39 replies to this topic

[Andy]

Also looked at lanogaurd to do mine as it gete good reviews

[ritey]

Impressive rebuild, I fear the cost of all those replacement parts. Time to re-mortgage and start mine soon I think 

[Gti Fly]

Great work on the DIY resto project.

Protecting the underbody is a great idea .

Never heard of lanoguard before this, so I googled it. Apparently it is made from sheep products and it therefore smells of sheep?! One forum thread said that the smell of it can attract rodents?! Dunno how true that is,. What are your comments on it now you've used it ?!!!

[dsgnr]

Ha, so I live in the middle of the countryside, surrounded by farms. The smell is very similar to a farmy type smell, but this only lasts for a couple of hours whilst its wet - left it overnight and the smell was gone. I would recommend putting clothes on that you don't wish to wear again though. The overspray you get sticks to everything, and I cant quite get the stickiness out with a normal wash.

 

The car is now back on the ground. But after 10 litres of brake fluid, ABS bleeds, everything bled, I still have very little pedal and hardly any stopping power. The rear discs look like they're making contact as the discs have pad on them, but the front discs haven't been touched at all. So I'm pretty sure the front callipers have had it (they're past their best).

 

So I think it might be time to just replace the whole lot instead of servicing them.

[VelovetAndy]

That suggests that the front caliper is all but seized. Odd that both are . Take a front caliper off, pop a block of wood between piston and the opposite side , but with a small gap and gently press the pedal. You will soon know if the piston is moving .

Oh, my Lanoguard arrived this morning. Thanks for the tip about clothing. When I come to use it I will press my worst set of overalls into service and then write them off .

[dsgnr]

Yeah, both front callipers definitely not moving at all.

 

New callipers are on back order so I'm gonna get those ordered up - The price difference of a rebuild kit + time vs new callipers probably isn't that different anyway.

 

So whilst I'm waiting, I have the comfort blinker retrofit to do, fit the new battery box and fix a slight blow in the exhaust at the join from the mid pipe to the cat to sort out. 

[dsgnr]

The car is now off the axle stands, but on the first attempt at moving the car off the drive, I noticed there was no brake pedal. The rear pads were biting a small amount, but the front callipers weren’t compressing at all.

 

Upon investigation of pipework, just to make sure I wasn’t leaking etc, I noticed there was a split at the check valve on the vacuum pipe running from the brake servo to the intake manifold.

 

Replacing this, didn’t fix the issue (I thought it would have at least an improvement), so the car was raised back up on the axle stands, and even more brake fluid was purchased. At first, I thought there was an issue with either the callipers or the master cylinder. However, after doing the VCDS output tests, then another few rounds of the ABS bleed procedure, the front callipers were finally biting. Only after 16 litres of brake fluid purging…

 

[dsgnr]

Now I actually have brakes, the car is ready! Last final things I did were fit a new coolant bottle to replace the old one, and fitted the new battery cover trim that I purchased at the start of this project.

 

I will be giving the car a full decontamination wash to remove many months of grime before booking the car in for an MOT which is now due. The engine bay will also be given a good clean and dressing.

 

I also ordered some electrical terminal removal tools, but they were very poor and wouldn’t work with the VW system, so I’ve purchased some proper ones and just waiting for those so I can fit the comfort turn signal relay.

 

[Gti Fly]

I must be the only person in the world that fitted the comfort module relay and hated it ! The mk4's stalk doesn't have the same feeling as later Mk5 onwards cars. Something to do with the microswitches or springing, can't remember exactly!

[dsgnr]

I must be the only person in the world that fitted the comfort module relay and hated it ! The mk4's stalk doesn't have the same feeling as later Mk5 onwards cars. Something to do with the microswitches or springing, can't remember exactly!

It's one of the things I missed going from the MK5 R32 to the MK4. If it's a bit awkward to use, I'll just remove it and sell it on.

 

new PS4's, wheel alignment (Hunter) and MOT is booked for Friday. It'll be its maiden voyage and it looks like the weather will be nice too!