my new 25 year old car

[bodhi_tree777]

1986 VW Golf GL Wolfsburg - my new dailyI have a soft spot for 4-door Golfs, what can I say? I have a 1990 4-door hatch with something like 230k miles on it. It sat for years. When I decided that I wanted to get back into a MK2, I was faced with either sinking money into that beast to rebuild it or try to find something similar without all the blood and sweat. I'm lazy, so I chose this route. Searched the classifieds for a while, and finally settled on this guy. I drove out to PA with the family for a little vacation and while we were there I shot down the turnpike to Phoenixville to pick this car up from a guy I met on vwvortex.com. ......Dan owned this car for a bit and did a lot of the routine maintenance, cleaning and upkeep that was needed. The odometer reads just over 30k miles (and works), but a VIN check shows something more like 80k. The story is the odo stopped working and was swapped, I have no idea when. With a car this old, I guess it doesn't really matter. It's cleaner than any VW I've ever owned, anyway. Still has the original under-hood stickers and everything:.....Work already done when I got it:Spark plugsThermostatK&N FilterDistributor capdistributorValve cover gasketFan switchGasket radiator fan switchExpansion tank hoseCoolant, VW/Audi G12 Plus Lubro-Moly Radiator FlushE-brake cablesFront brake linesNew hatch strutsDan also swapped the rear glass with an earlier no 3rd brake light version (and lost some blood in the process) and removed the passenger mirror. My first contribution? I found this in one of my Dad's old cars, he brought it back with him from Germany in the early 70s. It's a German roadside hazard kit, never used. My dad has switched this from car to car for something like 35 years. Kind of a family heirloom ..Also picked up a set of Recaros from Dan and he helped me swap them in:.All in all, a nice find but it does need some work. My first order of business was to have the shifter rebuilt (the original bushings were mighty sloppy). Drove the car back to Lebanon and had the nice folks at APTuning install a TT short shifter (thanks Ryan!):The shifter box itself still needs to be rebuilt, another project for another day, but the TT shifter cleaned things up nicely. The car also came without a radio (OG tape player is still in the trunk, though). I went to my brother's shop in Lebanon and had him drop in a cheap Clarion, nothing too flashy:..And with that all out of the way, the Golf made the 400+ mile trip back to West Virginia without a hitch. A few things that still need to be addressed: - the suspension is garbage, and at higher speeds I was bouncing all over the place. I just picked up a set of FK Street coilovers to put on when I get the chance- there's a pretty strong fuel smell when the tank is full. Still need to sniff that out.- the front passenger side CV boot is torn- my windshield wipers act like they're on pills. They work veerrryyyy slowly, and seem to have only one speed. Also, the wiper fluid seems to have no pressure to it and just sort of leaks out. Oh, and I have a bit of rust, just on two of the doors and a bit on the rear fender:..The floor pans, strut towers and most everything else (including the engine bay) seems to be rust free .I still have this car as a parts car as well, although I realize not everything is going to be compatible:Plans? Fix the boot, sort out the fuel smell (possibly coming from the external pump), replace the suspension (although I'm not slamming this thing to the ground) and address the rust. Find some nicer looking wheels. Anyway, there she is in all her glory. She's a daily driver, for sure, so I'm not going to be out at the track or waxing it for shows. Not really my thing, I guess. But it feels good to be back in a MK2

[KNINE]

That car screams of 80's German styling. Not a bad thing. It appears to be in decent shape. I see it couldn't completely escape the Pa. salty roads. Good find. I'm still partial to that purple car you were trying to buy a while back.

[TONY TAT2]

I've been looken at RAMBLERS ! found a 64 in my area

[VforVIBE]

1986 was a good year for cars.... ...I love the '80 styling, good luck she does seam to be in rather good shape.As for thge rust, there are a lot of good products out there (I'm using them on my '86) Autozone has a product (I can't remember the name right now) that works really well, you can actually see it killing the rust (turns it white and black) there is also a primer called Rust Bullet, you just paint over the rust and it kills it. Good Luck with her!

[KNINE]

I have a '86 Toyota pickup. Maybe we should start a 1986 thread.

[VforVIBE]

Quote, originally posted by K-NINE »I have a '86 Toyota pickup. Maybe we should start a 1986 thread. Team 1986?

[bodhi_tree777]

Quote, originally posted by VforVIBE »Team 1986?I'm down Was wondering about the best approach to the rust. I could cut off the matching sections from my non-rusty Golf and have a shop weld them in I suppose. Rust Bullet or POR-15 comes highly recommended. And K-nine, I still want me an aircooled squareback, that will be my next back-in-time move

[ponta2147]

That car is as old as me!Does that make *me* young or the *car* old?I'm guessing the former...

