VW Golf GTi MK1 Restoration

VW Golf GTi MK1 Restoration

Author
Discussion

aka_kerrly

12,418 posts

210 months

Wednesday 19th September 2012
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Please say you removed more than just the bumper irons from the donor and you haven't just scrapped the rest of the car!!!

The donor still has loads of parts which can help other mk1 owners.

Keep up the good work on the "chosen" shell.

TROOPER88

Original Poster:

1,767 posts

179 months

Wednesday 19th September 2012
quotequote all
aka_kerrly said:
Please say you removed more than just the bumper irons from the donor and you haven't just scrapped the rest of the car!!!

The donor still has loads of parts which can help other mk1 owners.

Keep up the good work on the "chosen" shell.
No, I did not buy the donor car just for the irons....

I will be using a lot of it.

Cheers

supersarbs

61 posts

153 months

Wednesday 19th September 2012
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Just read your rs turbo thread and this one. All I can say is fantastic.

Thanks for sharing your work and I look forward to more updates.

Cheers

Pete

TROOPER88

Original Poster:

1,767 posts

179 months

Wednesday 19th September 2012
quotequote all
supersarbs said:
Just read your rs turbo thread and this one. All I can say is fantastic.

Thanks for sharing your work and I look forward to more updates.

Cheers

Pete
Thanks Pete!
Glad you enjoyed reading the threads


JulesB

535 posts

159 months

Monday 24th September 2012
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Looks set to be as good as the Fiesta thread, thanks for sharing OP! smile

iPlod999

368 posts

144 months

Monday 24th September 2012
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Subscribed!

Just read the RS thread. I know it has been said 100's of times before. I wish I had your skill, patience and whatever else it is that makes people do these wonderful things to cars!



Dr G

15,177 posts

242 months

Monday 24th September 2012
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At the stage of doing all the little jobs that take hours and look little different afterwards, very hard to keep motivated but rest assured we're all enjoying watching the progress smile

TROOPER88

Original Poster:

1,767 posts

179 months

Tuesday 2nd October 2012
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Hi Guys
Thank you for all of your positive comments!

Over the past few weeks the car has remained on the roller to enable easy access to the floor.
As you saw in the last pictures I uploaded, the 4 arches and the floor was covered in the black underseal/bitumen that had been put on by someone after manufacture.

It was a very long, dirty job with a heat gun and lots of white spirit but I eventually removed it all. The floor and arches have now been painted in white stone chip. The original underseal was all in very good condition. I re-seam sealed a few of the joins so it now looks great.

The engine bay was a real mess. I jet washed it which removed most of the blue paint but did not remove the black base coat. After trying a few methods I found that petrol broke it down so I carried on and have now cleaned up the whole of the engine bay.

Today I will clean up the back of the front wings, stone chip them and then fit them back onto the car.

The shell can then be sanded before priming and painting.

Enjoy the pictures!

Cheers

To remind you what most of it was like:







The finished floor!!:


















neilbauer

2,467 posts

183 months

Tuesday 2nd October 2012
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Looking great smile

tyrrell

1,670 posts

208 months

Tuesday 2nd October 2012
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Fantastic work many thanks for keeping us up to date smile

DouggyMc

769 posts

163 months

Monday 10th December 2012
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Any updates on the GTi?

Kell

1,708 posts

208 months

Tuesday 11th December 2012
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I have to congratulate you on your attention to detail and dedication to the cause. If I was wearing a hat, I'd take it off to you.

Just stumbled across this thread, and then read the whole RST one. I'm sure you don't do it for the praise, but well done anyway.

My Dad used to restore old British Bikes (Nortons, Triumphs etc) in his garage and while I'd have loved to have inherited some of his skill.

The only problem I have now, is that if this rebuild takes as long as the last one, I'm now going to have to subscribe to this thread for the next few years ... though I'm sure this will take less time due to the learnings you made on the Fiesta.

Good luck, can't wait to see the finished car.

Just out of interest, what did you reckon the final figure of the RST build was and what did you sell it for?

TROOPER88

Original Poster:

1,767 posts

179 months

Tuesday 11th December 2012
quotequote all
Kell said:
I have to congratulate you on your attention to detail and dedication to the cause. If I was wearing a hat, I'd take it off to you.

Just stumbled across this thread, and then read the whole RST one. I'm sure you don't do it for the praise, but well done anyway.

My Dad used to restore old British Bikes (Nortons, Triumphs etc) in his garage and while I'd have loved to have inherited some of his skill.

The only problem I have now, is that if this rebuild takes as long as the last one, I'm now going to have to subscribe to this thread for the next few years ... though I'm sure this will take less time due to the learnings you made on the Fiesta.

Good luck, can't wait to see the finished car.

Just out of interest, what did you reckon the final figure of the RST build was and what did you sell it for?
Hi Guys
Thanks for all the interest. Funny timing as I was going to put a post up today or tomorrow...
I have not been working on the MK1 at all as had to carry out some work on a MK3 which needed a gearbox rebuild. Whilst the gearbox was sent away for refurbishment I changed the timing belt, water pump and clutch etc.

Anyway that is all done now so I can concentrate on the MK1 again. I sanded the shell ready for primer a couple of months ago after the floor was finished. Tomorrow I will sand the doors, bonnet and bootlid meaning I should be able to prime in the next couple of weeks. After this it will be on with the paint....

This project will not take as long as the Fiesta, the Fiesta was in storage for a year or so whilst we moved and had the garage built.

The Golf will all be completed in the next few months. It will be on the road by the spring.

The Fiesta cost £7500 to build and it was sold for £3500!

What made it problematic was the fact that the shell was a non-original item. Had it be original it would have been worth/sold for what it had cost....

Never mind it was never done for the money.

The Golf on the other hand will cost a fraction to do and the end result will be the same if not better.

I will post some pictures up tomorrow!

Thanks again

HoggyR32

341 posts

148 months

Wednesday 12th December 2012
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Watching this with interest. Sat and read through your fiesta thread, very inspiring I must say!

Love a MK1 so can't wait and see how it turns out. All the best with it.

The Highway Man

6,014 posts

178 months

Friday 14th December 2012
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Looking forward to catching up with this, the Fiesta was fantastic. wink

neilbauer

2,467 posts

183 months

Friday 14th December 2012
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Someone got a bargain for 3.5k I would have bought if I had a garage!!

Pablo16v

2,081 posts

197 months

Saturday 15th December 2012
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Bookmarked. Having owned 3 Mk1's I've got a real soft spot for them so I'm really looking forward to seeing the rest of the restoration.

This was my first, an '81 Mk1 Gti which needed a light resto back in 1990.


HoggyR32

341 posts

148 months

Saturday 15th December 2012
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Pablo16v said:
Bookmarked. Having owned 3 Mk1's I've got a real soft spot for them so I'm really looking forward to seeing the rest of the restoration.

This was my first, an '81 Mk1 Gti which needed a light resto back in 1990.

A MK1 gti and a 309 gti? Good effort!

rsv696

474 posts

143 months

Saturday 15th December 2012
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Watching this with interest. My first car was a 1978 mk 1 LS with the 1588cc engine - fantastic memories! Here's some inspiration for you :


Pablo16v

2,081 posts

197 months

Sunday 16th December 2012
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HoggyR32 said:
Pablo16v said:
Bookmarked. Having owned 3 Mk1's I've got a real soft spot for them so I'm really looking forward to seeing the rest of the restoration.

This was my first, an '81 Mk1 Gti which needed a light resto back in 1990.

A MK1 gti and a 309 gti? Good effort!
I wish the 309 had been mine but it was our neighbours. Back then I could barely afford to do up and run the Golf!