MK2 Golf 1.6 Project

June 05, 2020, 03:50:56 AM

Hey guys, ive owned this Mk2 Golf for quite a few years (6 years i think

) now (not driven since i had bought it back from Medway Kent) & had parked it up in my garage (Sorned / Off the road) in hopes of it being a project car to slightly restore and upgrade....

With me being too lazy to work on it (reason being i work on cars 9-5 Mon to Sat & am tired after when ive got time when back at home and daily a E70 bmw X5

) Ive finally gotten the WILL Power to start off on this project...

I had ideas before to keep it a 1.6 and put on a few OEM mods such as GTI exhaust manifold / Downpipe, Re-jet the webber carb, GTI Camshaft... THAT then changed to me wanting to put a 1.8 Block (keeping the 1.6 carb head) and doing a Twin carb set up along with the above GTI exhaust and cam upgrades... THAT then changed to me actually buying a 2.0L AGG (mk3 golf gti block) and a 1.8 PB head (Mk2 golf gti) along with a K-Jet Dizzy to put on with twin carb... This Now is heading in a Direction that is straight as you'll see

Golf Specs:
1.6 Driver / Around 95/96 thousand on the clock / Small Bumpers W/Arch trims and lower sill sticker / 5 Door / Sunroof / Factory 4 lamp grille (has the Adapter loom for flash) / Weber Carb manual choke / Lowering Springs (not sure of drop but sits nicely) / 15" Bmw E30 BBS alloys

AND Here's the car

Cleaned inside & out ready to work on

Looks decent in the photos whilst it wet BUT there are imperfections on the paint & bodywork, Nothing too major like Rot though, just few minor scabs of surface rust / plastics being worn dented and paint having been burned through in some areas by the previous owner.

Back In the Garage ready to work on..

Watch this space... soon

Front grill removed... Radiator / water pump & few pipes had seen better days

Engine Bay Shot... (White residue from previous polishing, Hadn't bothered to clean it)

Front Engine / Lighting Loom all removed (un-butchered, beside fan wiring done by P/O)

Lower dash cover removed / Fuse block unhooked and plugs ALL disconnected

Wiring All Removed

Front dash switch panel / Clocks / Accelerator, Clutch, Speedo Drive & choke cables All removed

Slam Panel & Headlamps removed

Ignition Amp bracket & Fresh air duct removed

Lower Splitter / Grill & valance removed

Front bumper removed & L R radiator ducts removed

Radiator / Expansion bottle / Distributor cap with leads / Rear heater matrix pipes all removed
BTW the case i have there comes in VERY handy with 32 sections (16 each side) to keep all the nuts bolts clips organized

So here's what happened... i had pulled the Golf back out again (well used the X5 to tow it out

)

Parts all along the side lined up as they were removed + Other few Bits and pieces

BUT it went from THAT to....

THIIIIIIISSSSSS!!!!!!!!!

Golf Rolled back in in, Had a nice place to work with and PLENTY of light too!

I then had set the golf up suitably on the rolling axles / Dollies so i can work on either side of the car (just push to one or the other side or even angle it slightly if i wished) Due to very slight space restrictions... a double garage would have been heaven

Due to to shape of the Crutches i couldn't really put them underneath the vehicle & to also avoid crushing the sills i had decided to use sanding blocks (Cut to shape with a groove cut in the middle) to place between the crutches and sills... Had worked really well as the rubber has some sort of give but yet is strong

Would also have put the car up one more notch on the stands but this is at the perfect height where i can still open the tailgate and bonnet fully without hitting the roof beams and be comfortable sliding underneath for any work

My FAVORITE shot of the Car so far

Next The drive shafts were unbolted from the gearbox

N/S/F

O/S/F

Next were the Dreaded exhaust Clamp springs (Had bought a tool to remove them and didn't even make an effort to spread them apart the slightest bit!) SO brute force with a lever bar was used to "Walk" the clamps off

Next i decided to strip out the interior slightly, the whole dash / center console / Heater box & few other fuse box looms

NEXT UP was to Remove the 1.6 Carb engine out of the bay...
Engine chained up / Crane attached / Engine dropped onto dolly i made with spare castors & steel tube, ooh and also supported on a Tyre (Given to me by local Kwik Fit)

Empty engine Bay... Wonder whats gonna be filling this space

Gave The engine bay a NIce and Well deserved clean after Who knows how long

Cleaned Off all the dirt & wax that Had been present for the last 29 years with a de-greaser, White spirit & Steam cleaner
Results aint too bad for what i gotta work with, no rot, Very few minor scabs of rust which can easily be treated

NEXT i thought id tackle stripping the Master cylinder / Servo / Brake pipes

i had puled majority of the brake fluid out from the N/S/F caliper bleed nipple and only had the O/S/F left to do... which didn't go as well as the other side as the O/S/F bleed nipple had sheared clean
(The brake pipes from the T-joins cross over each other so you can pull the fluid for the N/S/R from the O/S/F and O/S/R from the N/S/F)

Bottle used to retain the brake fluid did remold back into shape itself, just under alot of vacuum it slightly collapsed in on itself without affecting pressure

And the O/S/F bleed nipple that sheared clean

Brake Servo, Master cylinder & Fluid reservoir Removed

My NEW FAVORITE Place

I then got a start on smoothing the engine bay, Few pieces i didn't to butcher so i drilled the spot welds (so i can sell on the bits to anyone else who may need for theirs)

Battery bracket / coolant expansion bottle bracket / X2 side wiring harness brackets drilled out

WIth this bracket i could tell where 3 out of 4 spot welds were, one was guessed and i was slightly off from it

Brackets removed

I then had made a start on removing the front brake pipes & hoses

Brake hoses & pipes removed

My Delivery On a pallet then came From Cardiff Wales

My 1.8T 20V engine WITH wiring looms (A WHOLE LOT OF IT! roughly 10ish KG) & ALL Ancillaries + MORE!!!

