To see a table of repairs made Click Here.
(dec. 2005)
Well... I replaced all the shifter bushings and the shifter pivot ball for the shift lever. I also removed and lubricated the blower fan bushings to quiet it down some since the bushings wern't worn it didn't warrant replacement.
(6-4-05)
I installed an early mkII parking brake handle I got from the junkyard.. it has a full plastic cover that mates with a different grip/handle part on the lever. I had done the same mod to my rabbit convertible... I always thought the mk1 ebrake covers were cheesy.
(5-29-05)
well, I finished up the gauge install but I had to use my old temp sending unit because the one I robbed at the boneyard wasn't any good. So now I'm using a 150 sending unit for a 180 gauge so it looks like it runs at 130 all the time but its actually where it should be... good enough for now.
(5-15-05)
Jay brought the second version gauge panel over my house today and I installed it after modifying the center console. I'm working on getting it posted on another guy's DIY thread so I'll leave the details there. Anyway, it looks nice. I just need to bring home a 15mm crows foot to tighten the sending unit. I had installed the sending units last night.
(5-7-05)
I started to intsall some VDO gaues (voltmeter, oil psi, oil temp) from an audi 4000 today... removed the console and wired the gauges in, ran the wire for the oil pressure sending unit, but haven't installed the sending unit or terminal for it yet. See the pics.
(5-1-05)
Just got back from driving approx 630 miles round trip to Southern Volksfest near Atlanta, GA. Overall it was a great trip. I did have to resecure one of the wiper arms during a doupour because the nut worked loose and the wiper was slipping on the shaft. Luckily I had added 2 coats of rain-x the day before and I was able to turn off the wipers to keep from chewing up the wiper arm with the splined shaft and resecured it all with some lock-tite in a parking lot a couple miles down the road.
(4-28-05)
I removed the upper intake manifold and valve cover in an attempt to locate a metallic noise I heard in the cylinder head. I didn't find anything unusual after I had it all apart. I decided to clean up the parts I took off as I usually do. I glass-bead blasted the valve cover and intake manifold and I polished the raised sections of the valve cover. I also repolished the raised section of the intake manifold and I painted the lettering black. It looks pretty slick. I cleaned out the throttle body really well and reassembled everything with new gaskets. I had also bead blasted and repainted the rear manifold brackets as well. After I had it all together the noise was gone. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but about 10min later I remembered that one of the center valve cover bolts was loose and was buzzing around like crazy depending on engine harmonics.
(4-22-05)
removed and repainted the wiper arms with some satin black paint. There was some sections of paint missing in the area where the blades attach.
(4-15-05)
I got up this morning, sourced some replacement connecting rod bolts and .25mm bearings and put the car back together again, got up at 8, finished around 3, left for bug-a-paluza at around 3:30, got there at around 8:00.
(4-14-05)
installed the ac/alternator bracket with new hardware for the ac compressor, put everything back together again, filled the oil up, started it up, ran fine... drove down the street, heard a rod knock. closely inspected the old rod bearings, found that they were .25mm plus size. went to bed 2am friday morning.
(4-13-05)
up to midnight working on the car... the third attempt at the outter intermediate shaft bearing went perfectly, it lined up right where it needed to be. I installed the intermediate shaft and the timing belt, replaced the connecting rod bearings, primed and installed the oil pump, then the oil pan.. filled and installed a new oil filter. I found that the "missing bolt" for the back of the a/c compressor was actually broken off inside of the 200lb alternator/ac bracket so I had to remove that to bring to work to extract the missing piece. I actually stared at it for about 5min, contemplating the forces at work trying to decide weather I really needed that bolt or not. I decided it would really suck if the front one broke, or if the ear came off the a/c compressor, so I took it apart.
(4-12-05)
oi. the rocco is still torn down.... mike had to machine some new bearing installation tools (they're real pretty, I'll have to post pics later) last night I pulled the inner (oil pump drive end) bearing out effortlessly and managed to install the new one lined up with the oil hole within .5mm so that was excellent because its really hard to get to/work with. Then, I move onto the outter one and I line up the hole perfectly, pull the bearing in and find that it has turned about 1.5mm clockwise and the hole isn't lined up. argh. so I pull it back out and it gets cocked and bends it a bit, but thats why I bought two sets. So I line the backup bearing up in the hole, get it lined up perfectly with the oil hole, pull it in a hair, check the alignment again, still perfect... draw it the rest of the way in, and its off by 1.5 mm clockwise. I draw the rest of the way through without messing it up. put it back in again, line it up perfectly, draw it in a little, check it, still perfect, pull it in the rest of the way, and its off 1.5mm clockwise. I pull it all the way through. not very happy at this point, I know that installing it 3 times is pushing it. (press fit and all) so I line it up 1.5mm anticlockwise off, so when its installed it will line up. (right?) so I pull it in, and its 1.5mm off, anticlockwise. Soo... I need to buy anotehr set of bearings and do it some more this evening. hopefully I'll have it back together by thursday so I can drive it for a couple of hours to make sure everything is fine. I really don't want to be finishing up friday morning just before we leave for bug-a-paluza.
