Yes, there is hope...
Today, I managed to fire up a 1987 Golf 1.6NA lump that I bought from a pick-your-part junkyard a few months ago. Usually, I steer clear of the motors at those ***-holes as they're usually wasted, but I made an exception for this one. I spun the crank by hand without the accessory belts on it, and it had amazing compression: you could feel the compression on each stroke as you spun the motor. I think I paid $125 for the motor and another $65 for the AOP 5-speed trans mounted to it.
When I brought it home last summer, I tried to start it on the floor of my garage with a quick 20 seconds to the glow plugs, and a squirt bottle of fuel hooked up to it. After about an hour of trying, I gave up: wondering if I was wrong about the compression. The ambient temp was about 85-90, but it didn't want to start. So, I put it away, and worked on other projects.
So today, I managed to finish a 1998 TDi I was working on, that had a blown head gasket; I finally got it out of the garage (I'll post an update on that if it all looks good: so far...). When I got it out, I swung out the 1.6 lump and replaced all the glow plugs with new ones. I checked the old ones: 3 out of 4 were bad. Hmmm, wonder why it didn' start before?
So, I hooked up a trans, and a starter and did a run thru. Then I remembered that I'm a total retard. When I tired to start it last time, I forgot about the stop solenoid. DUHHH!! So this time, I powered the stop solenoid, glowed the plugs for 15 sec, had my father-in-law hold a squirt bottle of dino-juice to the pump, and cranked it over with 2 batteries (one was half dead, and the starter was a gasser). She fired right up!!! It kinda rocked across the floor. After belching out a bit of smoke, like a lumbering bear waking from hibernation, the smoke cleared and I revved it up. The thing runs like a raped ape! (well, about as 'raped' as any 1.6 NA can be). After revving it up a bit, I let off the idle and she purred like a kitten. The neighbors will probably call the cops for the noise (straight manifold), but f*ck it; it runs.
Not bad for $150. I'm gonna clean it up, reseal the pump, change all of the accessible seals, and put it in a rust-free 1982 Caddy I bought a few months ago for $400. I'll be full pimping in the Metallic Gold Caddy LX in about a week, for only about $1000 after new parts, motor, 5-speed trans, and tires. I just thank god I don't have to do another head job (fingers crossed).
These sorta things never happen to me. I always hear the story from the guy who found a set of BBS RS01 rims at the -j-yard for $50, or the dude who scooped up a 1975 Swallowtail with 25k original miles that some granny owned and kept it garaged for 30 years, only to sell it to him for $50. This is not the best story, but a win nonetheless.
I'm so amped, I may actually try to fire up the 1985 1.6 TD lump I bought from the same yard about 2 years ago that's been sitting. It seems low on compression, but if I can confirm it runs, I'll feel alot better.
Anyway, I'm not looking for kudos: just wanted to share.
Feel free to share your best "score" story. It's part of the VW nut heritage.
Topic: A good day... Or, share your best "score" story. (Read 8334 times)
