RHD syncro golf from august 1989 (i think – need to double check this). Had some odd orange badges on the sides and rear which nobody seems to have seen before – could be some random edition one they did a few of? Who knows.
It was full of holes when I got it so it’s had a jetta filler cap section welded in, rear panel smoothed & all badges except “Golf” removed.
Engine:
– Pretty much std, it got a bit of an overhaul when the head gasket went this spring and seems to be running ok on the standard GU carb motor. It had a K & N on-carb filter but that complicated issues so original airbox assy has been refitted.
– Middle silencer removed (replaced with pipe)
– Rear silencer replaces with supersprint rallye back box
Suspension:
– AVO coilover shocks,
– lowered 60mm (ish), 29.5cm axle-centre to arch-lip (std arches).
– helper springs welded to 400lb and 325lb 9″x2.25″ springs (front/rear)
– minimal damping on the front, light damping on rear.
– Strut brace on rear towers
Wheels & Brakes:
– 15″ AEZs with “comfort auto” (yuk!) 195/50s
– 256mm vented, drilled discs (nearly bought the ATEs too tho PoloV8!)
– EBC Greenstuff pads
– Std syncro big drums on the rear.
Interior:
– Fire & Ice leather wheel
– Cobra half leather buckets on sparco frames
– cd & mp3
– JBL mini front speakers, Pioneer door speakers on door pocket speaker mounts
Planned? (lol here we go )
– 16v motor (currently under construction)
– bodycoloured bumpers (dunno if it’s wise tho with my parking)
– uprated drivetrain (e.g. rallye/tt/4-motion)
– bigger discs on the front (4-pots?), discs on rear
– finish the stereo (keeping it minimal so not too heavy), infinity 6x9s, kenwood sub & “Stealth” 600w amp awaiting fitment
– big-ass turbo
– leather interior
– loads more shiny stuff
umm gimme some time and I’ll think of a load more stuff…
Posted – 11/04/2004 : 15:01:19
Currently got the block back and dunked and cleaned. I’m waiting for g60 injectors and FPR from germany. Waiting for a cheque which will mean I can get the 16v fuel rail from the US (shiny), crank bearings etc and then the bottom end’s together and I can start wondering how the hell the top is gonna go together 
.
Once said cheque arrives the Golf comes off the road so it can be worked on properly and have the random bits of bodywork sorted too (some welding required).
Any techniques/tips as to dos and don’ts re welding bodywork much appreciated. Got some rust near rear right sill/arch, bit on front left windscreen pillar and need to remove a section of passenger footwell to make space for downpipes
Posted – 11/04/2004 : 21:20:09
oh damn – which address were you sending to? ld50@303.co.uk/ld50@plus8.net? I’ve been gettign mails ok recently. Will give you a bell though and then we can sort those 16v bits out
Also once golf is off the road the downpipe can come out so I can have a go at making a replacement. Hopefully it will either be useful for my 16v or for a rhd 8v carb’d motor with a gti exh manifold since it should be a staight replacement – just dependent on flanges etc. Replacement front (2 into 1) silencer section may also be on the cards…watch this space
Posted – 20/04/2004 : 15:43:03
W00t! g60 Injectors, rail & fpr arrived today. Still waiting to get paid tho so everything’s on hold till then 
Posted – 03/05/2004 : 19:25:11
After much gnashing fo teeth my cheque finally arrived and I can now get on with building 
Here goes nothing
Posted – 07/05/2004 : 16:33:57
Golf goes off the road next tues, crank bearing shells are ordered, crank is in for a bit of tidying up and checking for straightness etc… I guess it look sliek we’ll be entering the Suzuki Jeep at Pod on the 15th..
Posted – 12/05/2004 : 17:39:11
crank bearings have turned up, cranks is freshly lapped, checked and cleaned – I think that might almost be it for the bottom end
Posted – 14/05/2004 : 05:06:59
The current parts lineup is looking as follows:
– G60 Block: checked, degunked 50% cleaned up on the outside, looking good.
– G60 crank: Checked for trueness, bearing & seal surfaces lapped, looking shiny in all the right places.
– 16v intermediate shaft, looking like new (thx zerocool)
– 16v pulleys & cam sprockets, all looking like new
– 16v pistons & rods: new with new rings & bearings all round.