(4-10-05)
Using the same tool we had made for my rabbit I managed to remove the outter intermediate shaft bearing with no troubles but upon attempting to remove the inner bearing the tool became stuck and the threaded rod broke... I tapped the tool back out and found that the tool was larger than the OD of the inner bearing, so I guess we had another tool to remove the bearing, and what I had is what we used to install it. Mike is going to machine me some new tools tomarrow evening and I'll be back at it on tuesday.
(4-6-05)
just got in from the garage, pulled out the intermediate shaft and such... I was having some oil pressure issues, found the babbot coming off of the intermediate shaft bearing shells. (I found the pieces in the oil pan) the mains and rods looked fine, but I am going to put some rod bearings in since they're cheep and easy to do. You do have to get a little medieval on the bodywork behind the fender liner, but its easily bent back and touched up with some undercoating. I also have an oil pump coming, and new pressure switches... kinda doing the shotgun thing.
(4-4-05)
okay... so last weekend after having aligned the rocco I as driving it home and after a 25min ride on the interstate and 10 more minutes on a rural highway my oil light/buzzer goes off as I'm tooling down the road at 60mph, like 3krpm or whatever. So, I shut it off, coast to the side, and restart it. About a quarter of a mile later, it blips again but just for a second, and goes out.
I drove over to my fiends house and he gave me another oil psi switch to try (the high psi one, white I guess) and I put that in... drove it to wal-mart a couple of times last week but no major trips.
yesterday on the way to work I swing a left hand turn through an intersection rather aggressively (like 35mph? - no tire noise but the bolsters were holding me in the seat) and a second after, the light/buzzer comes on again and goes out a second later. Just for grins, I try the same thing again with the next left turn and it comes on again for a second.
I check the oil level and its fine... discuss the matter with a coworker and we begin to think that maybe the oil baffle is broken off of the pickup and wandering around in the oil pan or something, so I drive it home to take it apart and the light/buzzer flickers on for just a second, a couple of miles prior to where it happened the first time.
I get home and drain the oil out (4 quarts plus about a half a cup left in the pan) and remove the oil pan... the baffle was in place fine.. the oil pickup wasn't obstructed... I found maybe 4 bits of aluminum in the bottom of the oil pan, about half the size of a grain of rice each, one smaller than that. remove the oil pump... looks a bit scored where the wear/contact points are, but nothing horrible. the bits of aluminum are eroded like river stones, nothing smashed/mashed or broken. I've seen worse bits in newer engines that were fine...
I guess tomorrow I am going to get a new oil pump and the pressure switches and a baffle (since the old one broke while removing it) and see what I have after that.... I might try to hunt down some GTi gauges to install I guess.
(3-31-05)
The guy at work with the sunroof parts brought in an assembly from and Audi 90 and the parts I had broke were on it. They are actually made better on the Audi, maybe beacuse it's a power roof rather than hand crank. I got home and put everything back together, adjusted it just as the book said to and operated it up and then back, upon closing it I found a small scratch in the center of the roof towards the rear, I think it will come out, its not terrible (but I did just buff out the whole thing yesterday, doh!) and I lowered the rear height about 1mm and it seems okay now. The whole operation is rather frail and it doesn't seem like it will hold up for very long even when new, which is probably why they break all the time. Otherwise its great, looks excellent with the new seal on there and it actually works.
(3-30-05)
I brought the sunroof panel into work today and cleaned it up with some xp polish and used a finishing compound/polish/sealant with the jitterbug. I finished it off with three coats of wax, it looks pretty good but not perfect. I discussed painting the car with Mike my coworker who suggested we could setup his garage as a makeshift paintbooth and have pretty good results, he has painted several cars with good results. I think it might be a good project for next winter and spring, not sure yet though. Oh, I've been trying to find a source for the sunroof seal other than vw (cost is $57 I think) but I haven't had any luck. When we go to the junkyard tomarrow I am going to try to find the piece I broke and a seal thats in good shape. I don't even care if its all gray color so long as its not worn though, I could easily dye it black.
