Went to look at a 1982 GTI today

Hi all,

Been reading this forum for a while now but never posted before. Anyway i'm after a mk1 gti to add to our VW stable (currently a 95 Corrado VR6, 90 Golf GTI and 01 Golf GTI Turbo. I went to look at a y plate car today which seemed to be in pretty good condition. The interior is mint (no wear on the seat bolster) and the bodywork seems very straight. There were the odd few scabs of rust but nothing serious. The car started 1st time from cold and seemed to run well. Its got 150k on the clock. I took it for a drive and it all felt very tight.

The bad things that struck about the car were the brakes - but i was expecting that! How slow the wipers are but i've read that this is normal. The MFA worked ok but it only showed 9mpg and the mpg gauge light was always lit apart from when changing gear - what is likely to be wrong here?

Checked in the boot for rust but it all seemed very clean. The car has had a head rebuild at about 90k.

Also what petrol do you recommend - is 95 ron unleaded ok or do i need to use super (Optimax?).

Any help would be really appreciated.

Cheers

Matt

95 Ron is no problem. A lot of people use Optimax or BP Ultimate and some feel a benefit - its a personal thing really!

hello mate

seems like a god example you have described but looks are deceiving!!
have you jacked the car up and looked underneath?? rot and rust are the mk1s worst enemy..

brakes wise - YES mk1 brakes are crap!! there is an upgrade to mk2 16v brakes which you can do. same with wipers

concerning the mpg light i dont know how to fix it personally but im sure its not a big job and someone on here will point you in the right direction..

and with petrol i prefer optimax myself. tesco have 99 ron petrol but i feel that optimax offers more for your engine with its purities and youl notice the difference when driving.

also have you checked the mk1 buying guide on the main page?? its very useful for first time mk1 buyers…

good luck with the purchase mate

Thanks for the replies. Just thinking about the car, the sills were both painted black - i presume this means that the sills have been replaced. There were a couple of repairs underneath on the jacking points about the size of a fag packet but they looked ok.

Really can't decide what to do……the interior was absolutely mint - even had the original radiomobile radio in it. Quite a lot of service history but a stack of receipts.

95 Ron is no problem. A lot of people use Optimax or BP Ultimate and some feel a benefit - its a personal thing really!

In theory you should only use super unleaded (such as Optimax) in a GTI. The GTI engine was set up to require 98 ron or higher. This should also be stated on the silver door sticker on the B post. Using petrol of a lower octane could cause the engine to pink and possibly cause damage in the long run. If the timing is retraded by the appropriate amount, 95 ron fuel an be used without any concerns. Hairyarse, could be that your timing has been adjusted at some point  :dontknow:

mbradbrook - You'll have to inspect the sills closely to see if they has been any welding. Could be underseal has been painted on the sills? This could either be over the top rust-proofing or hiding something. The fact there has been a few repairs would make me want to look further. A lot of the worst rust can be hidden away underneath.

Have you had a good poke around the sills, floor pan, rear axle mounts, chassis boxes, rear arches/suspension turrets (particularly the drivers side), fillerneck and front inner arches/suspension turrets. This where the worst and most serious rust will reside. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Cheers

The wipers are always slow until they have been used a bit. You can take them apart and grease them up to make them quicker, I only notice the problem when I haven't used the car for ages. To be really picky the radio should be a Blaupunkt but the radiomobile is possibly a period upgrade????
worth having a closer look at the underside by the sounds of things, best to be on the safe side if you could get it up in the air it would put to rest a lot of corncerns. I dont think it matters that it has had previous repairs as long as they where done to a good standard