1.8 8v gti campaign restoration ~ summer wheels on!

Hi all
  This is my thread of my rolling resto. I bought Eric (yes, Eric ) back in June 2009 after leaving a note on it the year before saying if they ever want to sell him let me know!!!! So one morn in June last year i got an answer message from a dude called Charlie who owned him and was ready to sell… YAY!
  Ive always loved vw's. My grandad owned a few campers and beetles in his time, owning his last vw which was orange back in the early 90's when i was knee-high to a grass hopper. So as soon as I sat in the golf I could smell that vw smell (im sure they all smell the same) it reminded me of my grandads old beetle and I felt right at home  :mrgreen:
   So yes I went to see it, the next evening me and my partner took it for a test drive and brought him home that evening. I was so chuffed!! Ive wanted to own an old OLD Golf since I can remember. I was one of those little girls who was always around garages covered in oil helping my dad, uncles, grandad etc  knowing Id have to restore my new best friend I couldnt wait!!!
   As Im only part time at………. Halfords…… (no jokes please lol) not much £££ a month to really get started. So Ive been collecting stuff as I go and am very lucky to have a bf who is a mechanic!!!!
  So enough about the car lets get some pics on the go.

This is the very first pic of Eric the day after he moved in lol



so we lift the bonnet and the rest I think speaks for itself lol




so we set to work on the slam panel as seriously needed doing!
next was the front wings as we had slight bubbling but knew it would be worse. however, we foudn worse…





Well, new wings to go on then!!
Next, we took a look at why the one wing was so rotten down the one side

Next we followed the rot down and took a (brave haha) look underneath:


My jacking point was very poorly sick lol



So my amazing bf (i cant weld for one :p) got to work on it





Next we looked up inside the arches to see if there were anymore surprises. Seen as the water from the sunroof had bypassed the drain tube (as it had come out of the hole and was sending years of rain water straight down thus sitting in the A pillar)

Which also resulted in a spring snapping





While we were there we replaced both suspension top mounts




Now that was sorted we put the new (non original, just from my local panel shop) wings

Next up was to clean up the front panel, just a rattle can repray for now as cant afford spray guns and snazzy stuff!!!







So heres some snaps of his interior:





unfortunately no VDO gauges currently on the hunt

I must say it was a lovely surprise to have all electrics working except the oil pressure gauge on the dash that flashes constantly. so no reading. Will get a gauge sitting somewhere for this soon.

So by this time my MOT had expired….. more work to begin. Had a nightmare with all sorts moving about at the front end like bushes lower arms, bottom ball joins (this list on my first fail sheet) so got to work on that. Took it back the next day only for him to say it shouldnt pass as its all still moving but everything on fail sheet had been done! So he had no grounds to fail it. I then had to send it somewhere else as no room for me at the place for the next two weeks   NEEDED it on road as my only car and im a working girl!!!! So sent it  to another MOT place only to discover it failed again on the brake line bursting on my way there. Yes you may wonder how I drove it….Ive driven worse trust me. I did have no brakes but I was purposely ignorant to this and its blatant failure before it even got there just because I was in hope that it would pass  :eh: yes, it failed lol. So took it back, got that fixed again by my amazing bf lol. went straight back over, only to find it needed two new rear tyres GRRR so had to go home again that day with a fail. On this same journey i lost my front arch spat which was kindly crushed behind me by a lorry driver. meat head. Yes I was fuming. I knew I would have trouble getting a new one and yes 6months later im still struggling. So to my great annoyance i still have no front arch spats and in my opinion it looks stupid but hey whats a girl to do!!!
So these pics are how he had been living for about 4months since then:


I know, a lot of you think no bumpers are horrib,le, well at the time I wanted a change!

Since the last pic ive had a poke around him, (yes got bored with his look again) to be honest I havent found what I want him to sit like yet although hell definately be sitting on coilovers. Due to missing arches and budget front springs because of his MOT rush thats making him sit high at the front end which a lot of people comment on how stupid it looks…..really? I didnt notice… lol.

While saving up for months after these pics were taken I had the opportunity to have him put on rolling road by a friend of ours….no charge as he needed to test his new machine out….result!!

was curious to see what power he had left seen as his engine is unmolested so standard from the day the engine was put in (in 1992 as original engine did its fair share of mileage in the history docs)




However, I will be replacing stuff under the hood that needs doing… will upgrade instead of replace….not going back to completely standard, apologies to all you hardcore fans!!!

