buy the project or the ready done(ish)

I am looking to buy my first GTi having always been a classic mini man,

now i have been offered a mars red GTI by a guy i used to work with whos in to his old golfs like no one i know (hes had about 15 so far!)  I has its a runner but has been stood for 3 years and not really done anything. he starts it up every so often but thats it. I went to see it a few weeks back and after a battery change it started straight away (it hadnt been started for 3 months before that). The engine had apparently been rebuilt not long before he got it but it has not been run it (the last owner lost his licence before it was completed so it sat on his drive for a year and wasnt driven) I do not know what was changed in this "rebuild" so im taking it with a pinch of salt.

body work wise the car looks pretty good, i check the sills and they seem solid and it seemed fine where the sill meets the arch (Steve says it will prob be a bit crusty under plastic arch covers) the only rust was a bit on the drivers door that has been treated and sealed and also the sun roof had a rust hole in it about 3mm long. The sun roof appeature also had rust holes in it but steve has treated these cleaned them up then filled and painted them to stop them getting any worse.

The only major problems with the car is that it crunches into 3rd gear (steve says he has another gearbox i can have to put on the car) and also the brae lines might need changing for the MOT (along with a full overhaul due to it being stood for so long so thats new brakes, pads, oil change, cam cover as steve says the breather will prob be blocked and mjor service) I dont mind doing the work but id much rather be enjoying the car.

Im also dubious as to if the engine being stood will cause me any problems if its put into daily service.

With this car I will be getting a safety devices rear cage and also some spares like another alternator (it was whining on the test drive) but it does need some wheels and tyres.
The price of this project - ?600 + cost of parts for service, wheels, tyres, subframes for my bucket seats (I have a set of cobra monaco seats and FIA harnesses I want to fit) so i recon it will be prob another 1000 to 1500

Now on the other side I have seen a very nice looking Lhasa green GTi, same age again with a rebuilt engine and has been tastfully modded by lowering and some nice wheels but thats about all, the body work appears to be sound and well looked after but its up for just over ?2000. (and its local so I dont have to hire a trailer and drive the 85 miles there and 85 miles back to pick the car up like I have to with the other)

So which do you recon I should go for? im still feeling my way in the GTi world (Minis i am shit hot on…)

all views welcome

cheers

Karl.

Buy the cheaper car , improve it and enjoy  :mrgreen:

If it don't work out you could always break it and sell the bits on Ebay at profit !

Had a bit of a slow morning so ive quickly priced up the bits i need to get the red one on the road and im getting on for ?1200 sort everything and get it MOT'd. and thats not allowing for anything else like the engine throwing a wobbly when its being used more after being stood.

 :dontknow: any more views?

go for the green one - it'll be cheaper in the long run. Once you start pulling apart a car that has stood for years you don't know what you will find.

Sound like the green one has ?2,000 worth of bits on it …

So there ya go - two completely different views!

let us all know what you do

M

which colour do you like best?

No point spending money on a car you don't like the look of.

Peter.

My GTI had stood for 11 years before I got it started and running again, and it hasn't let me down since (touch wood!) They really were built properly back then!

If the bodywork is sound then I'd be tempted by the fixer-upper. Service parts are quite cheap from places like www.vwspares.co.uk , and brake lines are quite easily fabricated (not sure if you'd have done this on your minis). My only reservation would be the sunroof, which can be a real pain if it's rusty.

Have you got any pics of either car?

Rich

heres the red one




the rust in the sun roof apature was pretty iffy, some proper holes not just surface rust, which have now been treated with Krust and then glass fibered and hammerited.

its a rebuild

all i can say is befor you decide to buy either car go and take a look at it properly look into things like
rear arches
wings
inner arches
floor pans
bulkhead
Under window rubbers

remember when looking at the inner arches and floor pans thair normaly coated in seam sealer which can hide rust  :dontknow:

I remember when i brought my mk1 i never looked at it and just handed over the cash (?500) then i started to take her apart and find some serious rust which cost me money to replace panels and have them welded in. Take a look at my resto as this will give you a good idea of what im going on about as it looks realy nice and clean from what you can see from the 1st picture. Take a look here http://www.vwgolfmk1.org.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=22160.
Fill free to leave a post if needed

The red one is definitely a project, although it shouldn't need a complete rebuild unless you're unlucky. The only things that stand out for me are non-standard wheels and chin spoiler. The bodywork looks pretty good (bar the sunroof).

If you want to drive something soon then I'd avoid it though - I reckon you'd be looking at a couple of months hard graft ot get it up together and then through the MOT.

If you do go for the Lhasa one, make sure you won't have to do anything much to it - even a poor spray job can cover a multitude of sins.

As 1stgolf says, have a good poke around before you buy (either)

HTH

Rich