Mk2 VW Golf Gti VR6
Discussion
Hi All,
Long time browser, decided I would pop up a thread about my car.
Met a couple of guys at Hot Hatch Sunday down at Goodwood who thought it might be nice for me to post a bit about my car here.
So here is a bit of background. I've owned this Golf for 12+ years now and lots has changed over that time. Sometimes due to rust, sometimes not!
Started life as a 1988 Mk2 Golf Gti 8v in helios Blue. After a few years of mini ownership this was my first "proper" car. Nice little run around with more power than the mini was a good start.
Looked ok from a distance, but it was rather rusty.
So soon followed the replacement of both doors, the bootlid, the rear panel, both wings, and a new paint job as none of the panels matched after that. At the time I really didn't have money for a good respray so in came respray number one.
(now expecting this to be cross posted into badly modified cars thread!)
Ok so it was a bold choice of colour, and not everyone liked it, and it was tagged the Joker car or Barney the Dinosaur.
Some more mods came after this in the way of Coilovers, Stainless exhaust, K&N filter and the general go faster bits.
Anyway, after a while of running the purple and green a new paint scheme. This time by a professional. But not the type you are thinking of!
Yes, a local Graffiti artist had his way with the car and that is how it stands now. But the story isn't over yet.
Long time browser, decided I would pop up a thread about my car.
Met a couple of guys at Hot Hatch Sunday down at Goodwood who thought it might be nice for me to post a bit about my car here.
So here is a bit of background. I've owned this Golf for 12+ years now and lots has changed over that time. Sometimes due to rust, sometimes not!
Started life as a 1988 Mk2 Golf Gti 8v in helios Blue. After a few years of mini ownership this was my first "proper" car. Nice little run around with more power than the mini was a good start.
Looked ok from a distance, but it was rather rusty.
So soon followed the replacement of both doors, the bootlid, the rear panel, both wings, and a new paint job as none of the panels matched after that. At the time I really didn't have money for a good respray so in came respray number one.
(now expecting this to be cross posted into badly modified cars thread!)
Ok so it was a bold choice of colour, and not everyone liked it, and it was tagged the Joker car or Barney the Dinosaur.
Some more mods came after this in the way of Coilovers, Stainless exhaust, K&N filter and the general go faster bits.
Anyway, after a while of running the purple and green a new paint scheme. This time by a professional. But not the type you are thinking of!
Yes, a local Graffiti artist had his way with the car and that is how it stands now. But the story isn't over yet.
I suppose a pic of the other side would be nice too.
Well as it happens the engine was starting to get a little tired at 240,000 and was burning a bit more oil than it should. So I decided it was time for a change of motive power.
Roll in the donor car.
So this poor rusty mess gave its life for a better cause (kinda)
So out with the old
and in with the new(er) VR6 engine.
After a good bit of wiring work she ran and drove once more.
Swapped over at the same time, I took the wider track front subframe, gearbox, powersteering, fuel system, brakes and everything else needed.
Shame the airbox wouldn't fit, but the cone gives a nicer engine note.
Fitted some more appropriate brake lines to fit the larger 288mm brakes
and lost the green wheels in favour of the larger 15's to cover the brakes.
Well as it happens the engine was starting to get a little tired at 240,000 and was burning a bit more oil than it should. So I decided it was time for a change of motive power.
Roll in the donor car.
So this poor rusty mess gave its life for a better cause (kinda)
So out with the old
and in with the new(er) VR6 engine.
After a good bit of wiring work she ran and drove once more.
Swapped over at the same time, I took the wider track front subframe, gearbox, powersteering, fuel system, brakes and everything else needed.
Shame the airbox wouldn't fit, but the cone gives a nicer engine note.
Fitted some more appropriate brake lines to fit the larger 288mm brakes
and lost the green wheels in favour of the larger 15's to cover the brakes.
After a bit of time to allow the new engine to settle in, a couple more changes were made.
Powder coated subframe was a nice addition.
and a powdercoated rear beam too
along with some matching poly bushes to tighten up the ride a bit.
Sadly around this time it also became clear it needed 2 full new sills welded in, so off it went to a local shop to have them welded in for me ( I also discovered I'm a bit rubbish at welding!)
Next step was to sort the interior, which had been rather neglected up to now.
After a late night ebay session, and a 600 mile round trip I landed a nice leather interior that suited the car quite well I thought.
I even hooked up the Heated seats
I also had a small disagreement with my MOT station as to if the car should have side repeaters, so had to hook these up on magnets for the test. They looked quite nice when I moved them to under the bumper so they stay there all the time except for shows.
Some wiring was needed for the next stage, so out came the dash
and all the in car wiring was swapped out for later mk2 golf wiring, which is much better quality and more reliable.
Powder coated subframe was a nice addition.
and a powdercoated rear beam too
along with some matching poly bushes to tighten up the ride a bit.
Sadly around this time it also became clear it needed 2 full new sills welded in, so off it went to a local shop to have them welded in for me ( I also discovered I'm a bit rubbish at welding!)
Next step was to sort the interior, which had been rather neglected up to now.
After a late night ebay session, and a 600 mile round trip I landed a nice leather interior that suited the car quite well I thought.
I even hooked up the Heated seats
I also had a small disagreement with my MOT station as to if the car should have side repeaters, so had to hook these up on magnets for the test. They looked quite nice when I moved them to under the bumper so they stay there all the time except for shows.
Some wiring was needed for the next stage, so out came the dash
and all the in car wiring was swapped out for later mk2 golf wiring, which is much better quality and more reliable.
So my favorite bit about the car at the moment, other than the 2.8 VR6 engine is the Digifiz dash.
A rare option only available in Germany and often overlooked, brings a nice dose of 80's cool to the dash area, and meant I could lose the mk3 clocks which didn't really fit.
The final piece of the puzzle for the interior was the door cards and trim. I had contemplated making my own to match the seats, but it felt like too much green (!) and getting a match might have been tricky.
So a full interior trim turned up in London town and I snapped it up. Allegedly trimmed by a pro, it looked good and was in good nick. Included the headliner, A/B/C trims, all door cards and even boot trim panel.
Tidied the engine bay up a bit to match the car a bit better and added some silicon coolant hoses for a bit more colour.
Bringing us mostly up to date is the addition of a momo wheel as the last bit of interior untouched so far
Center horn push is terrible, and will be replaced, but it will do for now.
(dons flame suit)
Thanks for looking.
-J
A rare option only available in Germany and often overlooked, brings a nice dose of 80's cool to the dash area, and meant I could lose the mk3 clocks which didn't really fit.
The final piece of the puzzle for the interior was the door cards and trim. I had contemplated making my own to match the seats, but it felt like too much green (!) and getting a match might have been tricky.
So a full interior trim turned up in London town and I snapped it up. Allegedly trimmed by a pro, it looked good and was in good nick. Included the headliner, A/B/C trims, all door cards and even boot trim panel.
Tidied the engine bay up a bit to match the car a bit better and added some silicon coolant hoses for a bit more colour.
Bringing us mostly up to date is the addition of a momo wheel as the last bit of interior untouched so far
Center horn push is terrible, and will be replaced, but it will do for now.
(dons flame suit)
Thanks for looking.
-J
Can't see the pics as I'm at work but will have a read when I get home! I own a 1990 MK2 GTI 8v with MK3 AHU TDI conversion.
Only had it 6 months and spent ££££ already but now hoping to spend money on maintenance and modifying. Want to refit all the electrics (it has no PAS, no windows etc etc)
Only had it 6 months and spent ££££ already but now hoping to spend money on maintenance and modifying. Want to refit all the electrics (it has no PAS, no windows etc etc)
I agree, it would be doubly awesome with a good paint job, but believe me, the paint when I got it, looked like brushed aluminum it was that bad.
At the moment it is my fun car, and the paint screams fun for me. Then the engine gives it the performance I wanted!
The mk3 was completely rotten, I wouldn't shed a tear for it.
-J
At the moment it is my fun car, and the paint screams fun for me. Then the engine gives it the performance I wanted!
The mk3 was completely rotten, I wouldn't shed a tear for it.
-J
Laurasotherhalf I hope you're not the kind of person who would scratch "Move" into my car are you?! :-o
Lol! I don't expect everyone to like it, but I built it for myself, by myself. I've done all the work myself bar the welding so I'm quite proud of it.
At the end of the day, it's just paint and can be done again. I just can't decide on a colour!
-J
Lol! I don't expect everyone to like it, but I built it for myself, by myself. I've done all the work myself bar the welding so I'm quite proud of it.
At the end of the day, it's just paint and can be done again. I just can't decide on a colour!
-J
interested to see where this goes in the future! Always had a soft sport for the Mk2 as my mum had one.Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff