GarytheGolf

Yes it's a shame we wont see it this year, but the next will come around quick enough - it doesn't seem a year already since I was admiring your engine bay!

Nice work Malcolm, bumpers and interior shelves look like new. Your attention to detail never fails to impress. Keep the updates coming.

Thanks for the comments, still continuing with the blue stuff more pics soon.

Looking forward to the weekend, might get a few nights in the mancave before then. Shopping list getting bigger.

A few more items, I think the speakers went well.



Trim not so well, a few cracks, but not too bad from a distance

Looking very nice Malcolm. Can't wait to see this car when it's done.

Having refurbished my front bumper, I cannot get the Chrome trim replaced or have no solution at the moment. The Chrome trim from VW Heritage was a disappointment.

So I am looking for another bumper or a cover with decent chrome trim in grey. It can be with or without headlamp washers.

I would prefer an original, but would consider a pattern if in very good order.

I have placed a wanted topic on the forum.

Little bits done over the last few weeks and an update on the respray.

I have cleaned the waist line and sill chrome trims and the chrome around the side windows. All came up very well but a few dinks here and there.

The door window frame stays needed a paint:







I visited the spray shop yesterday and saw some progress on the roof wing and the doors, in some cases taken down to bare metal to remove the rusty areas.







Three doors have been done, note the little hole in the back door below the window has been welded up.

These have been filler primed and will be allowed to dry for a week or so before any more work is carried out on them.



I decided to address the bleached carpet. It had been shampooed some time ago and stored.

After a good hoover, I re-coloured it.

It's not bad, a bit darker than I would have liked but the same shade of colour as the original. I do have a fallback on the third party carpet I purchased a few years ago, if I do not like it when fitted.

The bleached carpet, it is very faded where those areas were exposed to sunlight.





Re-colouring with the vinyl dye, the same product I use for the plastic.







The front carpet:





The mat is still the original colour.



Apparently all that is left now is to apply a stiff brush and a good hoover after some drying time.

Having seen the pictures of it outside, I now know where the man cave is…only about five miles from mine.

What body shop have you sent it too out of interest…am looking for local recommendations.

SvenM said

Having seen the pictures of it outside, I now know where the man cave is…only about five miles from mine.

What body shop have you sent it too out of interest…am looking for local recommendations.

Yes, the Mancave is based in Romsey. I tend to work in there Saturday during the day, Tues and Thursday evenings after work until the car is finished.

I deliberated for sometime on where to have the respray done and how much to pay. They are not cheap!! Even blowovers are about £2500 unless you do it yourself.

My concern was that my preparation might not be good enough and might  be a reason why the finished job was not up to standard.

Some quotes also required me to an element of work.

The spray shop I have chosen in Romsey are AVC Customs, they have a good reputation, they are not big and I have seen some finished work and I found nothing negative against them. They are doing all the work I want as a matter of course.

My only issue is that it is taking some time due to their workload. Then I am in no rush, so long as it is finished before the next summer / AGM.

Nice to know the bodyshop are taking their time, it looks like they know what they're doing!

The carpet has come up well  

The carpet looks great and i'm sure the body work will look equally great.

I have had a few distractions recently, my wife and I became grandsparents, Isabelle was born last Friday, we saw her for the first time on Sunday. Hopefully again in a couple of weeks.

We are both very happy, we hope to have many positives in future after out last few years of unhappy events.

It has been some time since my last post and yes, the body shop are taking their time, I had a word yesterday on their progress. Unfortunately, there is a resource issue, I hope to see more progress in the coming weeks.

With respect to the other stuff, I am starting to run out of things to do!!, though I have done a few things since my last post.

I removed some of the engine components, Battery, Air Filter, Radiator to allow the engine to be masked off and the eventual respray to be blended into the engine bay.

I took the opportunity to replace the radiator via a 25% off special offer from VWH. At the same time I bought a new Bosal exhaust to fit to the longer downpipe.





The fully assembled Radiator waiting to go back in:





I continued my efforts to refurbish the front bumper. I cannibalised the chrome trim from the black bumper and fitted it to the grey bumper. New indicators finished the job.

