TeeTee's 1990 sapphire GTI Cabriolet

Right, I've been loitering around on here for a few weeks, generally taking advantage of people's willingness to help. I chatted to a couple of you and admired some cars at the Bristol Volksfest a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was about time I started a thread for my car.

By way of how I got here, I've had a mk2 Golf GTI since February 2013 (I think there's some crossover between the mk1 and mk2 OCs). Over the last year or so, it's been in and out of the bodyshop. It always takes much longer than expected, and I end up missing having a car. Anyway, as the mk2 is booked in for more work soon, I hatched a plan to buy a second car to entertain me while my proper car was away. Somehow, that spiralled into looking for a mk1 cabriolet. My criteria were: GTI engine; a runner that could be tidied up and not a project; not hugely expensive; no Clipper kit; not the All White version. I looked at a handful of cars but they were all too rough and/or too expensive for what I wanted. I was getting despondent but then an ad for this came up online during the afternoon of the May Bank Holiday (right about when Leicester were winning the league). Despite not quite meeting my criteria (Clipper kit), it seemed promising and definitely too good to miss, so I made an arrangement to view it. I was there at 8am the following day. By 9.30am I'd put down a deposit.

This is it on the morning I went to view it, with my mk2 in the background.




This is it on the morning I collected it.




It's had one owner from new: an older woman who used it as a runabout. I think she stopped driving it because it doesn't have power steering, though I suspect it was used by her son-in-law for a time. It's done 126,000 miles and is in completely standard original condition. Apparently the previous owner and her husband went into the main dealer in 1990 and picked it out. The only options they specified were a Blaupunkt Melbourne stereo (still there) and VW rubber mats (still there). Unfortunately, the huge history file I fantasised about wasn't too be – the previous owner wasn't one for keeping receipts! But, I do have a sheaf of recent bills and a stamped service history with somewhat intermittent mileage intervals.

Since getting it, I've:

Given it a massive clean inside and out
Removed millions of tar spots from the paintwork
Swapped the seat bases around as the foam bolster on the driver's door edge was getting a little worn
Given it a full service
Given it a K&N air filter, Bosch HT leads, distributor cap, rotor arm, NGK spark plugs
Given it a new cambelt
Fitted a new downpipe
Fitted a new Hella radiator
Fitted a thermostat (which was missing!)
Fitted a new dipstick guide
Replaced a broken trim on the driver's seat
Fitted dash vent trims
Replaced the rear view mirror (as the original wobbled about too easily)
Replaced the numberplates with reproduction dealer plates from DMB
Replace the lights as the glass on one of them fell out!

This is it after a clean and polish.






This is what I found underneath the seats!


Then I went for a jaunt to France in it.






And that's about where we are now. I'm a couple of months into ownership and, on the whole, am enjoying it.

So, what else needs doing?

It has a bit of a running problem at the moment: a slight hesitation at low revs and a tendency to pink. I also think the tappets are rather noisy. Other than that, I want to replace the wheels as the Scalas are knackered. I have some BBS RAs that will probably go on. There are a few scabs and dings here and there that could do with being tidied, and the Clipper kit needs to be realigned or something as the sill bits are slightly off. The speakers could all do with being replaced and the head unit needs a service.

Longer term, I guess the suspension set up and bushes could do with being renewed. The windscreen has been replaced at some point with a clear one rather than a tinted one so that could be put right. In a way, I wouldn't mind transforming it into the early style, but I think that would probably be too much, a bit daft. I'll more likely just keep it original.

Hope you like it! Thanks!








 

Looks impressive to me and liking the original look! I've been thinking of swapping the tops of my recaros to preserve the drivers bolster as I think they are identical in construction. Like the colour too. Not sure if I saw you at Bristol, maybe will see it at the AGM?

sportlinecab said

Looks impressive to me and liking the original look! I've been thinking of swapping the tops of my recaros to preserve the drivers bolster as I think they are identical in construction. Like the colour too. Not sure if I saw you at Bristol, maybe will see it at the AGM?

Yes, pretty sure we chatted in Bristol. I was admiring the Sportline! I was planning to come to the AGM, but I might now drive the Cabriolet down to Marseille instead – not sure of the dates yet though.

If the seats in the Sportline are the same, it's relatively easy to swap around the bases. Once the seat has been split, the foam and fabric can be removed in one piece from the base. You have to bend back some tangs, pull out some plastic bungs, and carefully lift it from the metal frame. There's no need to separate the foam and fabric. After that, it's just a case of switching them. The fabric on mine was fine but the foam underneath was getting worn. By swapping them the worn bit is now by the gear stick.

