Rick's GTi 300k+ restoration....

…..that's 300k+ miles, not money I'm going to spend as that's likely to be more!

Anyway, thanks to this here forum I am now the proud owner of JUR 3**Y which is an early 1983 registered MK1 Golf GTi hatchback with the 1.8 litre DX engine. The car itself is literally on it's last legs which basically has nothing working anymore, the odometre is showing 250,000ish but I've been told that packed up long ago and the car has passed 300k now. The car has a greeny/blue paint finish and as a bonus to me someone has fitted the P slot alloys which I would have tried to get anyway. I'm fairly sure it's not a campaign model. Sometime in it's life it's had an aftermarket sunroof fitted which I am going to have the misfortune of removing and cutting a steel panel to weld in it's place. That isn't particularily scaring me, what is frightening are the bloody electrics! I'm really going to have to pick someones brains for help here and have a new loom made up as it's pretty pointless splicing in new part systems when the electrics are as bad as this. I plan to scrub as much of the old paint off, after replacing the said roof, both doors and a wing and give the car a thick coat of gloss black cellulose paint.

Engine wise, this will be a learning curve as although I've been restoring and customising cars for a little while now, this is my first experience with both a transverse engine and a modern(ish) fuel injection system, so things look a bit alien to me at the moment. I do plan to keep the original engine but a rebuild is inevitable since it's been around the world a few times. I drove it to my workshop yesterday and noticed the clutch is slipping quite badly, there's a ploom of oil smoke coming out the back and the general noise and feel just seems athritic. The wheel bearings all round, the track rods and most of the suspension bushes will need replacing as will the radiator which is leaking!

I did a list of parts off the top of my head the other day but now I know of a few more to add:-

OSF wing
Both Doors
Bumpers
Grill
3x Pirelli wheel caps
Gear linkage bushes
Set of wheel bearings (the noise is unbelievable!)
New wiring loom/harness (good God!  )
Drivers seat with blue stripe cloth
Engine gasket set
Windscreen
Boot and door seals
Clutch kit
Tie rods
Suspension bush kit
Radiator

I'm not getting to carried away with the Golf yet but if you guys have any of the above parts please drop me a line as it'd be nice to start collecting the odd thing here and there to have something to work on later. Also if you know of any engine bay dress up kits and components I could use plus I was looking for a way to fit a different AFM since the Golf one doesn't look like you can fit a K&N to it. What the hell is that fuel line thing next to it? The braided hoses look okay but it's rather unusual and I think less is more in an engine bay. Can these be modified or replaced with a fuel rail or something?……

Here's a quick snap I took before covering it up until I've finished my current manta project. When I'm in the paint stage of the manta, I may do some of the Golf panels if I have the time, money and paint so it may appear I'm doing things a bit cock eyed (or cock headed perhaps ) but I'll keep you posted.