Dirtdubbers resto corner... Mk2 jetta tx.

Hi guys well as promised a jetta topic .

Its not anything to special as its being passed onto my nephew for this first proper car so it hade to be a 1600 but hell they all need saving right?

Here it is when i first got here.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

As you can see it needs some time and care.

The interior wasnt to bad other than being a sea of blandness

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

And the engine had all the common running problems - idol was at about 1600rpm when on choke and about 650 off, it over ran like a horse with a firework up its arse!! And didnt have any go at all now theres a surprise .

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Im sure many of you have seen and experanced these faults yourselves.

So the first thing for me to sort out was some slight damage caused by the car hitting a curb head on.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The car at the time was in collies and 15inch borbets so it did the bumper and wheel arch trims aswell.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I managed to save the wing by panel beating it out job done! I dont have any after pics of that bit of the project.

I drove it into the garage and almost out the other side after realiseing it had no brakes at all!!!
I found this to be the problem

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

This is a rear brake compensator valve and its a very common MOT fail and can be easy to maintain this one has blown out completely so its going to be changed.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Luckily i found a good one down the breakers.
If your going to fit a second hand one make sure you pull it apart to check the seals on the plunger/valves inside.
Top tip when ever you pull any part of your brake cylinders or valves apart clean them well with GT85 and reasemble them with a slight coating of RED RUBBER grease on all the little Oring seals it will save you a fortune on brake parts over the years.

Next was the exhaust it was only blowing from the joins.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Next was the running problem, now this is always going to be long winded even if you know what your doing with one of these carbs but you must ALWAYS start with a new carb flange gasket Part Number =026-129-761E

First remove the carb so you can remove the flange gasket.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Then clean the mounting surface with GT85 and some 800grade wet/dry paper so it looks like this.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Then fit new gasket i always clean mine with brake cleaner first just make sure.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Now comes the carb if yours looks like this then you will probably have some sort of idea where im going with this.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

This one needed lots of bits changing - The wax state had jamed shut (the high revving). The choke unit electrics were faulty and the vacumn hoses were perished.
But this is what it should look like finished. One happy running car again (once the CO is set to 2%).

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

ALWAYS clean the joining surface of the carb to the same standard as the inlet manifold as a air leak will cost you more time in the long run.

Next came a good old clean of the under belly and arches.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Then the bit i love the most because it gives the car the finishing touch, the wheels.
First i sanded um right back.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Then three coats of paint, three coats of lacquer and then the center caps to match. Oh and a new set of boots.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Yes i know its standard but i cant mod it his insurance company wont let me .
Next the rear seat arm rest had a hole behind it when you opened it.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

This gave me the chance to put one of my trademark VW logos into a MDF panel i custom made for the car.
What do ya think?

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Well the car is finished and its now with its new owner and i will post some finishing shot later (when its not pishing it down).
There was alot more to this project but i wont test your will to live any longer .
If there any questions on the carb rebuild or anything that you think might help you with your car please dont hesitate to ask.

Thanks for reading hope i wasnt to boreing .

i like what your doin man not many people restore mk2s they tend to do the mk1`s

Hey mate that was an interesting post. No use to me - but liked all the same .

This should help some others on here though Top Man.

Hope he looks after it.

My first car was a 1600tx Jetta and look where I am now! Still driving Jettas.

Good work though, the lad will have a fine motor when he takes the wheel.

Cheers guys.

Its got to be better than the horrible Mk2 fiesta popular that he had for his first car.
I cant wait to get some pics of the car when the weather lets me im really quite proud of this one.

nice thread mate. quite a good read tbh

lovely work alex,
for those of you not yet aware, alex is anal about volkswagens, in a way that no other person could be, but better to be like that than slap dash!

Cheers andy love you too! When we going to see the jetta looking shiny again dude. she's only going to get jealous and start playin up......

Just thought i would add this to the topic. Walst reversing out of my garage in the tx on the day of the mot she let out a loud and gut renching metalic snap sound. I had a poke around but couldnt spot where it came from so headed off to the mot test station. It didnt seem to drive any different dut i was still concerned.
Thankfully i have a nice mot tester who let me have a look walst it was being tested and we found that the rear gearbox mount had snapped!!!!!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I Think it was weak'nd by the accident with the kerb because i have never seen this before on any car i have worked on!!
Believe it or not this isnt an mot faliure so it still passed!!!

Good work matey! Wow at the mount though, like you say must've been due to the kerbage. My first car was a fiesta pop! My second car was a fiesta pop too, my third car however was a fiesta ghia mk1 in beige that I paid ten pounds for! since then I have had more cars/vans than i care to remember! Still have a soft spot for fiesta 1's+2's though, planning a turbo one Jetta will be first though!

Good to see another one being restored! Handy info on the carb aswell, I've had the same problems in the past. Looks like you've done a great job with it too. Some of those MOT rules are a joke though, a snapped gearbox mounts got to be dangerous hasn't it? Hope your nephews happy

It crossed my mind that i never posted some pics of the car finished so when my nephew popped the car into us the other day for some new bits to be fitted i thought i might take the chance to take a couple of snaps.

Im glad to say chris really looks after this car but after it only just passed the MOT due to moisture round one front shock and one rear it was time to have a play. We supplied and fitted a FK 40mm kit (shock's and springs) new bump stops and top mounts then he supplied some 15inch wheels with 195/45/15's on.

so here it is :

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

This really is one of the best condition mk2 shells ive ever seen just check out those panels not a ding i sight!! Amazing really concidering the age and mileage (just over 100,000miles now).

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Hope you like? Im not sure on the wheels but they could of been alot worse.

WoW you worked your majic with this one!!

Without the plates i wouldn't of said it was the same car.

I know what your saying about the wheels but there growing on me. Maybe change the red centre caps.

GOOD WORK man as for the wheels my personal feeling is that i dont like to see the studs (4) on a five spoke wheel or 5 studs on a six spoke wheel if u catch my drift.................i'm to fussy for that

Yer i think chris had the same idea i think hes going to put some plain VW items on soon.

I also get your drift with the studs on the wheels wiggy i share the same line of thought.

looking good mate looking good. got two mk2 jettas inc gti and love em

Chris has taken a real shine to this car pardon the pun. I am slowly turning him to the dark side lol.

looks very clean! and the wheels make it look more so, not my first choice of wheel i must say, but could of been alot lot worse!

whats next?! he must have the itch now!

Nothing major just a music upgrade we think? Oh and a gti exhaust system. Oh and possibly some engine tweeks to make her a little faster ........ yer hes got the bug

Just a few months ago he was going to trade it in on the scrappage scheme and get a new motor (all together now NOOOOOOOO!!!) but dont worry i lead him gently to one side and whispered in his ear I WILL KILL YOU since then everythings been just fine

Well just a quick update to on going changes to the old tx. We had made a couple of repairs to the exhaust over the last year or so so when it finally broke it was time to use that as an excuse to upgrade so out with old.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

And in with a complete gti 8v system. Chris didnt want anything to boy racer so we settled for standard system plus it was a lot cheaper than a jetex system.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

We used a straight through front pipe which helped in two ways.. It gets rid of that useless cat and also gave better flow and a nicer sound.
We also fitted the gti down pipe that gave us a pipe diameter of 50mm all the way throught instead of 45mm. The only bit i was a little unhappy with is the back box as this is for a early small bumper model (this was the only one we could get and that took us nearly 3 weeks to get!!!!)but we will revisit again at a later date and we will make him a custom backbox. I can report that chris is well happy with it and has reported a very nice increase in mid range power and a slight increase in acceleration aswell. Next step is a gti cam and a retune i think hes got the bug well and truelly

Looks good!

I know about the struggle on back boxes i can't find one (stainless) for love nor money it has to be a custom box and thats to much money for me haha

Hi guys I am Chris Alex’s nephew and the owner of this lovely motor.

Unfortunately it has come the time for me to sell my Jetta as I have just qualified as a teacher and the long commute to work requires something a bit more economical. I am after a fairly quick sell which means that someone may get this beauty for a great price. I would love it to go to someone who will love the car and appreciate the fantastic condition which it is in instead of a 17 year old boy racer who will destroy it! So please one of you buy it.

If anyone is interested and wants to know more information email me at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].

Cheers, Chris.

shame youve come to sell it but on another note, i do have a vento tdi in the classifieds that may be of use so you wont defect at all that way
; )

Sold!