Mulberry Highline Daily.

[dom.joy 87]

Ah fair enough. Thanks for the info, dont think I'll bother with a universal one if they sit high.

I've been meaning to get tt pedals for a while but have read mixed things that you need lhd accel pedal. Or to trim parts down.

[c00k 435]

I didn't trim anything, 

you just have to bend the accelerator cover to the right shape. 

But it's not hard, I did it with just my two hands, it's only thin alloy and rubber. 

Fiddely to fit, but nothing needs trimming. Brake pedal is hardest with the middle rubber that goes through hole. In total took me about 10-15mins to fit. So hardly any time at all.

 

I have them on both my VR's. 

Edited February 15, 2016 by c00k

[c00k 435]

Did a small reinforcement on a spare sump I had, only over section near the drain plug, that commonly scrapes on these. Put a few holes in the plate, to help release water and moister. As it not full seemed along the edges. 

Then painted it in some of the special paint I had left over from the black VR's lower arms, subframe, crossmember, etc. (The paints meant for oil rigs that get built in the sea) 

Ready to go on spare engine before it gets fitted. 

 

Set of cheap silicone hoses. 

 

 

Fitted the TT pedals, 

 

Side windows and sunroof wind deflectors. 

Edited February 15, 2016 by c00k

[c00k 435]

The replacement engine I bought, OBD2, none air con, 98K. 

I will have to swap over all the air-con stuff as I want to keep it on this car, I may even fit climatronic at a later date. 

 

Started work on it straight away, 

First thing, was hand cranking it over, with spark plugs still fitted, to see if engine gets stiffer and harder to turn, this ment the engine is building compression. 

Next I removed the spark plugs and hand cranked engine over good few times, listing for knocks or rattels. 

I like to remove the spark plugs to do this as it makes the engine easier to crank over, as it will hold no compression. No knocks were found and there were no weak or easier to turn spots either. 

 

Then got the compression tester out, and tested every cylinder. All was good again, so it looks like I have bought a decent replacement engine.  

 

After manually testing the engine I started to rip it apart to replace all outer seals and gaskets. Plus freshen up the whole engine with a good degrease, clean, plus refurbish and repaint stuff. 

Didnt get a photo of engine striped down before painting, but I got quite a few of me paint stuff. 

 

Refurbished gearbox selector, refurbished aux water pump, new oil cooler, refurbished dip stick holder  in heat resistant zinc paint.  

 

Refurbished rear engine mount, again into heat resistant zinc paint.

 

Refurbished all the bolts, left the heads to soak in an acid dip for 24h, quick sand and into zinc paint. 

 

Sanded and painted the exhaust heat shield in black VHT paint.

 

Sanded the starter motor back to bar metal. Acid dipped the front mount, gearbox counter weight, and few other small mounts. Then into zinc primer, finally in to 2K gloss black I had spare from the other VR. 

 

Painted the gearbox and timing chain covers while they were still mounted to engine. Covering and masking everything close to them. 

 

Also painted the block in VHT black paint, plus painted the alternator, bracket, and power steering pump in zinc heat resistant paint. 

 

Few more things to refurbish and paint, then I will start to build it back up, with all new gaskets and seals. 

Edited March 30, 2016 by c00k

[c00k 435]

Refurbished injector bar, new gearbox mount, refurbished center section from front engine mount, in zinc primer and 2K gloss black.  

 

 

Custom front engine mount. Using a polyurethane insert,  2 hockey pucks and extented 12.9 high tensile bolts. 

 

 

Used my old injectors out of my other back VR, as I had them ultrasonicly cleaned, plus they were rebuilt with new baskets and o-rings not long ago. Also used my spare air con water pump pulley. Colour coded in 2k to the same as the car.

 

 

Refurbished the rest of the pulleys and colour coded them.

 

 

Took the front end off, and started to disconnect a few things getting ready to remove the old engine. 

Edited March 30, 2016 by c00k

[c00k 435]

Removed the old engine.

 

 

Spend quite some time cleaning up both chassis legs. 

 

Covered all the loom in some black conduit while I had easier access to it.

 

Refurbished the front cross member while still on car, plus fitted new engine mounts. 

 

Re-conditioned engine going in.

 

More to come soon...  

Edited April 14, 2016 by c00k

[mike 6]

Looks very tidy mate, I had one of these for 4 years, I saw one 2 days ago, I do miss it  nice work on the interior and the engine

[c00k 435]

Cheers buddy, yeah they are becoming more and more rare, mulberry highlines. Why I wanted to save it even thou it had a dodgy engine. Instead of the guy breaking it for parts. 

