Turquoise Mk3 Golf four door, project distracting daily.

[JoeMallett]

It was about time I changed my sump...

Untitled by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

Untitled by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

Untitled by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

Got the new one on, man they're awkward when the car's only 18" off the ground.

Untitled by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

Also painted the tank

Untitled by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

Then stripped out the interior and started laying the airlines, thats all roughly in place now. I have a friend coming to help tomorrow with the wiring side of it all. For now I'm just going to bolt it all down in the boot fairly neatly. But in time I plan to make a false floor and tidy it all up a bit, hopefully have a go at some hardlines and stuff.

Untitled by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

Another part of the car I've finally sorted, and I'm so relieved about, is the gear linkage. Since I bought the car, first and reverse have been a pig. have to half push down on the stick to get into first and never knowing whether it is first or reverse, that sort of thing...
The car came with a rebuild kit for the linkage which I had my friend fit when it was in for MOT. But that did nothing, the bush for the main rod wasn't part of the kit and just happened to be the most important part. It took me ages to hunt down the right part. had to order it from Germany, but I finally got around to fitting it and it has fixed everything perfectly! I do love when things go smoothly!

The old bush... safe to say it's knackered...

DSC00958 by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

The new one...

DSC00957 by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

I spent some time cleaning everything up and checking how the other bushes were, I ended up changing a few others that came with the kit.

DSC00954 by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

And all back together before I put it in the car. I had an alignment tool that I bought on eBay for a few quid, I didn't get a photo of it I'm afraid, but it just sits on the gear stick underneath the gaiter to hold it central whilst you bolt everything back up and it really made life simpler. I've manually realigned rod shift before and it sucks. This was just instant! So pleased that it all went so well.

DSC01022 by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

I've also had time for a quick filter change and removed the headlining/sunroof mech. The cable in the mech has broken so the sunroof is junk at the moment. I thought I'd just be able to replace the lot with a second hand unit I got from a friend out of a VR6, but they seem to be different. I'm going to dismantle it some more to investigate, but it looks like the old one will have to go back in for the time being.

12 days till Players Classic... I'll make it...

[JoeMallett]

The air ride is now wired in and running!

9 days until Players...

Going to book the MOT today.

Loads to do. Bolt down tank and compressor.
Dial in tracking as best I can to get it to the MOT.
Fit ALL of the interior.
Fit door rubbers and corner glass.
Door handles.
From grill.
Bumpers (hopefully align them properly).
Hopefully paint wheels.

Wish me luck!

[JoeMallett]

Turns out that the sunroof mech I had to replace the original is different. So I ended up just putting the broken one back in for now until I can figure out what to do about it.
Putting a headlining back in on your own is hard!

Untitled by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

I got the boot all fitted up and started on the door cards. Ill get the rest of this done today, no problem. then I'm just left with tidying up the air install and putting the seats in. I don't think I'm going to get time to refurbish the wheels before Players, but we will see what happens after the MOT on Wednesday. I remembered that the steering column has a bit of play in it too. It'll probably fail an MOT for this, but I think it will just be a case drilling out a bolt and putting a new one in to clamp in tighter. Hopefully theres nothing else that it could fail on! Maybe exhaust leak? we will see...

Untitled by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

Untitled by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

[JoeMallett]

Oh yeah, I forgot I still need to fit the bumpers, grill, badge and washer jets too!

[02turbo]

Can you run it bumperless? I think it would look good slammed out haha.Nice so far, love the colour both on the car and on the wheels(3 spoke ones look eh on it IMHO). You should do the air tank like you did the skateborads, would look awesome.

Keep it up dude, looking forward to seeing it done!

[JoeMallett]

1 day till MOT...

Nearly there guys, I think its going to be a late evening after work though.

I got a few other things sorted.
I sorted the steering column out, after investigating I found out it was just the clamp I thought it might be. So I ditched the funny run headed bolt for a standard one and a bit of locktite. It was easy enough to get out once i'd cut a slit in the end for a flat head.

Untitled by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

Untitled by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

I faffed around with the wiring and tidied it all up ready to refit the interior.

Untitled by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

Untitled by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

The next job is fixing the compressor and tank, this is roughly where they are going to sit for now until I have time to play with a proper hardline set up (I really want to try it myself). It's not pretty but it does the job for now. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the carpet at the moment though.

Untitled by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

The the rest of it is just refitting and adjusting the tracking roughly so my tyres will make it to Goodwood at the weekend! I don't expect to have any issues for the MOT now, but I could be wrong... fingers crossed!

[JoeMallett]

Can you run it bumperless? I think it would look good slammed out haha.Nice so far, love the colour both on the car and on the wheels(3 spoke ones look eh on it IMHO). You should do the air tank like you did the skateborads, would look awesome.

