Sad tale - will there be a happy ending?

Well I'm new on here but have had my MK1 for over 20 years since she was 6.

When I bought her she was a little high mileage with the usual front panel sone chips (no photos going back that far!) but otherwise as sweet and pretty as a Mars Red 2 MK1 Campaign could get. Weekly trips back and forth between Cardiff and Bristiol ensured she was used daily and a move back home provided a garage in which she could live in the warm and dry.

But as only a young man can she was abused and bashed about :

• lift off understeer induced spin on an icy lane popped windscreen, buckled wheels and wrecked alignment requiring much respraying.
  vandals running along car roofs jumped from range rover onto my car result needing new roof that seems to be rusting strangely.
  reversing into tree on pavement - new rear panel which was not aligned quite right resulting in uneven gap between light clusters and tailgate.
  one of the above induced a leak so that whenever it rained water runs down drivers footwell and floods car.[/list:u]
  
  Finally the kiss of death was another woman.
  
  
  
  The Golf was thrown out of the new garage and had to live down the side of the house until horrors of horrors a 4x4 exiled her to the lean to at the bottom of the lane where she has been for 7 years…..
  
  Here are the dreadful results of such neglect:
  
  
  
  
  
  Pads were stuck solid onto disks.
  
  
  
  The result of 7 years with a leaky floor. After the last rain I sponged 1 1/2 inches of water out and decided enough was enough. She's drying out quite nicely now…
  
  
  
  
  Drums not too bad - they were replaced at the last MOT in August 2005!
  
  
  
  To be fair the sill damage was here when I bought the car. At some point the car had been lifted on the sill instead of the proper round lifting point and folder the seam over. That sill is really the worst part of the car.
  
  
  
  
  
  Here you can see where the replacement roof has rusted weirdly. It's rust at the top of the A pillars too…
  
  
  
  
  
  And the point of all this?
  
  Obviously some real hard core experts on here and all respect to your skills but do you think this car is salvagable?
  
  I was thinking up to £500 to patch floorpan and fit new sills (I bought pattern parts some years ago)
  
  New disks/pads and rear wheel cylinders (assuming calipers haven't seized) shouldn't top £150 plus a battery, oil change, new tyres.
  
  Get car MOT'd and then gradually collect new parts via ebay and finally strip and respray.
  
  I feel I owe it to her.

Jesus Christ thats a project!

You definitely owe it to her haha!

surely all the perishables have er, perished. Bushes etc. I bet it would be fun to get her back on the road though!

Yes the more project threads I read, especially those where people have stripped it all down and repainted all the removable parts silver or black etc the more it makes me think that I should strip it down totally rather than trying to get it back on the road and then tidying it up.

I didn't fancy doing that with the 911 since it's actually worth something to start with - at least with the GTI it's not worht a lot and I can't really make it worth any less!

It's not really that complex a car is it - at least brakes/suspension wise.

Have I seen this on ebay as braking? I'd defiantly save it, there will be worse that people have restored I'm sure. It can't be much worse than mine was!  

It was on ebay about 5 or 6 years ago but when the bidding went to £400 I could not bear to part with her!!!

Must be a different one then!

Wow that's a mahoosive project you got there mate but I agree with the others she's worth saving.

Definitely do-able, go on save her life! you know she's worth it.

any golfs worth saving..

damn right!!

sivdubgti said

any golfs worth saving..

A good point  8)

doesnt look a bad shell

Very sad

But if you have the money……

does not look too far gone, def a saver! you have history together, you cant buy that :-)

not bad project, just more time consuming then anything else mate. good luck

That's a very sad looking golf mate,gotta be worth a go being as you've owned it so long  :wink:

Thanks for all your comments.

I've had the car so long that I'm not in a desperate rush to get her back on the road so I think I will strip all the trim, wings, suspension, bumpers off and address the rust - probably have to get new sills and a floor patch welded on then spray up and refurb the running gear with new wishbones, rubbers, bushes, shocks, springs, brake disks. Would be nice to trace the water leak in the car - I guess it must be rot in the inner wing that's letting water into the drivers' footwell.

Probably strip the ancilliaries off the engine -  alternator, fuel injection etc and paint silver bits silver and black bits satin black and clean hoses.

If/when she runs then will get her ready for a decent respray in the original orangey Mars Red 2 colour.

First thing though is to replace the leaking roof over the work area and get some decent doors on it so that I don't have to climb in through the back of the roof!!!

Will try to keep you posted

I'm cutting a tin top shell up for spare bits if you need anything?,the roof was a non sunroof originally but it has had an after market sunroof put in  :roll:
Cheers  

hi bud god you got your work cut out there but i have seen far worse but you can do it  once i i finish stripping my mk1 i was going to scrap the shell but my roof is 100 times better and you can have it foc  i got your no so i will give you a ring

Dan that would be fantastic. please keep in touch!