Edited April 14, 2016 by c00k

[c00k 435]

New engine in, and totally back together. 

New oil and filter, new gearbox oil, new power steering fluid. 

Fill up with deionised water to test for water leaks first. I will drain it next weekend and fill with correct coolant. Apart from one of the sensors in thermostat housing, no leaks, that just need a new O-ring. Happy with that. 

Had a cam sensor issues, swaped it for a spare cam sensor I had that I knew was working, and still had same error, took the ECU out to test the wires, between the ECU plug and cam sensor plug. Everything was fine on the power and pulse wires, so it had to be a broken ground wire in the loom. Rather that un-taping all the loom, I just rand a new wire to the ground. Then tested it with vag-com and no errors, engine ran good, so all seemed good. 

 

Trimmed my battery cover, lent my mothers sewing machine for an evening. 

 

Engine cover still needs finishing, another layer of colour and lacquer. But it all back together. 

 

 

 

Took it out for a drive, and it still felt abit under powered, and the cat was smelling. As I said before I think the cat is almost blocked, so I ordered a hi-flow replacement cat. Should be here this weekend. 

 

As I didn't fancy driving it with a blocked cat, I gave it a good wash and clean again, and got the buffer on it. Tapped up and covered where I didn't want cutting compound and sealer. 

Cut the paint and got 2 layers of sealer on there. Still needs a few layers of wax on top. 

Photos are after only the 1st cut, and there's cutting compound still on the bumper lol I'll get more photos after I finish waxing it. 

 

Edited April 14, 2016 by c00k

[Bealieboy 1,625]

New engine in, and totally back together. 

New oil and filter, new gearbox oil, new power steering fluid. 

Fill up with deionised water to test for water leaks first. I will drain it next weekend and fill with correct coolant. Apart from one of the sensors in thermostat housing, no leaks, that just need a new O-ring. Happy with that. 

Had a cam sensor issues, swaped it for a spare cam sensor I had that I knew was working, and still had same error, took the ECU out to test the wires, between the ECU plug and cam sensor plug. Everything was fine on the power and pulse wires, so it had to be a broken ground wire in the loom. Rather that un-taping all the loom, I just rand a new wire to the ground. Then tested it with vag-com and no errors, engine ran good, so all seemed good. 

 

Trimmed my battery cover, lent my mothers sewing machine for an evening. 

 

Engine cover still needs finishing, another layer of colour and lacquer. But it all back together. 

 

 

 

Took it out for a drive, and it still felt abit under powered, and the cat was smelling. As I said before I think the cat is almost blocked, so I ordered a hi-flow replacement cat. Should be here this weekend. 

 

As I didn't fancy driving it with a blocked cat, I gave it a good wash and clean again, and got the buffer on it. Tapped up and covered where I didn't want cutting compound and sealer. 

Cut the paint and got 2 layers of sealer on there. Still needs a few layers of wax on top. 

Photos are after only the 1st cut, and there's cutting compound still on the bumper lol I'll get more photos after I finish waxing it. 

 

Very nice cook!! Great work. Looks like an Egyptian taxidermist has had a go at the front end, does it really help with keeping the compound out? I ask as I've been trying to cut and polish my latest turd, not overly happy with the result yet though!!

Any tips greatfully received!

[c00k 435]

To cut back paint or laqucer and remove swirls and restore, you need a decent compound pad. The likes of halfords pads, and most bought locally are to soft for cutting back. There okay for polishing, but no cutting back. 

I use a menzerna compound pad, and merguiars dimond cut 2.0 cutting compound.  

 

Work small sections at a time, I divide the bonnet in to 3 sections, each door 3 sections, (top section above and around window, middle of door and bump strip, bottom of door below bump strip), Roof in to 5 sections (4 squares at the back, and one section that goes around the sides of sun roof and in front). 

These sections are all in my head, I do not divide them up with tape, some people do but I just keep them in my head. 

I like to tape and cover all black plastics and rubbers, as I find my cutting compound sticks to them very badly, and can only be removed with cleaning alcohol (isopropanol), white spirits or thinners. None of which are idea to be putting on plastic or rubbers. 

Reason I taped up the head lights, and grill was I had already detail cleaned the head lights while they were off the car, and didn't want to have to do it again, and the grill to stop cutting compound and polish flinging into the rads, and getting stuck. And my middle section is black plastic not body colour. 

 

Clay the car 1st to remove tar and sticky spots, as this stops it getting trapped on the buffing pad and getting dragged and moved to other areas of car.  

 

When cutting start on a slow speed to spread the compound out, this stops it slinging everywhere. Then speed up to about 2,500-3,000. I never go above 3,800, no need, my buffer can do 6,000. Never needed more then 3,800, the higher speed doesn't cut or polish any better it just makes more of a mess, as it's to fast. 

Fully break down the cutting compound. Until it turns in to a hazy finish, and isn't white any more.  

Nice even pressure on the head of the buffer. Try and keep the pad flat against the paint. Never uses just the edges of the pad. 

Some areas may require a 2nd maybe even a 3rd cut to get decent result. 

 

I take it your using a DA buffer, not a rotary? 

DA are a lot more forgiving and easier to use. But will take slightly longer for decent end result. 

Rotray can get the job done faster, but take a lot more skill to use, and can cause major damage if used incorrectly. 

 

Never cross contaminate pads. Put one polish on it, then put a different polish on it. This is a huge NO for me. I write on the back of mine. On the Velcro with a thin marker pen, what polish it's for. 

 

Polishing - use a softer pad, and read the bottle, some like to be wiped off straight away, some like to be left for 10-15 mins, then wiped off. So read the bottle to check what they recommend. 

Again start on a slow speed to spread it out, then increase speed to about 3,500. Again fully break down polish until a hazy finish. 

 

 

Order it should go, you can miss some layers (like glaze) but not re-order them. They should always go in this order. 

1. Clean / wash (with 2 buckets and grit guards) 

2. Dry 

3. Clay / paint cleaner 

4. Cutting 

5. Glaze 

6. Sealer 

7. Polish /wax 

8. Top coat / top sealer (top sealer is different to normal sealer) 

 

You can build up multiple layers if wanted, but it must still be in order. If you've already finished waxed it, you should never go back and glaze it over the top. 

It wouldn't bond to the wax properly, glaze has been made and designed to bond direct to paint / laqucer. Not wax. So the correct order of apply stuff can be very important. 

 

Edited April 16, 2016 by c00k

[Bealieboy 1,625]

Nice one cook, very helpful.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[c00k 435]

Got abit slow on updates, 

Did most of this few weeks ago. 

High flow cat fitted, and a Bosch lamba sensor fitted at same time, rather than a cheap copy as that's what came fitted to car. Cheap lambas can make an engine run like shit. 

 

Re-aligned the throttle body, and re-set the the lamba learned values and lamba ageing in vag-com.

Changed the head unit, so I can use my SDHC cards. May change the speakers in it soon. 

Havent really done much else apart from driving it. 

No oil leaks, no water leaks on replacement engine. It's running spot on at the moment. 

I've done a few WOT runs while data logging and engine seem to be all good. 

Edited May 11, 2016 by c00k

[rich 40]

wow cOOk mate,,some really nice work you've done there,fair play....some top mods as well,you must be well pleased with it,and your black vr is the biz!!....i don't mind having a rummage on that one come the weekend.......

[c00k 435]

Cheers buddy, yeah it not a bad car now the reconditioned engine is in. 

It's just my run about. 

 

[c00k 435]

Couple of photos from the weekend, before popping to a local car meet. 

 

It's in it first show this weekend, just a local classic car show, but should be good.

Still got a rusty passenger wing, as I haven't bought a replacement yet. I want a genuine one, but I don't want to pay top dollar for it. So keeping my eyes out.   

 

 

[rich 40]

looking good cooky boy.looking good

[matty.vrt 120]

Car looks super clean, lots of attention to detail a real credit to you.

[rich 40]

I don't know if there still available but a guy in magor(I think)has 2 nos front wings and wants £170...im sure that's each mind

[c00k 435]

Tried my red HT leads on engine, 

Then bought some purple HT leads, they're not the shade of purple I was hoping for, so I'm not sure if I like them. 
I have spare black and red leads, so not sure which to run at the mo. 

 

Few spots of rust around the front passenger window that needed attention. 
(If this was my black VR it would of got cut out and welded, or whole door replaced most probs. But I fancied trying something different on this one as it just my daily) 

Removed  door card, window and mechanisms, window seals, and wing mirror. 
Masked up surrounding area. And sanded the rust back. 
Then started to treat the remaining rust with some rust remover gel. 

cleaned the gel and repeated 3-4 time. Once 98-99% of the rust was gone I treated the remaining 1% with rust nuterlising treatment. Hoping this will be enough to stop the rust returning. But only time will tell. 

After treating the metal I sprayed on some high build primer and left to dry. 

Finally I sand it smooth and sprayed it mulberry.
But I didn't to take a photo. 

 

 

Two things missing from Golf Mk3's as dailies are.... A front Center arm rest and a left (clutch) footrest.
My black VR has a genuine golf mk3 footrest I sourced few years ago. Yes they make a MK3 foot rest. I believe they come from a special edition diesel, but not 100%. I tried to find another one for this car, but I can't seem to find any for sale at the mo. 
So I bought a Golf mk5 footrest.

I'm halfway through custom fitting it. Photos to come soon. 

 

 

As for the arm rest I bought an after market one meant to fit a Golf mk3. Only problem was they are designed to fit a standard center console. Not a highline center console. 
Instead of swapping to a standard center console. As I like the highline one and how it surrounds the handbrake, I had to customise the mount so it would fit. 

 

Mount that came with arm rest designed to fit a standard center console. 

Starting to customising the mount. I didn't get a photo of the finished mount. But this was in the first stages. 

Then got it fitted nicely to the highline center console, and fitted back in to car. 

 

 

 

 

Removed the highline gear knob to restore it. 
A pervious owner had sprayed it black, I guess to trying to hide the few worn areas. 

 

Sanded back with 800 grit, and I'm going to re-stain and spray a few layers of varnish. Still waiting for my varnish to be derived and then I can fishing it. 

 

 

More to come soon....

Edited September 6, 2016 by c00k

[VR6Pete 1,455]

Nice update ?

[c00k 435]

Removed the rear bumper to give it a good clean, put cavity wax and underseal in a few places before winter. 

 

Stinking dirty rear end.

 

 

Removed the bumper brace, and gave it a good clean. 

Put cavity wax in the rear chassis legs. 

 

Ground back a few tiny bits of rust on the rear bumper brace while I had it off the car. Gave it a good clean, quick sand and painted it in underseal. Refitted it with new stainless washer and nuts. 

 

While I had it up on the ramps I swapped the middle exhaust bushes for some polyurethane ones. And new fixings on the heat shields. 

 

 

 

Gave the petrol tank a good clean, the straps were in very good condition.

 

 

Also while under the car cleaning stuff and checking everything on the rear end, while cleaning I found it had good ridge braided rear hoses.  amazing what getting ride or a few layers of crap shows up. 

Cleaned the whole of the underneath of the car with thinners while checking for rusty or bad areas. This was such a dirty job. Went through loads and a loads of nitrile gloves. Then put a layer of new underseal with waxoyl on the whole under side. Fair play the underneath is good. Apart from welding on the passenger sill which was done buy a pervious owner and the very bottom of the rear arches which I'm sorting. The under side is very good condition and all original. 

Edited September 6, 2016 by c00k

[c00k 435]

While I had the rear bumper off I sorted a few patches of rust on the rear arches, before they got to bad and turned in to holes, 

 

One of the rusty areas. Like I said before this is just my daily. Not a mint show car. 

 

Ground the areas back so almost all the rust was gone. Then started to treating the very minor remaining rust with rust treatment gel, and wire brushing it.

 

Another area I ground back before treating remaining rust.

 

 

 

The very bottom of the rear inner arches wasn't the best either, so need attention. It looks a lot worse than it actually was in the photo as it's covered in rust treatment.

 

 

After grinding the areas, treating with rust removing gel, finally treated the areas with some rust nuterlising treatment, and got them in to some high build primer.

 

Sanded the areas nice and smooth and blended the primed in. Then got them in to some colour coat. 

 

Knew my old max power magazines would come in useful one day. Lol 

Tried making a soft edge to blend the paint a bit more by just folding the edge of paper and not taping directly where I'm painting. 

 

While I had the compressors and touch up gun out, I repainted the plastic booth plinth.

couldn't be assed to take it off car, as two of the screws were knackered and needed drilling out. 

 

Also got a few more layers on the passenger window lip. 

 

 

Fianly not got everything in to lacquer. 

 

There was a tiny bit of over spray I buffed off the next day with my mop. I was using a small touch up gun, 0.8mm and lowest pressure. 

 

 

 

Got a black cap for my windscreen washer tank, can see in some of my pervious post it used to be blue. 

 

Helps it blend in a bit more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 6, 2016 by c00k

[wayne_1@tiscali.co.uk 27]

Coming on well

[c00k 435]

16 hours ago, wayne_1@tiscali.co.uk said:

Coming on well

 

Cheers buddy