1986 Golf Diesel, My First Restoration by bdub

8 minute(s) of a 27 minute read

I was told by my buddy who works on vdubs to cover the gasket in oil, I was alittle unsure so I decided to oil the head and block surface before gasket install.





Gasket install



Now its time to remove the old head bolts, used a screw driver and took them out in order of torque sequence. I did them one at a time and hand tighten them lightly in sequence. Then I went over back in sequence and somewhat tightened them with a socket. Then I took out the torque wrench and followed the bently book. 30 foot pounds in sequence. 44 foot pounds in sequence. And either 1/2 turn or 1/4 turn in sequence. (I haven't done this yet) and then run the engine for 10-15 minutes then re-torque 1/2 to 1/4 turn.

Diagram of sequence



Mylomar sealant on new head bolts



Changing out the old head bolts with new





Almost done!



3/7/14

Today was kind of a tinkering around day, I worked on the engine put the new valve cover gaskets on, clamped the down pipe to the manifold, reconnected all the wiring and hoses to the head, filled with coolant and oil, attached the pulley shield, injector lines, changed out my long shifter rod, white greased the shift linkage and in the shift box. I haven't put the new belt, tensioner, or timed it yet. I plan on doing it on Sunday

I learned this trick on another DIY awhile ago



One down, one more to go



Next was the intake manifold, this one took me a bit, round 45 minutes.



Then the valve cover gaskets



Last was the injector lines



3/9/14

So today turned out to be pretty shitty, I turned the engine over to TDC when I removed the head, however it seems that somehow the engine was cranked slightly. When we were doin a turn over I felt it hit :/ soo anyway tomorrow were gonna have to give it another try, hopefully we can get it all aligned correctly

3/17/14

I finally got around to the garage today after work. I started by realigning the crank to TDC. We had such a hard time getting the belt on without moving the crank. Took us most likely 8 times and round 45 minutes. I got a dial indicator and was gonna time the pump, however a buddy of mine told me just not to touch it so I didn't. Overall it ran a lot better than before, shifting down to neutral to come to a stop almost feels like the engine dies, but it doesn't, ITS JUST SO QUIET!! There are still some air bubbles in the fuel due to disconnecting it but I feel hopefully either by the end of tomorrow or the next couple days it will start running perfectly. There are still some kinks I got to work out, turns out my turn signal isn't working as well as it should, either the fuse or the switch itself, not sure yet. However tomorrow is gonna be a lot different lol, ill be working on my b4 Passat vr to replace the clutch. Looking forward to working on something else for a change

In its natural habitat..





3/20/14
Yesterday the alternator belt snapped off when I was driving it downtown, drove it home stopping once imbetween to let it cool down. And the belt I bought is too small, I believe the guy before me put a belt for a golf with a/c even though mine isn't, which led to their being a lot of slack. Anyway back to the part store to get the right belt.

3/24/14
So today im gonna hopefully get some time to get a proper belt and get it running right. I really don't know what happened but it looks like the water pump pulley is a quarter inch off, (not sure what the hell is goin on), I don't have any leaks or anything to make me think that something shifted or broke. So im gonna do a cheap fix and buy a washer or 2 for each of the 3 bolts holding the water pump pulley on. Hopefully this will make things line up properly. Otherwise I have to say that purging the fuel system really did wonders to the motor, I now know that I most likely had a stuck injector. My buddy told me to fill a Gatorade cup with the purge and dilute it with some diesel, while running pull of fuel line from the fuel filter and drain out the purge and diesel from the cup. I noticed that the bogging almost was non existant, in my normal communte I would bogg down round 3-5 times for a couple mile drive, last 2 times I only died once. Otherwise really looking forward hopefully in the next two weeks having it "really" road worthy, and do some long distance runs

3/29/14
Sooooo....lol, I have this buddy who gave me an offer I couldn't refuse. Turns out the future of this car my be a vr transplant. Ill be able to get 90% of what I need for a vr swap for under $150!! engine and all!! Anyway the diesel will be a diesel for the rest of the season while I build up the vr motor, I have a feeling that there may be a special vr build thread that ill be creating soon. Anyway most of my time has been dedicated to finishing up the Passat, once that's finished, hopefully mid next week ill be able to get the diesel running properly, ill keep posting normal updates about how its performing and what issues I run into. However I got some room in my apartment and my tools are gonna have to go from the shop to my place, I've always wanted to create a detailed schematic of the vr motor, sizes, bolts and all, so that's my plan with the vr rebuild. Hopefully be starting a new build thread by the end of next month.

4/6/14
Its been awhile, ive been working on the Passat and because I haven't done much with the diesel since the accessory belt broke, so I thought I would give an update with the Passat. I had my buddy come by and help break loose all the bolts that most likely havnt been broken since the car was assembled. We got the engine out and I started inspecting. The people before me have had all maintenance done up to the point I bought the car, they said they did timing chain, oil changes, and normal maintenance. However the suspension and brakes were on their last legs and the mechanic wanted to charge them $1700 to fix that. I took the car and first thing I did was new rotors, pads, and OEM suspension. Then I drove it for a year only doing the bare minimum, I believe I changed the fuel filter, oil change, and air filter. Now 2 years later, I decided to fix up the car to make it, at least to my standards, a strong running reliable vehicle. So far I have done the stated above and ball joints, control arm, power steering rack, tie rods, sway bar end links, rear wheel bearings, 1 new front wheel bearing, custom exhaust, reupholstered the ceiling, new sun roof, driver side front window regulator, rear driver window motor, Audi A6 shift box, linkage, and trans tower, MSD ignition, sparks, wires, 500hp rated axles, stage 3 clutch and prob a few other things ive forgotten, anyway heres some pics of whats goin on.

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