VW Golf GTI Mk2: PH Carpool
Remember the PHer with the E92 M3? Here's his classic project!
Name: Jason Easton
Car: 1986 VW Golf GTI Mk2 8v
Owned since: April 2017
Previously owned: Renault Clio GT, various VW Boras, VW Golf Driver Mk1, VW Golf GTI Mk5, Mazda Roadster RS, Alfa 156, BMW 330Ci, Skoda Octavia vRS, Toyota GT86. Currently have a BMW E92 M3 and 2017 Golf GTI.
Why I bought it:
"I'd wanted an early small bumper Mk2 GTI for quite a while; I particularly liked the 'Typ19' cars. These are the earliest models, you can tell them apart due to the fact they have left-hand drive wiper blades and a quarter light in the door. Anyway, one quiet lunch break at work and one trigger happy eBay finger meant I finally bought one. It was by far the cheapest I've seen with an MOT, I only had a few sketchy photos to go off and I was picking it up that weekend. Whoops.
"My very understanding girlfriend was on taxi duty, and the guy assured me it would make the trip back to Oxford from North Weald. I was greeted by a dented, patchy and faded car which was pretty much as per the advert. It was obvious someone had been trying to look after it at some point in its life, there were lots of new mechanical bits and some questionable body touch-up repairs. Either way it was now mine, and I had to make the trip back to my storage place. Remarkably it drove great, with only the smells of the neglected interior to bother me the whole way back. In fact, I was so pleased with it, I decided then and there it had to be saved. And thus begun my restoration of a 173,000-mile car with little to no value..."
What I wish I'd known:
"Whilst I am a self-confessed VW geek, there was always going to be a few things that caught me by surprise. Due to the popularity of Mk2s there are an awful lot of parts available out there, both replacement and upgraded items. However, being such an early car, and because my aim was to go 100 per cent original, I was shocked at just how many things tripped me up. One of the more extreme examples was when I ended up driving to Norfolk before Christmas to pick up one rain gutter trim. Thanks to Matt at Mk2 Spares UK for saving me on that one!"
Things I love:
"For the most part I love the way it drives; it's raw enough to give the old school feel but not a complete buzzbox like my Mk1 Driver was. It's actually surprisingly refined for its age, it has no issues cruising at motorway speeds and you could drive it every day and not get annoyed. I think most would want the power steering offered to later vehicles, but personally I prefer the non-assisted feel.
"I also love its mechanical simplicity. Whilst it was advance for its time, it's super easy to work on by modern standards. I've had one breakdown in it, which turned out to be a fuel pump, and just doing the simple checks I managed to diagnose and fix it myself without too much of a headache. No laptops, no electrical gremlins."
Things I hate:
"I hated it a lot when it broke down the other week, that's for sure. It managed to die in between two blind bends on a country road, the day before its first outing as a freshly resprayed car. In the process of trying to fill it with more fuel to get it going (which didn't work) I scratched it with my coat. Many swear words were had with myself.
"The fact I don't get the chance to use it! I'm lucky enough to have access to the fantastic Oxford Car Storage, so at least it's being kept nice. However, the main draw of the car is how it drives, so I can't wait for some nicer weather! Since the respray in December it's only been out three times, and that's just criminal."
Costs:
"This is a bit of a scary one; whilst I've kept track of restoration costs I try to bury my head in the sand as much as I can. The purchase price of the car, the respray, purchasing spare parts and refurbishing the factory steel wheels all adds up. It's quite scary how even a simple resto job can spiral, but I don't regret it one bit! There were areas I could've saved money, for example doing the bodywork prep myself, but I just don't have the time with work."
Where I've been:
"Well, unlike my M3 this thing has been the garage queen so far! But I do plan on using it as much as I can during the summer and would love to get it to some events."
What next?
"I'm hoping this one's a keeper. I'd like to continue tidying it up, keeping it clean and keeping it running. The idea was always to have a usable classic that wasn't too mint to enjoy, and I think I'm almost there in that respect. I just need more excuses to go for a blast in it!"
Want to share your car with fellow PHers? Course you do! Email us at carpool@pistonheads.com
I've followed your progress on CS/Instagram over the time you've owned it.
