My 1987 Volkswagen Golf GTi
- Thread starter Kai
- Start date
I know, bargain 
I'm intending to keep it, rather than sell it, at least for the time being.
Here are some photo's of me and my mate stripping the engine bay. The only holdup now, is finding a 12mm triple square socket that'll fit on a 1/2" drive...
I'm intending to keep it, rather than sell it, at least for the time being.
Here are some photo's of me and my mate stripping the engine bay. The only holdup now, is finding a 12mm triple square socket that'll fit on a 1/2" drive...
Attachments
Maybe once its up and running, all i know, is that aside from changing the doors to the facelifted ones (removal of the quarterlights, moving the wing mirrors forward), it's staying original. Even removing the botched electric windows and going back to winders.
The only reason i'm doing the doors, is cause i'm tall, and the mirrors in their current position for me, are impossible.
The only reason i'm doing the doors, is cause i'm tall, and the mirrors in their current position for me, are impossible.
Well, i spent the other evening rebuilding the tappets. I always assumed they were a sealed unit, but they're not. Hold the tappet in your hand, flat side to your palm, and give it a hard smack against a bit of wood, like a workbench, or a bit of MDF (something soft that you don't mind denting).
The piston assembly will pop out the middle.
In the pictures below you'll see what the insides are composed of. Clean them off, they're made of steel, not aluminium, so i gave them a good soak in Mr Muscle oven cleaner, and scrubbed them with an old toothbrush. They came up brilliantly. Dry off, then i use mineral oil as an assembly lube. I leave them un-primed for storage mainly so they don't dribble oil all over the place...
And in the other picture, you'll see all the cleaned parts that are all ready to go back on - although the injectors are probably going to be sent off for a pattern testing and ultrasonic clean.
The piston assembly will pop out the middle.
In the pictures below you'll see what the insides are composed of. Clean them off, they're made of steel, not aluminium, so i gave them a good soak in Mr Muscle oven cleaner, and scrubbed them with an old toothbrush. They came up brilliantly. Dry off, then i use mineral oil as an assembly lube. I leave them un-primed for storage mainly so they don't dribble oil all over the place...
And in the other picture, you'll see all the cleaned parts that are all ready to go back on - although the injectors are probably going to be sent off for a pattern testing and ultrasonic clean.
Attachments
Some updates for y'all;
7/3/09:
My 12mm XZD Spline Socket arrived (1/2" drive), and i proceeded to crack the bolts off, it makes sense now i've used it - they don't slip off and would be near impossible to round off.
Both Manifolds are off, the cylinder head is in my sink, and my hands ache.
Seriously the two 5/6mm allen bolts that hold the injector wiring to the head are stuck in there SOOOOO tight, that they may have to be drilled out. I'll have another go with the dremel a screwdriver and the 19mm spanner, see if i can get enough torque on it to turn it.
I'm also going to need to have an exhaust stud drilled out, it had snapped long ago, in a galaxy far far away....
10/3/09:
Well, the cylinder head ended up in my sink, being scrubbed with oven cleaner, and thinners....and petrol....and acetone....and washing powder (on the exterior) and seems to have come up nicely. Only need to do the valves (need my valve spring compressor back from Halfords).
The camshaft also got a good scrub with oven cleaner and a toothbrush (its not caustic).
The throttle body also FINALLY came off, after belting a Torx bit into the rounded bolt head with a lump hammer. Both butterflies are out and nice and clean, the rest is being slowly stripped down and toothbrushed & oven cleanered
15/4/09:
The head has been cleaned to the best of my toothbrush and oven cleaner abilities, its not perfect, but 10 times better than it was. The valves have been lapped, although the faces of the exhaust valves are still caked up, i'll try and have a go at those when i get back from Holiday. The cam bearing caps are all nice and clean, the cam has had the varnish removed and the tappets, as seen earlier, were rebuilt.
Got a new intake manifold for it instead, as i wasn't happy with the job i did on the throttle body, and it cost me less than a new set of throttle switches. It's been cleaned and primed, ready for a powdercoat, and came with a set of throttle switches that should cure the idle problem, which is all i ever wanted to fix in the first place!
