The move from the barn to the garage

So, we get the weather for a few days that means the ground outside the barn starts to dry out so we head up there with the truck, a strong rope and a bunch of bailer twine.

The plan is, drag the Golf out of the barn (backwards) and then ... well, that was pretty much the extent of the plan. I had no idea whether it would tow that far let alone what we would do next. We only had the truck and some rope so pushing was not an option - I could only pull.

We started by putting a loop of twine through the tow loop on the Golf so that we could get the rope through it, tied the other end of the rope to the truck tow hitch and drove off. The rope snapped after maybe 10'. The Golf had reached a pile of hay and rather than go up and over it stopped. We rolled the car forwards and clear some of the hay away. I tied the ends of the rope together and we set off again. Another car length and the rope snapped again. This time it was as the front wheels met the pile of hay. With some stearing lock applied as well as the rise in height was too much for the rope. This time we didnt clear any hay as that wasnt an option so we rolled forwards and took a run up at the pile. We rolled up and over quite neatly.

We now had to get around the tree outside the barn. This was causing me to have to tow from a slight angle and I was also having to steer to avoid other obstacles and try to find grip through some 6" of mud. After a few yards it became too close to keep going and we had to stop towing. It was now a case of manually pushing the car forwards to that we could get the steering lock on enough to avoid the tree. We managed maybe 2'-3' at best. The car was bogging down and we were slipping badly in the mud. I towed it forwards the 2'-3' and we 'reversed' it again. This time we got it clear enough to tow past the tree but it was still going over some of the roots and we managed to snap the rope, again. After this was retied we got all the way past the tree and were venturing into uncharted territory.

It was now necessary to get the truck on the other end of the Golf to head back towards the road, and the 1:8 hill that we had to descend. This was mostly a concrete section so was pretty easy going. I drove the truck and my wife was in charge of steering the Golf. Simples.

Going down the hill was the next hurdle, we had no idea if the brakes would work so I tied the tow–rope to the back of the Golf again and lowered it down the hill with the truck behind it. Piece of cake as it turned out – we didn't meet any traffic and coasted gently to the foot of the hill where I swapped the truck back to the front to tow it to the house and then into the garage.

-- NOTE-- This happened in March 2009 and I have only now (June 2010) re-started the project and found this update un-posted. Oops, must try harder.

parked again.

 
Well, we got it out of the barn and its now in the garage. It took a while and a significant range of swear words but it's there now. More details on the move in due course ...

V11

Well today the post finally got through after all the snow started to clear and the postman delivered the V11 for the golf. A V11 is the form that reminds you that you need to purchase the Tax Disc for the forth coming year.

As the Golf is not using the roads I have to declare it as being off-road. This is known as SORN (Statutory Off Road Notice). This means I dont have to pay the tax until I use the car. Hopefully this will be te penultimate SORN declaration I will make as this time next year I would hope that the rebuild will be starting and in the early summer (April/May) I will be getting a tax disc and getting the car on the road.

Here's hoping

What?

So, Haynes dont have a specific manual dedicated to the Golf that can help me but I found and contacted another auto repair manual pubisher asking if they did. I cant believe the response I got from them. Actually, in all honesty, I cant understand it:

Hello,
We used to do similar manuals but that has changed over 10 years ago.
If you look at the 2nd page of this news letter this are the manuals we do which will have info
about your vehicle as well but not only.
Make cover is from a-z so from audis to volvos and as you can see they cover particular subject
for egz. Technical Data.
Same with our cd's they cover a group of subject on all european and uk cars
for egz. CD Basic covers technical data for petrol and diesel, timing belts, chains and gears which is
£99+Vat per year.

Looks like I'll be better off without theirs anyway!

Haynes are still being very helpful and seem to think they will have a manual that will cover the engine at least.

What a farce

Well, we left work early so that I could get a look at the wheels. I got away from the house late, and in a hurry, got to the barn and realised I had left the jack behind. I had also forgotten the car keys and the socket set to loosen the wheel nuts.

Anyway, after 3 return trips to the house I got everything with me and set about the rear wheel first. I had to use two bottle jacks to lift the car - one to lift it onto the 2nd which had the reach to lift the wheels off the ground but was too tall to get under the car.

This is what I was dealing with:



After hitting the brake drum for long enough (until my ears were ringing) I put the wheel back on and we got a little movement, twisting clockwise and then anti-clockwise eventually got it spinning freely again. The front wheels were a case of putting a pair of grips from the brake shoes to the callipers and easing the pads off the disc.

Next moves - clear the barn of hay and straw so the car can be towed out.

Thats for next week.

Could I have it in writing please?

Apart from not being able to get a donor steel wheel for the car I am now not able to locate a DIY manual for its maintenance either.

I contacted Haynes with the vehicle details and as it is a 1986 Golf Convertible it doesnt fall into their categories for any manual. This is because Volkswagen didnt make a convertible with a mkII body shell - they used mkI bodies and nailed those onto the mkII everything-else-underneath.

Tonight I am going to attempt to remove the brakes (2xfront, 1xback) with nothing more than guesswork and the memory of changing discs and pads on my T reg Fiesta (thats 1978 T as in ERF420T - I wonder where that car is now!?).

Hopefully pics and update later/tomorrow.

no wheels (that work) on my (volks)wagon

Had a suggestion from a neighbour that we could weld a length (2m ish) of tube to a steel wheel rim, bolt that on and use it to free the wheels. Great idea. In practice however, it seems that steel rims to fit a 1986 Golf are hard to obtain. I would willingly swap my collection of rocking horse dung and hen's teeth for them ...

May be dragging the poor car from its abode with a tractor. Eek

Day one (ish)

Yesterday I spent the whole day clearing out the garage. It had been the default place to dump anything that didnt have a proper home for pretty much the last 18 months. It took all day and I had to be brutal about throwing stuff out. Why? Because today it was going to have a car put in it. As it happens it didnt but that gives me the chance to give you some of the back story and the reason for this blog.

I bought the car back in (ages ago, I cant remember when but probably 2003 or 2004). Its a Volkswagen Golf GTi Cabriolet - anyone from the US will know it as a VW Rabbit. We ran it for a year but it was getting vandalised and we decided to take it of the road. Luckily some friends of ours had a barn we could use to store it. well the time came to use the barn for barn like activities and we had to get the car moved. This coincided with us move house too so the car took up residence in another barn, just behind our horses stables. The car was not drivable at this point due to the battery going flat and the immobiliser , um , ... immobilising it. The brakes on one wheel had become seized too but that was sorted with a few swift swipes of a mallet.

this morning I went to the barn with the aim of towing it out with the pickup and then towing it into my newly empty (ish) garage. I got nowhere. 3 brakes are now seized so I am a bit stuck. I am going to look for advice from some local mechanics, the Haynes manual people and the Golf owners club. The barn isnt really big enough to renew the brakes where it is and I dont have all the tools to hand either.

I will try to post photos and keep things up to date here as I work on renovating the car and getting it back to the way it should be.