Newbie From Birmingham

Hi everyone, just thought I would say hello.

Acquired (bought) a 1983 Alpine white GTi off a friend in Dec 08. It is pretty solid but essentially needs attention to….. ! well everything really. It is taxed, Mot'd, insured and I drive it a couple of times a week. I normally tinker, fiddle/fettle with it once or twice a week as I feel I am moving the project forward and I find it very therapeutic. Already building up a collection of spares ie grille, interior, Pirelli P Slots, rear light cluster, bonnet.

I previously drove/owned a; Met Blue 1.5 GLS MK1 c1983, 1987 Atlas Grey 8 valve Mk2 GTi c 1989 (Co car), 1983 1.5 Scirroco Alpine White c 1993, 1989 Atlas Grey 16v GTi c 1994 to 1998 also BMW 320 325 but we wont mention those.

Few bikes Honda 1997 CBR600 c1997-1999 also some off road bikes ie Honda CR125 and Husqvarna CR250 and a couple of speedboats chucked in for good measure.

I hope this post up ok.  You cant sit on the sidelines forever!!

8O  8O  8O …. you've had everything…. speedboats!?!?!?  Awesome!!!  Great collection of cars there mate!!

Welcome to the site my friend  :wink:

Hi and welcome!
I agree, an impressive back-catalogue of vehicles.    Any photos of your current Mk1?  :mrgreen:

No pictures at the moment, digital camera has gone missing, I will hunt it down or replace as I need to put some stuff up on Ebay.

I hope I have not created a false impression with my previous vehicle list. These have been owned and disposed of over 30 odd years.

My current vehicles are the aforementioned MK1 and a 54 reg Mondeo TDCI Zetec 130 6 speed which is bland and souless… but it does the job ie drove from Bham - Portsmouth - Cherbourg - LaBresse (nr Strasbourg) - Malaga - Plymouth - Bham over 2 weeks last August 46 mpg 4 adults and bootful of luggage 3000 miles plus and not hangin around either.

I intend to keep the MK1 for a very long time and have a renovation list as long as your arm. The brakes have been attended to ie new discs, pads and whatever needs changing, rear suspension is pretty new. Next job is all the front end running gear ie suspension, bushes, ball joints, track rods etc

I am touching up the bodywork as I go along learning to prep and paint as I will not have it painted properly until all the mechanics are sorted.

Also fettling the interior, I have the original Grey stripe interior which is average to tatty and have bought a spare grey interior which is average to good so I will use the new one and possibly attempt to renovate the old one ie covers off for a proper clean (please advise if this is not a good idea) if it all goes wrong I will just have them recovered in black cloth but I will still have a grey stripe to hand. As you can change all the seats in about 10 minutes it is probably a good strategy (again comments appreciated)