While Ive been saving I thought Id have a go at refurbing my Shcmidt modern lines instead of waiting more months to save for a pro refurb. I thought what have i got to lose? they are aweful as it is!!!……













At the moment my car sits on fox racing alloys only for the fact that they have 4 brand new Toyo Proxes on and to give me a chance to refurb the schmids and have a bit more comfortable handling etc on the road for a bit

Kind of an idea what they'll look like on, they look bigger obviously as ther next to the other wheel



So last thursday my exhaust blew big time. My bf was due to leave for Spa and Nurbergring friday eve so he tried welding it onlt for it to fall apart so he bandaged it for the weekend……which failed a few hours after hed left for his holidays!!! oops lol.
so while looking for a new downpipe etc it blew big time and fell off……… sounded good from the inside of the car at least! got onto the internet hunting for new bits and found forum member VWinston to be selling his downpipe manifold and exhaust bits. Collected them yesterday and its almost ready to go on:

so not a pretty sight for my old exhaust….RIP:

will get some new gaskets i think lol


 
my new parts were in great condition but thought id kurust it all and soon to high temp spray it and wrap it with exhaust wrap which is currently in the post






More to come as of tomorrow hopefully when I finish work, things did come to a stand still but you all know how it is

thanks for looking, opinions ideas etc more than welcome!!! Carrie :mrgreen:

While I'll be changing the look of Eric I'm going to keep all the original bits
 Here's a list of future plans:

- Fit new exhaust system / downpipe / manifold within the next week
- Replace all gaskets within the next week
- Fix oil leak due to rocker cover gasket perished also within the next week
- Jet wash engine bay then primer and spray silver
- Re fit original grill that came with car with red frame rather than black
- GTI front spoiler
- Get Schmids back on again eventually with Toyo Proxes slightly stretched
- Coilovers
- New steering wheel (as mine had got damp and now holes in the leather)
- Re glue interior carpeting
- Find front drivers side arch spat
- Two new doors and re fit Audi 80 handles myself
- Sort at some point filler cap surround due to rust
- Fit new rear panel which is ready and waiting
- VDO gauges back in interior
- Red carpeting ready for boot
- Oil temp gauge
- Fit solenoid for boot
- Clean up and repair slight hole in sunroof
- A Cam
- Fit strut brace on front
- Save for a nice respray hopefully a slightly darker metallic silver

fair bit of work you are getting done, am liking the wheels 8)

looking really good there.  love the fact that you are having a go yourself.

Thanks for the comments guys  yes I've had time on my side lately which is changing as of next week so trying to squeeze the most important jobs in first!
I love to have a go at stuff I'm defo more a hands on type person. If it looks rubbish just do it again….but better lol. Also saving up for spray gun and equipment (wanting to get into the trade). I will spray it all myself one day, and if that looks bad….will treat myself to get it done professionally, without a doubt

A couple of weeks ago my poor lil exhaust died and eventually fell off…. (dont ask lol) got some pics of removal of what i assume is the standard exhaust, VWinston kindly sorted me out with a few new bits…

my olf exhaust with a temporary last depsarate repair while waiting for payday…









a coat of high temperature shizz

my custom parts from vwinston

How Eric stands….for now…  :mrgreen:

Ok so a quick update;

old (I say old, the springs and shocks have only been on there barely 6 months!)





Gravel driveways are a pain for keeping clean bits clean lol







Eric sat on his winter wheels  8)



Eric sat on his winter wheels, until the nicer weather comes

your BF looks handy to have around,, good work

foxy

Yes he definately is! Hes a mechanic so its great. I wouldnt have been able to keep it If I didnt know him so im very appreciative!

Thanks got to do things very slowly as its my daily driver

carrie

Great stuff, keep up the hard work it will be worth it in the end.

Thanks It's worth every bit driving it now! so can't wait until I have finished it. Got some running problems though, idling was iffy for a while, seems ok at the moment. Also, can't tweak the fuel/air ratio as the bolt on the metering head has corroded so can't do anything with it. I think this is whats happened, as my bloke knows what he's talking about lol. I'm hoping it's just that anyway. I will replace the metering head soon as I can, got two doors hopefully still waiting, I had already sorted that before I found I may need the metering head so will have to wait! I also met a guy at work the other day who also has a mk1 and has owned one before, he said it could be a number of reasons why its running like it is. Sometimes lumpy and slow like there is no power, then it runs how I assume is 'normal' but smells strong out the back end so running rich/lean…? I get confused which way round rich and lean goes  :redfaced: but my excuse….I'm a woman!   lol. This is my first mk1 golf too so I'm learning all the way!!!

Carrie  :mrgreen: