Discussion
i'd never physically seen one... until now:





this car belongs to a friend, bought as a mk2 16v gti. was discovered to be rotten and so was stripped for bits to re-shell. i was shocked at the rot:


we saw repairs and thought it was a bad repair on the sill that had rotten... clearly not.
bit suprised considering how much stick it got when it was driven and that i was sat pretty much directly above the joining point!!!
be careful when picking up a cheap hot hatch...





this car belongs to a friend, bought as a mk2 16v gti. was discovered to be rotten and so was stripped for bits to re-shell. i was shocked at the rot:


we saw repairs and thought it was a bad repair on the sill that had rotten... clearly not.
bit suprised considering how much stick it got when it was driven and that i was sat pretty much directly above the joining point!!!

be careful when picking up a cheap hot hatch...
shalmaneser said:
Thats really interesting.
Thing that always confused me is how much it must cost/all the effort involved to do the work, and the car can't be worth much afterwards, given that a cut and shut no matter how well hidden is always going to be a bit of a ropey car...
Thing that always confused me is how much it must cost/all the effort involved to do the work, and the car can't be worth much afterwards, given that a cut and shut no matter how well hidden is always going to be a bit of a ropey car...

The cut and shutter sells on without disclosing- a lot of people won't know enough about cars & will go for the 'too good to be true' bargain price. A fool and his money as the saying goes.
Hippycake said:
unlucky mate, hope you get a genuine bargain next time 
it wasnt that cheap when he bought it... £1400, 100k on it, but scruffy but a rolling project... came with history too!
i felt bad pointing out rot on the outside of the A-pillars when i first saw it, about halfway up...
he got it on ramps at work, saw the sills and went and bought a replacement shell!
just shocking that it had 6 months mOT when he bought it... there's bent MOT's then there's WTF????
crazy stuff.
JB! said:
Hippycake said:
unlucky mate, hope you get a genuine bargain next time 
it wasnt that cheap when he bought it... £1400, 100k on it, but scruffy but a rolling project... came with history too!
i felt bad pointing out rot on the outside of the A-pillars when i first saw it, about halfway up...
he got it on ramps at work, saw the sills and went and bought a replacement shell!
just shocking that it had 6 months mOT when he bought it... there's bent MOT's then there's WTF????
crazy stuff.
amir_j said:
shalmaneser said:
Thats really interesting.
Thing that always confused me is how much it must cost/all the effort involved to do the work, and the car can't be worth much afterwards, given that a cut and shut no matter how well hidden is always going to be a bit of a ropey car...
Thing that always confused me is how much it must cost/all the effort involved to do the work, and the car can't be worth much afterwards, given that a cut and shut no matter how well hidden is always going to be a bit of a ropey car...

The cut and shutter sells on without disclosing- a lot of people won't know enough about cars & will go for the 'too good to be true' bargain price. A fool and his money as the saying goes.
My point is the effort involved in sourcing two cars of the same colour (or getting the final creation sprayed), stripping it out, taking the time to weld it together, replacing the sills, roof panel etc and putting it all back together is a lot of work.
The car when finished will have no service history to speak of, maybe it's been clocked but will look well used (unlikely to find two identical written off cars in perfect condition) and the hassle and potential for trouble or recriminations when it comes to selling it...
I just don't see the finances working out, but maybe you're right and people will buy a 'bargain' car no matter what the condition.
amir_j said:
JB! said:
Hippycake said:
unlucky mate, hope you get a genuine bargain next time 
it wasnt that cheap when he bought it... £1400, 100k on it, but scruffy but a rolling project... came with history too!
i felt bad pointing out rot on the outside of the A-pillars when i first saw it, about halfway up...
he got it on ramps at work, saw the sills and went and bought a replacement shell!
just shocking that it had 6 months mOT when he bought it... there's bent MOT's then there's WTF????
crazy stuff.
a few of us offered to pay postage if he cut out the sill to send to the previous owner, now i reckon just pictures will suffice!!!
shalmaneser said:
Thats really interesting.
Thing that always confused me is how much it must cost/all the effort involved to do the work, and the car can't be worth much afterwards, given that a cut and shut no matter how well hidden is always going to be a bit of a ropey car...
The work was probably done years ago when mk2 GTI's were new and pulling in good money. (edit, sorry fieldl to mirror your comms above, my internet conection is really effing slow) Thing that always confused me is how much it must cost/all the effort involved to do the work, and the car can't be worth much afterwards, given that a cut and shut no matter how well hidden is always going to be a bit of a ropey car...
OP, must have felt mad seeing that after travelling in the car. I remember on the news years ago when a young lad in a 205 GTI was killed when his car broke in half.
Edited by exgtt on Monday 19th April 19:06
JB! said:
amir_j said:
JB! said:
Hippycake said:
unlucky mate, hope you get a genuine bargain next time 
it wasnt that cheap when he bought it... £1400, 100k on it, but scruffy but a rolling project... came with history too!
i felt bad pointing out rot on the outside of the A-pillars when i first saw it, about halfway up...
he got it on ramps at work, saw the sills and went and bought a replacement shell!
just shocking that it had 6 months mOT when he bought it... there's bent MOT's then there's WTF????
crazy stuff.
a few of us offered to pay postage if he cut out the sill to send to the previous owner, now i reckon just pictures will suffice!!!
fieldl said:
The guy that did it must have been welding genius to have lasted 20+ years. Not a bad job when you consider the type of abuse I suspect the car has seen.
well the spotwelds at the factory can last that long,so why not the welding of a decent welder ? most restored cars should be falling apart more !
hang on a minute they do dont they think i best shut up now
Edited by loose cannon on Monday 19th April 20:07
loose cannon said:
fieldl said:
The guy that did it must have been welding genius to have lasted 20+ years. Not a bad job when you consider the type of abuse I suspect the car has seen.
well the spotwelds at the factory can last that long,so why not the gas welding ? Gassing Station | General Gassing [Archive] | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff





