I'm new!

Hello!

New here to the group! I'm Amanda and I currently own a Mk1 Golf GTI



 

Hi Amanda,

I'm also Amanda, welcome to the forum!

Any pics of your GTI?

Welcome Amanda,
Any pics of your car?
Lots of knowledge in here so have a trawl around the site.

Enjoy

Chortle

Welcome ..I`m new here too .. I`m not an Amanda though! atleast not in the week  

Hi everyone!
Nice to meet another Amanda, I don't meet many Amanda's haha!

Yeah I'm going to post a couple of pictures up once I have a read on how to upload it.

No doubt I'll be bombarding you all with a few questions on the golf soon!!

Welcome Amanda, now come on lets see it then! 
The suspense is killing us. 

Sent from my mobile phone. 

Here she is everyone. The last photograph is of mine and my boyfriends gti, who is already a member. I've only had the golf a couple of months so its still a working progress.

His & Hers matching cars, has to be a Club first??  Can't decide which one I like best, both wheels are on my favourites list.

Think your car wins it as it's got the number plate fitted properly!

Very nice cars.
Do they need much work?
If any?

A first for everything I think theres only about 6 months between them both!

Aha thankyou! I won't tell him that!
They both have been to a german classic car show together earlier this year, planning to do a lot more next year 
 

Thankyou chortle!

Well mine needs a couple of things, change the grill for a start. I've got the original cream door cards in, but my seats are black leather. So I'm planning on taking the door cards out and replacing with black leather to match.

You can get leather/vinyl paint.  (Aerosol) Preparation is the key though. Most auto paint suppliers should be able to provide. SEM is a good one to use. I redid my leather steering wheel with some.  Also did my seats in the Rivage.
Came up a treat.

I didn't know you could do that. Thanks for the tip. I've got a question about my golf. My roof has some marks on, I've washed it and they still won't budge. I'm not really sure what I can use. I use Meguairs for my leather, so not sure whether they do a range for roofs. Any ideas?

Roofs need to be washed with a simple soap. You can buy soap flakes, mix in hit water. Apply and use a bristle brush. I have a soft one that you use on mushrooms. A harsh one will pull at the material and make it look awful. Rinse well,  allow to dry.
Then apply the treatment to help keep it watertight.

I recommend 303 aerospace for fabric or Ragg Topp they are the best you can get.
In tests the aerospace one faired better. These roofs only have a finite life though.
Basically fabric tools are made up from 3 ply material. A backing fabric, rubber sheet core then the outer sheet. It's the rubber in the middle that really waterproofs it. However over the years if neglected the rubber deteriorates,  it's affected by sunlight and the elements. Once this happens replacement is the best option.  The top fabric is subject to wear and discolouration over the years via UVA light bleaching it. Hence the areaospace acts like a (sun cream) blocking the rays.
You can buy a colouring kit but in my opinion there more trouble than they are worth.  
I replaced loads of these tops. Doable once you get the proper gear.
Take a look at my build thread for my Rivage just go to the google search box top left of the site, type in "little bit of green paint"
That should pull it up.

How old is the roof?

Cheers

Chortle

Thanks for that. So do you reckon if I used the 303 aerospace it would budge those awful looking marks or do you reckon a new roof? Are they expensive?
I'm not too sure, I've only had the car a couple of months now so I don't have a lot of history, I think the guy who owned it replaced the roof not long ago.
Thanks i'll have a look at your thread. 

Ok it depends on what the marks are.  If the simple soap flake (such as lux) them you could try the aerospace kits. They come with an appropriate cleaner too, as well as the waterproofer.
 So it's worth looking for a complete kit cleaner and proofer. Hopefully get any stubborn marks out.
It's tricky to tell from the photo.


One thing I've read and seen over the years is claims about roofs.
Roofs like new mate.
Just fitted mate, good condition apart from the rips mate.

What some people do is swap the complete frame mech it's self over if the hood is better that their old one. Trouble is you're still buying an old roof you don't have the history of.
Issue being unless they can give you a receipt for the purchase or from the fitter showing it's new, it's not worth squat in my opinion.

A replacement doesn't make it new.  One of the biggest problems folks don't realise is when buying a cabby is the roof.

To make it worse VW actually made 3 frames for the cabby.  So headliners are year dependant. Don't believe anyone who says otherwise. If you consider replacing that.

Roofs can be bought reasonable enough new.
But you need sundries such as HTC glue, rivets, washers,  new cables, staple gun, foam gasket seals. Silicone sealant.
Few tools etc.

Sure take a look at my build thread hopefully give you some ideas.

Cheers

Chortle

I'm not really sure what the marks are. Its really strange. I'm going to try the aerospace kit, see what I can do with it.

Yeah I see what you mean. Luckily I don't have any rips in (touch wood, fingers crossed none appear!), its just the exterior which doesn't look great.

Aahh I didn't realise that Volkswagon made 3 frames, sounds very tricky job. That's the only thing really that it needs. The rest has all been done previous to me buying.

I'll try the aerospace kit, will keep you posted if it works!!

Thanks for your help, really do appreciate it.

Amanda please be very careful and I'm sure 'Chortle' will agree. 
Do read the instructions very carefully and follow them to the letter. 

When you use the cleaner, do test it on a very small area to see what if any effect it has (positive or negative) .

Do let it dry and look closely before attacking the whole roof!  

Sent from my mobile phone. 

Agreed mike.

Another thing is the material it's self. Some hood manufacturers use "English Mohair" although that's technically not correct.
The issue being the steadfastness of the colour.
When I looked at getting some hoods made. I asked about using the OEM spec material but was told they don't use it as it's expensive.
I'm not so sure the English spec is as good as I've seen fade on tops not much than a couple years old.

Thanks guys. I'm going to give it a whirl.
I've got a spare street ka roof which is just the same as the Golf with all the strange marks. I'll try it on that first. Fingers crossed! I'll get back to you and let you know my outcome