[bodhi_tree777]

Quote, originally posted by ponta2147 »That car is as old as me!Does that make *me* young or the *car* old?I'm guessing the former... Depends on how you look at it. Next year it'll qualify for antique plates

[star_deceiver]

Cool! Hope you have fun with it!

[Kincaid]

That's great! I graduated college in March '86 and at the end of the summer bought my first new car, a 1986 Mirage Turbo.Once upon a time I dragged a GTI from stop light to stop light twice.

[bodhi_tree777]

V's Trans Am project inspired me to post an update on my Golf:Started collecting and installing new parts (more collecting than installing at this point )New wiper switch (installed) and new axle (not yet):.My buddy Todd and I pulled the bad fan motor and bad starter out, cleaned and painted the fan shroud, re-installed the new starter, re-installed the newer fan motor (from the 90), spliced in the wiring (different connectors), added a dab of dielectric grease here and there and voila, the car runs like a champ again. Fired right up, fan came on when it should, all is well. .painted shroud:.We also pulled the steering wheel, installed the correct wiper switch and now my wipers work like they should (including the rear). The wiper fluid is still weak, but I can now pass inspection without issue. .more new parts - new control arms, bushings, tie rods, ball joints, etc etc etc to go along with my (as yet uninstalled) coilovers. Full suspension rebuild in the works:.Moving along at a snail's pace, but it's coming along.

[VforVIBE]

Quote, originally posted by bodhi_tree777 »V's Trans Am project inspired me to post an update on my Golf:Started collecting and installing new parts (more collecting than installing at this point )I know what you mean I have at least 5 parts that need to go in.Quote, originally posted by bodhi_tree777 »Moving along at a snail's pace, but it's coming along. Slow and steady, my friend, wins the race.

[bodhi_tree777]

I finally got some work done this weekend. A friend came out from Columbus for a couple of days to swap a tattoo for some wrenching. He sat like a champ for this piece on the back of his calf (still in progress):.In trade, he helped me gut and completely refresh my suspension. The first order of business was replacing my destroyed axle:In with the new:New control arms, ball joints, tie rods:FK Streetline coilovers installed:..Mild drop, nothing too severe:...

[VforVIBE]

I bet the ride is much smoother now.

[bodhi_tree777]

Quote, originally posted by VforVIBE »I bet the ride is much smoother now.It feels like a new car, I love it. Still having trouble getting it properly aligned, the first shop I took it too are apparently idiots who don't know to straighten and center the steering wheel first. Next order of business is replacing the motor and tranny mounts, as they still make the car vibrate quite a bit at idle. It's kind of a thrill to throw $1000+ in parts on a project car in one day and take it for a spin

[Sublimewind]

That's BA man, you should skid plate it and DUMP it.. on the steel wheels ofcourse..

[ou.grizzly]

Looking good so far; any plans for body work?

[bodhi_tree777]

Quote, originally posted by ou.grizzly »Looking good so far; any plans for body work? Hopefully.. I'm crossing my fingers that one day I'll meet a guy that does body work and is into tattoos who wouldn't mind trading labor for labor The worst rust on this car is on the bottom corners of the doors. I have my parts car, which is rust free on the doors and I plan on swapping them one of these days. That has to coincide with paint though, or I'm rolling with a silver car and gold doors

[ou.grizzly]

Quote, originally posted by bodhi_tree777 »Hopefully.. I'm crossing my fingers that one day I'll meet a guy that does body work and is into tattoos who wouldn't mind trading labor for labor The worst rust on this car is on the bottom corners of the doors. I have my parts car, which is rust free on the doors and I plan on swapping them one of these days. That has to coincide with paint though, or I'm rolling with a silver car and gold doors Google roll on paint job for car or something along those lines. There is a few hits of how to paint the vehicle using paint you can get at the store, roll it on, and polish the crap out of it. Final product and pictures would amaze you!

