New here

Hi folks.
Just a quick intro as I'm new to this site and to Golf ownership.
I've just bought a 1983 GTI cab. in a sort of partially restored/partially abandoned state. this is my fourth VW, my first was a 1974 Type 2 bus with a 3.0l 6 cyl. engine which i got in 1984, a 1981 Mk1 Jetta 1.3 in '92 and lastly a 1989 Passat 2.0 16V automatic LHD estate in 1997 so not totally new to VW ownership.
Overall, the Golf is sound and reasonably complete except for some small trim items. That said, it needs a huge amount of tidying and mostly electrical work as only the ignition and starting circuits actually work as they should, but at the price I paid for it, even that's a bonus.
It came with a paddling pool on the pasenger side, mouldy carpets and a driver's seat sort of attached with the passenger's seat flopping around where there may once have been a back seat.
There is supposed to be a complete set of (white) leather reupholstered seats coming my way but I won't hold my breath.
The car was resprayed, thankfully in the original colour (red) and the roof is in very good outer condition but the headlining is ratty. wheels are some cheap 15"BBS copy things with mismatched tyres that wouldn't be legal by any stretch of the imagination but at least the spare is an originaal VW GTI alloy in decent condition.
Overall, fun times lie ahead as I muddle through all the little bits and pieces. My immediate plan is to have it road legal ASAP as I have to have it VRT'd and I want to drive it to the centre.
The single biggest obsticle I'm facing at the moment is coolant blowing back througt the overflow despite the car apparently having a new water pump and rad. I fitted a thermostat as I suspected the original since the car has been lying up for about four years but nothing has changed. Still recirculating and blowing out! The electric fan had to be disconnected as the stat switch is on all the time but the coolant is recirculating within three minutes of starting from cold so it's not an overheating issue as such. The thermostat appears to be opening as the bottom hose gets hot but after the bottle blows it's top.
Anyway, that's where I'm at with it at the moment.
Hopefully I will have some pics and progress reports soon.
 

Hello and welcome to the club GeeTeeAye, be sure to start a thread in the 'Mk1 golf and projects' section to keep us updated

Andy.

Welcome to the club mate, just joined myself! Bad luck with the coolant, have you looked a head gasket?? 

Just a quick update.
First, thanks for the welcome folks, and the symptoms don't seem like HG failure, but I won't rule anything out.
I removed and checked the rad for blockages but it's as good as it first appeared.
Water pump is also in new condition.
I reassembled all and left out the 'stat but reconnected the constantly running fan.
I also filled the system via the top hose until water came out the top connection on the rad in case it was simply a case of air locking.
Anyway, all seems well at the moment coolant-wise.
I'm going to try and refit the stat and run it again to see what happens.
Tuesday will see a new fan switch being fitted as well.
The car went for a short drive and ran very strong but I notice a lot of vibration and I have to check the mounts now.
Also, idle seems a little high at around 1100 RPM but as I want to change the cam belt, I'll ignore this until then,
If and when the cooling system decides to cooperate, proper coolant will be added but I'm not inclined to waste gallons of the stuff until I'm sure I won't need to drain the system again.
As soon as I start a proper "project" post, I'll try to upload a few pics and a full job list as I see it.
All that said, there's a lot more room in the engine bay than either of my other current hobby cars so that's a help.
Also, Golf parts seem very reasonably priced and plentiful which is also a bonus, especially when compared to my Lancia.

Hello mate and welcome along to the forum. Best of luck with the project

Just to update the cooling system quandry.
Turns out it was the pressure cap on the expansion tank that was faulty!
I replaced it in a final attempt to sort the system before considering removing the head and now all is well in that department at least!

Hi

Welcome to the Mk1 Golf Owners Club, enjoy your stay and feel free to browse around the forum and ask any questions you may have, we are all a friendly bunch, and will try and help where we can : - )
If you are looking to save money make sure you check out here:
http://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/index.php?page=purchase&type=message&id=-1&product=USERGROUP5
For just £20 a year for paid membership, you have soon saved more than the paid membership free on discounts from the partners that support our paid members, and on top of that help the club keep going.
As a club we encourage people to meet up, make new friends and share experiences and knowledge we have all had with our golfs etc , so if that's your sort of thing keep an eye on the Regional and National pages below, where there will be details of meets in and around your location. Also details of who your Regional Host is or are, feel free to contact them about meets in your area also.
http://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/forum/index.php?page=forumview&id=national_2
http://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/forum/index.php?page=forumview&id=regional_2

And finally the biggest event of the year ! ! The Mk1 Golf Owners Club - Annual Gathering. If you are looking for a great weekend or even just coming along for the day , fun and laughter, meet new people, enjoy a drive out of 90+ Mk1 Golfs, a great show and shine day on the Sunday and Auto jumble then it's not to be missed : - ) , see here for details:
http://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/forum/index.php?page=forumview&id=2013-annual-gathering

I look forward to meeting you at some shows / club meets in the near future
Cheers
Rich