Old project new thread - '83 gti

Bought this around April 2011 for a steal - 1.8gti DX engine
It came with the original seats (which I got rid of), much preferred the half leather Recaro's that were in there.
Also came with a set of polished p slots, and centres, that I refurbished and are currently sat in the loft.
Also has a full supersprint exhaust with 4 branch manifold that sounds sweet.
It had a few mk2 interior bits that I swapped out for the original ones, and sourced the VDO gauges etc which are not yet currently fitted (not very confident with wiring them up myself).
Had a bit of welding done to the floor pans so I could finish off the interior, and put new sound proofing down.
Wasn't very confident working on the car much myself as I am now, which is why I initially got on with smaller jobs.
It had what looks like a g60/16v rear brake disc conversion, had to source new sliders for the back, and replaced the calipers and flexi lines myself.
Had new fuel lines fitted, and got the engine running nicely (currently over 160,000 miles)

Project ceased for a bit after I found that the chassis by the rear axle mounting point needed some welding, and went away to Uni so didn't really have the time or the funds to get it sorted. Finished now though so the project must go on and much more confident in doing a lot of the work myself, aside from welding just yet, and I don't want to start on something so important!

Pictures:
Day it arrived home


Had some damage to the drivers side wing and the sill, not sure what had happened either driven over/into something


Love the seats from a Rallye so these are definitely staying


Few bits of rust that I got sorted:


New drivers sill and rear panel in the process of being filled after welding


Used roof flashing as sound insulation


Continued below



 

It had been sat outside until this point so cleared out the garage to give it a new home




While it was in there did a few bits like changing the oil and filter, sump gasket etc, and got new fuel lines and brake lines in, new rear calipers

P slots painted up

In the past week I dropped the rear beam out to get a better look at this welding that needs doing, going to be replacing the suspension as well with some coilovers, not fully decided on which ones yet.



Here is the hole causing problems - looking pretty rusty under there!
Ordered a couple of repair panels to stick in there (hopefully the correct ones)


Had to drop the fuel tank as well and get all the fuel lines/fuel pump etc out the way too
Fuel tank is being replaced which is also on the way



Ran out of jobs today while I'm waiting for parts so refreshed the fuel tank heat shield and gave it a bit of paint




Hope to get an m.o.t sorted within the next couple of weeks can't wait to go for a drive

things are not posting properly or posting twice... will sort it when I post the next update

Just a small update, had a few more parts arrive in the post, still waiting to get my rear beam and anti roll bar back from the powder coaters.



Was bored today so made a start on sorting out the tailgate, sanded through a ridiculous amount of filler to find the welds to drill out so I can fit badges, need to wait for them to turn up so I can make a template to drill the holes in the correct places


 

Another small update, more parts in the post and the tailgate is pretty much sorted now - just needs some red paint, and picked the rear beam and anti roll bar up from the shot blasters and took it over to get powder coated

Looks a decent project Charlie, I done the axle mounts on my project, was a bit of a ball ache but got there in the end. Check my build for reference if you like, it's on the first few pages.

Anyway, good luck with the build.

Andy.

Shot blasting is definitely the way to go when stripping the back beam. The stuff vw put on just laughs at anything else  

Matt

Cheers guys!
Bit more progress - Finished getting the badges fitted, drilled the welds out on the left by eye, as the right side went a bit wonky using a template I madeNot too bad a paint job on there either considering I used halfords paint (still needs buffing up a bit) , but it will do until I get a respray down the line.


Started getting the beam back together, need to get the car on a trailer this week to go and get the mount welded up so don't need the brakes on there at this point, did put new discs and wheel bearings on though. Not too much of a pain getting the clips on after getting a bit of a technique down but definitely not a job I want to do again anytime soon. Unfortunately one of the inner clips kept popping off every time I tried to tighten up the bolt, must have been a dodgy one so got another on the way.



Should have it back on the car tomorrow or thursday and hopefully off to the welders by the weekend, leaving me a relatively small list when it comes back for the mot:
-Drop the beam back out
-Fit new fuel tank and connect up all the ancillaries
-Get the rear calipers etc back on the rear beam
-Order and fit new coilovers, still undecided on what to go for
-Bleed brakes front and back

Can't wait to go for a drive!

Nice work on the tailgate and rear beam, they look great!!

Good thinking with the quickgrips  

Matt

Melteddrummer said

Nice work on the tailgate and rear beam, they look great!!

Thanks!

pazwaa said

Good thinking with the quickgrips  Matt

Found a slightly better method today, use a quick grip initially then get a c-clamp on top and get the quick grip out the way to get the bolt through


You can see why I was having trouble with this arb clamp popping off when compared with an original one


Few more bits came today, nice shiny new mount for the fuel pump as the old one pretty much crumbled off in my hand


And a few better shots of the beam, still waiting on the bushes for the axle mount otherwise the car would have gone today and the welding would have got under way!



 

Nice job with the rear beam, looks great   

Matt

Haven't been able to do much since the last update as was still waiting for parts, had them arranged for saturday delivery and missed the post! All sorted now though and the car is finally back on the ground

Pictures



Took me a little while to figure out getting these bushes in, had to borrow some of the spacers from the old bolts, the second one went in straight away when I knew how



Think it looks pretty smart with the new bolts back on the beam 

Quick shot of it going back into the car



And on the ground again ready to go and get welded at last



Aside from new bushings, discs and wheel bearings, nothing has changed, however it looks like there is more camber on the rear than before, anyone have any ideas what is causing it?



 

Another day of doing small jobs!
Cleaned up the rear calipers a bit, didn't take much as they are relatively new. Think I will be leaving the sliders for now though…



Got a 10" sub and amp on the way that I want to fit tidily into either side of the boot, so set about making some (very dodgy) cardboard templates, also made one up so I can cover over the backs of the tail lights etc, which will obviously have to be removable if I need to change bulbs.
Obviously going to be a lot neater than it looks here 

Ordered a couple of these clips like in my mk4 so I can make a panel to access the amp easily



Also got these speaker pods/door pockets that I think are from a cabby to fit, can't open to doors very far in my garage so will have to wait till its out on the drive to get them in…



 

Car went to the welders today, hopefully it comes back soon!



Sub arrived so made a start on a box for it, made some rings to mount it in so it sits flush, then mounted those on another piece that I will be fibreglassing tomorrow and carpeting

Got all the fibreglass on the box for the sub today, going to get some acoustic carpet on tomorrow, can't really finish the whole thing without the car here though!

First I stretched a fleece blanket over and stapled it in, then covered that in fibreglass resin and allowed it to harden, then a couple layers of fibreglass.

That's a steep ramp. I hope you didn't have a duck bill on your Mk1!

Have the welders got much to do?

Hairyarse said

That's a steep ramp. I hope you didn't have a duck bill on your Mk1!

Have the welders got much to do?

I know it wasn't ideal especially being on a sloped drive! I did and it was about 1mm off the floor, some strategically placed wood helped.
When it was further on the ramp the back suspension bottomed out on both sides!
Just the hole by the axle mount on the drivers side, and I got a rear chassis leg repair panel incase thats needed, but I said if any other bits in that area are needed then go ahead and sort it

Got a little toy today, don't know why I haven't had one before its so useful!


Finished the face of the sub enclosure, its a free air one so doesn't need to be fully enclosed, and only 10" so won't be overkill!

You did well on the ramp then!

I bought one of those Dremels last year and like you didn't know how I coped without one! I don't use it often but sometimes it's the only tool for the job!