SiC

Our kitchen was designed around that American fridge freezer and making sure it fitted. 🤣 As someone who doesn't drink anything else (unless alcohol) that isn't water or sometimes juice, it gets a lot of use!

It's a rattly old thing - I think I'm sitting on the engine? The HST is my favourite for NVH comfort. Sadly no longer used on my usual commuting route. Why is this air vent different to all the others? Genuinely intrigued!

Train is here and waiting. But locked. I'm just a generic riff raff guy and so I've never been first class. Will be an interesting experience. Front of the train so first to impact something in a crash 🙃 (Tbh this voyager first class doesn't look very special peering through the window!)

It's going to be a longer one. 4hr15 or so on the train and similar driving back. First chariot of choice Fast golf bros Split ticket nonsense Next chariot Has just arrived. Early!

#breakfastofchampions

It's a bit of a shame that cars in the UK need a front number plate. They definitely spoil the line of a car.

Train tickets booked and car money sent. Must remember that I need to pick the tickets up from the station ticket machine. I'll need to sort car insurance but can do that on the train. The only split tickets that are an advanced reserved and must not miss is the train from Bristol Temple Meads. So I might catch the earlier train to BRI and gives me plenty of time to not miss it. The rest are standard off-peak times. So hopefully everything will be golden. For some reason, the train from Stafford to Liverpool has no first class. Presumably because no scouser going home would ever consider buying first class? And they'd sit in there anyway until the ticket inspector tried to chuck 'em out.

Day booked off for a car collection tomorrow. Just need to figure the best way to get from Nailsea & Backwell (near Bristol) to Bebington (near Wirral). Split ticket is about £60 standard or £97 first class which I'm tempted to do. 3 changes and not sure what happens if I can't get the next train - presumably loose out? No point hiding what it is as I'm sure many who have seen any of my recent posts will know already!

The less the emissions controls work and so more fuel it puts in to try heating the engine up quicker.

In correct fettle, I'd be expecting 45+ mpg easy and usually 50-60mpg on these donks. The 1.5dci has always been really economical.

Even Mrs SiC really likes driving it. I asked her earlier why she happily drives this but doesn't like driving the Merc. "Golf is small, easy to drive, easy to park and nicer to drive". Nicer to drive probably because, even though she tells me off for doing it, she chucks cars around corners herself. You can do that in the E320 but there is of course a fair bit more body roll being so much bigger and suspension setup for comfort. The E320 is basically the same length as a new Range Rover sport and 2.5 feet longer than the Golf.

Been buzzing around in this yesterday and today. The MPG seems to be in the low 30s without trying too hard. This is on super unleaded though and the lower ethanol content will help here. This is coming out of Bristol centre back home. Was mid 20s in Bristol traffic but then rose as I got onto 30-70mph a-roads. Then this evening I went to a local Lidl and back. Round trip of around 15 miles or so. Most of this was not needing to stop and not slowing down for corners 😀. Pretty respectable to be honest, especially as I wasn't really trying. At most I'd just keep the revs down on a straight. I.e. 4th/5th gear at 30mph, 5th gear at 40mph and 6th pretty much above that. While it's not the 40+ mpg you get in modern TSI engines but certainly not bad for this era. I seem to remember these numbers are similar to my TT MK2 TFSI. I think it also helps having cruise on it now. I can just hit the set button and sail around without feathering the accelerator or keep close eye on the speed. While some of the worn bushes no doubt mean this isn't exactly factory fresh, she does handle extremely well. I think the fresh looking Sachs dampers and new springs help a huge amount here. No idea when they went on but they're certainly not 198k and tbh look only a few years old at most. I know the build quality on this era isn't exactly the best VAG ever did, but they really nailed the chassis setup perfectly. I know the same aged citybugs in the photo above drive well, but they're not a patch on the Golf. Yet they're probably not that far off second hand value? Yes the engine can be a liability but all the bits that can have problems are very well known. All of which pretty much can be either fixed or mitigated DIY. On the flip side they're lovely powerplants to drive. Zippy low down diesel like torque but the long legs of a petrol. Unlike a N/A overtaking is a very modern feeling keep above 2.2k or so and have the turbo start spinning, then floor it to shoot off when ready. Basically they're pretty much all the car you ever need. I know you exterior is dull - I've long dismissed them previously because of it. However it makes you blend into traffic without being shouty about it. Which is pretty much standard Golf design philosophy - even the same on the extremely competent Golf R later generations that you have to understand the R badge to realise what they're packing underneath.

It's my wife's joke that she asks everytime I buy a car, when am I replacing the thermostat? Pretty much every car I've bought has needed one. From the E320 not getting up to temperature, to the GTI splitting it's housing and even my parents A4 that I bought off them didn't get to temperature either. I think it's one of those things people don't even realise is a problem. If the car isn't beeping at them or loosing power, they assume it's all okay. The fact that a gauge is not in the right place won't be something they realise. Especially as it's likely to drop gradually over time rather than a sudden change.

I keep buying cheap thermostats thinking surely there must be some okay and then regret it after it fails again in a few hundred miles.

Alignment done at lunchtime today. Need to get my brain used to having the steering wheel straight in this car when going straight along. My brain gets used to a cars steering quirks with time and my brain requires it's steering angle data reset. The tracking guy was nearly having orgasms about how nice and easy a job it was being not all rusted solid. Apparently it was very much a welcome change from the others he had in today. Camber and caster are out on the front. Not sure much can be done about that unless the subframes are shifted about. Maybe new console bushes may help too in time. Drives fine though. Rear camber is within the limits but at the limits. Possibly worn bushes. It should be adjustable but I don't think anyone want to dare touch those adjustment bolts. Certainly I didn't!

Does it have a DPF? At the age I'd thought it would. Duff thermostat won't be helping it. Exterior temperature can potentially give regen problems too.

@Slowsilver (or might have been someone else and I can't remember who) iirc has a source of better bushes for the Maxi rack that has the same problem as these. The replacement bush is plastic and often fails, while a brass type bush has been manufactured that I believe sorts this issue. Careful poking that bulkhead! Behind there is a well known rot point from where the rain water sits for the heater and ends up rotting through. For best access to do that repair, you have to effectively cut open heart surgery style into that area to gain access. It can be a right mess... I believe there is some info in the link I sent you the other day on the best way to tackle that. I did it on my purple one and I know my blue one had similar work as they put silver soundproofing foam over the top to hide the welds. Tbh virtually every ADO16 is likely has had it done at least once. I'm giving this warning as it might snowball into a bigger project if you poke too much. I've learnt that the hard way too many times. Definitely get as much fun out of the car first. Don't be like me and the weld-fest-mess I've got myself into several times. 😅 👀 Please do let me know if/when you decide to move it on! I haven't had a ADO16 for a while and having a urge to have one again. 🙃

I think next time I'll happily pay the £300 or whatever for someone else to do it 🤣 Under £29 for the materials (4m of fabric and a can of Trim Fix) including postage. Then like 14 hours of my time.

Christ almighty was that a fight getting it back in. A helper would have been very useful in doing it. I really did not want it taking nearly two days to do. I had the weekend to myself and I really wanted to get on with my Midget. Right now I have a backlog of things left to do in the house and not going to get any more car time this evening. Also these bastard clips kept falling apart. They go into the metal body work and the trim fixing screw goes through it. The threaded nut thing kept falling out and into awkward places. Usually as I just got one side in then the other side fell out. Also discovered the screw cover on the jesus handles acts as a prop when open to stop them closing up. Neat little bit of design there. Anyway it's now in and fully tightened up. Definitely not a job I'd be in a rush to do again. Colour is obvious different but it's a million times nicer than it was. The headliner is more ivory (even though it was supposed to be beige) and the standard type you usually get in lighter coloured interiors. I'm sure the other trim pieces could be had (or redone) in ivory to make match as it looks like standard VAG light coloured interior. Beige in the Golf I think was a one year option and very rare anyway. As is, is certainly not horrendous though and a million times nicer than it was. At the very least it's nice not to have it raining foam into your hair every time you close the door.

It looks pretty solid under there! (Just don't go poking any rear subframe mounts)

Finished the headlining and now ready to put back in the car after lunch. First attempt last night was going well until I spent a bit too long with the heat gun and burnt the fabric. Oof. . Nothing for it except ripping it all off and doing it again. Thankfully I bought double the amount of fabric. I didn't buy double the amount of glue so I had to carry on as this lot hadn't fully set. Didn't finish till 2am last night. This morning I trimmed up all the edges and folded it over. Had some other spray glue which I used for these bits. Isn't high temperature resistant (at least the can has no mention of heat resistance levels) but actually was much sticker. Tbh that made it more difficult to work with. Then reattached the trim. What did I learn? - It's not hard to do. However it's hard to do well. Experts on videos make it look easy. It's the curved sections that are the hardest parts and trying to avoid bubbles or creases. - Buy spare fabric and glue - 2 meters was enough for one go. I bought 4 metres and still had some spare - Heat gun is useful for reshaping the fabric and keeping the glue tacky. - Your cat will want to jump all over it and try scratching it when you're not looking. I'm still removing cat hair from it. - While not perfect, I think it turned out pretty well and a million times better than the droopy mess before. Much better than thumb tacks or other bodges. Now I just need to get it back in without damaging it. 😬

Good to see you back SOC!

Unhelpful 🤨

Not the best colour match considering the new is supposed to be beige! More like ivory to me. That said, the pillar trim is slightly lighter than the roof lining. Should be a million times better than it was though. Pretty grim having the headlining hitting your head all the time and having bits of foam fall into your hair. I think it'll be a close enough match once in and probably won't notice considering its on the ceiling.

It's taken bloody ages to get to this point. Let's not talk about how I had to disassemble this who b-pillar trim to retrieve the one screw at the top that holds all this in after it fell down. Good 45mins doing this alone. FFS Still didn't come out with a fight. Then spent a good hour with a wire brush getting all the old foam and glue off that wasn't already in my hair from removing this. The best time to do this of course is when Mrs SiC is away and I can get away with having it in the living room! Now to cut up the new fabric and glue it on! Might have some food first though. Then it'll be a big fight getting it back in and all the trim in place. Not really looking forward to that bit.