– 16v head – cleaned up a bit – servicable
– 16v rocker cover (polished)
– 16v inlet manifold (polished), now with digifant injector inserts
– 16v throttle body
– g60 fuel pressure regulator
– billet fuel rail (en route from usa)
– g60 injectors (soon to be polished)
– digifant airflow meter from g60 or vr6 (polished)
– the old “power rohr” aluminium intake pipe from the old GTI (polished of course)
– 16v gasket set & head bolts
– 16v cooling pipe/distributor
– 16v exhaust manifold
– numerous other aluminium 16v bits polished too for tart value.
– G60 management (digifant 1)
– passat g60 wiring loom (to fit)
– golf mk2 16v wiring loom (to cannibalise)
There is however a bunch of stuff still missing…namely..
– main fuel pump
– distributor & cap
– ht leads
– any clue of how to wire it into “the car”
– anything involving small tubes or rubber hoses including linking elements of the fuel system.
– exhaust manifold downpipe (but have lots of tubes, an angle grinder and a mig welder)
– a car port so I don’t get rained while I’m sitting on the drive wondering what the hell I’m doing.
– whatever I’ve missed.
Posted – 21/05/2004 : 08:35:09
Fuel rail just arrived very slick and nicely machined but I can’t help having expected something a bit bigger for the money+import duty 
(it is slick tho..)
Posted – 11/06/2004 : 13:56:38
Bottom end is mostly together (though not torqued down till i know it all doesn’t need to come apart again 
.
Currently I’m dealing with the minor issue of the little cog which drives the distributor on an 8v, but doesn’t really do much on a 16v. Currently I’ve got a sawn off 8v distributor in place but chris suspects he might have the correct 16v get-up hiding in his shed somewhere.
I also found out yesterday that the breather hole for the 16v breather is in the wrong place for the breather assy from the 16v (shame cos I’d already polished one!) so I’m going to have to make one of them too.
So far everything which has gone itno the motor has been very shiny and new looking so it’s looking good so far and despite the snags is lookingpromising [] (not got to the head yet tho lol)
Posted – 24/06/2004 : 14:19:44
w00t – look slike an engine…
(but does it work like one?)
Posted – 11/07/2004 : 17:58:08
and today I picked up a 16v downpipe & manifold complete for a tenner!! bonus That should be most of what I need to chop up and fashion my super-special-1v-rhd downpipe.
/me chucks the 4-2-1 plans out the window…
Posted – 12/07/2004 : 22:11:30
Fuel pump & 1v HT leads also acquired today – the thot plikkens.
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Posted – 11/04/2004 : 15:01:19
Currently got the block back and dunked and cleaned. I’m waiting for g60 injectors and FPR from germany. Waiting for a cheque which will mean I can get the 16v fuel rail from the US (shiny), crank bearings etc and then the bottom end’s together and I can start wondering how the hell the top is gonna go together
.
Once said cheque arrives the Golf comes off the road so it can be worked on properly and have the random bits of bodywork sorted too (some welding required).
Any techniques/tips as to dos and don’ts re welding bodywork much appreciated. Got some rust near rear right sill/arch, bit on front left windscreen pillar and need to remove a section of passenger footwell to make space for downpipes
Posted – 13/07/2004 : 17:48:33
Oil filler cap and timing belt tensioner from german & swedish…£30!!!!???
ug!
Posted – 14/07/2004 : 21:43:27
I know I’m the more surprised by this than anyone else but my engine is looking more and more like a proper engine every day…filler cap & HT leads arrived today. Not super impressed with the 16v fuel pump from VWSport…”a bit rusty” (to put it mildly) was never mentioned…but at least I have a starting point to work from now.
The G60 block I’m using has an extra plate on the cambelt side which closes off the cooling bits around the cylinder bores. The downside of this is that the alternator bracket is thus offset slightly (by the thickness of the plate) so the holes don’t line up….arse. I think either some grnding, welding or both will be required unless the g60 one fits (and I can find one)
Posted – 11/09/2004 : 22:16:53
Well I finally sorted the alternator bracket today – The random 16v bracket I got from ZeroCool didn’t seem to be the right one for the job and looked like it was going to complicate the power steering setup so it was back to the drawing board. Fortunately the outcome wasn’t too complex/cumbersome and strangely enough uses the original 8v alternator bracket (everso slightly modified) with a wee adapter plate and a shim to lift it about 1.5cm off the deck from where it normally sits. Putting it there means the standard 8v alternator adjustable bracket can also be used and this all hangs free of the power steering & water pump brackets.
Strangely enough a third mounting point for the alternator bracket presented itself since there’s a random “nub” of block which just lined up with one of the holes. Not quite in a tapping sense but in a locating-and-helping-eliminate-flex sense
However the alternator is now on, uses the 8v alt belt, doesnt’ foul anything and looks like a far better outcome than I’d thought I’d see
Posted – 30/10/2004 : 00:25:52
Spent most of last weekend perfecting how to remove broken off manifold studs from a KR head without too much surrounding damage.
o/
answers on a postcard please
Posted – 01/11/2004 : 19:43:39
Nope – not had good experiences with drilling in the past so decided a new approach was needed. it’s a fine art but seems to work pretty well….anyone else like to venture a guess?
Posted – 03/11/2004 : 11:34:47
still not…
ok it’s not magic but here’s what i did (btw there were *no* sticky-out bits to grab hold of)..
– drill a little bit in the broken off stud so you get nice clean exposed metal at the end of the stud.
– protect surrounding area with random bits of sheet metal
– put a washer around the stud (i.e. as if the stud were not broken off), hold it in place with bits of metal above..
– weld a nice hot blob onto the end of the stud – the washer should protect the ali from the weld puddle. It really needs to be hot – when I thought I’d overdone it was actually just right. Build up the blob till it attaches completely to the washer.
– weld a nut/bar/anything-to-hand to the now combined washer/stud and loosen along with liberal quantities of wd40 (adding wd40 while it’s still hot seemed to help).
I don’t know what relevance each of the stages really plays- I just mocked up the situation and tested various methods (welding-based) – drilling in the end first seemed to make quite a bit of difference re how well the weld took (which possibly made the most difference). I dunno how important the washer is – i went with the first option which worked properly )
please note – just cos I do it doesn’t mean it’s safe/good practise/a good idea…I’m just pointing out what worked for me in the absence of all else… proceed at own risk!
Posted – 19/11/2004 : 18:10:00
engine bay has had its initial de-rusing and coat of paint. It’s gettign the full silver hammerite treatment – won’t be entering any show n shines but should be hard-wearing
pics here:
http://www.jpegstore.com/vwsyncro_LD50/p_thumbnails.asp?archive=ENGINE REMOVAL&strSearch=
My remaining bits have arrived from chris so can hopefully fit the motor this next week – should be all good fun or there’ll be a syncro shell + 16v project motor for sale shortly lol (kidding!!!)
Posted – 12/01/2005 : 21:18:39
The new engine fits at least
Test fitted today so I can get all the angles right for the carb manifold… pics up shortly []
Posted – 22/01/2005 : 14:28:38
Manifold done, downpipe under way… pics in “PGKR build” folder in my photos.
Posted – 24/01/2005 : 23:33:24
Downpipe mostly there now – first muffler sorted too, jsut got to link the two, add hangers and weld the first downpipe join and we’re in pretty much
16v into RHD syncro… it goes
Posted – 27/03/2005 : 20:54:03
Having wrestled with the damn alternator fittin gfor ages now it finally all fitted, the pulleys all line up and don’t foul and so the motor went in again today (hopefully for the last time for now!).
Funnily enough from there it’s all gone really quickly…my one-off exhaust all fitted first time, the belt covers all fit, the plumbing all lines up (so far) and I’ve even made a start on reconnecting all the wires although there’s been a lot of “I’m sure something went in this gap” type head-scratching…
I’m glad I labelled all the nuts and bolts so carefully tho lol!
Posted – 12/04/2005 : 09:42:38
*still* no updated pics but it’s gettgin a bit closer to being finished every day – I’m on to the little hoses and stuff now – most things are connected up, head is on and will be bolted down any day, most of the pipework is in place, underbody rust spots treated with thick coats of hammerite etc etc etc. Gearbox and linkages are hooked up, all bar one CV is on and sorted (can you guess which one’s being a pig? front right? never!)
There’s an interstedin mix of pipework going on since this motor truly is half 8v and half 16v – including the pipework…
/me gets the gaffer tape out.