You can get new seat bolsters from vwheritage. I am pretty sure they do both the standard bolsters and recaro bolsters.

As for the clipper kit, so far I can only find new replacement side skirts and front drivers side wheel arch. The cost for just the three items alone is over €800, so to convert it to older style wouldn't cost anything really if you decide to sell the clipper kit.

Don't get me wrong as it's your car and you can do with it what you want but here comes the but…

When the body kit version came out everyone wanted one.
We couldn't get enough of them from VW to support demand.

The small bumper version was like owning the kiss of death.

Now you have one you want to turn it into something it is not and devalue it at the same time.

There's a member on here right now that's looking at buying a small bumper version thats had the body kit fitted which although it might look OK has devalued the car by a fair chunk.

Yours looks really good so all I'm saying is think hard before you turn it into something it's not.

Completely standard Cabby's are getting harder to find and are gaining in value better than ever.

However again do what makes you happy, money is not everything!  😀👍

No, no, no, no, no!! It'd be insane to mess around with a standard car like this! I'm going to keep it as it is, just replace broken bits. The wheels are badly corroded and have chunks missing so I'm going to put on the spare RAs I have as a cheap solution that'll smarten it up. Other than that I probably won't change anything. I'm not one for mods.

I only said about removing the kit because my dream mk1 cabrio (a GTI spotted on a campsite in Italy in about 1992 with the numberplate D314 UGM) was an earlier version. I've always preferred the earlier grill and bumpers. But, no, this one will stay like this.

So the running problem seems to be on the way to being resolved, thanks to mark1gls , rubjonny , Deandubya , and a bottle of Redex Advanced. The timing was off and the engine is probably very coked up.

I took a couple of pictures of the car this evening:




But I also discovered this, which must have happened in the last couple of weeks:




That's not good, is it? What on earth should I do about it??



 

So I got my friendly local old school mechanic to sort the clutch cable vs bulkhead battle. We replaced the clutch cable and the clutch while we were at it, so it now has those and one of the repair panels in the engine bay. It was annoying it happened as I reckon I was poorly advised by a different mechanic, but hey ho.

Since then the car has passed its MOT with no real advisories, which was a massive relief. Today I had a replacement set of wheels and a couple of new tyres fitted. I repainted the RAs myself. It's a fiddly job and it was my first ever attempt at spray painting something three dimensional. They're not perfect, but they're not too bad: probably 7.5/10 on close inspection. I'm going to keep the Scalas so I can chuck them in with any future sale for originality's sake but I don't like them enough to get them refurbished. I much prefer the RAs!

I also T-cut and polished the black B pillar the other day. Very pleased with how that turned out.

It's a while since I updated this. Since summer we've been gradually trying to sort out the running issue that was apparent when I first got the car - it was a little hesitant and made an annoying ticking/chugging noise when accelerating. Fortunately, I've discovered a great mechanic just around the corner from my house. He's a former VW guy and had a GTI in the 80s, so he knows his way around the cars. After setting the ignition timing to 6 BTDC, various experiments with fuel additives and cleaners, and a prolonged Italian tune-up, the noise still hadn't gone. It was eventually traced to a cracked exhaust manifold. Finding a like-for-like replacement was a pain as it's the bowl type, which people seem to disregard. I'd just had the downpipe replaced, though, so didn't want to change to the bolt on type. I eventually got one through Facebook. With that swapped, new gaskets, and the timing set correctly, the noise and the hesitation has gone - it's much better now. There's still a little hesitation when it's cold, but I guess that's to do with the WUR or Cold Start. Once it's warmed up, it's great.

Aside from that, I've had the tracking done, which has greatly improved the handling. It was frighteningly far off when I took it in. I replaced the original speakers with Alpines in the original holes. I've also made a small cosmetic change by fitting the early style grille and GTI badge. The original is in storage so it can be put back easily. Other than that, I've continued cleaning and polishing it and goofing around in it.

Rather annoyingly, the cassette player mechanism broke last week so I'm on the look out for a replacement. If anyone has a spare Blaupunkt Melbourne SQR39, let me know, as that's what the original owners specced from the dealer.

Some photos of it looking wintery:

Looking good mate

I personally prefer the older style grill too. Looks smart. Nice to see an original one staying original.  

