How much?

Hey,

this is may be way too vague to get any answer but here goes. I'm wanting to get some work done on my clipper at some point in the future and was wondering how much it would cost.

It needs a complete respray with some rust repair, one section if full of filler which needs cut out and a new piece of metal welded in. A new roof, preferably mohair. Then coil overs, upper and lower front strut brace as well as rear / cross brace. And brake upgrade to have new disks all round.

Anyone know roughly how much this would cost to get a garage to do? Or what would be easy to do at home (complete novice) as well as what to prioritise. Not sure if anything is worth doing before body repairs and respray.

Cheers!

Lots of things you want doing there….
Body work/re spray cost depends on what sort of finish you want and the can vary but a I would say £1500-£2000 if you remove most of the trim, interior, lights, roof, etc , prep the car so it's just a shell and more money if they have to it all for you.
Welding and body work is hard to say until you start removing the paint/filler and see why it's been filled in the first place.
Mohair roof is approx £600 fitted.
Lots of strut braces on eBay so take your pick, top one is an easy fix as its only undoing 4 bolts then doing them back up the bottom one you have to be more careful with as there is only 2 bolts but they can seize so be careful.
Why do you want coilovers? I'm not a fan of them as they are to hard and bouncy unless you are spending upwards of £1000, lots of cheap coil overs on eBay but most people seem to change them as they rattle your teeth out! Lowering springs and updated shocks are they way to go if you want a more comfortable drive and be able to drive around a bend quickly on a B road as they are never flat like a race track. £300 ish for Bilstein shocks and Eibach lowering springs, you will need to fit new top mounts.
You won't get any better brakes fitting discs on the rear as long as your rear brake drums are in good condition and adjusted properly, the best upgrade is change the brake fliud if it's more than 3 years old and while your at it fit some braided hoses and adjust the rear brake shoes.

All of this will problerly cost more than the car is worth is you have someone else do it all for you so it's worth getting a Haynes manual and doing the suspention, strut braces etc your self.

Thanks! I think I'll save up and get all the body and roof stuff done then as you say try to do struts and braces myself.

I got the car when I was 15 as my first car so am willing to spend a bit more than it's worth as I don't plan on selling it him

This may also seem like a silly question but do you only need new top mounts for the front? I could only find front ones.

There's no such thing as a silly question so don't worry about asking.

There is only the front top mounts as they have a bearing in there and they take a battering. If you can get your finger between the metal plate and the rubber then it's worn.

There is some rubber bushes on the rear which last a lot longer but they do get squashed and wear in the end.

Good web site with the bits you need.
http://www.vwspares.co.uk/golf1.php

If you've not got one get a Haynes manual as all the info is in there.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Haynes-Manual-VW-MK1-Golf-Jetta-Scirocco-GTi-1-5-1-6-1-8-Convertible-1974-1985-/381273601440?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item58c5ad75a0