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The transformation of G734BLK into E3RPL

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M

Ok, so I'm not really sure how to start this post… or in fact where it will end up! But I thought I'd take the opportunity to show what we've been doing with my cabby.
I'm looking forward to hopefully one day being able to look back at this and reflect on everything when it's eventually finished!


 Anyway, here's the background to my 1990 mk1 golf cabriolet gti:

 I was mooching around on ebay when I came across this car local to me… I needed a run-around as I was between cars and had developed a love for the mk1 cabby ever since a friend of mine owned one a few years back! SO when this came up I thought about it and decided to go and have a look. The plan was to buy this car, use it for a few weeks then make it all nice and shiny again over the winter and keep as a toy. I'd just had a promotion in work so felt like I was due a treat anyway! After going to look at the car I quickly came to realise that it wouldn't be suitable for a daily driver, and that it would also need a fair bit of TLC to get it right again. However, I also came to learn that it was in fact the very same car that my friend owned that I came to love all those years before! It seemed like I was destined to have this car and after missing out on it for next to nothing a few years before I was determined not to let the chance slip me by again! -  I'm sure you all know how it is… your heart takes over your head and after parting with more money than I should have I became the proud new owner of this little beauty!

I bought the car in the knowledge that it needed a few things doing to it - the fuel and brake lines had corroded and although not failing the MOT were advisories and needed replacing imminently. The temperature gauge appeared faulty and went to overheating almost instantly. The interior was in appalling condition, with the bolsters ripped and a general mess all round. And the front passenger wing had rust bubbling underneath quite badly… And that was before any digging!
Another job and a relocation to Chester meant that the car stayed put in the in-laws in Anglesey and was left to stand over winter to suffer some more…. However after the recent news that my partner's expecting our first child it's given me the rocket to get this baby sorted before the other baby arrives in August!

Now I'm not going to claim I'm doing the work myself, I have an extremely generous and able father in-law who is kindly donating his spare time pottering to getting this car done. At the moment my role seems to be gazing at the thing adoringly when I'm down, filling up his garages with parts and rubbish and having an ithcy finger behind the laptop when ordering new things! But hopefully as a team we're aiming to have it running by the time the baby arrives. I'd love to get stuck in and I do want to but I'm scared of either creating more work by breaking something, getting in the way and also because I don't have a clue how to do any of it! Im hoping that i can get stuck in wherever possible and learn a few things on the way…



SO anyway, now that you have the background. I'll try and keep this updated with where we're up to and how it's getting along…

Hope you all enjoy and feel free to post with any input or comments :-)
Cheers, Raymond.

Last edit: by E3 RPL

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Here she is in her former glory when my mate owned her…
The very image that made me fall in love!

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And here's the photos from when I bought her:

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Annnnd in her new home!

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So… Keen as anything when I took her home (managed to drive her there fine by the way!) I set about cracking on with something I new I'd be able to tackle… Not very mechanically minded I bought this car with a view to be able to learn. It's not that I don't want to know, I'd love to… I've just never been shown how so figured why not buy a car and then I can try and figure it out along the way! 

That was my original intention anyway, but circumstances change etc…

So the first job I set about cracking on with was the interior. As you can see from the first pics the interior was shocking, so I set about stripping it out and sourcing a new set.

I found a set on eBay of a similar style and got them for a bargain so picked them up at the weekend (although I've since decided that I don't want these) 

After taking out the seats and taking the carpet out I quickly discovered that there had obviously been a leak at some point as the underlay was soaked and rotten! So it was time to take this out too! 

At the moment that's as far as the inside's got… I realised that there's more pressing things and I actually need to decide how I want it to end up! But here's a few photos of the inside during and at its current state :-) 

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For now the plan is to redo the underlay (I've bought the underlay kit from vw heritage) get a new carpet and either re-upholster the original interior or find an indentical interior to the original… I've decided that I haven't seen anything that looks quite as home in it as that first one did, apart from maybe the White interior!

I'm also debating dynamat-img the whole car… I'm not convinced that any carpet will fit snug with the new underlay kit and want it to feel snug in there… But we'll decide on that when all the mechanical stuff's done!

