mk2 Golf Gti 16v at 19!
Discussion
A newbie and a bit of a lurker on this so thought I should join and share the ups and downs of the last 16 months of ownership.
At the old age of 19 I realised my Peugeot 107 was just depreciating, not fun to drive and redefined agricultural in performance terms. I wanted to learn to maintain a car and wasn’t afraid to get my hands dirty something I couldn’t really do on the 107. After spending time on the classifieds drooling over gt3 rs’s and watching Chris Harris videos I was biting at the bit to get something which handled and liked to rev! I decided to look for something that wasn’t going to depreciate, classic, a bit quicker, fun to drive, easy to work on and rare as I was extremely bored of seeing 10-15 107’s every day!
My Dad suggested a mk2 golf as he had had a few back in the day. So I started researching, learning common problems and read rave reviews to the point I could have sat an A-level on the subject. Well, I was sold on the 16 valve as it didn’t break the piggy bank with insurance and ticked all the boxes. Nothing else on the market offered the performance and style at that price. I went to see a couple which looked nice on the outside but needed a bit of work and were priced pretty high. After 3 months of searching I stumbled across a 3door black 1990 spec 16v with PAS, electric windows, rainbow interior etc. It also had a lot of service history which was an added bonus. It was priced to sell, had a few little problems but it had a close ratio gearbox and lsd from a rally car and felt rapid compared to the 107 unsurprisingly. Here are a couple photos when I got it home:
[url]
|http://thumbsnap.com/I0jaNdsX[/url]
The drive home was actually quite eventful, one of the little problems had turned into a bigger problem. I knew the ISV( idle stabilisation valve) was a bit temperamental but it turn out there must have been a leak in a hose somewhere as every time I came to a junction it would stall when I took it out of gear. So then came the fastest self-taught lesson to heel and toe, I was pretty impressed with my skills once I got home, less so with the cars inability to idle without a blip of throttle. Turned out the mixture was a bit off so when I serviced the car we had a fiddle to fix it. My view of having a old car like this would be to keep it in an OEM spec and try to suitably improve the way VW would have. I bought a set of BBS RA's as they were the standard fit and my estroils needed four new tires, I ended up getting the RA’s with tires about the same price as four new tires on the estroils, happy days. I gave it a b
y good polish and took some photos of it, enjoy.
At the old age of 19 I realised my Peugeot 107 was just depreciating, not fun to drive and redefined agricultural in performance terms. I wanted to learn to maintain a car and wasn’t afraid to get my hands dirty something I couldn’t really do on the 107. After spending time on the classifieds drooling over gt3 rs’s and watching Chris Harris videos I was biting at the bit to get something which handled and liked to rev! I decided to look for something that wasn’t going to depreciate, classic, a bit quicker, fun to drive, easy to work on and rare as I was extremely bored of seeing 10-15 107’s every day!
My Dad suggested a mk2 golf as he had had a few back in the day. So I started researching, learning common problems and read rave reviews to the point I could have sat an A-level on the subject. Well, I was sold on the 16 valve as it didn’t break the piggy bank with insurance and ticked all the boxes. Nothing else on the market offered the performance and style at that price. I went to see a couple which looked nice on the outside but needed a bit of work and were priced pretty high. After 3 months of searching I stumbled across a 3door black 1990 spec 16v with PAS, electric windows, rainbow interior etc. It also had a lot of service history which was an added bonus. It was priced to sell, had a few little problems but it had a close ratio gearbox and lsd from a rally car and felt rapid compared to the 107 unsurprisingly. Here are a couple photos when I got it home:
[url]|http://thumbsnap.com/I0jaNdsX[/url]The drive home was actually quite eventful, one of the little problems had turned into a bigger problem. I knew the ISV( idle stabilisation valve) was a bit temperamental but it turn out there must have been a leak in a hose somewhere as every time I came to a junction it would stall when I took it out of gear. So then came the fastest self-taught lesson to heel and toe, I was pretty impressed with my skills once I got home, less so with the cars inability to idle without a blip of throttle. Turned out the mixture was a bit off so when I serviced the car we had a fiddle to fix it. My view of having a old car like this would be to keep it in an OEM spec and try to suitably improve the way VW would have. I bought a set of BBS RA's as they were the standard fit and my estroils needed four new tires, I ended up getting the RA’s with tires about the same price as four new tires on the estroils, happy days. I gave it a b
y good polish and took some photos of it, enjoy.
I had one of those just like that when I was 19, 16 years ago. Blimey, that made me feel old. I traded it in for a 1.8 Vectra. I don't know where my mind was but it seemed sensible at the time.
Anyway, I'd love another so spend your time and money wisely then give me a shout when you come to get rid of it. I quite fancy a garage ornament. ;-)
Enjoy.
Anyway, I'd love another so spend your time and money wisely then give me a shout when you come to get rid of it. I quite fancy a garage ornament. ;-)
Enjoy.
Remember the scene in airplane? Thanks for all the great comments, I'm really smitten with it!! 
Nice spot of the RS4 and P1, P1's been my Dads daily for 10 years which then got replaced by the RS4 mostly used for our pampered pooch. He's a complete petrolhead, i can only hope he keeps the P1 long enough so i can afford the insurance!!
Back to the golf, I have no desire to put over stretched "rims" on or put a v6 motor in it just to get another 40bhp, as i think it would make the handling worse and add even more weight to the front end. But each to their own and all that...
I'll take some pics of what's happened under the bonnet as it turns out the warm up regulator and injectors had to be replaced. Embarrassingly it happened at a vw show where I was sat in tariff and stalled (stop laughing at the back) and wouldn't start so my old man and an event organiser had to give me a push while over 100 cars behind waited patiently. Turns out the injectors are the one thing on a golf you cant DIY at home so it went into a specialist local to me for some tlc
Nice spot of the RS4 and P1, P1's been my Dads daily for 10 years which then got replaced by the RS4 mostly used for our pampered pooch. He's a complete petrolhead, i can only hope he keeps the P1 long enough so i can afford the insurance!!
Back to the golf, I have no desire to put over stretched "rims" on or put a v6 motor in it just to get another 40bhp, as i think it would make the handling worse and add even more weight to the front end. But each to their own and all that...
I'll take some pics of what's happened under the bonnet as it turns out the warm up regulator and injectors had to be replaced. Embarrassingly it happened at a vw show where I was sat in tariff and stalled (stop laughing at the back) and wouldn't start so my old man and an event organiser had to give me a push while over 100 cars behind waited patiently. Turns out the injectors are the one thing on a golf you cant DIY at home so it went into a specialist local to me for some tlc
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