Possible daily driver - Reliability concerns

Hi all!
I have the oppertunity to purchase a pretty mint '82 1600 gti with 140,000 on the clock. Its recently had a respray, new clutch, new starter motor, full suspension kit and other small parts replaced. The engine sounds very smooth and it drives nicely. I love the car and i am desperate to buy it, as ive wanted a mk1 since I was about 10!
The only thing holding me back from buying the car is reliability concerns as it would be my daily driver. I need it to get to and from work and a fortnightly 3 hour round trip i have to take. I am worried that i am being unrealistic when expecting a car of that age to be as reliable as i need it to be. I am happy to do running repairs on it myself, from a Haynes manual etc, but dont want to be sat on the side of the road waiting for the AA everyother day!
Problems where the car still runs that u can fix at the weekend are part of the fun for me, I just cant afford for the thing to be blowing up all the time!
Do many of you guys use your mk1s day in, day out and use for frequent long journeys? Do you experience many serious issues that leave u stranded?
Cheers!   Andr

I use my car very often (including longer motorway journeys) and although I've had the odd issue, they've been easily fixed and never been showstoppers.

It's been very reliable on the whole! (touch wood)

Every day for 2 years, including 5 months doing 160 miles/day to Newcastle. It's only a 1.3 though, but it's a VW!

every car will have its own indevidual faults thay just happen when thair ready

yeh youre rigbht each car will have its own problems. Im just trying to get a general idea of reliability across the board to help me make my mind up!

REnew cambelt,give it a good service and drive it,i go everywhere in my old vw's and there fine b ok
"if only everything was as reliable as a volkswagen"
Bert

i have had loads of old vw golfs now!! 8 in total over the last 15 years, all gti`s or G60 or vr6, they have all been regularly serviced and maintained as opposed to just fixed when they break, and be it luck? or just this regime of care? the most anyone of them had let me down is a split injector hose, a couple of flat batterys and the worst one when my Lhasa GTI jammed in third gear!! 25 miles from home, not very economical but it got me home, just had to "time" junctions :wink:

Yeh my worries are definately being eased. Seems like most people on here use their mk1s as everyday cars. What kind of fuel consumption would i expect to get out of a 1600 gti?

Im planning to use mine as a daily when I pass. Im hoping she'll be ok on reliability but we will see I guess.

You should get about 30-35mpg from the 1600, as long as you don't cane it everywhere.

It's worth spending some time adjusting the fuel mixture screw (recessed 3mm allen head bolt just next to the metering head) to get it just right, as a small adjustment there can have a large effect on the overall fuel consumption.

Overall they're very reliable cars as long as you look after them, so I'd have said you'd be fine…

Rich

30-35 is good even by todays standards   . How do you know when youve got the mix right?

Ideally it should be set up on a tune machine which measures co2 etc, if you run it lean it can cause damage and burn valves etc, i get around 25-35 from my 1.8 gti cabrio so much so when i first got it i thought the gauge was broken!!!!! my vr6 you can watch the fuel gauge going down as the revs go up!!

Nice - these tuning machines easy to come buy?

Agree with all these comments! Reliability is never really a problem provided you deal with problems as they arise, and don't just ignore a funny noise or a change in running. This certainly doesn't mean you spend a fortune on servicing - and if you're doing a long daily journey then a breakdown cover with AA or similar makes sense.
People i work with often comment that they think I spend a fortune on spares, but never stop to think how much their car loan costs EACH MONTH! Not to mention service costs in a garage for a newish car. Running an old car is far cheaper….

and cooler 8)  so your not part of the "must have" rat race, old VW`s stand out, especially the mk1 as its a cult car and gets noticed for the right reasons!! not coz its got sat nav or traction control and 400 bhp, its got 2 or 4 :wink:  doors seats and a steering wheel, "does exactly what it says on the tin" you cant get any more cool for the small outlay really

my little lady has today just done 20000 miles since june 26th last yr (mot time) and has always got me home albeit very slowly once or twice following a gearbox moment and an arguement with a cornish hedge/wall

re mixture setting, this works
http://www.vwgolfmk1.org.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=21786

Do that once you've done the following: -

1. Warm engine through and leave it idling
2. Ensure timing is set accurately (you'll need a timing gun for this, or a good ear if you know what you're doing)
3. Using a long 3mm allen key, rotate mixture screw anticlockwise (leaning off mixture) until the engine starts to struggle to idle
4. Mark this point / remember it
5. Rotate allen key clockwise (richening) until engine starts to struggle to idle again.
6. Mark this point
7. Optimum performance is midway between the 2 marks
8. Optimum economy is just lean of this point.
9. Using 7mm spanner, adjust idle screw on the back of the throttle body to give you around 1000rpm at idle.

Once you've adjusted the mixture screw you'll see how sensitive it is.

HTH

Rich