You can see the form of the chrome trim, this is completely different to what is available:

Top Chrome Trim:



Bottom Chrome trim:



The finished bumper:



The wash system is a bit cumbersome, if I remove it there are holes left behind in the bumper cover.

This is the black bumper cover with the chrome trim removed. Note the jaggy holes, the wash system was retrofitted here.





I am looking forward to the weekend with the Beaulieu Auto Jumble, first time for a few years, hopefully the weather will be kind.

Looking great Malcolm. And a bunch of new parts. Niiiiiice.   Think its gonna be a stunner once its done. Great work so far and congratz on the grandchild. Sure she will bring lots of joy and happiness into the family.

Hey congratulations Malc, that's fantastic news!!!     I'm sure the new arrival will erase any recent, bad memories of tougher times  

The car is coming on well, it must be frustrating to be almost done ready for its return, but it will be worth the wait!

The front bumper looks tidy, and headlight washers too, very posh!   My old GL had them many years ago, if only I knew their value back then!

Congratulations on your new Granddaughter - just in time for Grandparents Day this coming Sunday !

The bumper is looking really good with the new indicators and the headlight washers.  A really nice and rare retro item.

Hopefully won't be long now and Gary will be home in his new paint.

Thanks for all the comments, unfortunately we live an hour and a half away so the next time we will see her will be in a few weeks. She's a week old tomorrow.

I did buy the MK1OC baby grow at the recent AGM, so when she gets to wear it, I will hopefully get a photo from the daughter.

I am surprised about the comments on the washers on the bumpers, I suppose they are retro but I am not completely taken by them, they were actually an option either taken or as standard with this 1983 GL.

The grey bumper is the original bumper has formal holes for the washers to be mounted, the black bumper had them retro fitted.

My next challenge is to fit the front foglights below the bumper like my avatar picture. These will of course be complemented by spot lights in the front grill.

As promised some retro fog lights fitted with the proper VW brackets to hang below the bumper.





Packed and wrapped for later when the car comes back.



with the rear bumper I did earlier.



An additional project I have been wanting to do, can you guess what it is yet? (just realised, this is not PC!!)



Get the idea? I bought a few name badges at the AGM, DERBY and PASSAT and some old golf badges I had purchased earlier.

I did not quite like the "A" from the Passat, so I modified the "R" from Derby to make the A. The biggest problem was the "H" which I made from the "P" and the "D".



Not finished yet. But I have stuck them to a thin piece of plastic with PVC glue. I used a thick piece to line them up. They are drying for now.

haha brilliant! Looking forward to seeing that finished!    

Still working on that name plate and the rest of the bits of the car.

However, I have been a little distracted recently with our first grandchild. Meet Isabelle, the latest MK1OC member. Born on  29 Aug. She has only just about got big enough to fit the uniform!. Taken yesterday.

A few items refurbished:

Rear screen, squeaky clean and refurbished and electrically checked the element:





Hella twin light front grille inner spots.

For info, Mk1 left and right grille lamps have the same fitments, they are not handed.  Mk2 grille lamps are left and right handed as are the later Mk1 cabriolet grille lamps, don't get caught out like I did.

I found that most of my inner lights were fog and for the early and late Mk2 grilles. I have three sets, one brand new, I will be placing them back on ebay.

I did however manage to get two spots for my early Mk1 grille, you can see one was better than the other.



I took the bulb fitting off the back of the lamps and cleaned the insides to remove the condensation and make them shiny again.

With the poor one, I managed to paint over the bits of corrosion inside with some chrome paint. It's not really that shiny, but covered the corrosion, though not bad in the final picture.

Masked up ready for painting, the rusty bits were wire brushed and treated.







Painted with heat resistant silver initially, then Vauxall Leaf Green from the rear:



Then painted black from the front:



New attachments for the grill, purchased a long time ago.



Lamps mounted in the grille:



From the front, the best lamp is on the left, just got to replace the Hella badges, couldn't find them at the time!.