Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: Bringing a tired 1.3 back to life ~ in Portugal (Read 1256 times) previous topic - next topic

Bringing a tired 1.3 back to life ~ in Portugal

Hi from sunny Portugal !

Yesterday I bought a poorly 1.3 Golf, a non-starter with a blown headgasket. It was delivered mid-morning,
The good news was it comes with tax, insurance, and 1 months IPO (MOT) remaining - and they all transfer to the new owner here in Portugal  :))
By noon it was up and running and drove nicely on a very short test drive.
It took a couple of hours going around the local tool shops trying to buy a 12 point socket for the headbolts, once I had that the head was off in less than an hour.
I looks like the gasket blew due to very loose headbolts (do stretch bolts relax over time ?) so it should be an easy fix (famous last words)

Summary: I'm very happy   :))


Project log (and some questions already - head bolt torque etc..) https://www.vwgolfmk2.co.uk/clubforum/index.php?topic=1337.new#new

Re: Bringing a tired 1.3 back to life ~ in Portugal

Reply #1 –
No, also I’m not 100% sure they are stretch bolts. I fit a new head gasket recently, I never felt the bolts yield.
They were very tight but I thought still within their elastic limit.

Re: Bringing a tired 1.3 back to life ~ in Portugal

Reply #2 –
Welcome and good luck with your project

Re: Bringing a tired 1.3 back to life ~ in Portugal

Reply #3 –
Seems that 12 point head bolts are stretch but 6 point are not?

Re: Bringing a tired 1.3 back to life ~ in Portugal

Reply #4 –
Re torque settings for the head.
Haynes says:
Stage 1 40Nm
Stage 2 60Nm
Stage 3 Turn a further half turn / 180deg

These are exactly the same as 1.6 and 1.8

Timing Cover and Valve cover 10Nm



1991 Tornado Red BB 8v GTI Moredoor
2008 Skoda Octy Scout aka dirty diesel

Re: Bringing a tired 1.3 back to life ~ in Portugal

Reply #5 –
Quote from: t2000 on
Seems that 12 point head bolts are stretch but 6 point are not?

My bolts were 12 point and they did not yield. I know what it feels like, proper windy pants. The torque instructions were very specific, even down to where to and not apply oil.
Then torque up in sequence:
40 Nm
60 Nm
Turn 90 degrees
Turn 90 degrees
After all of that I could still feel differences between bolts so I finished them by feel. If they were stretch bolts that had stretched  they would all have felt the same.

Re: Bringing a tired 1.3 back to life ~ in Portugal

Reply #6 –
Thanks everyone and apologies for the slow reply - I missed your comments. Will recheck my settings so I get notifications in future  O:) 

The good news is the car is now up and running happily with a new headgasket.

Headbolts for info, I'm working away from home so had to buy a set of 12-spline sockets, and a torque wrench - the most expensive part of the job.
Everything I have read says these are stretch bolts so they were replaced the torqued 40 then 60 then 180 degrees. No problems but I was nervous on the final tightening  :o 


When the head was off I took the opportunity to clean under the bonnet and it's come up great  :)) 




The gearchange was difficult when I bought it so I spent some time realigning the shift rod, it's now 90% there, just need to tune the fore/aft position slightly.

The next few problems :
When I'm driving I often get a buzzing from somewhere behind the instrument cluster, I stripped the dash out last night and will try to find the noise in daylight. I suspect it's had different clocks fitted as there are a couple of home-made bits of wiring, and it has a rev counter which I wasn't expecting on a base model. Is there a known fix for badly wired instrument clusters that "buzz"

The blower is popping it's 20A fuse when I turn it on, I've checked and the wiring is ok so the fault is inside the blower motor. Any suggestions?

The wind deflector for the sliding sunroof goes up ok but jams when you close the roof unless you go outside and press the deflector down by hand. The problem is the pins on the lightweight arms at either side of the deflctor are worn, is there a fix / cheap easy source of replacements ?

It's all good fun  :))

Re: Bringing a tired 1.3 back to life ~ in Portugal

Reply #7 –
There is a lot of nonsense about stretch bolts. All bolts stretch but only precision stretch bolts yield. They are specified to ensure more constant pressure on the cylinder head with temperature variation. I don’t think these bolts are fitted to a 30 year old VW. I definitely didn't feel mine yield and I suspect the reason for fitting new is because the old are contaminated with oil.
Perhaps we need a stretch bolt thread. Did this on an Audi forum and the conclusion was that the vast majority of bolts weren’t stretch and could be reused.

Edit, stretch bolt discussion started in Technical section.

Re: Bringing a tired 1.3 back to life ~ in Portugal

Reply #8 –
Glad you got the head sorted.
Re the gear change....I always have a problem banging the drivers door for the first few days of driving on the "wrong side" ;D. But seriously it makes for a much better drive when you don't have to concentrate on changing gear.
Re the sunroof arms. Is there a chance you can get some at a local scrapyard?

Noticed the rear-end of a "pink" Alpha 145 in your piccy. Reminds me of when mine was Tornado pink. There can't be many 145s left in the UK!
1991 Tornado Red BB 8v GTI Moredoor
2008 Skoda Octy Scout aka dirty diesel

Re: Bringing a tired 1.3 back to life ~ in Portugal

Reply #9 –
Bentley cautions that the head bolts on diesel and 16v petrols are designed as one use only and must be renewed... by inference then those on other engines need not be.

Re: Bringing a tired 1.3 back to life ~ in Portugal

Reply #10 –
Things are going well. Today was the first proper run out, no big faults found and it drives very smoothly  8)
I called into the local mechanic and have ordered a couple of new tyres to be fitted on Monday, when it's there he'll check the car over for it's IPO/MOT in a couple of weeks time.

Exciting times !


The list of niggles is growing, today it's often cut out when I come to a junction - other times the tickover is nice - some investigation needed. I lifted the top off the aircleaner and the choke is off so that looks like it's working ok.
Quick checks showed the blower motor is siezed (which is why it's popping fuses) and the heater matrix seems to be blocked (no heat through the bukhead pipes, and I had a quick attempt at blowing water through the matrix using a gentle hosepipe but no joy). Also found a very small water leak from a perished engine hose after the drive so that's the next job.

I ordered a joblot of service parts from AutoDoc.PT a couple of days ago thinking it might be quicker than ordering from the main AutoDoc.DE website, yesterday I got a tracking update to say the goods had been shipped - from Germany and were on their way to Portugal via Spain. I now know it's not a lot quicker ordering on the local Portugese website  :-X

Re: Bringing a tired 1.3 back to life ~ in Portugal

Reply #11 –
We used to holiday in Albufeira many years ago, didn't ever go too far out of town so don't know much more of Portugal than that... beautiful country and genuinely nice people.

Introduced me to Mateus Rosé, back when I took a drink or three.

Looks like you've got a good one... Hard to beat a well used and loved old car, become almost like a pet!

Re: Bringing a tired 1.3 back to life ~ in Portugal

Reply #12 –
The Golf passed MOT inspection yesterday, 1 minor advisory about a faded EU logo on the numberplate - I'll survive  :)) 

A joblot of service parts and "bits to fix niggles" have been fitted (cambelt & waterpump, plugs and filters, tailgate struts, lock set ...) and it's a lot nicer to drive now.
Wheels were painted before the MOT just to smarten things up a bit and it's worked.
The next job is a few more "fix it" parts from AutoDoc, and maybe to remove the headliner and replace or reglue the headlining.



A few folk have mentioned it's worth renewing the gearchange linkages to improve the feel, does anyone have any advice?
Seat runners are also needed, both front seats have a lot of slack on the runners so I guess one of the random white nylon bits I found in the boot was originally part of the seat mechanism. What do I need / how does it fit?
The high pressure sensor (connected to the "over 2k rpm" alarm) has been bypassed so I guess the sensor is dead, any advice about selecting replacements for both oil pressure sensors?

Now it's just a case of having fun driving it ... I have noticed the cruising speed is creeping nicely up as it gets a few miles on it, I guess as various cobwebs get blown out of the engine  ;D
 

Re: Bringing a tired 1.3 back to life ~ in Portugal

Reply #13 –
The gear linkages are best bought as a kit and most of the parts within the engine bay are very easy to fit. I only changed the parts in the engine bay and it made a big difference. Changing the rest of the kit can be difficult as  it requires a special tool to align the correct position of the selector.  Seat runner plastic guides are also easily replaced the seat is removed quite simply. The replacement parts are just 2 pieces of plastic which fit onto the seat runners and a small piece of rubber that fits to a bracket on the floor pan very easy fix. look on ebay and you will find the parts are readily available. Don't know about the sensor I have no experience of that.