New to golfs - need help on a decision!

Hi Guys,

Was wondering if I could get some advice.  Basically I have been looking at getting a golf mk1 cabriolet.

So far I have looked at 2 in my price range and I am a bit confused as to whether either of these cars would be good to purchase. I am not looking to spend too much money on the car to begin with and would try to do most of the work myself, however as I am not incredibly experienced I would also get garages to do the harder tasks.

First off… Golf mk1 gti cabriolet
This is a 87 plate with the karman clipper kit added. It has (white) leather seats - not sure if they are original (was there leather interiors be4 the rivage) but they look it (worn etc) so was wondering if anyone could clear this up?
Its got 120,000 miles on the clock and the engine is a bit smoky, i.e. there is grey smoke coming out of the exhaust when revved hard. When I say grey I mean light grey, not sure if it is 'blue' or not, I believe this indicates worn piston seals? Is this a definite 'don't touch' or is it fairly cheap to fix? Can anyone give some estimates on garage costs? aside from that the body work is fairly decent. It has had some 'mods' to it such as the bodykit and also a single wiper conversion (yuk). I assume this has been done by one of the previous 8 owners… so I imagine it has had quite a hard life. Apart from that it has had a new cambelt and new suspension so the last owner has at least done some maintainance.

Next …. Golf mk1 clipper cabriolet
This is in mint condition body wise, 2 owners. 1 lady for the last 10+ years, has been garaged most of the time and run once a week (70,000 miles on clock). Unfortunately there hasn't been too well maintained. Tatty interior, the windscreen has a huge crack in it (costs anyone?) the passenger window doesn't close fully and most worryingly there is slight rust in the fuel tank filler neck. Now as I understand this can cause problems when rust goes into the system, so the first thing I'd do is change the tank (costs anyone?) now I am not sure if I should also get someone to flush out the system as well (again cost)?  Also when taking off the oil cap, the oil is very black and there are some small deposits (not sure what of, there is not much of it but it is visible) the car is running very rich at the moment, idling at 1500rpm and black smoke is coming out the exhaust when revved hard.

So to sum up basically, golf gti -> bit tired with greyish smoke when reved or golf clipper -> black deposits in engine.

Any thoughts? :dontknow:

Thanks,
Lama

my advice is to get a tin top.
if, however, you are that in touch with your feminine side, i would suggest posting your location and seeing if some one would be kind enough to look at a few motors for/with you.
 blue smoke is oil consumption.

wooders said

my advice is to get a tin top.
if, however, you are that in touch with your feminine side, i would suggest posting your location and seeing if some one would be kind enough to look at a few motors for/with you.
 blue smoke is oil consumption.

Cabby hater  

Get a cabby you will love it  

keep looking: there are plenty around - and go for original spec
 
The 120,000 mile bling machine sounds hideous

The 70,000 mile unit sounds a better bet - faults are all in the price

but I'd look some more . A 100,000 mile GTi should be running as sweet as a nut and showing all the correct numbers for temp, oil pressure, compression, acceleration, consumption ….. these things were over-engineered when they were built and should still be running to spec.

If you can -  spend a little more a step up a grade in quality - it'll be cheaper in the long run

Good luck

Thanks for that wooders, helpful as always  

Unfortunately I'm not put off by the hairdresser image so… any other suggestions?

70,000 one sound the better deal to me original and gives you a bit to make it your own.

Keep looking for a decent GTI, there's plenty of Clipper owners who come onto the forum asking how they can upgrade their engine, there's no GTI owners going "I wish my car didn't go so fast".

Thanks for all the responses.

I'm going to have another look at the gti and give it another inspection.

I am wondering; if the piston valves / rings / cylinders need replacing…
how much is this on average to fix - i am assuming the top part of the head will need a rebuild?

Also what are the consequences of driving around with worn piston valves / rings / cylinders?

Thanks,

Lama.

paul_c said

Keep looking for a decent GTI, there's plenty of Clipper owners who come onto the forum asking how they can upgrade their engine, there's no GTI owners going "I wish my car didn't go so fast".

hav'nt you got a 2litre lump in yours??? :wink:

Dannyd said

paul_c said

Keep looking for a decent GTI, there's plenty of Clipper owners who come onto the forum asking how they can upgrade their engine, there's no GTI owners going "I wish my car didn't go so fast".

hav'nt you got a 2litre lump in yours??? :wink:

Standard GTI is more than enough for day-to-day use. I have a 2 litre for different reasons…

autocab said

wooders said

my advice is to get a tin top.
if, however, you are that in touch with your feminine side, i would suggest posting your location and seeing if some one would be kind enough to look at a few motors for/with you.
 blue smoke is oil consumption.

Cabby hater  

Get a cabby you will love it  

Gotta be a tintop…I agree with wooders on this one…

why is it that when i asked very similar questions last week i was ignored? Im feeling very neglected right now guys!  :cry:

Don't worry about it too much sicko, no one has actually answered any of my questions yet! haha. :boohoo:

Thanks for all the cabby vs tin top opinions! Muchos appreciated!

Unfortunately have my heart set on a cabby, soz!

So back to the original questions….

Any estimates on the following pieces of work (inc. labour):

-Head Rebuild
-Piston valve / rings / cylinder replacement
-Windscreen (i've heard one estimate of ?90 - sound reasonable?)
-Petrol tank replacement

Also does anyone recommend a vw specialist in the south london area? I know this is a bit off topic and there is a whole thread related to it, however no one has come up with any real recommendations.

Ta All!

Lama   :pray:

el_sicko said

why is it that when i asked very similar questions last week i was ignored? Im feeling very neglected right now guys!  :cry:

Your question was very vague, and you even managed to swear in it on your first post. You weren't ignored, one of the moderators replied and gave you the link to the buyer's guide.

Hi there,

Shouldn't you be able to get the windscreen replaced on your insurance if you buy the car (?50 excess)?

Cabriaulait (I think) has posted about removing rust from fuel tanks without replacing them with the ingenious use of magnets…you should find this thread if you use the search facility…

Sorry can't help with the other questions…The guy that works on my car (other than my Dad) is in Cheshunt and used to race Mk1 Golf GTi's back in the day - He is spot on and knows them inside out - well worth the trip from Cambridge so might also be worth the trip from where you are  :dontknow:

I would look around for another GTi though if I were you - it will be cheaper in the long run I reckon.

Hope that helps?

Rach  

paul_c said

el_sicko said

why is it that when i asked very similar questions last week i was ignored? Im feeling very neglected right now guys!  :cry:

Your question was very vague, and you even managed to swear in it on your first post. You weren't ignored, one of the moderators replied and gave you the link to the buyer's guide.

and also, we don't like you

Thanks for the tips Rach. Nice one!

the first car you say about you has had the clipper kit added. are you sure the kit was added on? if it did come originally with the car, it would be one rare beast cos the clipper kit only started being used in october 87. still possible to be in uk tho.
if it was original and documented i would buy it!

shame its not a gti.

leather interior, i wouldnt mind that tbh
the rest of it sounds retrievable.

but there again i would love my own tintop and think it probably the best for actual driving  out of the two, but consider the cab to be much much much more fun!

if you want a cab to be quick wait for a gti.
or if youve found a rarity and are not a speedfreak buy it

oh and 1 last thing



feel free to paste that wherever u like

Not an expert here, but if you're looking at bottom And top end work on the engine (ie pistons/rings and head/valves) it may be better to get a new engine.

It may sound a bit drastic but once you get into pulling the engine apart and rebuilding, it will start to cost. However, lots of nutters get GTi's and shoehorn in silly engines and a fair few go for spares so you may be able to get a bargain (I've seen a couple of engines go for 50 quid on here).

The only thing will be getting it changed over. My brother and myself are in the middle of swapping an engine on his van and we'll be done in a couple of days with a little while to get it all adjusted and set up just right.

Just my two pennie's worth but hope you get what you want, whatever.