LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Topic: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White (Read 34162 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #285 – April 08, 2024, 02:07:25 PM

OK, so now the dust has settled I can do a bit more of an update.

Here's the dodgy plug. It was only by pulling the lead off and finding the rod part stuck in the HT cap, else I might never had known. With it pushed back in, the plug looked normal.

I did plugs, leads, car etc when I recommissioned the car after the COVID lay-up, so about 3 years but only 4000 odd miles.
But it was on my list to do this year as part of general maintenance anyway.

The original cam belt

No idea how long that's been in there, I haven't done it before in my ownership, which is getting towards 4.5 years now. I think I remember seeing a bill for it in the paperwork when I got the car.

The last time it was done it looks like someone was a bit heavy-handed with the pulley bolts

The good old Irwin tools to the rescue

But I was never going to be able to torque it back down. So I ordered 4x genuine bolts, but also needed to wait for those to be delivered.

I also fitted all new belt covers and fixed the alternator bracket while I was in the area.

And for anyone with Power Steering, you'll know how much of a nightmare it is to adjust. Well, hopefully, that's all freed up now if I need to make any further adjustments. A squealing belt has plagued me for quite a while.

New cam belt and tensioner fitted, and miles and date written on the inside of the belt cover.

I still have a list of jobs to do, and a box of new parts ready to fit.

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #286 – April 08, 2024, 07:00:02 PM

Glad to hear you the timing belt was successful. Oh yeah national meet will be coming round before you know it. I maybe should start preparing as I move very slowly 😂 I've lost my tent and sold my t5 so need to make some sleeping arrangements

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #287 – April 08, 2024, 08:56:45 PM

I had a couple of broken sparkplugs when I changed them last year. Never had an issue before.

@ianmac86 maybe you can order a seat from Matt @MK2 Spares on a sale or return basis for the national?
My Facebook marketplace s/h tent wasn't a great place to be last year with all that rain!

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #288 – April 09, 2024, 09:18:49 AM

138k? Barely run in!!

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #289 – April 09, 2024, 10:32:08 AM

@AndyBa haha yeah and sleep under the stars 😂 that mk2 bench was surprising comfy! I will have to see if I can find my tent if not I will be on marketplace too!

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #290 – April 09, 2024, 11:39:25 AM

Quote from: Monkey on April 09, 2024, 09:18:49 AM

138k? Barely run in!!

I know right, it’s great granddaughter, the mk5 has just caught up and overtaken.
I think that’s at around 140k now.

Quote from: ianmac86 on April 08, 2024, 07:00:02 PM

… I've lost my tent and sold my t5 so need to make some sleeping arrangements

Even when you had a tent you had no tent pegs

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #291 – April 09, 2024, 02:50:50 PM

Quote from: ianmac86 on April 09, 2024, 10:32:08 AM

@AndyBa haha yeah and sleep under the stars 😂 that mk2 bench was surprising comfy! I will have to see if I can find my tent if not I will be on marketplace too!

Just saying, a hotel room is probably cheaper than a tent...comes with a toilet and shower too!

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #292 – April 29, 2024, 07:38:07 PM

ollowing the cambelt change, I haven't used it much but I knew I needed to get the timing sorted.
I think it was just pulled a nudge out when pulling up the tensioner.
My pops and bangs were more frequent (fun, but not how I want it) and it was feeling a bit laggy above 3k.

Having been suspicious that the distributor shaft was likely to be seized in the block, and also thinking it was worth getting my worked checked. I booked it into my local old-school tuning shop, Interpro.

They freed the dizzy and did the timing and asked if I wanted it set up on the rollers. Of course I didn't decline.
I also know Dave there would be able to work his magic and get the most out of it.

Ok, so it's not going to blow anyone away but for a stock motor, with just a Pipercross panel filter and Milltek exhaust it was good to see nice smooth curve and I haven't lost any power over the years.

The highlights -
Corrected Power: 118,3 BHP
Engine Power: 114,3 BHP
Wheel Power: 83,4
Torque 122,2 lbf.ft

I assume this is a good result for a 33 year old GTI with no real mods. I'd love to know how this compares.

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #293 – May 01, 2024, 09:47:20 PM

Good to see you've got a happy engine. Does it feel betterer? Rolling roads are strangley exciting aren't they! I got massive differences between the 2 separate dynos I went to but I guess how it feels is all that really matters.

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #294 – May 02, 2024, 10:40:10 AM

Looks like a very healthy engine you have, also the torque curve looks great!

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #295 – May 03, 2024, 05:09:23 PM

Quote from: ianmac86 on May 01, 2024, 09:47:20 PM

Good to see you've got a happy engine. Does it feel betterer? Rolling roads are strangley exciting aren't they! I got massive differences between the 2 separate dynos I went to but I guess how it feels is all that really matters.

I haven't actually used it much since. But I'm off to the Bristol meet tonight so will give it a blast. I did go out for a little drive (to the supermarket the long way round) and convinced Carole to come with me. I felt she needed to understand and appreciate the new credit card balance. It's not cheap for a few hours of tinkering.

