VW Golf Mk2 Owners Club

Re: G135EPB 8v GTI

Reply #210 – February 25, 2025, 12:20:48 PM

Hopefully, it'll also warm her to the mk6!

Re: G135EPB 8v GTI

Reply #211 – February 25, 2025, 01:01:17 PM

She quite likes it,  except no parking sensors 🙄😂 ive ordered an android headunit with a reverse camera, so hopefully I can get that fitted before she reverses into something 😄

Re: G135EPB 8v GTI

Reply #212 – February 26, 2025, 10:10:25 PM

Not sure if you are going to refit the hatch decal but if you are they are available here https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125136397971

Re: G135EPB 8v GTI

Reply #213 – February 27, 2025, 09:41:48 PM

Thanks, that is possibly the one I bought last time when I had the car painted. I think I'm going to leave it off for now 🤔

Re: G135EPB 8v GTI

Reply #214 – March 10, 2025, 03:46:24 PM

Only minor update and back to the window stencil! I noticed that my boot carpet was a bit wet as was the sound deadening in the spare wheel well. I got my daughter to spray the hose on the boot whilst I was sat in the boot and narrowed the leak down to the rear washer jet of all places.


Not taken this apart before so undone the lock and pulled the washer fluid pipe away



Old one (temp fixed) with a blob of silcone and the suppose new genuine one

Fitted and climbed back in the boot and hosed down again and seems to have solved and a nice simple fix🤞


When clearing my garage late last year i found a new coil still boxed which was a nice bonus! I decided as mine was looking pretty crusty and quite probably original, it was worth swapping as preventative if nothing else. I've kept the old Bosch one as a spare as it was still fully functioning,
Whipped the old one off


i noticed the earth strap was showing signs of wear

copper earth bits were cleaned up

and replaced the earth strap

this 12mm blank on the bottom of 1 way valve was looking pretty holey and brittle! Not sure if i disturbed it or if it was already like this.

Got a new silcone blank off ebay for a few quid

 I've been giving some more thought on where i want to go with the car in future as progress feels very stagnant these days. I am re-wondering what i can do to regain my interest without chucking loads of money at it. Something that seems quite sensible is a gearbox swap, something with either a 3.9 or 4.2 final drive to liven it up a bit more? My current box has a Quaife lsd and it would be a shame to go back to open diff but that creates a much bigger job than just throwing another box in. I might be tempted to temp fit something short term to see if i can live with the ratios before going to the extreme of ripping mine apart for the Quaife. Having said that not sure i would want to commit to doing this over the summer when i hope to use it a lot more

Re: G135EPB 8v GTI

Reply #215 – March 13, 2025, 12:59:08 AM

How about more track days?
That way you'll start breaking things and you can do more upgrades!

Re: G135EPB 8v GTI

Reply #216 – March 15, 2025, 08:34:18 AM

More trackdays can never be a bad idea 🤔

Re: G135EPB 8v GTI

Reply #217 – May 12, 2025, 05:12:54 PM

2/5/25 – 5/5/25: Nürburgring Road Trip!
Just got back from a amazing and tiring road trip — took Laura and the Mk2 to the Nürburgring!

We set off early Friday morning with a group of mates in a mix of Mk2s and Mk5s and a stray e36, aiming to reach the Ring by early afternoon. I'd spoken to Nige Pinder previously, who was already out on track that day. He’d kindly offered me a passenger lap for my first Ring experience, if I got there in time — sadly, his car developed an issue, so that plan didn’t work out which was a really shame.

Before setting off, I did a spanner and fluid check and packed the boot full of tools and spares — but luckily, the Mk2 was nearly  faultless the whole way and none of it was needed. Not bad for a 35-year-old car doing close to 1000 miles!








Saturday: Track queues were mental. I got out for one lap late morning, but after that it just got busier and busier. As first time experiences go, I was excited but honestly a bit nervous too. I’ve watched loads of YouTube laps, and the standard of driving there is wild — serious speed, and the consequences of a mistake are high. That was definitely on my mind, so there was no ‘full send’ happening this time.

I took Laura out with me as passenger — her only other track experience was at Curborough at the national meet, so this was… quite a step up 😅. Lots of urgent co-driver calls: BRAKE! CORNER! 😂 In fairness, she kept me well in check, which was probably for the best.



I met a nice chap called Ethan

This one looked a serious track weapon!






What shocked me most were the forces — the compression in the undulations and the grip through corners really suprised me. The car itself didn’t miss a beat: temps stayed in check, the Acceleras were fine, and the brakes didn’t overheat — all probably a sign that I wasn’t pushing hard enough!

In a lower-power car like mine, it really highlights the importance of carrying corner speed. I found myself moving over for a lot of Porsches and BMWs, and with a couple of yellow flags squeezing the cars together, I spent a fair bit of time checking my mirrors.




Later that day, a big thunderstorm rolled in and ended play for many — some of the lads didn’t even get a lap in. I’d already made plans to move on to Brugge after Saturday, so left the group behind. They managed a few laps on Sunday once things cleared up.
Brugge

I covered just under 1000 miles over 4 days, and the Mk2 behaved near perfectly. Only downside: I thought I’d finally sorted the slight pulling issue, but when almost home after reversing out of a space and hearing a clunk, it’s back — and worse at higher speeds. Typical really… the car survives a lap of the Nordschleife but pulling out of a car park throws it out 🙃. That’ll need some further investigation when I find some time.

Re: G135EPB 8v GTI

Reply #218 – May 13, 2025, 02:28:10 AM

Wow! You sprung for the full Ringfoto package then!

Re: G135EPB 8v GTI

Reply #219 – May 13, 2025, 06:55:02 AM

I Googled free watermark remover! I'm not made of money 😂

Re: G135EPB 8v GTI

Reply #220 – May 14, 2025, 01:51:08 AM

I'll remember that one for this year!

Re: G135EPB 8v GTI

Reply #221 – May 30, 2025, 08:46:44 PM

Post-Ring Brake change & Topmounts

After the Ring trip, I noticed the brakes weren't quite  as good as I remembered. At first, I put it down to being used to a more modern daily, but after a closer look, they're well past their best 😅




After weighing up a few options, I decided to stick with the setup that served me well previously – OE spec discs (Febi this time) and Ferodo DS2500 pads again. Briefly considered grooved discs, but in the interest of keeping costs sensible, I stuck with the semi-good pad + OE disc combo. Im told the pad is where the money is best spent anyway. Some of the setups I found would’ve easily doubled the cost and been complete overkill for how I use the car.
Got a great deal on the pads
DS2500 pads: £88
Febi discs: £50




Progress was the usual pace – one side per evening 😅


Also, on the way home from Germany I had a bit of a clunk and pulling issue that I finally got round to investigating. Turns out in my niavity I’d massively over-tightened my top mounts and bearings. One of the bearings had actually cracked, and the other was feeling rough. These were fairly new too, so definitely a case of too many ugga duggas 😳

Also noticed the deeper Powerflex mounts had been catching on the upper spring plate on the BC coilovers. At some point I’ll trim them down and refit, but for now I’ve reverted to OE rubber Mk3 top mounts.



Torqued everything down to spec and went for a quick drive. Initial impressions are good – feels smoother and no pulling so far 🤞🏻 That said, jacking the car up always makes it feel better until it’s properly settled, so I’ll report back after a few more miles.

Re: G135EPB 8v GTI

Reply #222 – May 31, 2025, 08:43:53 PM

Dash Illumination Fault (User Error again🙄)

Noticed the dash illumination and number plate lights had both packed up recently. At first, I didn't realise they share the same fuse, so I wasted a bit of time messing around with bulbs with no joy. Got the multimeter out, no voltage then noticed a blown 10A fuse.

Swapped it for new, and the number plate lights came back on... briefly. Still no dash lights though 😕 Dug a bit deeper and pulled the stereo and heater controls. Turns out the dash light feed that runs behind the fan control was pinched between the dash trim and the metal bracket it screws into 🧐 Looks like I must’ve trapped it during previous faffing, which eventually caused it to short.

Freed the wire, wrapped it in some insulation tape for now, popped in another fuse and everything’s working again 😁. Gotta love a quick fix, even if it was my fault in the first place. Definitely need to be more careful when putting stuff back together!