new car - driving home - Now with new GTi cab pic

hello all,

am meant to be picking up my '87 GTi cab on saturday am… sorted insurance/tax etc. but the car has been sorn for a few months and has only done 6 miles since its MOT at the end of July'07.

Car has 100k'ish miles on the clock, no idea when/whether cambelt has been replaced, engine seems to run very nicely though. The handbrake seems to work fine too.

the question is, is there anything else i should be wary of on a car that hasn't been driven lately? i have a 100mile+ journey home, on which i will drive like the district nurse. car has hardly any fuel in it, but will pop in some optimax to up the octane a bit.

anything else? thanks guys…

wiknerhacker

wiknerhacker said

hello all,

am meant to be picking up my '87 GTi cab on saturday am… sorted insurance/tax etc. but the car has been sorn for a few months and has only done 6 miles since its MOT at the end of July'07.

Car has 100k'ish miles on the clock, no idea when/whether cambelt has been replaced, engine seems to run very nicely though. The handbrake seems to work fine too.

the question is, is there anything else i should be wary of on a car that hasn't been driven lately? i have a 100mile+ journey home, on which i will drive like the district nurse. car has hardly any fuel in it, but will pop in some optimax to up the octane a bit.

anything else? thanks guys…

wiknerhacker

Hi mate

It should be ok, mine had been stood for a while and i nursed it hoem, changed cam belt for my own piece of mind and its been great since..

all I'd say its worth joining the AA or getting someone to come along with you who is a member just in case..

i've glued my aa card to my hand.

are these things easy to change the cambelt on? would everyone recommend doing that straight away?

thanks Lawsy

yes do the cam belt. it is very easy to do with the right tools and time.

wiknerhacker said

i've glued my aa card to my hand.

are these things easy to change the cambelt on? would everyone recommend doing that straight away?

thanks Lawsy

Its above my know how, but mine was doen by another membe ron here for a few beer vouchers so alls good..
I ha done go ona  scirocco years ago and ever since thne I've been anal about it, so i always get them changed…

thank you guys.

can i check to see if it looks ok without removing a load of stuff from the engine?

it's on the left beneath a cover. you need to undo the two bolts on the rocker head. remove the drive belt/fan belt and undo the screw half way down the cover then you can lift the cover off. but even if it looks ok i'd still replace it.

wiknerhacker said

thank you guys.

can i check to see if it looks ok without removing a load of stuff from the engine?

Yeah, you can get on your knees and look behind the drivers side wheel, you might be able to see thebottom of the belt there..

does it not have any history then??

if its on 100k its likely that the cambelt will have been around 80k so you should be ok, I'd risk it for first drive home,just take it steady..
then get it done ASAP

Hi mate,
I know you've already mentioned it , but get some fuel in it as soon as poss. The fuel gauge on mine lies like a cheap watch, the last thing you want, is to drag any crap thats accumulated in the bottom of the tank, through the fuel lines and filters, as this will give you no end of problems.
mines the 1.8 GTI, and i always run it on Optimax because the engine needs 98 octane to run properly, i think normal unleaded is only 95 octane and you can certainly notice the difference.
good luck, hope you enjoy it.

thank you one and all - what a helpful bunch!

i shall drive as if miss daisy was in the back & change the cambelt within the week. limited history on the car but it all appears pretty straight & genuine & well looked after.

happymick. i know all about the snot in the fuel lines/injectors etc. my dad had a helios blue gti cab (big bumper, not small like mine) in 1990 that was never the same again after rust from the fuel filler neck went into the tank. thanks for the heads-up.

as for the optimax, will happily sacrifice some performance for the metaphorical bending over one gets at the pumps. that said, will compare and contrast.

wiknerhacker said

thank you one and all - what a helpful bunch!

i shall drive as if miss daisy was in the back & change the cambelt within the week. limited history on the car but it all appears pretty straight & genuine & well looked after.

happymick. i know all about the snot in the fuel lines/injectors etc. my dad had a helios blue gti cab (big bumper, not small like mine) in 1990 that was never the same again after rust from the fuel filler neck went into the tank. thanks for the heads-up.

as for the optimax, will happily sacrifice some performance for the metaphorical bending over one gets at the pumps. that said, will compare and contrast.

As for fuel mate, I put the 95 stuff in mine, still goes well, had it off the clock (on private roads of course) and just been away this weekend, done over 400 miles, didnt hang around either and got 37 MPG average..

Be worth checking history mate and seeing if its had belt changed, if it has within last coupel o years, no need for miss daisy, but I'd still change it anyways

Check your tyre pressures and dont forget the spare  :mrgreen:

Welcome to the site, get some photos up when you get her and where are you from and where are you picking the car up from?

If you want to remove the top cambelt cover, you'll need a 10mm socket on a wrench, and a 6mm allen key. About 5 minute job at the most.

I wouldn't do it again, but I did once drive my GTI around Europe on a cambelt that hadn't moved for 11 years ops:

Lasted just fine though!

HTH

Rich

ok. confession time. the new car's not for me.

i actually own a limited edition mx5 bbr turbo. my bro currently has a completely standard one owner 3-door '91 mk2 gti 8v. he mentioned a couple of months ago that he really wanted to get a mk1 gti cab (small bumpers, as he's always fancied one) but he has no interest or ability when it comes to looking for such things.

so, i've bought the mk1 gti cab for him on spec & am planning to surprise him when i turn up for lunch (mothering sunday) in the new car. i also have an ulterior motive in that i may well keep the mk2 as i sometimes need 5 seats & the mazda isn't that practical. asssuming he likes the new car & if i decide not to buy the mk2 off him, it's going up for sale…

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/8458/golfgtimk28vfmx5nw7.jpg

hope he likes it. that's IF it gets me home on saturday.

Further to my previous post… here is the new car. my brother absolutely loves it & the mk2 will be heading elsewhere. good times.

helios blue (nearly all paint original & in great nick!!!). 108k miles. no rust.  near mint mohair hood. restored gti grille (by me - quite pleased with the result). alloys could do with a refurb though.

car goes well. fantastic gearchange. tiny oil leak by sump i think. not very happy cold starting, could do with a tune-up. cambelt last changed 6 years & 17k miles ago. hood a bit noisy at lip on front, though dunno if there's anything that can be done about this…

firstly, what do you think? & secondly, what do you reckon it's worth given the above details? it's not for sale, but i'm just curious…

That looks very tidy, the 'J' hooks on the hood release handles may just need tightening, to pull the front of the roof down a bit tighter to the header seal. as for a price, hard to say without a good look, but i would say about 1200-1400 quid maybe. :dontknow:

hi, I bought an E-reg 8v gti cab at the weekend - mine is white, though - it's value was around ?1,400 mark but I p/ex our old car against his, plus he gave us some ? too - mine has 139k miles but has a pile 4 inches thick of service history/mot's etc.  

As a side issue, I have "pinking" in my engine as he put "normal" unleaded in it on the way up to our place - I spoke to a vw mechanic today who told me to run it on premuim unleaded (99 octane) until I have the engine re-timed to cope with "normal" unleaded, he said sometimes they need a bit of adjustment to run on it happily.

Very tidy!

Get that cambelt changed, well overdue!