Black 85 Golf 2 door

[srgtlord]

Well Its been a few months. I really do need to get around to welding up the exhaust.

[srgtlord]

I should add the heatercore has been replaced so i wont freeze this winter. Only took me 6 years to get around to it

[srgtlord]

Odometer broke at around 399,000 miles 

[ORCoaster]

Surely you can manually get another mile on it for an even 400K!

[srgtlord]

Im glad I installed the tdi starter on this thing. Made the 16 degree Fahrenheit cold start possible last night.

[srgtlord]

In other news if you have an 85 golf and the rear wiper relay burns out a #53 horn relay works just as well

[srgtlord]

Welp the pipe over the axle decided to rot out...Made a patch with exhaust tape and a clamp  in autozone parking lot but I really need to replace the whole setup as the rot is not looking pretty on the pipes...

[srgtlord]

Got tired of the old non/ac tentioner so I added a gear from a vw mk2 gas motor tension-er. Soooo much easier to tighten the belt now


https://imgur.com/a/DY9Ioyz

[srgtlord]

Fabbed up a new exhaust downpipe as nobody sells one for a mk2 with the doughnut exhaust flange anymore. Welded in the hyundai resonator I had sitting around so the golf would still be nice and quiet on the highway. Made an 80 mile trip for the first time in 3 months since battling the strut tower rot and repair. The 40 year old car still drives better than the honda fit I own.

[srgtlord]

The Golf definitely does not get driven as much as it used to anymore. At this point there is a bunch of little things that need attention

-rot around the wheel wells
-the main coolant metal pipe needs replacement
-the paint is sad
-rot in the spare wheel well needs to be addressed
- the axles need replacing after 100k and vibrate something awful after a few minutes

On a positive note it still starts up after sitting for months on end. Not in terrible condition for a car built in December of 1984 and has over 400k miles. There are no vw mk2's left in this area so Ill keep patching the rust and continue driving the beast

[srgtlord]

Figured out the vibration issue was a stuck Mk3 Caliper after installing a new driver side CV axle. New Driver side caliper and new front brake pads and all is well. Replaced a passenger side balljoint as the other one is not quite worn out yet. I replaced the original coolant pipe as it was very rusty. I upgraded to the aluminum style head outlet from a Porsche 944. Same part numbers and no more worrying about the plastic cracking. I'll replace the front coolant flange that goes to the radiator at some point as I have one from the 81 pickup motor I never sold. The flange seals on the transmission appear to be weeping gear oil after 250k miles so that will be next on the to-do list. I bought a set of pre-assembled TRW brake shoes with all the springs and hardware attached and will be installing those at some point on the vehicle. It's still a fun little car to drive after all these years

[ORCoaster]

Well good to know that it won't shake your teeth loose if you take it out anymore.  And best of all it will stop safely when asked to. 

I am surprised that a lot of times when a car will sit for a while with no use how fast things tend to seize up Or go into a nonworking condition.  When I bought my Pickup the daughter of the man that owned it said she was told not to sell it to someone that didn't have a heart or head for things VW.  The guy really wanted it to run and had all the parts to do it.  He just didn't have the health to pull it off.

After spending about an hour goin over the truck with her and her husband I asked if she would take less than asking price for it?  They both turned around and had one of those quiet, head to head talks.  She came back and said she was pretty positive her dad would approve if the price was not too low. 

I told her I was initially looking at all the parts I would need to get it all back together and that her price was about 500 too high.  But, when I finally opened up the canopy and started looking at what was there I figured at most I would need about 100 bucks to make it run with vigor.  All she said was a huge, REALLY!  I said sure and promptly took out all the cash I had, peeled off a 100-dollar bill, and gave her the rest.  I think I should have thrown that in just to see her face split from the smile.  I think she was walking on air as she went into the house for a bill of sale and the title.  She had tried to sell the truck a year earlier and only had one guy come out and look at it and he never came back or called her.  Her husband said I sure had a way with women.

I told him it would take me a few months but I would get it going and send her pictures.  Which reminds me I might still have to do that if I get it painted this summer as planned. 

[RabbitJockey]

do you have any pictures or more info about the 944 part

[srgtlord]

I double checked and I was mistaken.  I guess it was an early 80's rabbit heater core head outlet that got mixed into my porsche parts cabinet