(3-29-05)
I decided to tear apart the sunroof and find out why it wasn't working. It comes apart fairly easily if you almost know what you're doing. I found that the cables were out of sync by about 1/2" or so and it was binding up, and that someone had used some sort of lubricant on the slides that had turned into a really hard crusty substance over time and the sides were very difficult to operate. I cleaned the tracks up and lubricated the cables with silicone which made them operate very easily. I was putting it back together and found that there were two parts that attach to the rear rain tray and kinda lock the sunroof in the closed position were bent, they're made out of a light cast aluminum or potmetal and over time the spring pressure caused them to distort and pull away from the tracks, only about 1/4 of the pieces were actually sliding where they were supposed to. I took them off and cleaned them up and carefully straightened one on the anvil of my bench vice, but when I went to straighten the other it broke. Looks like another trip to pull-a-part.
(3-26-05)
I drove the car to work and did an alignment on it, also washed the old messy nasty gear oil off of the transmission case. I used a jitter bug and some finishing compound to go over the hood to remove some scratches from garage rash. waxed it up again... looks great. It drives nice with the new suspension, I haven't found any bodyroll yet, and bumps don't knock your fillings out.
(3-24-05)
After I was very disappointed with the fit of some autozone floor mats I ordered a pair of front floor mats from stockinterios.com, which was just $10 more than the autozone ones including shipping. My wife's friend has a very nice embroidery machine and she is going to stitch the vw slymbol and volkswagen on the left one, and scirocco 16v on the right one. I'm going to have her use gray thread except for the 16v which will be red. Depending on how the project goes we might be able to offer custom floor mats to folks. The price of the embroidery depends on the stitch count, so I'm not sure how much it is going to cost yet. Add in the price of shipping them to customers and It will be interesting to see how we could compete with the $100 lloyd mats. She is fairly certain she can stitch through the rubber backing on the mat, the machine has no problem going through baseball cap visors and carpet squares. The great thing is that they can be totally custom... They have a program for their machine that turns image files into stitch patterns (it looks like a cad program) and you could do just about anything you wanted, so far as font, text and colors so long as you could provide an image of what you wanted done.
(3-22-05)
I bled the brakes w/ a pressure bleeder and installed the rear wheels, added gear oil until it started to come out (at 1.75 quarts) and installed the right front wheel, tightened up the axle bolt a bit and lowered the right side of the car and added the rest of the gear oil (2.1-2.2 quarts total) and then installed the left front wheel and let it down on the ground, torqued the axle nuts, lower rear shock mount bolts and stood back to take a look. I think it could stand to be just a hair lower, but I think I will have found the best compromise between sport and comfort. Its no track car, and it looks much better where it sits now. I didn't get a chance to drive it because it was crummy out. I know the alignment is off, I just set the camber to neutral. I need to take it to work to do an alignment on saturday I guess.
(3-21-05)
Today at work I took the former rocco wheels off the jetta, removed the tires, installed the former jetta tires on the now-jetta wheels, and installed the rocco tires on the now-rocco wheels.
(3-20-05)
I put everything back together except for one cv axle joint bolt (which disappeared), bleeding the brakes, tightening the lower rear shock bolts, refilling the transmission and tightening the axle nuts. Yay!
(3-19-05)
I replaced the transmission drive flange seals... it was a bit of a pain but once I had the proper snap ring pliers it went okay, though it took about 3 tries to seat the snap ring on each side. I drained out the gear oil prior to that, it was a bit on the funky side. I installed the new brake lines on the car, only to realize that I would have to loosen them again when I installed the calipers to make sure the hoses weren't twisted. I installed the lower control arms, spindles, front struts, and rear struts. I only temporairly installed the spindle-to-strut bolts because I still need to install the axles but I wanted to install the swaybar first, but I had to paint the brackets before I did that. I repolished the aluminum and painted parts on 3 of the avus wheels. I found that the bolt between the engine block and the transmission on the bottom towards the front of the car was loose, and I"m noting that here hoping I will remember to tighten it later.
(3-18-05)
I installed the balljoints and rear bushings on the control arms and assembled the front struts. I also removed the tires from my Avus wheels so I can polish them up again for the rocco. The orlando wheels look great on the Jetta, and I'm sure the Avus wheels will look great on the rocco, it was meant to be.
(3-17-05)
I pressed the new wheel bearings into the spindles, installed the backing plates and then pressed the hubs into the assembly. I painted the control arms and strut housings, and got one brake rotor painted up as well. Mike helped me install the brake bleeder repair piece with some JB weld. If it goes bad again, it will be time for another caliper. :) I sandblasted the swaybar mounts for the control arms and the keepers that hold it to the rear control arm brackets. I had to bend the keepers back into the proper shape. Apparrently someone misunderstood how they were supposed to be installed. I meant to take my camera to work to take some pics but forgot... I think I might go to the junkyard tomarrow during lunch to pick up a camber bolt and the grommets that secure the brakelines to the strut. Someone had replaced one of the camber adjustment bolts with a standard bolt that didn't allow for any adjustment. I could get some real pretty new ones from VW for about $18 (kit- upper and lower bolt for one axle) but my project funds are running low and I can get one for like 50-cents at the boneyard. Oh, and the axle shop brought my axles back. It cost a bit more than I was hoping to pay, but they look pretty good. They even came back a second time because they forgot to return the flange bolts.
(3-16-05)
Thoroughout the day I put 3 coats of paint on the primed brake caliper brackets, hubs, spindles, brake backing plates... sandblasted the control arms and some parts of the front strut housings that were rusty. I machined the little lips off of the edges of the brake rotors and sandblasted the hub area and circumference of them to remove the rust scale. I assembled the rear shocks, and found that the new springs were slightly larger in diameter than the old ones and didn't fit well in the upper spring perch so Mike (coworker) enlarged them a bit for me. I straightened out the lips on the control arms a bit more and pressed in the new front bushings. It wasn't too bad, a bench vice and some silicone lubricant worked out well though I needed to hammer them in the last 2mm or so. I primered the control arms and strut housings. I cleaned up and painted one of the brake calipers with some engine block paint, but found the bleeder on the other one to be messed up and I'm in the process of installing a repair "kit" consisting of an insert that threads in where the old bleeder used to go and a small bleeder that threads into the insert.
(3-15-05)
I sand-blasted the spindles, hubs, caliper brackets and brake backing plates and primed them... I also assembled the bump stops and little protective sleeve jobbers. On the fronts I had to cut the hole out larger w/ a hole saw because the new bump stops had a wider base than the old ones. There was a line molded into the sleeves that was the correct size needed, which was interesting. The springs, suspension bushings, ball-joints, tie-rod ends, and wheel bearings arrived today. The balljoints didn't come with any hardware, and I didn't have any since the old ones were riveted in but the control arm bushing kits (one for each side) included the hardware which was a nice touch. The bushings and such are almost all made by Febi except for the balljoints, I think the're Lucas.
(3-14-05)
I disassembled the struts and shocks.. found that the blown strut was a replacement cartridge type, but the right one was the original oil filled sleeve and piston jobber and man, the oil stank. I pressed the front bushings out of the control arms and worked the rear ones off, I also straightened out the lips of the control arms a bit and I pressed the old wheel bearings out. I wasn't going to do wheelbearings and such, but since I have it all apart I don't want to have to take it apart again. I drilled the rivets out of the control arms for the balljoints, that took 2 charged battery packs for my 9.6v makita to get the job done. The shocks, struts, strut bearings and bump stops arrived today.
(3-13-05)
Removed the rear shocks and also the front control arms, I think I am going to get some autotech poly front bushings to replace the originals, they're rather worn. Removed about 1/2 a gallon of dried mud/dirt from the right wheel well and control arm, made a mess.
(3-12-05)
Well, finally working on it again. I pulled the front struts and driveshafts after work today, need to get some more jackstands so I can do the rear as well. I have some H&R springs and Boge dampers en route. Found I need to put tie rod ends and balljoints on it as well, figure The balljoints are original, riveted in. I might as well do wheel bearings while its all apart.
(11-2-04)
I replaced the rear/firewall engine mount to help tighten up the engine movement and it made quite a difference, the old one I could manipulate with my fingers, the new one is stiff. I ordered one for a diesel rabbit becasue I think it has a higher shore hardness. I was hoping it would solve the vibration under load issue, but it didn't... I need to pull the driveshafts out and see what's up with the cv joints, so it will have to nap until then.
(10-?-04)
My neighbor Art and I finished making and insatlled the CIS-E fuel enrichment module we were working on. No conclusive results really, difficult to measure 5-hp via seat of your pants. It's neat though, little LED lights up green at WOT, adjustable resitance via a pot, and it's nicely installed in a switch blank in the dash below the hazard switch.
(9-17-04)
I've done quite a bit of stuff in the past couple of days. I had reassembled everything and still had the noise, so I removed all of the stuff on the front of the engine and took it into work. I replaced the water pump and sandblasted the housing so it looked nice... replaced the bearings in the alternator, sandblasted and paitned it up... replaced the a/c compressor shaft seal and changed it over to PAG oil.. sandblasted and paitned the a/c compressor bracket and upper alternator brackets, and polished the power steering pump mount. I put everything back together and readjusted the timing belt... it still seems like it gets too tight after the engine warms up, it rides on the outside of the pulley and makes a whirring noise. I guess I have to loosen it a little more. The front of the engine is quite a bit more quiet, but there's still something making a little noise intermittantly with the RPMs up.
