mars red 1600 gti

After looking for a mk1 for a long time i ended up getting  this car in scotland last august from a gentleman whose family had owned the car for over 15 years  .The car had been supplied originally by rawsons in tonbridge wells kent, and then had 1 other owner before being bought by the scottish family. The car was in pretty good order with the usual carpark knocks along the flanks, needing a little attention to get it back on form.It had had only a little paint in its life time (much of it of course was faded)and it had all the usual original stickers in place. So a deal was done and i drove it back from above edinburgh, across on the boat to co antrim . After taking the arches off i was pleased to see it had only a little rust on the arches .and the two front wings needed replaced.Here is how it looked on arriving home

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The rear spoiler had to go,

i also wanted some of the "ziebart"plugs from dealership rust proofing welded up.It amazes me they just didnt remove the door cards and inject the wax  , as opposed to drilling holes in the A and B posts of the car .

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Two wings and rear repair panels were sourced and the car prepared by a local body shop who were very particular to go through all the details as to how i wanted the car to be turned out , even down to the texture of the stone chip i wanted on the front panel !
To keep costs down the guys advised me to strip everything off the car ,side trims rubber seals ,glass etc.
 
I ordered new vinyl stickers from vw stickers and new side trim strips and clips.
Here are a few pics of it last week and when i picked it up on friday , before putting on bumpers lights,new windscreen etc ready for the trip up the road home.

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The le casteletts will be removed and will be sold,at present i am in two minds what to put on i have a set of sebrings and of course RA's from my mk2,so either would do havent made up my mind.
I will upload more pics asap the camera battery has died . Needless to say fitting the new rear window sticker was a pain to fit but its on now!

Hey… at last we get a glimpse at this machine… :wink:  

Paint job look's excellent. Well done - what other plans have you got?

Engine all good?

Hi Hugh
i want to just get it all back together, maybe lower it just a little , im too old for this pancaked look. I changed the timing belt as soon as i got it home, powder coated all the black stuff in the engine bay.
rocker cover rad cowling etc.A few things need doin but nothing major now .
Today I sprayed the rear panels and bootlid inside with dynax s50 wax  protection from bilt hammer  to keep it right .

The slow bit is putting it all back together… but with those long evenings it is sure to keep you busy!  :wink:

I guess take your time - sound like you know what your at…

Have you a deadline to finish to? Are you going to agm in uttoxeter?

Hi hugh it would be good crack but i dont think i will be ready in time for this year .

Good work so far - looking FRESH!

few more bits put on ,
and a wheel issue - do i put the sebrings or Ra's on the mk1 or mk2? i like both on both  :dontknow:

Looks class  :wink: , I'll start the voting, Mk1 ~ RA's, Mk2 ~ Sebring's  

I would have to agree - much prefer the RA's on the mk1

added a few more bits in the past few days ,front spoiler door handles and had a go at putting on side stripes today,  8O

Neither really suit the Mk1 IMO, though I would go with the sebrings. Something about RA's - I just don't like 'em!

Looking very fresh Ivor

Good work and keep at it - few shows need attending in this wagon!

have opted for the ra's on the mk1, sebrings look better against the dark of the oak mk2,
passenger side , side light not working , falling foul of mk1 gremlins!fuses seem ok.

small update ,got the sidelights on passenger side working again by giving the fuse a rub with emery paper .Door cards now fitted have new window scrapers for outside to go on . took it up the road tonight for some exercise , nippy enough.smile inducing !

Lovely looking paintjob/car 8)  With that coat of paint i would go original on 9 spokes but if i had to pick between sebrings and RA's I would go RA everytime as i had both on mk1s over the years and prefer the RAs 8)

thanks guys perhaps the pics flatter it a little. My brother got me some expensive trim restorer for my birthday so thought i would give it a try i gave it a go here on the lowest one.

of course i had used it on the other cars so didnt have enough to complete the rest , its supposed to last up to two years !
stuck the ra's on and the arches on the passenger side

i also got a badge refurb kit from chortle , freshened them up well .
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have hardly had time to  carry  out any further work on the car .my driver seat side bolster fabric was showing a worn patch and thanks to desperado for donating some spare fabric i got the  side panel replaced , seat is now up to scratch .
Replaced the fuel pump , and deoxed and primed and painted  the cradle.
I had read on here about the accelerator cable bush so thought i would check mine out. I couldnt believe it was so bad , looked like a piece of ginger cake ! So i fitted a mk2 bush from vw fitted perfectly , at a cost of 78 p plus vat .  

i left it into a local guy who used to be a vw service manger , replaced the oil pump, got steering column gaiter fitted and a heat shield sorted . So some progress at last.

wow awesome, i live in tunbridge wells where the car came from.

im shopping for a mint original mk1 mars red gti at the moment, really hope i can find something like this

I took off some of the tired brackets and got them cleaned and zinc coated just to tidy them up and gave the oil cooler a lick of paint.they look bright individually but in the bay they are pretty hidden except for the bonnet catches . also treated myself to a new pair of hellas.

 

Lovely work