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My Jetta MK2 Build

88K views 170 replies 15 participants last post by  AndyGLI 
#1 ·
Hello I'm Johan and recently joined the awesome forum, thanks to Ryan (Jetta2) !

I'm from Pretoria and been a MK2 fan for many years in 1987 my dad bought a 1800 CSX brand new out of the box and it would have been 24 years this 26th of Feb but as life has it and living in SA the car was forcibly donated to wealth distribution. :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang: only for it to get written off 20/30 minutes later against the side of a bus...

here was she in her prime....



to look like this after many year and saying good bye with lots of tears...



I went to the UK between 2003-2005 and bought me this car :)

a 1992 GL Golf MK2 but had to sell her before returning to South Africa



In 2009 I got this car for a bargain great running condition 287000 km on the clock (270 000 km import 1800 installed)



I'm in the redoing stage of the car with the ICE already done and a couple more interior things that will be sorted as we go along.


This year I'm aiming to get the bodywork done and also 2l Ady installed ( turbo'ed )

but before then i'll convert my 1.8 to a Fuel injected NA motor
 
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#2 ·
So after playing with alot of ideas and options and decided just to convert my 1.8 carb to a feul injected 1.8 NA. and get my ECU tuned till i can afford to get a 2 liter ADY and turbo it

After i heard a friend of mine Ryan was busy with a X-flow conversion i Hinted i want to buy his fuel injection manifold to convert mine. later to hear the gasflowed head he had sold to a friend will not need it no more and i could get it!

This head is gasflowed bigger valves was added and was attached to a 2 liter ADY putting out 179kw ( 240.04 BHP )





Initially I could only get the Intake manifold and the head with no extra's ( no Throttle body, fuel rail, injectors ect )

So i started to phone around looking for all the bits to get my 1.8 converted to fuel injection. after many phone calls and prices, i ended up with quotes between R3700-R4600 just to get the convertion going this does not even really include the Fuel pump and ECU.

Initially the plan was to save up for a 1.8 20v T. but i started thinking and itching as i wanted to get the project going and to a point where i can enjoy my car more and decided to get a complete 2l ADY instead and do a head transplant.

not long after that Ryan gave me a call and said he found some more goodies for me! basicly everything i need to complete the motor build except injectors.

Throttle body is a huge upgrade from the carb! going from a 32/36 throat to a 36/50mm throat is going to be alot of extra power combined with the gasflowed head!!





And the Intake Manifold is reunited with its old friend :)


I'll start cleaning up things as soon as I get to the build of the motor.
 
#3 ·
ok so i set a timeline for me and worked out a budget for this project... if all goes according to plan end of june i'll be finished!
So the plan looks something like this...
End of Jan : get cam and vernier pulley ( CHECK )
End of Feb : get custom made drop springs and pan filterbox ( have a 40mm drop using Nforce springs.... NEVER again... :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang: ) so making up uprated springs from Pretoria springs with a 30mm drop in the front and a 20mm drop in the back (Check )
May: little odd ends and things needed, Brake upgrade ( Check )

The idea with the paint is going firebird red with pearl black over it.
it will look something like this i hope!

I'm also putting on the jumbo bumper with the wheel arches and side skirts on the car. the Mags i'm playing with styles still...
So after alot of talking and asking around and got advice from Ryan about the cam I want to get we decided to get a 282degree 11.6mm Estas cam from Sportcam in Capetown. I contacted Nellis and from the moment of contact things was flowing Wednesday confirmed stock and Saterday ordered, Monday it was send, Tuesday it was at the post office and on Wednesday i picked it up!
It was A+ service from the word go!
so this is the cam :)


even the cat was like "OOO i like this show me more!!"

The head and the cam meets for the first time :)

With the Order i also added a Vernier pulley :)
Here is feel its like a lucky packet you know there is something good inside but how does it look!!

And can you believe it! perfect color! Red will tie in perfect with my color scheme i want for the car :)


The head, cam and Pulley together for the first time and not the last!

I'm pretty excited about this build never done something this big in my life and cant wait to see and feel the end results!!
 
