Second chance GTi

Hello all,
Decided to start a thread on my new project.
Its a 82 GTi sunroof model in black ish.
Me and a mate brought the car 4 years ago as a spares/donor car for our
current projects at the time. It was in a sorry state back then with lots of rust and scars from 20 odd years on the road. needless to say 70% of the car was stripped over the years for different reasons.
After selling my last gti i had a quick look on ebay to see if there was anything local for a reasonable price. no such luck!

So ive decided to give the donor car a second chance and breath some new life into it, think im going to have my work cut out but its got to be better than scrapping it.

Here is a few pics of what its like. all comments and thoughts welcome,
this is by far the biggest project ive attempted but im sure it can be saved
and become something very special.








see its not too bad!!!! :roll:
This is some of what i found when i started digging a little deeper
















still not too bad, but i know the worst is where you cant see it!!
dragged it out and got it up on some stands so i could a proper look at it, i even washed it!!

Thats it for now got some more pics to come of what i found lurking when i started to finish the strip down to  a bare shell. :wink:

looks like a good start, a bit of rot never hurt anyone    

good luck!!  

it can all be cut out and replaced,
found lots more since those photos.
im up for the challenge though.

Nice one mate, big project but it'll be worth it!!!   

Send it through the blaster and let the fun and games begin. We'll have to have a game of "top trumps", only with who has the best rusty bits  

im up for the 'top trumps', give me a couple of weeks to get the car blasted and i'l bring whats left round, probably in a carrier bag!  :mrgreen:

Right got afew more pics of some of the stuff ive found
This is what was under the roten front wing











The back panel looks pretty good only a little rot at the bottom where the arches meet  


This is what was under the bubbles round the filler cap


Cleared all the parts out from the engine bay


Then dropped the engine and gearbox out



Also took the gti plastic arches off




well the list is getting longer but still not found anything that cant be fixed

Pics not working for me?

redpetemk1 said

Pics not working for me?

Must be your computer. I can see them fine. If you look at my build thread you'll get the general idea  Lots of rot picture's  

Album's down, maintenance according to photobucket.

Think of it this way - you were going to do a bare shell rebuild anyway and your friend was kind enough to painstakingly strip it down for you! That's half the work done already, right?  :mrgreen:

Not sure if I think you're brave or foolish  :wink:

Anyway good luck, look forward to seeing how well you salvage it.

I think foolishly brave would cover it. im sure other people have restored them from a much worse state than this.
can anyone tell the best way to get the glass out without cutting the seals
or breaking the glass? The seals are in good nick and may be reuseable.
Going to get it totally stripped over the weekend and make up a rotisser so make a start on removing the rot!

I managed to push mine out by hand, on the caddy. That was untill i got to heavy handed at cracked it in the top right corner.   I squirted some washing up liquid in between the glass and the rubber seal to give it every chance of coming out easy. Just work your way around the edge gradually.

I have to help my sister move out tomorrow (Sat), so if you want them measurements i'll write them down and post them through you letter box early tomorrow, incase you want to make the rotisserie this weekend.

yeah if would drop the measurements round that would be ace. want to get on with it a bit tomorrow if i can.
i will try your suggestion for the glass, sounds good to me, its got the green tinted glass in which i want to put back in so hopefully no breakages!!! :mrgreen:

No probs. Got to nip to the unit later to get some tools for my sister, so i'll post it then.

 :y:

cheers for the pics, i'l have a go at making one today, sure we have got all the bits needed at work. will let you know how i get on.

yay the old beaste is on the way to a full recovery : i kant weight to come over and get that lump running againe  

BIG THANKS to busters caddy for info on the rotissier, had a fun day today knocking one up, think you will agree it went quite well.
Got to have good look underneath the car and its not in bad shape.
looks quite tatty but a bit if stripping and some fresh underseal should have it looking top notch.
stripped a load more bits off it today too nearly totally bare.  
couple of pics of the new rotissier, sweet.



     

yeah about that lump, it might be getting a few more valves if you know what i mean. just got to catch hold of a bloke and wave some cash under his nose  :mrgreen: