Hi from a Newbie in Melbourne Australia

Test post 1

It worked!   

AAA Hahh. I still don't know what I was doing wrong to get the post up but Hey I'm in and that's the main thing!

I'm off to work but I'll post of the details of my 1983 GTI and some photos this evening Australia time.

Thanks Lhasadreams and Jellybelly for your help.  

Golf cabrio I also have a black 1993 Clipper cabrio as my daily driver so I'll post some details about her as well.    

Now I can log my introductory post & photos!  

Hi I'm a Newbie from Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. I've been a long term Mk1 GTI enthusiast and recently purchased an Ex-UK 1983 Mk1 GTi Campaign which was originally imported to Australia by a UK expat in 2012. Hence the reference to 'Convicts' in my user name - Ha Ha Being sent to Australia and all that history stuff!!!

The history of the car is as follows:

The car was sold to a Mr. M.A.Symonds who resided in Epping Essex by Abridge Eng. Co Ltd WYCH W.M. Harlow Essex and was first registered on the 3rd September 1983. Its original registration  No. A354 OTW. I have the original plates as they came on the car when it was imported to Australia. Its chassis No. is wvwzzz17zEW062701 it has a DX code engine commencing with 0336, a 9A gearbox code and the optional extra codes are 879, 430, 560, 568, 707, 715, 738, and 750. The original paint code was L90E the interior code is KM

As you can see from the photos the car has undergone a glass/interior and engine-gearbox  respray to VW Atlas grey between 1995 to 1998 when it was taken off the road (sorn?) or simply unregistered. The milage/ last service entry in its service book in 1995 was 113631 at the Abridge Eng. Co. It was re-mot in 1998 and the mot states that the cars colour is Atlas Grey. The Nov 1998 mot certificate shows the cars milage being 116811. The last service in the UK prior to coming to Australia was carried out.
on the 5/7/2012 at Wagen Wheels Copythorne Garage Romsey Rd Southampton. The car's milage was then 125578. Its current milage June 2015 is 128714 miles.

The last UK owner was a Martin L Head from Southampton, who had purchased it from a Vicki Peace on 18/01/2008. Plans for the future are to tidy up a few areas as part of its transfer to Victoria's registration and then enjoy!

Current modifications: extractors and supersprint exhaust. I may in the short term change the suspension to DW stage two coilovers and purchase a set of BBS rs 001s 15x 6 rims and store the factory P-slots and suspension for future local VW shows and club displays. In the long term it will revert back to its original L90E colour, standard GTI exhaust manifold and engine pipe and have a complete under body refub - back to metal and then restored. The current Atlas Grey paint job is outstanding and is too nice to simply soda blast away but one day,  it will be as it left the factory!

In closing I have visited the Mk1 owners club website often and I have been impressed by the quality of the restoration, the friendships and the club member's enthusiasm for the original and best hot hatch!

Wow, very nice car. Looks really nice in that colour, I bet it's almost a one of a kind car in Melbourne?

Looks great. Is the cabby in the background yours too?

Thanks for posting Mike.d.

VW actually produced Mk1 golfs in Australia until 1977, then due to import tariff and duty reductions on fully imported cars by the federal government, VW packed up and moved all their plant to Sth Africa.

They then became full importers from Germany and continued the Mk1 Golf until 1981- (GTi's were never officially imported into Australia, the best we ever received were 1600cc carby 4-speed GLS models).

 When they stopped importing personal vehicles, they soldiered on with a variety of Kombi commercial vehicles until 1990. They returned with the last of the series mk1 cabriolets and a detuned Mk2 GTI with a 1800cc engine - no 16 valve, turbo or supercharged versions were available.

Since then we have had the Mk3 GTi including the VR6 version, Mk4 GTI - 2.0litre turbo and a small number of R32 4wd prior to the release of the Mk5 GTI and the R32 4Wd, which as it did around the world, re-established the Golf GTi as the premier hot hatch in Australia.

We have since become a large market for performance Golfs including the latest R but the cars are often slightly detuned due to Australia being classified as a "hot climate". Thus our current Mk7 R is only 206Kw rather than the 221KW? European version.

We're hopeful of receiving the new Sports Golf - 195kw and the Golf 400hp, as VW are the hot hatch kings not Mercedes Benz with the A45.

In regards to my Campaign they are a very rare car in Australia. There's probably no more than 10 EW chassis cars in the country and as you know, they are 30 year old cars and getting good sound examples rust free or at least repairable given the costs involved is quite difficult.

From an enthusiasts point of view, you can now buy use Mk5 GTI's around $16000 Aus so a 5000 pound GTi in England translates into a 10,000$Aus (exchange rate), before shipping costs, modification to Australian design rules 1983 level - such as door intrusion bars, child restraint points, seat belts, headlights, etc. Therefore the 5000 pound GTi becomes a 15,000 $Aus car landed before you deal with any body/rust issue etc.

