1992 Cabby rebuild - ENGINE IN! 16/07/14

Aim: Build a Mk1 Golf Cabriolet for "everyday" use
Budget: £3000

I am planning to build the car to my personal specification and know that it is not going to retain many original parts, so with that in mind, I am going to upgrade and change things to my specification.

I already have a 1983 GTI cabriolet, however would like to restore that to "original" specification, so that was no good for my "daily" plan……off to hunt eBay. It didn't take long and I had found myself a shell stripped to the bone already for just £90


It was however about 5 hours away! Luckily, I won the auction before the AGM last year, so decided to leave my MK1 at home and collected the shell on a trailer on the way to the AGM and attend the AGM with the car on the trailer….big hello to all that came to have a "look"

Once I got it home, I was able to store it in a friends yard for a few days while I sorted things out



I did however manage to cause a little bit of damage to the shell while it was on the trailer….nothing too bad though



On closer inspection, the inner wings looked very sound and overall the body was in very good condition….it is a 1992 shell so had endured 10 years less weather than some - (I did note however that not all of the wheels are round!)



I had always liked the look of the rivage wheels, so after another spot of eBay searching, I managed to bag myself some of these! They need a good cut and polish….but I will get round to it!



I needed to source all of the panels for the rebuild, and from experience, knew they were not all going to come from the same car, so after a bit more eBaying and traveling up and down the county I purchased these for parts and set about stripping down and "saving" the bits that I need.





Once I had managed to build a Frankenstien version of the car using body panels from many different cars, I was able to arrange for the car to go for a respray! - After much deliberation and a very long discussion on the MK1OC Facebook page, I decided to stick with stock colours and Alpine White was chosen. (I was very tempted with black, however being a J plate, I wanted to ensure that it wasn't seen as a wannabe sporline!)

My plan is to rebuild all of the parts off the car so that I am able to bolt them to the shiny new bodywork once the paint shop have worked their magic.

I will update this with some photos of what I have been up to with regards to the mechanics and running gear of the car shortly.

Good luck with the project mate, be great to see this one come together

Cheers

Rich

Interesting project mate, good luck with it, I'll follow it with interest!  

I started rebuilding my rear beam over the Easter bank holiday, and had planned to finish it tonight after work, however, on unpackaging my new wheel cylinders I realised that they do not come with new bolts!

So this is as far as I've managed to get



I've put my rear wheel bearing races in some oil in the freezer and will try and fit them to the new hubs in the morning using the big hammer and socket technique.

I've finally managed to fully build my rear shocks using primarily new parts…..with a lot of sanding and re painting on the old strut tops!



I've also been working on my interior….having spent ages previously trying to run cables while upside down under the dash, I've decided that I am putting a connector on my centre console!



I'm also going to fit an additional 12v supply in the console somewhere so that phone chargers etc do not interfere with the look and feel of the interior.



And finally here is the centre console with the VDO gauges fitted and wired up…..will know if they work when I plug it in!

do you still have the BBS kit from that white c reg cabby?

By chance have you any spare door caps kickin around mate cheers

My rear wheel cylinder bolts turned up this morning (thanks to the post lady) so I am going to try and get the rear hubs built up today. I am going to take my races out of the freezer shortly and try and fit them to the hubs....updates to follow

Good luck with the build

The car is has had a thorough degrease and hot clean at the body shop.





The rear arch doesn't need replacing…just rubbing back and properly sealing (was just primer when I picked up the car)

Under 90 days to go!

Body shop







Primer





Alpine white

All looking superb  

£90 I as bargain  

Looks great in paint, well done.

Matt

Loving the colour choice.  

Looks fantastic Matt, great work so far and quickly done  

Thanks for the positive comments….not sure it has been done "quickly"! But the real push will be on to get it finished by the end of June!

Struggling with manifold bolts at the moment, need to remove the down pipe as I'm going to fit a 4 2 1 and never see the C clamps again!

Cleaned and sprayed my sump in some VHT black paint, and am impressed with the results, I need to clean and spray the block next (black again) and then the head in silver

Credit card is going to be hammered this month and next month, as I need to buy all those little bits you don't budget for and mot, tax insurance etc.

Fingers crossed I will be at the AGM

Update

My bodywork guy is VERY busy and as the cabby is being done at a SUPER price, I have had to be bumped to the bottom of the queue…which is ok by me, the finished product will be SUPERB!

Panels and kit all prepped and ready for primer

Looking good ! Cant wait to see more  

Keep the pics. coming mate. I am planning a cabrio refurb with a VR6  transplant for my first build back into the mk1 family. Looks great already!!  

Time for an update. With only 17 days to the AGM I am really going to have to try and get as much of the car finished this week and next week, with aim of getting it MOTd on the 21st July!

It is going to be a very big challenge.

I am also going to try and get a 1.8t engine into the car too!

Anyone in South Wales willing to help, beer, food and money waiting!