(9-14-04)
I removed the thermostat and flushed the cooling system out. I found that there was lots of brown gook in the coolant tank so I removed it and cleaned it out using some simple green and about 100 .177 BBs. I plugged the return with an ear-plug and put the cap on and shook it around for about 5 minutes, worked beautifully. I installed a new 180' thermostat and filled it up with fresh coolant. While I had the power steering pump loose I also removed the a/c belt idler pulley from the water pump, the replacement should be in tomarrow. I also installed a new cold-start injector connector and replaced about 8" of the harness for it because it was all melted and scary.
(9-13-04)
On friday when I drove the car around the throttle cable popped off of the pedal because the little foamy rubber bushing was turing back into dirt (or whatever it was made of) and I remembered today at work and it turns out that it's the same thing an Audi 4000 uses and we had 3 in stock, so I was able to get one and install it. While I was checking the operation of the throttle (checking for WOT) I found that the secondary venturi was getting stuck at wot and taking 1/2 a second or so to snap closed again because the WOT switch was adjusted too tightly, so I readjusted it and everything works nicely now. Because I had the cover for the bottom of the dash out I decided to pop the instrument cluster out and install the new bulbs I got for it. I only picked up two because I didn't notice that the clock was out, so I took the bulb out of the tachometer (which worked) installed that in the clock and installed the two new bulbs in the speedo and tachometer. It's a lot easier to see with all 3 bulbs working rather than just 1. I also found a spot where the wiring harness was rubbing on some brackets under the dash and had partially worn into the insulation on a couple of wires so I added a piece of ozite carpet between them.
(9-11-04)
While waiting for the idler pulley I tried to find something else to fix on, and I ended up replacing all of the ground wires and the power wire to the alternator with 4 gauge wire, and I repalced the battery terminals with some marine-type. I also added a new alternator field wire, and installed a 8ga. ground from the back of the intake down to the ground post on the engine. There are two parts to the main ground circuit, one wire goes from the battery to a location under the air box, and another wire goes from under the air box over to the engine. Someone had previously replaced the ground wire with a 4 gauge wire and added an 8ga. wire from the battery down to under the airbox but the installation quality was poor. It took about 5 hours total, though I worked on it on and off for almost the whole day. (I soldered the terminals and heat-shrank them, etc)
(9-9-04)
I tensioned up the timing belt on the scirocco, the gauge for the 944 says to set it on 4 for a new belt, 4 was much too loose and I tightened it up as best I could with my make-shift tool and found that it was firm at 45' and though I could get 90', it wasn't "easy." I checked it with the tool and it was around 6. It felt good, definitely not too loose, and it didn't whine so I guess it's good. It didn't fly off at 6,000rpm so it must be good On the major bummer side, as I was replacing the belt I noticed the water pump idler pulley (for the a/c compressor) was a bit worn, questionable at best... As I inspected it, I saw little bits of what looked like paper hanging out of the bearing race.. so I picked them out, ignoring the little voice in my head that said it needed to be replaced... it was okay before, it should be okay now, no big deal, right? well.. this evening as I was checking the timing belt I noticed it sounds like a couple of the ball bearings are locking up as it spins around and it sounds like little critters hammering around on the end of the engine. I guess those little bits of whatever was probably part of the bearing cage because it didn't make that sound before. I'm really disappointed because I wanted to drive it to work tomorrow, and I've been planning to do so all week. It would be my luck that I would take it anyway and one of the balls would totally lock up and it would go china syndrome and leave me stranded or something. Oh, and I popped on my new timing belt cover. It's a little different than the old one, it doesn't have the bolt coming in from the end; only the one on the back of the head. I think the original one with the bolt in the middle is what caused them to warp into funny shapes.
(9-8-04)
I installed a new timing belt and tensioner today. I checked out the water pump, and since the previous owner had a reciept from it's replacement around 25-30k miles ago I decided not to replace it at this time.. (it wasn't leaking anyway) and the front seals had also been replaced around the same time, and they weren't leaking, so I left them alone as well. (the valve cover gasket is seeping a little...but no big deal) I also washed the residual oil and gook off the front of the engine. I might need to tighten the belt up a little yet, the bentley manual says to be able to turn it 45' rathern than 90' like the 8v cars, and I can turn it past 45 but not quite 90. The engine mount on the front of the engine (near the timing belt) is pretty solid, it hardly moved at all when I jacked the engine up to gain a little more room to remove the timing belt tensioner. (which is good news, because those are a pain in the butt) I am trying to make the engine reliable without going crazy because I eventually want to build a nice 2.0l engine for it and take verything out and apart and get brackets powdercoated and aluminum bits polished and all that jazz, so for now the goal is reliability for a weekend driver. I bought the belt and tensioner from VW and I noticed that the belt was made by Gates, which I thought was a bit different because I only had expierance with Continental belts from VW... I bought it from VW because timing belts are a big deal on this car, and the little vw/audi symbol gives me some extra warm fuzzies about it.
(9-4-04)
I reinstalled the Rt door pannel, Art came over and helped me put the hood back on, we needed to replace the wires, cap and rotor to be able to drive it b/c is was missfiring pretty badly. He had some spares that worked out great. Drove it to work, installed the tt exhaust system, which was a bit of a pain because someone had welded the old exhaust to the pipe exiting the cat, which made for some extra work. The exhaust also came with a new front engine mount so we installed that, and gave the underside of the car mini-inspection. When I got home I found that the RR caliper had been sticking and the wheel was really hot and covered in brake dust. I ended up turning the piston back into the caliper and re-adjusted the piston position and parking brake operation and it doesn't stick anymore. So.... it's officially on the road. I drove it about 250 miles over the long weekend. Funny, I just noticed that I've had the car 1 month as of today.
(8-31-04)
I brought the pedal cluster into work and a guy welded it back together for me, and I repainted the part that was welded. I picked up some parts I had ordered at the vw dealer (trim parts and a clutch cable for an 8v scirocco, 1/4 the price) and installed it when I got home... The pedal cluster wasn't TOO bad to put back in, though I did drop it on my head once while I was under the dash and my ear is still sore. The cluch is pretty stiff, I'm not sure if it's the 16v pressure plate, or if it's because it's worn a bit. Probably a combination of both. I installed a new VW symbol and "volkswagen" script on the back of the car. VW of America doesn't sell the "scirocco" or "16v" logo for the rear anymore. I'm checking into getting a "scirocco gtx" logo from Germany. I also installed a new 16v logo for the grill up front, and one of the two trim pieces that goes under the healdights. The other was broken and I had to re-order it.
(8-30-04)
Last night while I was cleaning up the clutch and brake pedals and lubricating that stuff I noticed that the metal tube that secures the clutch cable was juts about broken off of the bracket that attaches it to the pedal cluster. I wasn't too suprised because the clutch cable was in very poor condition and it required some real effort to operate, but MAN, what a pain in the butt. Today I managed to get the pedal cluster out, it took about an hour and a half. I didn't remove the master cylinder, nor did I unbolt it from the brake booster. I took the intake pipe off and pulled the coolant reservior up and placed it just ahead of the fuel lines to the injectors. I then removed the 4 nuts from the back of the brake booster and after disconnecting the brake push rod from the pedal and moving a couple of wires around, I managed to push the brake booster/master cylinder forward about 3" which gave me enough room to get a 13mm swivel socket on an extension onto the nuts for the pedal cluster. The most difficult part was removing the spring band that secures the cluster to the steering column. After that I removed the two lower bolts for the steering column, loosened the two upper ones, removed the 13mm nut near the top of the pedal cluster and it came right out. It turns out there was only about 1/8" of metal left holding the tube onto the braceket and when I was trying to pry off the one-way washer thing that secures the tube to the firewall it broke completely off, so I'm assuming the one-way washer thing was bearing all of the pressure. (and doing a fine job of it for more than a year I guess) So... now I need to see if I can get the thing welded back together.
(8-29-04)
I added a third coat of black to the tail light lines and re-installed them. You can only tell that they've been repainted if you look real close and see the imperfections like the little brush strokes and some little bumps and stuff. From 3 or 4 feet away you can't tell. I'm not sure about direct sunlight though. Either way it's much better than the way it was, with the paint completely faded off of the lenses, and it's cheeper than new ones. (if they're available, I haven't checked.)
(8-28-04)
I cleaned up the paint in the cowl a bit, and waxed the parts I cleaned up. I also I installed the drip tray, cleaned the rubber seal and installed it too.
(8-27-04)
I took the cowl drip tray into work and dyed it with forever black. I also added a second coat of black to one of the tail lights during lunch, it takes about one hour to do the lines on one light. After I got home I added a second coat to the other light. I also removed the license plate trim and dyed it black, and cleaned the area where the tail lights and license plate are at the back of the car.
(8-26-04)
I rolled the car outside and washed the cowl area out after using a vacuum to get up all the leaves and debris. I then spent a couple hours painting the lines on the tail lights after removing them, about one coat on each.