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #296 – June 03, 2024, 03:21:48 PM

Just keeping things ticking along. Car is running great after the tune up, and feels pretty fast (for a stock mk2).

But the car has had a really notchy clutch for a while, which even I struggle with sometimes, but has been a real pita for my son who's learning to drive in it.
Not wanting to drop the gearbox if I didn't have to I started by eliminating some easier stuff too.

A very worn pushrod!

I did the pushrod, bearing, and the lever. All in a kit from B and B components. This did the job.

It still has a high biting point, and potentially still needs replacing at some point. But I have an auto-adjust clutch cable on mine, so I reset that. I have wondered if a manually adjust cable would give me an option to reset the biting point a bit.

With the car running the best it ever has and the clutch being silky smooth, on the next drive out, with my sone driving again I thought we'd have an enjoyable time.

My wife was in the back and started to say about the car smelling of fuel and her feeling a bit nauseous. Of course I dismissed her, which led to a falling out. Especially after such a big garage bill for the rolling road.

Anyway, I should have listened as the pipe from the filter to the fuel pump had perished.

I had some rubber hose that fitted, but I have no idea what it was from and doubted it was fuel safe for long. So I used it to prevent the siphoning of the tank contents onto the drive, but it meant the car laid up for another week while waiting on parts.

This was also the week I was due to drop off my spare rear bumper for painting, but had to cancel with the mk2 off the road, and the Mk5 also playing up (ABS sensor went down, causing the DSG to not change gear as it couldn't tell the wheel speed apparently).

It just so happened to be half term week, so would have been a "uncommon" opportunity to use the car for work. As I work near a Uni, and traffic is horrendous term time so I'm on the bike all the time now.

I also spotted the exhaust rubber had snapped on the centre box. Which you can see is missing in this pic also, that would explain some of the extra knocking on a drive.

So with the pipe, new pipe clips and the exhaust hanger done, while I was about it I thought I'd go for the annual oil and filter drop.

Just over 2000 miles since the last time.

There has been another purchase recently. But keeping that under wraps for now.

As a side note, at the time I was doing the clutch pushrod etc, I was going to change the gear oil. I pulled the drain plug out of the bottom, but nothing came out. I was doing this from cold though, but it was concerning.

I was only able to put a very little amount of oil back in via the filler plug, so I'm not empty. I mean, I'm sure I'd know if there was no gear oil.

I assume cold thick oil, and potentially a layer of silt. I'll go for a good drive at some point and try and get it hot. Is this normal?

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #297 – June 05, 2024, 08:44:54 AM

Quote from: Eddypeck on June 03, 2024, 03:21:48 PM

There has been another purchase recently. But keeping that under wraps for now.

That is a bit odd about the gear oil. Did you try to poke up into the drain hole?
Think you might be on the money with the silt thought, recon it's never been changed and you have a large build up at the bottom.
I've always been able to drain gearboxes cold.

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #298 – August 02, 2024, 02:09:20 PM

Where does the time go, almost 2 months since my last update. And to think, I used to do these almost daily.

I'll start by addressing my idiot moment. Re: the gear oil. I had undone the wrong bolt. doh! I wasn't looking far enough back on the gearbox. Not helped by the lower brace that I have fitted blocking the view of the proper drain plug. Instead, I'd pulled a bolt further forward. So there was no crisis, just me having a dumb moment. The gears are now bathing in fresh lube. It's impossible to know when (or even if) this was last changed. But I've owned the car for coming up to 5 years now.

I also hinted last time at a purchase.

There's been a love-hate relationship with my 17" wheels since I've had the car. Well mostly hate, so I eventually bought some new wheels.

I picked up a set of Sebrings from Monkey for a decent price. They seemed to be in OK nick, not perfect but decent. I wasn't sure if I wanted to paint them or not, so I decided a good clean was the first thing to do to get a proper look.

I had a conversation and somehow managed to phrase it in a way where my wife thought it was here idea to chuck them in the dishwasher

And I opened it mid-cycle just to prove it wasn't a staged photo.

Whilst the first one cleaned up OK...

... the next one, with a bit more brake dust build up on it didn't really come out that well.

So I decided by then a rub down and paint would be best. And without tyres, this was the perfect time to do it. Rather than fit tyres and regret it later.

This revealed some of the small knocks and bashes...

so I just kept sanding....

... ordered some consumables

... and decided before painting, back in the dishwasher was the best option to clean and de-grease.

Re: LUCY ‘91 Mk2 Golf GTI Alpine White

Reply #299 – August 02, 2024, 02:22:03 PM

And not forgetting the caps, which had quite a build-up of many years of 'quick blowovers' it would appear...

Paint day

The trusty table trusses make an appearance again.

I've only got a crappy gun, the type that comes free with a budget compressor starter kit.
I've used it quite a bit but I really should get something better if I'm going to paint anything else.

I couldn't get decent paint flow without a higher pressure, which I think resulted in the paint drying too soon. Not allowing me to get a wet finish or build up any gloss.

But I think for wheels, the satin finish I ended up with actually works ok.

So after some drying time, a Camskills order was placed for a set of Uniroyal Rainsports

Off for fitting, hoping they don't chip them

And on...