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General Information => User's ride Wall => Topic started by: JBG3 on February 29, 2012, 03:38:41 pm
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Im having more questions as I start to use this car, so I figured id post a build thread with everything done so far and put my questions here
Previously I had owned an 85 Jetta 1.6 for about a year. I barely drove this, because I was careless in my inspection of the car before I bought it, and it was a complete death trap due to rust, as well as having some transmission issues. I bought it, towed it down to my house, drove it for a week, and parked it when the clutch went. The big plus side of this car is the engine ran excellent.
From then I was casually looking for a not completely rusted out shell to put the engine in and finally found one in a blown engine 1.6 powered 86 jetta.
This is the 85. This picture is very flattering, underneath it looked like the second pic. In the swap, I stripped this car of everything usable and all unrusted body panels, which consisted of one door, and the hood.
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/rustyjetta.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/rackremoval.jpg)
Cruising on vortex, I came across the 86-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/donorjetta2.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/donorjetta.jpg)
This car has some rust on the rockers near the rear, but nothing terrible yet. Locally there is an excellent rust place that may take care of this for me down the line. It wasn't too rusty, but instead, it was BEAT to **** by the PO.
I towed it home about 200 miles, and discovered that the whole front end was effectively wiped out, and damage underneath definitely pointed to the car being airborne.
The engine had also thrown a rod. My guess from looking at the oil sticker is that the car was being abused without being warmed up, and on top of that, there was a 12,000 mile discrepancy between the last oil change and current mileage. Basically, the kid didn't change the oil, revved the engine excessively, and blew it up needlessly. I also don't think it was even the original engine, so this car has some history. In my hands, it will know love once more. ;D
Here are some shots of the engine-
This is what I saw when I took a look at the car, don't think this engine was ever going to run again-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/blownengine1.jpg)
Pulled out and broke down the block-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/engineout.jpg)
found another hole behind the motor mount when I got that off, total of 3 holes in the block-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/blownengine2.jpg)
Here are some pics of the disassembled block. Path of destruction was a spun bearing, then thrown rod at #1 cylinder, which smacked into the shaft driving the vacuum pump, and pieces of that flew everywhere, blowing 3 large holes out.
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/spunbearing.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/blockdamage.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/parts.jpg)
The destruction was so violent that I decided that this block needed to become a coffee table. Still working on it, but shes painted and needs legs. Going to be pretty neat, a cautionary tale coffee table.
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/blockfinished1.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/blockfinished2.jpg)
After that, pulled the engine from the 85 and started cleaning up the bay in the 86-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/readyforengine.jpg)
I mated the 85 engine to the 86 5-speed with a new clutch, and rubber coated 95% of the engine bay
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/newclutch.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/enginebaycoated.jpg)
Engine back in after rubber coating, 3 new mounts as well-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/enginehoist.jpg)
The 86 engine had power steering and AC, both of which I deleted since the 85 has none. I used one of those little loops available from a member on vortex- Worked great
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/powersteeringbypass2.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/powersteeringbypass.jpg)
After the engine was in, before firing it up, I deleted the leaky prefilter from underneath-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/fuelthing.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/prefilterremoved.jpg)
And here are some pics of reassembling the front clip. I sourced a round headlight setup and emblemless grill from another vortex member. I like the looks of this
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/enginemounted.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/enginein.jpg)
After that, I hooked up everything, and spent some time moving over sections of the wiring harness from the 85 which I had saved. The 86 harness was completely torn up, there is still quite a bit of work to do to resolve continuing issues, but the basics have been properly hooked up.
Moving on from the engine, I next went through and replaced lower ball joints and front wheel bearings
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/newbearing.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/press1.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/cleanbore.jpg)
one of the wheel bearings was a real chore to deal with, was busted and broke apart, requiring over an hour of torching and smacking with a chisel to get the race off the flange-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/brokenbearing.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/torchbearing.jpg)
Also replaced outer tie rods which were also wiped out, and performed a basic alignment with a tape measure.
I adjusted the rear wheel bearings, and ended up having to replace the starter, and alternator, so both are new, but after that, she fired up and moved!
Some massive vibration problems were a really crappy exhaust repair that I replaced with a short section of pipe (this car is also missing all the heat shielding, I didn't save the rusted out stuff from the 85, so I need to get some more)-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/badrepair.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/jammedresonator.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/exhauststraight.jpg)
Used the exhaust clamp trick I read about on the forums to install the clips for the down pipe, worked great-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/exhaustclips.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/exhausthookedup.jpg)
The car has 4-bad shocks but ill be working on that later, and it needs strut bearings up front.
After this work though, it was a running driving car, I changed all the fluids, did a tune up, and have been driving it for a bit. I have a timing belt kit to also put in sooner rather than later.
here is how it currently looks-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/running1.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/running2.jpg)
It has 4 rusty steel wheels on it with snow tires, but when I picked up the 86, it has the teardrop rims heavily corroded and missing centercaps. I like the looks of these, so for summer wheels ill probably refinish these and put some good rubber on them-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/teardrops.jpg)
to bring us up to the present, as of last week, I removed and replaced the rear inner and outer wheel bearings, and will be upgrading the fuel filter
Major problems the car still has-
-No heat (priority one at the moment)
-No radio
-Still Mouse infestation issues (I removed 3 nests, and have thrown away a lot of interior stuff that was saturated. I still have to remove the dash and take out whats behind there)
-Massive water leak from the windshield right above the steering wheel
-Electric fan does not turn off
-Glow plugs only light on first start up, not after the car has been running within 2 hours (maybe by design? always starts)
-Paint is terrible
-driver door needs to be rehung, some accident in the past was repaired none to well, and it sits out a bit and hits the front fender when you open the door
-rocker rust issues
bunch of other stuff as I go along ill find im sure
Currently the car is broken down because the alternator setup keeps getting loose, it threw a belt and I parked it for the moment. It was getting loose every 500 miles or so. (i have put 2000 on the car since I got it running semi-reliably)
Hope to resolve at least the heat this weekend, but I love the economy of this car. Last fuel up it returned 44 mpg! which is better than the 17 I was getting in my work van on the same drive. ;D If I can get the alternator tension thing permanently fixed, it is very dependable so far
further updates as I continue to improve the car, any advice/opinions much appreciated!
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Did your belt wear due to pulleys not in alignment and jumped? Or did the alternator mount bolts actually loosened? Does your alternator belt squeal? That's a common problem with these cars because of the design. I replaced mine with a Gates Power Rated lawn mower belt and haven't had any squealing since.
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The alternator bolts loosened. The pulleys out of alignment don't seem to be a major issue with belt wear. I have a really poor quality reman alternator in there, think its been remanufactured a bunch of times. The threads on the lower mount tab of the alt are too worn out for the stock bolt to grab threads, so I ended up putting in a bolt, lock washer, and nut.
That tab just seems to have a slotted short piece of metal to bolt to. I want to rip the whole thing ou and put in some kind of better tensioning system. Its getting really annoying. Can I use something from some other vw year range?
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The A/C cars have a nice alt. belt tensioning system.
Tha alt. is mounted dead flat still - tensioning is done with an idler pulley on a cross bolt threaded rod.
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the power vs non power racks are geared different.. you really should use the 85 non power rack.. that "kit" is a joke IMO due to knowing this...
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I had a belt tensioning issue and made the leap to the AAZ serpentine belt setup. I spent $200 initially, 2 years ago and slowly refurbished the whole belt tensioning setup, inluding the tesioner, tensioner arm, crankshaft vibration dampner, clutched alternator pulley, new bushings and new seals. I recently bought a refurbished alternator somebody chucked into the junkyard. So in 2 years I spent about $500. A bit much? probably, but the chances of me getting stranded relating to the tensioner failure are reduced.
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the power vs non power racks are geared different.. you really should use the 85 non power rack.. that "kit" is a joke IMO due to knowing this...
Ironically, for the ratio reasons I initially was trying to get the non power rack out of the 85 to move to the 86, but every single bolt needed to be torched and cut out it was in pretty sorry shape to begin with, it became more trouble to remove than to just buy a whole new manual rack long term for 250 bucks that didn't need to be rebooted and refinished once I got it out.
I used the little loop in the interim for the 86, so far it hasn't really been much of a problem, or at least not near the problem I expected it to be. Its turned into a non issue, so ill probably leave the power rack in there. The loop doesn't really do much but keep dirt out of the rack IMO.
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The A/C cars have a nice alt. belt tensioning system.
Tha alt. is mounted dead flat still - tensioning is done with an idler pulley on a cross bolt threaded rod.
Good to know! Thanks! I have the bracketry from the 86 engine, and a spare dead 85 A/C engine, AND a spare running 81 non A/C engine. Ill check them all for parts I could use
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I had a belt tensioning issue and made the leap to the AAZ serpentine belt setup. I spent $200 initially, 2 years ago and slowly refurbished the whole belt tensioning setup, inluding the tesioner, tensioner arm, crankshaft vibration dampner, clutched alternator pulley, new bushings and new seals. I recently bought a refurbished alternator somebody chucked into the junkyard. So in 2 years I spent about $500. A bit much? probably, but the chances of me getting stranded relating to the tensioner failure are reduced.
500 bucks in two years and you weren't stranded by something as basic as belts. I call that cheap. ;D
do you have any pics or a thread on this? Ill do a search, would like to see how it worked out
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Look under the Faq section of the forum for serpentine setup on 1.6 diesel.
Now sourcing all the needed parts is a chore.
To make things simple The A3 and Early A4 1.9 Tdi's had the same serp setup which will bolt directly to the 1.6
*NOTE THE SERPENTINE SETUP OFF OF THE GAS VW'S WILL NOT WORK*
Now that being said, nothing beats new parts
VW parts place in michigan has brrand new tensioner brackets for $300.
AutohausA-z has the updated vibration dampner listed under 1996 passat TDI
ID-parts had the alternator pulley tool listed for A3/A4 alternator pulley removal
they also carry the bushings, tensioner arm, tensioner, and end seals if you go to refurbish a used alternator bracket
The waterpump pulley can be had off of a VR6 depending on the year, some require shimming with washers
And the 90 amp alternator can be pulled off of any A3 vw, gas or diesel.
