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Topic: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White (Read 32102 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #225 –
Bit of a non-update, but just placing this here as I found it and thought it might be useful one day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwCAb1bVr7w

I haven't made any progress with the rear seats yet. My 2 options were
  • modify the car to take the mk3/Polo rear seats or
  • strip the seats and try and put the foam and covers on the mk2 frames

I have stripped the seats and have picked up a spare mk2 rear bench, but this looks harder than I first thought to line things up nicely and make a good job of it, without saggy seats. So using the Polo frames and fitting the seats properly would be my preference. But since I didn't take the seats from the car myself I didn't get a chance to grab the brackets. So I'd need to look for someone doing body cuts of a mk3 or Polo. I'm sure Matt or Brendon would be able to help out.

As for the other stuff, I've not really progressed. I've ordered some parts and new tools, and am mostly waiting on deliveries. It's not the ideal time of year so the car is still sat on stands on the drive.

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #226 –
Finally, the update you've all been waiting for.... or maybe not. But a small step in the right direction at least.

First off, early Christmas present to my self:


For some reason, maybe because I like to make hard work for myself, I wanted to stick with OE bushes. Or maybe it's because I bought them previously without thinking it through, and didn't want them to go to waste, even though this kit cost the same as decent poly bushes. Either way, I now have a hand press, pull kit that I can also use with my press.

I started with the tricky side, the side with the brake bias bracket. Even with the extension bit removed the bracket in the beam was a pain in the ass, and totally in the way. I got the majority of the bush in like so...



But being directly on the bush I couldn't get it finally home without fear of putting too much force onto the rubber part of the bush.

I eventually got the bush home, with the correct 8mm exposed.



The other side was a breeze, as I was able to put a large socket type thingy over it.



You might notice a bit of rusty metal in between. This is my secret weapon. I cut the head off the old bush and hollowed out the rubber, then flipped it over to cater for the staggered surface of the new bush.

Tidy!



Finally, Job done!



Next to build up the brakes and lines, then the challenge of actually getting it back on the car.... on the driveway, in the snow ???

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #227 –
That's a lovely Christmas present!

Also, standard bushes? You must be glutton for punishment!!
Mk2 Driver
Mk2 Silver 8v
Corrado G60 Turbo
Mk2 Red 8v
Mk2 Grey 16v
Mk2 BBM ABF
Bora 20vt
Mk2 Green VR6
Mk2 Green ABF
Mk2 BBM 20vt
3.2 TT Roadster
Mk2 Red 16v
225 TT Coup
3.2 TT Coup
Mk4 Anniversary
Mk7 Red GTI Performance
Mk2 Red GTI Restoration
Mk2 BBM R32
911 Carrera 4S

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #228 –
Quote from: Monkey on
That's a lovely Christmas present!

Also, standard bushes? You must be glutton for punishment!!

Standard Febi, bushes were about £13 from Autodoc against £80-90 for decent poly. At the time of ordering I wasn't really thinking about how I would fit them.

Anyway they're in now so should be fit and forget, and if they last another 30 years like the original ones then I think they'll outlast the car.

And I did all OE rubber bushes up front. With the combo of cheap coilovers and 40 profile tyres on 17" rims the last thing I want is stiffer mounts.

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #229 –
Yeah, they should now last the life of the car.

I've only once looked at standard rear beam bushes, then decided to send them back and get poly! ;D
Mk2 Driver
Mk2 Silver 8v
Corrado G60 Turbo
Mk2 Red 8v
Mk2 Grey 16v
Mk2 BBM ABF
Bora 20vt
Mk2 Green VR6
Mk2 Green ABF
Mk2 BBM 20vt
3.2 TT Roadster
Mk2 Red 16v
225 TT Coup
3.2 TT Coup
Mk4 Anniversary
Mk7 Red GTI Performance
Mk2 Red GTI Restoration
Mk2 BBM R32
911 Carrera 4S
 

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #230 –
Well I think this has been the longest gap in my updates ever, and the reason is quite simple there hadn't really been anything to update.... till now.

As before, leading up to Christmas I completed building up the beam.


Then over Christmas we went away so nothing got done. And then my wife and daughter got COVID quite bad.
In early Jan I had to prioritise some decorating, the rest of Jan was a washout.

Finally in Feb I got some time to fit the beam.


And as you may remember, when I got the beam I was pleased it had decent and fairly new discs with good bearings already on it so  (apart from some surface rust) I didn't need to do anything about those.

Now here's the massive dumb moment, after all that time with the beam in the shed, painting and fitting it up, I even painted the disc lips with some VHT paint. But it wasn't until it was on the car that I stood back and noticed the blindingly obvious error.

It's only bloody FIVE stud  :o

The other faff, I had no pictures of, was when I dropped the old beam I left the flexi-hoses on the car. When I came to remove them for fitting of the new beam the brake pipe ferrule nuts were very rusty, stuck and easily rounding. I had no choice but to hacksaw the joint. I was hoping I could get new nuts fitted so took them to the local shop but they said I needed a few inches of pipe for the tool to work. So I opted to let them make up new hard lines for both sides, from the bias to the beam.

I was a bit gutted, since I'd managed to save all the hard pipes on the beam so decided not to spend £60 odd on a brake pipe kit, which would of allowed me to have done all new pipes. I then ended up paying £55 to get just 2 made, oh well.

So I was able to go ahead and fit the new pipe work, but had a further delay as I had to wait on an order for new rear discs and bearings.

I also couldn't continue with the fronts as I'd forgotten to undo the main spindle nut on the front before lifting it and disconnecting the brakes so I needed it back on the floor to undo those.

Cut to the following week.



I was then able to switch to the front. Going from this...


To this...


Another little job I started, was to tackle my gnarly wheels. Going from this...


To this...


I bought a small air DA with a massive selection of abrasive pads.


Only on will done, and still need to prep and paint etc. But I just wanted to try the tool and see if I was able to do it.

Really happy with the results.





And that now brings us right up to date.
With brushing off the snow and taking it for it's MOT.




And I've just had the call it passed.  ;D 
So I'm road legal again, I'll get it Taxed and get back out there.

Still plenty of jobs to do, so the rolling project continues.

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #232 –
Great update, I did laugh when you mentioned the 5x100 discs!!
Mk2 Driver
Mk2 Silver 8v
Corrado G60 Turbo
Mk2 Red 8v
Mk2 Grey 16v
Mk2 BBM ABF
Bora 20vt
Mk2 Green VR6
Mk2 Green ABF
Mk2 BBM 20vt
3.2 TT Roadster
Mk2 Red 16v
225 TT Coup
3.2 TT Coup
Mk4 Anniversary
Mk7 Red GTI Performance
Mk2 Red GTI Restoration
Mk2 BBM R32
911 Carrera 4S

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #233 –
Funny how you don't spot the obvious. Back on the road in time for winter.

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #234 –
Nice work Tim. Working on a gravel driveway in the dark is a nightmare, I have to do the same thing. I can't imagine manhandling the ream beam was a fun job, did you manage on your own?

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #235 –
Quote from: ianmac86 on
Nice work Tim. Working on a gravel driveway in the dark is a nightmare, I have to do the same thing. I can't imagine manhandling the ream beam was a fun job, did you manage on your own?

Yep all by myself, just worked logically and took it steady. Lifted the beam a bit slid in some blocks of wood to raise it a bit at a time and keep it level.

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #236 –
So, I feel it's time to come clean.

A month ago I had a little (that could have been quite major) incident that was purely my fault and was a really really stupid to the extent where there has been a mix of emotions from anger at myself and massive embarrassment - hence why I've been quiet till now.

Picture the scene, the night before the MOT, it's cold and dark outside, but I decide I'm not 100% happy with the previous brake bleed so decide to pop out and have another go at the bleed. Jacking up and removing each wheel. Bleeding each corner refitting the wheel and dropping down off the jack.

Pleased the job was done, put the tools and torch away and went in to get cleaned up and warm.

Read the above again and you might spot what's coming.

The morning comes and I take the car for the MOT a 1/2 mile up the road and get the pass. Later on for the sake of wanting to drive it I pop to the shops and nip around to see my dad, who happened to be out anyway.

Then the car sits on the drive for another week or so. It's been pee-ing down with rain, I've been working from home, I've had no need to use the car.

Then it gets to the point I'm going back into the office. So decided I'll take the car now it's legal again. The 30 mile motorway trip see's no issues. But leaving work I go down a road that is totally destroyed with potholes. My skinny profile tyres and crappy coilovers do me no favours. Worth noting the week after they start resurfacing this road - that's how bad it was.

I get to the motorway and after a couple of miles rapidly develop a wobble and knock!

