76 Sweetheart

[Browneye]

It's time my golf got it's own thread...

Many of you know my car from my little pickle thread, and this is how she looked on her last public appearance
What many of you don't know is that my old car, the e36 bmw, is now owned by my brothers girlfriend. Recently, the car has not been running for longer than 2 weeks at a time, and I thought I'd reward my golf for being such a reliable little angel and the best decision of my life.

It seems that the bmw is ready for the tip, and as a result, my golf gets a thread that isn't tainted by its very existence.

The other good news is that Nissan has finally come through with their promise of a company car, and although new cars are not my jam, it means that the golf can be garaged for the next few months to be completely reworked on all the things I've been putting off for so long

My goals are not as cliched as vr6 or 1.8t or anything ridiculous like that. I simply want a period correct, raw, fun, unique mk1. We'll see how much the brief changes over time, but for now, that's the direction this is heading.

On the cards at this stage is the following:

Install reconditioned engine (AFT code, twin dellorto dhla 40s, Rowland intake, Hurricane extractors, Catcam 280, home port job, mk2 gti 020 gearbox etc etc)
Recondition plastic dash, flocked or vinyl wrapped (still undecided)
Freshen up the interior
New suspension bushings all round
Cambered strut mounts
Rear sway bar
New rack ends, tie rods and ball joints
New 280mm front brakes
Engine bay wire tuck
Home-job paint

So here goes...



In here

Equals

Stay tuned

[Petska84]

It's finally happening!!!!

Love to see how it performs Jordan.

[sports racer]

Why AFT? It’s only 1.6 and there’s heaps of better performing motors out there. I presume you want to put in a crossflow so the carbies look sweet sitting on the front of the engine?

Why not go for a 1.8 20v (non turbo) and put twins on that. It’s a crossflow and there’s lots of these motors around. Even in standard form they put out 125hp with a lot more torque than an AFT. My wife’s Passat runs this engine and it’s not that much slower than my 2.0 engined MK2 despite the extra weight the Passat carries. In a MK1 it would be awesome. Engine mounts would be easy to source too.

Try to get more info on the Rowland manifold. When Michael put twin 40’s on the 16v in his MK1 (now mine) his Rowland manifold was such a poor design it made fitting the mounting bolts so hard it was almost impossible. He returned it and went for another brand which was heaps better.

Other than that everything on your list is the same as mine so it’s good to see I’m not the only crazy one out there.

Cheers

Paul

[eltonking]

nice coil dude

good to see it all coming along, i get my license back in a couple weeks so will come round and see how things are kicking along!

[Browneye]

Why AFT? It’s only 1.6 and there’s heaps of better performing motors out there. I presume you want to put in a crossflow so the carbies look sweet sitting on the front of the engine?

Why not go for a 1.8 20v (non turbo) and put twins on that. It’s a crossflow and there’s lots of these motors around. Even in standard form they put out 125hp with a lot more torque than an AFT. My wife’s Passat runs this engine and it’s not that much slower than my 2.0 engined MK2 despite the extra weight the Passat carries. In a MK1 it would be awesome. Engine mounts would be easy to source too.

Try to get more info on the Rowland manifold. When Michael put twin 40’s on the 16v in his MK1 (now mine) his Rowland manifold was such a poor design it made fitting the mounting bolts so hard it was almost impossible. He returned it and went for another brand which was heaps better.

Other than that everything on your list is the same as mine so it’s good to see I’m not the only crazy one out there.

Cheers

Paul

I appreciate the concern about my choices from someone who has a 16v and as much experience as anyone else on here.

I went for the AFT because I wanted something completely different, while still being somewhat period correct (at least in appearance). 1.6 might throw some people off this engine, however it made more power than the mk3 1.8 (my old engine) and was over 1 second faster to 100 in that chassis. It has the same bore but a much shorter stroke than the 1.8, meaning lower piston speeds allowing for higher peak rpm. Plus it was the only one I've ever seen in Australia.

I agree that Rowland have a bad reputation and it is deserved, but their price was less than half of the next best option. Massaging it over the mounting bolts was a price I was willing to (and did) pay.

In the end, the choices I made were based on the budget I had. I would like to build a carbed 20v one day, but the ignition and custom made headers were a major concern for me.

I'm happy with what I've got for now. If I'm underwhelmed with the power, it's a bolt in job for a 1.8 stroker

[Water Boy]

AFT's go harder than most people think.
Ive driven one in a Cordoba and it went very well for a stock car!

[Notso Swift]

So, who is negative Nancy today!

[sports racer]

Not me. I'm quite pleased that someone is willing to try something different and has thought this through.

Somewhere there's a clip on Youtube of a 1.6 powered MK1 in an English historic sedan race against some fancy classic racers including a 400+ hp Rover SD1. The Rover has trouble staying with the MK1, even on the straights so a high reving 1.6 can deliver the goods. Admitedly this 1.6 has a 1.3 crank fitted with oversize pistons to bring it back to 1.6 and revs to 12,000 rpm but it shows what can be done with the little engine.

I'm old school where there's no substitute for cubic centimetres (except if you have a turbo ...... or high reving engine ........... or engine management or a million other things we didn't have 30 years ago).

Goodonya for sticking to your guns and doing what you want to do. I'd love to see this when you're finished.

Cheers

Paul

[sports racer]

I appreciate the concern about my choices from someone who has a 16v and as much experience as anyone else on here.

Flattery will get you anywhere but I'm still making mistakes and stuffing things up on my Golfs. Don't equate experience with actually knowing what I'm doing.

[Browneye]

So the evenings working on the golf are going well, tonight especially so.

Throttle cable is inLinkage is made from a bicycle brake screw with the wire bent around it on itself. Adjustment comes from a hollow m8 bolt, sourced from a bmx stem I had lying around.

Positioned the radiator between the carbs and the battery for a mock up. It fits but my god, talk about tight The original plan was to turn this radiator on its side and modify the filler cap so that it remains on the top, however I don't want to modify a part incase I need to replace it in the distant future. Sadly, the only way to get it to fit is to cut the radiator support (out of the question) or tilt it back as it is in the pictures. Unless someone has a better idea????

Gear linkages connected. 5 speed short shift is mint! Connected the drive shafts also, but needed to rebuild the CVs as they decided to drop all of their bearings all over the garage floor... Anyone know if this is normal when they articulate too much?

P. S. Mind the clutter and filth in the bay. Just making sure everything fits before I clean her all up nice