Dashboard and airbag conversion

Hi,
Haven't got a MK1 (yet) but I was looking into safety gear before I get one.
I would use this as a daily, driving 50 miles on A roads and small cornish lanes every day.
Been looking for a few months now, and today my parents came up with an important question- airbags!

Do any UK MK1 tin top's come with airbags as standard?
If not, can a dash conversion with say, a SA Citi Golf be done, so that airbags can be installed safely?
Cheers
Rob

You'd need a wheel with an airbag inside it, and all the sensors dotted around the car to detect a bump, and something (ECU maybe?) to trigger the bag.. not worth doing IMHO..l

  Take it from somebody who has had an airbag in the face and ended up with two black eyes and a broken nose, and a steering wheel in the face that only gave me a lump on my head.
  Airbags hurt a LOT more than a steering wheels.

 And its a modification that the insurers will need to know about and charge you more for, and it's extra weight that'll slow you down and increase fuel consumption, and it detracts from the originality of the vehicle..

But if you REALLY want to do it then do it, it's your car so do whatever makes you happy : )

Ok thanks, so it is really not worth it.
Just my parents came up with it.
I know it is a bit of a crap question- but how safe are these cars really? Do they hold up well in a crash compared to modern cars at all?
Just I would be using it as a first car, so very likely to have a few small knocks.
Should I start looking for a more modern car? Really love the MK1's but when I told my Dad when they were made, he was like, they are 30+ years old!!!

Cheers
Rob

compared to a modern car they don't hold up very well in a crash, but there were loads of people who crashed them in the 70s and 80s who didnt die.. and most likely if its your first car it'll probably have a smallish engine so it wont be as potentially dangerous as, say, a GTI or something quicker.  I suppose it comes down to who is going to pay for the car and the insurance.
if your dad wants to be reassured tell him that the simple fact of a 30yr old car still being around today in a roadworthy state with MOT means it must be well made so he doesnt have to worry.
Good luck!

sounds like a good excuse to cage it …………….yeah!!!!!!!!

Purely personal thoughts but i reckon the mk1 is one of the safer cars designed back in the 70,s, the front chassis legs do look like they are designed to crumple,

Yes agree that the MK1 was one of 1st cars designed with safty in mind, the original Giugiaro design had its nose lengthened to make the crumble zone larger (look at your Golf the front is out of proportion and theres loads of empty small at the front of the engine). However compared to moderns its pretty light weight and the other big issue is that back in the day most other cars were quite similar build so you both came off the same in a bump. These days half the vehicles on the road are 2ton 4x4s piloted by yummy mummys driving in the middle of the road.

Ok thanks for the advice. So stay away from Chelsea tractors and drive it steady- got it!

Looking at our landrover defender yesterday- no airbags on that either! It's only 7 years old!

I just now need to find a mk1 in the south west under £1000

You could always get a citi golf imported that has a airbag as standard? but i dont know if this would affect the insurance with it being imported?

That sounds expensive, and also, I want a 3 door ideally, they only come in 5 door IIRC.
I am still up for getting a MK1 if I can find one in the right area, condition and price.
If not I may have to get a MK4 or something a bit safer.

drive with a crash helmet on!!

drive with a crash helmet on!!

Haha, I probably would feel like it if I had a cabby.
Wouldn't be ther right look lol. Unless I had a roll cage, bucket seats and 5 point harness to go with it!

Anyone got a MK1 for sale in cornwall?

not a good idea to retrofit an airbag to a car not designed for it, just learn to drive defensively and to anticipate what stupid moves other drivers are likely to make. impossible to count how many times i have avoided an accident by thinkign 'i bet that wakner is about to do something really silly…. oh look, he just did'

Haha, ok. Some drivers really upset me, and I can't even drive yet! The idiots that refuse to reverse do my nut!

Still searching. Nothing in my price range or suitable near me yet.

Are mk1's likely to come up at car auctions?

not many tintops for under a grand about anywhere anymore if you do find one that has an mot you will probably have to travel to pick it up. you could pick up a half decent cabriolet for that though and plenty around sunny (ha) cornwall

 i got a rough tintop in yeovil but i had to limp it home as halfway the rear wheel bearing seized and almost lost the rear wheel. it wasnt fit for the road and took about 6 months of fixing it for the next mot. but it was a gti with a 2 litre conversion and was rapid but should have got better brakes

 i actually crashed it into the back of a stationry hilux doing about 40 i was exremely lucky as im ashamed to say without a seatbelt on. and yes a steering wheel in the face hurt but only got a swollen lip and a bruised knee. the car was written off but didnt stand up too badly for a 30 year old car.

i then had a 1991 citigolf and it was a very good car i actually bought it for a donor as an mot failure for £150 but since i had learned how to fix the gti it was fairly simple to get on the road.

I have £900 saved up plus a little in the bank for a car. Don't really want a cabby. (Sunny Cornwall! Wow. Today was terrible, gardening in the rain to save money for a golf!)
My gran said that she would help me out if I needed a few quid. Cheers gran!
I want something that is an MOT failure or car without engine or something like that so that I can fix it and learn in the process.
Cheers.

have you seen the one in the cornishman classifieds, 5 dr 1.5 gx looks good but £1950 though so you may need to do some more gardening

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vw-golf-mk1-/271019281001?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3f1a020a69

i think this may be affordable and not too far away

and i have a mint bootlid in my shed

Thanks. Didn't see it. Bit much though, but nice to know there are a few around.
Really want a 3 door. Up for doing a conversion with a newer diesel. Any idea how much approx. it would cost to do a conversion with, say a 1.6 5 speed diesel, or a newer petrol, the cheapest mod that would get 45+ mpg and 0-60 in under, say, 12 or 13? (not completely gutless!)