Just joined - what a great forum !

Well I've got a 1600cc GTi in Black and rust.
She's a member of the family and we want to keep her forever or bury her in the garden when she wont go any more.
She was registered in Oct 1980 - so is that a series 2 ?
I have owned Nike (as we call her after the Greek God Athena Nike) since around 1987 - lover her to bits !!
And what's prompted me to look around the net today is that the poor love has decided to have her reverse lights on all the time when the ignition is turned to on . I guess it's an earthing issue or maybe the fusebox - but I was hoping to find a wiring diagram as the haynes manual I had died last year of terminal water damage. I guess I'll have to pull the bulbs out for the time being I'd rather have no reverse lights than them on 100% of the time ! All the other electrics work fine.
Anyway any pointers I'd be most grateful.

welcome
i'd just do a visual check for starts on the condition of the wiring, also theres a switch on the gearbox i think or linkage? i'm sure someone will post a reply tellin where it is. anyway might be worth checkin the condition of it could be permenantly made

Thanks for that. Interestingly, now that the car is "cold", everything works fine. Looks like it's intermittent. I've fiddled with a couple of things and I'll see how she goes in the morning. Wiring generally looks good with quite a few new cables to ensure a good earth. But there is one earth lead that appears to go nowhere. I'll check that out when I can see properly in the light.

On the series one or series two question I thought I was 2 but I have a ten digit chassis no and it doesn't start AW. Perhaps it's a newer series 1.

Welcome to the forum, glad you found us  

A 1980 Series 1 VIN is stamped on the top of the RHS front suspension turret, has 10 digits beginning "17A"

For the lights, check for any dampness on the switch on top of the gearbox as they can short across the connectors.

The Chassis no I've got is 17B…….. !

I'll check for dampness as she's been out all day and it's been pretty damp.
Thanks for that.

hi there and welcome aboard …

i know nout bout electrics so i wont offer you any bad advice lol

post some pics so we can see this love of your life

smiffie

Hi and welcome! I work in Corby so not a million miles from you I guess?

Any pics for us of the car?

Cheers
Andy

Corby is a little way North of us - we're down near Rushden.

I'll get some pics up - strangely I don't have any digital pics of our car yet!

Yep, I know it. Look forward to seeing the pics :wink:

Ok here's my baby……