THE Citi Golf thread. Pics, Q and A's and anything else.

Hi, I've recently bought a Citi Golf and have noticed there are one or two owners on here. I thought I'd create this thread, dedicated to the MK1 Citi Golf.

For those that are unfamiliar with this model, its a MK1 Golf that is still produced in South Africa. Some have found their way to the UK. Since they drive on the correct side of the road in S.Africa, all the cars are right-hand drive.

It would be good if this thread could become the refernce for the Citi Golf, especially with some of the more knowledgable folk on here (Pedders, Bert  :wink: ) hopefully contributing. Only time will tell.

Let me get started. Mine is a 1996 1.3L Citi Golf, in white. Its done 55K-ish miles and I bought it from a nice chap in Wales, just outside Cardif. The paint is not great. Its been spayed a few times and its flaking in parts. The interior is pretty aweful but its in excellent condition. It runs pretty well but I think the carb needs adjusting. Sometimes, after a short run it won't start unless the accelerator peddal is flat to the floor. It manages 110mph (according to the speedo), on a track ofcourse :?  There is a big vibration through the steering wheel between 80 and 90 mph but then disappears!

Some observations:
- There are reinforcements plates just behind the front top mounts
- The rear quarter pannels have a crease in them, which is the easiest way to spot a Citi Golf
- The engine bay is a real mish mash of VW parts. E.g. MK3 coil pack, MK2 water bottle etc.
- Strangely the rad top hose to the engine enters the block between cylinders 3 and 4, even though the displacement is just 1300cc
- There is no oil cooler that I can see.
- I think the inside of the rear quarters where the parcel shelf holders meet them are a slightly different shape.
- The bonnet release handle is on the driver's side.
- There are air vents where the ash tray should be.

Will try to get some pics up here of the points above. For now here is the car.


Oh, the rear silencer has a big hole in it so that needs replacing. I was going to put a Ernst back box (GTI replacement) on but have discovered that its not a direct replacement. It appears that what is on there at the moment has the pipe that goes across the axel to the front silencer as part of the rear silencer. May do some angle-grinding to make a fit using the Ernst or get a proper replacement… Thats enough for now but I need to service the car and will need the parts for which I'm not exactly sure what the correct ones are.

You forgot the cup holders in centre console front grill, bumpers and panel are different design, and rear wiper just for some.
The crease on rear quarter althou looks good is and was designed there merely to strengthen the panel, as if you press on original mk1 or should i say model it will pop in whereas it will not on the citi's
Look forward to more piccies
Pete  :wink:

Oh yeah, cup holders!

Some pics before I get to the sad news  :roll:

- There are reinforcements plates just behind the front top mounts
- The engine bay is a real mish mash of VW parts. E.g. MK3 coil pack, MK2 water bottle etc.


- Strangely the rad top hose to the engine enters the block between cylinders 3 and 4, even though the displacement is just 1300cc


- I think the inside of the rear quarters where the parcel shelf holders meet them are a slightly different shape.


So the sad news- the car is refusing to start. I've been at my parents house for the long weekend and now need to get back to my place and he just won't start up. The starter tickes over but it won't catch. I am getting spark at the plugs so the coil is ok. Get a strong smell of petrol so i guess the fuel pump is ok too. Any idea guys?    MK1s, gotta love em'  :dontknow:

Ah well, will have to borrow the 2L 16v MK2  8O

Coilpack?

The Citigolf 1.3 is a big block engine. I guess by that time, they figured that they could save on parts commonality, etc and downsize the big block to 1.3 instead of needing to make 2 lines of engine parts, etc.

Nice one mate, we going to have to make plans for a meet!
I might take the citi to inters, so if you spot me, come over for a chat!
Jonathan  

If you need parts, just ask for mk1 1.5, 1.6 bud, the Keihin carb has the 1.8 mk3 carb flange.
You will also notice the citi has a bigger brake servo for better braking, buy a set of gti 239mm vented discs and pads as they fit in original caliper, bleed brakes with fresh fluid and adjust handbrake accordingly and you will see the difference even more bud
Eventually i changed my block to a 1.5 and fitted new weber as the 1.3 was a little too slow.
Pete :wink:

dont use the choke to start it,mine dont need any choke in the warmer weather,if theres a spark but not exellent at the plugs,check the rotor arm as they tend to burn the internal coil out.
heres my citi
I took it apart and put it back together with new bits,the A/C works well,i had to change the alternator,water pump,pulley bearings as the S.A sand killed them,must be a dusty place,or the owner lived on the beach  :wink:
forgot to say,the fuel filler neck is alloy,the front shocks need to be replaced with complete struts as the insert is not removable  :? the struts are now obsolete from sachs/boge too












