Bodywork, Trim & Paint
Repairing rear axle beam mounts
The rear axle beam mounts are a notorious rust trap on Scirocco Mk1 and Mk2 and can lead to MOT failures and owners deciding to scrap their cars.
Repair panels are available from after market suppliers such as Hadrians and Crazy Quiffs in the UK. These panels are mainly listed under Mk1 Golf, as the chassis is the same on both Mk1 Golfs and Sciroccos.
There are various methods and approches to repair, this is the one that worked for me on a Mk1 Scirocco. I was repairing the os (UK drivers side) mount.
Before tackling the repair, you will need to jack the car up and rest it on axle stands. Best place the axle stands beneath the two potruding brackets just ahead of the rear valance as you will require plenty of access. Remove the rear road wheels, disconnect the rear brake flexy lines, remove the rear suspension struts and undo the rear axle beam by undoing the four nuts that hold it in place. Be careful not to snap any of the studs (if you do, I will be tackling this below, more to come…). Once the rear axle beam is free you will need to remove the fuel filler neck, the fuel tank and any pumps, flexy lines etc. If fuel lines are left in situ, make sure that they are not left exposed -as you will need to cutting and welding in this area. SAFETY FIRST!
You can then finally get to fixing your rear beam mounts.
os mount rusty -stud snapped!
(click image to see larger pic).
Rotten wheel arches.
Unfortunately this article applies only to mk2 models with rotten arches. One of my project cars, an early non bodykitted had rot around both rear arches. Now this is a common problem across the mk2 range body kitted or not, especially older cars, and repair panels only appear to be available in Europe. There had been a rumour going around that the arches cut from mk2 front wings could be used to repair rear arches, so i decided to try this out on my project car, and i can confirm it works.
First off, heres the drivers side rear arch i need to tackle, certainly not the worst i’ve seen (anyone who has read my Project DARE restoration thread will know what i mean !) but still in need of attention for the MOT…
Front seat, tilt cable replacement and bolster repair
A very common problem with Mk1 and Mk2 front seats is the failure of the tilt mechanism (usually broken control cables), and wear to the seat fabric on the drivers upper and lower bolsters. Heres a quick guide of how to strip a seat, to repair either or both of these problems, the seat used in the guide is the type fitted to most later, and higher spec model Scirocco’s, but the same pricipals apply to the more basic seats found in GT models.
First off is to remove the seat from the car, easy enough to do, just slide the seat all the way forward, remove the black plastic cover that goes over the seat runner nearest the tunnel. Next look under the front edge of the seat, and you will see a small bolt and domed nut, these should be removed, and then the seat can be slid all the way back, until the front mount is clear, and then just jiggle the seat out of the rear runners. (be careful not to lose the white plastic bushes on the rear runners) › Continue reading
CHECKING FOR RUST ON MK2 MODELS
Now that almost all Mk2′s still on the road today are 16 + years old, and thanks to our wonderful wet British weather and salt covered winter roads, rust is always going to become a problem at some point. Now, with earlier non body kitted models its not too difficult to spot the early stages of corrosion, but with the body kitted models, its a different story. Most body kitted cars on the surface may look perfectly sound, but some can have some nasty hidden surprises in store for unsuspecting owners or indeed , would be owners.
So iv’e put together this short thread to help anyone who is thinking of buying their first Scirocco, or anyone pre-MOTing their own car.
The main areas to suffer are the rear wheel arches underneath the plastic body kit. The easiest way to check is to very carefully ( you dont want to cut your fingers !) feel around the wheel arch edge for rusty, crumbled edges. Also if the self tapping screws that hold the body kit in place are securely fastened, if the screws are’nt holding, and the kit can be easily pulled away from the body, then you’ve got problems ! › Continue reading
Mk2 Boot lock seal replacement – with photos
This will take longer to type up than it did to do the job.
One that on all Rocco’s will need doing at some point.