The tensioner pulley can be had from the parts store of your choice under 1996 passat TDI
I almost forgot the most important part, the ratcheting alternator pulley. I purchased mine off of ebay, but I forget which seller I got it from. Do a search for clutched alternator pulley.
*edit* found it http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-ALTERNATOR-CLUTCH-PULLEY-BOSCH-VW-ALTERNATORS-/200295885792?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item2ea290abe0#ht_4739wt_754
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I could be wrong, but I believe that if you want to use the alternator belt tensioner from an AC equipped car, you have to install the AC compressor with it! If I were you, I'd engineer a simple belt tensioner on your AC less setup and be done with it. Whatever you do, DO NOT copy VW's tensioner. It is an extremely poor design that's proven to be a PITA (I know the one on my car is).
As to your glow plug issues, were you referring to the glow plug LED not working after the initial cold start or the glow plugs themselves?
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here is the tension setup on the 81 motor. This is basically whats on my motor in the 86, but its still way better. I could use this
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/81tensioner.jpg)
Heres whats on the A/C motor, I like the looks of this idler pulley way more, maybe I can figure a way to rig it up without the AC compressor
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/85actensioner.jpg)
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I could be wrong, but I believe that if you want to use the alternator belt tensioner from an AC equipped car, you have to install the AC compressor with it! If I were you, I'd engineer a simple belt tensioner on your AC less setup and be done with it. Whatever you do, DO NOT copy VW's tensioner. It is an extremely poor design that's proven to be a PITA (I know the one on my car is).
As to your glow plug issues, were you referring to the glow plug LED not working after the initial cold start or the glow plugs themselves?
would this be on the A/C motor pic? the poor design?
The glow plug thing is that when I first come out in the morning, the light lights for about 8-10 seconds, and the engine pops right off regardless of temp. Then later, when I arrive, park the car for a couple hours and its cooled down and come out, the light doesn't light, and I think the glow plugs are not lighting, because it takes longer for the car to start.
It never fails to start, and even when it take longer, its usually on the first crank, but they seem to not operate up to 5 hours after a shut off. Every other time, they operate. It may be by design, but I think I will direct wire the switch to a push button instead, I don't trust the wiring. The light also has a tendency to flicker in the rain, and light with the movement of the wipers.
When this happens, im not sure if its also lighting the glow plugs since the engine is also running
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If you already have another pulley setup, Just go with the setup from the 81....done.
The only reason I went with the serpentine setup was because at the time I was tired of shredded v-belts and it was the only thing I could locate parts for.
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Yep, that's the tensioner that won't keep the tension adjustment and squeals like a pig at every engine start. I've tried a few different brands, brand spanking new belts and had to adjust the belt tension on all of them every few days when the squeal would return, till the belt stretches out and there is no more adjustment and time for another belt (which was about a month or so for me). Problem with the design is the tensioner is on the inside of the belt. As the tensioner is adjusted, it pushes the belt away from the pulleys and makes less and less contact with the pulleys. The only way I was able to make that tensioner work was to use a Gates Power Rated lawnmower belt which is wider and does not stretch like the OEM belt. I've had the Power rated belt since last summer with about 5k miles and have not had to adjust the tension since the summer. The belt squeal at cold start is a thing of the past with the lawn mower belt.
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Sounds like you may have a bad coolant temp sender telling the car it's warm when it isn't. Check the resistance on it when cold.
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I've got three Mk2 Jetta DZLs - all with A/C and pwr str.
No probos with the belts.
And all my pullies are clean.
But have read of some folks having various troubles before.
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I've got three Mk2 Jetta DZLs - all with A/C and pwr str.
No probos with the belts.
And all my pullies are clean.
But have read of some folks having various troubles before.
Interesting, I think you are the only person on this forum that I've read about with no problems with their alternator belt tensioner an an AC/ pwr steering equipped MK II. My pulleys are fine- no grooves in them. I even deglazed them with sand paper which did not help (with the OEM spec belt). I tried a Continental, a Gatorback, a Dayco, they all squealed at every engine start for about 20 seconds winter or summer and needs constant tensioner tightening till the belt is stretched to the limit with no more adjustment possible. The Gates Power Rated lawn mower belt fixed all that.
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I don't know exactly for sure what determines which cars have the problem, and which ones don't. Haven't encountered it - and hope not to. But have certain theory.
Friend of mine also has two Mk2 Dzls that are both A/C but without Pwr Str.
Never had problems with belt squeel on them either.
Same arrangement on the tensioner.
I do all the service on them, so would have gotten a report about it.
I service a number of other Mk2 Dzls here and there for other folks also, everyone i have worked on has been A/C equipped at minimum.
No belt issues.
In my mind (whats left) i think the cars past has a lot to do with it.
Lack of care and being let go for long periods, bad belts and bad bearings/bushings being run into the ground previously, etc ...
When a spec belt squeels, but a wider belt that rides higher does not, there has to be compromise in the lower sections of belt grooves. Perhaps not detectable to naked eyes.
My daily is an 89 A/C P/S with about 375,000 miles on it.
If the design were at fault - this one probably should have faulted by now.
Not debating that you or others have had previous issues.
Maybe NC is an ideal habitat for pullies ... idunno
Your fix was a smart and cost effective method btw :)
Will try to keep that in memory in case the need ever arises.
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the gasser cars had the same belt layout, and tensioner setup, and NONE of those had issues..
ive owned lots of VWs with p/s and a/c, and none of them really gave me any issues so to speak.. it was a B!TC# to replace the alternator belt, but thats it..
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Sounds like you may have a bad coolant temp sender telling the car it's warm when it isn't. Check the resistance on it when cold.
im gonna check this out first thing, what should the cold resistance be? is this something i can find in the bentley?
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I purchased a new belt, and installed it to get the car someplace where I could take a better look at the belt setup, and it was WAY shorter than the belt that was on there. I moved the alternator almost 2 inches down to fit this new belt. Im thinking this belt problem was a wrong application V-belt from the beginning. It was on there when I got it, and looked pretty new with no cracks or anything, but was quite a bit longer than what turns out to have been the stock belt length.
Im going to take a better look at it tomorrow and make sure, but maybe I won't have this same problem.
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I purchased a new belt, and installed it to get the car someplace where I could take a better look at the belt setup, and it was WAY shorter than the belt that was on there. I moved the alternator almost 2 inches down to fit this new belt. Im thinking this belt problem was a wrong application V-belt from the beginning. It was on there when I got it, and looked pretty new with no cracks or anything, but was quite a bit longer than what turns out to have been the stock belt length.
Im going to take a better look at it tomorrow and make sure, but maybe I won't have this same problem.
It loosened AGAIN. I drove the car about 30 miles since putting on the new belt, and it had visibly loosened! Just to clarify, im not undertightening these bolts, im getting close to shearing them off im applying so much force!
This upcoming week, I have to make another business trip, so I tried to solve the problem this morning. First thing I did was increase the idle speed a bit, trying to get rid of idle vibration that might be contributing.
Then I made a tensioner with the pulley tensioner bolts from the A/C parts motor.
Here are a few pics-
this is the original steel tab that the alternator keeps sliding on and off with the A/C tensioner bolts-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/005.jpg)
And the little tensioner doohickey I welded up-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/008.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/006.jpg)
And heres a before and after with the tensioner-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/004.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/009.jpg)
And how it looks with the alternator installed, bolt had pretty decent access-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/020.jpg)
If it loosens after rigging that up, ill be amazed, but ill keep my eye on it, I no longer trust this simple belt setup. ;D I also while doing this dealt with a misaligned water pump pulley, so hopefully, im done with v belt problems for the moment! fingers crossed!
Also this morning, I upgraded the fuel filter with a Racor 500FG toploader water separator. Last week I had clogged the original fuel filter, and had to rig up an emergency replacement to get home. heres a before and after. (also did another coat of rubber coating, I love that stuff).
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/fuelfilters1.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/022.jpg)
The car should be ready for this weeks business trip! I still have to fix the heat and get a radio in there though, one or the other needs to be done pretty soon.
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Nice job! I am glad you made your own simple tensioner (that works) instead of the VW Mickey Mouse tensioner. ;D
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Nice job! I am glad you made your own simple tensioner (that works) instead of the VW Mickey Mouse tensioner. ;D
Thanks! 80 miles since doing it, and its still nice and tight, so tentatively, im calling that little issue resolved! ;D
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Sounds like you may have a bad coolant temp sender telling the car it's warm when it isn't. Check the resistance on it when cold.
Thanks for this post!
I didn't have a volt meter with me, but I did a quick experiment. When the car was sitting after being driven a couple hours before, and after it cooled down, I pulled the temp lead from the end of the head, and the glow plugs started working every time I turned the key! I plugged it back in, and they stopped. I left it disconnected for now, but that sensor must definitely be bad. Engine was stone cold.
I thought this might affect my fan coming on, but that still does that, so it must be more of a wiring issue behind the dash I have to trace.
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Make sure you don't have ac turned on which would put fans on constant . On my 92, extreme right position of ac slider knob also put the fans on constantly. Only the position immediately left of extreme right are the fans not constantly on. Not sure if this is correct or not but that's the way my car behaves.
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Sounds like you may have a bad coolant temp sender telling the car it's warm when it isn't. Check the resistance on it when cold.
Thanks for this post!
I didn't have a volt meter with me, but I did a quick experiment. When the car was sitting after being driven a couple hours before, and after it cooled down, I pulled the temp lead from the end of the head, and the glow plugs started working every time I turned the key! I plugged it back in, and they stopped. I left it disconnected for now, but that sensor must definitely be bad. Engine was stone cold.
I thought this might affect my fan coming on, but that still does that, so it must be more of a wiring issue behind the dash I have to trace.
There's 3 separate temperature sensors (4 if your car has AC)
- Glow plug sensor (the one you disconnected)
- Gauge sensor (for the dash gauge)
- Rad fan sensor (in the radiator itself)
- AC 'overheat' cutoff (cuts off the AC if the car is running too hot)
So the glow plug sensor being disconnected won't be related to the fan at all. There's actually no wiring in the dash whatsoever related to the rad fan on non-AC cars, I don't THINK there is on AC-equipped cars but I can't say from personal experience as I don't have one.