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And now on to the mechanical bits…

As it stands she's on axle stands in my father in law's garage. He's kindly taken it upon himself to start some of the work and gave me the all clear to order anything I wanted to do and we could fit it.

So far he's started to change the brake lines for some hand flared copper lines and removed the old brake servo.
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 And as I'm now recovering from an acl reconstruction op and have far too much spare time on my hands I've been busy ordering away!

So far the new parts list to be delivered this week is:

New coilovers
New polybushes all round
New wishbones inc ball joints
Mk2 servo and master cylinder (may as well whilst the brake lines are getting done!)
New coilovers
Drilled and grooved front discs
New pads
New handbrake cables
Gear linkage repair kit (was really sloppy)
New coolant flange to replace the leaky one
new air filter

My thoughts are to have a complete suspension overhaul and give it a full service of all bits n pieces needing doing. It was slammed too low for my liking so I want to bring it up a bit and when it was on the axle stands we could see that the coilovers weren't in great nick…
The gear change was sloppy and it was a faff getting it in so thought I'd get that done too.
Also I quickly came to realise that I had awful brakes so took the chance to upgrade the servo and master cylinder after seeking advice on here!

So I've warned my father in-law to expect a load of parcels this week and hopefully he won't want to throttle me! But whilst it's up we agreed to take the opportunity to have a complete overhaul and get it running well again.

It's sound underneath with no rust or rot anywhere so just a bit of general maintenance really.

And that's pretty much where we're up to for now - but I'll keep you updated as we crack on :) C:\fakepath\image.jpg C:\fakepath\image.jpg
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Last edit: by E3 RPL

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And here's my birthday pressie off my girlfriend. New private plates… German style ;) C:\fakepath\image.jpg (Hence the transformation) 

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Time to update this post!


Been a really productive couple of days on the car…
Armed with my Haynes manual I've been cracking on to say the least.

The rear beam has come off and sanded/filed/smoothed down and painted in hammermite, 
We've changed the rear wheel bearings, new handbrake cables, new fuel lines, changed the front wishbones and added the new polybushes to the front wishbones and anti roll bars, sanded and painted the roll bars, put the new coilovers on, new disc backing plate and sanded down the old callipers ready for painting this eve! 

Then it's just a case of waiting for the new 9'' servo to arrive and to whack on the new drilled and grooved discs! 

Hopefully now we've done a complete overhaul on the suspension, bushes and braking system it will handle like my very own convertible go-kart!  Unfortunately I've been too busy cracking on to take a load of pics but I've got a few here I can add :-) 


Before: 
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Last edit: by E3 RPL

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We had a few niggly issues… As expected with 20+ years of rust, rubbish and muck.. But nothing that hasn't been sorted!
The rear lower strut bolts had rusted and seized into the bush so we tried soaking them in penetrating fluid overnight to no avail so had to get at them with a hack saw and replace the bolts.
The old backing plates had been curled over as the car as slammed so low previously so were shot so they came off too and were replaced with new ones.
Other than that it's all been relatively straight forward!

I bought the flo-flex bush kit that I've seen some guys on here talking about. It's really good value for money although the bushes haven't quite married up in some places but with some persuasion we've got them in… I'll let you know how they are once the cars back on its own feet and running!

Here's some (nearly) finished pics anyway :-)

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I'm pretty pleased with how it's all coming together…
Granted I'm not changing the world with the work I'm doing - there's nothing ground breaking but it's a good clean/tidy up and hopefully restoring it to somewhere near its former glory and giving me the peace of mind that the everything's ok.

Plus I'm loving it!!! I'd hardly done any car work before so have been enjoying getting stuck in… My father-in-law has been ace with giving me guidance and talking me through things… And the only way you learn is by getting stuck in and giving it a go - and hey we've all got to start somewhere eh?

Now it's just a case of literally waiting for the paint to dry! Then I'll reassemble the rear beam and suspension and put that back in place. Fit the new discs and callipers and then when the servo arrives fit that - connect the brake lines and job's a good'en! 

Then it's onto the fuel lines and to do the gear linkage overhaul to try and fix the sloppy box!
I have noticed that the top linkage rod (closest to the front of the car) is missing it's bush completely… Anyone have any ideas where I can get that? It doesn't look like it's in my kit…

And also the spring clips inside the callipers - one was missing but I may as well replace the two. Any ideas?

If anyone has any matching seats to the ones In it or fabric for sale then let me know too - will be onto that eventually and I can't find any anywhere!

I love how much interest the car generates though… Even down to when we phoned CES to order some hoses and gaiters the guy on the phone was restoring his mk1 (not sure if he's on the forum!) and was made up to see it pop up on his screen when he typed the reg in… Sounds like he's having a complete full overhaul on it… I'm sure he said it's currently in the main dealer having a respray! So if your name's matthew and you work for CES and you're reading this - hi mate!

 Here's the pics of the next bits ready to crack on with :-)
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Hope you enjoy :-)

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Great work so far, you're future-proofing it and it looks a great cabby ;)

Andy

LINCOLNSHIRE REGION - https://www.facebook.com/groups/467122313360002/

1983 MK1 Golf GTI Campaign Model - Under (looooong) resto!
1962 Rover P4 80
2002 BMW 745i
2008 BMW Z4 2.5Si

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Cheers mate :-) 
I hope so! It's only a toy that's going to come out on sunny days so want to do a good job to make it last!

Don't ever plan on getting rid of it though so in an ideal world Id love to do a full rebuild one day… Have an engine built up seperately that's given the full works, strip down the body, full respray and go the whole hog. We can all dream though eh? 
One day… One day…! 


For now it's just about getting it running sweet and looking good ready to enjoy and to get to come to my first meet :-) 

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Yep well all dream! lol As long as you can drive it, that's the important part  :thumbs:

Andy

LINCOLNSHIRE REGION - https://www.facebook.com/groups/467122313360002/

1983 MK1 Golf GTI Campaign Model - Under (looooong) resto!
1962 Rover P4 80
2002 BMW 745i
2008 BMW Z4 2.5Si

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Exactly!

Some of the projects on here though are unreal… Determined to do that one day!

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Refurbed parts look great  :thumbs:

Matt

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Cheers mate - appreciate the feedback! 

Good to hear seeing as it's my first project! 

New mk2 servo and master cylinder arrived today so looking forward to getting all the brakes done…

Also need to try and prise away the track rod end to polish that up and to fit a new gaiter. Think it'll be a heating up and praying job as it looks pretty seized - we'll see!

I'm back at home in Chester now so having to wait a bit before we crack on. Itching to get back and get stuck into it! 

Get the rear beam built up and back on… Finish the front suspension set up and then finish the brakes… Then we'll see what's next!

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So I'm going to resurrect this old post, much similar to my work on the car!

 Long story short, in the 3 years since starting this, we moved to another part of the country (twice), got engaged, got married, had our little boy and so the golf has been well and truly neglected and on the back burner!

We got it to a place where it was running and just needed finishing off but I could just never find the time!

Anyway, I've rekindled my love for the car, and now have been determined to get it ready for the summer! At least to a useable standard… now I'm not trotting around the country and got all my accumulated parts back in the garage, seeing it all there has really given me the motivation to get this done.
 Believe it or not I've owned the car for about 3 years now, and have probably driven it a total of 5 miles. So I'm keen to get to enjoy it. Here's an update of my purchases over the last couple of years so far:

 Sportline recaros
Retrimmed the recaros in leather and mk7 gti fabric (pic attached) 

New wing
 New single light grill with red trim

New headlights

Passenger wing
 Retrosound headunit 

Hertz 13cm speakers for the front
 Hertz 6x4 speakers for the rear

Sound deadening (vw heritage and silent mat)

New black carpet

Number plate surrounds

All of the above I'm currently working on getting fitted and installed etc to get it ready. My thoughts are that the interior etc should be pretty much spot on. Then mechanically the car will be sound although not perfect. Over time I'll work on this and get the relevant upgrades to get the car where I want it, it's just important to get to enjoy it a bit first!

Left to buy/ do so far:

Fit all of the above!
Exhaust system 
Sort fuelling issue
Full service
Spark plugs and ht leads
Sort wiring issues out
VDO gauges
Potentially Make door cards to properly house the speakers, or retrim sportline ones.

Last couple of weeks I've removed the aftermarket central locking system that didn't work anymore and the immobiliser that was cut and hasn't worked since god knows when.
The wing has been removed and replacement sent to the body shop to be painted. Turns out it Isn't a standard colour and has come back as pearlescent iris from the spectrum, but will need checking to get a good match (means a full respray will probably be needed over the winter!) 
Dash has been removed in order to tidy up where the old girl has been butchered in the past and to see what I'm playing with. 
Grill has been test fitted and new lights installed. 

Got plenty left to do but I feel like I'm not a million miles away now! 
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Just having a look through your thread and not sure if you noticed but the new metal backing/splash plates behind the brake disc are on the wrong way round, they are meant to bend away from the disc, if you look at the pictures of the rusty ones you can see the difference?  :thumbs:

Not sure if you did replace the rubber brake hoses but braided brake hoses are a great upgrade as they make the brake pedal feel firmer as rubber hoses can expand when you press the pedal and they come with a lifetime warranty so you never need buy brake hoses again.

Keep the updates coming.

1988 Mk1 Golf GTi Cabriolet 1.8cc DX, K-jet. Daily drive. 317,000 miles and counting
1978 Mk1 Scirocco GLS 1.6cc FR, Webber carb. Weekend toy.

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Ha! Ye I can see what you mean!!! Slightly embarrassing! 
I better check that… poor thing hasn't really moved since doing it anyway. 

Developed a fuelling issue and when I moved away I took it to an older vw specialist, unfortunately it didn't get any tlc there but in fairness I never chased it. So sat there feeling sorry for itself for about 18months until i eventually trailered it Home again.

Father in law tweaked the fuelling on the kjet last weekend so now not as bad but will need looking at properly once done!

For me the main focus is sorting out this interior now so it's finished inside and everything is in. Then I'll get the necessary bits sorted mechanically. Won't be perfect but will hopefully be in decent nick!
Taken it as a chance to learn and get stuck in though. 

Sounds awful but I can't even remember what we did with the brake lines now, need to check.

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Life does have a tendency to get in the way especially when young children arrive, at least you still have it and not given up, then sold it as many project seem to go that way. Took me 10 years to finish my Mk1 Scirocco!

If the cars been sitting around with old petrol in the tank it can affect the running so as you said get it back together and get it sort of running then worry about tweeting the fueling etc. Best to use super unleaded petrol in a GTi.  :thumbs:

Last edit: by mark1gls


1988 Mk1 Golf GTi Cabriolet 1.8cc DX, K-jet. Daily drive. 317,000 miles and counting
1978 Mk1 Scirocco GLS 1.6cc FR, Webber carb. Weekend toy.

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Welcome back!  :lol:

I'm sure you'll get there.  :thumbs:

Ian

Cornish Host.
1980 VW Derby
Clive the Cabby
Ujum the Invisible
Mynx the  Tintop

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Cheers guys!

Trawled through some of the previous pics so will add them in here, won't make sense chronologically but good to add to the thread!  E4D1D4C2-9182-404D-90B4-38AC6AC747CA.jpeg DB343DA7-E08B-4574-B14B-F9D3435D5FDA.jpeg 90542101-0EF7-486D-BDDB-4A979B178D4A.jpeg D75D529B-BC77-4511-A474-8613B4F416BF.jpeg BE06A43E-EC1D-49FA-B93F-54F21D50EDD7.jpeg 8A75164B-9983-44AD-9FC1-6F00C51E2766.jpeg 8C01EAEA-46C8-4584-85B5-E3375A812EF2.jpeg 7E38F66C-65E6-40A0-98D9-70E042592242.jpeg C9273B1B-87FB-401D-B913-43146CB2A02F.jpeg 554C2C66-D576-435A-89B5-A0B20CA1D179.jpeg E2CABA6E-5E7D-413D-8182-9BAB6867AB4E.jpeg A272BC8D-AEAB-4186-AB48-87FCDA466C08.jpeg 2D7CD85B-5B08-44DE-B151-4D03F3B3D57C.jpeg
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