#4 ·
OK so i decided to go to Kriel for the weekend and suprize my wife and my parents with an unannounced visit... Not knowing i'll get a suprize from myself.
So setting off at 2:30 am from Pretoria i was driving highway all the way to balmoral's turn off and got on the things they called roads once apon a time, but all went well till after Ogies on the road towards Bethal/Kriel.
knowing the roads is bad i slowed down and kept following distance behind a mine bakkie when next moment the bakkie slammed breaks on and picks up a truck tyre and throws it right infront of me i could do nothing i'm over the piece of rubber that landed upright (about a meter wide and 300 to 350mm high), so i went over the tyre wrecking my bumper and felt like i had some under carraige damaged i heard something grinding on the road, i stop and saw it broke my hand brake cable hooks and unhooked it from the metal clip.
inspected this morning and saw nothing majorly wrong luckily, if it wasnt for my flickers that kept the bumper from falling off completely otherwise i would have lost my new flickers also from going over the bumper also...
anyway here is how the bumper looks....

anyway the damage is done and needed to get it fixed... Called Racetech in Trichard and they had bumpers called goldwagen in secunda they had brackets for the bumper.
went through and got the bumper R650 later and the brackets from goldwagen R30 later...
another new bumper...

This is the Jetta after we stripped the stifner from the car the bottom part was also bend badly but luckily my dad sorted it out if you look close to the right middle of the bottom of the car see a slight curve as it was bend..

in one of my previous posts you saw that the bumper had a huge gap between the grill and the bumper this is how i fixed that...
original bracket as it comes from the shop...

the modified bracket on the bottom

Spacers i used to lift the bumper 20mm higher.

this is how the spacer will sit with the bracket

Lineing up the holes of the bracket with the spacer and using a g clamp to keep it in place while we put in a screw to keep the spacer in place for when we fit it.

Both sides attached


and heres the End result :)



and just some photos of my car after the bumper was fitted still needs to be cleaned and polished so excuse the dirty car...

In this one you can see the drop which i'm going to be changing soon again the back is hanging way too much to my liking. will replace it with custom made springs with a 25mm drop for the front and a 20mm drop for the back.

the hand brake cable i just cable tied back in place so in all i was very lucky not to have more damage on the car...
 
#5 ·
Thanks to RSI Hunter i manage to get a Pan Filter box at last.
Its in need for some attention which i will be giving it a bit later once i can move in my garage again.
Top view

inside view

Bottom end and this will be getting some Fiberglass attention.
 
#6 ·
so i started to fixing the Air Box today :)
heres the airbox before i started working on it.

So i took the box and a grinding stone in a drill and roughen up the inside to get the FG to stick to the inside.

i then used strips of foiled sprayed with Spray and cook to make the FG not stick to it.

Heres the box completely covered in foil.

the inside where i'm putting the fiber glass

And i'm using roof sealer as a lining to strengen the inside.


I already started with the fiberglass part but have no photos of that yet. will post as i get the last part done.
 
#7 ·
ok first section is done busy with the second layer of FG and then i'll let it cure with time. but looks nice and solid.

FG just pored in and its curing added more accellerator to let it cure quicker.

Will post photos of the final part once its done
 
#9 ·
Ok so after a couple of days the FB cured and i could prime and spray it here is the end result please note i still need to give the 2nd layers of the paint to complete it 100%
So i got plastic primer to spray on the fiberglass and plastic of the box, Metallic red paint for the outside and matt black for the inside.

First off first layer of primer on the inside and outside of the box


2nd layer of primer

Box with first layer of outside metallic paint

Underneath how the box looks painted

The inside painted black

And 2 views of the box put together i still need to add the clips back which i painted black


Will give the last layer of paint tomorrow after work. and post pics of the final product
 
#10 ·
Ok starting to get things ready for the brake upgrade coming end of the month :)
will be picking the calipers and brakes disc from Ryan next week sometime.
Meantime i manage to get hold of a set of MK3 Bearing Carriers for the calipers. Thanks to German Spares west in Van der hoff i got both carriers for R500.
now i need to just clean them up going to change the bearings also and the ball joints mounts. I couldnt get circlips alone from Goldwagen midas or any other place so phone VW and they ordered me 4 clips for R113...
Both carriers next to each othe can see alot of cleaning needs to be done.

The right side has been drilled to fit 5 hole wheels

The left side have a dust shield on but will loose it once the carriers is fitted.

The bearings i'll be fitting.

I found this link on the net regarding how to change the bearings so i'll be using this as a guide line.
http://www.clubgti.com/forum/showthread.php?t=97954
 
#12 ·
while visiting my parents in Kriel i got a chance to quickly do some painting.
Here is the Intake Manifold before its painted.

here it is painted

Heres the part of calipers before its painted

And here its painted and assembled :)


Drums before they painted

And heres the drums all painted


Check the intercooler i got with the Audi motor
 
#13 ·
this morning i went out and got some more parts for the brake upgrade which is happening the end of the month.
First off some new pads.


The one carrier was missing a balljoint and the one that i got is not the best at all so i'm replacing them with new ones


also got some new rear bearings while i'm busy I might as well do them.

Then i need to get around to change the boot over the Steering colom as mine was destroyed when we tried putting in the powersteering rack.


will be getting the new custom made springs in about a week.
 
#14 ·
Ok got the Circlips from VW. R113.00 later but got it for the bearing change on the new carriers.



But got bored today and started cleaning the Throttlebody I got from Ryan i took it appart completely cleaned up all the oil and spray q20 on the moving parts just to get it a little bit smoother again and looking better. the Body it self i've not manage to get clean propperly yet will do that later.







 
#16 ·
OK so i went bolt hunting today.
And got some Caliper carrier bolts for the brake upgrade ( R20 from a scrapyard (VW wants to charge me R31 A BOLT ) )


Then at the same time I got a sample Bolt from them and went to a Nuts and Bolts place in Silverton
I Got 10 of these

Test fitted them on the Mani

and i got 10 of these 10mm size 16mm long allen key bolts for the tappet cover

best part is i paid R5 for the sample bolt. went to the nuts and bolt place show them the sample and i paid R10.95 for all 20 bolts and washers. BARGAIN!!! :lol: :lol:
So i continued putting the rest together just to see how it all shapes out so far. and i'm getting more and more excited with every step closer to the build.
the head with the Mani bolted on and the throttle body still strap on ( need to get 4 smaller bolts for that one )

I've added the 282 cam and Vernier Pulley ( THanks Nellis for cam and Vernier Pulley / Thanks Ryan for the 8v Head and intake mani )

and some angled shots of the Head with the Airbox top also added


as i said before its getting better and more exciting with each step to see how it transfroms from just random parts to a machine that will bee amazing to drive!
 
#17 ·
this weekend we quickly went to my parents in kriel where I'll be doing my brake upgrade next weekend.
I tested the bolts i got last week and they fit perfect!! i quickly assembled the brakes just o make sure it all is ok and no snags bites us along the way.
and this is how it looks
Made sure the new ball joint is the correct one and fits, Also the carrier will be painted once we change the bearing.









 
#18 ·
So this morning my car started out looking like this... car is just jacked up on the otherside as we started to change the wheels on that side first

And man how can a set of wheel change the look of a car! love the new look so far Thanks Beau_cti!

as you can see the ride height is not nicely leveled at all... the rear is dropped way too much. even though its a 40/40 drop
next is a couple of pics just to keep track on how the car is going to change in the next week...




Here is how the brakes looked before i started.
the front wheel and brake with close up


and the rear


Before i started to strip and go crazy I measured the height to compare later on after the all the new springs is in place.

here you can see the front measured in on a height of 58 cm

Then on the rear i had to take 2 measurements as the 1st number is higher than it actualy is cause i boosted the height to clear speed bumps and just to be able to hook on the small trailer i have to use. I boosted it with 3 sets of rubbers. and in the first photo you can still see the arch is sitting over the tyre...

a nice 55cm... a whole 30mm lower than the front.

Then with all the rubbers out of the springs this is how it looks now sitting at 54cm, 40mm lower than the front... ( SO MUCH For a 40/40 drop )

Here is the new springs going into the car. custom made 12mm dia heavy duty springs ( you can apparently still tow nicely with these when you need to )

I proceeded to strip out the old caliper ( did not take photos of that ) and started to assemble the Brakes I bought from Jetta2 :D
first i bolted in the new balljoints

I proceeded to install the carrier onto the car you can see the shock with the new spring in the back ground there.






And with the final assembly part of the brakes and all the nuts and so are tightened, front brake bled i quickly cleaned the wheel


after a good wash with a high pressure cleaner and a good scrub this is how it looks now.

Remember that very first foto of the wheel with old caliper? well here it is again just to remind you...

AND finally this is how it looks now!

I did another measurement although its not completely accurate yet as the other side still needs to be done this is the difference in height now.

it lifted a whole 30mm but car is slated and will decrease as soon as the other side is done which will be tomorrow.
 
#19 ·
I love how things are coming together the whole shape of the car is changing on a daily basis currently and hopefully by the end of the week you would not recognize its the same car as it started out.
And for and update of todays progress.
This morning I started early on the car aim was to finish the left front brake and the rear springs. I've managed all that but has not bled the car again alot of air got in the system with removing all the brakes and connecting it up again...
I lost alot of time in the morning when i removed the old carrier the tie rod gave in rubber completely perish and also the nut just kept turning around and around after alot of effort it came out but i decided to change the tie rods any case
Also i corrected the disc on the right hand side which after i fitted Ryan informed me i put it up the wrong side.
starting this morning this is how the front left looked like

I started on the left by removing the shock and getting the springs sorted on it

I removed the old springs

I compressed the new springs using tools my dad made years ago for the use of changing suspension springs.

from here i proceeded to put in all the bits of the new brakes, first the shock which i cleaned using a pressure washer, connected the carrier new tie rod and then the disc and the floating frame and the pads and it looked like this.

and finally added the caliper to the all the rest. and here is how it looked after.

after this i wanted to start bleeding the brakes again using a nice little tool called Eezi-bleed. but my dad said i should rather wait and bleed the whole system so we proceeded to do the rear brakes. But before we started to replace the rear brakes i had to take of the wheels and not able to tie the wheel nut in the front cause i dont have brakes i left the front wheels off and jacked the rear up to change brakes and bleed all the sides with minimum effort.
This how it looked... ( Scares the hell out of me thinking the car is 30cm above the ground standing only on 4 little pieces of metal )


this is the how it looked before and all the parts that will be going into the back brakes...

I started on the brakes trying to get the new brake shoes in but i got everything connected except that bloody spring in the bottom so this is still standing as is. I then proceeded to change the bearing journals on the drums i took over from Ryan unfortunately no photos of this.
Knowing I''m a bit stuck and not wanting to start striping the other side till this side is done i proceeded to do my rear springs.
this is how it looked after i took both out.

removed the old springs from the shocks and compare the new custom made spring to the N-force Nonsens notice the Dia-meter of the spring itself is 12 mm compared to the 8mm of the N-force spring also look at the coiling the custom spring is so much better

so i assembled the rear shocks here i'm busy decompressing the spring almost ready for refit


and here is it refitted when i lifted the car onto the blocks the car was just height enough for the wheel to come off after the fitment of the new springs i guess it lowered about 30mm i have not measured it yet as i'll do so once i've refitted the wheels.

After packing up the tools and so on i quickly snapped this photo from the bottom front the new calipers looks sweet cant wait to feel how the car will respond!

Thanks for watching :) tomorrow i'll try and get the rear brakes done and also try and fit the Wheel arches and side skirts :D
Overall I'm happy with the progress even considering i lost about 3 hours in the morning.
 
#20 ·
This morning I got up and started on the car again.
Eager to get the wheel arches up while the car is stil on the blocks. I laid out the parts of the skirts and as mentioned i discovered I dont have all the parts to continue with the arches and skirts.
Here is the complete right side of the arches and skirts. as mentioned i have the left skirt but not the arches.

