Golf GTI Special '83

After thinking about it for years I ended up buying a Golf GTI Special a week ago. I've tried to find a good project car several times, but not bidding high enough or moving to slow has stopped it from happening. So this time I just said YES, paid the asking price and picked it up. I will try to document the journey, share some frustration and joy, and ask many questions along the way - and hopefully this will work out fine The car itself is quite interesting. The story is that it's not been in use since '99 and has a milage of around 70000. It is what was called (as far as I know) GTI Special (sold in Norway) and has things like sunroof, Avus 14" wheels, onboard computer among other things. It is also one of the cars in the last batch to leave the factory. It has the 16v KR engine and I've been told this was retrofitted in Germany. The options in the sticker in the car is B37 E98 031 234 571 707 715 738(?) and 752.

I would love to be corrected if I have the wrong information, or if you can tell me some more about this car.

A little warning - I'm not a mechanic. I do enjoy spending time in the garage, and I have done basic repairs like switching brakes and such, but that's it. So this will be quite interesting and a steep learning curve I guess.

My plan is to strip the car completely in pieces, sandblast / prime the body and then get it back in my garage to start working on it. There will be a lot - like A LOT of welding needed, and at this point (I'm on day 4 now) I'm actually a bit worried if it is at all possible, but I haven't given up yet.

I'll share some pictures from the first days and keep you updated along the way.

Picking up the car:


The engine bay when picking it up:



This is after day three. I started in the back and work my way taking out the interior.


I did continue the work today and I've stripped most of the dashboard, emptied the coolant to remove the fan/heater, removed the roof lining to uncover the sunroof.

The roof has some serious rust because the car has been standing outside for like 20 years, so I'm pretty sure it has to be replaced. I was trying to figure out a way to remove the sunroof installation today. As far as I can tell the only way is to cut the welds. I'd love to hear some thoughts on that.

I'm hoping to be able to remove the engine this weekend. Something I've never done before - but I'm taking a lot of pictures, putting parts in boxes, screws in plastic bags and labelling as much as possible.

Thats it for now - wish me luck  

Some pictures of the worst I've uncovered so far:



This is the rust in the roof. The reason is that water has been trapped in the sunroof padding for 20 years. I guess.


This is the driver (left) side. It is not shown in this picture but both floors needs to be replaced.

 

Best of luck.Looks like a big job but nothing that has not been done many times before!

stichill99 said

Best of luck.Looks like a big job but nothing that has not been done many times before!

Thank you! I'm keeping fingers crossed that everything will work out fine in the end, but it is definitely a big job

Today I was hoping to start removing the engine, but I don't know where to begin, so I ended up doing something easier. Both doors were stripped and removed from the car. It went ok except for the mirrors. Absolutely impossible to rock, so I had to cut them off with a hacksaw.

The doors are in somewhat bad shape, so right now I'm not really sure if I should spend money on trying to sandblast them together with the rest, or if I should just look for replacements. But they are at least off 

Not a day without some progress on my project Didn't get very far, but to prepare for removing the engine I lifted the car on support bucks. Was somewhat difficult finding two spots solid enough, but ended up ok. I took out the rear windows, then I removed the front wings including the arch liners. Managed to get off the brakes, brake discs and empty the brake fluid. I'm stuck now at the nuts on the axels which is completely 100% "welded" with rust. I've sprayed on some rust solvent and hopefully I will get them off tomorrow.

Good luck mate! What does that sunroof aperture look like? Will it open?


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Hef355 said

Good luck mate! What does that sunroof aperture look like? Will it open?

Thank you The sunroof is not even close to open. Completely stuck. So I'm trying to figure out what to do. There is quite some rust in the roof as there's been water laying in the sunroof mechanics for years. The sunroof part is most likely not repairable, so maybe the best alternative is to replace the whole roof. If possible to get hold of one. Another alternative is to remove the sunroof completely but I would very much like to avoid that option.

Ah mate that doesn’t sound good sadly! The inside is probably rotten! I think if it’s not a campaign, which it’s not I think I would remove the whole roof section and replace it with a tin top. I have a good roof panel if you decide to go down that route. Very very rare to find a tim top roof these days


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Good to see another one being saved! You'll be a welding pro by the end of this one  

Water got in behind my soonroof seal and I got some rust but luckily mine isn't too far gone. You'll need to replace the whole roof because if you weld in a panel the whole thing will warp and look rubbish. If you somehow managed it you'd need a lot of filler to match the contour of the roof without leaving a witness.

