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1991 VW Golf Mk 2 Ryder


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So if we are going retro Golf pictures here are a few of mine, I think I did 2xMK1 GTi, 3xMK2 GTi (all 8 valve), MK3 Colour Concept GTi, 2 x MK4 GTi, MK6 GTi (probably the best all rounder), MK6 140TDi, MK7 GTD and R.

1st Golf GTi MK1.jpg

1st Golf GTi MK2.jpg

3rd Golf GTi MK2.jpg

Golf MK1 GTi.jpg

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had a mk2 golf GTI back in the day too, was my first 'modern car' after a string of Ford Escorts in differing stages of madness. Mine was graphite grey with tinted glass, called a Campaign edition I think, loved it. :cool:

 

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Again, what a great 1st car!

2nd car was a Mk2 Golf Driver, had been made to look like a 16V, went ok until I blew it up on the M40

Owned a M1 1.6 GTi, brakes were woeful, frighteningly bad, much preferred my 205 GTi as a car to have fun in, still really, really want one now!

Also bought an unfinished Mk1 16V conversion, sold it unfinished, my dad did the exchange with a bunch of big Rasta chaps from Birmingham who drove down to our village in deepest, darkest Herefordshire to collect it

Deal done, to celebrate getting his garage back he took them to the pub across the road, buying all the drinks with my money 😅 

 

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  • 1 month later...

Can't believe we've had this 8 weeks already?

Oil and filter change, air filter done. Head liner repaired and nearly finished recovering. New parcel shelf retainers designed and 3d printed. New radio fitted. Replacement Jack and wheel brace sourced.

But best of all, new carburetor fitted yesterday! 4 and 1/2 hours from disconnecting the battery to going for a test drive. What's a difference! 

This morning, choke out, started on the button, no accelerator needed. Warmed it up and adjusted the tick over, jobs a goodun.

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Edited by Phill
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2 hours ago, Lesworth said:

Nice work Phill - must be very satisfying to have it running so well.

Thanks Les, it is but it is the most underpowered car in the world..........:lol: 

It's quite fun if you keep the revs up and it goes round corners really well on the coil overs, even if they are rock hard. 

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On 06/12/2020 at 16:00, Phill said:

...best of all, new carburetor fitted yesterday! 4 and 1/2 hours from disconnecting the battery to going for a test drive. What's a difference! 

This morning, choke out, started on the button, no accelerator needed. Warmed it up and adjusted the tick over, jobs a goodun.

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Yes boys - this is how to do it. Should go well now. There are a few more mods one can do to perk things up (see Club GTI) but this is the number one.

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34 minutes ago, johndglynn said:

Yes boys - this is how to do it. Should go well now. There are a few more mods one can do to perk things up (see Club GTI) but this is the number one.

Club GTi is excellent. A very similar ethos to here, helpful and sensible.

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  • 1 month later...

Lots and lots has been going on. Finally finished refurbing the headliner and refitted.

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It came out far better than I thought and went back in relatively easily. The pictures don't do it justice. Sunroof trim still to be fitted. The visors and plastic trim need to be dyed and sprayed but this will have to wait until the weather is better.

Did a coolant flush as the heating is not working. Thanks a very common problem. I removed the bypass valves to the matrix which helped a little but the matrix is clearly fubarred. A new one and thermostat are waiting in the garage to be fitted.

MOT the other day and it was found to be running, according to my MOT man, "crazy rich" which would account for poor fuel economy. So this morning I replaced the dizzy cap and roter and the spark plugs. Then I followed the procedure for tuning the carb. It seems to be running better now, a bit more responsive and a little smoother.

Other things include new boot lid gas struts, rear speakers, cleared the rear wash wipe and changed front wheel bearing. This turned out to be a waste of time as the noise seems to be tyre wear. All new tyres to be fitted on Saturday.....

Finally, for today, another common problem is broken parcel shelf retainer tabs. These are part of the side panels which are NLA. Almost all the second hand ones for sale are broken too so out came the 3d printer. New tabs designed and printed.

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Edited by Phill
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28 minutes ago, Phill said:

 changed front wheel bearing. This turned out to be a waste of time as the noise seems to be tyre wear. All new tyres to be fitted on Saturday.....

I had that on a Saab once - changed all the front axles/hubs etc and it turned out to be the front Michelins. Only found out when I put the front wheels on the rear...:doh2:

This thread is like a mini Saab thread - same issues and fixes :signs118:

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So with the promise of a dry albeit cold day we cracked on with the replacement of the heater matrix. I won't bore you with what has been reported many times but, we have heat! :clap: In fact, almost instant heat, what a difference.
Without a doubt it would be an easier job with the entire dash out but it's not too bad with just the lower sections. I watched a couple of Utube vids but they never manage to include all the bolts and screws do they?
Did the flaps as well of course. I used the foam I had left over from the head liner.

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Total time taken was 6 hours including new foam and a test drive.
Afterwards I cut the old matrix open out of interest. At first I cut the inlet outlet end and all the tubes were clear. Then I cut the other end and you can see at least 4 tubes are blocked. I suppose it only takes one tube and it's done.

Guess what we are having for dinner :lol:

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Air flow is much better as expected. All in all, very happy.

Next job is drivers seat............

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hot on the heels of the successful re-introduction of heat into the cabin I replaced the coolant thermostat. The engine now warms up much better. I don't think it warms up quickly enough but it still seems to put out warm air more quickly than our 12 year old Fiat 500 so I'll let it rest for now.