So i decided to start with the Dash I bought Months ago and been keeping safe in the house.
here is the car before i started.

in this photo you can see the cracks of the old dash due to many years in the sun.

this is the dash from the passenger side look at how the cracks arched the dash up

in this photo you can see when the broke into my car a year or so back where the screw driver indented the dash while breaking the face to gain access to the radio.

still stripping the dash

A few things i've learned while stripping the dash is the center console needs to get out before you can lift out dash. you need to strip out the wiper motor to gain access to the 2 nuts thats located in the engine bay. after alot of undoing of screws bolts and nuts and making careful mental note where what goes the dash was out and laying next to the one going into the car

from here the time consuming trail and error period followed fitting the other

You can see all the white tape on the wires as i tidied it up to make it easier to put back


And finally its in!!! but still alot of work to be done


And dont this look ALOT BETTER!!! NO CRACKS!!


cluster back in

Cabby hole back in also

And finally the dash is in and all the little ass jobbies is done all i need to do now is tidy the car up screw in the bottom bits but very happy of the look in the car!

I'll update the final look tomorrow once I fully completed the last bits steering wheel, and cleaned out it :)
other things i also have done today but dont have photos of it was change the ignition switch, changed the aerial from a wire on to a nice short black plastic covered aerial. also i managed to change the steering rack boot that connects the steering rack and firewall.
I'll be back tomorrow with some more updates :)
 
#21 ·
Thanks alot guys!
I started late this morning. was a bit lazy after working later for a few days straight but i'm very very happy with the progress this far.
I suggest you guys get a drink as this is quite a long post!
just a quick recap off what have been done so far...
I got the new 15" wheels
I changed the brakes in the front to the 256mm Disc and calipers.
I changed the tie rods on the wheels as the ones rubber perished.
i changed all 4 springs to the new 12mm springs
I changed the aerial to a nicer more appealing short aerial.
I changed the Ignition switch.
I changed the boot between the firewall and the power steering rack
Then lastly i changed the dashboard to another one i had for a while as the original dash was cracked all over.
so I finished the last bits of the dash and cleaned up the inside, polished and its looking great!








After i completed the dash and cleaned up a bit on the inside i checked out the spoiler i want to mount to the rear its a non OEM part but it looks OEM. I must say it will look sweet once that is done BUT the spoiler is Skew i will need to sort out that before i can even think of mounting it. heres the photos so i'll let it speak for it self.







Ok so now they say bad luck comes in three so lets hope it ends now... the count is on 2 so far that you all know about.
1. Wheel arches I dont have the left side only 2 sets of the right.
2. The Spoiler is skew
and here comes 3...
after that i got on the rear wheel bearings and brakes.
this is how it looked before i started...

I started on the new drums first. i changed the bearing journals the night before and dont have photos of that but this is the end product, as you can see the new journal is in and its all clean on the inside

I then packed the inside with alot of wheel bearing grease just to make sure there wont be an issue along the way.

here is the bearing before i started packing it with wheel bearing grease

I took the bearing and using a bit of grease at a time you force it in from the side and you do this both side forcing the grease out by the rollers of the bearings giving it a turn to run the grease around the rollers and under the roller you redo that so the grease pops out by the rollers again.


I inserted bearing into the drum and added a another layer of grease ontop of the bearing

Here I inserted the dust seal cleaned off any extra grease that wasted inside the drum.

OK Back to the braking system getting ready to change the brake shoes. Using a 10mm pipe socket you can press the spring down and turn the pin on the back 90 degrees to release it.

Here the spring is coming off and you can remove the pin in the back

Both pins removed on both sides I unhooked the spring for automatic brake tension lock

unhooking the top part first you can then pull the bottom part off the housing and remove the bottom spring

then you can remove the handbrake cable.

I cleaned out most of the previous brake dust from the housing
 
#22 ·
Using pliers i removed the first spring and unhooked it.

pushing the spring through the hole you disconnect the 2 parts from each other.

sliding the hand brake lever out you can slide the other part down and remove it from each other


Again using pliers I unhooked the last spring from the plate



using the join plate remember to put the auto tensioner plate in also you can connect the spring using pliers again

Slide the handbrake lever in

hook the 2 parts into place

hook the spring in ontop and push the spring through the hole.


Hook the spring using pliers to the furthest hole

and here you have your brake shoe assembly

attaching the hand brake cable and hooking in the top of the shoes around the cylinder you can hook 1 of the bottom parts in and using pliers again you can wedge it over the other end locking it into place.

