Micah's 2001 MK4 Golf GTI Restoration

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Micah purchased a 2001 Golf GTI with 140K on the clock. It needs lots of love and an engine rebuild. The previous owner said the engine started ticking and then locked up.

Left to Right: Noah Jones; http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=439103 , Micah Jones, Seth Jones; http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=511954

We started tearing down the engine. Sorry for the picture quality, I had moisture on the camera lens.

Car was damaged while being towed by an RV. Front frame horn collapsed, apparently when the car was backed into something. The rear bumper cover has a corresponding dent.

We found the source of the ticking!

Block has additional ventilation!

Crankcase ventilation system hoses in bad shape. New ordered.

Cleaning the engine bay. Look at that bright silver paint.

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Harvested a replacement short block engine from the Dallas TX Pick N Pull. Going to tear it down and inspect and replace parts as necessary.

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Removed the damaged frame horn at the factory weld locations.

Noah welding replacement frame horn from salvage donor car.

Primed and ready for topcoat.

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Frame horn replacement finished.

Reassembling salvage engine. Removed all pistons, media blasted pistons and replaced rings.

Reinstalling oil pump drive sprocket.

[volksfahrer.nl]

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewforum.php?f=11
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66 panel

[jjohnson67]

he is in readers rides... nice project...going back na? Or turbo?

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Turbo of course. Just a stock rebuild on the engine. Nothing fancy at this point. Will most likely restore to original condition.

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Not sure I understand. I thought reader rides was the appropriate place for this.

[walter kandetzki]

for that 1.8t I would do the 034 motorsports pcv (breather hose) kit and intergrated engineering manual timing belt tensioner with gates racing belt.i have a 02 gti with awp engine (1.8t) and that stuff is better than stock.the hydraulic timing belt tensioners are famous for failing so its a good upgrade to manual.my motor is stock minus upgrated n75 valve

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Wow, thanks for that information. We will check on both of those options.

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Got a question regarding the Dual Mass Flywheel in these cars. I can rotate the clutch side of the flywheel exactly 1/2 inch. Checked the flywheel on the motor removed from the car and it is the same. Is this normal?

[walter kandetzki]

http://www.performancebyie.com/integrated-engineering-06a-1-8t-manual-timing-belt-tensioner-kit

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We got the engine reinstalled yesterday. Now time to sort out all the vacuum and electrical lines and wires. Does anyone know a good resource (picture or diagram preferred) for guidance on this task? Wow what a mess of stuff to hook up.

Don't forget this step when re-installing the engine. You must lock the clutch throughout bearing holder in the non engaged position (stowed). Notice the allen wrench holding it at the top of the bell housing. Needless to say without this you will not get the engine to seat in the bell housing. Ask us how we know?

Now on to hooking everything up!

Jay, our shop cat. He follows us to the shop, don't know why, could be all the lovin he gets between wrenches.

Jay is a clean freak. He is always cleaning his furry coat. Could this be due to all the lovin between wrenches?

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Got the engine installation finished except for the radiator and condenser. Waiting on a PCV line to arrive prior to installation of the radiator support.

Started the engine and let it run a few seconds. It ran perfect. Does anyone know a good source for the VW badge on the plastic engine cover?

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PVC hoses arrived from China! Now we can finish the radiator and condenser installation.

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One step forward and two steps backwards. We got the engine running, only to discover one bad coil pack. We had picked up a couple from a salvage yard just in case. Changed the bad coil pack and it ran perfect. Micah noticed a belt squeal, however I told him I though it was from the serpentine belt. We had spilled antifreeze on it and I thought that was making it squeal. After a few trips up and down the driveway, the engine started making a thumping scraping sound. I opened the hood to discover the upper timing belt cover was jumping around. Micah immediately shut down the engine and we started investigating. The timing belt had a big chunk out of it 3/4 of the width and about a 1/4 long.

Upon further investigation we discovered a 10MM bolt had fallen into the lower section and was rubbing on the timing belt. We were very luck as a few more revolutions we would have been removing the head for expensive repair. Note the bolt head showing at the bottom crank pulley.

Cleaned everything up and inspected for damage. Only damage was the belt. Replaced with a Gates belt and we are back and running minus the squeal.

[walter kandetzki]

btw if your hydraulic timing belt tensioner starts going this is what it sounds like (this is my gti)

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?7003035-failed-hydro-tensioner

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Bumper cover installation.

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Decided to refinish both front fenders due to chips dings and scratches. The bumper looked so good we had to make the fenders match. This is Micah's mother showing how strong she is by holding up one of the fenders.

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Refinishing rear bumper, removed dent from rear quarter panel, and removed dents from driver side rocker panel.