and better breathing) than the 1.8 carb motor.  This has been something of a heart-in-mouth moment for me - I desparately don't want to lose the rigidity the high-tunnel shell gives, but at the same time, there simply wasn't enough space to run a sensible exhaust.  With the new section and downpipe I should have something that flows a lot better and I won't lose too much structural strength.  I've chosen to cut the section out, make the downpipe and then weld back in a new tunnel section to accommodate the re-routed exhaust.

Here's the section I've cut out:



This is the half of the Rallye downpipe that actually fits in:



Viewing the first pipe through the hole inside:



Starting to build the second downpipe out of the bit that was cut out - it's writhing around the RHD steering column, in case I hadn't made that clear!



Here's that part of the downpipe in place - you can see why I've had to cut this section out:



You can clearly see here that I'm now past the toughest, nastiest bit:



I'm just holding the lower section in place, but it doesn't take much imagination to see that it should slip in there without too much hassle and will just need a couple of wedges welded in to make up the gaps in the exhaust:



As I have to go to work tomorrow I figured it was best to finish at midnight, especially as I now have to remove a bit more material from the tunnel, to ensure that even when the motor jumps around a bit I don't get things buzzing on the bodywork - I've retained the flexible joint, which should help a lot in this respect anyway.

More at the weekend, t'other half permitting.

[Diamond Hell]

Busy day today.  I've finished the downpipe:



and trimmed a bit more out of the footwell, so it fits:

http://diamondhell.com/images/rsgallery/display/P1060076.jpg.jpg

The issue is that there needs to be enough space for the exhaust to move around.  This photo shows where it comes down - right in front of the tightening profile of the tunnel:



I might remove just a little more to ensure I'm not going to have clatter from the exhaust as the drivetrain moves around. 

Now I'm getting to the point where I'm going to need to put back in some strength where I've created the clearance it seem a sensible time to take out the dash:



This has allowed me much better access to the area where I'm going to be welding the new section in.  I've also got busy with the hot air gun this evening, heating up the sound deadening sheets and scraping them away, ready for a good cup-brushing prior to welding new sections in:



I just have to decide how far back it's likely the exhaust will come when it's hooked up to the Y-pipe.... looks like that's next on the agenda to fabricate up.  Time to go out raiding ATS's skips 

Oh and I picked up an 8V crossflow head on Friday, too.  That'll be away for a tri-cut on the valve seats and then I need to decide whether to go with a Bogg Bros manifold and bike carbs, or go for chipped injection & G60 injectors.  Tough call, eh?

[MK2RussRacer]

so what engine u going for mate???