83 Gti set to get full resto

hope all goes well bud, will be watching

Well, it's been a while since I posted here, I've been so busy these past couple of months, so just been grabbing a couple of hours to work on the car when I can. So, here's bit of a small update.

I managed to get the stripped down a bit further. All the wiring is out and the wings were removed and binned.



Engine is out



Bulkhead Repair



Here's a pic of the engine hanging in my newly bought crane, must say it's one hell of a tool!  I also managed to source a new drivers door for £50 which is in good condition, mine is rotten inside and out and would have cost too much to repair. You can see in this pic the limited space I have lol  which is really annoying me at the minute, I've literally got nowhere to put anything What you see there, is literally how much space I've got. All the interior is in my wardrobes, apart from the front seats which are in the airing cupboard It's a good job I'm not married or there would be hell on!!



That's about as far as I've gotten so far but there's no hurry! My car goes away at the end of Jan for resto so plenty of time to get things sorted.

Next on the 'to do' list is to remove the fuel tank and lines and all brakes, apart from the handbrake and she should be just about ready for the restorers

Also been buying a few bits and pieces ready for when she comes home.

New lower arms with Powerflex bushes



A few more bits, got stuff arriving weekly now lol. Also got a shed full of body panels waiting to be fitted



That's about it for now I think, I'll update more when I get a chance.

Cheers, Andy.

Good start there mate, mines currently in a million pieces, just bought a roll-over jig to sort the welding, working in minus temperatures is not fun! lol

As previously said label absolutely everything and good luck with the resto!

Hi all,

My restoration project will be taking a different route from now on. I've managed to get a decent size unit to work on my car out of the weather.

I originally planned to have the metalwork/welding done at the restorers, this was always nagging at me because I'm a steel fabricator by trade and I reckon I could do most -if not all-  of the fab work myself, I just had nowhere to do it.

The money I have saved for the welding work will be now spent on rent for the lock up and some welding equipment, RESULT!! Once the welding work is completed, I'll take it to the painters to finish off. Regards, Andy.

Hi all,
 Well I have a bit of an update. After removing the engine, I started to strip it down ready for the clean up. Going to be replacing all gaskets and seals.







Removing rounded bolts


Half way through stripping the engine down I ran out of room so I decided to hurry my a**e up and get the car to my new unit.

Next day I got the key for the unit and quickly got a bench made up and got some stuff moved in, FINALLY, I have some room!!

Here's my car in her new home, loving it! I was down the unit yesterday and got loads stripped off the car. All the running gear has been removed, just the glass, gear stick, fuel lines and a couple of other things to go now.




Hopefully I can get my roll over jig made at work this week and get started on the body work. I also found some issues in the  O/S rear wheel arch,




I'm still unsure of what bits to order to repair this section as I don't know the names of the parts lol. Am I right in thinking that its the 'rear chassis leg' to the inside of the arch? If so, I need a new one for here.

It feels great to finally make a bit of progress, that's about it for now though.

Cheers, Andy.

Also managed to strip the engine down a bit more, Head off, cam shaft and buckets removed.

You'll find the repair panel on vw heritage mate. Hope you have rotisserie cause it ain't fun grinding and welding on your back lol

I'll look forward to updates

caddyrage said

You'll find the repair panel on vw heritage mate. Hope you have rotisserie cause it ain't fun grinding and welding on your back lol

I'll look forward to updates

Yeah found them last night and ordered them. With regards to rotisserie, I'm making my own at work if I ever get a minute, hopefully have it by the weekend.

Small update.

Managed to get a bit work done today. Got the fuel lines and the glass out and smashed the windscreen in the process lol.



I then got started on the bulkhead repair, had to cut quite a bit out as it was rotten. I bought a repair piece off ebay which was too small for the repair so made up a surround for it and welded it in place.



repair plate


welded in place


here it is from the inside


Not too bad for an afternoons work. I also have to re-fit the wiper motor bracket as it had to be cut away with the rest of it.

Andy.

Well, starting to make a bit of progress now. It's been a busy day today!! Finished the bulkhead repair apart from a bit of a clean up that I'll do in the morning, as it was getting a bit late tonight. Just need to re-fit the wiper motor bracket.





Next I removed the old front panel, cleaned everything up and done a trial fit of the new one. I must say that the fitment of the VW Heritage pattern panels is not bad! The O/S needs a little bit of work but nothing major!









I then move on to the N/S sill. Removed the old one to see what was hiding underneath, tbh its not that bad really, just a few repairs to be done. Here's a couple more pics to show what was hiding,

N/S front Sill




N/S rear of sill


I also found the leak into my scuttle area, coming in from the top of the N/S  wheel arch



So all in all, there's a fair bit to do but what I thought was going to be a daunting task, is turning out to be really enjoyable. I'm just going to continue on the N/S of the car and work my way round. After the sill, I'll be moving on to the rear wheel tub which I'm guessing, I'll have to make some sort of jig for? My plan( not sure if it's right) is to make a brace across the top of the turrets using the top mounts from the suspension and some 50x30 box section, then sprag off from the brace and pick up the rear bumper holes in the boot and maybe pick some other holes up in front of the brace somewhere. This way I'll be able to use the same jig for both sides.
If anyone has changed their wheel tubs before? any help would be appreciated!!

Finally a couple of pics of all the panels I've been collecting over the past few weeks lol





That's all for now folks. I'll post up some more tomorrow after another session!!

Cheers, Andy.

Very good progress.
looks like you have a new mk1 from VW Heritage haha

Nice updates. The bulkhead repair where the clutch cable goes looks spot on.    

Bulkhead repair looks good mate! I removed my n/s sill yesterday and underneath looks very similar to yours! Good luck with your build.

Cheers lads, still getting used to welding tin though, keep blowing hole through lol. I normally weld 20mm thick steel or bigger as my main work is repairing railway bridges, there's a slight difference.  

Andy.

Done a couple of hours after work tonight. I cut the rot out of the N/S sill and done a trial fit of the bonnet. Looking at the rear of the sill you can see that the rear chassis leg needs doing, I've got the part but I need my spit before I can start that, here's a few more piccies.













Andy.

Good work Andy    

Nice work buddy

Another update. Another busy weekend. First off I managed finally to make my roll over jig  







Now we get down to the nitty gritty. I made a start on the N/S rear chassis which is completely fubarred I forgot to take a pic before I removed the rot but here is one of the O/S to give you an Idea of the state of them


Here is what's underneath, cant believe this is what the rear axle is mounted to  only 4 spot welds either side of the channel with the axle bolts in.




In my wisdom I forgot to order the chassis leg repair plate for this side  cf_emoticons__BangHead: so waiting for that to arrive at the minute.

Anyway, I started the patch(or so I thought) repair at the top of the N/S inner wing/scuttle area. This:-



soon became this…


From the inside..


few more of the work in progress…














I also found some rot on the 'inside' of the 'A' pillar. How the hell do I repair the inside of here??? any help would be greatly appreciated here please   the outside is ok but I need to cut it away to get at the rot  cf_emoticons__BangHead: HELP!!





That's all for now people.

Cheers, Andy  

I envy u so much,
I have a golf which is mainly rust free and just needs painting yet i just cant be bothered to prep it and here you are saving a mk1 which some would just send to the scrapper.
Hats off to you man,       

Agreed you're bringing her back from the brink of scrapping.