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My belt got to the point where it cracked from being continuously tightened. V belts are simple, but a pain in the royal arse when they keep looseneing up..... If this still does not fix your problem find another complete set off pulleys + alternator
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more problems with this alternator, but this time not a tensioning issue. The alternator has started to make an absolutely horrible noise, I think a bearing is going. What a crappy reman, this is about 3500 miles of service before failure. Its still charging, but I don't dare go any distance without actually resolving this and replacing the unit.
This car can't really get any simpler, this is becoming extremely irritating to continue to have problems with one of the two aux loads, water pump and alt. ::)
Some improvements on the way, my summer teardrop rims should be almost done with powdercoading, and that should bump up how the car looks quite a bit, and I finally pulled the dash and replaced it.
I found lots of mouse nesting issues, and for the first time ever, the car doesn't smell! This is a milestone event, it actually smells pretty decent now.
Additionally I have uncovered the climate control door issue on the Mk2 where all the foam is gone, and the perforated redirect doors are exposed. There appear to be two doors, one much further in that I may have to pull the entire unit and take it completely apart in order to get the heat working properly. (not that I need it any more, but i want to get this resolved so I can put the dash in permanently afterwords, right now its tentative.
Has anyone dealt with the climate doors, how did you resolve it? I was reading about people using duct tape and flashing, but I want to do this nice and permanent
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I went through 2 alternators from autozone and finally went to a different supplier and got a genuine Bosch unit that is still running.
Most heater door repairs I see involve new foam glued on. I did the heavy aluminum tape but something has gone awry.
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the power vs non power racks are geared different.. you really should use the 85 non power rack.. that "kit" is a joke IMO due to knowing this...
don't knock it til you try it. I put one on and I love it.
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so some developments recently, I dealt with the alternator problem. FYI, if anyone is shopping for an alternator and reads this, id avoid the "OEM" brand reman. It lasted barely 3500 miles, and what happened was a plate on the inside of the casting sheared off from what I assume were substandard or poorly installed screws (both broken or gone), and the plate was rattling around bouncing off the spinning rotor making a terrible racket. On top of this, the bearing was also loose, so that was failing as well. Just a piece of crap all around.
I installed a genuine Bosch reman, and its been fine, though I have to now rework my tensioner setup, as that depended on the large crappy non threaded hole in the "OEM" brand reman alternator, not the nice threaded hole on the Bosch unit. I don't really want to drill out the hole on the bosch unit, seeing as how much nicer it is overall.
next I got my teardrop rims back the other day. Unfortunately, the powdercoater messed up, and did them all gloss black instead of the light silver we discussed. I don't know how he made this mistake, but since he cut me a super deal, I decided to just take them back anyway and see how I liked them.
these are the rims pre refinishing-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/teardropspredone.jpg)
and heres a close up of what he did. Oops.
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/blackteardrops.jpg)
I put them on the car, and Im not too hot on how this looked. Its militant, but not really the style i go for, plus the black completely eliminates the features of the rim I like-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/blackrims.jpg)
So then as part of damage control I decided to paint a silver stripe, which I think looks way better and I kind of like, but I may repaint the whole rim long term. What do you all think? Its not the look I was going to go for, but given the powdercoating mistake, takes advantage of the black
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/rimswithstripes.jpg)
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The stripe is much better IMO . Is it possible to go mask into each "tear" and paint them?
Too bad there aren't 9 holes. I would paint a red, yellow and blue and get a neat color wheel blur... ;D
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The stripe is much better IMO . Is it possible to go mask into each "tear" and paint them?
x2
Yeah, the silver band is a lot better. Myself I would just leave it at the band and not go after the tears, but that's just me.
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the power vs non power racks are geared different.. you really should use the 85 non power rack.. that "kit" is a joke IMO due to knowing this...
don't knock it til you try it. I put one on and I love it.
using a power rack without power is a JOKE..
dont knock it till you try it.. the manual rack is 1000x easier to drive..
a power rack without power, is atleast 2x harder to turn at low speeds. and you feel LOTS of road vibrations thru the power rack without power, over the manual rack. i swear that a power rack gives you more feeling of the road when its used manually.. its smooth as silk when its got a hydro pump hooked up to it tho!
anyways, yes, the power steering rack loop is a JOKE.. thats taking the easy way out. VW sub frames are EASY to drop, it takes like an hour to replace a steering rack..
youve never driven a mk2 VW with manual steering have you? not surprising, being as how RARE it is to find a mk2 with full manual (not a deleted p/s pump, reservoir, and lines...
anyways, the manual rack is LEAPS AND BOUNDS better than a power rack being used as manual..
the power rack takes like 3.2 turns, from lock to lock..
the manual rack takes ~4 turns to go from lock to lock..
there IS AN ADVANTAGE (especially at low speeds and in parking lots) of having a manual steering rack.
myself personally, i like mk2s better with manual steering, over the power steering.. i prefer the way they drive, and the lack of clutter under the hood..
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using a power rack without power is a JOKE..
dont knock it till you try it.. the manual rack is 1000x easier to drive..
a power rack without power, is atleast 2x harder to turn at low speeds. and you feel LOTS of road vibrations thru the power rack without power, over the manual rack. i swear that a power rack gives you more feeling of the road when its used manually.. its smooth as silk when its got a hydro pump hooked up to it tho!
anyways, yes, the power steering rack loop is a JOKE.. thats taking the easy way out. VW sub frames are EASY to drop, it takes like an hour to replace a steering rack..
youve never driven a mk2 VW with manual steering have you? not surprising, being as how RARE it is to find a mk2 with full manual (not a deleted p/s pump, reservoir, and lines...
anyways, the manual rack is LEAPS AND BOUNDS better than a power rack being used as manual..
the power rack takes like 3.2 turns, from lock to lock..
the manual rack takes ~4 turns to go from lock to lock..
there IS AN ADVANTAGE (especially at low speeds and in parking lots) of having a manual steering rack.
myself personally, i like mk2s better with manual steering, over the power steering.. i prefer the way they drive, and the lack of clutter under the hood..
Provided its not a rusty car or truck. ;D Ive spent 5 hours removing things held on by 4 bolts when I used to work fleet service in upstate NY. May be simple theoretically, but this car came out of central NY, so its got some corrosion, which it why I fired the little loop on there instead. (have plans for that later)
The manual racks are pretty cheap too, I think long term ill get one. Personally though, I haven't really had any problem with this rack currently in this car, apart from a tendency to sort of 'lock' at either end of travel. Is this common with the bastardized power racks?
Ive had no problems turning it, but my GF can't park this car, so long term, in order for her to use it occasionally, ill switch to something she can use
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well, time for some serious rust repair. week after next, im having the floors and rockers patched up, and the whole underside of the car sandblasted, and undercoated with some heavy stuff. I decided to dump money saved on fuel for the last couple months directly into this car.
If I fix the rust now, it will potentially be very solid and in good shape for years and years, but if I let it go and just drive it, this car will rot away by next year. Its right on that edge.
I removed the 4 fender flares and found lots more rot, so decided to drop it off earlier than I expected to just get it taken care of.
In preparation, i will be pulling the entire interior, maybe the fuel tank, and maybe the exhaust. (this is so they can get up into those areas to sandblast with no problem. Ill post some pics of what I found under the fender flares a little later, after this, those things arent going back on. All they do is kill the fender.
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using a power rack without power is a JOKE..
dont knock it till you try it.. the manual rack is 1000x easier to drive..
a power rack without power, is atleast 2x harder to turn at low speeds. and you feel LOTS of road vibrations thru the power rack without power, over the manual rack. i swear that a power rack gives you more feeling of the road when its used manually.. its smooth as silk when its got a hydro pump hooked up to it tho!
anyways, yes, the power steering rack loop is a JOKE.. thats taking the easy way out. VW sub frames are EASY to drop, it takes like an hour to replace a steering rack..
youve never driven a mk2 VW with manual steering have you? not surprising, being as how RARE it is to find a mk2 with full manual (not a deleted p/s pump, reservoir, and lines...
anyways, the manual rack is LEAPS AND BOUNDS better than a power rack being used as manual..
the power rack takes like 3.2 turns, from lock to lock..
the manual rack takes ~4 turns to go from lock to lock..
there IS AN ADVANTAGE (especially at low speeds and in parking lots) of having a manual steering rack.
myself personally, i like mk2s better with manual steering, over the power steering.. i prefer the way they drive, and the lack of clutter under the hood..
Provided its not a rusty car or truck. ;D Ive spent 5 hours removing things held on by 4 bolts when I used to work fleet service in upstate NY. May be simple theoretically, but this car came out of central NY, so its got some corrosion, which it why I fired the little loop on there instead. (have plans for that later)
The manual racks are pretty cheap too, I think long term ill get one. Personally though, I haven't really had any problem with this rack currently in this car, apart from a tendency to sort of 'lock' at either end of travel. Is this common with the bastardized power racks?
Ive had no problems turning it, but my GF can't park this car, so long term, in order for her to use it occasionally, ill switch to something she can use
if it LOCKS at full turn (left and right) then its gonna start internally binding up. i believe tyler had a power rack do that to him also..
i believe its not going to get better..
if i were you, i would get the manual rack, u-joint, and boot and just convert it.. the effort involved to steer the bastard power rack is roughly 100% more than the effort it takes to turn the manual rack.. non-stock width tires makes this ALOT WORSE. if you are just running some 155/80/13 tires, then its probably not gonna make a bunch of difference, but stock size, or bigger tires makes it alot harder to steer..
power racks are not bad to drive, unless you wanna parallel park, turn around, back up, whatever.. they SUCK @$$ at low speeds..
the power rack is 20% faster than the manual rack.. 3.2 turns, vs 4 turns from lock to lock on the manual rack. even full on manual steering may be to much for your girlfriend.. it takes substantial effort to turn still.. my cousins girlfriend always says my car is hard to steer when you are going slow, or almost stopped.. its just a manual steering thing.
if it needs to be FRIENDLY to the girl friend, then just hook your power steering back up. its really not as much of a power robber as people think. myself personally, i was GOING to swap in a manual rack into my 92 Jetta, or else loop the lines.. then i actually hooked the power steering all the way up, so it functioned, and HOLY CRAP, the car drove SOO MUCH NICER..
one thing about a power rack with no power, is you FEEL EVERY SINGLE PEBBLE ON THE ROAD.. the power rack has TOO MUCH feedback for my tastes, without power to it..
your car would drive 100% easier, and SMOOTHER with the power steering hooked up. you wouldnt notice a mileage or power decrease either..
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I dont have the original engine, so no power steering pump and or parts. This engine is out of a manual steering 85 and is as basic as they come. I also want to keep it manual, after all, its my car. ;D I would like her to be able to drive it, but she will have a new car probably pretty soon, so I doubt that will happen that often in the near future.
ive got the stock tires on, its not bad for highway, but you are right, there is some major feedback going on.
That will probably be the next expenditure, after the rust work. I also have some front shocks and springs to install soon.
I am concerned about the internal binding potential issue, did his steering just lock in one position at one point? or did it just get harder and harder to do? did he write a thread on it?
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I dont have the original engine, so no power steering pump and or parts. This engine is out of a manual steering 85 and is as basic as they come. I also want to keep it manual, after all, its my car. ;D I would like her to be able to drive it, but she will have a new car probably pretty soon, so I doubt that will happen that often in the near future.
ive got the stock tires on, its not bad for highway, but you are right, there is some major feedback going on.
That will probably be the next expenditure, after the rust work. I also have some front shocks and springs to install soon.
I am concerned about the internal binding potential issue, did his steering just lock in one position at one point? or did it just get harder and harder to do? did he write a thread on it?
i dont believe it locked completely going down the road, but it got bad enough that he swapped the rack before it got un-safe. i believe it was on his moms car? was your rack left with the lines disconnected, and open to the elements at all, or has it always had the looped lines since you removed the power steering? if it was exposed for any period of time, then thats why its locking up internally..
and uh, its REALLY NOT HARD to add power steering to a car. its got the rack, thats the hardest part to install.
either hook your rack up to power, or go full manual. you WILL NOT REGRET either solution, but i guarantee YOU WOULD LOVE driving that car with power steering, being that you have a substantial amount of time spent driving it.. it turns it into a night-and-day different driving car..
i still say you would like power better, cause i KNOW i liked power steering better, and i am a DIE HARD manual/mechanical everything freak..
the power steering is the ONLY THING i run on my cars that is not necessarily a requirement for operation..
it doesnt matter if the engine came from an 85 with no power steering, the block has the provisions, and you can use a gasser power steering pump, and 16v power steering pulleys.. it all lines up correct. i have an 81 Vanagon engine in my 92 Jetta, and i have power steering hooked up no problem.. bolted the gasser p/s pump to a modified gasser p/s bracket, bolted the 16v pulleys to the pump and engine, and then put the belt on. damn it works nice. doesnt rob any power either, surprisingly. it was WELL WORTH IT. and my original plan was to go with a full manual rack, being that i have a spare..
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i dont believe it locked completely going down the road, but it got bad enough that he swapped the rack before it got un-safe. i believe it was on his moms car? was your rack left with the lines disconnected, and open to the elements at all, or has it always had the looped lines since you removed the power steering? if it was exposed for any period of time, then thats why its locking up internally..
and uh, its REALLY NOT HARD to add power steering to a car. its got the rack, thats the hardest part to install.
either hook your rack up to power, or go full manual. you WILL NOT REGRET either solution, but i guarantee YOU WOULD LOVE driving that car with power steering, being that you have a substantial amount of time spent driving it.. it turns it into a night-and-day different driving car..
i still say you would like power better, cause i KNOW i liked power steering better, and i am a DIE HARD manual/mechanical everything freak..
the power steering is the ONLY THING i run on my cars that is not necessarily a requirement for operation..
it doesnt matter if the engine came from an 85 with no power steering, the block has the provisions, and you can use a gasser power steering pump, and 16v power steering pulleys.. it all lines up correct. i have an 81 Vanagon engine in my 92 Jetta, and i have power steering hooked up no problem.. bolted the gasser p/s pump to a modified gasser p/s bracket, bolted the 16v pulleys to the pump and engine, and then put the belt on. damn it works nice. doesnt rob any power either, surprisingly. it was WELL WORTH IT. and my original plan was to go with a full manual rack, being that i have a spare..
Who said it was hard? I want to keep it manual for purposes of simplicity. I like one belt driving the alternator/water pump and thats it. A manual rack/bastardardized auto rack is maintenance free. That is my goal with this car, unbreakable, low maintenance.
As I said earlier, the steering has really been a non issue. I might swap in a real manual rack because of the sticking issue being a concern, but not because of the steering itself, which I have not had a problem with.
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i dont believe it locked completely going down the road, but it got bad enough that he swapped the rack before it got un-safe. i believe it was on his moms car? was your rack left with the lines disconnected, and open to the elements at all, or has it always had the looped lines since you removed the power steering? if it was exposed for any period of time, then thats why its locking up internally..
and uh, its REALLY NOT HARD to add power steering to a car. its got the rack, thats the hardest part to install.
either hook your rack up to power, or go full manual. you WILL NOT REGRET either solution, but i guarantee YOU WOULD LOVE driving that car with power steering, being that you have a substantial amount of time spent driving it.. it turns it into a night-and-day different driving car..
i still say you would like power better, cause i KNOW i liked power steering better, and i am a DIE HARD manual/mechanical everything freak..
the power steering is the ONLY THING i run on my cars that is not necessarily a requirement for operation..
it doesnt matter if the engine came from an 85 with no power steering, the block has the provisions, and you can use a gasser power steering pump, and 16v power steering pulleys.. it all lines up correct. i have an 81 Vanagon engine in my 92 Jetta, and i have power steering hooked up no problem.. bolted the gasser p/s pump to a modified gasser p/s bracket, bolted the 16v pulleys to the pump and engine, and then put the belt on. damn it works nice. doesnt rob any power either, surprisingly. it was WELL WORTH IT. and my original plan was to go with a full manual rack, being that i have a spare..
Who said it was hard? I want to keep it manual for purposes of simplicity. I like one belt driving the alternator/water pump and thats it. A manual rack/bastardardized auto rack is maintenance free. That is my goal with this car, unbreakable, low maintenance.
As I said earlier, the steering has really been a non issue. I might swap in a real manual rack because of the sticking issue being a concern, but not because of the steering itself, which I have not had a problem with.
you WILL NOT regret swapping in a manual rack..
another thing, power steering operates on ITS OWN belt, not off the alternator/water pump belt..
so, you get to keep the simplicity of your existing setup, all you need to do, is add the crank pulley for power steering, and hook everything up.. existing belts/routing do NOT change.. least on my setup they didnt. im running a mk1 rabbit accessory drive system, and its got mk2 power steering hooked up to it without issues, looks OEM.
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you WILL NOT regret swapping in a manual rack..
another thing, power steering operates on ITS OWN belt, not off the alternator/water pump belt..
so, you get to keep the simplicity of your existing setup, all you need to do, is add the crank pulley for power steering, and hook everything up.. existing belts/routing do NOT change.. least on my setup they didnt. im running a mk1 rabbit accessory drive system, and its got mk2 power steering hooked up to it without issues, looks OEM.
you misunderstand, I like having the ONE belt, not two accessory belts. Thats what I meant. I understand what it would take to install power steering, but if I could have no accessory belts, Id do it. ;D
Right now, the engine is as stripped down as it really can be and still run. The steering otherwise is generally a non issue. No doubt it will be better, but its fine now also.
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so the jetta is down having patches welded to it!
heres a few pics-
First, I stripped the entire interior to expose the rusted out floor pans, not as bad as I thought, worst is drivers pan-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/jetta1.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/jetta2.jpg)
Here is some of the rocker damage-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/jetta5.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/jetta10.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/jetta6.jpg)
And the most interesting hole, right behind the fuel fill. I dropped and removed the fuel tank so this could be repaired in the trunk. Also this exposes the body metal to a full undercoating. Whats happening is this place is sandblasting the bottom of the car, welding in patches for all the holes, and rubbercoating the whole underside.
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/jetta8.jpg)
off it goes! Ill see it in maybe a couple weeks ;D
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/jetta11.jpg)
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Nice you are saving it from eventual rust death. Did you get a quote for the sandblasting, welding and undercoating? What material(s) will they be using for the undercoat?
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Nice you are saving it from eventual rust death. Did you get a quote for the sandblasting, welding and undercoating? What material(s) will they be using for the undercoat?
the blasting and coating is a 500 dollar service, welding in patches will probably cost me another couple hundred bucks. I expect this adventure to be around or just under about a thousand bucks. Worth it to me since ive already saved more than 600 bucks in fuel costs driving this car over the last couple months. Ive been saving that up for rust repair.
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On my 86 I bought a welder for 800 and did it myself. The ease and timeframe are TONS better the route you are going. My only benefit is that I still have the welder. I also had to weld in the floors from front to back on the drivers side and the knock outs on the passenger. Yours is looking good.
I am so glad you are not just throwing the car out and scrapping it in favor of one more clean. IMHO too many people are doing that today.
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On my 86 I bought a welder for 800 and did it myself. The ease and timeframe are TONS better the route you are going. My only benefit is that I still have the welder. I also had to weld in the floors from front to back on the drivers side and the knock outs on the passenger. Yours is looking good.
I am so glad you are not just throwing the car out and scrapping it in favor of one more clean. IMHO too many people are doing that today.
Thats what I did with an 81 mercedes a while back. I welded over 40 patches to just the driver side with a fisher-price brand wire feed welder from HF ;D, and eventually lost steam leaving a huge hole for months on the passenger side. Fortunately, I crashed that car and twisted the subframe before I had to finish the project
Excited about having it done, worth it to me to just spend the money and be done with it, then I can rubbercoat and paint inside surface with rust converter. You should have seen what I pulled out of the driver floor, it was a rubber house entrance mat, a sheet of galvanized steel over that, all glued down, and then someone had actually laid down some expensive dynamat over this ridiculous hack!
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got some front fenders in the mail! ;D
Both front fenders are the car are rusted and dented, one or the other it would be worth fixing, but not both, and the rust is pretty bad. Some nice replacement fenders out of the midwest, minimal rust-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/fenders.jpg)
also check this out-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/enginepiece.jpg)
When I pulled the rear bumper for the rust work, this piece fell out. Its a section of cast iron from the front of the original 1.6D that the PO blew up in this car. Amazingly, it must have bounced or something when the engine blew, and caught up in the rear bumper, it was just sitting there!
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where I am from those look like clean fenders
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where I am from those look like clean fenders
me too, those are the replacements. A little sanding and body work, and it will look mint. Heres the passenger fender on the car itself (I left them on in case the rust guys needed the shape)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/fenderflarerot.jpg)
They are rusty, and up front pretty dented up. Ill probably keep them as spare sheet metal though
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just got a call, the car is done!
Ill be able to pick it up some time next week (out of town)
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well, im pretty pleased with how it turned out. ;D
here are some comparison pics-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/jetta10.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/008-1.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/jetta4.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/003.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/jetta5.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0042.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/jetta2.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/001.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/jetta9.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0072.jpg)
and a few pics of how the undercoating looks. Dam thing looks brand new underneath. I will wait a couple days for the undercoating to fully set I think, then put her back together. I have to order a bunch of stuff for the interior too. Gonna be a slick ride eventually
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/009-1.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0052.jpg)
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Question- is there some kind of trick to removing the front bumper so I can pull the fenders? Seems not clear, and the bentley seems a little unclear too on this. Clearly I'm missing something obvious
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so some updates.
I have new insulation, and carpeting coming for the interior, then I can start putting things back in.
I did reinstall the fuel tank and driver seat so I could actually move it around, but after driving it about 80 miles, suddenly my clutch pedal started returning to about 6 inches above normal.
The transmission clutch lever is still in the correct place, something has popped off in the pedal assembly, and its more than a little wobbly now. Pretty much undrivable
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/003-1.jpg)
Next on the list was to pull the dash back out, and pull the climate control so I could recover the heater direct doors, and remove the A/C components from inside. When I do that, I can probably do something about whatever the heck happened with the pedal
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also some updates on the driver door sitting 1/4 inch further out than correct which I don't think I mentioned in the thread. Its interesting how when you start digging in these cars, all the little secrets come out, every little shoddy repair is exposed to the light of day. ;D
So ive never done a vin run on carfax, but i might to see out of curiosity. I already knew that this car had been wrecked, but the extent I did not. My next door neighbor is a body guy, and he was looking over the car trying to see whats going on with door.
What happened is a crappy repair job after whatever accident, they overextended the A-pillar when they were pulling it out, and did not fix it properly, or correctly. ::)
What I need to do is find the A pillar external skin from a donor car, cut out whats in there, and weld it in how it should correctly be, then the door will probably close properly. Pretty major repair though, it will have to wait for now. Going to be long term if I want to do it.
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figured the clutch problem out, the clip was from the end of the pivot shaft that both the clutch pedal and brake pedal turn on. That shaft seems horribly worn, with the clip reinstalled, there is still major wobble, so I will have to take it apart and see what can be done.
my carpeting arrived in the mail today-
before and after- still waiting on the insulation though, then i can start reinstalling the interior. Ive put over 300 miles on the car with just a driver seat, and it would be nice to hear again, and have kids stop laughing at me. ;D
out of the box, directions say to let it sit for a while on the old carpet so it can regain its shape from being crushed by shipping. Looks like some trimming and fitting will have to be done, but its a quality product, for 120 bucks, im pretty pleased.
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0022.jpg)
old one-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/003-2.jpg)
compared-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/004-1.jpg)
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Are the carpets new, new or used new? Hard to tell from the pic. Who sells new carpeting?
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Are the carpets new, new or used new? Hard to tell from the pic. Who sells new carpeting?
brand new aftermarket, lots of color options too
-http://www.stockinteriors.com/
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Are the carpets new, new or used new? Hard to tell from the pic. Who sells new carpeting?
brand new aftermarket, lots of color options too
-http://www.stockinteriors.com/
Nice! I may go for one if I decide to do some body work and paint mine.
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so ive decided that whatever I was going to spend on paint im going to spend on fixing this driver door. Its just one of those things, endlessly annoying. ;D
heres the problem in more detail-
the door as a whole sits this much further out-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/001-1.jpg)
This does two things, way more wind noise, and the door hits the front fender all the time, causing rust and noise.
this is why-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/002-2.jpg)
good side for comparison-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0033.jpg)
It was overextended, we are going to try the simplest solution first, which is pull off the door, bash the A pillar with a sledge, remount the door and see if it lines up, rinse and repeat until it looks right, and then reinforce the A pillar to make sure.
The way to properly repair this says my body guy neighbor is to take the exterior A pillar skin from a donor car for the whole hinge area, and push in the interior skin to match this donor, weld in, and refinish. Problem is no donors in the yards near us, and i don't want to buy a whole parts car to cut up from somewhere there there are cars in the yards.
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door repair this week. its amazing how used to driving around an interiorless shell you can get. Ive put thousands and thousands of miles on this car with it as stripped down as a track car, this week im handing it over to my neighbor to see what kind of magic he can work on realigning the drivers door, and getting my replacement fenders on.
Also, im going back to the original front clip headlights, after months of using the rounds, the coverage in comparison is just not as good. I need better night visibility.
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replacement fenders almost ready. antenna hole has been patched. They were a little rough, but now almost in primer
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0022-3.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0013-2.jpg)
also, I saved the grey hood from my original 85 jetta since it was in good shape, and ill be installing that on the 86 as well. The 86 hood has a crease about 8 inches back, that in discussion is an extremely hard to repair issue, especially with a good replacement just at hand.
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/005-2.jpg)
hopefully by the end of the week, ill have rust free straight fenders, a new hood, and a door that lines up, all finished up and in primer on the car. Next step will be resolving issues with the windshield, then after that, the car can be painted! will be some time before I have the cash saved up for that though, but getting there
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well, im pretty pleased with how it turned out, that much closer to painting the whole thing.
New fenders are on and primered-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0013.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/005-1.jpg)
hood is on off my old car, and cleaned up. (it turned out to have been repaired, and had a few issues, but now its great)-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/004-2.jpg)
A pillar is repaired-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/003-3.jpg)
and the door lines up beautifully with the front fender now, this worked out nicely. It required some trimming and shimming, and a custom fitting of the fender, but all the gaps turned out very nice
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0022-1.jpg)
And im happy about my antenna delete. I also got rid of the front spoiler, and since I didn't have any for the driver side, ill be getting rid of the little piece of lower trim for the front fenders. I don't think its really necessary personally
heres the before and after on the antenna-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/006-1.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/007-1.jpg)
-
some big repairs taken care of-
New timing belt
new water pump inner and outer
lower rad hoses and all related lower coolant hoses, 4 in total
Refilled with correct G-whatnot coolant
Also had the valves readjusted, had original shims, so all redone.
Thing runs absolutely great now, excited to see what it can do for fuel economy now that a lot of tune up stuff is done
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uh oh, just pulled the windshield, and a plus side is it came out without cracking, despite buying a new one, so now I have a spare, but ive got the typical mk2 rust problems underneath. Pics a little later, trying to clear out my garage to get it inside.
EDIT-
some pics-
The windshield on my work van was also busted, so had a window guy come by and in about 30 seconds, he got this windshield out without damage as a discounted service deal to do both windshields.
after cutting around-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0022-4.jpg)
lifted out-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/003-6.jpg)
all the rust problems revealed, its pretty nasty all around, but worst right in front of the driver. few holes through the panel-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/005-4.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/004-5.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/006-3.jpg)
next im sending it back next door to the body guy to repair the damage before installing a new windshield and seal.
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Working your way through the faults. Good to see! :)
Be great when finished.
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The windshield that came off does not look like an OE windshield. If so, maybe the rust underneath is due to a bad windshield job?
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Working your way through the faults. Good to see! :)
Be great when finished.
yeah, I can't wait till I have the cash saved up to paint it. :) After this windshield job, ill start putting the interior back together and actually do something about the heat. (which I never fixed)
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The windshield that came off does not look like an OE windshield. If so, maybe the rust underneath is due to a bad windshield job?
its definitely a replacement, no doubt thats exactly what happened.
Im sure they just installed it over existing rust, and things just got worse. The same situation that could have happened with my van, which was showing initial rust bubbles all along the windshield edge, and I stopped the windshield assembly to have that taken care of first on both vehicles, the jetta is next in line after the van is de rusted, repaired, and painted ready for its replacement glass. I kind of need that thing yesterday, I inadvertently made my work van useless for half the week.
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Is the windshield glued in on the 86? How did the glass guy remove it in 30 seconds? What tools did he use? Did you buy an OE replacement windshield or after market and does it make any difference as far as fit? What did the replacement cost?
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Is the windshield glued in on the 86? How did the glass guy remove it in 30 seconds? What tools did he use? Did you buy an OE replacement windshield or after market and does it make any difference as far as fit? What did the replacement cost?
the one that he removed was definitely glued in, not sure what OE was like. He had a 14 inch tool with a wicked looking curved blade on it, ran it right around the window like cutting through butter, and then pushed it out. It was amazing.
I bought an aftermarket, only one I could find locally, cost me 170 bucks, and its a brand XYG.HK, and part number FW 542 GBN. Seems to fit perfectly, comes with a new already attached seal, though it appears to me like the seal is mostly for looks, and its designed to be glued into place.
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Did you take a pic of the tool? Seems like it would make an exc. stealth burglery tool. 30 sec to get in w/o shattering glass.
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Did you take a pic of the tool? Seems like it would make an exc. stealth burglery tool. 30 sec to get in w/o shattering glass.
lol, i didnt even have time to finish the cookie I happened to be eating when the guy showed up, let along get a camera going on. Showed up right at lunch ;D
So basically, through scientific observation, its possible to remove a mk2 windshield faster than it is possible to completely consume a D'Angelo's oatmeal cookie. Ill put the info on wikipedia
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so the repair to the windshield mount area is all done, couple pics-
turned out nice, hole welded up, all primed and painted. Hopefully Ill get the replacement windshield in by tomorrow afternoon, and be able to use this car tomorrow night for a trip.
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/003_zps7cce88a6.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0012_zpsff486db6.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0022_zps47c6cff6.jpg)
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Nice to not let one die, good deal
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Nice to not let one die, good deal
I figure it will last forever if I put in some work in the first couple years of ownership. I love the simplicity of how these things are designed, and this one should hopefully be in decent shape once im done doing my minor rolling restoration
Windshield installed!
