richie's mars red '83 gti

hey peeps.

have recently bought my 3rd mk1 gti. i had the others many years ago when i was 19/20 but have always wanted another..  finally have got the money up together and the space to store it (when i clear out my garage full of odd assorted vw parts i have hoarded!  ) so i went looking for what i really wanted -  a mars red 1800 gti.

found this one local to me - spent ages looking over it and it looked pretty damn good really, so i went for it.. just needed a damn good cleaning..

as i finally had some nice weather at the same time as not being at work i took some pics of it..

here she is..  







some minor surface rust on the front of the sill, other than that both sills mint, and door bottoms too

both door shuts totally mint and rot free..


engine bay is a bit grubby - has leaking rocker gasket but that's no biggie.

no rust in here either - not even around where the clutch cable goes through the bulkhead!!!

bottom of the tailgate is mint too, but has a (i think) horrible bbs spoiler..

this will be coming off soon if anybody wants it let me know..

has the usual rust though in the bottom of the spare wheel well, but came with a brand new well to get welded in at some point, bonus! overall i think i have a pretty minted original gti here - original dealer plate still on the back, std radio, straight bumpers, all gti spec trim still there, uncut parcel shelf and door cards and pretty much rust free all round!   has had some paint but that's got to be expected for a 25 year old motor.

unfortunately the seats have had it so am on the lookout for some good condition red front and rear seats for it.  have already got a new front plate holder as the one on it is bent and rusted and have got a new genuine single light grille too..

undecided on this though as i like it both ways, both single and twin lights…?



have also begun to clean up the engine bay to get that back up to standard too. will update with more pics as i go.

cheers all, richie

you don't see many of those bbs rear spoilers now! very nice MK1 you have there.

oh yeah, and the richievr name comes from my years with the vr6 owners club as my other car is a mk3 vr6 golf, which has been modded quite a lot. but don't worry - the mk1 won't get modded, except maybe some decent suspension and some nice wheels?
here is a couple of that but i won't pollute the mk1 club with much of that!!!    







so now my drive looks like this : -



so i am loving it at the moment, vr6 for daily use and luxury, mk1 for dry days and classic retro feel..

cheers warren.

p.s. i know someone with a solid A reg helious campaign that needs a resto. nearly bought that till i found this one!

Oh rite, do you know what needs doing to it, and any idea on price?

it starts runs and drives but has no mot
needs full repaint but VERY minimal welding.
it is complete but is missing the pirelli wheels unfortunately.

i'll try to get some sneaky pics for you when i go round next :wink:

i'm not sure on price - will ask for you. i know he doesn't REALLY want to sell as he wants to resto it himself, however a hand full of cash is always handy..  :wink:

bu99er!

she has developed a missfire! :cry:

have been enjoying cruising about in it the last few weeks but yesterday a missfire developed. feels like it is running on 3 or maybe 3 1/2 cylinders.

have replaced cap and rotor and plugs so far but no better at all. i believe it is no1 cylinder as when removing the lead makes no difference to the lumpy running. lead is definately sparking though.. removing any of the other 3 leads makes the lumpy running MUCH worse..

hmmm, time for the compression tester?

swap the plug with the one next to it... you never know

extremely fine looking car by the way

cheers mate. trouble is its had new plugs and they have made no difference

and i swapped plug lead 1 for lead 2 and vice-versa.
still no change..

Check your fuel pump relay…  Mine had what I thought was a misfire last week, replaced the cap, rotor, plugs & wires but still had the misfire.  Relay had corrosion on the contacts and was putting extra resistance in the pump circuit, causing low pressure.  In theory, this might be most pronounced on #1 cylinder since it has the longest line from the fuel distributor.  Probably not your issue, but it cant' hurt to check.

Cheers,
Brian Petry

could be a good shout.

i'll check it for sure….

thanks matey

8)  Richie babes!!!! how ya doing, it is I, Nicklaus :wink:  of the purpleist highline monterish variety

Nice mk1 you have there matey, shame about the miss fire :x  have you tried some different leads? my old green one did that, and thats what cured it

You still got the VR then? still looks sweeeeeet, im still playing with the Corrado  has got dead grey cows in it now, soon to have KW coilovers and some help from mr shcrick himself in the camage dept

aaah phm!! how goes it?? all good i hope!
i recognise that avatar piccy!    

think i have found the cause of the missfire now - no1 injector does not inject any fuel at all!! think this may cause dodgy running??  

is the filler neck ok? sounds like crud in the tank!
any news on that blue GTI?

filler neck looks almost new. maybe 2 or 3 years old tops.
it has had new fuel pump, accumulator and pipes from there up to the metering head so may well have gone rusty before i had it..
hopefully i'll get an injector and it will be ok..  :?

and as for the blue one….. doh!! he was round here earlier looking at the missfire with me! totally forgot matey, sorry about that. will ask next time i see him as long as i remember..  

ok cheers, don't forget to chage the fuel filter before you do the injector, incase its shot and letting crud through!

good shout!
i'll get one from work tomorrow!

richievr said

aaah phm!! how goes it?? all good i hope!
i recognise that avatar piccy!    

think i have found the cause of the missfire now - no1 injector does not inject any fuel at all!! think this may cause dodgy running??  

Alls good rich, and yeah that is the pic you took at UD this year 8)  

3 petrol squirters is defo not a good situation :wink:  Stick 4 new ones in rich, you may as well they will be like free with the company discount

Hope to be at E38 on VR60C stand, if im allowed with a G60 :roll:

Topoftherange said

3 petrol squirters is defo not a good situation :wink:  Stick 4 new ones in rich, you may as well they will be like free with the company discount

Hope to be at E38 on VR60C stand, if im allowed with a G60 :roll:

i don't think so!!

and i'll see you at e38 then!