[bodhi_tree777]

Not an update, really, but Vortex finally re-indexed Dan's original build thread for this car so you can see some of the work that was done just before I got it:http://forums.vwvortex.com/sho...hreadSome of the highlights:I'm kicking myself for not asking if these wheels were still around.. I bought it on steelies :banghead:Swapping in the early 85 hatch glass:So happy to finally have my car back and back on the road.. had some pain in the (removed) suspension issues that had to be ironed out, simple yet expensive On the upside, it rides great now. All of the bounciness is gone and I can drive on the highway now without feeling like I'm about to jump off the road. I really like the FK's. Not as low as some might like, but just about right for this state. Today I went out to do an oil change and wasn't able to find a filter that wasn't a Fram. Even the dealer didn't have them on hand. Time to order a case, I guess. Instead, I decided to rip out the flimsy thin plastic raintray cover and ECU cover and replace them with hard plastic versions from a later model. First I had to do a bit of plastic welding to fix a small crack which turned out pretty crappy. Does the trick, though. Vacuumed about a pound of debris out of the raintray, sanded the plastic weld, painted all of it with some satin black I had laying around and put it all back together. ..[/QUOTE]

[bodhi_tree777]

And yes, I feel like I'm neglecting the Vibe but that thing is Old Faithful as usual and hasn't needed much attention. I did change the oil yesterday, and promised the wife a full detail soon

[VforVIBE]

Quote, originally posted by bodhi_tree777 »PSSSTTT... you have broken glass in your hatch area.

[KNINE]

Quote, originally posted by bodhi_tree777 »I see the owner of TG's Variety has excellent taste in football teams. I can't belive I never noticed that before.

[bodhi_tree777]

Free audio upgrade today I finally got a chance to go up to the farm and my buddy Todd and I extracted the remnants of the stereo system from the gold Golf. This car was, at one time, my brother's demo car for his audio shop in PA. The amp and sub are long gone, but we pulled the head unit out to put in Todd's Dodge and the still-fresh Kicker speakers will get transplanted into the '86 to replace the blown out ones that i'm currently listening to.Also pillaged the little rubber straps that lift the parcel tray when you open the hatch, as these are long gone in the silver car. I really dig having a parts car :laugh:...Rust-free doors

[VforVIBE]

Quote, originally posted by bodhi_tree777 »Free audio upgrade today You lucky dog, I gotta spend $300 for a new head unit and 4 speakers.

[bodhi_tree777]

Not a huge update, haven't had a great deal of time to myself lately. Got rid of the torn shift boot and transplanted the intact boot and leather shift knob from the gold Golf, also removed the cassette box in favor of more storage (and scratched the console in the process, grr). One step forward, two steps back My muffler rusted off. Actually, it looks like the rubber hanger broke and the extra movement just kind of bounced it off at a weak point in the weld. Time to start shopping for a new exhaust set-up. Performance upgrade would be nice, godawful loud would not be. The culprit:the muffler:So for now I'm driving around like this:Also, a couple of weeks ago, I was closing my hatch and one of the hatch struts popped off right before I slammed it shut. It popped out just enough to get stuck between the hatch and the tail light and crush the top housing on the light. It's not leaking, but it's definitely broken.I guess I'm also shopping for new tails (this one has some sort of weird bug somehow stuck in it as well so it's due for a replacement), although I might just nab the old ones of the Golf Golf for now. I may also take the broken one and try my hand at DIY all-red tinting.

[bodhi_tree777]

I finally made some forward progress this past week. I worked out a deal with my brother to come see him in PA and lay some tattoo work on he and his wife. In exchange, he footed the bill to have my exhaust replaced from the cat back, and bought me a set of wheels and two sets of new tires. The barter system wins again. First off, the Golf made the 700+ mile round trip in fine style and is turning out to be a pretty reliable ride. My wife drove the Vibe behind me and a set of cheap walkie talkies made it fun. I changed the oil & filter just before I left, ran some fuel injector cleaner through it, finally installed the new speakers all around as well. Thing ran like a champ. So here we go. The beginnings of a full-on nerd themed leg sleeve:and a freehand cherry blossom on my sister-in-law's foot:I still owe them a bunch more work, but in exchange I now have a new stainless exhaust from the cat back: Also got a set of Firestone "winterforce" winter tires mounted on my steelies:And finally, I picked up a cheap, straight set of OEM VW bottlecaps which are pretty clean for 25 year old alloys. Those have been outfitted with a new set of Hankook all-seasons and I think they look pretty good on a silver MK2. The steelies are going back on as soon as the snow starts flying, and I'm going to take a stab at stripping and properly refinishing the caps over the winter.Not too shabby for the cost of gas money and a few days of my time.

[star_deceiver]

Quote, originally posted by bodhi_tree777 »SWEET!!! Quote, originally posted by bodhi_tree777 »Excellent choice!!!

[bodhi_tree777]

Quote, originally posted by star_deceiver »SWEET!!! Excellent choice!!! Thanks and thanks! I really wasn't sure about the snow tires, glad to hear they're good stuff. I've never researched or even considered them before. As it happened, my brother ordered the wrong tires from tirerack.com (got snows instead of all seasons like I'd originally planned) and rather than returning them, he just re-ordered a new set of all-seasons to go along with them (early Christmas present to me )

[bodhi_tree777]

Minor update. All four door handles have been replaced since the bitter cold did in the old, brittle plastic ones.The temperature finally crept up above freezing, seemed like a good time to unshave the passenger mirror. I know some folks like the "cleaner" look, but to me it always looked a little asymmetrical and I realized that I hated not having it in heavy traffic. I sold the OEM mirror delete plate and bought new mounting hardware (screws, lower plastic mirror cover and a new OEM mirror gasket):Done. The car likes having both ears back. Still filthy, though.I'm really hoping to tackle some body work and paint this year. I'll have paid off the Vibe by February and that should free up some cash for some extracurricular stuff.

[bodhi_tree777]

It's been a while since my last update, but here's some progress:Put on some smoked side markers: Slowly, steadily moving towards the respray (in fact, my guy is coming down tomorrow to get the first of his tattoo work as part of the trade). I've been collecting replacement badges since my current ones look like crud. These are all either brand new or at least minty fresh OEM. I also picked up a Corrado steering wheel, and recently ran some Seafoam through the engine. Running like a top Not as cool, my right front wheel bearing has called it quits. Got both new bearings and hubs. I find the bearing manufacturer name.. puzzling..Josh and Chatham from the Stance Factory (St Clairsville OH) came down to help me to start pulling body panels off of the gold Golf. The doors, as well as the fenders, gas door and hood from the silver car are now up at the shop getting prepped and into primer. The fenders and hood from Goldie are now on the silver car as placeholders. It looks awesome The afternoon was highlighted by rain storms, wasp nests in the jambs and a huge ant colony in one of the doors. Moving Goldie. With a tractor (courtesy of my grandfather-in-law). Filthy gold hood in place (fenders are now swapped as well).Big thanks to the Stance Factory crew for getting this project into gear. I started some tattoo work on Chatham while they were in town, with more to come and now it looks like Josh will be getting some work as well. Much love to the barter system Quick & dirty shot of how she sits now (frankencar mode). The Vibe, sittin' pretty in the background. And a shot of Chatham's first tattoo: More new parts. I figured as long as I have a stuck caliper and I'm replacing the bearings I may as well go ahead and replace everything else that hadn't been already.New rotors and Mintex pads, remanned calipers, new tie rod ends (because I jacked one of them up removing it and the same thing may happen on the other side), brake fluid, clips, dust caps, rotor set screws etc. New PS bearing and hub pressed in:New calipers, pads and rotors on both sides (OEM, nothing fancy):Got the bottlecaps back on (still in frankencar mode):And that's where we stand for now. My stupid rotor dust shield keeps making contact with the rotor, which sounds godawful. About to tear it back down on the right front to try and get it to knock it off. All the spare body panels are up at the shop getting prepped (fender markers and antenna will be shaved, as will the rear hatch wiper and spray nozzle). Aiming for paint in late July to early August, can't wait

[03VibeOttawa]

This thread makes me happy every time it comes around..brings back good memories. I learned to drive on a 1992 diesel Golf GL 5spd - the same silver on gray colors as yours. My sister inherited it from my grandpa, and it stayed in the family til 2007, when she sold it with about 350,000kms on it. The thing was solid - very low operating and maintenance costs, and it's still probably kickin around town. 0-60 in about 15 seconds, but hey, it easily got over 50mpg every tank.

[CAMOGIRL]

looks like lots of work and love! Lookin good! For some reason this thread makes me want a new tattoo though....*head scratch*

[03VibeOttawa]

Quote, originally posted by Feelin’ The Vibe » 0-60 in about 15 seconds, but hey, it easily got over 50mpg every tank. Oops - 18.7 seconds! http://www.ultimatespecs.com/c....htmlIt also took about two minutes to get to its top speed, at which point you had to raise your voice over the cabin noise. Not a concern when you're getting over 680 miles on a 14 Gallon tank, though.

[star_deceiver]

It's coming along I see!

[bodhi_tree777]

Quote, originally posted by Feelin’ The Vibe »This thread makes me happy every time it comes around..brings back good memories. I learned to drive on a 1992 diesel Golf GL 5spd - the same silver on gray colors as yours. My sister inherited it from my grandpa, and it stayed in the family til 2007, when she sold it with about 350,000kms on it. The thing was solid - very low operating and maintenance costs, and it's still probably kickin around town. 0-60 in about 15 seconds, but hey, it easily got over 50mpg every tank.that's awesome to hear. I love drumming up nostalgia Thanks for all the comments and feedback, guys. Helps keep me motivated

[lovemyraffe]

Nice updates! I love VW!