Newbie in need of help - have I paid too much for my car!?

Hi everyone,

I've just bought an '83 Lhasa green 1.8 GTi on EBay for ?1700 but I'm wondering if I've paid over the odds…

It's done 147K and has 11 months MOT and good history from new until the mid 90s then progressively more patchy until it stops in 2003. There is no major rust that I can see on the body panels. There is the odd bubble on the edges of the n/s back window aperture, under the windscreen surround and at the bottom of the o/s door but I haven't yet removed the wheel arch trims to see what lies beneath. There is also a bit of rust on the sills although it looks like surface rust (I couldn't poke my finger through anywhere!). The underside looks OK with old but intact underseal although I need to put it on ramps to thoroughly check. All the panels look straight with a couple of very minor scratches and dents.

The interior is ok apart from the usual speaker holes in the parcel shelf and door cards, and there is a small tear in the driver seat bolster. All the gauges and controls work although the front spots aren't wired-up.

The car drives and handles really well but doesn't feel as fast or responsive as my '85 mk2 GTi - as though the engine is reluctant to pick-up and rev from low-mid revs (running on Optimax) and it stutters when pressing the accelerator from cold for about 30 seconds before running properly. It also runs permanently very cold - the temp gauge is almost at the min mark and the oil temp peaks around 65 (my mk2 typically reads in the 90s). The weather has been cold but this still seems odd - maybe the thermostat has been removed for some reason. It doesn't smoke, sounds smooth & quiet and the oil and coolant look good and are staying at a constant level (~500 miles so far).

Basically it seems to start, stop & go ok albeit not as fast as I'd expected, the body looks reasonably tidy & solid but is by no means mint and the chassis looks ok at first glance (but needs more investigation). A bit rough around the edges lets say.

Sorry for such a long first post but I'd really appreciate any approx. suggestions as to what I should have paid, and also any advice about the lackluster performance compared to my mk2.

Thanks!

Duncan

Sounds like a reasonable deal to me - there are probably cheaper ones out there if you hunt around, but not that many I would say.

There is a possibility that it's a Campaign model (end of production special edition) as it is an '83 model. If the VIN number has "EW" somewhere towards the middle then it is, and it is technically worth more than a standard GTi (or so some people say - this is open to fierce debate!) Also as it's Lhasa green, it is rarer than the red and black versions, so again it could be worth more (also open to debate!)

If the chassis has no rust, and the rest is just cosmetic, then for a few  hundred you could have it looking spotless again, which would definitely increase its value. Once it's running properly, and if it is a Campaign, then it would probably be worth more like ?2.5 - ?3.5k (just my opinion).

Engine-wise, I would check the condition of the thermostat as this may be the cause of all your troubles. If it's running cold then I would suggest this as the best starting point anyway. Also, check out this post as it's very useful for sorting problems with fuel injected engines.

Overall if you're happy with it then don't worry too much about the cost, and just enjoy owning it!

Sounds like a reasonable price really. It would be even nicer if it turned out to be a campaign. With the performance, there cant be much wrong if its not showing any signs of smoke or rattles and knocks. I would start with new plugs, leads, cap, rotor arm, air filter. Get the fueling and timing looked at and fingers crossed this will be the source of your lack of power. Give it an oil change as well.
Welcome aboard

Thanks guys.

I just a little dubious about the seller as it looks like he as a history of shill bidding and the car was inaccurately described. Plus a bit of new car paranoia!

I'm getting the underside checked out by a friendly mechanic tomorrow so fingers crossed. If it's ok I'll start investigating the cold running / lack of performance.

Cheers,
Duncan

Cool - good luck with the inspection

I forgot to say earlier that you should post up some pics (click here if you're not sure how) and we can all offer our expert opinions too…

Unless it's extremely rusty under there, it's likely someone on here will be restoring something worse

Well it's not too bad at all!

A small hole in the d/s seal (botched at some time or another with fibreglass!), a very localised hole in the spare tyre well, small hole in the inner front wing and the d/s rear panel needs repairing just behind the back wheel. Other than that it's very good  

I'm going to get all this fixed by a good welder and then spend some time with the waxoyl and underseal. I've also discovered that green Smoothrite is a pretty good colour match with Lhasa green!! Great for door bottoms, the tyre well etc.

Back to the cold running / power loss problem though…

When fully warmed on open roads my mk2 reads just below midway on the water temp guage and 85-95 on the digital oil temp reading.

The mk1 however reads just above the minimum mark on the water temp guage and 60-70 for oil temp??

When I removed the thermostat (after disconnecting the bottom hose and draining the coolant) a load of extra coolant came out on top of me! I would not expect this to happen if the thermostat was stuck open? But then I can't explain why else the car would run cold. The new thermostat is going in tonight but I'm not too hopeful.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Duncan