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I decided to put my Sunday off to good use and do some work on my new cluster.

Pulled it apart and removed the batteries. I don't care if the SI lights don't work if it means the cluster lasts longer. Unfortunately the batteries have already leaked a bit so I'm hoping this cluster works fully, I haven't tested it.

Painted the needles red and polished the clear cover on the front.

I wanted to remove the red lense for the lights that light up the cluster to get a white light, however I found out that it's moulded into the top of the cluster so it's going to take some work to do. I'll work on that once my other cluster is out so I have a spare to mess with.

Went in on Friday afternoon to do some more work and things were going well, on track to have the engine in the car this weekend. Until I went to swap the exhaust manifold to the e28 one. This is where things came to a halt, much like a stance car that has hit an unforseen bump.

So 9 of the studs came out nicely, either stud and nut or nuts came off. But 3 didn't want to play along, snapping under the nut. There was some stud protruding so I thought it was in luck. However this was not the case.

I tried doing the double nut trick, welding the nuts to the studs, vice grips etc. Either the stud would not budge, or it just snapped, leaving me nothing to work with. Still, not the end of the world, time for the drill.

So I went about trying to drill them out, which went well on 2 of them, however on the third, the drill bit snapped inside the hole.

If my emotions at the time could be expressed in an image, I think this would be fitting:

The offending obstruction that will need extraction:

If this wasn't enough to set me off, I went to try and buy some tools I thought might work to try and resolve this sinkhole of a situation, such as carbine tungsten drill bits to hopefully drill through the drill bit, every shop I went to was either closed or had nothing.

So not only do I now have extra expenses and the awaiting of a very unpleasant task, but my weekend is also wasted as I couldn't do anything further. Which has also delayed my driveshaft as I can't drop it off to be modified until I am sure how long it needs to be, which I need the motor in for.

So there you have it. Here I was hoping I could show you all how to do an M30 conversion in a week. Might be 2 weeks now.

Us old practical kiwis getting four doors for more whores. But the shame. The two door cars look so much sweeter imo.

I once read someone calling it "the factory optioned bitches package", haha. Might have been someone on here. But yes, I agree with you, especially on the Mk1.

Wow- I missed this one. You lucky bugger on such a sweet score. I have never seen a mk1 2 door in NZ until now.  which leads me to this question.. how come? Why are all the golfs in NZ always 4 door? Even all the new ones. weird.

That's what the dealers order in for some reason. They believe that's what people want here. It's been discussed a few times on VASK.

Just for information, there are a couple but very few mk1 2 doors around, I have an early one myself. There is also actually a 2 door mk1 Jetta which is for sale at the moment. Few more mk2 2 doors, few mk3 2 doors and very very few mk4 on.

Found an E36 radiator that fits perfectly between the chassis rails so made some mounts and now it's in.

Also fitted my engine mounts and adapters. The adapters needed a couple of small alterations before everything lined up 100%, somewhat like a custom-made suit, if you will.

Also sideways mode has been activated with the installation of the LSD:

I also replaced the center bearing in the driveshaft but the front needs to be modified as it's not the same as the e34 one, meaning it doesn't like up with the guibo.

And this one's entitled "A new perspective":

Pants

Saw and update, was looking forward to see 4wd and turbo. Left disappointed.

Why not find a radiator that fits?

That's exactly what I plan to do now. I was just curious as to the rule.

Really? I thought it was only crumple zone cars you couldn't modify the chassis rails? Pre 19somethingorother.

I spoke to my friend who does WOFs and he thought it would be an issue without engineer's report etc. Plus some other things I found suggested the same.

have you got a pic of the rail and what you want to do?

Here is a photo, the red lines are a general indication of where I'd be cutting. However it won't really work anyway as the bottle outlet would probably be too close/in the chassis leg with more than in inch recess so it invalidates this whole procedure.

Not much in the way of actual progress despite most of Sunday spent on the car and 5 hours last night.

So on Sunday, 2 hours were spent on removing the old rear subframe bushes which we finally managed after a lot of sawing, hammering and verbal threats. Thank you to Jibs and my friend Johnny for the help. The new ones just slid in thanks to my forward thinking and my friend's commercial fish freezer which I left them in overnight.

So with that done and rear subframe back in, I went to fit the e34 trailing arms which apparently 'would' work. Well. After having to do a bit of clearance making on the rear subframe seam lip to get the bigger arms to fit, I finally bolted up the arms and all looked well. Until I walked out from under the car and had a look at the side.

Behold before you, maximum stance. There was a good 10mm difference in toe just from the edges of the hub. That is where I left it for the day. And, in the process of all this, one of my e28 handbrake cables somehow got mangled so now I have to wait for the new ones to arrive.

Went back yesterday and removed the e34 hubs to swaps the e28 ones back on and pulled the brakes off the e34 ones to now put on the e28 hub. And in the process of removing the slightly seized on discs, I sent the hammer right into my knee and am now very sore. But I carried on.

Once that was done, I proceeded to remove the steering box, with the help of my still sick friend (the guy just won't give up), to replace with the lower mileage e34 box with again 'would' work. Well.

Got the steering box off after a good hour of hammering only to realise that the idler arm spline is different. Ok, not such a big deal. I put the steering box in the car to mock up the lines as one has to bent for it to work. Well it's a pretty slim chance of stretching the line to get it to fit, and being the high pressure line, I didn't want to take any risk. So swapped the newer e34 uni joint onto the e28 box and put it back in. Another few hours wasted. And the steering box is probably screwed now.

At least I managed to cut a big hole in the front, which was some consolation.

But that is also bitter sweet as the e34 radiator I wanted to try and use fit perfectly width wise. Then I looked at the car from the front. 50mm too tall. Luckily the radiator that came out of the parts car does fit so it is a backup.

Moral of the story: E34 trailing arms do NOT work. E34 steering box is not a bolt in upgrade/solution.

What's the rules on making a hole in the chassis leg to fit a larger radiator? Want to use an e34 radiator in my e28 but it is slightly too tall. If I could cut a small section out of the chassis legs right at the front behind the slam panel, it would work. Would this be a problem?

EDIT: Obviously not all the way through the chassis legs, just on the inside top edge.

Seems I have found an answer to this and it's a big NO. Which is what I thought.

Will be there.

What's the rules on making a hole in the chassis leg to fit a larger radiator? Want to use an e34 radiator in my e28 but it is slightly too tall. If I could cut a small section out of the chassis legs right at the front behind the slam panel, it would work. Would this be a problem?

EDIT: Obviously not all the way through the chassis legs, just on the inside top edge.

Made great progress today.

Started at around 10am, by 1pm the engine, gearbox, driveshaft, diff and exhaust were out. By the end of the day I also removed the rear subframe, control arms and complete hubs. Almost got the steering box off but I gave up and went home before I got it fully off.

Tomorrow the plan is to change out the rear subframe bushes and put it back in along with the e34 trailing arms, hubs and brakes plus do whatever else I can. At this rate I'm starting to think there is a possibility it will be going by next weekend.

Big thanks to my friend Gancen who, depsite being sick, was up and onsite at 8am to give me a hand to pull the motor. What a champ.

By the way, the eta motor, gearbox and diff are for sale for those interested.

Very good work on this, I would be very proud of it.

Got the spoiler on.

Also got my LSD.

Engine is coming out next weekend so should have some updates that actually relate to the swap then.

Intake and valve cover ready.

Also finished sanding the spoiler but didn't get any photos. Will get some later when I do paint. Swap should be starting in 2 weeks, as soon as my last few bits arrive.

I hear the chassis is bent. Who'd want this thing?

Just kidding. Now give me the keys.

Got some updates.

Engine and box is out of the E34:

Some other cool stuff that I got:

Parcel shelf to match my seats with premium speaker covers:

Painted black and installed:

Also got an Mtech replica spoiler but it arrived damaged so got a partial refund and went about starting the repair today:

Also made my engine mount bracket adapters today:

I used 12mm steel, might be overkill a little but when I'm dragging off Evos and Skylines the last thing I want to be worrying about is the engine falling out under the car, haha.

Also got hit about a month ago by a guy who suddenly changed lanes without looking:

Luckily he has insurance so working with them now to sort it. I was pissed off but he's been good about it and not screwing me around so I appreciate that.

More updates to come soon. Then some sideways.

Photos from Friday night.

^That. I would love to go for a ride in this.

I've been going to the last 3 Drag Wars with the mk2. After running consistent 15s and just not being able to get into 14s (even setting a 15.078), on Friday I managed to set several 14 second runs including a 14.590 with a little weight reduction.

Some photos from the pervious events thanks to RL Photography:

My favourite one:

I will post photos of this Friday when they get uploaded. The car ran excellently with no running issues what so ever. Only issue I had was occasionally the electronic throttle pedal cutting out, but I think I solved that since it didn't happen this round.

And with that, I think it's time to part ways with this car. I want to move on to something new and have big plans for my e28 and possibly another car so I will be tidying up some things on this car and then I will put it up for sale. It has been great and served me very well. Whoever buys this will be getting a very good car. And I'm not just saying that because I built it, I am genuinely impressed with how reliable it's been.

I hate to see sh*t like this. Sorry man. I don't think it would need a full respray but it will need to be blended into surrounding panels such as door and trunk lid.

Edit: Just saw post above. All the best getting it sorted.

Will be there.

Wetsand and first cut done on Thursday. I'm going to leave it for a couple more days and then do another cut.