Piers' 1983 Driver - 20v conversion project

Hi Everyone, Im Piers. Im 23 and i live in Derby. I currently own a VW Lupo Gti, iv owned this for 3 years. Iv wanted a mk1 for a while now and iv just been waiting for the right one and my insurance to be "reasonable!"
Iv spent quite a bit of money and time on the lupo but im hoping to go to the next level with the golf.

A little spec on the lupo for those who are interested, its a 1.6 16v. The engine is standard, i didnt want to play around with the engine too much as its a daily car. I did however change quite a bit in terms of appearance. Its had many "looks" but my favourite was the last one… it was this…



The car had BBS RM's painted in chevrolet moroccan blue. Standard bodywork (few touch ups from Matt at Ultimate Car Care), Full Airlift suspension with boot build, Black roof, Mk4 seats, Painted dash parts and lots of other little bits and bobs. The list goes on but i wont bore you too much.

Onto the mk1… I collect it this weekend. Its a 1.3 campaign with a kr16v engine already in it. Its got a G60 gearbox, hydraulic clutch conversion. Lowered on coilovers, different brake discs on the front.
The body is completely rust or rot free (from what i could see). I will get under the car when its home to check underneith to be certain but from what i can see its a good shell. Its been wax oiled underneith too which is good the fuel filler neck has no rot or signs of corrosion. The seals around the windows are all in tact with no rust or rot. Im really happy with the car and look forward to getting it home and giving it a good clean up. The interior is tatty and needs some attention but im hoping to get new carpet, headliner and retrim the seats all black. Its currently gold.

Iv got lots of plans for the car, I firstly want to change the colour. Its not to my taste… I will be painting it Blue. Iv also got a 20V turbo AGU engine waiting to go in. With it having the gearbox and clutch already its saved me a lot of work.

I will need some more bits and bobs to complete the conversion so if anyone can point me in the right direction on what i need and where to get it, it would be greatly appreciated.

im hoping to achieve around the 200bhp area.

heres the car,





I will get more detailed pictures at the weekend once i get it home.

Any feedback welcome,

Thanks Piers

that lupo looks wicked mate, you still got it or did you have to sell to fund the mk1 ?? Im trying to convince the missus that a Lupo GTi will be better than her MK4 golf

all the best with the mk1, gonna keep an eye on this one i remember seeing it on ebay

out of interest how are you insuring you mk1? im 23 too and my insurers wont insure a car over 25 years old and alot of classic car insurers wouldnt give me a price until i turn 25 myself.
+ the clipper costs a fortune to insure and thats with no mods.

Scott

arf333 said

that lupo looks wicked mate, you still got it or did you have to sell to fund the mk1 ?? Im trying to convince the missus that a Lupo GTi will be better than her MK4 golf

all the best with the mk1, gonna keep an eye on this one i remember seeing it on ebay

out of interest how are you insuring you mk1? im 23 too and my insurers wont insure a car over 25 years old and alot of classic car insurers wouldnt give me a price until i turn 25 myself.
+ the clipper costs a fortune to insure and thats with no mods.

Scott

Hi Scott,

Thanks very much
Iv still got the lupo. Iv sold the numberplate, wheels and air already. The air suspension goes on the 24th of this month so it will be back to standard minus a black roof and wheels Im hoping to sell the car once its back to standard (hint hint lol). I need something cheap to run around in. I can go to work on my bike and my girlfriend has a car so i dont really need it to be honest. Its just a luxury… but the money would be nice to fund the mk1 a bit quicker

To be honest iv not looked at insurance yet. The car will be going straight into a garage and probably wont be ready until next year some time at least. Im not going to rush it and if it takes me a few years i dont mind too much as long as i get it right and running smooth. Its declared as a 1.3 still but im a strong believer of doing things right. I dont think its worth declaring it as a KR16v as it will be coming straight out so once the 20v is in i will declare it and list the modifications on the insurance. I have owned various modified cars and always declare the mods… It turned out to be cheaper on the Lupo to do it that way! this year i paid £850, with 3 points. cant complain for that. I also had a 205 Gti when i was 18 that i declared as modified… that was around the 3k mark but i had friends paying that on a 1.2 clio!

this was the 205

Ok fair enough, well i'll mention it but i dunno…… she doesnt want the hassle of selling a car, im sure you know what its like with the jokers on ebay.

I love Pug205s my mate had one with an Mi16 engine in, i almost bought that off him instead of the Clipper

Have you had a look at becoming a paid member ? its only £15 a year and you get good discount from loads of parts suppliers and insurers

arf333 said

Ok fair enough, well i'll mention it but i dunno…… she doesnt want the hassle of selling a car, im sure you know what its like with the jokers on ebay.

I love Pug205s my mate had one with an Mi16 engine in, i almost bought that off him instead of the Clipper

Have you had a look at becoming a paid member ? its only £15 a year and you get good discount from loads of parts suppliers and insurers

yeah i always wanted to Gti-6 mine but insurance wouldnt have any of it. Considered using it as a track only car but track days are silly money now too. was too young to own it really and do it justice.