(8-25-04)
hand-buffed the underside of the hood, first I did the structural support areas with BC-2, then I did the flat spots where the adhesive was with XP-polish and then twice over with BC-2, and I waxed it all... took about 2.5 hours. There are lots of small scratches/swirl marks but you can't really use a buffer on it, maybe on the flat spots... probably won't be able to see them with the hood raised as it's not in direct sunlight that way. (unless it's facing west during sunset)
(8-24-04)
removed the adhesive from the other panels under the hood. It took about 3 hours. I also added another coat of forever black to the front bumper, and installed the headlights and grill.
(8-23-04)
I treated the front and rear bumpers with forever black about 3 times each, so far they've turned out MUCH nicer than I thought they would because they're painted and the sun baked the paint on the tops of them. With the forever black, it all "goes away" and it looks like nice black plastic. It was dark by the time I was done with the third coat, so I'll see how it looks in the sunlight tomarrow. I also removed the adhesive glue from the sound deadening under the hood on 2 of the 6 panels. It takes about an hour to remove the glue from one of the sections. I used 3M adhesive remover and a credit card. The finish is a little scratched up, I might try more BC-2 or maybe XP-Polish a little later. This is definitely something that needs to be done with the hood off, and you need to be very patient, but the results are worth the effort.
(8-22-04)
spent nearly all day cleaning the engine compartment, I used BC 2 and meguiars gold glass wax on all of the black painted surfaces in the engine compartment (firewall area, left and right fender area) and did the ft. core support again. My friend Art came over to help me remove the hood and I washed the underside of it w/ simple green several times.
(8-21-04)
I removed the front headlight mounting brackets and cleaned those and the corner light lenses. I cleaned the front radiator support area some more and I also washed some more of the grime and wax-oil off the left and right fenders. I used the BC-2 on the right side fender area and radiator core support (again) and still need to wax it to seal it well. Cleaned the headlight bulbs.
(8-19-04)
Brought home some 964 or 993 type 911 door films I had left-over from some project at work. They worked great with a little modification. I didn't have a left and a right, but I cut them up to fit anyway. It was like putting on a big sticker. I put the left door panel all back together. The window switch holder needs to be replaced, VW doesn't make them anymore. I'm trying to source a used one. Got the door film installed on the right door. Lost one of the big screws that holds on the door-pull handle, so I need to locate one before I finish the right door. Moved both of the brown switches to the driver's side so they don't stand out as much. (vrs a black one and a brown one side by side)
(8-18-04)
Lubricated the window guides with silicon spray, they move up and down pretty smoothly now. I started to detail the engine bay with BC-2. I did the rt. half of the firewall and some of the rt. fender area. Might have done a bit more harm than good while cleaning it the other day, seems there are quite a few scratches in the paint that will probably take some effort to get out. (maybe xp polish rather than bc-2.) removed and cleaned out the windshield washer tank, wasn't quite able to get all of the blue stains out of it. (tried simple green, bleach, and power foam)
(8-17-04)
Got to work early this morning and swapped the "spare tire, round wheel" with the "good tire, square wheel" so the car now has 4 straight wheelson it, all having been balanced and rotated. I also took in the healdight trim rings and touched up the rock chips with some rust-olium semi-gloos black latex paint which is a 99.9% perfect match to the original paint. I cleaned them up with some BC2. At home I installed the metal support plate for the driver's window regulator and adjusted it for best operation. It seems to hang up a bit on the way up, I am going to try to lube the guides with silicon spray and see if that helps. I also installed two new screws for the driver's door check strap which wasn't attached to the door. Now the door stays open on it's own (it's really a big deal after working in and around the car for a while and having to deal with it closing on me all the time) I also used some nice leather conditioner on the seats and shifter boot. I am going to make a "products" page to list the cleaning/lubrication stuff I've been using so others can know what sorts of results I've had with it.
(8-16-04)
Spent lunch cleaning up the final wheel only to find that it is bent in 4 places. Going to take the "spare" wheel (which is very round) and swap it out tomarrow. At home I adjusted the rear hatch release linkage so it would take up some slack and allow the rear hatch to open using the button. (how novel) and I also installed a new rear hatch button seal ring/bezel. Removed the headlight trim rings to clean them up.
(8-15-04)
I washed out the engine compartment, used some polish to clean up the paint on the radiator core support up front. Installed the rear parcel shelf plastic hinge clips and lifting straps.
(8-14-04)
I went to a junkyard today and found a jack/tool holder, lug wrench, combination wrench and screwdriver. Still need a jack. Also picked up a rear wiper arm nut cover, interior door handle trim pieces, a spare hazard and defrost switch, rear parcel shelf hinges and rubber lifting straps. Installed the driver's window regulator, waiting on the metal reinforcement plate to bolt up the window. Installed the driver's door handle with new trim packings, found that the black plastic handle trim I had ordered doesn't fit the early handles, need to get the black metal ones. Cleaned the rest of the healdiner, turned out pretty nice.