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0012.jpg)
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redid the front suspension with new strut bearings, springs, and shocks.
its amazing how worn the strut bearings were, they were rattling like crazy, here are some comparison pics with a new one-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0012-1.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0022-7.jpg)
also new door strikers, big difference in rattling there too
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/004-8.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/005-7.jpg)
next there has been a consistent wobble with the clutch pedal for the last 6 months, including one situation where the clip fell off the pin, and the pedal popped up past the neutral safety switch about 6 inches, so I knocked out the pivot pin and discovered how worn out both the pin and bushing were-
Here is how the pedal sits on the pin, you can see here how when installed, it kind of swings about 3 inches back and forth-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/033.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/035.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/034.jpg)
im going to weld a bead on the pin, file it down, and make some brass bushings.
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Good catchon the rattling doors and front suspension. Did those on my MK1 and made a world of difference in rough highway and city driving!
What's your equipment for making the brass bushings?
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Good catchon the rattling doors and front suspension. Did those on my MK1 and made a world of difference in rough highway and city driving!
What's your equipment for making the brass bushings?
I gave it to a local machine shop ive used forever and the guy is pretty cool. Hes thinking of turning down some valve stem seals, pressing them in from both sides, and boring out the center to match the pin. Added benefit is that I can then pack the space in between with axle grease, and not have this problem ever again.
Cant wait to drive on my new suspension though, im starting to regret having given the guy the clutch pedal, car is immobile until hes done with it.
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LMK if you need the clutch pedal from the 91 eco before it gets hauled off to the JY next week.
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FINALLY got my carpet in. couple pics. Word of advice for anyone who might do this, don't wait 5 months before installing the carpet. I completely forgot how all the trim and other stuff went in, and it took much longer than if I had just done it immediately.
Here is how I have been driving for nearly 10k post rust repair-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0012-2.jpg)
cleaned up the floor really well, and put down an initial coat of POR-15, followed but bed liner out of a can-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0022-8.jpg)
Installed sound deadening material, this stuff is made by "B-quiet". Its pretty thin, but seems effective, no complaints on the quality of the product, and one roll easily covers the main area of a mk2
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/006-6.jpg)
Next I lay my old horrendous carpet over the new one from stock interiors, and marked position of the holes-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/007-3.jpg)
One helpful piece of advice I got off the forums was not to trim the sides until its in, its more difficult to cut in position, but you are way less likely to remove too much material on the sides. I would suggest NOT marking as I did here with a marker, many of the lines while making sense on the floor, completely changed location in the car. If you do, do it with something you can brush away, or do just the center for the stick and parking brake-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/008-3.jpg)
here it is installed-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/011-2.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/014-1.jpg)
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Looking VERY NICE!
I am always super excited to see relatively new faces digging in deep! :)
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Take a can of brake clean and your marker is gone with no harmful effects. Trust me. Try it on the seat rail areas where it won't show if you don't believe me.
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Looking VERY NICE!
I am always super excited to see relatively new faces digging in deep! :)
Thanks! gotta get it done, I have other projects waiting! ;D
BTW, thanks for moving this to the correct forum
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Take a can of brake clean and your marker is gone with no harmful effects. Trust me. Try it on the seat rail areas where it won't show if you don't believe me.
Ill definitely try it, thanks for the tip!
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Obviously you want to use a rag to wipe it before the brake clean dries. You don't have to do much it is just quicker and uses less brake clean if you do use the rag.
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so a couple new little issues.
Ive gone through and reinstalled the climate control, dash, and the rest of the interior. Im having some trouble getting my blower motor to work, and thusly, heat.
Direct tested, its definitely functional, but my question is how the resister on the A/C equipped climate control housing works in relation to the blower. Can I just direct wire it to a multi-position switch?
I removed the climate control, removed all the A/C components, cleaned it all out, cleaned up the heater core, re-covered the redirect doors inside, and put it back in. The blower switch has power, but im thinking it might be bad. does anyone know what ohms of resistance each position of the blower switch should be registering?
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The switch itself does not denote the blower speed. It sends its 12v signal to a resistor on the blower motor itself, where it then depending on which part of the resistor is powered denotes blower speed.
It pulls close to 20a iirc so if you were to direct wire it, heavy guage wire or a relay setup are definitely in order.
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this has been a good motivational read for me as ive just bought a 86 td. Keep up the good work and look forward to more progress.
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this has been a good motivational read for me as ive just bought a 86 td. Keep up the good work and look forward to more progress.
thanks!
for me these threads always come in useful when you are frustrated with the vehicle. Always nice to read back and see that you've come a certain distance, and it would be a shame to set it on fire over a tire vibration, or widget of some kind. ;D
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so a couple updates-
these last two weeks ive been getting my ass handed to me by the rear drum brake on the passenger side. Seems every 100 miles it starts to drag, then stops completely. Ive taken it apart 3 times now tweaking and messing with it. The end result is I need a new backing plate, so ive decided to just upgrade to rotors in the rear instead of getting more drum components.
The combinations of issues was a rusty sticking wheel cylinder, a broken and then subsequently repaired internal bracket that I should have just scrapped first off, and the fact that the shoes can't really move on the surfaces they are designed to slide against as well as other bent and broken stuff.
This last time, my goal was just to get the damn thing from locking up until my rotor and caliper parts arrive, has to last about 8 days from now.
Here is the backing plate and some of the bad components-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0022-9.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0042-1.jpg)
on the backing plate, the grooves in the shoe sliding surfaces were really deep and jagged, I was having a peculiar thing happen where I would hear a snapping or loud click from that side and the brake pedal would drop slightly, which I think was the shoes jamming in the groove, then snapping over the lip and hitting the drum when I applied the brake. Then of course they wouldn't return fully and would remain partially engaged, heating up and stopping the wheel.
Its been pretty irritating, looking forward to my new lovely rotor parts to arrive!
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some other, more positive updates-
Thanks to the help of 92ecodiesel jetta, who sent me an entire pedal assembly, I have my clutch pedal wobblyness under control.
I ended up using a bunch of the newer parts off his pedal assembly, and my original pedal which I had some brass bushings pressed into.
Heres how the pedal finally ended up (before being packed with grease)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0012-3.jpg)
I ended up using the newer pin, clip, and spring assembly for pedal tension from ecodiesel, combined with the pedal with the new brass bushing, and its nice and tight now, although the installation was somewhat irritating, as the extreme worn components with the original setup had worn lips and grooves into the bracketry under there, and I had to do some dremeling and filing to get the clip on the new pin to actually seat properly. Its made a huge difference in pedal feel though, and its quiet, which may not seem like a big deal, but previously, the clutch pedal would make the most amazing racket pushing it down. More than one passenger has freaked out at the noise it used to make regularly, like a bird being killed.
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I had a similar issue with the left rear drum locking up on me, except the brake friction material literally peeled themselves off the metal and were just floating in the drum. Drums are nice when they work, and a nightmare when they do not....
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The switch itself does not denote the blower speed. It sends its 12v signal to a resistor on the blower motor itself, where it then depending on which part of the resistor is powered denotes blower speed.
It pulls close to 20a iirc so if you were to direct wire it, heavy guage wire or a relay setup are definitely in order.
Thanks for this post BTW, was very useful in diagnosing what was wrong.
finally got my blower working. Exciting development actually having heat for the first time in this car, and it works great.
Ultimate issue was a bad connection on the electrical plug on the back of the climate control lever assembly. I did end up replacing the blower switch as well just for good measure, the one that was originally on the car was extremely corroded. The resistor assembly turned out to be good. I ordered a non A/C resistor assembly as I assumed that I could just switch the resistors since I removed all the A/C components, but that did not end up working properly.
Once the blower was working, on the non A/C resistor, only high would work, but on the A/C resistor, all three fan speeds were functional. I have the non A/C one if anyone is looking for one.
I have some pretty good pics of disassembling the entire climate control ill post to the thread later, I ended up using stair treading to recover my climate doors, which so far appears to have worked.
Now that I have heat, im heading towards hooking up a radio. Ironically, the car had one speaker on the driver front, and no wiring for front speakers. It does appear to have intact wiring for the rear speakers, which were gone. ive been picking my way through the mangled radio wiring, and I have a few question marks if anyone has any advice, id appreciate it. My issue is I think I have all the radio wiring isolated, but there are a few broken wires and cut harnesses kicking around, that im not sure where they come from, or what system they relate to, so I can follow in the bentley
heres a pic-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0024-1.jpg)
for #1
the wiring is-
White/blue
cut Red/grey
cut Brown
for #2
white/blue
and #3 (a complete connector thats not destroyed or cut up)
Black
Yellow/Red
Red/brown
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couple small updates-
its been running like a champ, ive been piling the miles on it. Some maintenance items on the horizon are that the stub axle seal on the driver side is now leaking, waiting on a kit to repair it, and I ended up sem-permanently fixing the passenger rear drum by just removing the spring loaded shim that wedges against the leading shoe.
As soon as I did that, it never acted up again, not in the last couple thousand miles. Now I can wait and search around for a good set of calipers for my rear rotor conversion for later, this arrangement will definitely last the winter.
Also, the GF finally put her foot down and demanded a radio, or she wasn't riding in the car again to any lengthy destinations. I guess after 4 or 5 three hour trips with the diesel drone and me singing, she was ready to burn the car with me inside, so to preserve our relationship, I finally installed a radio and speakers.
I also used this as an opportunity to cover up the nasty rear deck with something.
this was the original deck that was stained heavily from soot-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/008-4.jpg)
and some aftermarket speakers had at one point been added, so I had to do something about the hole for my basic kenwood cd player and standard speakers to fit-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/009-4.jpg)
I made this insert for the space, and covered it with some thick polar fleece material with a sheer back so I would have some additional air filtration and sound deadening-
board-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/010-1.jpg)
covered-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/012-3.jpg)
Installed, looks pretty good now-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0132.jpg)
for an antenna, since i had removed and patched the hole on the FL fender, i went with an aftermarket sticky type that mounts inside the back glass and the wiring runs inside the roof panel and down the inside of the A-pillar-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/007-4.jpg)
its adequate, though it loses the signal fairly easily, and has an extremely irritating feature of a bright red LED illuminated whenever it has power. (requires its own power source and ground at mount location)
This is right in the middle of the rear view mirror, so I might glue some kind of tab on to keep that from being visible from the driver seat. It does work well enough though, so im fairly happy with it
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Nice rebuild. Gives me some ideas on what can go wrong. Like my heater. This is the first winter (of three) with some heat but not much.
