'77 golf starting to worry and confuse me

[BJIH_86]

I am an 18 yr old from brisbane australia, i have picked up little automotive nouse thru a school tafe course and tinkering with our family's old leyland mini moke.

I have had my 77 golf for about 10 months now...

i bought it in a private sale... the vendor claimed the engine had been 'reconditioned'

weeks later it all came clear

the brakes began to fail, near misses and lucky gaps at traffic lights!!!
the engine took years to warm up
engine stalled every time i wanted to move off from a stop
battery was drained by the alternator (wiring fault -earth wrong?)

the car was taken to our local mechanic who has serviced our family cars for some time.

having explained the problems with the car it was hoped that the car would come back operational.

the brakes were fixed... a very good job
the mechanics did something wrong with the battery after hving charged it, they started to smell smoke! dashboard wiring gone...

a the carb was looked at and fiddled with etc. to fix the jerky/jumpiness of the car

after having the same problem with the jerky take offs and stalls i took the car back ...replaced carby with spare...
same problem...

i checked it out after having looked thru the TEXTBOOK of my auto course to find that these numbnuts have not connected the accelerator pump...

anyway after all the hassle with these mechanics, misdiagnoses, their lack of confidence in explaining the problem thinking i was some incompetent 17 year old with an old car that they could possibly milk..

oh well they didnt get their fees...

...a new battery...

well we found the power problem to be the cylinder head, oil in the radiator water...

the cylinder head was taken off. ..a small crack in no. 3 was letting this happen... the machinist took the head and did an incredible job... to find that the guy that 'reconditioned' the head, ground tips of the valves too far and incorrectly fitted the guides etc... humph.

about 2 months after the head was off... she's back on again... a nice mobile mechanic provided me a little assitance in this task... a good job... but soon i began to realise that driving this thing felt as though you were driving against a brick wall! the timing was retarded, he missed the timing by about 17 degrees(5 notches)..ouch... a another mobile mechanic with about 30 yrs more experience corrected that problem... after i had the carburettor reconditoned (another good job there).

the back taillights werent working one night as i headed off for a long drive, leading to the realisation that the winshield wiper motor had blown and had melted out the fuse box...!

despite all these problems and corrections the car still...

reaches 150km/h (not as easily as it has previously)

chews up a little more fuel than desired

takes a while to warm up (even after i have replaced the thermostat)

cannot reverse back up our driveway when cold (moves jerks and stalls)

has a weird grumble sound in the engine area when changing up, especially from 3rd to 2nd.

the gear shift is stiff... to get first nowadays you have to push down and head toward reverse and find the gap between where first should be, and reverse... instead of just straight up the side wall of the 'gate'

also my oil pressure sometimes sits at around 15 psi... which it hasnt been before. (the rings need replacing?oil pump?filter?)



i have reason to believe that maybe:

the clutch is close to dying?

the bottom end needs an overhaul
the head job has put to much pressure on the bottom end (bearings etc.) (grumbling?)

(the rings need replacing?oil pump?filter?)


the car runs well when hot but these issues are beginning to worry me... as i am frequently doing somewhat long trips (200km) at least once a fortnight...

i am extremely confused over the issue and after all the crap and confusion i have already been through i would really like some answers..

if there is any one who could provide me with some assistance , it would be greatly appreciated ..

thanks...

BJ