It's by no means a 'pro' job, simply because it doesn't need to be anything more than a simple top end rebuild with new gaskets and a bit of a scrub up - it needs to just 'run' - doesn't need to be a firebreathing monster, i have two of those already
7/3/09:
My 12mm XZD Spline Socket arrived (1/2" drive), and i proceeded to crack the bolts off, it makes sense now i've used it - they don't slip off and would be near impossible to round off.
Both Manifolds are off, the cylinder head is in my sink, and my hands ache.
Seriously the two 5/6mm allen bolts that hold the injector wiring to the head are stuck in there SOOOOO tight, that they may have to be drilled out. I'll have another go with the dremel a screwdriver and the 19mm spanner, see if i can get enough torque on it to turn it.
I'm also going to need to have an exhaust stud drilled out, it had snapped long ago, in a galaxy far far away....
10/3/09:
Well, the cylinder head ended up in my sink, being scrubbed with oven cleaner, and thinners....and petrol....and acetone....and washing powder (on the exterior) and seems to have come up nicely. Only need to do the valves (need my valve spring compressor back from Halfords).
The camshaft also got a good scrub with oven cleaner and a toothbrush (its not caustic).
The throttle body also FINALLY came off, after belting a Torx bit into the rounded bolt head with a lump hammer. Both butterflies are out and nice and clean, the rest is being slowly stripped down and toothbrushed & oven cleanered
15/4/09:
The head has been cleaned to the best of my toothbrush and oven cleaner abilities, its not perfect, but 10 times better than it was. The valves have been lapped, although the faces of the exhaust valves are still caked up, i'll try and have a go at those when i get back from Holiday. The cam bearing caps are all nice and clean, the cam has had the varnish removed and the tappets, as seen earlier, were rebuilt.
Got a new intake manifold for it instead, as i wasn't happy with the job i did on the throttle body, and it cost me less than a new set of throttle switches. It's been cleaned and primed, ready for a powdercoat, and came with a set of throttle switches that should cure the idle problem, which is all i ever wanted to fix in the first place!
It's by no means a 'pro' job, simply because it doesn't need to be anything more than a simple top end rebuild with new gaskets and a bit of a scrub up - it needs to just 'run' - doesn't need to be a firebreathing monster, i have two of those already
Attachments
Ugh. I need more fecking Gaskets again. And now, i really DO need a machine shop as the injector inserts needed to be CHISELLED out they were that fucked.
Of course that meant that a thread got mangled in the process
Of course that meant that a thread got mangled in the process
Major updates!
The Cylinder head has come back from the machine shop, and the exhaust stud was removed, although they've had to sleeve the hole and re-tap the thread. New exhaust studs have been fitted, new gaskets all round, new exhaust downpipe studs, refitted the inlet manifold & TB assembly i got off TinyDubs (ClubGTi).
Block surface was cleaned up, new gasket fitted, cylinder head bolted down with new bolts, torqued to 51lb/ft + 90 degrees in three stages. Coolant outlet bolted on with new seal, coolant inlet (side of head) bolted back on, new distributor cap & rotor arm installed.
I'm at the stage where new hoses are going on with new clips, but i've run out of clips in the right size at the moment, so it's on hold until tomorrow.
Once thats done, its time for the timing belt to go on, spark plugs in, ECU back in place and making sure everything is all wired up correctly, putting a new sump plug in, filling with oil, then firing it up! Of course, i still have the suspension to put on, and a new battery tray & sill welding in, but feh, the DIFFICULT stuff will have been done
Here's a picture of what it looks like now:
The Cylinder head has come back from the machine shop, and the exhaust stud was removed, although they've had to sleeve the hole and re-tap the thread. New exhaust studs have been fitted, new gaskets all round, new exhaust downpipe studs, refitted the inlet manifold & TB assembly i got off TinyDubs (ClubGTi).