On Saturday I was tempted to replace my rear drums, shoes and bearings but I was a little concerned it may chuck it down half way through the job and then I'd be stuck with a car on axle stands in six inches of snow. So I decided to tackle the front driver seat which could be done indoors and in the shed. Until now it's been like driving on the frame, uncomfortable and with no support whatsoever. I had an idea about bolstering the sides with aluminium plate to support the "horsehair" which collapses. This is a very very common problem on these seats and repair foam is not available for the backs.
I got a spare passenger seat which looked in reasonable condition from a chap on ClubGTi and having taken that apart found that the horsehair was much better than mine. Mine was shot! I hate to throw things away but this could not be saved in any way.

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So now it's in the dustbin.

Next was to draw a template and cut out the bolsters from 4mm aluminium plate. They had to be bent a little to match the shape of the seat.

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Then find the most suitable holes on the sides of the seat to attach the bolsters. I drilled matching holes in the bolsters for the top two and the large two centimetre hole near the bottom.

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Filed and sanded to smooth off all the edges of the bolsters. Found some suitable nuts and bolts and fixed the bolsters on (there were some trial fittings of course and several trips to and from the shed :lol:

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I made a couple of large washers from spare aluminium to cover the 2cm holes. These holes allow for plenty of room to position the bolster properly.

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As the bolts did up tight the bolsters pulled round and trapped the horsehair in place. It worked really really well but to be fair there was a bit of luck rather that judgement here.

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Glued the rear trims back on.

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Washed the cover and tried to repair some holes. I really really need a new set of covers.

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It has worked very well. It is like sitting in a bucket seat now (the back at least). As the horsehair settles I may need to remove the bolsters and trim them back so sit "behind" the leading edge of the horsehair but overall very pleased.

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Enjoying reading progress Phill. Its funny how something as simple as having proper hear is so exciting. After replacing the hot / cold valve on the other end of the cabin controls in the 914 I am amazed at how much hot air comes through - I cant wait to drive it with the heating on!

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Well done on the heater Phil. I once drove a van with a leaking matrix up to the North East in winter - my feet in the footwell was what I'd imagine having them in a freezer would be like, and the coolant stink just made you want the windows down as well. Apparently on newer vehicles in the event of a serious fault the heater system is the penultimate one to shut down.

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2 hours ago, Lesworth said:

Enjoying reading progress Phill. Its funny how something as simple as having proper hear is so exciting. After replacing the hot / cold valve on the other end of the cabin controls in the 914 I am amazed at how much hot air comes through - I cant wait to drive it with the heating on!

As you said in your 924 thread, it is weird working with water after so long with air cooled. It certainly adds a whole layer of extra complexity and ugly tubing that's for sure.

 

1 hour ago, mean in green said:

Well done on the heater Phil. I once drove a van with a leaking matrix up to the North East in winter - my feet in the footwell was what I'd imagine having them in a freezer would be like, and the coolant stink just made you want the windows down as well. Apparently on newer vehicles in the event of a serious fault the heater system is the penultimate one to shut down.

Thanks, hot coolant does stink. Years ago VW, as a fix, put in bypass valves at the matrix because they had a tendancy to burst and dump scalding water on the passengers feet. Now the bypass valves are failing too so it's a double whammy. New matrix means valves can be removed, win win :D

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43 minutes ago, Beaky said:

Phil, another excellent build thread :bowdown:

Now the question  is this Golf will be so good and sorted will son one number be allowed near it :rolleyes:

Thank you. He likes to drive it, the next step will be getting him to drive it to work. He is a little shy of the manual choke and the mahoosively heavy steering when parking. He'll get there.

In other news, new boots all round. We stepped up from 175 to 185, ooh err missus. I have to say it does go round bends very very well. I think the coil overs help with that, if not the comfort!

The indicator stalk gave up the ghost the other day too. A new one now fitted, £15 brand new (equivalent for our cars nearly £200 :o. It's quite a bit of engineering with the hazards included.

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What's great now is that you can flash the lights without actually switching to main beam and then having to switch again to turn main beam off, ie one gentle pull for flash which it didn't do before. Also, the indicators work by just pressing up or down gently for momentary indication as well now. It's amazing what you find things should have been doing, all along, when you replace them. Little things............

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  • 1 month later...

Onwards and upwards - brakes.

At the MOT it was mentioned that one of my rear wheel bearings was worn :lol: - more on this in a moment.

I ordered a rear brake kit from Ebay and and we set to work.

Shocking. How does that bar get bent like that?

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Other side was worse.........................

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I'm surprised they worked at all.

As I mentioned above, wheel bearing was a little worn :lol: The race had split in two and the rear of the broken part had to be dremelled off!

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How many different wheel bolts can you find on the same car? All now replaced.

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Shiny.

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I think I need new handbrake cables as well though.

Does anyone know where I can get NLA seat material? I've tried the usual suspects but to no avail. It seems to be a bit of a unusual colour/pattern. Problem is that the door cards are perfect and I really would like to match the old material.

The material I need is the one on the left below.

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Doubt you can get the material other than sourcing used seats and salvage useable material from them.  Assume its the drivers side bolster your trying to recover?

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My early MkII 8V Gti, purchased from a Mr Glynn, I ran it for 2-3 years and sold it for not much money.  Should've kept it as it was unmolested, low owners and miles.

rolf.jpg

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4 minutes ago, Nige said:

Doubt you can get the material other than sourcing used seats and salvage useable material from them.  Assume its the drivers side bolster your trying to recover?

Yep, and the same on the rear seat would you believe. I put it requests on the GTi forum but no one seems to recognise the material and it doesn't correspond to the interior code on the id sticker.

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