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Nice rebuild. Gives me some ideas on what can go wrong. Like my heater. This is the first winter (of three) with some heat but not much.
thanks!
you probably have the climate control door problem starting. Worth it to fix, on such a small compartment as the inside of a mk2, it sure gets toasty now. ;D Another reason is that the corroding doors dumped all kinds of horrible crap in my climate ducting. Im glad my fan wasnt working, as I was able to basically pour out all the ducting, which would have shot all over the interior first start of the fan.
I have a bunch of pics of that I meant to post a while back, here they are now though-
The 86 originally had AC, and some helpful fellow had basically twisted off the connections on the firewall, so my intention was to completely remove all AC stuff and just run a heater
my climate doors looked like this-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/008-2.jpg)
I removed the dash and uncovered the climate control, just the one bolt with the arrow and some connections (coolant in the engine compartment and vaccum, wiring, ect) had to be removed from the front with it mounted-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/007-2.jpg)
from the back side, had 4 bolts through the firewall-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/011-1.jpg)
front-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/010.jpg)
It breaks down into two big chunks if you remove the connecting clips-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/012-1.jpg)
with it removed looking into the dash area, I had some rust issues to resolve-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/009-2.jpg)
I then broke apart the larger clamshell with the AC equipment in it by removing a large number of clips and removing the fan.
there was some serious crap inside-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/014.jpg)
what the helpful a-hole had done to the connections-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/013.jpg)
Buildup in the AC compartment of crap. I subsequently got some thin mesh wire screen to cover over the fresh air inlet to prevent this from happening again-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/015-1.jpg)
fresh air door had also lost all its foam, scraped it clean and called it a day-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/017-1.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/020-1.jpg)
Since I intended to cover over the AC connections on the firewall, I had to break off some of the climate control here to make a flat plate area-
stock-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/018.jpg)
broken off-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/019.jpg)
how it looks now with a solid plate from the engine compartment-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0014-1.jpg)
Next I moved over to the issues with the climate doors, that clamshell also breaks apart when you remove all the clips (after you remove the heater core)-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/021.jpg)
open-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/022-1.jpg)
look at all the crap collected inside this airbox and around the heater core from the door foam-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/025.jpg)
I cleaned up and sanded down the doors before washing them (how they looked removed, notice how much foam is actually left)-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/023.jpg)
covered them with sticky heavy duty stair treading on both sides and reinstalled in the air box-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/024.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/031.jpg)
I noticed that the doors werent actually redirecting when I played with the cable connection, so I flipped it over and re-zip tied the connection in the right place to get a full redirect. Its a pretty crappy connection, im not surprised in 30 years that the cable sheathing moved a bit and changed how closed or open the doors are. This might also be happeing if you have only some heat.
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/029.jpg)
I then reinstalled the heater core with a new weatherstrip seal on it-
This is what was left of the original, no doubt this foam also added to the crap all inside the climate airbox and ducting, also the heater core was just rattling around in there with no cushion.
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/026.jpg)
new weather strip-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/030.jpg)
After that, I put it all back together, reinstalled, and now I have nice warm heat for once. ;D
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"I subsequently got some thin mesh wire screen to cover over the fresh air inlet to prevent this from happening again-"
Is this under the rain tray or inside? TDI's have a replaceable pleated cabin air filter under the rain tray. I wonder if one from an early TDI will fit a MK2? It will clean up that crap by a big margin.
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"I subsequently got some thin mesh wire screen to cover over the fresh air inlet to prevent this from happening again-"
Is this under the rain tray or inside? TDI's have a replaceable pleated cabin air filter under the rain tray. I wonder if one from an early TDI will fit a MK2? It will clean up that crap by a big margin.
This was actually your idea. ;D
Its under the rain tray, the rain tray you gave me has been a huge source of help in all the water issues I was having, but remember how mice had chewed through the screen to the fresh air door on this car? that was another reason to cover it up.
There is a lot of space, the screen is up a little bit, I bet you could make something fit there. what exactly does the early TDI cabin filter look like? Might be nice to install something like that
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"I subsequently got some thin mesh wire screen to cover over the fresh air inlet to prevent this from happening again-"
Is this under the rain tray or inside? TDI's have a replaceable pleated cabin air filter under the rain tray. I wonder if one from an early TDI will fit a MK2? It will clean up that crap by a big margin.
This was actually your idea. ;D
Its under the rain tray, the rain tray you gave me has been a huge source of help in all the water issues I was having, but remember how mice had chewed through the screen to the fresh air door on this car? that was another reason to cover it up.
There is a lot of space, the screen is up a little bit, I bet you could make something fit there. what exactly does the early TDI cabin filter look like? Might be nice to install something like that
It looks like a VW air filter except flatter and made with different filter media. There is a separate cabin air filter holder (that can be removed with one bolt) on the B4 that I had. If that holder fits or can be made to fit a MK2 then you can use the TDI filter.
What did you replace the foam seals on the doors with? I wonder what Mercedes used for the doors? Don't remember hearing of any issues with the old Mercedes.
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Thanks for your help. Might make it a separate thread as it is an ongoing problem with these cars as they get to 30 years old. Lots of canucks here; Heat is good.
I had a vacuum hose split near the vacuum pump which prevented anything from working. Also took out the console for a better shot and more room. I thought I had it basically fixed, was summer. I have maybe 25% heat. If I drive the car for an hour it gets warm enough but for those 6 mile runs it isn't much. There seems to be a door not working or probably like your set up the foam is gone and the flap doors leak like sieves.
I assumed that you just removed the AC evaporator.
What a great resource.
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It looks like a VW air filter except flatter and made with different filter media. There is a separate cabin air filter holder (that can be removed with one bolt) on the B4 that I had. If that holder fits or can be made to fit a MK2 then you can use the TDI filter.
What did you replace the foam seals on the doors with? I wonder what Mercedes used for the doors? Don't remember hearing of any issues with the old Mercedes.
I used stair treading for the center climate control box doors with holes in them, and for the fresh air door which was a solid piece of metal, I just scraped off the foam and left it as is. There seems to be some leakage from this idea, there is definitely a draft in the passenger footwell from somewhere, which is most likely from the lack of a full seal on that door. However, with the heat on, it does compensate for any draft issue with redirected heat to the footwell. For now it will stay as is. If I took it apart again though, I would definitely recover that fresh air door with something that would give a better seal. Leaving it uncovered has produced passenger complaints.
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Thanks for your help. Might make it a separate thread as it is an ongoing problem with these cars as they get to 30 years old. Lots of canucks here; Heat is good.
I had a vacuum hose split near the vacuum pump which prevented anything from working. Also took out the console for a better shot and more room. I thought I had it basically fixed, was summer. I have maybe 25% heat. If I drive the car for an hour it gets warm enough but for those 6 mile runs it isn't much. There seems to be a door not working or probably like your set up the foam is gone and the flap doors leak like sieves.
I assumed that you just removed the AC evaporator.
What a great resource.
You should be able to get a good look at those doors by just removing the center console and a piece of ducting that connects directly to that airbox. maybe some other vacuum line is busted or something though, definitely sounds related to the repair over the summer, maybe something pulled free and a vacuum pod is stuck or something?
yes, I just completely removed the evaporator, sorry, i forgot to add a pic of that removed and the airbox all cleaned out-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/016-1.jpg)
here is how the car currently looks on a -10 day with a fine crusting of salt. Next big job will be paint! im just waiting for my neighbor to have the time to get to it now, money is all saved up for the job. The crappy cracked paint it has now is the perfect environment for salt though. The sooner I paint the whole car, the longer it will last. I already see new rust starting
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0014-2.jpg)
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It looks like a VW air filter except flatter and made with different filter media. There is a separate cabin air filter holder (that can be removed with one bolt) on the B4 that I had. If that holder fits or can be made to fit a MK2 then you can use the TDI filter.
What did you replace the foam seals on the doors with? I wonder what Mercedes used for the doors? Don't remember hearing of any issues with the old Mercedes.
I used stair treading for the center climate control box doors with holes in them, and for the fresh air door which was a solid piece of metal, I just scraped off the foam and left it as is. There seems to be some leakage from this idea, there is definitely a draft in the passenger footwell from somewhere, which is most likely from the lack of a full seal on that door. However, with the heat on, it does compensate for any draft issue with redirected heat to the footwell. For now it will stay as is. If I took it apart again though, I would definitely recover that fresh air door with something that would give a better seal. Leaving it uncovered has produced passenger complaints.
A low durometer Silicone sheet may work well since it stays soft at low temps. Why are there big round holes in the doors? Makes no sense. I am having heat issues this winter which may have something to do with the blend door, one of about 4 issues in the last month that needs attention. http://www.vwdiesel.net/forum/index.php?topic=32752.0
Luckily I took the complete HVAC box from the 91 Eco parts car. I'll have to dig it out, take it apart and see how it works.
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(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0014-2.jpg)
What are you running for a suspension on your 4x4? ;)
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What are you running for a suspension on your 4x4? ;)
lol, stock, with all the glorious ground clearance that involves. ;D
Im never going to change it once I discovered this-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0062-1.jpg)
I timed myself, nothing like getting a full oil change done in 5 minutes or less on any surface that is flat under the front tires. Too convenient for me to consider altering the height. Plus, I kinda like ground clearance, lets me get more places in this car
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Hahaha... I kinda liked the look when I had the engine out of my 86. I have the ghettofab rear lift so it was sittin proud on all four.
(Loaded back down now with sand in the trunk for ballast/emergency.)
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Emergency.... like in case you need to make some sand bags for a berm! My VW was set down by a PO with Koni struts. I wish it was more stock but I guess I could adjust them back up.
Hahaha... I kinda liked the look when I had the engine out of my 86. I have the ghettofab rear lift so it was sittin proud on all four.
(Loaded back down now with sand in the trunk for ballast/emergency.)
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Emergency.... like in case you need to make some sand bags for a berm!
