Got a free cabby!

Hi all!

A few years back my ex found the Cabrio of her dreams - she only has an auto license and it was a 1.8 auto Clipper in good nick. She was between jobs and I figured she'd never find another one so I bought it for her…but then we split up a year or so later and she took it with her

Time passed, and nearly three years later she got back in touch asking if I wanted it! She's bought a Micra to commute in so it's not turned a wheel in 18 months…fingers crossed there's not too much storage damage (apparently it was in a very damp garage) but other than a few lights out, a flat tyre and a stuck boot seal her dad tells me it's OK Hoping to pick it up and sort MOT in the next week or so, but in the meantime meet Klaus :-)



He's pretty much stock other than a Weber carb with manual choke, coilovers, alloys and a mohair hood but a whole heap of stuff's been replaced in the recent past so fingers crossed he'll stay pretty reliable. Has to be more economical than my VR6 Corrado daily Not sure if the bumpers are original or if it should have the fat ones - he's got a Clipper sticker on the rear (over original paint!) but I've seen a couple of other '87 models with skinny bumpers…any ideas?

Anyway, I'm sure I'll be about with lots of questions and parts requests in the next few weeks, so hi!

Stone

cracking cabby, welcome aboard

Great result, good looking car that mate!
Welcome aboard!  

Nice one Stone! That was a decent thing for your ex to do, must be the festive spirit  

A freebie! Result mate. Welcome along.

Smudger

Hi and welcome to the forum

Hi mate
Nice looking cabby you have got there,I think the bumpers are the original for that year changed to big bumper in 88 I think, you have got the chrome trim in them to and they are pretty hard to get hold of now as I looked around when I had a cabby for some.
Cheers
Neil

Thanks, everyone

The ex's dad is ill so I'm unlikely to pick it up before Christmas now - so I went and had a hunt around the local scrappies instead… Picked up some utterly filthy front seats from a Mk2 Polo for a tenner each which seemed pretty good! I'm crossing my fingers that they'll fit as Klaus's seat covers are torn to shreds.

Since he runs OK I'm hoping it's just a case of replacing the odd bit of trim here and there - the door tops are particularly bad - but VW seem to cater for the Mk1/Mk2 much better than for the Corrado so I'm guessing it won't be that bad.

Hairyarse said

Nice one Stone! That was a decent thing for your ex to do, must be the festive spirit  

Must be! I have to say nice things about her now..

Stone

Nice looking motor. Welcome along...

Got all the lights working earlier so we're good for MOT! Water came pouring out of the fusebox cover and from inside the rear light covers when I took them off, bit of paper towel and WD40 and it looked a lot better. Finding both rear lights were wired together was a bit of a surprise since the rather soggy fusebox cover suggested there should be one fuse for each (is this likely to be stock?) but when I swapped fuses 7 and 8 they both started working, since 8 was blown. One tyre was flat again but it only seems to be a slow leak so it'll do for now.

Engine still sounds sweet as a nut, it goes forwards and backwards and stops so now I just have to wait for an appointment with the friendly MOT tester and then blow the tyre up on the way out Stone

Welcome!

Hard to find cabrio autos….

Been looking for one for a while but no JOY

Funny you should say that (we spent ages looking too - my ex only had an auto licence) but there's one on eBay at the moment…

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?itemId=301053510482

No idea if it's any good but it's a lot cheaper than Klaus was!
Stone

Cheers buddy

I was looking for one with a power steering and electric hood and windows
Yes its for the Mrs… but difficult to get hold of

I thought power steering was only available as an aftermarket kit? I know Crazy Quiff's do one, considered it until I saw how much it costs

What did he quote you….  am looking to get 1 fitted to the MK2 Jetta

It was 3 years ago so you'd have to ask him for an updated quote , but the kit's on the website at £760ish and I vaguely remember being told it was between 4-6 hours to fit - not cheap! I just park in slightly bigger spaces, slightly faster

link

allana13 said

Hard to find cabrio autos….

Been looking for one for a while but no JOY

If you've got a big budget this one looks mint!

http://www.youngtimercars.co.uk/2013/06/1985-golf-mk-1-gl-convertible/

I love this colour combo - if it was a manual and GTI I'd be very tempted, I think it's lovely!!  

Wish I had that budget 

I stand corrected, you could get power steering from new!

Like the choke control tucked into the dash too - mine has a little bracket under the steering wheel. It's neat enough but obviously tacked on later. Might have to look into swapping that insert over, I like how neat it is from the factory…