How does it compare to the Mk7?
Jumping between them is a bit odd but I drive them both exactly the same way. You really can throw them around and just trust the grip, both will happily swing the back round with some lift off oversteer. Other than the massive weight difference, and turbo power, the main thing that feels different on the new Golf is that front E Diff.
Can't help but notice the dark red Mk 7 in the background. Perhaps someone can help me as I've never seen modern GTI in that shade - is that a factory special order colour? Looks stunning...
It annoyed me they never came with alloys and the Teardrop's were a £1000 extra on a car that cost £10k new, they were worth it though as it made the car look stunning.
I never knew Teardrops were so expensive, I have given sets away in the past an swapped teardrops for bottletops/RAs an all sorts. I've got some MK2 Brochures and adverts from 86,87, 89, 90 but no the price books to go with them but in some car magazines from the late 80s BBS RA/RM/RS alloys start from £300 for 15x6.5 RMs with tyres up to around £1000 for 3 piece RS which would be bargain today!
I've had quite a few of the early Typ 19 cars and by far my favourite was a 1986 16v , it was one of the first ones in the country an came in silver with grey interior an bottletop wheels. For me the early 16v are cracking, no PAS, 14 inch wheels an made to be chucked around.
OP: that's a wonderful restoration, not too over the top and retains a lot of the correct parts that are harder to get hold of these days. Being super niggly the rear wiper is in the wrong position an should be upright. However it does look better in the lay flat position.
It annoyed me they never came with alloys and the Teardrop's were a £1000 extra on a car that cost £10k new, they were worth it though as it made the car look stunning.
I never knew Teardrops were so expensive, I have given sets away in the past an swapped teardrops for bottletops/RAs an all sorts. I've got some MK2 Brochures and adverts from 86,87, 89, 90 but no the price books to go with them but in some car magazines from the late 80s BBS RA/RM/RS alloys start from £300 for 15x6.5 RMs with tyres up to around £1000 for 3 piece RS which would be bargain today!
I've had quite a few of the early Typ 19 cars and by far my favourite was a 1986 16v , it was one of the first ones in the country an came in silver with grey interior an bottletop wheels. For me the early 16v are cracking, no PAS, 14 inch wheels an made to be chucked around.
OP: that's a wonderful restoration, not too over the top and retains a lot of the correct parts that are harder to get hold of these days. Being super niggly the rear wiper is in the wrong position an should be upright. However it does look better in the lay flat position.
Firstly, electronic dampers. Personally never enjoyed them on most things I drive, at least at this level. I wasn't fussed about getting them on my M3 either! Personally think the sportiest setting never gets used, but I can see how someone might want them for more comfort perhaps? Reality is back to back you may notice, but day to day the standard dampers are well tuned in my opinion.
I didn't actually rate keyless when I had it on my GT86, but it was a nice touch. Recently I've had more than a few friends a bit scared with their keyless entry systems due to the theft risk, personally I'm not that fussed either way!
As for the dials, there's a lot of resistance towards them which I find odd. I think they look great and theyre certainly very clear! The novelty of having a nice clear display with all the data there how you want it hasnt worn off yet, and it is actually quite handy being able to throw the map in there when the Mrs wants to use her phone on Apple Car Play.
Overall I found the MK7.5 a massive jump from the MK7, the whole interior feels like its been pushed way more into the premium sector now. Granted its not perfect, the massive satnav screen looks great but I dont like that they've added touch buttons to the side so now the whole thing is covered in fingerprints. But other than that, which to be honest is probably my only niggle, the car is fantastic. Looks great too!
Anyway, MK2's are still better (See how I got back on topic there? Genius).
Keyless entry for me would be helpful as I have a toddler & all stuff they require which inevitably means my hands are always full.
The TFT dials just seem to be a natural progression of the configurable display between the dials - I'm just concerned they'll look dated in a few years when analog dials will look more classic (but hey, your car is leased anyway).
The radio seems to be progression for progressions sake to me.
Also back to the MK2, if you'd have asked me a year ago I was a big bumper MK2 person but the early car looks great, really delicate & obviously how it was originally designed
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