Bought a MK2 GTI

[golfmeup]

Too funny Paul!
We have the Bangalow billy cart derby up here this Sunday. We entered a few years ago and still have the old cart hanging on the wall of our shed.
Would be laugh to pull it out for the races!

[sports racer]

On the way up to the Nationals I blew a head gasket. A can of radiator stop leak got me to Sydney and it lasted half way home. It took me 6 hours to get home, stopping at every servo and camping spot on the way to fill up with water.

So today off came the head and on went the new head gasket.





I'm surprised how clean it was inside. No carbon build up, no lip on the top of the bores and the valves look so clean you could eat off them. We found 2 head bolts that weren't tightened down and the old head gasket was a cheap and nasty one. Also, when it was fitted no-one bothered to clean the block or the head properly before fitting the head gasket.

All that has been fixed and the car is back on the road after 7 hours work.

[golfmeup]

Well saved Paul!
That could have been a messy one.
Those are nice clean valves.

[sports racer]

Everything inside the engine was in great condition. The cam looked like it was new and the cylinder bores were unmarked. If I had to guess the mileage I'd say well under 60,000 k's, not nearly triple that.

Must be something they put in the water here.

[sports racer]

Ticked over 340,000 k's last week.

Still going strong.

[golfmeup]

Happy birthday!
Your making mine feel like a toddler, last I looked mine still said around 205,000km

[sports racer]

Yours is just starting to wear in. I could tell you off for selling it but mine will be up for sale too, at the end of the year.

I'm going to use the wife's 98 Passat as my daily and use the money I get for the MK2 to get the MK1 back on the road as a weekend toy.

[sports racer]

My version of an arty shot, this is how we do it in the country. Might even clean the car next time.

[golfmeup]

Nice! I've only just started to remove the red dust from the interior on my gti
Lived up a dusty road for a few years and that stuff creeped up everywhere!

[sports racer]

I replaced the front shocks with standard VW ones yesterday. The SPAX sports springs are still in and the rear is still running Spax springs/shocks but now it corners well AND has a comfortable ride.

When I took out the Spax front shocks they were hard to compress, no wonder the car didn't like hitting bumps or rough roads. The standard VW shocks were easy to compress but hard to extend which makes sense. The standard suspension on family cars is usually setup soft so when the car hits a bump the shock compresses easily to soak up the bump. The shock controls the bump, the spring controls the body roll through corners.

Why can't manufacturers of cheap coilovers learn that the shock needs to be soft and the spring hard ???

[sports racer]

She's up to 345,000 ks now.

The suspension is pretty sweet. Soft enough to ride over the bumps but it can still be pushed hard through the corners without much body roll.

[sports racer]

I'm not a fan of wombats.





At least it was only superficial and easily fixed with Araldite.

While I was waiting for the glue to dry I checked out what's under the flares. Making sure there's nothing nasty hidden there.



Nice and original behind the door panels too. This one looks like it's never been off.

[golfmeup]

Ouch! Glad it wasn't too bad.
I'm guessing the wombat didn't fare as well?

[sports racer]

The poor guy didn't stand a chance.

[golfmeup]

How bright are your headlights Paul?
Sounds like you have plenty of wildlife on the roads down your way!