mk1 golf cabrio

Thought it was about time I posted my progress with this. Some of you may know I got this from pete, and it was owned my smiggy on here.

I kept the wheels from the mk2 GTD and I think they look alright, had to adjust the gear linkage as it wouldn't get 5th, and now its alright. Apart from needing another interior as the doorcards have been butchered and the driver's seat is in a bad way. Oh and some idiot has put a carb engine in it so that needs rectifying. Here's some pics when I got it...








I got absolutely soaked on my way to work in the rain, so the roof got some well needed attention. I took a trip out to Derby to see the mk1 cab roof legend that is Karl off the mk1 owners forum, and that afternoon we fitted new gasket seals all round, new side cables, a new rear tension cable, and applied silicone sealant where it needed it. I've also since sourced and fitted some little corner plates for the front of the roof where it meets the top of the A pillars.
I've had all the door cards off and weatherproofed them all, had the dash apart and screwed some parts in properly as it was all rattling and shaking about, made a boot carpet from an old escort cab boot carpet I had, and gave it a good clean, polish and wax. After a clean up...




I then fitted a new rear foglight as the original was smashed, fixed the horn, bought and fitted new headlamp bezels, another grille as the old one was damaged, fitted a new heater panel as the old one was manky and had been attacked with a screwdriver! Some pics from the foglight fitting, also showing just how good the shell of this car is!






Today my new number plates finally arrived! The old ones were nasty and had the 90s style honeycomb on them, so they had to go. Didn't actually want them with the GB badge, so out come the hacksaw and file to round the edges off



One done



After chopping them both they're on. Front one is a tad wonky though, and I need to buy some of the coloured screw caps, but I'm happy with them.




I've bought a complete running gear from an 80k mk1 GTI campaign, so I shall be picking that up within the next few weeks. Should be an easy fit as the cab still has all the Kjet wiring present.

looking good mate! about time u put a thread up! i hope u keep this 1!

I have no plans to sell it, especially not this time of year. Will most likely get another cheap mk2 for winter, I don't fancy driving this in the snow!

looking good mate, got a soft spot for the cabby

That is all. Work commences Sunday

is that a 1.6 gti?

No, 80k mile 1.8 Kjet from a mk1 campaign. should have a bit more smoothness and reliability than my pooberg'd GU engine.

spent the day on the cab today, good progress, got the carb engine out, Kjet engine is in, all thats left to do is fit the fuel pump, connect the fuel pipes to the metering head, fit the expansion tank, fill with coolant and fire her up! Pics from today

old carb engine in this morning


carb engine out



Kjet engine in, this was taken a few hours before I'd left so theres a bit more stuff connected up now

It would appear I've accidentally bought an early 1.6 Kjet engine. Hell yes!!!

Well I've had it running tonight, although very badly, and not on petrol... but WD40 sprayed down the intake! Ran for about a minute, popping and farting. So I now have a spark, but obviously no petrol is being injected. Any ideas?

fuel pump or maybe fuel relay

Feul pump is working fine. Put a new fuel filter and dizzy cap on it today, checked the metering head flap and that isn't stuck, cracked off the injector pipe unions on top of the metering head and turned it over, no fuel squirting out, and I assume there should be.

Have you got feed and return right way round???
Can't really think of anything else.

Yes, I left them off the filter until I got the pump working so I knew for sure which way round they went. I've narrowed it down to a duff metering head. Pete's got one I can try so hopefully that will cure it.

Tried another metering head, cracked off unions, fuel squirts out, but engine won't run, so could be faulty injectors. Losing mojo! So I got the front coilovers on and let the polo borrow its wheels so I don't have to drive around on the pink and blue monstrosities. Here she is looking sorry for herself



And I gave the golf some sick rims and camber!

Are 8v injectors same as KR?? If they are I've got a set u can have to try.
U could try removing the injectors from head and trying it - but keep way from the nozzle, theres a hell of a pressure there and don't have a fag on at the time either !!

Not sure if they are the same mate, I did try pulling them out yesterday but they've probably been in there 30 years and were mega tight, then it started raining so I gave up. I need to check how many amps the pump is pulling as its started making funny noises, so that may not be making enough pressure...

Collecting parts for the cabby this week. Here is the 1st instalment...

I want one

Well I haven't done much with the cabby lately, had other commitments and its been pretty cold lately, I did however get the 4 branch manifold on, wasn't too much bother to get on, just had to remove the ARB then it slipped into place. I have a proof shot of this, although its not very clear.



I also fitted the fuel pump I got off a forum, but just my luck its actually in worse order than the one I got with my engine, so after xmas I'm going to get a brand new one, they're £70 which is a lot for what it is, but I don't want to be buying a load of 2nd hand pumps until I get a good one (I did this last winter with ECU's when I converted my old mk2).