VW Golf Mk1 Rivage GTI Cabriolet - 1991 - Restoration Project

Model  Cabby
Spec/Trim option   Rivage
Year of manufacture   1991
Mileage   96794 miles
Price  £3000
Location  Ripley, Derbyshire
Contact details  pm please.
Condition   Project
Service history  Folder including partial details up to my purchase.  I have included the receipts of the parts I have bought during my years of ownership.  Includes original book and folder.
Mot expiry Date N/A

Description:

After 18 years, its time to let this project go.  I originally bought the car back in 2007, working with an MOT, but I wanted to have a go at restoring a car to as new specification so I drove it home and started stripping it.  After around one year of work, I had stripped the car down to a bare shell.  As I took parts off, I restored them and packed them in boxes.  There are a lot of boxes!

The shell sat in my parents garage for a while, and life moved on.  I moved out, bought a house and moved the car down.  Life continued to move on, but the project didn’t.  I need to accept defeat and let it go.

The car is currently sat on my drive under a car cover.  It is stripped apart from the running gear and fuel tank which I left on so I could wheel it on to a trailer for taking for paint.  The running gear is starting to show some rust (bottom of the shockers), which is one of the reasons why I need to move it on – I cant watch it fall into disrepair.

It should be noted that the reason I bought the car in the first place was because the body shell was in good condition and wouldn’t need any welding.

During the time I have bought bits to improve it during the rebuild.  The things that pop to mind are:

• Two extra alloys (original 4 are there as well).
• Cream leather interior, door cars and two spare leather front seat bases.  Also includes the cream leather hood cover.  Seats need to be refurbed.
• Original headlight washer system (including some new parts).
• US Spec boot – I shipped this in from the US as I wanted the third brake light.
• I fitted Crazyquiffs rear seat belts.
• I fitted a new fuel tank and I have a stainless filler neck.

The status of the project today:

• It will need a new windscreen – the original was cracked during removal.
• The accelerator cable had pulled through with rust – I replaced this section with a repair panel.
• A couple of years back I cleaned the underside and the arches, then applied Dynax underbody sealant.  Arches were solid – pictures can be provided.
• Engine bay resprayed (1K)
• The slam panel was replaced as it was rusted through at the bonnet release.  Genuine panel section let it.
• The engine and gearbox are in my shed.  They were working fine when removed.  I haven’t done anything to them since they were removed.
• It will need a new fabric roof.  All the original hydraulic system is there.
• The original seats/interior are included (blue cloth)
• The body needs to be painted – the paint work is not good enough as is.
• Clearly everything will need to be put back on to make it a working vehicle.

Everything I have, including the things I cant remember, will be going with the car.  A lot of the parts will be new and boxed, as I said I was buying or refurbing parts as I took them off.  I have hundreds of photos I can provide which I took to help me with the rebuild – these can be provided if you are interested.

An element of trust is required here – I don’t have the space to take all the boxes out of storage so I can’t take pictures but trust me they are there! It was a fully working vehicle when I took it apart.  Like I said above I can provide the pictures of the strip down which will hopefully give some confidence.

I have included some pictures below from over the years.  The car is dusty and spidery at the moment, and as i say there is some rust on the components creeping in.

As for value, I am going to suggest £3000 for everything.  Its hard to price up, but I look at it from the perspective of if everything was sold off separately then it would be worth a lot more than that.  You are welcome to come and look at the shell, and I can get some sample boxes out for you to see if you want to look at the parts.