Jesus, what a Noob - '83 GTI Cabriolet

Hey all,

Been meaning to do this for years but have never had the time / patience / know-how. Anyways enough about how lame I am here's FLO:
I got her 3 years ago and have done next to nothing on her, including renew her MOT, insurance, tax. You know all that unimportant stuff, as such I've hardly driven her, bar the first few months and now can't legally do so. I haven't even cleaned the old girl out! Shame on me, I know. She's kept outside with a cover on so she hasn't faired too badly, well at least I hope not.

As for me, I'm a little in over my head. I've never really worked on cars before and I bought this one thinking it'll be a great chance to learn some stuff. Noob… I definitely am, so I'm looking for all the help I can get!  :dontknow:

Anyways, this is me biting the bullet and putting myself out there. Wish me luck.

Lama

welcome to the club

looks like a nice car and don't worry about not knowing anything just get stuck in

what problems has it got??

Thanks for the welcome!

Not sure what problems I'll find, but I'll try to write down as much as poss. To be fair I expect I'll have to write down most of it in question form!

Seeing as most of the fittings have rusted quick question:

Where do you get all your fiddly bits e.g. nuts, bolts and screws from? Local DIY shops? Internet? Or CrazyQuiff?

Sorry, told you I was a dunce!

find a local fastners place, they will have everything you need and give you quanitys you want

where abouts you based??

lama, looks great considering and i was pretty much the same although mine needed alot of work too and i did not even have a toolbox but with a little specialist help here and there (the rest i just learnt myself) I now have a used toolbox full of tools and a mk1 cab on the road and just ready to be resprayed...

South London - Putney Wimbledon area. I'll update my info!

If anyone knows any good garages / shops etc in the area please let me know.

I'm keeping my eye out in the Garages / Specialists sections, but any recommendations will be welcome.

welcome to the club mate. the guys on here are good i have had a few questions answered and parts found. Car looks good


Hobo

muttley said

lama, looks great considering and i was pretty much the same although mine needed alot of work too and i did not even have a toolbox but with a little specialist help here and there (the rest i just learnt myself) I now have a used toolbox full of tools and a mk1 cab on the road and just ready to be resprayed…

Cheers mate, to say I've not been kind is an understatement!  :redfaced: When I got it the roof was a bit leaky, so thank god I bought a cover!

I'm pretty inexperienced so I'm kinda dependent on the knowledge of others. Used to have a Mk2 Golf in school and loved tinkering with it (can't say it ended too well though!).

Always wanted the Mk1, just peeved with myself for not getting off my bum for so long.

Anyways will try and rectify that this summer.

<b>Action1: </b>find a "local fastners" - I'm sure there's one in battersea.

Looks good mate, worth the effort it will be.
Add my two pence worth…
Nuts, bolts and screws…well they are all metric for a start so that helps, I'd treat myself to good socket set to get started. Most bits you can get on eBay to be honest, just type MK1 Golf, you'll be amazed how much stuff is out there. CrazyQuiff can always help out if you get stuck, not to mention your local VW dealership, they have a few Mk1 bits left! I had a Sportline once, best thing I did was spend £200 with www.carhood.com and got myself a new mohair hood, made a massive difference. The rest you can do yourself with the help of this forum, try searching first though, as questions do come up time & time again.
Good luck; keep the pictures coming, helps a lot if your getting stuck.
Oh, start a spreadsheet or note pad all those parts/things to do, or you'll never get it out of your head  :wink:

welcome aboard,
you can always ask funkstar on here for parts and bits.
He is knowledgable too.
There are various forums for you to post up so have a look through and put your question in the right place so it will get responded to quickly, there are stickies and a how to section at the bottom of the page at the forums.
There are plenty of knowledgable folks on here, so give a shout out for help. Another tip if you post up pics then that gives an even better idea for folks to assist you. There are plenty of Q&A's on leaky roofs on here  lol.

Mk1Sportsline and Chortle - Thanks for the tips guys. Nice one on the hood, my horrific vinyl number will have to go at some point.

For now though, I'm just concentrating on getting the thing running and through an MOT. Have a feeling that'll be enough tasks even before the cosmetics!

Currently work planned is:

Service
Fix Overheating Issues  :dontknow:
Fix Oil Pressure Buzzer  
Deal with Rust
Etc

Anyways I take some pictures once I give the old girl a wash at the weekend.

May the force be with you

Ok, so gave the old girl a wash this weekend. Was nice to actually spend a bit of time on it…

Had 2 flat tyres:


Proper rusty nuts lol.

Anyways couple of bashes with the old rubber hammer and the 2 front wheels went off to matey in the tyre shop.

Both had slow punctures from where the rubber had perished with age and lack of use. Matey patched both up and re-balanced them. Total cost 13quid each. Not sure if thats good / bad / indifferent tbh.

Anyways with the wheels off the brakes look like this:

Hmmm, not sure how bad this is? Doesn't look great and will probably replace in time. For now I've got bigger fish to fry I guess…

Battery was dead so bought one of these:


Dead chuffed with this, stuck it on overnight and bob's your uncle, next morning was full.

Anyways, will stick in the battery and cross my fingers.

Lastly here's a pic of the engine bay, comments appreciated obviously!


Anyways, next thing I think is cleaning up the bay (the thing is horrible to work on at the mo) and maybe an oil change.

don't bother with a garage unless absolutely needed. buy some spanners and get dirty.
comments? damn shame about the roof.