Hef355 said

Ah mate that doesn’t sound good sadly! The inside is probably rotten! I think if it’s not a campaign, which it’s not I think I would remove the whole roof section and replace it with a tin top. I have a good roof panel if you decide to go down that route. Very very rare to find a tim top roof these days

It's not a Campaign literally, but it is a "Golf GTI Spesial". It was a campaign edition in Norway in '83 with Avus Snowflake rims, leather steering wheel, onboard computer, extra fog lights in the front, green tinted windows and sunroof as an optional addon.

Not sure how it differs from a Golf GTI Campaign? Except for the Pirelli rims?

But anyway - since it is kinda of a special car (the last batch from the factory) I would try to go the extra mile to get hold of a roof. Would it by any chance be the same sunroof as the '84 mk2?
 

tomsdubs said

Good to see another one being saved! You'll be a welding pro by the end of this one  
Water got in behind my soonroof seal and I got some rust but luckily mine isn't too far gone. You'll need to replace the whole roof because if you weld in a panel the whole thing will warp and look rubbish. If you somehow managed it you'd need a lot of filler to match the contour of the roof without leaving a witness.

I think you're 100% right. From what I can tell it's welded in 4 (or 5?) spots to the "outer roof", but replacing that part will probably be difficult to get perfect.

espenlg said

tomsdubs said

Good to see another one being saved! You'll be a welding pro by the end of this one  
Water got in behind my soonroof seal and I got some rust but luckily mine isn't too far gone. You'll need to replace the whole roof because if you weld in a panel the whole thing will warp and look rubbish. If you somehow managed it you'd need a lot of filler to match the contour of the roof without leaving a witness.

I think you're 100% right. From what I can tell it's welded in 4 (or 5?) spots to the "outer roof", but replacing that part will probably be difficult to get perfect.

I think the sunroof aperture is structurally important to hold the profile of the roof, I think if you cut it out the whole roof would sag down really bad. What's it like trying to get spares in Norway? If you could find a donor car that has a decent roof that'd be perfect.

I found someone else who has done it:

https://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/f13/mk1-golf-project-68816-3.html#post868858

tomsdubs said

I think the sunroof aperture is structurally important to hold the profile of the roof, I think if you cut it out the whole roof would sag down really bad. What's it like trying to get spares in Norway? If you could find a donor car that has a decent roof that'd be perfect.

I found someone else who has done it:
https://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/f13/mk1-golf-project-68816-3.html#post868858

It's not impossible to find, but the chance of finding a roof without the rest of the car is probably tricky. I did find a potential donor car (https://www.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=205347543) for around £2100 and I've sent him an email asking for the condition on things like hood, doors, hatch and so on. Maybe it could be a good deal after all.

Thanks for the tip! I've been following a guy called Dan Chambers on Youtube and he is doing a project very similar to mine. He's been talking a bit about the roof and will most likely end up replacing it the same way.

Here is the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXL8ple0o7c&list=PLW6s2hBFjAE5XFu3iYgYcynkaljPdlWMa

I've spent some hours the last two days and things are coming along. Slowly, but still. I managed to get off both the axels. I must have spent 4 hours on 4 nuts/bolts as things are very stuck in this area.

I've also started removing things from the engine bay and hopefully it won't be long before I can pull out the engine Keeping fingers crossed!

Nice work mate, those inner wings are surprisingly good.

tomsdubs said

Nice work mate, those inner wings are surprisingly good.

Thank you, and I agree - they doesn't look that bad. I think the reason may be as simple as they been protected from water. My theory is that most of the other rust is a result of the car standing outside and not in use for over 20 years, and the fact that the sunroof was not tight/fully closed so water could get in and stay there.

Finally got the engine out It won't be long before I can send it off to sandblasting. Maybe a week or two

The only thing left on the chassis now is the fueltank (coming out today), the gear-shifter and the stearingrods(?).

If I can get this back in working condition I would say anything is possible. At this point I'm seriously considering wether spending £1500 on sandblasting is the right thing to do. But still keeping fingers crossed

Unless you are going for a concours d'elegance finish does it need sandblasting?

Apart from roof it all looks like normal old car rotten floor and sills. A bit of a weldathon but repair panels are available and it can be made good.