Engine is out of an aut(COUGH!) auto(COUGH!! COUGH!!) AU(COUGH!!!).. NON Manual VW Beetle 150BHP AWU code and had around 100K mileage, surprisingly its not as bad as many oil leak ridden 1.8Ts i see usually & Has got signs of it being looked after too

Engine FINALLY uncovered

& Bolted up onto my engine stand

I then Made a start on removing the rain tray (I have read about people saying you're gonna get "engine fumes" in the car whilst driving but the engine will be fully rebuilt and wont have leaks of any sorts & with the heating i am gonna be keeping it, i will soon make up guide / drain so nothing can enter the fresh air duct through the bonnet vents)

removing the rain tray, i though first let me drill a spot weld out to see how it goes, i then changed that to let me put my sharp chisel underneath and work the lip out (that's where not really messed up but just made slightly more work for myself as i had put dents in the bulkhead (and tore some very thin metal) from the chisel entering between the lip.

I then changed course of action completely by cutting the rain tray in sections to remove it, i first started off by removing my stamped VIN

Vehicle ID plates removed from engine bay, if anyone knows of where i can get replacements of the actual VIN plate and ID code plate please let me know, i can get the stamped VIN done which ill get done soon in the bay

Rain tray finally removed, there still are few little pieces that need removing from behind the strut towers and sides

WARNING!!!!

If You're squeamish PLEASE LOOK AWAY & Scroll DOWN!!!

NEXT was to tackle the sound proofing in the wiper motor tray area
i had tried wire brushing it but it kept clogging the wheel so i tried soaking it in white spirit for a while as the residue wiped clean off with it..

While that was soaking i carried on to remove the 1.6 exhaust system

The Wiper Mechanism was then striped to allow me to tackle the larger piece of sound deadening... everything was going so well until i broke my wiper blank pulling it out

I then used a blow torch and scraper to remove the Sound deadening and it worked perfectly, way better than wire brushing the stuff off and quicker! a wire brush was used after to remove very slight bits left behind and then wiped clean with white spirit

I then proceeded to grind down all the small studs...

Then to get majority of the seam sealer covering the rain tray spot weld areas so i can see what need to be cleaned up

Here's what i meant before when i used the chisel from underneath & a few tears but its nothing to really worry about as you'll see

The Pedal box & steering column were then removed

then got started on putting the dents i did right.... well Close enough to

Before of one area that i took

Behind the scenes...

After of that area that i took...

I will Be welding up afterwards the few areas where the metal had torn and also finishing up on the dents and grinding work

i Have also found one surprise also hidden, this was while i was measuring out all the holes i'm gonna weld ans spotted this tucked up in the wiper tray / scuttle panel

Do you guys remember when i said the golf's not rotten at all.... well this popped up

Its about less than an inch across, and there slight rust building on the surround area but not as bad as that

I had then decided to slightly lift up my windscreen seal and saw what i dreaded, guessing the screen has to come out now at some point..

On the other hand I've finished marking out my blanks to weld in the bay, do still have a few i need to make from templates but it'll be done soon enough

WILL BE UPDATING THIS VERY SOON GUYS, Possibly of all the Goodies i have for the Golf and progress

Re: MK2 Golf 1.6 Project

Reply #1 – June 05, 2020, 08:08:40 AM

Hi!

Great start you've made on the project.

However, I HIGHLY recommend you remove the photos of your VIN plates.
That, and the photo with your number plate will give scammers everything they need to clone your car!

Re: MK2 Golf 1.6 Project

Reply #2 – June 05, 2020, 09:29:19 AM

What a build thread, loving it

I would never of thought of what Monkey has said

Re: MK2 Golf 1.6 Project

Reply #3 – June 05, 2020, 04:55:14 PM

Quote from: Monkey on June 05, 2020, 08:08:40 AM

Hi!

Great start you've made on the project.

However, I HIGHLY recommend you remove the photos of your VIN plates.
That, and the photo with your number plate will give scammers everything they need to clone your car!

Thanks alot
I actually didn't think nor did it ever cross my mind to be honest & again thanks for letting me know

Quote from: vw-widow on June 05, 2020, 09:29:19 AM

What a build thread, loving it

I would never of thought of what Monkey has said

Thanks alot, there'll be loads more to see soon

Re: MK2 Golf 1.6 Project

Reply #4 – February 25, 2023, 08:30:51 PM

Great work!

Just found the forum and your thread - having recently got a 1.6 Driver myself and thinking of a 1.8T conversion...did you get any further with this?