I agree with my mate above, great to see another one unmolested.  

The only thing that would drive me right up the proverbial wall if it was mine is the paint job on the drivers door.
I'm thinking the colour matching was done by Stevie Wonder.
Because it looks just so off, so all I can think of that it was done early on in it's life.

But it's not mine but yours and if it doesn't bother you what the heck and even with that it's still a cracking looking Cabby.  

On that note I wish you, your family and of course your Mk1 a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Mike  

Yeah… the paint is a bit off on that door.

It's obviously had lots of paint in the past, presumably to tidy up scratches and what-have-you (the door shut hasn't been painted and has LOADS of chips, probably from the dog whose hair was beneath the seats), but it seems to have been done panel by panel so the matching isn't the best. When I whipped off the waist trims a lot of the clips have been painted over. I was a little surprised that the previous owners didn't mention it, to be honest, although they may just have seen it as part of routine maintenance. I think the photographs make it more noticeable than in real life. It doesn't bother me too much at the moment.

I'm possibly more bothered by the windscreen, which is an untinted replacement. All the other windows are original and tinted glass, so I presume the windscreen should be tinted too.

Thanks for the nice comments, guys.

Well it's winter now unfortunately but in spring treat yourself to a new green screen, mind you now would be a good time to look for a really good used one.

They do come up, normally from cars that have been right off where the screens were not effected by the impact.
Surprise, surprise.

Mind you I think looking through a new screen just once before you turn the wipers on is worth the extra!    

Haha, yeah.   I was in talks with a guy on Facebook about taking an original one from a breaker, but making an arrangement to get it was a hassle. Repros are £80 on VW Heritage, so that may be an easier answer. But, yes, it can wait til spring. Same as the new window scrapers I picked up the other day.

The other major issue is the frame for the rear screen, which is rusting and allows a dribble of water in. The roof has been replaced relatively recently so it's annoying that what appears to be the original frame was reused. I might have to put up a request for help for someone to give me a hand to replace it.  

If you have any questions about the roof etc… You really should have a chat with chortle  😉👍

TeeTee said

Haha, yeah.   I was in talks with a guy on Facebook about taking an original one from a breaker, but making an arrangement to get it was a hassle. Repros are £80 on VW Heritage, so that may be an easier answer. But, yes, it can wait til spring. Same as the new window scrapers I picked up the other day.

The other major issue is the frame for the rear screen, which is rusting and allows a dribble of water in. The roof has been replaced relatively recently so it's annoying that what appears to be the original frame was reused. I might have to put up a request for help for someone to
give me a hand to replace it.  

Crazy quiff do a stainless rear hood window frame. It ain't cheap (about £300 last time I looked!) but a nice future proofing addition that I might do in time if I don't sell. 

Yes, that's what I was considering. VW Heritage do one for £262 but it's out of stock. Crazy Quiffs' are £127.70 and in stock. No idea why the price discrepancy. The problem is that although I've read the various guides online, I don't feel confident doing it by myself and don't have half the tools needed. I need to find someone more experienced who would be willing to help in exchange for a crate of beer or something!

Not sure if CQ frames are complete. They used to be the frame only.
The rear window frame is actually made up from two parts the actual metal  frame, then a resin insert is bonded into that.
That's where the hood is stapled in place.
So you nay need to use a heat gun and a long blade to prise the old insert out and then re bond it into the frame.
It's time consuming and you run the risk of the insert breaking up, they are quite brittle really.




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It looks like I'm going to have to tackle the rear window frame sooner rather than later.

The car has been sitting outside this winter and the recent wet/cold weather seems to have accelerated the deterioration of the frame no end. It's been very wet this week and a lot of water has been getting in.

I pulled everything out of the rear end today. The parcel shelf was wet, which wasn't a surprise. The boot carpet was sodden though, which was. There was a lot of water in the spare wheel well too. I cleaned it out and found there's a hole in the bottom - it doesn't look like a rusty hole, more like a panel hole. Is that right? Should there be a grommet in it?



And one of it in the Waitrose underground car park for good measure.

Hole in the spare wheel well is normal, it's there to let the water out if you have a leak.
When my rear window frame was shot and let water in I put a couple of old lunch boxes at each end of screen (that was where the water was coming in) and stuck on some some stick on Velcro to the bottom of the lunch boxes so they did not move around when driving, you need to remember to empty the water before you drive off as it can splash about!  
I did this for about a year before I found a solid rear window frame and fitted a new roof.