ChrisL's Mk1 GTI Project

Bought this back in February after a short search for a MK1 GTI. The car had been stripped by the previous owner and any welding work already completed, this looks to be only minor areas such as the rear panel, rear outer arches and the front panel. Other then that, the shell is in amazing condition. I have all the parts stored in boxes to be cleaned and fitted once the paint work is finished.

I've always wanted to have a go at bodywork preparation and painting and intend to do it all myself including the final top-coat.

So this is when I got it home:



This is the interior, not bad for 170K miles. Totally mint except for a small fag burn, this wont matter as I intend to have the centres re-trimmed with the black and grey stripe:



First job after sorting all the parts out of the shell was a quick clean of the interior, floors look perfect:



Then I got a jig made at work to make the days of sanding a little easier:



Notice d one of the sills had been dented up, probably from someone jacking the car incorrectly:



was going to live with it as its not intended to be a show car but decided it would drive me mad if I didnt sort it, so got some plates welded on to try and pull it straight



Came out pretty well really




Next onto the boot floor and wheel arch tubs as there where a few dents that I would never be happy with leaving. Sanded back and a coat of skim filler:



After sanding:



Then caught a picture whilst the primer was still wet, looks nice and flat:



Then the boot floor, quick rub down:




Skim of filler:



Then flatted back:



More to follow….
 

Good to see some pictures up at last Chris and good to see you're making a steady progress.

I don't envy you for the task ahead but I look forward to seeing the finished product, which I'm sure is going to be good!

Good luck with it and keep the pictures coming! 

Good job straightening that sill. I think I'll have a go at that with mine as I am sure one of them looks like yours did!

Been meaning to put some pictures up. I've got more pics as I've got more done, will put them up soon.

This is the previous build thread from who I got it from (if the link works)

http://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/forum/index.php?page=topicview&id=your-mk1-golfs_2%2Fandys-1983-lhasa-green&kfs79=180

Took the rear quarter back to bare metal and found a nice dent that was full of filler.


Was going to fill it again but decided to get a dent remover out to the car and he did a great job
Before


after


needing just a fine skim to finish off

Very nice work mate, great to see firstly you're having a good go yourself and secondly you don't appear to be cutting corners like with the dents for example. 👍

Great work, keep it up and the updates coming! 😀👌

Good to see it's coming on Chris and I admire your patience and attention to detail with it.

Keep up the good work and keep the updates coming!

Got the rear quarter finished and it seems pretty flat and the arch has a good shape



Moved onto the doors, had to spend a fair bit of time on the hinges as they were shot on the drivers door, got the pins from heritage but didn't fancy using their hinge blocks as they use a bigger thread and didn't want to drill the car bigger. I'd rather stay original.
Drivers door had a pretty decent dent so sanded it to bare metal then had a PDR guy come and get rid leaving just a skim of filler





Made a start on the bonnet

Nice work  

I finally got through all the initial prep work ready for high build. Took the car down off the jig today to get the garage cleaned and also try and get rid of all the dust in the shell.
Got a quick photo of it out of the garage next to its big brother!


Job for the week is to clean out the shell to get red of dust, quick rub down so it's good to prime.
Weekend will be gapping all the panels and making a temporary spray booth in the garage.

That's good to see Chris, are you going to top coat it yourself as well and have you decided on a colour yet?
Keep up the good work, I look forward to seeing that car when it's finished.

I was going to top coat it myself but not sure now. I want to get it to a rolling she'll before topcoat so intend to fit rear beam, petrol tank, brake lines etc first.
It's going to be the carbon steel grey metallic as this:

Been a while since the last update. The car was sprayed (badly) in polyester high build then flatted and sprayed with a high build normal primer.

The shell will now sit like this while I prep the bay and strip and re-coat the underneath. Should give time for any shrinkage in the primer.

Needed to do a bit of chassis work so I can run the car low, wanted to be a bit more subtle then drilling and tubing


I've also decided to tuck the wiring so got some holes welded


Still some holes to fill in the bulkhead but got plenty to go at until my mate can come and finish the welding.

Looking good Chris, looks like the car is gonna weigh a lot more with all those holes filled in.  

Nice bit of welding there  

+1

Very nice welding and body work going on there  

Bit more work done, unwanted brackets removed and battery tray gone, wasn't going to but it would be difficult to clean and paint in and around. 


Then started to remove the stone chip from the floors to make sure it's all sound under there 


Got another pair of 1/2" lips for my rs's so full set now

Fantastic work!  Looks very proffesional

Looking good Chris, I look forward to meeting you and the car at the 2018 AG!  

Thought I'd bring this thread up to date. With the floor stripped I decided to sort out some poor jacking.



Then onto smoothing the engine bay


Once sorted it was onto priming with some polyester high build