OK, let’s go with an actual GLI
update.
Before I delve into this update,
I have to say that this GLI is in fantastic body shape, brings a smile to my
face to work on it actually….kinda giddy actually, not gonna lie. Nowhere is there any rot that needs to be
dealt with right away. I’ve always
noticed that non-metallic red VWs don’t seem to rust as easily as any other
colour. I used to drive an 84 NA diesel
rabbit with Mahogany red paint, and it had a golfball sized rust spot on the
rear quarter when we got the car, and a golfball sized rust spot when we
scrapped the car 4 years later…and I didn’t wash it ever!
This GLI is kind of a weird beast, as it
has not seen many winters and is good in that regard, but whomever did the 16VT
swap, hydro clutch conversion, rear disc swap, paint respray etc, either rushed
it, didn’t know what they were doing, or didn’t care. There are safety faux pas everywhere, ranging
from loose balljoints held in with too small bolts, half a dozen crudely cut holes in the
firewall, kinked brakelines, rear calipers that didn't actually slide on the guide pins, up to a clutch pedal hinged on bolts with no bushings or locknuts.
1. I need to take stock of the contents of my
garage hoard, what I have and what I need, so the thought is to just pull the
parts into the daylight, assess it, freshen it up, fix it, rebuild it whatever,
and put it on the car.
2. I have an adage that no car is worth
anything until it has pulled its weight.
No car of mine will get any serious money thrown at it, unless it is
running/driving and put some miles under it with me at the wheel first.
So, once it’s back together, and driving,
we will think about putting it on a rotisserie for a full restoration in the
future. There nothing pressing, and some
of the hack and slash holes in the firewall (and there are a lot of them) can
get a quick patch for now.
Work is progressing on the rolling gear,
and engine bay. I started grinding out
the PO’s brutal attempt at mounting the cable shifter, (they cut a hole in the tunnel, but didn't actually use it) and the new tunnel
section is to be welded in to reinstall a stock shifter plate. The floors have only 4 holes, all drilled by
me to drain away any water intrusion. I
haven’t seen any windshield leaks so we maybe ok there. I did track down a LR taillight leak, that
BION ends up putting water under the driver’s seat, so don’t go and assume the
windshield is always the culprit. There
is also a hole under the sound deadening in the rain tray, or scuttle tray that
will need to be patched with panel sealer.
That seems to be it on this car.
So, all the brakes are getting redone
obviously, I have enough spares in the garage to put fresh slider pins and
gators in every caliper, and a friend has found some new rear ATE rotors in his
parts hoard, to go with the new 9.4”Zimmermanns on the front. New bearings front and rear, thanks to my
brother Jeremy and his press. Word to
the wise, buy the front bearing KIT, not just the bearings, as the 74mm
circlips are hard to find, the bearings are easy. I opted to go with replacing anything in the
front end with Cabby parts, off the scrapped 88 Azur. Reason being is that when I go grab a spare
axle off the shelf, I don’t want to jam a 100mm outer CV in a 90mm hub, cuz at
first glance the axle will fit. Just looking for some parts commonality in the garage.
So last Saturday, my driveway looked like a
used suspension yard sale. I took everything I had out of the garage and laid
it out. I have several stock sets of
course, but there was Koni, Bilstein, Boge, Neuspeed, H&R, Eibach, etc
strewn everywhere. I had every intention
of using the ‘coilovers’ that I was sold on when I bought the car, but upon further
investigation, found they weren’t coilovers at all, they were adjustable ghetto
Ebay sleeves on stock tubes. Barf. BUT, I was happy to see that inside the front
hillbilly tubes were wide piston Bilsteins…score! So I took apart my Koni red/Neuspeed front struts
and installed the Bilstein sport inserts.
I should be happier with those, at least my teeth will be. I’m still going with the Koni yellows on the
rear and Neuspeed springs. New parts all
around would be nice, but let’s squeeze every ounce out of this eclectic parts
hoard, I must have kept this sh^t for a reason.
I’m also not an advocate of coilovers, as I’m only looking for a moderate
drop so spring/cup is perfect for me, and slightly easier to swallow if you
spread out the payments for each component over time. (Buy springs first, buy
shocks later)
I swapped out the steering rack too, as the
PO cut off all the mounting points for the mechanical shift gear from the
original setup. He did use poly
bushings, so I put them on the mint rack from Shawn B's westie shell…nothing gets
wasted here! The tie rods are new
too! The PO sold the sway bar off, as I
assume it was something other than stock that had some intrinsic value for him,
so I’m bringing the cabby sway bar over…but there’s a PROBLEM! I have never been able to remove the end
bushing brackets from the control arms without snapping the studs off. Thanks Ontario road salt. Everybody it seems, apart from a UK company
that is too lazy to put 2 brackets in a bubble mailer to ship across the pond, doesn’t
have any in stock. Grrrr. Might come to fabricating those, but I’ll
leave the sway bar off for the safety if I have to. Have to resist tight
cornering!
The brakelines are decent, except for the
crossover in front of the gas tank, it was hillbillied in place, (almost looks
like a roadside repair) with the flex lines flapping in the breeze. The hard lines on the rear beam are also too
short and will be replaced.
Unfortunately, with all of the pedal clusters I had, the westie cluster
from Shawn B’s car was in the best shape.
BUT, the 22mm brake booster has a different actuator rod, so I’ve tasked
my father with welding the old rod on the newer booster, with a little bit of
rod adjustment. Who’da thunk that
Westmoreland and Wolfsburg couldn’t agree on a pedal hinge pin, or booster rod
style.I have a suspicion that this booster is from a US car (Like a Dodge Omni)
and Westmoreland used it to help qualify for NAFTA domestic content.
The westie
cluster wouldn’t have been my first choice, as the Cabby cluster has return
springs on the pedals and better pin bushings, but the repair done to the
clutch tube was brutal and unusable, and I’ve scrapped more autos than manuals,
so I don’t have a lot of these 2 pedal clusters.
The cluster that came with the GLI had some sort of homemade weird side appendage for the hydro clutch master cylinder that was
mounted to the left of it. The location, and lever action concept was well
thought out, but very poorly executed, and unfortunately the PO cut off the
clutch cable hook which would have made it all returnable to stock, including
the brake booster. C’est Domage.
The fuel pump was ziptied in place, typical
of most CDN mk1s, as the foam cradle is one of the first things to get ravaged
by road salt. It really is a poor
design, thanks VW. The accumulator and
lines look good, reusable for sure. The
gas tank has a bit of shellac gas left in it,I’ll probably change it out, as I
have a brand new one in the hoard. The filler tube looks aftermarket and
scabby. Hopefully the surface rust
pitting is not too deep and I can save it.
Even the plastic cover in the RH rear wheelwell covering the tank vent
lines unbolted from the car without issue, testament to the condition of this
car! I’m reluctant to remove the body flares
yet though. I don’t want to go there
just yet, that’s where the ‘Rot’ lives...
That’s it for now. I need to get her back on 4 wheels, as I have
some garage work planned and she’s in the way for the heavy equipment! Once that’s done, we’ll get the JH engine out
of the Rabby with an AUG trans put in as well(the original 4K is in Red Hare
right now) and start to get her wired up.
The wiring in the GLI looks sound, although some of the JH-specific
wiring is missing from the engine bay, but no biggy… I GOT SPARES!
Stay tuned!