Hence the younger generation go for the Mk3 Vr6 or the Mk4 GTi turbo both around $6000 Aus or the Mk5 GTi turbo, which is a much more modern car with all the modern safety features and outright turbo performance.

That's not to say there aren't younger Mk1 GTi enthusiasts in Australia but the passion has to "burn" pretty brightly to actually see it into reality in 2015 compared to 1983 when I caught the "disease".

Yet as Mk1 GTi owners we know the enjoyment of the Mk1 isn't purely about outright power, over tyred handling or powerful braking! but the overall experience of driving a light weight, direct steering and agile car which connects you to the driving experience.

I'll look through the forum to see if you've posted any resto threads etc, as I'm always interested to see what people are doing to their GTi's and how they reflect on any changes they made after living with the modifications for a length of time.

I will be restoring my Gti to its original colour as well as carrying out a number of easily reversable modifications, so I'll create a thread as they occur.

 I'm also a long term member of the VW Club of Victoria so I'll post up some photos of our various events throughout the year.

Cheers for now.  

I've not posted a resto thread yet, I just have pics of where I've got to so far

Photo and Video Storage | Photobucket

Hi Smig1003

Yes the LBPM otherwise known as the Little Black Power Machine is mine.

I bought her in 1997, she's a 1993 Cabriolet 5 speed close ratio, with a JH fuel injected catalyst exhaust engine and a power roof. It's basically a detuned Dx motor with the Mk1 GTi sway bars, brakes and a slightly softer suspension setting/springs.

I'm the second owner and she's done just over 360,000kms and is my daily driver as I couldn't - until recently get my hot little hands on a Mk1 GTi.

I'm in the process of collecting a range of parts for a complete restoration involving a complete strip down and respray, as I've promised my daughter she'll inherit her!!

I'm looking at back dating the interior to the late 70's seating materials, Mk1 GTi steering wheel and lowering it on coil overs with BBs wheels and a more modern version of tail lights with the clear section along the top, clear indicators both front and side, a GTi cam and maybe a stainless steel sports exhaust. Come Summer evenings, the hoods down, tunes are playing and she'll absolutely purrrr down the road!!!

Does it sound like I've been thinking about it for a while? You bet!! She'll be sweet as….!!

I'll start a thread when the strip down/rebuild commences which should go relatively straight forward, as we don't have the rust issues as much in Australia as our Winters aren't as servere as in the UK (snow), we don't use Grit/salt on the roads in Australia and VW has improved its rust protection since 1983.

I'll up load some pictures of her and the factory wheels they came with in 1993, as I haven't noticed any of the Mk1 owners club cars featuring this particular 14" style wheel. She's the equivalent of your Clipper model we never received a SportsLine version of the cabriolet in Australia and they only imported the Mk1 cabriolet from 1990 to 1993.

They cost $35,000 Aus in 1993!!  I know as I priced one at the time….Hmmmm they only sold a few hundred of them and many of them were 3 speed autos   . The close ratio 5-speed is a much better drive/performer in my opinion.

I look out for any threads about your car(s) as I've really only focussed on GTi Tin top resto's to date and I need to research some cabrio restoration projects.

Cheers  

Hi Mike

Just had a look through your 79 slides, a real challenge there!. I liked the way you replaced the outer guard lips rather than fitting the whole quarter panel as others have done,
Much better to keep as much of the original car as possible whilst getting rid of all the hidden rust under neath.

Are you going to do an underbody refurb whilst your at it? or is that a stage 2 project.

Its always hard having the car off the road for too long and keep up the motivation.!

I'll be following your path once I decide to revert back to the original colour.

Hopefully those who completed the colour change on mine did a thorough job, which after 14 years has stood the test of time to date. Although I have some minor rust issues…

But we all know its only when you strip it back that you really know what you're working with.

I'll make a rotisory spit when I do mine as it makes it so much easier to work on the chassis, especially when you're stripping body seal and welding!

Keep up the good work I'll be watching  

ConvictGTI,

Ive not really had any threads up on my cars, but I have a couple of mk1's also.

My Mars red tiptop is a 1983 1.3 'Driver'. it was restored by a previous owner, who upgraded to engine to a 1.8 20t, and basically all the other mods on the car.
Theres some pics here:-
http://s4.photobucket.com/user/smig/library/Golf%20mk1%2020vt

For the ocassional sunny days we get here, I also have a completely stock (other than lowering springs) 1991 cabriolet Flash red 'Sportline'.
A few pics here:-
http://s4.photobucket.com/user/smig/library/Golf%20mk1%20GTi%20Sportline

Up until last month, I also had a stock 1991 Alpine white mk2 GTI 8v.
Pics:-
http://s4.photobucket.com/user/smig/library/Mk2%20Golf%20GTi


Looking forward to seeing your car pics (and maybe some of your country in the background) :

No worries Smig1003, Melbourne is located on Port Phillip Bay so I'll set up some photos that look out across the bay etc.

Of course the golfs will be the main point of interest!

     

Smig

I've just had a look through your photobucket shots and you've obvious completed a lot of work on your GTI.

I've always liked the gold centred BBS wheels on a red or black GTi and your car is the car of the month! Nice photo.

In Victoria we don't have an annual MOT process for road cars. Once its registered its deemed roadworthy and its your responsibility as the registered owner to keep it that way! However the Police can pull you over at anytime, conduct a roadside visual/noise/pollution test
and either take the car off the road on the spot or issue you with an unroadworthy statement & a sticker is attached to your windscreen (which is illegal for you to remove). You have 14 days to fix the issues and report to the local police station for verification or its off the road and you have to go through the whole roadworthy process again including a Vicroads inspection.

I mention the above as I've read through a number of engine upgrade threads - Smudgers, Melteddrummers current one to name a few. The frightening thing isn't the mechanical work its the wiring      RubJohhny must be busy!!

We have a number of late 1990's onwards Passats/Audi A3 with the 1.8T/2.0T motors and a conversion is tempting, but as soon as you attempt to register it or insure it the "fun police" turn up big time  

When it comes to engine conversion for road going cars, Victoria is a "nanny state"! Australian compliance rules are quite stringently enforced and you can get away with a maximum increase of power around 20% from standard.

Anything more than that and the fun police refuse to register the car for road use or refer you to a specialist vehicle engineer for a detailed mechanical assessment, vehicle emissions & compliance report.

They beat you into submission with a combination of $$$$ cost and bureaucracy!!!

If that's not enough to stop you they then introduced our 60 mph/100km speed limits and mobile speed cameras with a tolerance of only 2kms over any posted speed limit. Hmmmm…. some say revenue raising!

We have a 12 demerit point limit over 3 years, any more than that - suspended licence for 30 days. Caught talking/texting on a hand held phone whilst driving = 4 demerit points and a $400 dollar plus on the spot fine OOOUUUCH!

There's lots of Victorian drivers getting around with only one or two point credits left    pressures on!  Roll through a STOP Sign on a side street at 5am - 3 demerit points and $$$ fine on the spot!!

That's a bit of background information for you so basically if the manufacturers don't build it that way don't try and change it for the road!

In regards to the Sportline what different to the Clipper model?

Regards

Your Campaign looks really nice, I would keep it in that colour for ever. Must be good to know that rust will never really be an issue for you, yet a bit frustrating that your hands are tied if you want to do much in the way of modifications.

Been really interesting so far to hear about your cars and particularly about your country and what it's like to own a car there.

ConvictGTI,

The Sportline was basically a special edition clipper with the GTI engine, colour coded mirrors, BBS RA wheels, Recaro interior, electric roof etc.
There were 449 Sportlines registered in the UK, either in Red or Black.
They were basically a runout model prior to the mk3 Golf being sold.

More info on Hughs website here:-
http://www.golfgtisportline.com/index.php/history/

convictgti

Hey its good to see another campaign in australia !! i had seen your car in another forum , i think there is two here in oz now ?
I still have not registered mine as they want me to put the bars in the doors and child anchor points in the rear , so im waiting on a pardon from department of transport to dimiss . As i cant justify 2.5mm bar as a protection barrier rather than unnecessary welding and ripping apart doors , as its going to be a club car not a daily ..
Do you have any interior pics 
 

ConvictGTI-No.1983EW said

Hi Mike

Just had a look through your 79 slides, a real challenge there!. I liked the way you replaced the outer guard lips rather than fitting the whole quarter panel as others have done,
Much better to keep as much of the original car as possible whilst getting rid of all the hidden rust under neath.

Are you going to do an underbody refurb whilst your at it? or is that a stage 2 project.

Its always hard having the car off the road for too long and keep up the motivation.!

I'll be following your path once I decide to revert back to the original colour.

Hopefully those who completed the colour change on mine did a thorough job, which after 14 years has stood the test of time to date. Although I have some minor rust issues…

But we all know its only when you strip it back that you really know what you're working with.

I'll make a rotisory spit when I do mine as it makes it so much easier to work on the chassis, especially when you're stripping body seal and welding!

Keep up the good work I'll be watching  

Thanks mike  

I have had a pretty good inspection of the underside and actually it's supprisingly solid, it was one of the main reasons I chose her in the first place. The body on top was ratty but reasonably solid and the underside was pretty much the best that I'd looked at.
I have a couple of holes to address in the offside rear inner wheel arch, but other than that, she's pretty rust free now, just need to sort the paint, interior and mechanical niggles (oh yeah, and the slight matter of getting all the electrial gremlins sorted   )
So when I look at it, I've got my work cut out for me.

At some stage I guess I'll strip back the underside and get her looking trim underneath, but for now I just want to get her back on the road as I haven't driven her in a few years  

Mike