Bert

Dag4r,
         Berts right as regards suspension, all one unit obviously aprt from springs.
You, like i did can simply buy a 2nd hand pair of front legs from a member on here, think the man know as crazyquiff sorted me a pair out, buy inserts for a 1.5, job done bud, saves the hassle of trying to search for citi parts.
Heres the legs i got and refurbed them:-





Plus i noticed last year VW removed the citi from their list, but not to worry usually all 1.5 mk1 golf parts, so you can buy them from dealer, gsf or eurocarparts.
a few month back i changed suspension to mk1 gti to lower her slighty, full kit from GSF for ?170.
Heres my citi with new standard suspenion before and pic below of gti setup, only 20mm drop as she is now
P.S. Bert you ever going to drive that thing and let it a least once get a dollop of bird shite on the paint work and a few roadkill flies on windscreen
Pete :wink:




Just a few of my Afrikaan (Her name) :roll:




Couple of her just after respray in march

pete,i now know why you went to a 1.5 engine……..to carry all that extra paint you keep adding  :wink:   8)
I brought 2 sets of struts brand new from gsf before they deleted them,one went on citi one set in garage  :wink:
Bert

dub33 said

Nice one mate, we going to have to make plans for a meet!
I might take the citi to inters, so if you spot me, come over for a chat!
Jonathan  

The plan is for me to go to Inters on the Saturday in the Citi IF I can get it to start!    I'll be looking out for my fellow Citi Golf owners  8)

Thanks guys for uploading your pics and the advice. You both have some lovely examples. Bert, I know (from personal experiance) that many hours must have gone into getting it to look that good. I am still working out what I have and the slight quirks.

My plans are to leave the engine bay pretty much standard, but corrections are needed to the airbox set up (which at the moment is stange). The small bumpers are on their way (from the group buy). Hope to deck it significantly on 13s. The info on the suspension is great. I assume that coilovers for a normal MK1 will go straight on.

Will be looking at the brakes. Yes, noticed the servo is huge compared to the original MK1. Will need to change the pads soon so will tackel at the same time of the upgrades. Oh, need to replace the backbox too as there is a big hole in it.

Will probably be a couple of weeks before I get back to my parent's house to start addressing the starting problem. I looket at the distributor cap and it seemed fine. It was 9pm and p1$$ing down with rain though…

After 2 weeks standing at my parents house, I finally got back to it. Gave the key a turn and it started right up, first time  :roll:

Anyway, as I had nothing better to do and wanted to try to resolve the "problem" i thought I'd take the carb off and clean it. I started another tread to cover this (includes pics): http://www.vwgolfmk1.org.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=42335

Put it all back together and it started but pulling the choke kills the engine. Any ideas why this would be?

I'll be back to it on Friday and hoping to get it starting reliably so I can take it to Inters. A friend mentioned that I should be able to replace the carb with a Webber used (as a replacement) on MK2s. Hopefully I can pick one up at Inters.

Original 1.3 weber carb replacement will be of no use to you bud due to the inlet manifold being that of a 1.6 etc, you will be able to get the pierburg 2E2 carb replacement from weber and have it rejetted for a 1.3.
I did keep the keihin carb off mine for a few month after changing the block to carry the extra weight of primer paint and laquer
But after that i fought well who is going to need it, then as months have gone on CITI's are popping up all over the place, sorry bud, i would have given it to you if i kept it
Any further help you need don't hesitate to ask
Pete :wink:

dagar the carb gaskets on citis are awful mate, this would explain your woes, if you have time try another manifold (as you have to dump manifold and carb as carb wont fit on uk manifolds but uk manifolds will bolt onto your block) if you want it to be a 'keeper' mate go and get another engine, owt will fit, if you want an easy life get a scirocco/golf/jetta 1.8 carb lump and stick a weber carb on it

Thanks guys.

