Paul's 89 Mk2 GT2

[Tim_R]

I don't know yet whether I can get it road legal again without a CAT on a 1993 engine.

You will be fine, MOT goes on when the car was built not the age of the engine. Think it was '92/'93 that a cat became a legal requirement. I've been running a '94 engine in my rocco for the past few years with no issues as long as the CO is below 3.5%

[pajsh]

I don't know yet whether I can get it road legal again without a CAT on a 1993 engine.

You will be fine, MOT goes on when the car was built not the age of the engine. Think it was '92/'93 that a cat became a legal requirement. I've been running a '94 engine in my rocco for the past few years with no issues as long as the CO is below 3.5%

Certainly hope so as I sold the kit car basically as I wasn't getting the use out of it and I will be putting a passenger seat in it. I also have a friendly garage who may be "kind" to me.

[pajsh]

I'm Back!!

Well it took best part of 6 months to get those damn aux bearings pressed in but all my fault really for dithering. Took the block to a local engineering shop and job done for £36. Guess I could have tried myself (we'll I did sort of and failed) but at least it's been done properly.

Anyway, with the Aux shaft running as smooth as you like and band practice cancelled, what better opportunity to crack on with the engine re-build.



Piston oil jets fitted, new shell bearings all round, running clearances checked and crankshaft feeling super smoooooooth. At the upper limit of the tolerances but still in (just) so OK.



Next up piston rings and big end shells, oil pump, sump and nice shiny refurbished head.



Already bought a replacement oil breather of ebay for £16 and new water pump for £29 so I pretty much have everything now to get the engine in the car.

Roll on summer

[pajsh]

Bit more engine building over the last couple of weeks.

Dropped in the crank, pistons, bearings, aux shaft, oil pump, sump, water pump and oil breather casing.

Starting to look a bit more like an engine now!



Next I've a lot of part cleaning and painting to do before I bolt more bits on including the head.

Anyone got any ideas on the best way to clean up the polish up parts like the rocker cover, oil filter housing and alternator bracket??

[Rusty dan]

Nice work Paul, I do like a good engine build! Keep it up

[pajsh]

Been held up a bit lately as when I fitted the Aux shaft oil seal housing the Aux shaft wouldn't move so I figured the bearing was not pressed in enough and was fouling on the radius on the shaft . Anyway after a bit of thinking (as I didn't really want to dismantle the engine to take it back to the engineering shop) I decided to try and press it in using the old shell bearing and the oil seal housing and it worked OK.

Since then I've cleaned up and lightly sprayed all the pullys and they are now on the engine. Just need to buy a timing belt and then I can drop the head on.



The oil cooler, oil filter flange and alternator bracket all need a clean up and when that's done they can go back on too although I may buy a new oil cooler.

I don't feel that far from having rebuilt the engine although I'm not going to put it back in till I've done all that needs to be done in the car, like brakes, wiring, seats, fuel etc so it will probably sit on the garage floor for a fair bit. I'll bolt the gearbox on and seal all the openings so it should come to no harm.

Meanwhile I replaced the cr@p steering rack boots from VWH with ones from AVS. More expensive but at least they won't just rot away without even going anywhere like the VWH did.





I have to say I'm also a little disappointed to see some rust coming through one of the SPAX coilovers when it too has only sat under a car cover for 12 months . I know it's damp outside but, hell what's it going to be like if it's on the road. Probably too late now as the warranty has expired so I gave everything a good spray with silicon and I'll have to keep an eye on this.

Guess this one of the problems when you are taking so long on a project.

Hoping to get more done now the clocks have gone forward and it's warmer in the garage. Weekends are still pretty much out for other reasons.

Back soon .

[pajsh]

Done a few small jobs this evening.

First I cleaned up the oil filter housing with a wire brush in a Dremel and bolted it on. I tried cleaning the oil cooler but it's too far gone and a new one is only around £30.



Secondly I offered up the front engine mount and found the timing belt guard plate needed a hole drilling in it for the final bolt. I drilled the hole and resprayed the plate after. Also some spacers are required for the right hand mounting bolts as the plate is stepped.



Finally I cleaned up the alternator bracket as much as I could and with a bit more work tomorrow I should be able to bolt that on. The top right bolt was missing and sheared off in the block so I'll have to make a short stud and use a Nyloc nut to replace the missing stud.

Next I'll order a timing belt, new oil cooler, oil filter and probably drop the head on.

[pajsh]

Few more bits bolted on and torqued up.





Oil cooler and head on next.

[pajsh]

Had a busy weekend and now the ABF is nearly done. Head on, alternator and pipes and stuff. I'm now going to drop it to the floor, bolt on the flywheel, clutch and gearbox then leave it till I've got the car ready. Timing belt I'll leave off till the engine goes in the car.





Spent a bit of time on the rad and housing which is also ready to go back in.



Plus I built a V8 F1 engine for James Hunts 1976 McLaren .



On a negative note my Spax coilovers are rusting having only been on the car for 14 months and it's not moved an inch from under the car cover. Not very happy. .

[steviet_1988]

Great job so far mate. Well done!

[pajsh]

OK so having been diverted from my Rocco project for the past year I'm trying to find time to get back on the job.

Plenty to do still but one thing that is holding the job up is trying to find a mobile welder in the Crewe area to repair the usual crack in the bulkhead where the clutch cable pulls through. The car has no engine so it's the perfect time to do the repair, except I can't take it anywhere. I think I'll have to just trawl round some garages till I find someone who knows someone who's brother's father might have a friend who can do it.

In the meantime still trying to decide if I use the existing servo and master cylinder with my new G60 calipers or if I will have to upgrade to the Golf Mk2 16v one. Not sure about this one so if anyone has any experience I'd be grateful to hear it. Currently I'm refurbing the old one and then if I get too much pedal travel I'll replace it at a later date.

So, hopefully, back on track and some more progress and pictures to come soon. Not likely I'll be on the road this year but hopefully I can join the mafia next year.

[bengould]

I might know a guy. Pm me your number and I'll get in touch with him and see what he can do.

I have just upgraded my brakes to 256mm mk2 golf discs with corsa calipers, kept the original master cylinder. And it works fine and a massive improvement over standard. Not sure how this will relate to what your doing but probably worth trying first and see how you like it.

Ben.

[pajsh]

Thanks Ben, will PM details.

Done a bit more reading and I actually have a Mk3 GTi servo and m/c that I bought in error but now understand this can be made to fit with a bit of "engineering". The ball end pin can be cut off and threaded to suit the original 10mm clevis pin and it has 12mm ports instead of 10mm but none of that should be a massive of a problem.

So I'm going to keep the original for now and if it is not working try that next.

New Golf MKII 16v master cylinders are not that expensive, but then won't fit the 8" servo and replacing that is the expensive bit.

[pajsh]

Finally managed to make some progress with a decent day outside.

Really need to work on the brakes but I still can't decide whether to run the lines through the car or under it in the original mounts. So, not being able to make a decision I decided to clean up and paint my gear boxes.

Original 02 is a 6A (on the right first picture) which doesn't seem to appear anywhere on the tables and I have no idea what the ratios are. The spare I bought is a 7A and is listed as the following:- 7A 3.45 1.94 1.29 0.91 0.71 3.94

I'm probably going to drop the 7A in and see if I can get the 6A re-built for a later date.

6A on the right, 7A on the left



6A top 7A bottom



6A with 1 coat Halfrauds engine emamel



and finally the rust on my "new" Spax coilovers has got really bad and the paint has just flaked off. I offered to touch them up if the gave me the RAL number or paint code by they wouldn't. Probably send them back now as this clearly is not very good.

[treefingers]

That's frustrating about your coils.. i bought a weitec set for 600+ and there is rust through the zinc plating after only a year and a half!