GTI project/ introduction

hi everyone
i thought i would introduce myself as i have been on here a few weeks and have been going through most of the project threads!
my name is andy, im a maintenance engineer from telford and obsessed with anything car/bike related, be it watching the racing to modifying and generally tinkering with cars.

i have recently started a 1983 mk1 golf gti project and i thought i would share what i have done so far. it doesnt look alot but working 7 days a week on shifts, has taken a long time to get to. infact me and my angle grinder are now one!
my plan is to restore the car to its shiny glory but with the exception of a 20vt engine,exhaust, poly bush, coilovers, wheels and more.

here i had just got it in my carport and satrted to remove what was left on it as it came as a rolling shell.


previous owners work below







after spending alot of time on my back grinding wit a wire wheel and eating underseal i decided enough was enough and to do a proper job repair this right, a rotisserie was needed.
a week later and a mate helped me get it fitted to this



all pipes and fittings now gone and iv pretty much completely stripped the underside of everything. it aint to bad but i wanted to see everywhere. not sure if this is overkill, but i dunna care!



i managed to pick up some 16v mk2 brakes, servo, mc and radiator for a very reasonable price from someone on here, he did say his name but its gone??! sorry! they are in the process of being cleaned furbed and painted.

speaking of painting, i managed to get the firtst couple pieces powder coated. as many parts as possible will be done this way, if it isnt painted and clean, it aint going back on until it is.!!!





thats it for now, iv probably missed summut. will try and keep this upto date and look forward to your comments and advice!!!

andy

Hi Andy and welcome to the forum.

Looks like you've got a good refurb project on your hands there.

Loads of info and help available on the forum to solve pretty much any problems you have.

Come back and update us with pics when you can.

Good luck with it.

Smudger

i will do. all of the repair panels have arrived now and im picking up a welder 2mra night. so should be able to start making some real progress soon.
spent another 3 hours with the wire wheel tonight getting the underside nice and clean.
i have a question about the sills but would probably be better off with a pic to follow up really. just wanted to know, at what point is it deemed the sill is knackered? seems a daft question, but i have'nt done any bodywork before and i think theyre ok. iv took them back to metal and they have cleaned up pretty nice apart from some pitting where the rust was. will the rust always come back? or can they be saved?

balls to it, i went and took some pics. not the best at this time of night n all.
you can see where some doofus has nailed it with a jack over the years!

both sides are like this, what do you think?

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hi mate.

great looking project there, my sills were the exact same someone had even jacked the floor up :/

keep us posted, keep it up.

You're going to need to use some form of rust treatment to stop the rust coming back through, there are plenty available, I tend to use the por15 stuff, not cheap but effective.  http://www.por15.com/

How can people be so thick to jack the car up in so many different places. Oxygen thieves!!!

thanks for the comments and the link. will read up more about this.
should have some more pics 2mra. shiney bits!

quick update. nothing major!

got my welder!


so i can start the axle mount repair panels.
i made a jig so i get them back exactly where there supposed to go. i need some more material to make a bracket or two to fix off the petrol tank strap retaining studs.





found some more repairs to make.



just a quick shot of the engine and box. iv done nothing to it yet, its off to the misses' uncles to be stripped down over the winter months when he cant work outside.

Nice work mate. Good luck with the welding.

i started the passenger side axle mount repair today. iv got a couple days off so really wanna get one side complete at least! was hoping to get them both done, but everything is so time consuming!
there was reust behind the mount so unfortunately i had to remove everyhting in order to get access. the jig i made came in handy here.


all this was removed and cleaned n prepped



new piece welded in



inner reinforcer lined up on the jig ready to be welded and then the new repair section welded over the top. repair piece will need some grinding down to the right. size.



thats where im at, at the moment. welder is doing well and im looking forward to finishing these two bits off.
ill have some more pictures when i have time.
let me know what ya think

cheers

having trouble uploading photos, hope this works……

the lip at the back of the floor pan was starting to rust and i wasnt really happy leaving this so off it came and i welded in a new section.

also both the axle mounts are now replaced  and all welded up!



next job was to start on the sills. decided that they both needed replacing if i was going to such great length with this car.
as you can see, they dont look to bad underneath, just the lip and a small amount of the floor needs sorting. also the jacking point has been removed and will be replaced.











i also got abit impatient and had to see what was hiding under some of the filler that was in the inner wing! a hole and some rust, but not too bad!





gotta get some bits made up at work to carry on, but i will keep ya posted.

cheers

quick update, i made a start to the n/s sill and got it tacked in place. i want to check the shut lines from the door.
new lip welded in,



tacked in place





i had a drive over dudley way to see a bloke who was selling some parts off and picked myself up some treats….that i cant actually do anything with yet!! already been bollocked for keeping bumpers under the bed!!! anyway new intercooler, pipework and chrome bumpers. cost a small fortune and i still need end caps and mounting brackets!

right, its been a while and iv spent nearly every spare minute on the golf and its coming along nicely. i actually look forward to getting home and working on this thing!
anyway

more powder coated bits



seam welded the lower arms





made some new washers for the axle mount bushes



a trip to the scrappies and i got some vectra 256mm front calipers and carriers



and cleaned em up and gave em a lick of the gold. quite like this colour but i may not when they are fitted?



and the rears got the same treatment


cut the old sill off to see how bad it was on the o/s



made a repair the whole lenth of the inner sill as it was easier really and a better job for peace of mind. a new lip was welded on aswell.



new jacking point welded on



i tried the door on and checked the lines. was a pretty nice fit so it was made permenant!

this was the next job



started knocking a new one up, obviously not near finished!!



this led me onto the inner and outer tub needing a fair bit of attention. the rest of the inner is ok, so hopefully i can repair the rest of whats left!



outer one was just replaced





petrol cap had seen better days aswell so that was replaced







thats pretty much where im upto at the moment. got my mate coming over saturday to help with the tub cuz i could do with two pairs of hands!!

gonna repost the pics of the axle mount repairs as they have disappeared







and the engine



thatll do for tonight!

Looks good mate.

I wish i could weld  

E

Wow you have been busy! Some very nice work there.

BTW where you've repaired the jacking point with that ring (another well executed job ) this point was only for lifting the shell in the factory.

You may find if you jack here you'll bend the floor upwards - although your plating looks quite substantial!

Keep up the good work

Yeah, I won't jack the car there if I don't have to. There's always somewhere better to lift. I just wanted to replace that area with something to keep it looking good.

As for welding dude, just have ago. Get some scrap material and get practicing. What's the worst that can happen…… Maybe have a fire extinguisher too hand!
I'm lucky as I work with ABB welding robots so I have abit of practice!

Doddy's right E, I hadn't done any welding before starting my resto and it's not too bad to get on with.

Mine wasn't the best as I had a bad wire feed on my MIG so had inconsistent welds, but have a new welder waiting to come out of the box which should sort my woes!

Only advice I can give is lots of small welds on bodywork instead of seam welds, so you don't risk blowing holes in thin, old metal

Doddy- look forward to seeing your updates