And this is how far i am on both side now... using the nut i force the bearing journals deeper into the drums. but as i wrenched it in the nut ( Both sides ) suddenly started to turn alot easier than it did a few seconds ago. took the nut off and i Stripped only the nuts threads off...


So this is my progress as far. i'll get new nuts in the morning from the local part shop and and finish up with the jobs and hopefully get the whole system bleeded before getting the wheels back on and checking out the overall ride high. and clearances.
but this is me for now :)
Thanks for reading!
 
#23 ·
Today i didnt do any work on the car it self but i sorted out a couple of things for the car!
I went to change the one set of arches for left side arches. and also i changed the skew spoiler for a nice and straight one. got lock nuts for the rear which i stripped twice lol
But o got some new rubber shoes. R2580 fitted and balances from Auto style :)
Yokohama's 195/50-15





While at Autostyle i got these...

Its red LED park lights :)
Anyway i'll finish up the wheels and brakes tomorrow.
 
#24 ·
Ok this morning I sorted the last bit of the cars brakes.
I screwed on the lock nuts i got from Goldwagen yesterday and completed the rear brakes. From there on I went to bleed the whole system with Dot 4 brake fluid. but my dad had the great tool that you use the tyres air to bleed the system, its called Eezi-beeld

Not sure how the quality of this brake fluid but will check how it goes the fact its dot 4 is good.

you fill your reservoir to the level where it need to be then you completely fill the other bottle and connect it to a valve of a tyre to put the system under pressure.

using a piece of pipe ( Aquarium air pipes is perfect! ) you connect it to your bleed nipple and put the other side in a bottle making less mess this way. Starting at the Left rear wheel you bleed it till you see the brake fluid is completely clean and if there was air in the system it will push it out also. then you do the same at the rear right brake, front left brake and finally the right front. and then the system is completely bled and clean and no need to pump the brake pedal as the system is already under pressure. ( I did pump just to make extra sure i dont loose brakes expectantly )


THis is how you connect it to pressurize the system

the it was time to put the wheels back! and here is the first rear wheel that went on... and i love the red look!

So after i put on all the wheels i quickly measured the height after the new coils are in. ( the rear was 54cm and the front 58cm )
the rear lifted a whole 6cm to 60cm


and the front lifted 4cm to 62cm


And this how the car looked after the lift and the brakes with the wheels


The Front wheel

The Rear wheel

I originally wanted to put in a badge less grill so when I phoned and asked the supplier do they have badgeless grills they said they do have so i went bought it and went home i got home opened the grill and behold a badgeless grill that needs a bloody badge... so i carried my old badge over to the new grill but today I quickly modified badge...





I'll fit the bumper next and then try the spoiler also but that it going to take a bit more time but the big work is done! and i'm very very happy!!!
 
#25 ·
Ok so this afternoon me and my dad quickly tackled the rear bumper
now this is how it looked before we started...

unfortunately i haven't taken photos all the way but i got a couple of the car as we were fitting and testing.
so we started to strip and this is how the car looked with no bumper

from here we had to do a bit of modifications to get it fitted. first we had to take off the old stiffner from the towbar. Not wanting to loose the towbar as this is the only car we have that can tow and we do need it from time to time. so we cut a slot for the towbar so it can slot in. the we fitted it and tried fitting it on the car but the towbar couldnt get in deep enough so we could tie the bolts.

so a bit of measuring and planning we came to the plan to lift the bumper 13mm and push it out 30mm for it to fit nice. using 5mm flatbar we welded onto the towbar it lifted the 13mm and extended 30mm back and what do you know! spot on!
this is how it looked after we fitted it.





I know the photos is a bit crap but i'll post some propper ones of the car tomorrow when i got more light to work with :)
 
#26 ·
Yesterday i finished my work for this week on the car. i'm very pleased with the progress if you take in consideration the set backs in time due to mis matching parts and tyres that i had to go and do.
only things i have not done that i did want to do was the fitment of the side skirts and wheel arches, and boot spoiler.
this how she looks now :) first gave her a nice bath...


then i dried her i'll also give her a nice polish a bit later :)








Now i need to save from the start again for the other mods i want to do but very happy with how things did progress!
 
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