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Members' Cars / Re: G135EPB 8v GTI
Last post by ianmac86 -As tradition seems to dictate great weather right up until the event, then a wet weekend! Still, it was a brilliant meet as always and it’s always a bit of a downer knowing it’s a full year until the next one. Great to catch up with mates new and old, though I was absolutely shattered for days after thanks to late nights, poor food and drink choices, and probably too much socialising!
The car behaved flawlessly all weekend surely I must be overdue a breakdown now? This year I ran slightly less camber at -0.5° after some faffing about with alignment, and I was on Accelera 651 Sport Extra tyres. They might’ve held me back just a touch compared to last year noticeably traction on the first corner after the straight, where I kept locking up in the wet. Once it dried out, confidence grew and I started pushing the car harder. No trophies this but there were some incredible cars and drivers this year that thoroughly earned them. To be honest i still have imposter syndrome from winning 2023 and 2024.
The gearbox is definitely showing signs of needing attention—1st gear synchro is crunching, and 3rd’s starting to do the same, especially when things get hot. An upgrade has already been sourced!
With the opportunity to change gearbox i took some time to research what others had done. I message a few mates that still run ABFs and did plenty of my own research as well.
These are the boxes I have used myself previously:
020 AUG – Perfect. Short, punchy, ideal for how I like to drive the car but weak boxes and i have already converted to cable change and hydro clutch so not an option. Also quaife wouldn't fit .
02A AGC – From Corrado G60s and Passat 16vs. Crazy short 1st and 2nd, average 3rd, and overly long 4th/5th. Too extreme on both ends of the scale.
02A CDA – Nice for everyday use, more relaxed; actually the box VW fitted to Mk3 Golf ABFs. This is what i am using currently.
I came close to buying another AGC from a mate. It was a fair price and convenient but had to remind myself why I didn’t want it last time. Just not right for what I want out of the car now.
After plenty of searching marketplace and eBay, I rang Sandburns in Coventry and explained the situation and why my reg wouldn’t help and explained exactly what I was trying to achieve. To be fair, the guy got it instantly and said he used to supply gearboxes to Stealth back in the day, even marking the good ones with a red paint pen.
He came back with a few options, including ERT (4.25 FD—would’ve been mad, but just too much). I ended up with an EMR-coded box, which felt like the perfect compromise between better acceleration and a still-usable 5th gear.
At 6500rpm (mine goes to 7200, but I don’t often push that far), the gearing hits a nice sweet spot. The only thing not quite as the same as the AUG is the 2nd–3rd rev drop, but that’s being picky. What I loved most about the AUG was how quickly it came back into the power band from 2nd to 3rd, where most of the fun happens. This box gets very close.
Dan helped me fit it. Took about two hours, he works really fast! We set up the cables and went for a drive, no crunching, all gears select, no whine, no leaks. The box looked really clean and well stored. David at Sandburns said when he cleared 500+ boxes from his old place, he scrapped the crusty looking ones and only kept the best. He also gave me a 3-month warranty, which gave a bit of peace of mind but doesnt look like i will be needing it. Also the reason i fitted it before fitting the Quaife so it would be in returnable condition should there have been any issues. Gears select nicley from the gearbox end but a bit vague 1-3-5 from shifter which i am failry certain just requires cables playing with and /or the matching selector tower from my other box that came out.
Ratios are pretty much bang on what I was after, definitely more punchy without being tiring. I took it to work the next day… and then, a mile from home, disaster!
I heard a loud pop, felt heat on my feet, and watched steam pour through the dash. Stalled the car in shock, stuck the hazards on and opened the bonnet. My expansion tank was empty. Ideally I should’ve let it cool, topped up and limped it but impatience won. I drove it home one mile with no further drama. Not my finest decision in hindsight maybe.
That week I bypassed the matrix and tested the head gasket twice, it has definitely failed. I’ve never done a head gasket before, but with some encouraging advice from mates and a few Youtubes later I cracked on. Set the engine to TDC, stripped inlet and exhaust manifolds, distributor and other various plugs, sensors I was nearly there. I got Dan to check over what i had done, we removed the timing belt tensioner and then the head bolts -which were loose and off came the head. It wasn't completely obvious from the gasket where it had blown but the machine shop said it can be harder to find if exhaust gases have escapes into coolant and not the other way round?
A few days later, I stripped the head down fully. Again, totally new to me but with help and the right tools it was surprisingly straightforward. Took it to Dan’s for guidance and to use his expertise and tools. Reassembly will probably be a bit trickier.
You can see in the photos how much RTV I’ve used previously just to get the rocker cover to seal properly…
A few parts have arrived already. Also ordered genuine oil filter and Quantum oil and a new expansion tank and cap
The head is now with the machine shop- Knights engine services. Dan reccomended them, they also do the machining for Man in the shed so i know I am in safe hands. When I dropped it off, they asked for the valves (which I didn’t know), so I had to post those after—a bit frustrating after a 45-minute drive. 7-10 day wait from 4/8/25. Turns out i need to exhaust Valve guide too so may as well be done while I am there. It was at this point I had considered a ported head and cams which found on marketplace. Listed as an unused Robert Cox ported head and regrind 272 cams with 12.6mm lift, but with standard ABF management it just doesn’t seem worthwhile. Without standalone, you’re leaving so much potential on the table and by that point of spend, I may as well have gone for 20vt or 3.2 v6. It’s just not cost effective for me chasing power this way in my opinion, as much as I want to . Head over heart moment😕
While the head’s away I also sorted the interior. heater matrix will have to be changed just waiting for foam to redo heater flaps, stripped the carpets, cleaned and dried everything properly.
Also got myself set up with some alignment tools—Mat Rhodes recommended the Toe gauge and to be honest, if it’s good enough for him, I’m confident it’ll do the job for me too. I also got an inclinometer for setting camber. I’ll be trimming down the excess material on my Powerflex top mounts soon and increasing the ride height a few mm to help prevent the splitter dragging under hard cornering or on speed bumps. I outright refuse to pay for another alignment as long as I live! Now that I’ve finally sorted the pulling issue, I’ll be increasing camber back toward -1.5° and refitting my camber bolts, which I removed earlier to rule them out as the source of the problem along with the topmounts.
Once the head’s back and rebuilt, the gearbox will be coming out again to fit the Quaife LSD and fresh bearings. It’d just be nice to make sure the head gasket job all goes smoothly before piling into the next job but there is a temptation to get on with it whilst I'm waiting 🤔