Luckily, I haven't needed it for myself - but almost every winter, I help some amateur out of a snowdrift.
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couple small updates-
its been running like a champ, ive been piling the miles on it. Some maintenance items on the horizon are that the stub axle seal on the driver side is now leaking, waiting on a kit to repair it,
So this issue is more complex. Actually both stub axle seals are now leaking, ive ripped a passenger side inner CV boot, and the other 3 are cracked nightmares. ;D
Parked the car in order not to trash the axles, and am waiting for 4 new boots, and my second transmission seal, then we should be right as rain again.
I have 4 spare axles, two for each side, but after looking them over, I don't see any benefit to putting another worn boot on, might as well go with new boots all around. The GF wants to go to ME on sunday, so its gotta get done
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A low durometer Silicone sheet may work well since it stays soft at low temps. Why are there big round holes in the doors? Makes no sense. I am having heat issues this winter which may have something to do with the blend door, one of about 4 issues in the last month that needs attention. http://www.vwdiesel.net/forum/index.php?topic=32752.0
Luckily I took the complete HVAC box from the 91 Eco parts car. I'll have to dig it out, take it apart and see how it works.
that silicone sheet is a good idea. its a solid metal that lies against a large plastic mesh, even a little bit of cushion could seal any air leaks nice I think.
Saw your thread, makes no sense to me either. Im sure they did it to save material and cost, but my curiosity is that the whole rest of the airbox is solid plastic, why not make solid plastic doors as well originally? Instead, VW made perforated metal doors and boom, years later theres an issue with the material falling apart they used to cover the weaknesses.
Im wondering if that alloy metal the doors are made of was a real deal for VW, like way cheaper to stamp out recycled sheet metal and use that, BUT, only if they also remove some material from the doors in the form of holes and reuse that for something else. What we are all dealing with later on is an early 80s bean counting cost analysis of how to build a cheap econo-box. ;D
Id be amazed if any of the designers thought that these cars would still be around 30 years later in large numbers being daily driven.
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boy, im glad I took care of this. There turned out to be more wrong than I expected, and from the fact that the only thing noticeable was a leak, otherwise the car drove fine.
So this was my leaking issue-
driver side axle seal-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0015_zpse32fabf3.jpg)
passenger side axle seal-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0182_zps815cb8ad.jpg)
and as a bonus, this wrecked boot- (is there a heat shield on the later mk2s? im wondering if the proximity to the exhaust is what cooked this boot prematurely, was extremely hard and tough, and I remember it being pliable as recently as last year)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/003_zps9ca490a8.jpg)
Removed the axles, and on the driver side axle, I found almost no lubrication on the outer CV joint-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/011_zps7a9937f9.jpg)
you can see some of the heat marks here, the whole thing was riddled with heat marks-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0162_zpsf3da0573.jpg)
On the passenger side inner CV, I found that the bearing race was broken!-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/020_zpsbaadf8de.jpg)
What I ended up doing is taking the good inner CV joint from the original driver side axle, moving it to the inner side of a spare passenger axle that had a bad inner CV joint, and re booting and greasing all 4 CV joints. Im glad I had a few spares, its turned out that the heat marks were common to a couple of them.
next I moved to the seals, there was an excellent thread over on the vortex that linked to a DIY article that was useful. I popped out the center cover with a punch through the middle exposing the snap ring-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0042_zps925498fd.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0052_zpse5ff3f42.jpg)
pulled out the snap ring and the whole stub pops out on a spring-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0062_zps19e53428.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/008_zps4d13f078.jpg)
the trashed seal, looked like this on both sides-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/007_zpsea9367f2.jpg)
removed and cleaned for new seal-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/009_zps93bed0d7.jpg)
The worst part of the job was this brass thrust washer/ring that is behind the spring cup on the inside. I had read that they are frequently broken into bits, but as long as still fitted where they are supposed to go, will work fine. The driver side was 3 pieces, passenger as 5. The most time spent was trying to get these dam things to stay in place without falling off the shaft and mucking things up.
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/010_zpsd0c7ebce.jpg)
once those were back in place and the seals installed, recompressing the spring to fit the snap ring is a bit of a chore. On the DIYs I read, they were talking about using clamps, and other items, but I didn't have a big enough clamp, so I ended up using a ratchet strap and soft mallet which worked great.
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0192_zps21d68018.jpg)
I would increase the tension by one notch on the strap, which put off center force on the stub axle and it wouldn't move, but then by tapping the stub with the soft mallet on all sides, it would compress in on the spines. I did this notch by notch until it was fully compressed, and I could put in the spring washer, and snap ring fairly easily.
All done!
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0172_zpsee62bf42.jpg)
put about 500 miles on it since the repair with no leaks so far, holding up well. I need to get some kind of heat shield on the exhaust though
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On my gasser 1992 golf gl there is indeed a heat sheild over the axle. On my 87 golf diesel however, there was no heatsheild and there were no issues.
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Wow... dodged a few bullets on those axles.
The ratchet strap is a novel solution.
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Yeah the manual gearboxes do not seem to have issues unless there is literally no oil left.....
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Nice improvising with the strap. I made a special flange install tool out of junk I had laying around that worked great. I'll dig up a pic of it later. I had a lousy c-clip pliers which did not hold the c clip well (keeps popping off and over expanding the clip). Car was on jack stands, laying on my back, the tool made the job a breeze.
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This is the tool on a test run on the bench. The gear wrench is used to push the flange in till it bottom out. The C clip is on a taper and the socket is hammered on (with an adjustable spanner held against it) as it rides up the taper and seats in the flange groove.
(http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x480/Ecodiesel92/IMG_20120531_162533_zpsfcd37ef1.jpg)
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A good way to keep those broken thrust washers in is to use some small dots of grease on them and that will hold them to the shaft a little better. The grease will just wash into the trans fluid and do no harm. I've used small amounts of grease to hold small or difficult parts in their place before securing them and it works 90% of the time.
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Next time you do this, Put 4 bolts in the flange and make 2 loops with some bailing wire so that you can hook the loops with the strap so that force is centered on the stub axle (no tapping with mallet needed), leaving the center unobstructed to install the c-clip.
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0192_zps21d68018.jpg)
"I would increase the tension by one notch on the strap, which put off center force on the stub axle and it wouldn't move, but then by tapping the stub with the soft mallet on all sides, it would compress in on the spines. I did this notch by notch until it was fully compressed, and I could put in the spring washer, and snap ring fairly easily. "
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I have a tool I made from 1/4" plate. It's basically the same as the dealer tool, only less fancy since I made it in about 20 minutes. Works great. I've never tried installing a flange without it, and I don't think I would want to.
Oh, and those aren't overheat marks on the CV cups; they're heating marks from sections that were surface hardened. Most CV joints you look at will have those marks.
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Next time you do this, Put 4 bolts in the flange and make 2 loops with some bailing wire so that you can hook the loops with the strap so that force is centered on the stub axle (no tapping with mallet needed), leaving the center unobstructed to install the c-clip.
that would have been considerable more work than the ratchet strap and mallet turned out to be, honestly. Took about 5 minutes in all, and the C-clip wasn't a big issue, the strap wasn't really in the way of getting the clip on.
I think if I start screwing in bolts and looking for wire, Ill just make the appropriate tool. ;D
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I have a tool I made from 1/4" plate. It's basically the same as the dealer tool, only less fancy since I made it in about 20 minutes. Works great. I've never tried installing a flange without it, and I don't think I would want to.
Oh, and those aren't overheat marks on the CV cups; they're heating marks from sections that were surface hardened. Most CV joints you look at will have those marks.
This would explain why several of them featured the marks, thanks for posting this info. The one I took off the car the marks were way larger though, and there was an ominous feel to it. I just felt better getting it off the car. Didn't really turn smooth. I have noticed that after this job, there has been less wheel vibration as a nice added benefit.
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A good way to keep those broken thrust washers in is to use some small dots of grease on them and that will hold them to the shaft a little better. The grease will just wash into the trans fluid and do no harm. I've used small amounts of grease to hold small or difficult parts in their place before securing them and it works 90% of the time.
thats what I ended up doing, my issue was a tiny stubborn piece on the passenger side. damn thing would pop another section off every time I managed to get it between two other pieces.
Worked out when I jammed the tiny piece in first, instead of last. It was sort of sheared off in a way that acted as a lever to the bigger piece on once side, flipping it out.
I love the fact that you can just put the broken pieces back in and it works fine, a nice feature that you don't often get with a transmission. ;D
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On my gasser 1992 golf gl there is indeed a heat sheild over the axle. On my 87 golf diesel however, there was no heatsheild and there were no issues.
ok, great. Ill see how this holds up, could just be age killed the old boot. Have no idea its vintage
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ok, this car is now for sale along with a mountain of parts for 1500 bucks in the for sale section if you are interested.
Trying to put together savings to get married, I should have eloped when I had the chance, but the GF got excited about an actual wedding, and here we are. ;D
If you have any interest in this car, please PM me. After the wedding and bills are paid, ill buy another one
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ok, this car is now for sale along with a mountain of parts for 1500 bucks in the for sale section if you are interested.
Trying to put together savings to get married, I should have eloped when I had the chance, but the GF got excited about an actual wedding, and here we are. ;D
If you have any interest in this car, please PM me. After the wedding and bills are paid, ill buy another one
ok, the GF objected to me selling the car as it has sentimental value for her, and she knows I love its simplicity and was upset that I would decide to sell it. Instead, I found a long term dry storage solution for it, so now its parked between an 80s vette and a 60s caddillac, very much the odd man out. ;D
Once the wedding stuff is taken care of and I have everything worked out financially, ill bring it back out and start using it again and continue fixing it back up. See you all then!
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had the nose painted finally body color. Turned out pretty nice-
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0014-3_zps2805d4aa.jpg) (http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/tinworm2/media/86%20VW%20Jetta/0014-3_zps2805d4aa.jpg.html)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd387/tinworm2/86%20VW%20Jetta/0072-1_zpsaafbe622.jpg) (http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/tinworm2/media/86%20VW%20Jetta/0072-1_zpsaafbe622.jpg.html)
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sold to a new owner!
Ive forwarded this thread and forum to the current owner in case they intend to update occasionally
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new owner is leaving the country, and selling the car again. Up for sale a second time!
if interested, please PM