Keep it up dude, looking forward to seeing it done!

Haha, I ran my Mk2 bumper less for a few weeks, it draws a lot of the wrong attention It didn't make it look so much like a Mk1 though. Yeah man, eventually I will do I similar thing to the skateboard on the tanks. Id love to get something subtle on the car too down the road a bit. It was supposed to happen now, but my deadline got a bit closer because of my turd Audi falling apart. (I will be breaking this soon if anyone is interested in A6 airside, 20" CCVs, cream Recaros and all sorts)

[Wenman]

Amazing work on this!
If you are at Players I definitely will be over to see it, Mk3's are growing on me at the moment.

[02turbo]

Dunno what kind of seats you have in the A6, but I assume that they're buckets or at least not factory. Any chance of fitting those? Cream and turquoise go well together

[JoeMallett]

Amazing work on this!
If you are at Players I definitely will be over to see it, Mk3's are growing on me at the moment.

Not looking too likely at the moment I'm afraid! Thank you for the appreciation though!

[JoeMallett]

Dunno what kind of seats you have in the A6, but I assume that they're buckets or at least not factory. Any chance of fitting those? Cream and turquoise go well together

I'm pretty sure they're out of a B7 S4? I could be wrong though. I like the idea and the colour combo is awesome, I'm not sure if they'd be too bulky in there though.

[JoeMallett]

Some less positive updates today.
Spent last night getting the last bits together, sorting out the airlines, making sure they weren't leaking, putting the interior back together, all that jazz.
And then FINALLY at about 1:00 I was ready to get it to the MOT station ready for the morning. I drove her up the road, made it about 2.5 miles and lost all pressure in the O/S/F strut. I had to drag it a bit further and dump it in a lay-by in the middle of the countryside (in a place I know the car could easily get trashed/burnt/all sorts). I burnt out the arch trying to limp it off the road.

Untitled by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

I proceeded to walk back to the workshop, pick up the Audi (that isn't really much more drivable at the moment) and drove home.
After a 20 hour day and 3 hours sleep, I was sat at work this morning with no work to do, so I managed to get some time out to go and try and fix it. The plan was, attach a schrader valve, pump it up and drive back to the workshop, defeated, for now. When we got there, I checked it all and there were no torn lines like I assumed and it seemed to be holding air again. So I thought, I'll see if I can just get it to the garage for an MOT and try and sort it out after.
So I stuck the wheel back on and set off, 300 yards later, lost pressure again. after a lot of head scratching I worked out that it was because of a loose top mount, overtime it bounced it would let out some air. Ran to the garage, got the tools to tighten it and drove it to the MOT!!

Untitled by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

At this point, I was pretty relieved and fairly hopeful...

It failed.

Only on a rear brake, but currently I'm exhausted and think a break tonight is more important. I think it's most likely that the cylinder has leaked into the rear drum. I might try and get some bits tomorrow, but for now... sleep.

Untitled by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

[Wenman]

Shame to hear it wont be there and for the problems, but good to see your getting closer to getting it on the road!

[JoeMallett]

There is still hope! I decided to give in and drop the car off at the garage, I told them just to do what it took to get in a MOT, I'd given up on Players, but a phone call earlier has shown promise! They had a bit of time to look at it sooner than I expected! It was a leaking cylinder and they can get the parts, so hopefully tomorrow it will have an MOT, I just need to try and tax and insure it A.S.A.P!

[JoeMallett]

I MADE IT!

M&M sorted me car out in time and managed to get to Players Classic. My car wasn't quite in the condition I had hoped for, but I got there. I'm Just happy to have it back on the road. This car puts a smile on my face every time I drive it.
It still needs a real good clean inside and out. I need to sort the door edges out and of course, re paint that wing...
There's still trim to put on and fit properly, I couldn't find my parcel shelf. I want to fit the tank better and all sorts.
I need to get it sitting better too... Where the alignment was sorted, its been done the way it should be, so there's no camber on the front etc. So I need to play around and get it sitting better instead of just wedging on the arches. I'll sort out some notches too and try and get some decent tuck on the front and some better lows...
Then I want to look into drop plates/axle centring plates for the rear to hopefully get better drop on the back too.

But for now, I'm just going to give it a really good clean because I didn't get a chance to wax it or anything and it is now covered on road grime.

I've got a long way to go with this car, but work will probably slow down now. I've got a car I'm happy to drive and a lot of other work to get on with. A new job to focus on, I'm moving into a new home with my wonderful fiancee, a wedding to plan, a workshop that needs a serious renovation and a full on MK2 Golf GTI project that has been neglected for far too long!

DSC01039 by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

DSC01047 by Joe Mallett, on Flickr

DSC01049 by Joe Mallett, on Flickr