Iv not looked into becoming a paid member yet to be honest but its something id consider. Want to get the car back first, gain a bit of knowledge, get to know a few people etc and then go from there

What golf is it? id need a daily so would consider any swap within reason

The engine is ready to go in. Needs a bit more of a clean up and some paint

ok fair enough i dont think i paid up for a good 3 or 4 months

her golf is a 53 plate (registered early 2004) 1.4 match - air con model. GTI alloys, 3 door in black, T&T (im not sure for how long) 60k on the clock. no mods at all

Scott

arf333 said

ok fair enough i dont think i paid up for a good 3 or 4 months

her golf is a 53 plate (registered early 2004) 1.4 match - air con model. GTI alloys, 3 door in black, T&T (im not sure for how long) 60k on the clock. no mods at all

Scott

well i might be interested in a swap if you wanted too. Will have to see what happens with mine… got a mate who is quite interested if iv still got it in the new year. time will tell.

i will most likely become a paid member

cant wait to get the golf back

1.3 campaign ?

Climbatize said

1.3 campaign ?

Sorry no its a driver. Unsure why I put campaign   :?

Looks a nice project and with the previous rides I reckon I shall enjoy watching this thread.  8)

Hi,

Get yourself to the area meets.
We have a Derby, Notts, Leics meet up.
Just keep your eyes peeled in the regionals.

looking forward to an update of this. I am rubbish at engines and stuff, so I find it interesting on how the work is done.

cheers

chortle

Choc said

Looks a nice project and with the previous rides I reckon I shall enjoy watching this thread.  8)

Thanks very much I'm not promising an overnight success and I'm new to the mk1 scene so it's going to be a big learning curve for me. It will take a while but my plans are achievable.

chortle said

Hi,

Get yourself to the area meets.
We have a Derby, Notts, Leics meet up.
Just keep your eyes peeled in the regionals.

looking forward to an update of this. I am rubbish at engines and stuff, so I find it interesting on how the work is done.

cheers

chortle

I will keep my eyes peeled

Me too, Im no genius with a car but I'm hoping to learn a lot from this. Iv never done an engine conversion before so I'm not going to rush. I'm going to take my time and hopefully get it right the first time. I'm a bit "sad" and photo everything in great detail so when work begins I will get all the progress on here

Thanks again

Just thought I'd get it out there too… I live in Belper and if anybody wants to occupy a bit of time at weekends that's local I always appreciate any help. Beer tokens etc will be provided
If anyone local has done this conversion I'd love to have a sit down and chat to get a bit of experience advice.

Thanks. Piers

very nice mate .
theo is man to talk to he got all the contacts

astraman18 said

very nice mate .
theo is man to talk to he got all the contacts

Theo James?  Good mate of mine

Took to it today. Started with a basic wash.



The car was ready for some soap and water. I went around all the door shuts and got all of the green from around the seals and badges. Looks much better for it. Didn't touch the wheels. I will take them off the car and clean with acid as they are really soiled.

The inside was showing signs of damp so I decided to find out why. I found that the boot carpet was wet through so I ripped it out the car and straight into the bin.



I went around everywhere with some quick detailer and a microfibre to get all the dirt from the interior metal work.

Before.







I also took out the rear washer bottle as it had a hole in it an i think that it had water in at some point as there was a small puddle under it. Luckily none of the wet areas are rotten bonus.

Have all the dash and inside a good clean too. Quick Hoover round etc and got rid of the max power floor mats.






 
If you can see in the above image the previous owner has cut the gear stick down to a stump which is a bit annoying and not to my taste so I will be sorting that ASAP. I also want to get an original gti steering wheel. I don't mind the current one too much but I like things to be original. Within reason



The engine wasnt running right when I went to collect it. To be honest I didn't see it running and with my plans I wasn't too bothered as its the shell I wanted. I basically got stuck in and determined it wasn't running on all cylinders on fire up. Whizzed the plugs out. Cleaned them up. Checked the ht leads etc and played about with the air flow mixture. Got it running on all 4 at some points but its got a bit of blue in the exhaust fumes. And it does miss occasionally on revs. Think it might need rings or a bit of an "overhaul" I'm obviously not going to bother spending any money on the engine so it's up for sale. I will leave it in the car for people to see it running. If anyone is interested please let me know. Sorry I have no history for the engine at all. Unsure on mileage etc.

So to sum up. Got it clean and got it running. Happy days



Feedback ways welcome. Thanks piers.

Piers said

Just thought I'd get it out there too… I live in Belper and if anybody wants to occupy a bit of time at weekends that's local I always appreciate any help. Beer tokens etc will be provided
If anyone local has done this conversion I'd love to have a sit down and chat to get a bit of experience advice.

Thanks. Piers

Username caddybill is from around your way, at Heage. Not sure what he has done engine wise. But I think he may be handy with a spanner though.

cheers

chortle

chortle said

Piers said

Just thought I'd get it out there too… I live in Belper and if anybody wants to occupy a bit of time at weekends that's local I always appreciate any help. Beer tokens etc will be provided
If anyone local has done this conversion I'd love to have a sit down and chat to get a bit of experience advice.

Thanks. Piers

Username caddybill is from around your way, at Heage. Not sure what he has done engine wise. But I think he may be handy with a spanner though.

cheers

chortle

Yeah bill lives about a mile from me. He's a good mate of mine but I don't think he's too clued up with conversions to be honest. Think he will agree lol