newbie would like some advice on a series 1

Hi

i'm new to the forum, but have been a closet mk1 fan for a while.

I have seen a 1979 1500 diesel 5 door for sale recently for ?450. It has small lights but with black bumpers rather than chrome. I have spoke to the seller on the phone and he describes the car as good (well he would would'nt he)

He said the arches are sound, sills good and recently undersealed (this worries me a bit because is it just covering something up). He said the inner arches are ok (1 has a small hole). The engine is smoke free without knocking. The dash is not cracked either.

The downsides are a total lack of history and he says it needs a respray, it is described as orange but the picture looks like a faded red. Is it possible it could be orange as it would be great retro colour. One wing has some surface rust around where an arial has been fitted.

I am worried it might be a dog, so would appreciate any hints or tips. Particulary anything else I can ask over the phone as I live 2 hours away from the car.

I forgot to ask him about the spare wheel well and front scuttle panel. He did say though that the only rust was on the front wing.

Would appriciate any help/suggestions. Should I walk away?, is it too cheap to be any good. Ideally I wanted a 3 door small light with chrome bumpers handles etc, but to be honest there are'nt many about, I missed a peach on ebay about 3 weeks ago.

Cheers

Glynn

You won't find a 25 year old minter for 450! Probably needs a lot of work doing.

Check out the Buying a GTI guide on the left of the screen as a lot of it covers the shell.

A good rule of thumb is that any rust you can see will be 10 times worse  8O when cleaned up properly ready for welding/repair.  Base you judgment on that and you won't go too far wrong!