[horseoutside]

The basics are good! They fit in the wheel wells with the amount of clearance I measured, so it's good to know I'm not totally thick. Clearance from brake and suspension parts is good as far as I can see, it seems fine.

At full lock one way there's basically no space at the front vs the wheel arch liner but it doesn't actually touch, and the other way it does rub on the wheel arch liner and body at the back.

Bear in mind there's no suspension lift yet, nor any wheel spacers. I'll get on with the suspension and braking work, and then see what the situation is but right now I'm happy with the direction it's going.

Oh yeah, and there's a totally open inner CV boot on one of the axles, more parts to order!

 

[gedu]

What they did with Golf 2 Country they had outside company to manufacture them, and basically they just lifted body from subframes with spacers.

 

[horseoutside]

What they did with Golf 2 Country they had outside company to manufacture them, and basically they just lifted body from subframes with spacers.

Ah, cool. Well, that's all I'm doing for this year, I'll look at air suspension next year when I have more time, I hope.

 

[gedu]

But did you know why they did that model?

Many European countries had tax breaks for 4WD cars with certain approach and departure angle and also for ground clearance. Meeting those requirements meant that car would be classed as Off road capable, get a tax break AND would be added to local army database for collection if Soviet Union decided to go Putin...

 

[horseoutside]

Had a little fun with it the other day - brakes failed at 70mph with traffic slowing in front of me, foot went to the floor, no response. Handbrake, engine braking and a lot of luck and it was under control and in a car park, got it towed back from there. By the time it was back, pedal feel was normal again. Leading theory is a sticking caliper heating up the brake fluid and causing pedal fade. Scary moment but all the calipers and hoses are coming out anyway!

Finally got a clear schedule and good space to work, off we go!

Having great fun just zipping everything out with the impact wrench, it's pretty enjoyable when you know a lot of the parts you see are coming out!

I was hoping to get away with being a bit cheap at the rear but once I realised I'd have to remove the tie bars to be able to get the spring out and the spring+spacer in, I realised I'd also need to fit adjustable tie bars... So four of those are on the way now. Could probably get away with one adjustable per side but for this much effort it's not worth the chance I'd have to dive back in here in a week or two.

Also realised I'd need new drop links at the rear, and the shocks didn't return even slowly so they're out. Bilstein shocks on the way, apparently going to be a bit stiffer, which suits me since I'm already concerned about rubbing when the suspension moves.

Here's the rear spring stack-up with the 1.5" spacer... Going to have a fun time getting these in. I have spring compressors but I think I'll probably have to pull the driveshafts to get enough play in the trailing arm to get this spring stack up in.

So that's all four corners disassembled, now I'm doing the suspension spacers and I can start building up from there. Going to be blocked on shocks, tie bars and bolts for a few days so maybe I can get a start on the timing belt job soon...

Also ordered a fifth wheel and tyre, so I'll have a full spare. It'll look good on the roof!

 

[horseoutside]

Some lip on these discs, they've had a lifetime or two.

 

[benckj]

Very cool, enjoying your build.

 

[horseoutside]

Thanks!

Rear body lift spacers are in:

Had to drop the trailing arms to get the spring and spacer stack-up in, and a little help from a spring compressor but not much. The front, however, needed a lot of compressing to fit the extra 1.5" spacer in there.

Front strut spacers are in - left has the spacer (shiny aluminium) and right doesn't have it yet. Both are now done and back on the car.

Moved on to the timing belt, and was disappointed to see the chewed up bolts for the crank pulley. Got them out by gently hammering in the hex driver bit, and new bolts are on the way. Hey, at least now I know it had at least one timing belt change since new!

 

[horseoutside]

Starting to lose track of what I've taken apart, so I'm keeping a list of the bolts I need to go back and check torque settings on at the end...

 

[horseoutside]

Adjustable tie bars are in!

Timing belt done too, waiting for an accessory belt tensioner before I finish that job. At it for one week so far, exhausted but feeling good about progress.