mk2 Golf GTI - too far gone?
Discussion
I've come across a mk2 Golf GTI for sale. 5 door, silver, and driving.
Bodywork has some nasty blisters and somebody has colour coded the bumpers and wheel arches. Alloy wheels look original, but could do with a refurb.
I'm assuming at this stage it drives ok, or at very least the engine is sound.
I havent yet got involved with the seller, but i know its on the market for £600. I would say £400 or £500 would own it.
Assuming say, £1200 for a respray and resolving the rust / rot on the body, £250 for the wheels to refurb them, is it worth getting involved? The interior looks intact but i would be concerned about the price of body trims and bumpers, plus i dont really want to put £,£££s in unless i'd have a reasonable chance of getting it back out?
The 5 door puts me off a bit.
Anyone offer any advice?
Bodywork has some nasty blisters and somebody has colour coded the bumpers and wheel arches. Alloy wheels look original, but could do with a refurb.
I'm assuming at this stage it drives ok, or at very least the engine is sound.
I havent yet got involved with the seller, but i know its on the market for £600. I would say £400 or £500 would own it.
Assuming say, £1200 for a respray and resolving the rust / rot on the body, £250 for the wheels to refurb them, is it worth getting involved? The interior looks intact but i would be concerned about the price of body trims and bumpers, plus i dont really want to put £,£££s in unless i'd have a reasonable chance of getting it back out?
The 5 door puts me off a bit.
Anyone offer any advice?
daemon said:
Assuming say, £1200 for a respray and resolving the rust / rot on the body
<wipes tear of laughter away> Good luck with that...If you want an immaculate car, don't buy this one, unless you actively want a project. Buy an immaculate one. It'll cost a lot more to buy, but it'll be a helluva lot cheaper.
TooMany2cvs said:
daemon said:
Assuming say, £1200 for a respray and resolving the rust / rot on the body
<wipes tear of laughter away> Good luck with that...If you want an immaculate car, don't buy this one, unless you actively want a project. Buy an immaculate one. It'll cost a lot more to buy, but it'll be a helluva lot cheaper.
Will just leave it.
TooMany2CVs is dead right!
There are plenty of Mk2 GTIs out there to suit any budget. It's generally much better to let someone else find out the real cost of restoration. Buy a car that is in the condition you want, that way you take most of the uncertainty out of the equation.
The only reason to proceed is if you like the challenge / heartache!!
Sorry, but this is the voice of experience...15 years into a restoration that looked like it should take six months!!
There are plenty of Mk2 GTIs out there to suit any budget. It's generally much better to let someone else find out the real cost of restoration. Buy a car that is in the condition you want, that way you take most of the uncertainty out of the equation.
The only reason to proceed is if you like the challenge / heartache!!
Sorry, but this is the voice of experience...15 years into a restoration that looked like it should take six months!!
If there are signs of rust above the bodykit on the arches and sills you can guarantee that you will find far worse under them.
You can never really assess the condition of a mk2 shell until the bodykit is completely removed which is a bit hard prepuchase so you need to focus on the following key areas:
- the fuel filler cap , they rust due to mud/crap sticking to the inside of the arch/filler neck
- the rear ends of the sills where they join into the rear inner arches
- the jacking point plus the 6 inches around them.
- the chassis rails either side of the transmission tunnel
- the chassis legs inside the engine bay especially on the drivers side under the brake servo and on the passenger side under the battery tray
- the rear axle mounting area
- the rear seam inside the bootlid, pull the carpet up and inspect the seam between the boot floor and rear panel - it rusts an splits open! Then remove the spare wheel an make sure the floor under it is solid.
- the rear panel with the VW & Golf badges on rot at the corner joins
- the windscreen, if there are rust blisters around the windscreen especially the bottom corners it will need removing and most likely replacing a scuttle panel - big labour cost on this one as dash and ideally engine want to be out the way.
If you are confident that the structural parts of the shell are good, then wings/doors/bonnets/boots can also suffer rust but are readily available as are many many many VW repair panels.
Hence I always suggest that buyers of mk1 & mk2 Golfs buy the best shell they can find ( in less of course you are welder/fabricator/painter)
You can never really assess the condition of a mk2 shell until the bodykit is completely removed which is a bit hard prepuchase so you need to focus on the following key areas:
- the fuel filler cap , they rust due to mud/crap sticking to the inside of the arch/filler neck
- the rear ends of the sills where they join into the rear inner arches
- the jacking point plus the 6 inches around them.
- the chassis rails either side of the transmission tunnel
- the chassis legs inside the engine bay especially on the drivers side under the brake servo and on the passenger side under the battery tray
- the rear axle mounting area
- the rear seam inside the bootlid, pull the carpet up and inspect the seam between the boot floor and rear panel - it rusts an splits open! Then remove the spare wheel an make sure the floor under it is solid.
- the rear panel with the VW & Golf badges on rot at the corner joins
- the windscreen, if there are rust blisters around the windscreen especially the bottom corners it will need removing and most likely replacing a scuttle panel - big labour cost on this one as dash and ideally engine want to be out the way.
If you are confident that the structural parts of the shell are good, then wings/doors/bonnets/boots can also suffer rust but are readily available as are many many many VW repair panels.
Hence I always suggest that buyers of mk1 & mk2 Golfs buy the best shell they can find ( in less of course you are welder/fabricator/painter)
aka_kerrly said:
If there are signs of rust above the bodykit on the arches and sills you can guarantee that you will find far worse under them.
You can never really assess the condition of a mk2 shell until the bodykit is completely removed which is a bit hard prepuchase so you need to focus on the following key areas:
- the fuel filler cap , they rust due to mud/crap sticking to the inside of the arch/filler neck
MK2 Golfs had plastic filler necks. Scirocco's and the car that was based on them, the MK1 golf had metal ones and yes they do rust badlyYou can never really assess the condition of a mk2 shell until the bodykit is completely removed which is a bit hard prepuchase so you need to focus on the following key areas:
- the fuel filler cap , they rust due to mud/crap sticking to the inside of the arch/filler neck
mrmender said:
MK2 Golfs had plastic filler necks. Scirocco's and the car that was based on them, the MK1 golf had metal ones and yes they do rust badly
That's true, what I meant was that the filler neck attracts mud/crime which although it won't rust the filler neck it is the main cause for rust around the filler cap. Hence the best remedy is to clean behind the filler cap and regularly clean the back inner arches!!Checking that the drain hole in the filler cap surround is clear is another top tip.
aka_kerrly said:
Love the Caddy Vr6!!!
2.8 or full fat 2.9?
2.82.8 or full fat 2.9?
Its well known around northern ireland here and has been in various guises...
before it was resprayed red.
When i got it - as per the sticker up pic above, there was a lot of rot appearing in nasty places, and the stickers ate into the paint, so it was a full respray job.
Already had an axle flip done on the rear, coilovers and an induction kit. Oh, plus black leather VR6 seats and the dash, door cards and carpet replaced.
Also got it with a set of cheap BBS replicas which i stuck on for a while before getting the G60 15 inch steels off Ebay Germany (which i then got powdercoated front and rear), and a set of new centre caps.
I was made a decent offer from a fellow enthusiast who i know will look after it. Hopefully it will be on the road for a good few years yet after the refurb.
Edited by daemon on Wednesday 8th July 22:24
Edited by daemon on Wednesday 8th July 22:25
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