(8-13-04)
I took the driver's window regulator apart and re-lubricated it. reworked the finish on the RF wheel, need to remember to rotate it to the RR.
(8-12-04)
I reconditioned the finish on; and balanced the left rear wheel. Found that the tire has 45lbs of road force, funny though because it was on the front and it didn't shimmy too badly on the way home and we drove 65-70mph for about an hour. Installed a new wire in the radiator fan relay harness because the insulation had rotted off and the wire was badly corroded. Replaced all but one of the original vacuum hoses, left several that had already been replaced. Gotta get more vacuum hose to do the last one. Cleaned the foward half of the headliner, gureling work with foam cleaner and a toothbrush. Came out pretty nice so far, having trouble getting all of the dirt out of the textured vinyl. Replaced the right rear parking light bulb... the little one on the outside corner. I drilled a hole (tiny, #54) through the rod that links the driver's door lock lever to the central locking switch. I then used 3 strands of copper wire to secure the rod to the lever so it won't fall off any more. I did this because vw/audi no-longer makes the white nylon piece that attaches to the door latch lock lever (at least for central locking cars) and I didn't expect to find one in a boneyard. Plus, this is probably more secure than the original.
(8-11-04)
I took the passenger window regulator motor apart and cleaned it out, cleaned out all the old grease and re-lubricated it with castrol wheel bearing grease. Hope it doesn't eat up the white nylon parts, we'll find out. It works pretty well. I adjusted it to the point where it seemed to labor the least while closing. I noticed that there was a metal plate on the passenger window regulator where the window bolts, and not one on the driver's side which was an older regulator. I checked the parts film and found that it was a part that was added after a certain vin range, so I guess they figured out the regulators were breaking and the metal support would help. I ordered one for the other side, should be here next week.
(8-10-04)
Today I installed a new RF parking light/blinker bulb, and took the door panels off and removed the power window regulators. I found that after I removed the Rt. door pannel and plugged the switch back in the window worked pretty well. I took the regulators out to clean them up and lubricate them well so that they might last longer. The left door panel was a bit of a pain to remove because the power mirror switch didn't want to come out. I will need to make new vapor barriers as the originals had been patched many times and were in poor shape. (especially after I ripped them off the doors) I also found that the central lock system works, except the link to the driver's door lock is broken where the central lock switch rod attaches to the lock lever and it needs to be replaced. I cleaned up the RR wheel with some compound and polish, waxed it, balanced it and placed it on the RF. removed the coolant fan switch/relay harness, the insulation has rotted off of the ground wires and the wires need to be replaced.
(8-9-04)
I got the blinkers working, found that the flasher relay was inop. Noticed the rt. side parking lights were inop.
(8-8-04)
My friend Art and I started to build a fuel enrichment module for the car but ran out of time. He had all the parts on hand because he used to sell them several years back. I spent some time cleaning the rubber trim and plastic parts on the car, reinstaslled the wiper blades after having them off to buff it.
(8-7-04)
Spent nearly all day buffing on the car. First I went through and masked off the roof trim strips, windshield gasket and side moldings. I used XP polish first, then some 3M "foam pad glaze" which is basically a super fine swirl remover for black cars. I was unable to get 100% of the oxidization out of the paint, but you can only see it under flourescent lights. In direct sunlight it looks super. Named the car Sir Rocco while trying to teach my 3 year old nephew how to say it's name. Seems fitting, it's a knightly sort of sports VW. Minus the plume.
(8-6-04)
Used my friend Jim's Bissel little green machine to shampoo the carpeting and rear deck, I ended up with approx 4 gallons of coffee colored water. yummy. I cleaned the seats with Sprayway vinyl/leather cleaner/conditioner w/ mink oil. I treated the door pannels and dash with some McGuiers (sp?) vynyl/leather protectant that adds a nearly origninal looking luster.
(8-5-04)
I washed the car twice to try to remove as much of the "sitting around" grime as I could. I removed the front seats, rear seats, rear carpet, and rear side linings. Spent the rest of the time very thoroughly vacumming out the carpeting since I am going to shampoo it tomarrow.
(8-4-04)
Went to go look at the car hoping to be able to drive it home. Installed a used battery and added a bottle of fuel system treatment to the gas tank and it fired up after about 30 seconds of cranking. Overall looked pretty straight, needs power window work, an exhaust system and clutch cable in the very least. Had a great time driving it home with the muffler no-longer attached, engine at around 4000rpm at 70mph. Got the same feeling I had when driving my rabbit convertible, loved it. Must be that A1 VW thing.
For repairs made by the previous owners, Click Here.