Barn Find Laser Green 1.9 Gti.

[Leslie green 126]

Thanks all I'm chuffed to bits its actually passed given how much hassle the rear brakes can be , even got it taxed up last night . Its just about legal lol

 

I did think it was slightly tapered then thought I was imagining it lol .Its a bit of a silly design for sure if tapered and with powdercoat and a lined hose its a disaster . 

 

Paul this one isn't a Baker its from France but all my water hoses are Baker  and they have been fine so far , I might look an original hose if I can't get a decent fix. Rubber will certainly grip far better .

 

Tom I hadn't even thought about the Peugeot festival Tbh plus the ferry over from here is at least £300 quid and given the last unexplained breakdown first drive and now this first time on an actual road  I wouldn't be keen on going far yet .

 

SRDT I'm sure it could be tapped for some sort of fitting , I did find oil kept appearing at that corner of the rocker cover( car sits slightly down at the right side due to slope on garage floor ) and thought it a strange place to leak at the front  but guessing now it was from that hose as its very close to it . Filing 2 flats on it may work too and definitely needs a narrower clip this one is far too wide and a fuel hose type clip may suit better .

Edited April 6 by Leslie green

[Telf 232 2 Cars]

I wouldn't sweat a couple of breakdowns after the build.

 

I had a clutch cable snap. V annoying but still drove it home,  the starter refusing to work, simple fix but annoying and it used to leak oil from all over the place for about 3 months. It really uses nothing nowadays and seems to have got better with use. 

 

It's like it's settled and now just is.

 

Congrats on the build I've been quietly following along for ages.

 

Edited April 7 by Telf

[Leslie green 126]

Thanks Paul mine is leaking oil too not sure where from yet but it after it sits a few days there is oil underneath the crank pulley area but as the floor is sloping down to that side it could be coming from anywhere and just dripping of there. There are going to be teething problems after everything has been off and its sat idle for 19 years that I know off possibly more. The unexplained first breakdown unless it was low fuel is bugging me though ,time will tell.

    I cleaned all the oil up and thought about how I could keep the breather pipe on better and well it was simple , tap the spout to m14 x 1 ,(I which is a fine thread  measured and its 13.7mm at the top and just over 14mm nearer at the bottom so has a little taper)   to give it something to hold onto , I didn't tap it right to the bottom as I didn't want oil creeping down the thread when hot . I also used a sanding belt by hand to sand the powder coat first and then Scotchbtite after to dull and smooth the sharp thread and cleaned it all before refitting .

        Torquing up the rocker bolts then didn't seen to want to click out as I've fibre washers on so started at 4nm and just left it at 6  as you could keep tightening till it rings the thread easily. The fibre washers are not really wide enough and I need something better but will do for now , I went a quick 7 miles and there was oil near each plug lead as before but I hope its just sweating out from the gasket which had a lot of oil on it we shall see.  My main goal is to get the engine bedded in this year , if it needs to come out after that in the winter  to fix issues so be it.

 

I did notice its a bit shunty at low speed , having never driven one before I dunno if they are all like that, heard it said these jetronic  pre-cat ones can be a bit like that  or the airflow meter has seem better days which it likely has .Ive another airflow meter , condition unknown but will leave this one on for now .

 

Try coming aff now ya barsteward lol .

Edited April 11 by Leslie green

[Leslie green 126]

The gear change was too tight after fitting new plastic bushes so as the rods were worn I fitted a Bakerbm quick shift plus new rods which have little locking spring clips , all this was a right faff to fit on ramps but it's on now and gear change is much lighter but I've just left it at standard throw for now , there seems a long throw from 2nd to 3rd compared to more modern cars but its's no big deal . I also fitted the rear badges and 8 little grommets in the passenger floor which would have let water in , these are bullet shaped originally but I just fitted standard ones .The gti doesn't use these holes if Id known at the time  id have welded em up lol. Waste of time putting heat paint on the manifold its all gone already ! Tightened up the manifold springs to reduce a blow in the exhaust but think its more at the back and the clamp I've fitted isn't the right size ,I think it was a 55mm one , tightened it up a little too and its a bit better .

     Once the rocker cover leak was fixed it seems the oil leaks have slowed a lot so I hope that continues ,done 180 miles now , had a quick bolt check today and all seems good and have ordered a spare tyre , will be here next week.Wheels are grey with brake dust as the pads start to bed in .

After the car came out the mot the steering wheel was way off centre having been aligned before it went in so I've straightened  it up again by moving a couple of splines , the sideways push/pull test  on the mot ramp is sore on them .

Edited April 24 by Leslie green

[Leslie green 126]

Looks like I bought a 69mm exhaust clamp of ebay which appears to be right for a phase 2 (genuine part number is 1713 56). should have really used some exhaust paste I guess  ...

[Leslie green 126]

Went to a car show today and car I thought at first was holding the handbrake on so I pulled in  and the rear discs were hot so I backed of the handbrake as there was way more weight in the car than usual , a few miles more and I puled in again and backed it right off as the car was still what seemed like lightly shunting constantly at 60 mph . I noticed since I filled the tank right up and put the spare on as well as putting a few tools in the boot the rear suspension has dropped right down and now even before anybody is in the back the wheel is tucked up in the arch as in the pic. There were 3 of us today and its far too low with passengers in the back and a full tank of fuel now .Before when sitting with half tank and no spare there was at least an inch between the tyre and arch. 

Are the rear discs usually hot after a drive I thought they did very little ? I thought the low height was pulling the cables but that may be nothing to do with it .

The handbrake is backed of completely at the minute and doing nothing but its still the same , the wheel isn't hot so I'm thinking its probably  fine. 

 

What could be the cause of this light shunting at a steady 60 mph , its not just at 60 mph but its more noticeably there and when pulling uphill , is it likely to be the fuel pump failing ? I was glad to get home today with 110 mile done as I've a feeling it won't be going much longer and its spoiled a nice day out .Maybe its the timing is off a bit I might tr moving that too incase its actually pinking although it seemed to be going fine before when I Was in myself .thinking its only really appeared since I filled up but may be coincidence .

Pic of the rear wheel ride height below , its now way too low and needs a more sensible height to carry passengers will possibly go back to standard .

 

 

Edited Sunday at 06:23 PM by Leslie green

[welshpug 1,678]

I guess all engine mounts are new, so its not the engine shunting back and forth, it may be a tired AFM flap spring allowing the flap to bounce at low throttle openings,

[Leslie green 126]

Yes all new but they are probably softer than original ones , I didn't get fast road ones as I didn't want a lot of vibration, I did notice though last night the 2 buffers now have a gap at the front one  only , I had spaced the rear to close any gap but with them settling the front has maybe a 2mm gap now ,no gap at the back .I have another AFM I might try it but I also want to get this high idle sorted so will block the rear of the sad off next time I get a chance to see if it needs replaced.

           Its really too annoying to drive now till I get something sorted ,just constant slight jerkiness that shakes your head a little at a steady speed on a smooth road at 50 to 60 mph ,like what a grabbing front caliper would feel like .

Edited Monday at 12:03 PM by Leslie green