Pete, I'm a novice when it comes to all this mechanical stuff. What is involved in getting a 2E2 carb Webber replacement "rejetted" and is it likely to be expensive?

Could I not just get a 1.6 manifold and its carb and just replace the existing manifold and carb?

Here is a pic of the manifold to carb gasket, part number 050129761E


The inlet manifold has part number 026129713G on it. Will have a look on ETKA later today to see whats what…

DAG4R said

Thanks guys.

Pete, I'm a novice when it comes to all this mechanical stuff. What is involved in getting a 2E2 carb Webber replacement "rejetted" and is it likely to be expensive?

Could I not just get a 1.6 manifold and its carb and just replace the existing manifold and carb?

Here is a pic of the manifold to carb gasket, part number 050129761E


The inlet manifold has part number 026129713G on it. Will have a look on ETKA later today to see whats what…

I have not rejetted a weber, i believe that you have to buy the idle and main jets for a 1.3 carb, you'd have to find a weber of an scrapped mk2 1.6 or 1.8 plus take the inlet manifold, but 1st you will have to look and see if there is a water outlet also on the manifold, there will be a rubber ring to seal it, i.e 5 holes on manifold with water outlet and some model only have four like my 1.5, then make sure if it does have you'll be fine with a mk2 1.6 or 1.8 manifold, if not it is alot of hassle, thus why i changed my block, by time you do all this and money spent it is easier replacing the block with either a 1.5, 1.6 or 1.8 if you want to stick to carb, problem you will have thou if you change the block the 1.3citi has a different wiring loom thus you will not be able to use the original carb from a 1.5 due to this, i know has i went through it but i'd already bought a 1.5 weber replacment anyhow so did not suffer.
Basically best option, my opinon only mind is get another block and new weber everything else will go together.
 
Pete :wink:

I made it to inters (and back). The car still isn't particularly happy starting and needs to get warmed up before getting it moving (or else the idle drops too low and it feels like its going to konk out).

Anyway, it needs a good service so have been trying to get the parts list together. Based on what people have said I've looked at late 1.6 Carb MK2 parts and compared them to MK1 carb parts (to see if there are any differences)

This is what I have come up with:


Now I'm a bit stuck on the brakes. They look like this:




Those callipers don't look anything like the GTI or non-GTi ones. The carriers look odd too. The discs are 239mm but I have no idea of the thickness and the type of pads I should be getting. Can anyone help me out on this?

I'll update the parts list once this is clarified and hopefully it will serve as a reference for fellow Citi owners.

Cheers,
Dheraj

they kinda look like my mk2 jetta ones

They loom the same as the later cabby non vented brakes.

I have a pretty much complete running well Citi Golf if you need any parts

L reg 1.3 it is so should have all those bits you need.

Cheers

Rich

Hi,

I'm new here.
I'm from Holland and I also like the Mk1 Golf.
It is still a popular car here.
I own 2 of them, the first one is a 1980 GTI 1.6 totally original condition.
The other one is a 1983 4-door GL. First it had a petrol engine, now it has a 1.6 Diesel engine.
In Holland you don't have to pay road taxes if your car is 25 years or older, that's the reason I put the Diesel engine in it.http://www.mijnalbum.nl/index.php?m=fto&a=73&id=93118795&key=GLRGSLGA http://www.mijnalbum.nl/index.php?m=fto&a=73&id=93120470&key=DDFAKFOB

DAG4R said

Those callipers don't look anything like the GTI or non-GTi ones. The carriers look odd too. The discs are 239mm but I have no idea of the thickness and the type of pads I should be getting. Can anyone help me out on this?

I'll update the parts list once this is clarified and hopefully it will serve as a reference for fellow Citi owners.

Cheers,
Dheraj

Buy a pair of vented 239mm and pads for a 1.6 gti, fit straight in, reason being is the original discs are smaller in width and the standard pads are big, by replacing with gti standard brakes, the vented discs are wider and pads thinner thus a straight swap, also you have the added benefit of not suffering as much from brake fade, if you want the best out of your brakes, a nice fresh flow of new brake fluid should be in order fella.
Alsocheck the rubber hoses going to the cylinder and see if any bubbles if so change them also before doing fluid, approx 4.50 the pieps are from GSF
Pete :wink: