Flash got a Dub...

FLASH1970 · March 11th, 2017, 19:46

hello all. been lurking a bit, learning a bit. looking forward to learning more because I'm a "do-it-yourself" type. picked up my 3rd vw. I have my 1970 beetle (first car) ive had for 17 years or so, been sitting, needs resto. I had an 06 GLI that I liked, but was FULL of problems so that's gone. and now I own a silver 2001 Golf GLS. sunroof, heated mirrors (that need the mirror inserts replaced), 5 speed, spare set of wheels with good tires. Original rims have good tires on them as well. TONS of receipts. clutch and turbo done in 2014. timing belt & water pump done june of 2016. he said the struts were all done last year too. I found receipts for calipers, wheels bearings, egr valve... I bought it from the original owner. 354.5k miles. compression was 450-ish across. I used a Harbor freight tester so I was mainly looking for consistent numbers. the interior is a bit worn. glovebox is broke (ill fix it). I might reupholster the drivers seat and add the heated option. I thought the car had the heated seats but it doesn't. I saw a write-up on here and might follow that. the car needs to have some rust taken care of on the hood and hatch. and he bumped someone that stopped after they started to go at a green light, hence the duct tape. other than some door handle and mirror scratches, the sides of the car are in pretty good shape. I get a clunk when I hit the brakes a bit hard, I'm guessing ball joints or control arm bushings need replacing. valve cover gasket leaks a bit so ill fix that. he installed a newer kenwood headunit that has a mic/bluetooth and usb port (thank God) for my tunes which saves me the trouble of doing it.
ill get better pics tomorrow when its light.

FLASH1970 · March 12th, 2017, 08:48

trying to upload images but photobucket doesn't want to work anymore...

bbarbulo · March 12th, 2017, 13:23

i see pics, so whatever you did is right.

sounds like a well maintained car, albeit a little rough looking. hope you get that all sorted out. i find golf bumpers in my area are hard to come by, everyone was buying jettas I guess. Americans don't like hatchbacks

i use flickr for photos. about the only place i found that gives you a hotlink you can post up.

FLASH1970 · March 12th, 2017, 16:09

I have some day-time pics but photobucket wont let me copy the link. ive already emailed a couple people about replacement body parts. new hood, hath, and bumper and this car will look pretty good. also fix some rock chips.

found the clunk. rear control arm bushing on the passenger side. Ive had BAD luck with control arm replacements turning into a major job a couple times. and turns out this car is no exception. broke the horizontal bolt... ug. so I started to saw the bolt to get the old arm out. I saw a youtube video where someone drilled out the bottom of the subframe to get a broken weld-nut off. I might have to go that route to get the end of the bolt off. also found a broken cv axle boot once I got under there. not a big deal. that valve cover gasket leaks a bit more than I thought too. there was grime and oil on the bottom of the engine. ill get a new gasket on order.

bbarbulo · March 12th, 2017, 22:04

doing work already, nice!

yes, i've found over the years bolts that travel through bushings like to become one with the metal sleeve of the bushing after some time. huge impact, heat, and a couple days of PB Blaster sometimes help. I mainly use my oxy-acetylene adn 3/4" impact for exactly these situations. And still there are times when I find myself cutting and drilling. I've also started to drill small holes in the side of the bushing sleeve in order to spray PB Blaster directly into the middle of the sleeve. On my Civic I still had to cut and drill one of the rears.

If you have to, just find some yards with the parts you need someplace outside the rust belt. I'd easily drive 10 hrs south just to find rust free parts, if that's what I needed. Check on car-part.com or in the classifieds here - many people parting out MK4s on here and on vwvortex.

FLASH1970 · March 13th, 2017, 10:45

glad I read around on here before ordering a valve cover gasket.... saved me 15-20 bucks and lot of frustration. ordered control arms, mirror inserts. going to check the cv knuckle tonight before I order a boot. no sense in buying a boot for a worn knuckle... going to do an oil change and change trans fluid too (unless I can find when it was last done). might order a driver's side headlight lens too.
some daytime pics.

cant really see it, but the top corners of the hatch are rust bubbled...

FLASH1970 · March 14th, 2017, 09:21

did some work on the car last night. got all the layers of baked on duct tape off the bumper cover. i might try and glue the bumper parts back (one big chunk and one little one) on and the crack on it (between the PS headlight and VW logo) as a temp fix. also did a 'headlight lens restore' that got it back to about 80% clear. i also got the control arm off. had to cut it up pretty good. the nut came off with the broken section of the bolt. i got that out with a telescoping magnet from the back end of the subframe that's open. i plan to use a serrated nut in place of the welded on one. to get a new nut on i plan to use the same telescoping magnet to hold it in place. or i might be able to get it in a socket and use a swivel to hold it in place. to line it up ill use my endoscope fed in through the back of the subframe so i can see what's going on. that way i dont have to drill/cut/ hack up the subframe. enough rambling, more pics...

i already removed most of the gunk, but you can see the pieces better.

FLASH1970 · March 15th, 2017, 07:57

Got the knuckle all taken apart, cleaned out the ball grooves, got all the old grease cleaned off, boot has been ordered. good thing I kept my 12 point bits from when I had my GLI. not sure why VW had to go and make it's own special type of bolt head but oh well. also got the front bumper off. broke a bolt under the driver's side headlight so I gotta take off the foam part & brackets to get the bolt out from the back side.

bbarbulo · March 15th, 2017, 14:33

i have to do the same with my axle, but I'm waiting to get a new knuckle too before I do it.

the 12 point bits are superior in torque transfer, but you're right - there wasn't a real need to use a female drive type bolt. but if it makes you feel better, they've been doing it since the beetle days - by '70 bug uses the same bolts on the axles.

FLASH1970 · March 16th, 2017, 07:09

Got the valve cover off. couple bolts stripped out so i had to pound a Torx bit into the allen head to get them out. dang the lobes on this cam are pointed... im used to seeing a nice rounded cam lobe on gas engines. i cleaned up the head surface and valve cover surface. they were pretty grimey. going to put a thin layer of RTV on the gasket and bolt it back on tonight. also going to take off the vaccuum pump and clean that surface and put a thin bead of RTV on there. looks like it's leaking pretty good from the bottom side. also got the bumper cover all taped up and glued up from the backside. im letting it set for a couple days. if it doesnt work, ill get some fiberglass and resin on the backside to hold it. wont be perfect, but wont be all duct taped up and will be good enough until i can get a new bumper cover.

FLASH1970 · March 18th, 2017, 17:52

Got to drive the car today! Santa, I mean, the delivery man came and dropped off some goodies. got the bumper back on. can still see the cracks, but it's not covered in duct tape anymore. I think it looks much better. car rode smooth. not a rattle box like my cobalt ss. think I have a blown tweeter on the passenger side though. minor things. tomorrow I might sand down the hood and see what I can do to lessen that eye sore. might have a lead on a black cloth interior too.

bbarbulo · March 19th, 2017, 20:16

bumper and headlights look 100x better. well done.

lol yeah, domestics literally sound like a coffee can full of loose change

FLASH1970 · March 20th, 2017, 11:08

did some more work yesterday. oil change, started doing something to fix that eye sore of a hood. im not a bodywork expert but I figured a garbage hood is a good place to give it a shot. hood is rusted through in the center. :/

FLASH1970 · March 20th, 2017, 17:45

when I fired the car up to show my boss at work, he noticed some smoke from the back of the engine for a couple seconds. looks like I have an exhaust leak to fix. that might explain the faint diesel smell I get when driving. got the hood, um, fixed. I rushed a bit due to daylight. eh, it's ok for silver rustoleum and better than rust bubbles I think. maybe ill cover the front bit with black instead of silver, and black out the headlight housings (not the lens). when I get tinted windows it might look better with the black bits. I digress. looks like I was still holding the sander in the first pic. lol.

bbarbulo · March 21st, 2017, 21:12

sadly that mess will come back quickly, your best bet is to cut it out and weld in fresh metal. I just restored an 88 Civic that had a bit of rust here and there. body work isn't hard, just requires patience. my neighbor did your type of fix on his work van side doors, and it came back in a couple of months.

you can get a far better match from any auto store in the duplicolor selection of "OEM MATCH" paints. their enamels are far superior to rustoleum too, but it's $8 for a can.

and you don't want to paint to a tape line. you want to blend it out and clearcoat over, then buff to blend. i'm sure you can find some youtube vids on blending a repair area into a panel.