I'm along side a joining slip road so can't get across to the hard shoulder straight away, but I cross the on lane and get off, but not before the car drops to the ground!  :o

In that moment I think I know what's happened and I fully expect to see my wheel overtake me and bounce off down the carriageway but nothing.

So I get out and see this...



As the wheel was still there my first thought was I'd snapped a driveshaft or lost the centre not (I did tighten that one).
But then see the issue, I've lost my wheel bolts, but since the car is low and the wheels quite tucked I've caught the wheel in the arch.  ::)





So going back to the opening paragraph.
- I tightened the wheel bolts with the wheels in the air, but forgot retighten once the car was back on the ground.
- I then didn't do a proper shake down test ride, which was just plain stupid considering how much I've had apart.
- Given the time frame from doing the work to using the car I sort of forgot where I'd got too and took it for granted I had done the above.
- I can't blame the pot holes as clearly my wheel bolts were not at torque, but the potholed road was certainly a contributing factor. I guess it had loosened a couple of bolts so once I hit the motorway there was too much stress on the remaining bolt(s).
- I'm lucky it wasn't worse and thankful I was able to get off the road quickly, although had I been able to get off immediately I may had still caught it with at least one bolt left before it dropped.

What really surprised me was from how quick it went from being OK to being very NOT OK! I guess one bolt was holding fast, until it wasn't  ???

So now I guess you're wondering about the damage!

I had to wait for the AA guy, and we got the car jacked up and the space save on. Borrowing a wheel bolt form the other 3 wheels.

Seeing a space saver compared to my 17's was ridiculous. I attempted to drive but it was clear something was rubbing, catching but I wasn't sure at that point if it was just the simple fact of bigger brakes. I know they're only native 16v brakes not g60 but I didn't know if 16v's came with a 15" space saver???

So I got the tow home and the next day I was able to investigate.

It was just the splash pate that was clipping the inside of the space saver as it went round as it had been bent. Easy enough to bed that back into place.

The inside of the alloy wheel had been scored but otherwise seemed undamaged, and was still holding air so not cracked or anything. 
Everything else seemed ok. although I'd lost my spigot ring so was difficult to centre the wheel. I decided to swap the back wheel onto the front and ordered a set of new spigot rings. And I had some spare wheel bolts (although I'm down one locking one now).

They arrived and I was able to take the car out to the Bristol meet (where again I was too ashamed to say anything).
On taking the car for a longer drive I noticed I had a bit of wobble around 55 mph so I suspected I may have warped one of the new discs.

Looking back at my order I stuck the same pair of discs in my Autodoc basket and waited for the best discount day, once it got down to 41% off I hit buy. And if you've seen my other post that was Monday. The discs arrived today and I've just fitted them on my lunchbreak.

I went for a quick blast on the local dual carriage way and the wobble has gone so fingers crossed I'm all good now.
Lessons learned, and nobody died and my actions didn't impact anyone else.

This has come as a real confidence killer, but I'm sure given time I'll build back the bond with the car.

And if you've seen me asking about elsewhere then you'll understand this is what's triggered me to look for replacement wheels, just incase there was damage. But I still can't justify the cost and everything seems to be OK so I'll hang in there for now.


Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #237 –
Fair play, takes a lot of guts to admit to something like that!
But everyone makes mistakes, the key is to learn from them.
I made that same mistake when I was 19, very similar result, but it was on a back road.
Either way, I have ALWAYS tightened my wheel bolts up to FT ever since.

As for your confidence, time will get that back.
Maybe buy a paint pen and mark up bolts as you torque them down.
Can't really do it to the wheel bolts, but it'll give you reassurance when you second guess yourself next time and it's good practice.
Mk2 Driver
Mk2 Silver 8v
Corrado G60 Turbo
Mk2 Red 8v
Mk2 Grey 16v
Mk2 BBM ABF
Bora 20vt
Mk2 Green VR6
Mk2 Green ABF
Mk2 BBM 20vt
3.2 TT Roadster
Mk2 Red 16v
225 TT Coup
3.2 TT Coup
Mk4 Anniversary
Mk7 Red GTI Performance
Mk2 Red GTI Restoration
Mk2 BBM R32
911 Carrera 4S

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #238 –
You are not alone here I had a wheel off on an mgb a friend came around and distracted me and I failed to tighten the bolts. about 2 miles out on the next trip the back of the car dropped and I saw the wheel disappear across a field.

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #239 –
No one was harmed which is the main thing mate. Lesson learned!