Block surface was cleaned up, new gasket fitted, cylinder head bolted down with new bolts, torqued to 51lb/ft + 90 degrees in three stages. Coolant outlet bolted on with new seal, coolant inlet (side of head) bolted back on, new distributor cap & rotor arm installed.
I'm at the stage where new hoses are going on with new clips, but i've run out of clips in the right size at the moment, so it's on hold until tomorrow.
Once thats done, its time for the timing belt to go on, spark plugs in, ECU back in place and making sure everything is all wired up correctly, putting a new sump plug in, filling with oil, then firing it up! Of course, i still have the suspension to put on, and a new battery tray & sill welding in, but feh, the DIFFICULT stuff will have been done
Here's a picture of what it looks like now:
Cant say as I've seen this thread before. Things look like they are coming along nicely for you. I have a 1990 VW Golf that has the 1.8L 8V GTI motor swapped into it. Mine is a DD / see how far I can go up logging roads car. Sadly last night I went through a bit of a ditch with it and mashed the hell out of the fuel line underneath the car. So guess what I get to do today!!! Anyways your car looks great and keep up the good work. Nice to see they don't all get beat on as bad as mine does.
Oh trust me, you've not seen the state of the interior or the rust eating away at the inner wing/battery tray.
Kai;1342420 said:
VW's have never been able to keep their interiors together. As far as the battery tray just be happy that you have one. Mine is almost non existant at this point. These cars will take alot of abuse though! Car has caught on fire and I've sliced open my fuel line under the car on some logging roads and the car has still never left me stranded!
I need to start drinking at your local if you can get this sort of stuff for £50! .
May I ask how these are like to work on, the engine bay looks complicated to say the least.
.May I ask how these are like to work on, the engine bay looks complicated to say the least.
Its stupidly simple - theres hardly any vacuum lines, only two fuel lines in, and then the Engine management. Remove those, and you have a virtually empty engine bay.
This is what it looks like now:
And then i have to sort out the battery tray and the sill:
This is what it looks like now:
And then i have to sort out the battery tray and the sill:
Today!
Big final push to get almost everything done in the engine bay; timing belt setup as best i could, lower and upper timing covers installed, crank & water pump pulleys re-installed, new bolts used to secure lift hook & alternator bracket, alternator re-installed, airbox & afm installed, final fuel line re-installed (went on easy once the end was lubed with a little 3-in-1) and i've only got the exhaust manifold to downpipe connection left to go!
Notice any changes?:
Big final push to get almost everything done in the engine bay; timing belt setup as best i could, lower and upper timing covers installed, crank & water pump pulleys re-installed, new bolts used to secure lift hook & alternator bracket, alternator re-installed, airbox & afm installed, final fuel line re-installed (went on easy once the end was lubed with a little 3-in-1) and i've only got the exhaust manifold to downpipe connection left to go!
Notice any changes?
:
IT RUNS!
Well, it ran for about 10 seconds
A friend of mine squeezed under it and connected up the exhaust manifold to the downpipe (i'm too fat to fit under it on my weedy axle stands).
I primed the fuel system for a few seconds, and kicked it over without the coil lead in, or the plugs in, to get oil around the system.
And then i turned the key. At first, it shifted about 2 inches, then did nothing except click a lot. Result? Dead battery
Connected up some jump leads to a Merc 190 Diesel and voila, it fired! It ran lumpy for about 10-15 seconds, and the operation was deemed enough of a success in terms of timing, so the battery is on charge now, and i'm gonna have a go later on
Well, it ran for about 10 seconds
A friend of mine squeezed under it and connected up the exhaust manifold to the downpipe (i'm too fat to fit under it on my weedy axle stands).
I primed the fuel system for a few seconds, and kicked it over without the coil lead in, or the plugs in, to get oil around the system.
And then i turned the key. At first, it shifted about 2 inches, then did nothing except click a lot. Result? Dead battery
Connected up some jump leads to a Merc 190 Diesel and voila, it fired! It ran lumpy for about 10-15 seconds, and the operation was deemed enough of a success in terms of timing, so the battery is on charge now, and i'm gonna have a go later on